Factors affecting hemagglutination by concanavalin A and soybean agglutinin

While investigating the effect of temperature on hemagglutination by concanavalin A, we noted three factors that seriously interfere with the usual microscopic agglutination assay and produce misleading or ambiguous results. (1) Adherence of concanavalin A-treated erythrocytes to surfaces of plastic Petri dishes, especially at (2) commonly used cell densities, effectively prevents determination of agglutination. (3) In addition, incubation times usually used may be insufficient to demonstrate agglutination. Failure to account for these factors may explain the previously reported temperature-sensitive, concanavalin A-mediated agglutination of trypsinized erythrocytes and transformed cells (Vlodavsky, I., Inbar, M. and Sachs, L., (1972) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 274, 364–369). By controlling these factors, we demonstrated that concanavalin A does agglutinate trypsinized, human erythrocytes equally well at 24 and 4 °C.Investigation of the kinetics of erythrocyte agglutination by lectins revealed that the rate of agglutination by concanavalin A is markedly slower at lower temperatures while soybean agglutinin-mediated agglutination is faster at lower temperatures. Ultracentrifugation data indicate that at low temperature concanavalin A exists partially as a dimer (mol. wt 50 000) and at warmer temperatures exists mainly as a tetramer (mol. wt 100 000). The correlation of the effect of temperature on molecular weight with the agglutinating activity of concanavalin A suggests that temperature-dependent forms of concanavalin A may determine the rate of cell agglutination by this lectin. No temperature-dependent change in molecular form was observed with soybean agglutinin.     

Stoichiometric methylation of porcine adrenocorticotropin by protein carboxyl methyltransferase requires deamidation of asparagine 25. Evidence for methylation at the alpha-carboxyl group of atypical L-isoaspartyl residues

The enzymatic methylation of porcine adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) in both its native form and a form which is deamidated at asparagine 25 has been compared using purified protein carboxyl methyltransferase from bovine brain. Incubation of deamidated ACTH with high concentrations of methyltransferase resulted in near stoichiometric levels of methyl incorporation (78 mol %), while the methylation of native ACTH was highly substoichiometric (3-12 mol %). The Km and Vmax for deamidated ACTH were 1.9 microM and 11,200 pmol/min/mg, respectively, making this peptide the most specific substrate known for the mammalian methyltransferase. Deamidation of asparagine 25 leads to the formation of an atypical isopeptide bond in which the resulting aspartyl residue is linked to the adjacent glycine 26 via its side-chain beta-carboxyl group rather than the usual alpha-carboxyl linkage (Gráf, L., Bajusz, S., Patthy A., Barát, E., and Cseh, G. (1971) Acta Biochim. Biophys. Acad. Sci. Hung. 6, 415-418; Bornstein, P., and Balian, G. (1977) Methods Enzymol. 47, 132-145). A synthetic isopeptide (beta-linked) analog of deamidated ACTH serves as a highly effective substrate for the methyltransferase, but the corresponding normal (alpha-linked) peptide does not, indicating that this enzyme selectively recognizes the alpha-carboxyl group of atypical beta-linked L-aspartyl residues (see also accompanying paper (Murray, E.D., Jr., and Clarke, S. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 10722-10732]. Methylation of atypical beta-linked L-aspartyl residues resulting from deamidation can account for previous observations that in vitro protein carboxyl methylation in mammalian systems almost always occurs with a low stoichiometry and that these protein methyl esters are considerably less stable than most chemically formed protein methyl esters.     

