Comparative effects of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (cachectin), interleukin-1-beta and tumour growth on amino acid metabolism in the rat in vivo. Absorption and tissue uptake of alpha-amino[1-14C]isobutyrate.

Incubation of a membrane preparation enriched in Photosystem Two (PSII) at alkaline pH inhibited the water-splitting reactions in two distinct steps. Up to pH 8.5 the inhibition was reversible, whereas at higher alkalinities it was irreversible. It was shown that the reversible phase correlated with loss and rebinding of the 23 kDa extrinsic polypeptide. However, after mild alkaline treatments a partial recovery was possible without the binding of the 23 kDa polypeptide when the assay was at the optimal pH of 6.5 and in a medium containing excess Cl-. The irreversible phase was found to be closely linked with the removal of the 33 kDa extrinsic protein of PSII. Treatments with pH values above 8.5 not only caused the 33 kDa protein to be displaced from the PSII-enriched membranes, but also resulted in an irreversible modification of the binding sites such that the extrinsic 33 kDa protein could not reassociate with PSII when the pH was lowered to 6.5. The results obtained with these more extreme alkaline pH treatments support the notion that the 23 kDa protein cannot bind to PSII unless the 33 kDa protein is already bound. The differential effect of pH on the removal of the 23 kDa and 33 kDa proteins contrasted with the data of Kuwabara & Murata [(1983) Plant Cell Physiol. 24, 741-747], but this discrepancy was accounted for by the use of glycerol in the incubation media.     

Resonance Raman spectra of chlorophylls dissolved in liquid crystal matrices. III. Orientational distribution function of chlorophyll b in an MBBA + EBBA liquid crystalline matrix

Polarized resonance Raman spectra of chlorophyll (Chl) b oriented in a mixture of p-methoxybenzylideno-p'-butylaniline (MBBA) and p-ethoxybenzylideno-p'-butylaniline (EBBA) have been measured. The spectra have been analyzed and the second- and fourth-rank order parameters and the orientational distribution function of Chl b are presented.     

Development of an enzymatic procedure to produce high-protein amaranth flour

Summary A basic procedure was developed to produce high-protein amaranth flour (HPAF) using a commercial preparation of heat-stable alpha-amylase. Slurries (20%, w/v) of gelatinized whole flour were liquefied at 70 and 90°C, pH 6.5, 0.1% (w/v) enzyme concentration and 30 min hydrolysis time. Protein content of raw flour was increased from 15 to 29.6 or 39.3% at liquefaction temperatures of 70 or 90°C, respectively. Some physicochemical and functional properties of HPAF were assessed. HPAF might be used as a dry milk extender.     

The effect of glucose and ammonium sulfate on kinetic acidification by heterogeneous mixed culture

Summary The effect of glucose and ammonium sulfate concentration on the kinetics of lactic acid formation by a heterogeneous mixed culture was evaluated by the sole product formation using the Gompertz model, which can be used to define culture media composition taking into account product accumulation and acidification rate constant. A compromise between ionic inhibition and nitrogen limitation was found by using ammonium sulfate as nitrogen source. The sugar tolerance was similar to that in exenic cultures.     

A transient voltage-dependent outward current in cultured cerebellar granules

Granule cells were dissociated from rat cerebella with a procedure that yields a 98% pure cell population. Potassium currents in these cells were studied using the patch-clamp technique. Depolarizing pulses of 10 mV step and 100 ms duration from a holding potential of –80 mV elicited two different potassium outward currents: a transient, low-voltage activated component and a long lasting, high-voltage activated component. At +30 mV, the total current reached an amplitude of 2 nA (mean value of 15 experiments). The reversal potential of the transient current, estimated by measuring tail currents, was –77 mV, close to that predicted by the Nernst equation. The transient current was half inactivated with a holding potential of –78 mV and completely inactivated with –50 mV or more positive holding potentials. Finally, the current decay could be fitted by the sum of two exponentials with time constants of about 20 and 250 ms.     

Discrepancy in hormone binding and information transfer between sister cells of Tetrahymena clones

Tetrahymena cells treated with insulin in mass cultures were separated to single-cell clones or one of the "sister-cells" of dividing Tetrahymena (in single-cell culture) was treated with insulin. In both cases the FITC-insulin binding of sister-cells were compared. The insulin imprinting significantly increased the insulin binding of cells. There was also a significant difference between the imprinted and not imprinted sisters as well as between the not imprinted sisters. This demonstrates the existence of a difference (in hormone binding) between sister-cells and justifies that the information of the first hormone treatment (imprinting) is not equally divided between the sister-cells.     

Cooperative binding of primycin and gramicidin on erythrocyte membranes. A cation transport study

In this paper the authors present a comparative study of the actions of the antibiotics primycin and gramicidin on the erythrocyte membrane permeability. It has been found that both antibiotics have a nonlinear effect on the membrane permeability. Above a threshold antibiotic concentration, which is characteristic of the type of the antibiotic, the cation permeability of the erythrocyte membranes increases sharply. In the range of nonlinearity the transport-kinetic curves level off before achieving the equilibrium radioactive ion distribution between the extra- and intracellular spaces. A stochastic model of the cooperative and aspecific incorporation of antibiotic molecules into the membrane explains the experimental findings. The authors conclude that membrane permeability increases at the places where two or more antibiotic molecules form aggregates in the membrane.     

Aliphatic hydrocarbons obtained from iron carbides: Possible stellar and meteoritic implications

Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres -     

Fluorescent staphylococci as microbeads

Fixed bacteria of the protein A-rich Cowan I Staphylococcus strain were labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate and used as the second-step reagent in an indirect immunofluorescent assay of specific cell-surface antigen expression. The results are documented with fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.     

Interaction between the Ca2(+)-ATPase and the proteolipid in artificial membranes

The interaction between the Ca2+ transport ATPase and the proteolipid of rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum was analyzed by fluorescence energy transfer, using the following donor: acceptor combinations: Ca2(+)-ATPase tryptophan----IAEDANS-proteolipid; IAEDANS-ATPase----IAF-proteolipid; IAEDANS-proteolipid----IAF-ATPase. The observed energy transfer may indicate weak interaction between the Ca2(+)-ATPase and proteolipid, but collisional energy transfer definitely contributes. The energy transfer was abolished by deoxycholate or sodium dodecylsulfate at concentrations sufficient to solubilize the membrane. In view of the low proteolipid content of sarcoplasmic reticulum and the weak interaction suggested by the energy transfer, at best only a small fraction of ATPase molecules could exist in the form of ATPase-proteolipid complexes.