Monolayer properties of chloroplast lipids

The properties of seven monogalactosyldiacylglycerols and six digalactosyldiacylglycerols, isolated from photosynthetic membranes and possessing different levels of fatty acid unsaturation, have been studied by the monolayer technique and compared with those of the fully saturated compounds. In addition, the monolayer properties of sulphoquinovosyldiacylglycerols and phosphatidylglycerols from higher plant chloroplasts, and several hexadecenoic acids have been measured.Monogalactosyldiacylglycerols containing saturated fatty acids form a condensed monolayer similar to that of saturated phosphatidylcholines. The naturally occurring monogalactosyldiacylglycerols, of which the double bond index ranged from 0.6 to 3.9, possessed comparable force-area curves suggesting that headgroup interactions play a more important role in packing behaviour than in phosphatidylcholines. Although digalactosyldiacylglycerols containing fully saturated fatty acids form a more expanded monolayer than the corresponding monogalactosyldiacylglycerols, the degree of expansion of the monolayer due to the presence of unsaturated fatty acids in the naturally occurring digalactosyldiacylglycerols is much less than in monogalactosyldiacylglycerols. Monogalactosyldiacylglycerols and digalactosyldiacylglycerols from a single species have very similar monolayer properties, and the presence of sulphoquinovosyldiacylglycerols and phosphatidylglycerols in the proportions in which they occur in higher plant chloroplasts does not have any condensing effect on a monolayer of galactolipids     

Lateral mobility of β-receptors involved in adenylate cyclase activation

Cationized ferritin was found to inhibit the lateral mobility of intramembrane proteins in turkey erythrocyte membranes and the activation of adenylate cyclase by the (?)-epinephrine-bound β-adrenergic receptor. It was observed that cationized ferritin has only a small direct effect on the β-receptor and on the adenylate cyclase moiety. It is concluded that the cationized ferritin-induced inhibition of the hormone-dependent cyclase activity results from the inhibition of the lateral mobility of the receptor and therefore a decrease in the bimolecular rate of interaction between the receptor and the enzyme.     

Measurement of preferential solvation of some glucans in mixed solvent systems by gel-permeation chromatography

Preferential solvation of the glucans amylose, pullulan, and dextran in binary dimethyl-sulfoxide/water (DMSO/H₂O) solvent mixtures has been measured using gel-permeation chromatography. The preferential solvation behavior of the three glucans in DMSO/H₂O solvent mixtures is indistinguishable in the experiments reported. In solvent mixtures with mol ratio DMSO/H₂O less than 1:2, all three glucans are solvated preferentially by H₂O. The maximum extent of preferential solvation by H₂O is about 2.5 mol H₂O/mol of glucose residues. When the DMSO/H₂O mol ratio exceeds 1:2, DMSO solvates the glucans preferentially to a maximum extent of about 1 mol DMSO/mol of glucose residues. An interpretation of the change in preferential solvation with mixed solvent composition is suggested in terms of the known characteristics of the binary solvent system, and the relationship of preferential solvation, reported here, to the absolute solvation of the glucan chains is discussed.     

The hydroxypyridinium crosslinks of skeletal collagens: Their measurement,properties and a proposed pathway of formation

A method is described for quantifying both reducible and mature crosslinking amino acids of collagen. The main crosslinking residue in cartilage, dentine and mature bone was the 3-hydroxypyridinium compound identified by Fujimoto et al. (1–3). Adult articular cartilage contained about one residue per collagen molecule, over forty times the content of the reducible crosslinks. We propose that hydroxypyridinium residues are formed by spontaneous interaction of two residues of hydroxylysino-5-ketonorleucine. This reaction explains the disappearance of reducible crosslinks at maturity and provides a novel mechanism for lateral crosslinking within and between fibrils which may account for some of the unique physical properties of hard tissue collagens.     

11-Trans leukotriene C: A naturally occurring slow reacting substance

A slow reacting substance, produced by murine mastocytoma cells, has been shown to have the structure 5(S)-hydroxy-6(R)-$\text{S}$-glutathionyl-7,9,11-$\text{trans}\text{-14-}\text{cis}\text{-eicosatetraenoic acid (11-}\text{trans}$ leukotriene C, previously referred to as leukotriene C-2) by ultraviolet spectroscopy, amino acid analyses, lipoxygenase conversion and comparisions with a synthetic compound of known structure and stereochemistry.     

