Inability of encapsulated Klebsiella pneumoniae to assemble functional type 1 fimbriae on their surface

Proteins which are secreted or associated with the cell envelope of Mycobacterium tuberculosis may contain protective T-cell epitopes. Prior to this study, a recombinant clone bank of enzymatically active M. tuberculosis-alkaline phosphatase fusions, were screened for immunogenicity in a murine T-cell model. Five of these were selected for further study, and the IFN-gamma secretion and proliferation of human PBMC from purified protein derivative- (PPD)-positive and PPD-negative donors were measured in response to oligopeptides, Mtb-PhoA fusions and one full-length protein. Epitopes from four of the five selected antigens were immunoreactive in the human model and corresponded to cytochrome d ubiquinol oxidase, cytochrome c oxidase subunit II, MTV005.02 and MTV033.08. Thus, this strategy identified novel human immunogenic peptides as possible candidates for a subunit vaccine.     

Functional genetics of human gut commensal Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron reveals metabolic requirements for growth across environments

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An unusual suicidal interaction inEscherichia coli involving nucleoid protein H-NS

A conditional-lethal mutation (rpoB364) mapping to the gene that encodes the β-subunit of RNA polymerase was obtained inEscherichia coli. This mutation caused cell filamentation at the restrictive growth temperature and partial derepression of the osmotically regulatedproU operon at the permissive growth temperature. Even under the latter condition, transformants of therpoB364 mutant strain carrying the plasmid vector pACYC184, but not those carrying otherpolA-dependent multicopy plasmids such as pACYC177 or pBR322, were killed in early stationary phase; one class of suppressor mutants isolated as survivors within these transformant colonies were further derepressed forproU-lac expression, and the mutation in each of several independent clones of this class was mapped tohns, the gene that encodes the protein H-NS of theE. coli nucleoid. Thehns mutations did not suppress the conditional-lethal growth phenotype of therpoB364 mutant itself. On the other hand, intracellular overproduction of guanosine 3’, 5’-bispyrophosphate (ppGpp) in therpoB364 strain alleviated both the growth inhibition at the restrictive temperature and the pACYC184-mediated stationary-phase lethality. Upon subcloning into pUC19 or into pACYC177, a 105-bpXbal-HindIII fragment from pACYC184 was shown to be sufficient to confer therpoB364 hns ⁺-dependent lethal phenotype. We suggest that the level in stationary-phase cultures of a gene product(s) that interacts with the pACYC184 DNA fragment is altered in therpoB364 hns+derivative (compared to that inrpoB+ orrpoB364 hns strains) and that this results in cell suicide.     

Isolation and dissociation of immune complexes from pleural effusions of lymphoma patients

Summary Immune complexes (IC) isolated from pleural effusions of lymphomas with favorable and unfavorable prognoses were of IgG type. These IC were further dissociated by ion exchange chromatography using 8 M urea. The antibody was found to be a high molecular weight protein (1.5×10⁵ daltons) and reacted with antihuman IgG immunologically while a second peak obtained on ion exchange chromatography may be an antigen moiety with a molecular weight of 3.2×10⁴ daltons as it reacted immunologically with the antibody. Strong cytoplasmic fluorescence was observed with various cell suspensions of lymphomas when reacted with the antibody preparations. The antisera raised against two different antigen fractions prepared from two lymphomas — nHL and LL showed positive fluorescence with both nHL and LL suspensions. The absorption of these rabbit antibodies with individual cell extracts or with antigen preparations also entirely blocked the cytoplasmic staining. The antigen moiety (PK-II) may have a common origin in the disease process. Pleural effusions from patients with unfavorable and favorable prognoses showed identical patterns of separation of IC components.     

Is all cyclo(His-Pro) derived from thyrotropin-releasing hormone?

