De novo synthesis of d-alanine in germinating Pisum sativum seedlings

The amounts of d-alanine derivatives, γ-l-glutamyl-d-alanine and N-malonyl-d-alanine, increase rapidly during the early growth of pea seeds. Pyruvate-[1?¹⁴C], l-alanine-[U?¹⁴C], d-alanine-[U?¹⁴C], l-alanine-[¹⁵N] and ¹⁵NH₄Cl were therefore fed to the seedlings and the incorporation investigated. Labelling results revealed that pea seedlings can utilize these erogenous compounds to form d-alanine and that labelled l-alanine is effectively converted to the d-enantiomer with retention of ¹⁴C and, largely, ¹⁵N label. Enzyme analyses in vitro provided additional evidence that the extract of pea seedlings catalyzes the direct conversion of l-alanine to d-alanine. The data suggest that the de novo synthesis of d-alanine in pea seedlings occurs by a racemase reaction.     

N-acetyl conjugates of basic amino acids newly identified in rat urine

Ninhydrin-negative conjugates of basic amino acids were isolated from rat urine and were characterized. The following conjugates of basic amino acids are the compounds newly identified in animal urine specimens, N^α-acetyl-N^π-methylhistidine, N^α-(N-acetyl-β-alanyl)histidine (N-acetylcarnosine), N^α-acetyl-N^G,N^′G-dimethylarginine, N^α-acetyl-N^G,N^G-dimethylarginine, and N^α-acetyl-N^?,N^?,N^?-trimethyllysine.     

Microbial Production of Ursodeoxycholic Acid from Lithocholic Acid by Fusarium equiseti M41

A fungus identified as Fusarium equiseti was isolated from soil and found to carry out 7β-hydroxylation of lithocholic acid to ursodeoxycholic acid (35% yield; 350 mg/liter) in 112 h.     

Crystallization and main-chain structure of neutral protease from Streptomyces caespitosus

A neutral protease, i.e., a zinc-containing metalloendoprotease from Streptomyces caespitosus, has been crystallized using acetone as a precipitating agent. The crystals diffract to better than 1.5 A resolution when a rotating anode X-ray generator is used as an X-ray source. Protein phase angles were calculated by the multiple isomorphous replacement method using two heavy-atom derivatives (HgCl2 and CH3HgCl). A 6 A resolution electron density map clearly showed molecular boundaries. Although its amino acid sequence is not known, the folding pattern of the polypeptide chain could be traced on a 2.5 A resolution electron density map. A large cleft, which is located on the molecular surface, was proved to be the active site of the enzyme by structure analyses of inhibitor-complex crystals. The highest electron density peak, which corresponds to the cleft, was assigned to a catalytically essential zinc atom on difference Fourier synthesis between native and EDTA-soaked crystals.     

Recombination of exogenous interleukin 2 receptor gene flanked by immunoglobulin recombination signal sequences in a pre-B cell line and transgenic mice

We have constructed a plasmid, pLTR100, which contains human interleukin 2 receptor light (IL-2R L) chain cDNA in the inverted orientation relative to the upstream SV40 promoter. The cDNA segment is flanked by the immunoglobulin gene recombination signal sequences so that the cDNA segment can invert and the human IL-2R L chain is subsequently expressed under the control of the SV40 promoter. A murine pre-B cell line, 38B9, transfected with pLTR100 began to express the human IL-2R L chain on the cell surface. The frequency of human IL-2R L chain positive cells increased almost linearly up to 50% for 60 days of culture after transfection. Southern blot analysis and sequencing of the DNA fragments at the recombination junction confirmed that the cDNA segment was inverted in a signal sequence-dependent manner by the variable-diversity-joining recombination process. Transgenic mice bearing the recombination substrate DNA similar to pLTR100 expressed the human IL-2 L chain in the spleen, thymus, and bone marrow, but not in the other tissues examined at the detectable level. Both IgM- and CD3-positive cells expressed the human IL-2R L chain, indicating that this artificial DNA can serve as a substrate for recombination both in B- and T-cells and that another DNA segment may be necessary to confer the cell-type specificity on the substrate DNA.     

