Purification of cathepsin B by a new form of affinity chromatography.

Human cathepsin B was purified by affinity chromatography on the semicarbazone of Gly-Phe-glycinal linked to Sepharose 4B, with elution by 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide at pH 4.0. The product obtained in high yield by the single step from crude starting material was 80-100% active cathepsin B. The possibility that this new form of affinity chromatography may be of general usefulness in the purification of cysteine proteinases is discussed.     

Temporal patterns of protein phosphorylation after angiotensin II, A23187 and/or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate in adrenal glomerulosa cells.

The temporal patterns of protein phosphorylation in the adrenal glomerulosa cell were analysed by two-dimensional electrophoresis after stimulation with 10 nM-angiotensin II or various agents [10 nM-12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), 50 nM-A23187, 1 microM-nitrendipine], administered singly or in combination. These patterns were compared with the temporal patterns of aldosterone secretion induced by the same agonists and antagonists. After 1 and 30 min of stimulation with angiotensin II, different patterns of protein phosphorylation were observed. A comparison of these patterns reveals that: the phosphorylation of only one protein was persistently enhanced during the continuous incubation with angiotensin II; the phosphorylation of five proteins was transiently enhanced (at 1 min but not 30 min); and the phosphorylation of three proteins did not occur at 1 min but was seen at 30 min. Addition of the phorbol ester TPA alone, which at 30 min is without effect in enhancing aldosterone production, has no effect on protein phosphorylation. The combined addition of TPA and the Ca2+ ionophore, A23187, which, like angiotensin II, evokes a sustained increase in aldosterone production, reproduced the temporal patterns of protein phosphorylation seen after angiotensin II action. Manipulations (A23187 alone, angiotensin II plus nitrendipine) which evoke only a transient rise in aldosterone production rate induce a transient rise in cellular protein phosphorylation. The 1 min patterns of phosphorylation seen after A23187 or combined angiotensin II and nitrendipine (a Ca2+ channel antagonist) are similar to those observed after 1 min of angiotensin II stimulation. These results suggest that, when angiotensin II acts, the initial cellular response is mediated by a different mechanism than that responsible for the sustained response.     

Roles for menaquinone and the two trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) reductases in TMAO respiration in Salmonella typhimurium: Mu d(Apr lac) insertion mutations in men and tor.

Three groups of mutants defective in trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) reduction were isolated from Salmonella typhimurium LT2 subjected to transposition mutagenesis with Mu d(Apr lac). Mutants were identified by their acidic reaction on a modified MacConkey-TMAO medium. Group I consisted of pleiotropic chlorate-resistant mutants which were devoid of TMAO reductase activity. None expressed the lac operon. Group II mutants were partially defective in TMAO reductase. Electrophoretic studies revealed that they lacked the inducible TMAO reductase, but retained the constitutive activity. The genotypic designation tor was suggested for these mutants. The tor mutation in one was located between 80 and 83 U on the S. typhimurium chromosome. Expression of the lac operon in these mutants was not affected by air, TMAO, or nitrate. Group III mutants reduced little or no TMAO in vivo, but their extracts retained full capacity to reduce it with methyl viologen. These mutants also failed to produce hydrogen sulfide from thiosulfate and could not grow anaerobically on glycerol-fumarate. Two subgroups were distinguished. Vitamin K5 restored wild-type phenotype in subgroup IIIa only; vitamin K1 restored wild-type phenotype in both IIIa and IIIb isolates. The genotypic designation men (menaquinone) was suggested for group III isolates. The mutation in IIIa mutants was cotransducible with glpT, which corresponds to the menBCD site in Escherichia coli. That in IIIb mutants was cotransducible with glpK, which corresponds to the menA site in E. coli. Expression of the lac operon in IIIa, but not IIIb, mutants was repressed by air. An additional mutant group isolated on the same medium consisted of strains defective in formate hydrogenlyase.     