Cyclo(His-Pro), or histidyl-proline diketopiperazine, is an endogenous cyclic dipeptide that is ubiquitously distributed in tissues and body fluids of both man and animals. This cyclic dipeptide is not only structurally related to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH, pGlu-His-ProNH₂), but it can also arise from TRH by the action of the enzyme pyroglutamate amino-peptidase (pGlu-peptidase). The data on the distribution of TRH, cyclo(His-Pro), and pGlu-peptidase under normal and abnormal conditions are summarized and potential relationships analyzed. We conclude that all of the cyclo(His-Pro) cannot be derived from TRH. Two additional sources of cyclo(His-Pro) are suggested. It is proposed that 29,247 molecular weight TRH prohormone, prepro TRH, which contains 5 copies of TRH sequence, can be processed to yield cyclo(His-Pro). Thus, both TRH and cyclo(His-Pro) share a common precursor, prepro[TRH/Cyclo(His-Pro)].     

X-ray studies on crystalline complexes involving amino acids and peptides. Part XX. Crystal structures of DL-arginine acetate monohydrate and DL-lysine acetate and a comparison with the corresponding L-amino acid complexes

Crystals of DL-arginine acetate monohydrate, C6H15N4O2+C2H3O2-.H2O, are monoclinic, P2(1)/c, with a = 13.552(2), b = 5.048(2), c = 18.837(3) A, beta = 101.34(2) degrees and Z = 4, and those of DL-lysine acetate, C6H15N2O2+.C2H3O2- are triclinic, P1, with a = 5.471(2), b = 7.656(2), c = 12.841(2) A, alpha = 94.48(1), beta = 94.59(2), gamma = 98.83(2) degrees and Z = 2. The structures have been solved by direct methods and refined to R = 0.058 and 0.077 for 1522 and 1259 observed reflections respectively. The difference in the number and the nature of proton donors leads to a difference in hydrogen bond density in the two structures. The basic elements of aggregation in both the structures are pairs of amino acid molecules, each pair stabilized by two centrosymmetrically related hydrogen bonds involving alpha-amino and alpha-carboxylate groups, stacked along the shortest dimension to form columns. The pairs are held together in each column by head-to-tail sequences. The columns stack along a crystallographic axis to form layers. Adjacent layers are bridged by acetate ions. The amino acid-acetate interactions are primarily through side chains and involve specific interactions and characteristic interaction patterns. The gross features of molecular aggregation are nearly the same in DL-arginine acetate monohydrate and L-arginine acetate whereas they are substantially different in the lysine complexes. In both cases, one of the two head-to-tail sequences in the L complex is replaced by a hydrogen bonded loop involving alpha-amino and alpha-carboxylate groups, in the DL complex. This may have implications for prebiotic condensation during chemical evolution.     

Molecular dynamics analysis of a ribonuclease C-peptide analogue

We have carried out a nanosecond molecular dynamics simulation of an analogue of the ribonuclease C-peptide in water. The overall conformation has an extended region for the first three amino acids connected to an α-helix for residues 4–13, and this basic structure is preserved throughout the simulation, with helical hydrogen bonds present 87% of the time, on average. The final helical hydrogen bond is spontaneously broken and re-formed several times, providing a detailed picture of such winding/unwinding events. The simulation was used to estimate the effects of internal motion on proton nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) intensities for several classes of important cross peaks. Within the helical regions, the effects of internal motion vary only a little from one residue to another for backbone–backbone cross peaks, and the relevant correlation functions reach plateau values within about 50 ps. The spectral simulations show, however, that it may be difficult to establish a close quantitative connection between NOESY cross-peak volumes and measures of helical content. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The nature of the binding site for aromatic compounds in glycogen phosphorylase b.

The inhibition of rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase b (1,4-alpha-D-glucan--orthophosphate alpha-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.1) by aromatic compounds was examined with 15 compounds. The relative effectiveness of the inhibitors correlated well with increasing substituent constant, pi, indicating the hydrophobic nature of the binding site. The inhibition was not affected by the ionic-strength variation of the assay mixtures. The results predict that the course of chemical modification of this enzyme and the properties of the derivatives depend on the nature of the reagent and on the incorporated groups. Many of the dissimilar and sometimes contradictory results reported for chemical-modification studies and for chemically modified phosphorylase b are explained by the findings presented in the paper.