Views on the wisdom of using antioxidant vitamin supplements

In the Forum that follows, four authorities in nutrition and vitaminology present their divergent views on the use of antioxidant vitamin supplements. In this introduction, the basic dilemma between setting RDAs that insure an absence of deficiency symptoms and those that insure optimal health is discussed, as well as other factors that must be considered to reach a consensus on this controversial topic.     

Subunit composition and ATP site labeling of the coated vesicle proton-translocating adenosinetriphosphatase

The partially purified proton-translocating adenosinetriphosphatase [(H+)-ATPase] from clathrin-coated vesicles has been reported to contain eight polypeptides of molecular weights 15,000-116,000 [Xie, X.S., & Stone, D.K. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 2492-2495]. To determine whether these polypeptides form a single macromolecular complex, we have isolated three monoclonal antibodies which recognize the reconstitutively active (H+)-ATPase in the native, detergent-solubilized state. All three monoclonal antibodies precipitate the same set of polypeptides from either the partially purified enzyme or the detergent-solubilized coated vesicle membrane proteins. The immunoprecipitated polypeptides have molecular weights of 100,000, 73,000, 58,000, 40,000, 38,000, 34,000, 33,000, 19,000, and 17,000. These results thus indicate that this set of polypeptides forms a single macromolecular complex and suggest that they correspond to subunits of the coated vesicle (H+)-ATPase. To identify the ATP-hydrolytic subunit of the coated vesicle (H+)-ATPase, the purified enzyme was reacted with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and 7-chloro-4-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-Cl), both of which inhibit activity in an ATP-protectable manner. Labeling was carried out by using [3H]NEM or [14C]NBD-Cl, and the specificity of the reaction was increased by prelabeling of the protein with the nonradioactive reagents in the presence of ATP and by taking advantage of the nucleotide specificity of protection. The principal polypeptide labeled by both [3H]NEM and [14C]NBD-Cl had a molecular weight of 73,000. In addition, this protein was the only polypeptide whose labeling was significantly reduced in the presence of ATP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Potent inhibitory effects of the 5'-triphosphates of (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine and (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyluracil on DNA polymerase gamma

(E)-5-(2-Bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate (BrVdUTP) and (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyluracil 5'-triphosphate (BrVarafUTP), which are known as specific inhibitors of herpes simplex viral (type 1 and 2) DNA polymerase, were found to be strong inhibitors of DNA polymerase gamma from human KB and murine myeloma cells. In fact BrVdUTP and BrVarafUTP were found to be stronger inhibitors of DNA polymerase gamma than of other DNA polymerases having viral (herpes simplex virus or retrovirus) origin or cellular (eukaryotic alpha and beta, or prokaryotic) origin. The mode of inhibition of DNA polymerase gamma by BrVdUTP and BrVarafUTP was competitive with respect to dTTP, the normal substrate. Whereas BrVdUTP was an efficient substrate for DNA polymerase gamma and other DNA polymerases that were examined, BrVarafUTP failed to serve as a substrate for DNA synthesis. Ki values for BrVdUTP (40 nM) and BrVarafUTP (7 nM) with DNA polymerase gamma, as determined with (rA)n.(dT) as the template.primer, were much smaller than the Km values for dTTP (0.16 microM and 0.71 microM for murine and human DNA polymerase gamma, respectively). Thus, the affinity of BrVdUTP or BrVarafUTP for DNA polymerase gamma was much stronger than that of dTTP.     

Isolation and characterization of a fatty acyl esterase from rat lung

In an effort to facilitate studies of the reaction involved in the removal of fatty acids from acyl proteins, we have synthesized an octanoic acid ester of doubly blocked serine, specifically octanoyl N-carbobenzoxy-L-serine-benzyl ester (octanoyl boc-serine), and used it as a substrate to guide the purification of an esterase from rat lung. The esterase was purified 228-fold by column chromatography on DE-52 cellulose, hydroxylapatite, octyl-Sepharose, and concanavalin A-Sepharose and by HPLC gel filtration. The final enzyme preparation ran as a single 77,000-Da band when subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and exhibited a single symmetrical peak (sedimentation coefficient, 4.5 S) when centrifuged through a sucrose density gradient (empirical Mr, 63,000). The esterase is an acidic protein, pI 4.1, and is very active against p-nitrophenyl esters comprised of C4-C14 fatty acids; the highest specific activity (26.5 mumol/min/mg) was obtained using p-nitrophenyl caprylate as substrate. The pH optimum of the lung esterase is near 8.0 and the activity on octanoyl boc-serine is maximum when 0.3% (w/v) Myrj-52 is included in the assay medium. The activity of the esterase is not dependent on calcium ions. The enzyme does not remove acyl groups from the G-protein of vesicular stomatitis virus or the proteolipid of bovine brain. The possible role of the esterase in the metabolism of acylated proteins is considered.