Mechanism of proline transport in Escherichia coli K12. I. Effect of a membrane potential on the kinetics of 2H+/proline symport in cytoplasmic membrane vesicles

The stoichiometric coupling mechanism of the membrane potential (delta psi) in the reaction of H+/proline symport was investigated kinetically, using cytoplasmic membrane vesicles of the proline carrier-overproducing strain of Escherichia coli MinS/ pLC4 -45. When a delta psi was imposed across the cytoplasmic membrane by respiration, the Michaelis constant of transport (Kt) was lowered to about 1 microM, which was 2 orders of magnitude smaller than that of passive influx and efflux, and the maximum velocity (Vmax) was concomitantly enhanced as an exponential function of delta psi. Thermodynamically, the carrier translocated proline with a stoichiometry of 2 mol of protons versus 1 mol of substrate when driven by a delta psi at pH 8.0. Data on the delta psi dependence of Vmax of proline transport could be explained quantitatively by the Geck-Heinz hypothesis (Geck, P., and Heinz, E. (1976) Biochim, Biophys. Acta 443, 49-63). A symmetrical model of the 2H+/proline symport via formation of a carrier/H+/substrate (CH+H+S) intermediate is proposed. In this model, the effect of delta psi on the Kt was resolved as stimulation of formation of a transport intermediate, whereas the effect of delta psi on the Vmax was explained by enhancement of translocation of loaded carriers between the two sides of the membrane.     

Possible participation of calmodulin in stimulation of leucine transport by concanavalin A in human lymphocytes

Stimulation of leucine uptake by addition of concanavalin A, mediated by increase of intracellular free Ca2+ concentration [( Ca2+]), in lymphocytes (Mitsumoto, Y., Sato, K. and Mohri, T. (1988) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 968, 353-358) was abolished by N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7) and chlorpromazine, which inhibited membrane hyperpolarization induced by the mitogen. Quinine (0.5-1 mM) completely inhibited the concanavalin A-induced hyperpolarization and extensively inhibited the induced stimulation of leucine uptake. Based on these results, we suggest that the stimulation of leucine uptake by concanavalin A is largely due to activation of the Ca2+-dependent K+ channel which reinforces negative potential of the plasma membrane and is regulated by calmodulin.     

Steady-state kinetics of laccasse from Rhus vernicifera.

The steady-state kinetics of laccasse (monophenol, dihydroxyphenylalanine: oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.14.18.1) from the lacquer tree Rhus vernicifera is investigated using the respirograph method to produce Lineweaver-Burk plots of oxygen consumption rate against oxygen concentration. A ping-pong mechanisms is established. The kinetic constants obtained according to the model is in close agreement with the corresponding values obtained from earlier studies on the transient reactions between the reduced enzyme and oxygen (Andréasson, L.E., Br?ndén, R. and Reinhammar, B. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 438, 370--379) and between the oxidized enzyme and reducing substrates (Andréasson, L.E. and Reinhammar, B. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 445, 579--597).     

Location of the maltosyl isothiocyanate binding site on the human erythrocyte glucose transporter

The covalent affinity probe maltosyl isothiocyanate (MITC) has been used previously to identify the glucose transporter of human erythrocytes as a component of band 3. By use of limited proteolysis, the site on the Mr 100 000 protein to which MITC attaches has been localized to a 17 000-dalton region near the center of the polypeptide chain which is intimately associated with the membrane. The erythrocyte anion transporter, which is probably homologous to the glucose carrier, has a corresponding segment which is known to bind the covalent affinity label 4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid [Ramjeesingh, M., Gaarn, A., & Rothstein, A. (1980) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 559, 127-139]. These results suggest that, in addition to having structural features in common, the two carrier proteins may be quite similar with regard to functional organization.     

Studies on the nature of interaction between follicle-stimulating hormone and the testicular receptors

Two previous reports from this laboratory showed that the binding of 125I-labeled human choriogonadotropin and 125I-labeled human luteinizing hormone to rat testicular receptors is partially irreversible and the binding parameters obtained from Scatchard analysis of the data can be drastically altered simply by changing the reaction volume of the binding assays (Chen, C.J.H., Lindeman, J.G., Trowbridge, C.G. and Bhalla, V.K. (1979) Biochim, Biophys. Acta 584, 407--435; Bhalla, V.K., Trowbridge, C.G., Chen, C.J.H., Lindeman, J.G. and Rojas, F.J. (1979) Biochim, Biophys. Acta 584, 436--453). It is reported herein that the binding reaction between follicle-stimulating hormone and testicular receptors displays very similar characteristics. The results support the previous conclusion that receptor concentrations fluctuate in the membranes and that the extent of their loss from tissue membranes in vitro is dependent upon time and temperature of incubation, the volume of buffer present, and the quantity of hormone used.     

