Substrate stereospecificity of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus examined using the resolved enantiomers of synthetic myo-inositol 1-(4-nitrophenyl phosphate).

The substrate stereospecificity of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus is examined using the resolved optical isomers of synthetic myo-inositol 1-(4-nitrophenyl phosphate), a chromogenic substrate for the phospholipase. The synthetic route employs mild acid-labile protecting groups and separation of the substituted myo-inositol enantiomers as the (-)-camphanyl ester diastereomers. Measurements of the initial rates of cleavage of the D and L enantiomers of the nitrophenyl substrate by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from B. cereus show that this enzyme is essentially stereospecific for the D enantiomer. Under identical conditions, the rate of cleavage of the L isomer is less than 0.2% of that observed for the D isomer. The same is observed for the highly homologous enzyme from Bacillus thuringiensis. There is no measurable inhibition by the L enantiomer of the B. cereus enzyme acting on the D enantiomer, even when the molar ratio of L:D is 5, indicating that binding of the L enantiomer to the phospholipase is negligible. Thus, the enzyme active site is exquisitely sensitive to the stereochemistry of the myo-inositol group of the substrate.     

Community diversity and environmental stability: A re-examination

MacArthur and Levins suggested that species persist by specializing as much as variation in their environments allows, thus avoiding competitive displacement. Accordingly, more species should coexist in stabler environments. Empirical analyses of trade-offs suggest that, indeed, 'the jack of all trades is master of none'. Diversity represents a balance between speciation and extinction. Theory and experiment suggest that competitive overlap hastens a population's extinction. Currently, ecological specialization and environmental stability seem nearly unmeasurable. Nevertheless, new theoretical analyses, and empirical studies of extinction among small populations, may help us to understand how specialization and environmental variation affect a population's susceptibility to extinction.     

Dealing with diversity: The Smithsonian tropical research Institute and tropical biology

Despite unprecedented research attention in recent years, the tropics remain an unexplored frontier. To achieve a better understanding of tropical ecosystems in the face of rapid and irrevocable destruction, it is essential to develop and improve field facilities for long-term comparative research worldwide. This article describes the work of one such facility - the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama - as model for future investigations.     

Evolutionary relationships of the human immunodeficiency viruses

The rapid accumulation of nucleotide sequence data on viral genes has allowed, for the first time, the development of detailed phylogenies of viruses based on an objective criterion. This has been demonstrated clearly in the recent analysis of the evolutionary relationships of HIV - the AIDS virus. When first characterized, HIV seemed aberrant and almost unique in many features. Now it is known to be one of a large group of immunodeficiency viruses, which are widely distributed among primates and other mammals.     

Auto-ubiquitination of ubiquitin-activating enzymes from chicken breast muscle.

A soluble ubiquitin-depleted fraction from chicken skeletal muscle (fraction II), when incubated at neutral pH for several hours with 125I-ubiquitin and ATP, formed small amounts of a ubiquitin derivative (Mr 115,000) of the ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 as well as certain similarly modified E2 species (Mr 37,000, 34,000 and 24,000). Treatment of such mixtures with NaOH during the incubations, even at early times, greatly enhanced the appearance of these entities; up to two-thirds of the thiolesters of ubiquitin bound to these proteins before alkali treatment were thus converted. The bonds involved had properties compatible with their being peptidic in nature, suggesting that auto-ubiquitination had occurred in each case. The protease inhibitor and alkylating agent tosyl-lysylchloromethane ('TLCK'), when preincubated at 50 microM with fraction II for 2 h at 37 degrees C before the addition of 125I-ubiquitin and ATP, promoted the subsequent auto-ubiquitination of E1 and inhibited its adenylate-forming and thiolester-transferring activities. The findings have a bearing on the physiological substrate- and site-specificity of ubiquitin-conjugating reactions.     

SK&F 96365, a novel inhibitor of receptor-mediated calcium entry.