The bacteriophage P4 alpha gene is the structural gene for bacteriophage P4-induced RNA polymerase

Two temperature-sensitive mutants of satellite phage P4 which do not synthesize P4 DNA at the nonpermissive temperature have been isolated. One of these phage is mutated in the P4 alpha gene. It complements a P4 delta mutant, but not a P4 alpha amber mutant; both mutants are phenotypically identical to alpha amber mutants in all properties studied. They synthesize P4 early proteins 1 and 2 as well as two additional P4-induced early proteins, 5 and 6, which are described here. P4 late proteins are not synthesized by these mutants and cannot be transactivated by helper phage P2. The mutants are unable to transactivate P2 late proteins from a P2 AB mutant. The P4 RNA polymerase activity which has been suggested to be involved in P4 DNA synthesis is not detected at the nonpermissive temperature. The P4 polymerase activity in partially purified extracts prepared from cells infected with the mutant at the permissive temperature is temperature sensitive. Reduced activity is found in vitro when these extracts are preincubated at 41 degrees C or assayed at temperatures higher than 37 degrees C. Thus, the P4 RNA polymerase is the product of the alpha gene. Temperature shift experiments show that the alpha gene product is required until late in the P4 cycle.     

Inability of diethylstilbestrol to induce 6-thioguanine-resistant mutants and to inhibit metabolic cooperation of V79 Chinese hamster cells

The mutagenicity of diethylstilbestrol (DES) in V79 Chinese hamster cells was examined under a variety of conditions. DES over a concentration range 0.01–10 μg/ml failed to induce any increase above the spontaneous frequency of 6-thioguanine-resistant V79 cells. The effect of varying the expression time after treatment in the mutation assay from 3 to 9 days was studied and DES was nonmutagenic at all time points, while N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine was highly mutagenic with a peak response after a 5–7 day expression time. The mutagenicity of benzo[a]pyrene and DES, both of which induce morphological and neoplastic transformation of Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells, was tested by cocultivating V79 cells with SHE cells for possible metabolic activation of the chemicals. Neither compound was mutagenic to V79 cells in the absence of SHE cells. Benzo[a]pyrene, but not DES, was mutagenic to V79 cells cocultivated with SHE cells. These results support the observation that DES can induce cell transformation under conditions that do not result in any measurable gene mutations. Moreover, the ability of DES to enhance the recovery of 6-thioguanine-resistant mutations was studied by determining the ability of DES to inhibit metabolic cooperation of V79 cells. Unlike the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, DES was a weak or inactive inhibitor of metabolic cooperation.     

Specific interaction of proteins with 5 S RNA and tRNA in the 42 S storage particle of Xenopus oocytes

During early oogenesis in amphibia, most of the 5 S RNA and tRNA is stored in a ribonucleoprotein particle that sediments at 42 S. In Xenopus laevis the 42 S particle contains two major proteins: of M_r 48 000 (P48) and 43 000 (P43). It is shown that heterogeneity in composition of the 42 S particle reflects a changing situation whereby initially, both 5 S RNA and tRNA are complexed with P48 (1 molecule 5 S RNA: 1 molecule P48; 2 or 3 molecules tRNA: 1 molecule P48), but later, tRNA becomes increasingly associated with P43 (in a 1:1 ratio) although 5 S RNA remains complexed with a cleavage product of P48. These changes relate to the eventual utilization of the excess 5 S RNA and tRNA in ribosome assembly and protein synthesis.     

Pectic polysaccharides of growing plant tissues

1. The polysaccharide compositions of the cell walls of sycamore cambium and sycamore callus tissue have been analysed and found to be directly comparable. 2. Electrophoretic analyses of the whole pectins prepared from actively growing callus and cambial tissue have shown that these preparations contain, in addition to the neutral and weakly acidic components present in apple fruit, a strongly acidic polygalacturonic acid component. 3. The weakly acidic component of all the pectins was directly comparable with that of the pectinic acid of apple fruit. 4. The components of the whole pectin of sycamore callus tissue have been partially purified and analysed. The neutral and weakly acidic components also found in apple fruit were isolated. 5. The pattern of the composition of the neutral sugars present in the pectins of actively growing tissues of cambium and callus has been compared with those present in apple-fruit pectinic acid. 6. The presence of rhamnose linked as galacturonosyl-(1-->2)-rhamnose has been found in sycamore whole pectin. 7. The difference in the pectins of callus, cambium and fruit appears not to be that of species difference but is more characteristic of the nature of the growth and growth conditions of the cells. This is discussed in relation to the problems of the control and mechanism of plant-cell growth and differentiation.