The spatial organization of the active sites of the bifunctional oligomeric enzyme tryptophan synthase: Cross-linking by a novel method

To achieve specific cross-linking between the active sites of the non-identical subunits tryptophan synthase from E. coli was modified by a novel method. After reaction with bifunctional reagents of the isolated subunits at their active sites, the tetrameric complex was formed and the free ends of the reagent molecules reacted with each other forming a covalent bridge between the subunits. The distance between the amino acid side chains involved in the cross-linking should not exceed approx. 1.8 nm. A distance much shorter than that is unlikely since all attempts to cross-link the active sites with different shorter bifunctional reagents failed. The implications of these results in the mechanism of action of the enzyme are discussed.     

The epoxide hydrolase catalyzed hydrolysis of trans-3-bromo-1,2-epoxycyclohexane. A direct proof for a general base catalyzed mechanism of the enzymatic hydration

The hydrolysis of (±)-$\text{trans}$-3-bromo-1,2-epoxycyclohexane in the presence of rabbit liver microsomes was investigated, and found to yield, beside $\text{c}$-3-bromocyclohexane-$\text{r}$-1,$\text{t}$-2-diol, 2,3-epoxycyclohexanol. It was demonstrated that the latter compound was the only product of the enzymatic reaction, whereas the diol resulted from a non enzymatic hydration in the reaction medium. These data provide the first direct proof for a general base catalysis in the enzymatic epoxide hydration, previously hypothesized on the basis of several lines of indirect evidence, and disprove alternative mechanisms involving protonation of the oxirane oxygen.     

Fast atom bombardment: A new mass spectrometric method for peptide sequence analysis

We have studied a selection of peptides using a new mass spectrometric ionisation technique - fast atom bombardment (FAB). We define the fragmentation pathways observed and comment on the utility in sequence analysis. A simple acetylation experiment is shown to aid rapid sequence assignment.     

Lipid participation in intracellular freezing avoidance mechanisms of lettuce seed

Freeze-fracture electron microscopy was used to study water content related freezing resistance in Grand Rapids lettuce seeds. Consistent and recognizable conformational changes occurred in lipid-water phases of lettuce seeds at different moisture contents. In air-dry lettuce seed cotyledons, the lipids lying in spherical lipid bodies near the cell wall appeared amorphous, while the structure was crystalline above 20% water content. The lipid bodies interassociated into membrane bilayers in seeds containing 20 to 25% water. Such lyotropic phase transitions in membrane lipids during lettuce seed hydration are believed to contribute to the biphasic freezing behavior observed in lettuce seeds at different moisture contents and to provide a natural freezing tolerance mechanism for highly desiccated plant tissues such as seeds.     

Differential mitotic rates and patterns of growth in compartments in the Drosophila wing

In the wing disks of Drosophila slowly dividing cells of Minute mutations are progressively eliminated from Minute/Minute⁺ mosaic compartments by a process known as cell competition. From a study of two different Minutes we show here that the intensity of competition is greater in the more extreme Minute with the slowest rate of cell division. The way in which the more rapidly growing Minute⁺ clones grow and overcome the surrounding Minute cells is described and cell competition is shown to be a result of local interactions between slow- and faster-growing cells.     

Relationships between polyamine metabolism and RNA synthesis in post-ischemic liver cell repair

In liver cells recovering from reversible ischemia the increase in RNA synthesis by isolated nuclei is preceded by activation of ornithine decarboxylase, leading in turn to an increase in putrescine concentration. Treatment of the animals with 1,3-diaminopropane and putrescine prevents ornithine decarboxylase activation but does not hinder the enhancement of RNA synthesis in post-ischemic liver nuclei; therefore, ornithine decarboxylase activation does not seem to be a necessary prerequisite for the increase in RNA synthesis. Hypophysectomy does not prevent the post-ischemic increases of ornithine decarboxylase and RNA synthesis; but pre-treatment of the animals with cycloheximide—which has a dual effect on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase—abolishes the post-ischemic enhancement of RNA synthesis. In contrast with regenerating liver, changes in ornithine decarboxylase activity and putrescine concentrations in reversible ischemia are not associated to changes in S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity and in spermine and spermidine concentrations that seem to be characteristic of tissues where increases in RNA synthesis are followed by DNA synthesis and cell multiplication.     

Regulation of cellular energy metabolism. The Crabtree effect

The Crabtree effect (inhibition of respiration by glycolysis) is observed in cells with approximately equal glycolytic and respiratory capacities for ATP synthesis. Addition of glucose to aerobic suspensions of glucose-starved cells (Sarcoma 180 ascites tumor cells) causes a burst of respiration and lactate production due to ATP utilization for glucose phosphorylation by hexokinase and phosphofructokinase. This burst of activity is followed by inhibition of both respiration and glycolysis, the former to below the value before glucose addition (Crabtree effect). Both the respiratory rate and the glycolytic flux appear to be regulated by the cytosolic $\text{[}\text{ATP}\text{]}\text{[}\text{ADP}\text{][}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{]}$ albeit by completely different mechanisms. Respiration is regulated by the free energy of hydrolysis of ATP, such that the rate increases as the $\text{[}\text{ATP}\text{]}\text{[}\text{ADP}\text{][}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{]}$ decreases and decreases as the $\text{[}\text{ATP}\text{]}\text{[}\text{ADP}\text{][}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{]}$ increases. The regulatory enzymes of glycolysis are activated by ADP (AMP) and P_i and inhibited by ATP. Thus both respiration and glycolysis increase or decrease as the $\text{[}\text{ATP}\text{]}\text{[}\text{ADP}\text{][}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{]}$ decreases or increases. The parallel regulation of both ATP-producing pathways by this common metabolite ratio is consistent with the cytoplasmic $\text{[}\text{ATP}\text{]}\text{[}\text{ADP}\text{][}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{]}$ being an important determinant of homeostatic regulation of cellular energy metabolism.     

Structural studies of the apoprotein of the Folch-Pi bovine brain myelin proteolipid : characterization of the CNBr-fragments and of a long C-terminal sequence.

The action of cyanogen bromide on the quite insoluble bovine proteolipid apoprotein allowed the determination of four peptide fragments: two of them constituted a 19 amino acid long C-terminal sequence of the apoprotein. Our results were in favour of the existence of only one subunit presenting a molecular weight closely related to 25,000 for which a schematic representation is given.