25 aromatic carboxylic acids which are analogs of benzoic acid were tested in the rat diaphragm preparation for effects on chloride conductance (G(Cl)). Of the 25, 19 were shown to reduce membrane G(Cl) with little effect on other membrane parameters, although their apparent K(i) varied widely. This inhibition was reversible if exposure times were not prolonged. The most effective analog studied was anthracene-9-COOH (9-AC; K(i) = 1.1 x 10(-5) M). Active analogs produced concentration-dependent inhibition of a type consistent with interaction at a single site or group of sites having similar binding affinities, although a correlation could also be shown between lipophilicity and K(i). Structure-activity analysis indicated that hydrophobic ring substitution usually increased inhibitory activity while para polar substitutions reduced effectiveness.
These compounds do not appear to inhibit G(Cl) by altering membrane surface charge and the inhibition produced is not voltage dependent. Qualitative characteristics of the I-V relationship for Cl(-) current are not altered. Conductance to all anions is not uniformly altered by these acids as would be expected from steric occlusion of a common channel. Concentrations of 9-AC reducing G(Cl) by more than 90 percent resulted in slight augmentation of G(I). The complete conductance sequence obtained at high levels of 9-AC was the reverse of that obtained under control conditions. Permeability sequences underwent progressive changes with increasing 9-AC concentration and ultimately inverted at high levels of the analog. Aromatic carboxylic acids appear to inhibit G(Cl) by binding to a specific intramembrane site and altering the selectivity sequence of the membrane anion channel.
Light microscopy was used to study the structure and function of vacuoles in living protoplasts of barley (Hordeum vulgare cv Himalaya) aleurone. Light microscopy showed that aleurone protoplasts contain two distinct types of vacuole: the protein storage vacuole and a lysosome-like organelle, which we have called the secondary vacuole. Fluorescence microscopy using pH-sensitive fluorescent probes and a fluorogenic substrate for cysteine proteases showed that both protein storage vacuoles and secondary vacuoles are acidic, lytic organelles. Ratio imaging showed that the pH of secondary vacuoles was lower in aleurone protoplasts incubated in gibberellic acid than in those incubated in abscisic acid. Uptake of fluorescent probes into intact, isolated protein storage vacuoles and secondary vacuoles required ATP and occurred via at least two types of vanadate-sensitive, ATP-dependent tonoplast transporters. One transporter catalyzed the accumulation of glutathione-conjugated probes, and another transported probes not conjugated to glutathione. 相似文献
The actinorhizal bacterium Frankia expresses nitrogenase and can therefore convert molecular nitrogen into ammonia and the by-product hydrogen. However, nitrogenase is inhibited by oxygen. Consequently, Frankia and its actinorhizal hosts have developed various mechanisms for excluding oxygen from their nitrogen-containing compartments. These include the expression of oxygen-scavenging uptake hydrogenases, the formation of hopanoid-rich vesicles, enclosed by multi-layered hopanoid structures, the lignification of hyphal cell walls, and the production of haemoglobins in the symbiotic nodule. In this work, we analysed the expression and structure of the so-called uptake hydrogenase (Hup), which catalyses the in vivo dissociation of hydrogen to recycle the energy locked up in this ‘waste’ product. Two uptake hydrogenase syntons have been identified in Frankia: synton 1 is expressed under free-living conditions while synton 2 is expressed during symbiosis. We used qPCR to determine synton 1 hup gene expression in two Frankia strains under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. We also predicted the 3D structures of the Hup protein subunits based on multiple sequence alignments and remote homology modelling. Finally, we performed BLAST searches of genome and protein databases to identify genes that may contribute to the protection of nitrogenase against oxygen in the two Frankia strains. Our results show that in Frankia strain ACN14a, the expression patterns of the large (HupL1) and small (HupS1) uptake hydrogenase subunits depend on the abundance of oxygen in the external environment. Structural models of the membrane-bound hydrogenase subunits of ACN14a showed that both subunits resemble the structures of known [NiFe] hydrogenases (Volbeda et al.1995), but contain fewer cysteine residues than the uptake hydrogenase of the Frankia DC12 and Eu1c strains. Moreover, we show that all of the investigated Frankia strains have two squalene hopane cyclase genes (shc1 and shc2). The only exceptions were CcI3 and the symbiont of Datisca glomerata, which possess shc1 but not shc2. Four truncated haemoglobin genes were identified in Frankia ACN14a and Eu1f, three in CcI3, two in EANpec1 and one in the Datisca glomerata symbiont (Dg). 相似文献
Cell death was studied in barley (cv Himalaya) aleurone cells treated with abscisic acid and gibberellin. Aleurone protoplasts incubated in abscisic acid remained viable in culture for at least 3 weeks, but exposure to gibberellin initiated a series of events that resulted in death. Between 4 and 8 days after incubation in gibberellin, >70% of all protoplasts died. Death, which occurred after cells became highly vacuolated, was manifest by an abrupt loss of plasma membrane integrity followed by rapid shrinkage of the cell corpse. Hydrolysis of DNA began before death and occurred as protoplasts ceased production of alpha-amylase. DNA degradation did not result in the accumulation of discrete low molecular weight fragments. DNA degradation and cell death were prevented by LY83583, an inhibitor of gibberellin signaling in barley aleurone. We conclude that cell death in aleurone cells is hormonally regulated and is the final step of a developmental program that promotes successful seedling establishment. 相似文献