Monte Carlo studies of phospholipid lamellae. Effects of proteins, cholesterol, bilayer curvature, and lateral mobility on order parameters

In this paper we present the results of a Monte Carlo study of the effects of protein, cholesterol, bilayer curvature, and mobility on the chain order parameters of a lipid layer. The Monte Carlo method used is identical to the version developed earlier (Scott, Jr., H.L. (1977) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 469, 264–271). Simulations of protein and cholesterol effects are accomplished by insertion of a rigid stationary cylinder into the lipid matrix. The protein studies show the presence of boundary lipid (Jost, P., Griffith, O.H., Capaldi, R.H. and Vanderkooi, G. (1973) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 311, 141–152). The effect of cholesterol is dependent upon the length of the lipid hydrocarbon chains relative to the cholesterol depth of penetration. Our computer studies of bilayer curvature show the manner in which this curvature disrupts chain packing and are consistent with experimental results (Chrzeszczyk, A., Wishnia, A. and Springer, C.S. (1977) Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 470, 161–171). We also find that restricting lateral motion in chains, the simplest manner in which head group interactions can affect hydrocarbon chain order, does not measurably alter the order parameters. We argue that this provides some support for an earlier hypothesis by Scott (Scott, Jr., H.L. (1975) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 406, 329–346) regarding head group-chain interaction in monolayer experiments.     

A chromophoric and fluorescent analog of GTP, 2',3'-O-(2,4,6-trinitrocyclohexadienylidene)-GTP, as a spectroscopic probe for the GTP inhibitory site of liver glutamate dehydrogenase

The ribose-modified chromophoric and fluorescent analog of ATP, 2',3'-O-(2,4,6-trinitrocyclohexadienylidene)-ATP (TNP-ATP) (Hiratsuka, T., and Uchida, K. (1973) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 320, 635-647 and Hiratsuka, T. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 453, 293-297) has been widely used as an ATP analog for various ATPases. Although the corresponding analog of GTP,2',3'-O-(2,4,6-trinitrocyclohexadienylidene)-GTP (TNP-GTP) should be useful for the study of various GTP-requiring enzymes, it is difficult to prepare TNP-GTP by the conventional method. In the present study, we succeeded in the synthesis of TNP-GTP with the use of an alternative method. The analogs of GDP, GMP, and guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) were also synthesized. Visible absorption and fluorescent properties of TNP-GTP, TNP-GDP, TNP-GMP, and TNP-Gpp(NH)p were quite similar to those of TNP-ATP. TNP-GTP was found to be able to replace GTP as an inhibitor for bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase. The enzyme was inhibited by TNP-GTP to a maximum extent of 54% at saturating concentrations of the analog with a KI of 2.7 microM. TNP-Gpp(NH)p and other ribose-modified fluorescent analogs of GTP,3'-O-anthraniloyl-GTP and 3'-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)-GTP (Hiratsuka, T. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 742, 496-508), also inhibited the enzymatic activity. Binding of TNP-GTP to the enzyme was characterized by a 5.6-fold enhancement in analog fluorescence. In the presence of NADH, the limiting fluorescence enhancement of the bound analog decreased to 2.7-fold. As determined by fluorometric titration, the maximum number of TNP-GTP binding sites on the enzyme was 1.9 mol/mol of subunit with a KD of 0.66 microM in the absence of NADH and 2.2 mol/mol of subunit with two KD values of 0.11 and 0.71 microM in the presence of NADH. These observations suggest that NADH binding increases the affinity of only 1 mol of the 2 mol of TNP-GTP bound to the enzyme. These spectroscopic and biological properties of TNP-GTP should make this analog useful as a chromophoric and fluorescent probe for studies not only of glutamate dehydrogenase but also of various GTP-requiring enzymes, which have a high specificity for the base moiety of GTP.     