Cytochrome P-450 lowering effect of alkyl halides,correlation with decrease in arachidonic acid

Treatment of male rats with carbon tetrachloride, bromotrichloromethane, chloroform, 1,2-dibromoethane, 1-bromo-2-chloroethane, and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane results in a decrease in cytochrome P-450 content and alterations in the relative content of fatty acids in hepatic microsomes. A high correlation was found between the loss of cytochrome P-450, the decrease in arachidonic acid (r=0.93), and the increases in linoleic (r=?0.91) and oleic acids (r=?0.89).     

Calorimetric and chiroptical evidence of aggregate-driven helix formation in carrageenan systems

Thermally induced, order-disorder transitions of iota- and kappa-carrageenan have been monitored by optical rotation and differential-scanning calorimetry in various ionic environments. Conformational ordering in kappa-carrageenan is observed only in the presence of cations that have been shown previously to promote helix-helix aggregation, and shows marked hysteresis between heating and cooling. Iota-carrageenan, by contrast, shows an order-disorder transition in the non-aggregating, tetramethylammonium salt form, at substantially lower temperature than for kappa-carrageenan, and without hysteresis. In the presence of potassium ions, which are known to promote aggregation, iota-carrageenan shows two distinct thermal-transitions, one without hysteresis at the same temperature as observed under non-aggregating conditions, and one with significant hysteresis close to the temperature of the kappa-carrageenan transition. We interpret these transitions as helix-to-coil and aggregated helix-to-coil, respectively. This interpretation is supported by measurements of the enthalpy changes of the transitions; ΔH values show a systematic increase with increasing aggregation and hysteresis. We conclude that the double helix of iota-carrageenan can exist as a stable entity in isolation, but may be further stabilised by aggregation, whereas the kappa-carrageenan helix is stable only when aggregated.     

Polypeptide synthesis catalyzed by p-hydroxymercuribezoate-modified ribosomes

The stimulation of poly(U)-directed polyphenylalanine synthesis produced by modification ofEscherichia coli ribosomes withp-hydroxymercuribenzoate, at low molar ratios of reagent to ribosomes, is due to an increase in the average chain length of polyphenylalanine synthesized, and not to the activation of inactive ribosomes. At a higher molar ratio ofp-hydroxymercuribenzoate to ribosomes, which produces no overall change in activity, approximately 50% of the active ribosomes present in the untreated preparation have been completely inactivated, and the remaining active ones, like the ribosomes of the stimulated preparation, synthesize polyphenylalanine at an increased rate as compared with the untreated ribosomes.Abbreviations pHMB p-hydroxymercuribenzoate - SucNBr N-bromosuccinimide     

Sexual dimorphism of motorneurons: Timbal muscle innervation in male periodical cicadas and homologous structures in females

Summary Treatment of cultured goldfish xanthophores by hormone (ACTH) or c-AMP induces not only pigment dispersion, but subsequent outgrowth of processes, and pigment translocation into these processes. These latter effects are shown to proceed as follows: First the edge of the cytoplasmic lamellae takes on a scalloped contour with numerous protrusions. These presumably serve as nucleation centers where short microfilament bundles are assembled, Later, the microfilament bundles elongate (grow), often resulting in an extension of the protrusions to become filopodia while the proximal end of the microfilaments penetrates into the thicker portion of the cellular process which now houses the pigment, i.e., the carotenoid droplets. Carotenoid droplets appear to migrate along the microfilament bundles, or cytoplasmic channels associated with them, into the filopodia. Finally, some of the filopodia become broader, thicker and laden with carotenoid droplets and are then recognized by light microscopy as pigmented cellular processes. The microfilaments have been shown to be actin filaments by their thickness, the size of their subunits, and decoration by heavy meromyosin. Evidence is presented which suggests that the growth of these actin filaments may come about by recruitment from short F-actin strands found in random orientation in adjacent areas.