Purification and characterization of (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan endohydrolases from germinated wheat (Triticum aestivum)

A (13, 14)--glucan 4-glucanohydrolase [(13, 14)--glucanase, EC 3.2.1.73] was purified to homogeneity from extracts of germinated wheat grain. The enzyme, which was identified as an endohydrolase on the basis of oligosaccharide products released from a (13, 14)--glucan substrate, has an apparent pI of 8.2 and an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa. Western blot analyses with specific monoclonal antibodies indicated that the enzyme is related to (13, 14)--glucanase isoenzyme EI from barley. The complete primary structure of the wheat (13, 14)--glucanase has been deduced from nucleotide sequence analysis of cDNAs isolated from a library prepared using poly(A)⁺ RNA from gibberellic acid-treated wheat aleurone layers. One cDNA, designated LW2, is 1426 nucleotide pairs in length and encodes a 306 amino acid enzyme, together with a NH₂-terminal signal peptide of 28 amino acid residues. The mature polypeptide encoded by this cDNA has a molecular mass of 32085 and a predicted pI of 8.1. The other cDNA, designated LW1, carries a 109 nucleotide pair sequence at its 5 end that is characteristic of plant introns and therefore appears to have been synthesized from an incompletely processed mRNA. Comparison of the coding and 3-untranslated regions of the two cDNAs reveals 31 nucleotide substitutions, but none of these result in amino acid substitutions. Thus, the cDNAs encode enzymes with identical primary structures, but their corresponding mRNAs may have originated from homeologous chromosomes in the hexaploid wheat genome.     

烧伤狗浆血游离氨基酸的动态变化

烧伤狗浆血游离氨基酸的动态变化黎君友,周幼勤,赖业馥,赵有,伊少杰ＳｅｑｕｅｎｔｉａｌＣｈａｎｇｅｓｉｎＰｌａｓｍａＦｒｅｅＡｍｉｎｏＡｃｉｄＣｏｎｃｅｎｔｒａｔｉｏｎｉｎＢｕｒｎｅｄＤｏｇｓ￥Ｌｉｊｕｎｙｏｎ;Ｚｈｏｕｙｏｕｑｉｎ;Ｌａｉｙｅｆｕ;...     

Cytogenetic study of mentally retarded children in Taipei

560 blood samples collected from mentally retarded children in Taipei were karyotypically analyzed for the incidence of fragile X and other chromosome abnormalities. The fragile site at Xq27.3 was observed in 18 patients (3.21%), 11 males and 7 females, out of the 560 blood cultures using M medium. Down syndrome (6.25%), 24 males and 11 females, was the other major category of abnormality. Other abnormalities, including inversion, translocation, deletion, duplication, ring as well as an extra marker chromosome were observed. The overall incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in these children was 14.82%.     

Chimeric tick-borne encephalitis and dengue type 4 viruses: effects of mutations on neurovirulence in mice.

Two new chimeric flaviviruses were constructed from full-length cDNAs that contained tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) CME or ME structural protein genes and the remaining genes derived from dengue type 4 virus (DEN4). Studies involving mice inoculated intracerebrally with the ME chimeric virus indicated that it retained the neurovirulence of its TBEV parent from which its pre-M and E genes were derived. However, unlike parental TBEV, the chimeric virus did not produce encephalitis when mice were inoculated peripherally, indicating a loss of neuroinvasiveness. In the present study, the ME chimeric virus (vME) was subjected to mutational analysis in an attempt to reduce or ablate neurovirulence measured by direct inoculation of virus into the brain. We identified three distinct mutations that were each associated independently with a significant reduction of mouse neurovirulence of vME. These mutations ablated (i) the TBEV pre-M cleavage site, (ii) the TBEV E glycosylation site, or (iii) the first DEN4 NS1 glycosylation site. In contrast, ablation of the second DEN4 NS1 glycosylation site or the TBE pre-M glycosylation site or amino acid substitution at two positions in the TBEV E protein increased neurovirulence. The only conserved feature of the three attenuated mutants was restriction of virus yield in both simian and mosquito cells. Following parenteral inoculation, these attenuated mutants induced complete resistance in mice to fatal encephalitis caused by the highly neurovirulent vME.     

Influence of guanine nucleotides on complex formation between Ras and CDC25 proteins.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC25 gene and closely homologous genes in other eukaryotes encode guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Ras proteins. We have determined the minimal region of the budding yeast CDC25 gene capable of activity in vivo. The region required for full biological activity is approximately 450 residues and contains two segments homologous to other proteins: one found in both Ras-specific exchange factors and the more distant Bud5 and Lte1 proteins, and a smaller segment of 48 amino acids found only in the Ras-specific exchange factors. When expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein, this region of CDC25 was found to be a potent catalyst of GDP-GTP exchange on yeast Ras2 as well as human p21H-ras but inactive in promoting exchange on the Ras-related proteins Ypt1 and Rsr1. The CDC25 fusion protein catalyzed replacement of GDP-bound to Ras2 with GTP (activation) more efficiently than that of the reverse reaction of replacement of GTP for GDP (deactivation), consistent with prior genetic analysis of CDC25 which indicated a positive role in the activation of Ras. To more directly study the physical interaction of CDC25 and Ras proteins, we developed a protein-protein binding assay. We determined that CDC25 binds tightly to Ras2 protein only in the absence of guanine nucleotides. This higher affinity of CDC25 for the nucleotide-free form than for either the GDP- or GTP-bound form suggests that CDC25 catalyzes exchange of guanine nucleotides bound to Ras proteins by stabilization of the transitory nucleotide-free state.     

采用康宁克通—A治疗鼻息肉的临床疗效观察

鼻息肉与变态反应之间有密切联系。本文拟报道康克通—A用于鼻息肉摘除术前、后以延迟与防止息肉复发的临疗效观察。     

Rapid and reliable high-performance liquid chromatographic method for analysing human plasma serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, homovanillic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid

The simultaneous measurement of homovanillic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in human plasma by an ultrafiltration and microbore high-performance liquid chromatography—electrochemical detection technique is established. Conventional preparation of blood is very tedious and time-consuming, but isocratic separation of the analytes in plasma ultrafiltrates using a microbore column could be achieved within 10 min. Hence, theoretically, over 140 analyses can be performed in a working day. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) of this method is about 0.1–0.5 pg per injection for all analytes. The required volume of plasma samples can be less than 100 μl. Hence, blood loss is minimal, especially in repeated blood sampling. This rapid, simple and sensitive method can, therefore, be used as a routine clinical tool in the simultaneous measurement of plasma homovanillic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid.     

Production enhancement of Pseudomonas amyloderamosa isoamylase

Isoamylase production in batchwise and fed-batch cultures of Pseudomonas amyloderomosa (strain WU7211-2) was investigated. By feeding maltose in a mode motivated by its structure gene (iam), the final isoamylase activity of 5100 U/ml was achieved, as compared to 4100 U/ml in batch cultivation and 3800 U/ml in shaken flasks. The enhancement may be due to the fact that the production of isoamylase can be induced effectively by the maltose only if the glucose concentration is maintained below the inhibitory level. Also, cultivations based on 500-ml shaken flasks, performed with different amount of proteimax HE90, showed that higher amounts of proteimax HE90 resulted in an increased value of pH that had an adverse effect on isoamylase yield.The authors wish to thank the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (FIRDI), Taiwan, R.O.C for the financial support (Cooperative Agreement 94M904-2B). Appreciation is also extended to Drs. C.C. Liao, W.S. Chu and L.L. Lin of FIRDI for their valuable discussions.