Studies on phytohemagglutinins: XXII. Isolation and characterization of a lymphocyte receptor for concanavalin A

A receptor glycopeptide for concanavalin A was isolated from calf thymocytes by a method originally devised for the isolation of a lectin receptor from human erythrocytes (Kubánek, J., Entlicher, G.; and Kocourek, J. [1973] Biochim, Biophys. Acta 304, 93–102). The method consisted of pronase digestion of the lipid-depleted thymocyte membrane material followed by ethanol fractionation, separation on Sephadex and preparative paper electrophoresis. The isolated glycopeptide contains 10.4% of neutral sugar. The molar ratios of the sugar components mannose, galactose, glucosamine, glucose, fucose and sialic acid are 3 : 2 : 2 : 1 : 1 : 1. The minimum molecular weight calculated from the sugar composition is about 12 000.Concanavalin A receptor activity of the glycopeptide was demonstrated in three different ways: (i) Reduction of the ¹²⁵I-labeled concanavalin A binding to thymocytes. (ii) Prevention of concanavalin A induced agglutination of calf thymocytes. (iii) Inhibition of concanavalin A stimulated DNA synthesis in calf and rabbit thymocytes and rabbit lymph node lymphocytes cultivated in vitro.The isolated glycopeptide seems to be involved in the interaction of lymphocytes with concanavalin A and the subsequent stimulation.     

A purification procedure for the isolation of homogeneous preparations of bovine aorta amine oxidase and a study of its lysyl oxidase activity.

It has been reported that bovine aorta amine oxidase oxidizes lysine residues in tropoelastin to allysine (Rucker, R.B. and O'Dell, B.L. (1971) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 235, 32-43). Pure bovine aorta amine oxidase was isolate by DEAE-cellulose, hydroxylapatite, Bio-Gel A-1.5 m and concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B chromatography. Enzymatic, chromatographic and immunochemical tests disclosed that pure bovine aorta amine oxidase was not a lysyl oxidase capable of oxidizing the lysine residues of tropoelastin to allysine; The bovine aorta amine oxidase preparation used by Rucker and O'Dell appears to have been contaminated with lysyl oxidase which is the emzyme that oxidizes some of the lysine residues in tropoelastin and tropocollagen to allysine.     

Observation of multiple radical pair states in photosystem 2 reaction centers.

Charge recombination of the primary radical pair in D1/D2 reaction centers from photosystem 2 has been studied by time-resolved fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. The kinetics of the primary radical pair are multiexponential and exhibit at least two lifetimes of 20 and 52 ns. In addition, a third lifetime of approximately 500 ps also appears to be present. These multiexponential charge-recombination kinetics reflect either different conformational states of D1/D2 reaction centers, with the different conformers exhibiting different radical pair lifetimes, or relaxations in the free energy of the radical pair state. Whichever model is invoked, the free energies of formation of the different radical pair states exhibit a linear temperature dependence from 100 to 220 K, indicating that they are dominated by entropy with negligible enthalpy contributions. These results are in agreement with previous determinations of the thermodynamics that govern primary charge separation in both D1/D2 reaction centers [Booth, P.J., Crystall, B., Giorgi, L. B., Barber, J., Klug, D.R., & Porter, G. (1990) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1016, 141-152] and reaction centers of purple bacteria [Woodbury, N.W.T., & Parson, W.W. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 767, 345-361]. It is possible that these observations reflect structural changes that accompanying primary charge separation and assist in stabilization of the radical pair state thus optimizing the efficiency of primary electron transfer.     