Enhancement of DNA synthesis in rat thymocytes by stimulating their muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.

The binding of 3H-acetylcholine (ACh) to acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) on rat thymocytes was examined and found to be inhibited by the treatment with several antagonists against nicotinic and muscarinic AChRs. This result suggested that thymocytes have AChRs with different affinity, and bear both nicotinic and muscarinic AChRs on their surfaces. To make clear the functional significance of the AChRs, DNA synthesis of the thymocytes stimulated with ACh was examined. 3H-thymidine uptake of thymocytes was significantly increased when the cells were stimulated with ACh or another cholinergic agonist. The increment of DNA synthesis caused by ACh in thymocytes was not reduced by treatment with nicotinic antagonists, but was decreased by treatment with any of the muscarinic antagonists. Concentration of the intracellular second messengers, inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) and guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) was also made higher by ACh stimulation. It is discussed that the enhancement of intracellular IP3 and cGMP concentrations after stimulation of muscarinic AChRs appears to be related with the increment of thymocyte DNA synthesis.     

YM175, a new bisphosphonate, increases serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in rats via stimulating renal 1-hydroxylase activity

Effect of YM175, a new bisphosphonate, on vitamin D metabolism was studied in rats. When animals were treated with the compound, serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D increased in a dose dependent manner. The effect was also detected in thyroparathyroidectomized animals. The effect appears to be due to the stimulation of renal production of the hormone, since renal 1-hydroxylase was also elevated in these animals. However, when kidneys were incubated with YM175 and then renal 1-hydroxylase activity was examined, the enzyme activity was not different from that of non-treated control kidney. We conclude therefore that YM175 indirectly stimulates renal 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1-hydroxylase by increasing circulating parathyroid hormone via an unknown mechanism independent of parathyroid hormone. This is the first direct demonstration of increase in the renal production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D resulting from bisphosphonate treatment.     

Presence of histamine H2-receptors on human gastric carcinoma cell line MKN-45 and their increase by retinoic acid treatment.

Histamine dose-dependently stimulated cyclic AMP production in human gastric carcinoma cell line MKN-45, and this effect was inhibited by cimetidine but not by pyrilamine. Moreover, not only histamine but also cimetidine displaced the specific binding of [3H]tiotidine to these cells, whereas pyrilamine had no effect. On the other hand, pretreatment of MKN-45 cells with retinoic acid (RA) significantly enhanced histamine-induced increase of cyclic AMP production, although the cyclic AMP response to either forskolin or NaF was not affected. Finally, RA treatment increased the number of histamine receptor without altering its affinity. Thus, it appears that histamine H2-receptors are present on MKN-45 cells, and that RA treatment enhances the action of histamine on these cells by increasing the number of H2-receptors.     

Negative ion fast atom bombardment-tandem mass spectrometry for structural analysis of isoprenoid diphosphates

Applicability of negative ion fast atom bombardment (FAB)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was examined in trace mixture analyses and structural assignments of some isoprenoid diphosphates. Negative ion FAB-MS spectra using a glycerol matrix of these isoprenoid diphosphates showed predominantly molecular ions (M-H)- together with fragment ions at m/z 177 (H3P2O7)-, 176 (H2P2O7)-, 159 (HP2O6)-, and 79 (PO3)- which were characteristic of the diphosphate ester moiety. The molecular ions did not overlap with peaks arising from any impurities even when crude sample such as butanol extracts from enzymatic reaction mixtures were directly analyzed without any purification. Moreover, collisionally activated dissociation spectra of the molecular ion showed many structurally significant fragment ions which enabled us to elucidate the structures of such irregular alkyl chain moieties as those having a homoisoprenoid skeleton or substituted structures. These studies indicate that negative ion FAB-MS/MS is a simple and useful technique for trace mixture analysis and structure elucidation of isoprenoid diphosphates.