Oxygen-binding characteristics of Potamilla chlorocruorin

Accurate oxygen equilibrium curves of chlorocruorin of a marine polychaete annelid, Potamilla leptochaeta, were determined under a variety of experimental conditions. Like chlorocruorins from other species Potamilla chlorocruorin exhibited a low oxygen affinity, a large Bohr effect, and high cooperativity compared to those of human hemoglobin. However, in contrast to chlorocruorins from other species, the shape of the oxygen equilibrium curve for Potamilla chlorocruorin varied dramatically upon changes of pH or temperature. As observed in hemocyanins and annelid hemoglobins, cations, especially divalent ones such as Mg2+ and Ca2+, caused marked increase in oxygen affinity and cooperativity of Potamilla chlorocruorin. This finding together with the determination of cations in Potamilla blood has made clear the physiological role of chlorocruorin as an oxygen carrier. A graphical analysis based on the Monod-Wyman-Changeux allosteric model indicated that the number of sites for oxygen binding involved in heme-heme interactions is six, defining the functional unit of chlorocruorin molecule.     

Protease inhibitors generate cytotoxic fragments from Alzheimer amyloid protein precursor in cDNA-transfected glioma cells.

A human glioma cell line (Bu-17) was stably transfected with full-length cDNA encoding beta/A4 amyloid protein precursor (APP). When the transfectants were treated with protease inhibitors (leupeptin, E-64, and antipain) and the lysosomotropic agent chloroquine, aberrantly processed fragments of APP having molecular sizes of 8-30 kDa were detected with an antibody against the carboxyl-terminal sequence of APP. Immunocytochemistry revealed that these fragments were localized in the lysosome-like organelles. Treatment of the APP cDNA transfectants with chloroquine for 3 days caused cellular degeneration, and leupeptin and E-64 enhanced chloroquine-induced cytotoxicity. These results suggest that inhibition of lysosomal hydrolases impairs intracellular APP metabolism to generate aberrantly processed fragments that induce cytotoxicity.     

Immunohistochemical characteristics of the constituents of senile plaques and amyloid angiopathy in aged cynomolgus monkeys

Abstract: In this study, we immunohistochemically examined the several constituents of senile plaques (SPs) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in aged cynomolgus monkeys. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) deposited in all mature plaques and CAA, and in half of the diffuse plaques. Alpha-1-antichymotripsin (αACT) deposited in half of the mature plaques and in one third of the CAA. Amyloid precursor protein (APP), ubiquitin (Ub), and microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) accumulated in the swollen neurites of mature plaques. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was detected in the astrocytes and their processes surrounding the mature plaques. Tau was detected in neither the SPs nor CAA. Therefore, mature plaques involved extracellular Aβ, apoE, and αACT, and also astrocytes and swollen neurites. However, diffuse plaques involved only extracellular Aβ and apoE. Since these features, except for tau, were consistent with those in humans, this animal model will be useful for studying the pathogenesis of cerebral amyloid deposition.     

Effects of polyamines on the activities of Escherichia coli ribonuclease I and II.

The effects of polyamines on the breakdown of synthetic polynucleotides [poly(A), poly(C), and poly(U)] by E. coli ribonuclease I [ribonucleate 3'-oligonucleotidohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.23] and ribonuclease II [EC 3.1.4.1] have been studied. The degradation of poly(C) by RNase II was stimulated by spermine and spermidine, while that of poly(A) by RNase II was not affected by polyamines. Under our standard experimental conditions, the breakdown of poly(U) by RNase II was inhibited slightly by polyamines. The stimulatory effect of spermine and spermidine on the breakdown of poly(C) occurred in the absence of monovalent cations but not in the absence of divalent cations. When polyamines were used as a stimulant of RNase II, the ratio of poly(C) degradation to poly(U) degradation was greater in the presence of inhibitors such as poly(G) than in their absence. Although the breakdown of all synthetic polynucleotides by RNase I was stimulated by polyamines, the degree of stimulation by polyamines was in the order poly(C)greater than poly(A)(see text)poly(U). However, the difference in degree of stimulation among polynucleotides decreased as monovalent cation concentration was increased.     

Characterization of cerebellar guanylate cyclase using N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Presence of two different types of guanylate cyclase in soluble and particulate fractions

Some characteristics of guanylate cyclase (GTP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.2) in subcellular fractions prepared from rat cerebellum have been analyzed on the basis of responsiveness to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and inhibitors related to N-nitroso compounds. The enzyme in 100 000 X g supernatant and crude mitochondrial (P2) fractions were differently activated (11- and 2.5-fold, respectively) by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. The soluble fraction obtained by hypo-osmotic treatment and subsequent recentrifugation of the P2 (P2-soluble) contained a significantly higher total guanylate cyclase activity than that of the starting material (P2). The P2-soluble fraction also exhibited a lower responsiveness (1.5-fold) to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine than that found in the P2. The membrane fraction prepared from the P2 (P2-membrane) had no response to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Hemoglobin and vitamin A derivatives significantly inhibited both N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-activated 100 000 X g supernatant and basal P2-soluble enzyme activities, without effect on the basal activities in 100 000 X g supernatant and P2-membrane fractions. The present results suggest that two different types of guanylate cyclase may be present in rat cerebellum in terms of the responsiveness of N-nitroso compounds, and P2-soluble guanylate cyclase seems to be activated endogenously through a mechanism similar to the action of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.     

Kinetic mechanism of beef heart ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase.

The electron transfer from ubiquinol-2 to ferricytochrome c mediated by ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase [E.C. 1.10.2.2] purified from beef heart mitochondria, which contained one equivalent of ubiquinone-10 (Q10), was investigated under initial steady-state conditions. The Q10-depleted enzyme was as active as the Q10-containing one. Double reciprocal plots for the initial steady-state rate versus one of the two substrates at various fixed levels of the other substrate gave parallel straight lines in the absence of any product. Intersecting straight lines were obtained in the presence of a constant level of one of the products, ferrocytochrome c. The other product, ubiquinone-2, did not show any significant effect on the enzymic reaction. Ferrocytochrome c non-competitively inhibited the enzymic reaction against either ubiquinol-2 or ferricytochrome c. These results indicate a Hexa-Uni ping-pong mechanism with one ubiquinol-2 and two ferricytochrome c molecules as the substrates, which involves the irreversible release of ubiquinone-2 as the first product and the irreversible isomerization between the release of the first ferrocytochrome c and the binding of the second ferricytochrome c. Considering the cyclic electron transfer reaction mechanism, this scheme suggests that the binding of quinone or quinol to the enzyme and electron transfer between the iron-sulfur center and cytochrome c1 are rigorously controlled by the electron distribution within the enzyme.