Cybip,a starfish cyclin B-binding protein,is involved in meiotic M-phase exit

We designed a screen to identify starfish oocyte proteins able to bind monomeric cyclin B by affinity chromatography on a cyclin B splice variant displaying low affinity for cdc2. We identified a 15kDa protein previously described as a cdk-binding protein [Biochim. Biophys. Acta Mol. Cell Res. 1589 (2002) 219-231]. Cybip is encoded by a single polymorphic gene and the native protein is matured by cleaving a signal peptide. We firmly establish the fact that it is a true cyclin B-binding protein, since the recombinant protein binds recombinant cyclin B in absence of any cdk. Finally, we show that the microinjection of GST-cybip, and of anti-cybip antibody, in maturing starfish oocytes, inhibits H1 kinase and MPF inactivation, and first polar body emission.     

Purification of 5'-nucleotidase from human seminal plasma.

5'-Nucleotidase from human seminal plasma was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity and some of its kinetic and molecular properties compared with those of 5'-nucleotidase from bull seminal plasma. The purification of the enzyme was achieved by using the same affinity chromatography media (Con A-Sepharose and AMP-Agarose or ADP-Agarose) previously used for the purification of bull seminal plasma 5'-nucleotidase (Fini, C., Ipata, P.L., Palmerini, C.A. and Floridi, A. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 748, 405-412). However, in the present purification procedure no detergent was used as it had been necessary for the purification of the bovine enzyme. The experimental data reveal some main differences between these two enzymes; first, the human enzyme seems to be constituted of a single polypeptide chain of about 71 kDa, while the 5'-nucleotidase of bull seminal plasma, in non denaturing detergent solutions, is a homodimer of about 160 kDa. Another most remarkable difference is that the human enzyme does not seem to contain a phosphatidylinositol anchoring system like the one present in the bovine enzyme and in 5'-nucleotidase of different sources (Low, M.G. (1987) Biochem. J. 244, 1-13). Finally, the AMPase activity of 5'-nucleotidase from human seminal plasma is not affected by dithiothreitol which, on the contrary, is a powerful inhibitor of the bovine enzyme causing the dissociation of its subunits which are held together by disulphide bridges (Fini, C., Minelli, A., Camici, M. and Floridi, A. (1985) Biochem. Biophys. Acta 827, 403-409).     

Energy requirements for biosynthesis of DNA in Escherichia coli. Role of membrane-bound energy-transducing ATPase (coupling factor).

A mutant of Escherichia coli missing energy-transducing ATPase and known to be defective in a variety of membrane functions from earlier studies (Yamamoto, T. H., Mével-Ninio, M. and Valentine, R. C. (1973) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 314, 267-275; Thipayathasana, P. and Valentine, R. C. (1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 347, 464-468; Mével-Ninio, M. and Yamamoto, T. (1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 357, 63-66) has been found to be blocked for anaerobic DNA synthesis. The rate of anaerobic DNA synthesis in the mutant, measured as radioactive adenine incorporation into the alkali-resistant fraction of whole cells, is about 1/6 the rate of DNA synthesis in the wild type culture under similar conditions. Addition of NO-3- or O-2 restores DNA biosynthesis in the mutant. The entry of radioactive adenine is not appreciably affected in the mutant by anaerobiosis. It is concluded that coupling factor plays a role in some step(s) of DNA biosynthesis.     

