The use of tryptophan mutants in identifying the 296 nm transient absorbing species during the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin

The transient absorption at 296 nm was part of the spectroscopic evidence that initiated the proposal that tyrosinate (Tyr-) is formed during, and important to, the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin (bR). Recent evidence against such a proposal comes from the results of NMR, UV Raman as well as electron cryo-microscopic structural studies. This makes it credible to assign this absorption to a charge perturbation of the lowest energy absorption of one of the tryptophan (Trp) residues in bR. The transient absorption at 296 nm is examined for each of 8 tryptophan mutants in which Trp is substituted by phenylalanine or cysteine, which absorb at shorter wavelength. It is shown that while all go through the photocycle, all but Trp-182 mutant show this transient absorption. This strongly suggests the assignment of this absorption to a charge perturbaton of the lowest energy absorption of Trp-182 during the photocycle. The chemical identity of the perturbing charge(s) is briefly discussed.     

与胎儿珠蛋白基因持续表达有关的(A_γδβ)°—地贫纯合子及杂合子的分子鉴别

我们分子鉴别了一个缺失型中国(A_γδβ)°-地贫家系。先证者为这一缺失的纯合子,具有中度贫血症状。家系的另五个成员均为这一缺失的杂合子,其胎儿血红蛋白(HbF)为16—21％,接近或达到HPFH杂合子的HbF水平,并且几乎不表现贫血症状。限制性内切酶图谱分析证明了β-珠蛋白基因簇内的DNA顺序缺失,缺失的5′端点位于Aγ基因IVSⅡ内,3′端点在β-珠蛋白基因下游区远端,距HPFH-2的3′缺失端点上游区约11kb。缺失的总长度约为80kb。本文讨论了这一缺失导致胎儿血红蛋白在成人中持续活跃表达的可能机制。     

Coordinated leading- and lagging-strand synthesis at the Escherichia coli DNA replication fork. III. A polymerase-primase interaction governs primer size.

Studies with a rolling-circle DNA replication system reconstituted in vitro with a tailed form II DNA template, the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (Pol III HE), the Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein, and the primosome, showed that within the context of a replication fork, the oligoribonucleotide primers that were formed were limited to a length in the range of 9 to 14 nucleotides, regardless of whether they were subsequently elongated by the lagging-strand DNA polymerase. This is in contrast to the 8-60-nucleotide-long primers synthesized by the primosome in the absence of DNA replication on a bacteriophage phi X174 DNA template, although when primer synthesis and DNA replication were catalyzed concurrently in this system, the extent of RNA polymerization decreased. As described in this report, we therefore examined the effect of the DNA Pol III HE on the length of primers synthesized by primase in vitro in the absence of DNA replication. When primer synthesis was catalyzed either: i) by the primosome on a phi X174 DNA template, ii) by primase on naked DNA with the aid of the DnaB protein (general priming), or iii) by primase alone at the bacteriophage G4 origin, the presence of the DNA Pol III HE in the reaction mixtures resulted in a universal reduction in the length of the heterogeneous RNA products to a uniform size of approximately 10 nucleotides. dNTPs were not required, and the addition of dGMP, an inhibitor of the 3'----5' exonuclease of the DNA Pol III HE, did not alter the effect; therefore, neither the 5'----3' DNA polymerase activity nor the 3'----5' exonuclease activity of the DNA Pol III HE was involved. E. coli DNA polymerase I, and the DNA polymerases of bacteriophages T4 and T7 could not substitute for the DNA Pol III HE. The Pol III core plays a crucial role in mediating this effect, although other subunits of the DNA Pol III HE are also required. These observations suggest that the association of primase with the DNA Pol III HE during primer synthesis regulates its catalytic activity and that this regulatory interaction occurs independently of, and prior to, formation of a preinitiation complex of the DNA Pol III HE on the primer terminus.     

Carbohydrate specificity of the receptor sites of mistletoe toxic lectin-I.

The carbohydrate specificity of mistletoe toxic lectin-I (ML-I) was studied by haemagglutination-inhibition assay. The results indicated that ML-I has a broad range of affinity for Gal alpha,beta linked sequences. The galabiose (E, Gal alpha 1----4Gal) sequence, a receptor of the uropathogenic E. coli ligand, was one of the best disaccharide inhibitors tested. The lectin also exhibits affinity for Lac(Gal beta 1----4Glc), T(Gal beta 1----3GalNAc), I/II(Gal beta 1----3/4GlcNAc) and B(Gal alpha 1----3Gal) sequences. Gal alpha 1----4Gal and Gal beta 1----4Glc are frequently occurring sequences of many glycosphingolipids located at the mammalian cell membranes, such as intestinal and red blood cell membranes, for ligand binding and toxin attachment. This finding provides important information concerning the possible mechanism of intoxication of cells by the mistletoe preparation.     