A novel inhibitor of receptor-mediated calcium entry (RMCE) is described. SK&F 96365 (1-(beta-[3-(4-methoxy-phenyl)propoxy]-4-methoxyphenethyl)-1H- imidazole hydrochloride) is structurally distinct from the known 'calcium antagonists' and shows selectivity in blocking RMCE compared with receptor-mediated internal Ca2+ release. Human platelets, neutrophils and endothelial cells were loaded with the fluorescent Ca2(+)-indicator dyes quin2 or fura-2, in order to measure Ca2+ or Mn2+ entry through RMCE as well as Ca2+ release from internal stores. The IC50 (concn. producing 50% inhibition) for inhibition of RMCE by SK&F 96365 in platelets stimulated with ADP or thrombin was 8.5 microM or 11.7 microM respectively; these concentrations of SK&F 96365 did not affect internal Ca2+ release. Similar effects of SK&F 96365 were observed in suspensions of neutrophils and in single endothelial cells. SK&F 96365 also inhibited agonist-stimulated Mn2+ entry in platelets and neutrophils. The effects of SK&F 96365 were independent of cell type and of agonist, as would be expected for a compound that modulates post-receptor events. Voltage-gated Ca2+ entry in fura-2-loaded GH3 (pituitary) cells and rabbit ear-artery smooth-muscle cells held under voltage-clamp was also inhibited by SK&F 96365; however, the ATP-gated Ca2(+)-permeable channel of rabbit ear-artery smooth-muscle cells was unaffected by SK&F 96365. Thus SK&F 96365 (unlike the 'organic Ca2+ antagonists') shows no selectivity between voltage-gated Ca2+ entry and RMCE, although the lack of effect on ATP-gated channels indicates that it discriminates between different types of RMCE. The effects of SK&F 96365 on functional responses of cells thought to be dependent on Ca2+ entry via RMCE were also studied. Under conditions where platelet aggregation is dependent on stimulated Ca2+ entry via RMCE, the response was blocked by SK&F 96365 with an IC50 of 15.9 microM, which is similar to the IC50 of 8-12 microM observed for inhibition of RMCE. Adhesion and chemotaxis of neutrophils were also inhibited by SK&F 96365. SK&F 96365 is a useful tool to distinguish RMCE from internal Ca2+ release, and to probe the role of RMCE in mediating functional responses of cells. However, SK&F 96365 is not as potent (IC50 around 10 microM) or selective (also inhibits voltage-gated Ca2+ entry) as would be desirable, so caution must be exercised when using this compound.     

Depletion flocculation and depletion stabilization of erythrocytes

At dextran (Mw ≈ 500,000) concentrations from 2 to ≈10%, suspensions of normal human erythrocytes flocculate in small convex agglutinates. At dextran concentrations > 10%, the erythrocytes resegregate in a stable monodisperse suspension. At all these dextran concentrations, the erythrocytes are coated with considerable amounts of dextran. It can be argued that at dextran concentrations from 2 to 10%, as well as at dextran concentrations > 10%, there is a thin layer, which is depleted of dextran, between the dextran layer adsorbed onto the erythrocytes and the bulk dextran solution. It can also be shown that there is a repulsive interaction between the two layers of dextran: one adsorbed and one free. When the adsorbed dextran layer is the most concentrated, stability must ensue, and when the dextran in free solution is the most concentrated, flocculation should occur. Below 7% dextran, the concentration of free dextran is higher than the adsorbed concentration; above 10% dextran that situation is reversed. These data correlate well with the depletion flocculation predicted for the lower concentration and the depletion stabilization predicted for the higher dextran concentration.

     

E2 represses the late gene promoter of human papillomavirus type 8 at high concentrations by interfering with cellular factors.

The late gene promoter P7535 of the epidermodysplasia verruciformis-associated human papillomavirus type 8 (HPV8) is regulated by the viral E2 protein. Transfection experiments performed with the human skin keratinocyte cell line RTS3b and P7535 reporter plasmids revealed transactivation at low amounts and a repression of basal promoter activity at high amounts of E2 expression vector. This repression was promoter specific and correlated with the amount of transiently expressed E2 protein. Mutational analyses revealed that the negative regulation of P7535 activity is mediated by the low-affinity E2 binding site P2, which is separated by one nucleotide from the P7535 TATA box. Biochemical and genetic analyses suggested that repression is due to a displacement of the TATA-box binding protein by E2 and an interference of E2 with promoter-activating cellular factors that specifically recognize the P2 sequence. The high conservation of the P2 sequence among several papillomaviruses (epidermodysplasia verruciformis-associated HPVs, HPV1, cottontail rabbit papillomavirus, and bovine papillomavirus type 1) in the vicinity of the late gene promoter cap site suggests that an interplay of E2 and cellular factors at this sequence element is important for the expression of structural proteins.