Structures of photolyzed carboxymyoglobin

The structures of photoactivated carboxymyoglobin (Mb*CO) at temperatures to 10 K have been investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, visible spectroscopy, and near-infrared spectroscopy. Two energy states for *CO are observed by FT-IR, which are altered in frequency by 94% and 88% of the difference from the ground-state heme CO toward free CO gas [Alben, J. O., Beece, D., Bowne, S. F., Doster, W., Eisenstein, L. Frauenfelder, H., Good, D., McDonald, J. D., Marden, M. C., Moh, P. P., Reinisch, L., Reynolds, A. H., Shyamsundar, E., & Yue, K. T. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 3744-3748]. Ground-state MbCO shows no absorption in the near-infrared from 700 to 1200 nm. Conversely, Mb*CO shows an absorption near 766 nm, similar to that of ferrous myoglobin (deoxy-Mb) at 758 nm. These data are compared with M?ssbauer isomer shifts and quadrupole splitting [Spartalian, K., Lang, G., & Yonetani, T. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 428, 281-290] and magnetic susceptibility measurements [Roder, H., Berendzen, J., Bowne, S. F., Frauenfelder, H., Sauke, T. B., Shyamsunder, E., & Weissman, M. B. (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 2359-2363], which clearly indicate that the iron in both Mb*CO and deoxy-Mb is in the high-spin Fe(II) state, as does the heme transition in the Soret [Iizuka, T., Yamamoto, H., Kotani, M., & Yonetani, T. (1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 371, 126-139]. Thus the electronic structure of iron in Mb*CO is nearly identical with that of deoxy-Mb, and *CO is only slightly perturbed from the free gas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Atomic solvation parameters applied to molecular dynamics of proteins in solution.

A solvation energy function for use in the molecular simulation of proteins is proposed. It is based on the accessible surface areas of atoms in the protein and on atomic solvation parameters derived from empirical vapor-to-water free energies of transfer of amino acid side-chain analogs. The energy function and its derivatives were added to the CHARMM molecular simulation program (Brooks, B.R., Bruccoleri, R.E., Olafson, B.D., States, D.J., Swaminathan, S., & Karplus, M., 1983, J. Comput. Chem. 4(2), 187-217). The effect of the added energy term was evaluated by 110 ps of molecular dynamics on the 26-residue protein melittin. The melittin monomer and tetramer were studied both with and without the added term. With the added energy term the monomer partially unfolded, while the secondary structure of the tetramer was preserved, in agreement with reported experiments (Brown, L.R., Lauterwein, J., & Wuethrich, K., 1980, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 622(2), 231-244; Lauterwein, J., Brown, L.R., & Wuethrich, K., 1980, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 622(2), 219-230).     

Binding of phospholipase A2 to zwitterionic bilayers is promoted by lateral segregation of anionic amphiphiles

Catalytic action of phospholipase A2 is appreciably influenced by the organization and dynamics of bilayers of glycerophosphocholines (Apitz-Castro et al. (1988) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 688, 341-348). However, such effects of the quality of the interface are not observed with bilayers of glycerophosphoryl methanol and other anionic phospholipids (Jain et al. (1986) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 860, 435-447). Such differences between the catalytic susceptibility of zwitterionic versus anionic bilayers are due to a large difference in the affinity of the enzyme for these interfaces. Binding to phospholipase A2 to zwitterionic interfaces can be promoted in the presence of certain anionic additives. For example in the pre-steady-state phase of hydrolysis, segregation of the nacently produced products of hydrolysis could promote binding of phospholipase A2 to regions of higher anionic charge density in the zwitterionic interface. In this paper we show that the dynamics of segregation of the nacently produced products of hydrolysis in zwitterionic bilayers can be readily followed by monitoring the fluorescence intensity of the cationic dye NK-529 (Yu and Jain (1989) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 980, 15-22). The fluorescence emission characteristics of NK-529 change appreciably due to self-quenching of the bound dye molecules as the fatty acid molecules segregate in the bilayer. The kinetics of segregation of fatty acids during the course of hydrolysis of bilayers of zwitterionic phospholipids by phospholipase A2 exhibits an unequivocal correlation with a variety of phenomena that are observed during the transition from the pre-steady-state phase to the steady-state phase of hydrolysis in the reaction progress curves as a function of temperature and in the presence of lipophilic additives.