alpha 1-Proteinase inhibitors (alpha 1-PIs) are members of the serpin
superfamily of proteinase inhibitors, and are important in the maintenance
of homeostasis in a wide variety of animal taxa. Previous studies have
shown that in mice (genus Mus), evolution of alpha 1-PIs is characterized
by gene amplification, region-specific concerted evolution, and rapid
accumulation of amino acid substitutions. The latter occurs primarily in
the reactive center, which is the region of the alpha 1-PI molecule that
determines the inhibitor's specificity for target proteinases. The P1
residue within the reactive center, which is methionine in so-called
orthodox alpha 1-PIs and an amino acid other than methionine in unorthodox
alpha 1-PIs, is a primary determinant of inhibitor specificity. In the
present study, we find that the expression of mRNAs encoding unorthodox
alpha 1-PIs is polymorphic within Mus species, i.e., among individuals or
inbred strains. This is in striking contrast to mRNAs that encode orthodox
alpha 1-PIs, whose concentrations are relatively invariant. The
intraspecies variations in mRNA expression represent polymorphisms in the
structure of the alpha 1- PI gene family. The results, taken together with
previously described aspects of alpha 1-PI evolution, indicate that the
dissimilar levels of polymorphism exhibited by orthodox and unorthodox
alpha 1-PIs, which likely have distinct physiological functions, may
reflect different levels of selective constraint. The significance of this
finding to the evolution of gene families is discussed.
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Antigen/antibody complexes can efficiently target antigen presenting cells to allow stimulation of the cellular immune response. Due to the difficulty of manufacture and their inherent instability complexes have proved inefficient cancer vaccines. However, anti-idiotypic antibodies mimicking antigens have been shown to stimulate both antibody and T cell responses. The latter are due to T cell mimotopes expressed within the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of antibodies that are efficiently presented to dendritic cells in vivo. Based on this observation we have designed a DNA vaccine platform called ImmunoBody™, where cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and helper T cell epitopes replace CDR regions within the framework of a human IgG1 antibody. The ImmunoBody™ expression system has a number of design features which allow for rapid production of a wide range of vaccines. The CDR regions of the heavy and light chain have been engineered to contain unique restriction endonuclease sites, which can be easily opened, and oligonucleotides encoding the T cell epitopes inserted. The variable and constant regions of the ImmunoBody™ are also flanked by restriction sites, which permit easy exchange of other IgG subtypes. Here we show a range of T cell epitopes can be inserted into the ImmunoBody™ vector and upon immunization these T cell epitopes are efficiently processed and presented to stimulate high frequency helper and CTL responses capable of anti-tumor activity.Key words: DNA vaccines, cancer vaccines, melanoma, CTL, helper T cells相似文献
Since Darwin's Origin of Species, reconstructing the Tree of Life has been a goal of evolutionists, and tree-thinking has
become a major concept of evolutionary biology. Practically, building the Tree of Life has proven to be tedious. Too few morphological
characters are useful for conducting conclusive phylogenetic analyses at the highest taxonomic level. Consequently, molecular
sequences (genes, proteins, and genomes) likely constitute the only useful characters for constructing a phylogeny of all
life. For this reason, tree-makers expect a lot from gene comparisons. The simultaneous study of the largest number of molecular
markers possible is sometimes considered to be one of the best solutions in reconstructing the genealogy of organisms. This
conclusion is a direct consequence of tree-thinking: if gene inheritance conforms to a tree-like model of evolution, sampling
more of these molecules will provide enough phylogenetic signal to build the Tree of Life. The selection of congruent markers
is thus a fundamental step in simultaneous analysis of many genes. 相似文献
Fishes represent the stem vertebrate condition and have maintained several
gene arrangements common to mammalian genomes throughout the 450 Myr of
divergence from a common ancestor. One such syntenic arrangement includes
the GPI-PEPD enzyme association on Xiphophorus linkage group IV and human
chromosome 19. Previously we assigned the Xiphophorus homologue of the
human ERCC2 gene to linkage group U5 in tight association with the CKM
locus. CKM is also tightly linked to the ERCC2 locus on human chromosome
19, leading to speculation that human chromosome 19 may have arisen by
fusion of two ancestral linkage groups which have been maintained in
fishes. To investigate this hypothesis further, we isolated and sequenced
Xiphophorus fish genomic regions exhibiting considerable sequence
similarity to the human DNA ligase 1 amino acid sequence. Comparison of the
fish DNA ligase sequence with those of other species suggests several modes
of amino acid conservation in this gene. A 2.2-kb restriction fragment
containing part of an X. maculatus DNA ligase 1 exon was used in backcross
hybrid mapping with 12 enzyme or RFLP loci. Significant linkage was
observed between the nucleoside phosphorylase (NP2) and the DNA ligase
(LIG1) loci on Xiphophorus linkage group VI. This assignment suggests that
the association of four DNA repair-related genes on human chromosome 19 may
be the result of chance chromosomal rearrangements.
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