Karyotypes of Pneumocystis carinii from Korean rats.

Molecular karyotyping was applied to Pneumocystis carinii(Pc) from two strains of experimental rats, Sprague Dawley(SD) and Fisher(F), in Korea. Field inversion gel electrophoresis and contour clamped homogeneous electric field electrophoresis resolved 15 chromosomal bands from the Pc. The size of the bands was estimated 270kb to 684kb from SD rats, and 273kb to 713 kb from F rats. The bands of 283 kb from SD rats and of 273 kb from F rats stained more brightly suggesting duplicated bands. Total number of chromosomes was at least 16, and total genomic size was estimated 7 x 10(6) bp. All of the bands from F rats hybridized to the probe of repeated DNA sequences of Pc and the band of 448 kb size was proved to contain rDNA sequences, but Pc. chromosome bands from SD rats showed no reactions to the probes. The 2 different karyotypes of P. carinii from 2 strains of rats were maintained consistently for 2 years.     

Subgroups of Tcr α chains and correlation with T-cell function

T-cell receptor (Tcr) chains are classified into four subgroups (I, II, III, and miscellaneous) based on the amino acid residues at positions 61 and 62. Subgroup I has Gly Phe at these positions, subgroup II has Arg Phe, subgroup III has Arg Leu, and subgroup miscellaneous has several other combinations. Variability plots for subgroups I, II, and III sequences show higher values around positions 93–103, 105, 108, 111, 113, and 115, suggesting that these positions may interact with the processed antigen molecules. Smaller peaks are present at various other regions which may bind the major histocompatibility complex class I or II molecules. The patterns of variability within one subgroup are similar for all species, for human alone, and for mouse alone. These subgroup patterns appear much less complicated than patterns for sequences in all subgroups taken together, implying that subgroups may be related to Tcr functions. Among 83 mouse chains, 15 are from cytotoxic cells and 40 from helper cells. Of the 15 from cytotoxic cells, 11, 2, 0, and 2 are in subgroups I, II, III, and miscellaneous; and of the 40 from helper cells, 9, 16, 12, ans 3 are in subgroups I, II, III, and miscellaneous, respectively. Thus, a correlation between sequence and function of Tcr chains seems possible. Address correspondence and offprint requests to: M. Schiffer.     

Extrachromosomal human immunodeficiency virus type-1 DNA can initiate a spreading infection of HL-60 cells

In this report, we describe a human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1)-infected promyelocytic cell line, OM, derived from HL-60 cells. Although the OM cell line was biologically cloned twice, the pattern of HIV-1 expression during culture appeared analogous to a classical acute spreading infection and was inhibited by both azidothymidine and recombinant soluble CD4 treatment. The number of OM cells actually expressing HIV-1 at the beginning of culture was 0%, reached a peak of nearly 100% at 6 weeks, and then fell to less than 10% HIV-1+ cells by 10 weeks. Clonal analysis of the surviving cells verified that stable HIV-1+ OM cells resulted from the spreading infection. Southern analysis confirmed the transmission of HIV-1 through these OM cultures and the occurrence of stable clones which resulted. The initial percentage of OM cells actually harboring the HIV-1 genome was less than 0.1%, indicating nonfaithful transmission of an unintegrated HIV-1 genome during clonal expansion. These results demonstrate that extrachromosomal HIV-1 DNA can contribute to the spread of HIV-1 infection and give rise to cells which have stably integrated HIV-1 provirus.     

Comparison of an electrochemiluminescent homogenous immunoassay and an ELISA for monitoring productivity in mammalian cell bioreactors

Summary An Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assays (ELISA) and an Electro-chemiluminescent Immuno Assay (CIA) are compared for the purpose of monitoring product formation in mammalian cell bioreactors. The ELISA had a relative standard deviation of 10%, compared to 8% for the CIA . The CIA was found to be a fast and accurate alternative to the ELISA. The use of more than one immuno assay format was also shown to provide additional insight into process performance.