EPR non-detectable copper in pyridoxal biogenic amine Schiff base complexes.

Schiff bases formed with octopamine, pyridoxal and pyridoxal phosphate react with copper ions to give various pH-dependent species. The outstanding feature of these complexes is their absence of EPR spectra at physiological pH values. We propose dimeric dipolar coupled structures for the EPR non-detectable copper complexes, involving hydroxyde anions and vitamin B-6 Schiff bases. These results establish that EPR non-detectable copper in enzymes may arise from dipolar coupling between metal ions involved in Schiff base type complexes.     

Serial enrichment of heteroduplex DNA using a MutS-magnetic bead system

Numerous applications in molecular biology and genomics require characterization of mutant DNA molecules present at low levels within a larger sample of non-mutant DNA. This is often achieved either by selectively amplifying mutant DNA, or by sequencing all the DNA followed by computational identification of the mutant DNA. However, selective amplification is challenging for insertions and deletions (indels). Additionally, sequencing all the DNA in a sample may not be cost effective when only the presence of a mutation needs to be ascertained rather than its allelic fraction. The MutS protein evolved to detect DNA heteroduplexes in which the two DNA strands are mismatched. Prior methods have utilized MutS to enrich mutant DNA by hybridizing mutant to non-mutant DNA to create heteroduplexes. However, the purity of heteroduplex DNA these methods achieve is limited because they can only feasibly perform one or two enrichment cycles. We developed a MutS-magnetic bead system that enables rapid serial enrichment cycles. With six cycles, we achieve complete purification of heteroduplex indel DNA originally present at a 5% fraction and over 40-fold enrichment of heteroduplex DNA originally present at a 1% fraction. This system may enable novel approaches for enriching mutant DNA for targeted sequencing.     

Pheromones linked to sexual behaviors excite the appetitive phase of feeding behavior of Aplysia fasciata. I. Modulation and excitation of appetitive behaviors

Pheromones presumably secreted by mating conspecifics – as well as homogenates containing tissue that is homologous with the atrial gland – increase the time that Aplysia fasciata spend feeding. This effect is caused by increasing the number of feeding episodes initiated in response to food, whereas the duration of a feeding bout remains unchanged. The increase in the number of feeding episodes is related to increases in head waving and crawling, i.e., appetitive movements that bring the animal into contact with food, as well as an increase in the responsiveness to food after it is contacted. Releasing a homogenate containing atrial gland tissue, or egg laying hormone, in the water near the animal elicited head lifting similar to that seen when animals are food aroused. The data indicate that the facilitation of Aplysia feeding caused by pheromones arises in part by an excitation of appetitive behaviors. These findings suggest that neurons generating appetitive behaviors will be affected by pheromones. Accepted: 28 November 1997     

Cooperativity in A-tract structure and bending properties of composite TnAn blocks

The existence of intrinsically curved DNA molecules incorporating short runs of adenines is undisputed, but none of the current models can explain the entire experimental data set. Recently, Burkhoff and Tullius [Burkhoff, A. M., & Tullius, T. D. (1988) Nature 331, 455-457] offered an explanation for Hagerman's observations on A4T4N2 vs T4A4N2 polymers [Hagerman, P. J. (1986) Nature 321, 449-450], which showed that A4T4N2 multimers migrate anomalously slowly on polyacrylamide gels and T4A4N2 multimers migrate normally. In A4T4N2 multimers Burkhoff and Tullius observe a hydroxy-radical cutting pattern associated with bent DNA and a B-like cutting pattern in T4A4N2. They attribute this difference in cutting pattern to a clash in the TA step of T4A4N2 and suggest that TA4N5 might already adopt an unbent B-DNA conformation [Tullius T. D., & Burkhoff, A. M. (1988) in Structure and Expression. Vol. 3: DNA Bending and Curvature (Olson, W. K., Sarma, M. H., Sarma, R. H., & Sundaralingam, M., Eds.) pp 77-85, Adenine Press, Guilderland, NY]. We show that the conformation adopted by TnAn blocks is similar to that of AnTn blocks. Two A-tract structures of opposite polarity coexist in both blocks. Moreover, we demonstrate a cooperative buildup of a T-tract structure adjacent to an A-tract structure that cannot be predicted by any of the current models. We conclude that AA steps do not assume the same conformation in long tracts of A's as in isolated AA steps. Therefore, the assumption of nearest-neighbor models, that global curvature is an additive phenomenon of local effects, is invalid.