Colorimetric measurement of dermatan sulphate

The periodate-Schiff reaction has been adapted for the measurement of dermatan sulphate. The method is specific for this glycosaminoglycan, provided that glycogen and glycoproteins are removed. Measurements of dermatan sulphate present in the urine of patients affected by various mucopolysaccharidoses indicate a good agreement between the values obtained with enzymic methods and those obtained with the colorimetric method described.     

Antigenic Pattern of Human Brain Glycoproteins as Described by Monoclonal Antibodies

A battery of monoclonal antibodies was raised against a preparation of lentil lectin-binding membrane glycoproteins from human brain. Out of 26 established hybridomas, nine produced antibodies against the human Thy-1 antigen. For the remaining 17 lines, reactivity with at least six other antigens could be identified after immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. Several of the antigens were di- or trimeric, mainly in the molecular weight range of 60-120 kDa. Two of the antibodies were reactive with high-molecular-weight aggregates and four targets for the antibody reactivity were not identifiable by immunoprecipitation of iodinated antigens. Three of the identified antigens were shown by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests on various human tissues to be specifically expressed in the brain.     

Stimulation and inhibition of the activity of rat liver cytosolic phosphatidate phosphohydrolase by various phospholipids.

The influence of phospholipids on the activity of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase from rat liver was studied. Phosphatidylethanolamine stimulated the enzyme activity whereas phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylinositol were inhibitory. At a phospholipid concentration of 0.7 mg/ml, phosphatidylglycerol inhibited phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity by 75%, while the enzyme activity was stimulated twofold in the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine. Both lysophosphatidylglycerol and lysophosphatidylethanolamine inhibited phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity as did octylglucoside, sodium cholate, and Tween 20. The finding that phospholipids influence hepatic phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity indicates that changes in the lipid environment may modulate the enzyme activity.     

To change or not to change sex: A comparison between twoOphryotrocha species (Polychaeta)

Summary The polychaeteOphryotrocha puerilis is a male-to-female sex-changer, whereasO. labronica has separate sexes throughout life. In other respects the two species are remarkably similar: they occur in the same habitat, they look the same, they eat the same things, and in someO. labronica populations sex-changers can actually be found. The size-advantage hypothesis predicts that inO. puerilis males should not benefit reproductively from a size increase as much as males inO. labronica: henceO. puerilis but notO. labronica males should change to the female sex at a certain size. I experimentally compared reproductive success at different body sizes between the two species. In isolated male-female pairs reproductive rate increased significantly with female body size but not with male body size, and this pattern was the same in both species. Hence male fecundityper se cannot account for the difference in reproductive type between the two species. In other experiments I investigated if larger males gained access to more females because they were superior competitors for mates or were preferred by females, compared to small males. InO. puerilis the combined effect of these two factors conferred no size advantage to the males, whereas inO. labronica larger males acquired more females than did smaller males. Hence interactions among males and females, in accordance with the size-advantage hypothesis, can explain why sex change is maintained inO. puerilis, and why separate sexes are maintained inO. labronica.     

Influence of calmodulin on the human red cell membrane skeleton

The calcium receptor calmodulin interacts with components of the human red cell membrane skeleton as well as with the membrane. Under physiological salt conditions, calmodulin has a calcium-dependent affinity for spectrin, one of the major components of the membrane skeleton. It is apparent from our results that calmodulin inhibits the ability of erythrocyte spectrin (when preincubated with filamentous actin) to create nucleation centers and thereby to seed actin polymerization. The gelation of filamentous actin induced by spectrin tetramers is also inhibited by calmodulin. The inhibition is calcium dependent and decreases with increasing pH, similar to the binding of calmodulin to spectrin. Direct binding studies using aqueous two-phase partition indicate that calmodulin interferes with the binding of actin to spectrin. Even in the presence of protein 4.1, which is believed to stabilize the ternary complex, calmodulin has an inhibitory effect. Since calmodulin also inhibits the corresponding activities of brain spectrin (fodrin), it appears likely that calmodulin may modulate the organization of cytoskeletons containing actin and spectrin or spectrin analogues.     

Recovery of Clostridium thermosulfurogenes produced beta-amylase by (hydroxypropyl)methylcellulose partition.

A procedure for recovering Clostridium thermosulfurogenes produced beta-amylase from fermentation broth by partition was developed. The partition was achieved by addition of ammonium sulfate to an aqueous solution of the enzyme with (hydroxypropyl)methylcellulose. The beta-amylase-containing pellet formed upon centrifugation could be redissolved and the polymer recovered by a second salt addition. The process was not dependent on polymer/enzyme solution pH, but it was affected by temperature, polymer nominal molecular weight and loading, and fermentation carbon source. Unlike more traditional aqueous-phase partitions, such as poly(ethylene glycol)/dextran, the current approach appeared to be biospecific.     

Lipases fromRhizomucor miehei andHumicola lanuginosa: Modification of the lid covering the active site alters enantioselectivity

The homologous lipases fromRhizomucor miehei andHumicola lanuginosa showed approximately the same enantioselectivity when 2-methyldecanoic acid esters were used as substrates. Both lipases preferentially hydrolyzed theS-enantiomer of 1-heptyl 2-methyldecanoate (R. miehei:E _S =8.5;H. lanuginosa:E _S =10.5), but theR-enantiomer of phenyl 2-methyldecanoate (E _R =2.9). Chemical arginine specific modification of theR. miehei lipase with 1,2-cyclohexanedione resulted in a decreased enantioselectivity (E _R =2.0), only when the phenyl ester was used as a substrate. In contrast, treatment with phenylglyoxal showed a decreased enantioselectivity (E _S =2.5) only when the heptyl ester was used as a substrate. The presence of guanidine, an arginine side chain analog, decreased the enantioselectivity with the heptyl ester (E _S =1.9) and increased the enantioselectivity with the aromatic ester (E _R =4.4) as substrates. The mutation, Glu 87 Ala, in the lid of theH. lanuginosa lipase, which might decrease the electrostatic stabilization of the open-lid conformation of the lipase, resulted in 47% activity compared to the native lipase, in a tributyrin assay. The Glu 87 Ala mutant showed an increased enantioselectivity with the heptyl ester (E _S =17.4) and a decreased enantioselectivity with the phenyl ester (E _R =2.5) as substrates, compared to native lipase. The enantioselectivities of both lipases in the esterification of 2-methyldecanoic acid with 1-heptanol were unaffected by the lid modifications.     

Target highlights in CASP13: Experimental target structures through the eyes of their authors

The functional and biological significance of selected CASP13 targets are described by the authors of the structures. The structural biologists discuss the most interesting structural features of the target proteins and assess whether these features were correctly reproduced in the predictions submitted to the CASP13 experiment.