The mitochondrially encoded "phantom ATPase" of S. cerevisiae. II. A heterogeneous mitochondrial ATPase population in situ.

Summary The mitochondrial ATPase from a PHO 1 mutant (OLI 2, PHO 1, OLI 4 region on mit DNA of S. cerevisiae) was further examined. A new purification method using Lysolecithin instead of Triton allowed us to solubilize and separate a heterogeneous ATPase population from PHO 1-mitochondria: the major abnormal fraction had extremely low oligomycin-sensitivity (but normal specific immunological reactivity), while a minor normal fraction (representing about 20% of the initial mitochondrial ATPase activity) had high sensitivity and affinity for oligomycin.Moderate urea treatment of PHO 1-mitochondria leads to partial loss of ATPase activity and a concomitant increase of oligomycin-sensitivity, suggesting that a heterogeneous ATPase population exists in situ in the mitochondrial membrane: part of the major abnormal ATPase fraction is selectively inactivated by urea, producing a concomitant enrichment in the initially minor normal ATPase fraction.If the minor normal ATPase fraction is the only one capable of in vivo ATP synthesis, the deficient but oligomycin-sensitive cell growth and oxidative phosphorylation in vitro are readily explained.Further structural studies are under way to ascertain whether the minor normal ATPase fraction is strictly identical to the wild type, in which case PHO 1 is a regulatory gene, or not, in which case PHO 1 is a structural gene.     

Using evolutionary information and ancestral sequences to understand the sequence-function relationship in GLP-1 agonists

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone with therapeutic potential for type 2 diabetes. A variety of GLP-1 sequences are known from amphibian species, and some of these have been tested here and found to be able to bind and activate the human GLP-1 receptor. While little difference was observed for the in vitro potency for the human GLP-1 receptor, larger differences were found in the enzymatic stability of these peptides. Two peptides showed increased enzymatic stability, and they group together phylogenetically, though they originate from Amphibia and Reptilia. We have used ancestral sequence reconstruction to analyze the evolution of these GLP-1 molecules, including the synthesis of new peptides. We find that the increased stability could not be observed in the resurrected peptides from the common ancestor of frogs, even though they maintain the ability to activate the human GLP-1 receptor. Another method, using residue mapping on evolutionary branches yielded peptides that had maintained potency towards the receptor and also showed increased stability. This represents a new approach using evolutionary data in protein engineering.     

Nitrate reductase activity in the course of cucumber leaf ontogenesis

Nitrate reductase activity in the leaves of young plants of cucumber.Cucumis sativus L. cv. Bílská, as determined bothin vitro andin vivo and expressed in terms of fresh weight, gradually changes in dependence on the ontogenetic development of the plants, reaching its maximum before full expansion of the leaves.     

Decreased Electroconvulsive Shock-Induced Diacylglycerols and Free Fatty Acid Accumulation in the Rat Brain by Ginkgo biloba Extract (EGb 761): Selective Effect in Hippocampus as Compared with Cerebral Cortex

Abstract: The effect of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) treatment (100 mg/kg/day, per os, for 14 days) on electroconvulsive shock (ECS)-induced accumulation of free fatty acids (FFA) and diacylglycerols (DAG) was analyzed in rat cerebral cortex and hippocampus. EGb 761 reduced the FFA pool size by 33% and increased the DAG pool by 36% in the hippocampus. These endogenous lipids were unaffected in cerebral cortex. During the tonic seizure (10 s after ECS) the fast accumulation of FFA, mainly 20:4, was similar in sham- and EGb 761 -treated rats, in both the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. However, further accumulation of free 18:0 and 20:4, observed in the hippocampus of sham-treated rats during clonic seizures (30 s to 2 min after ECS), did not occur in EGb 761-treated animals. The rise in DAG content triggered in the cortex and hippocampus by ECS was delayed by EGb 761 treatment from 10 s to 1 min, when values similar to those in sham animals were attained. Moreover, in the hippocampus the size of the total DAG pool was decreased by 19% during the tonic seizure. At later times, DAG content showed a faster decrease in EGb 761-treated rats. By 2 min levels of all DAG acyl groups decreased to values significantly lower than in sham animals in both cortex and hippocampus. This study shows that EGb 761 treatment affects, with high selectivity, lipid metabolism and lipid-derived second messenger release and removal in the hippocampus, while affecting to a lesser extent the cerebral cortex.     

A new recombinant procoagulant protein derived from the cDNA encoding human factor VIII

We have constructed new B domain deletion derivatives of human factor VIII (FVIII) by manipulating the cDNA using recombinant DNA techniques. One of these new derivatives, FVIII delta II, in which amino acids 771(pro)-1666(asp) have been deleted, no longer contains the protease cleavage site at amino acid position 1648(arg)-1649(glu) known to be involved in the initial step of FVIII processing. We have expressed this molecule in both baby hamster kidney (BHK) 21 cells using the vaccinia virus (VV) expression system and have established Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) derived permanent cell lines expressing either recombinant (r)FVIII or FVIII delta II. The characteristics of FVIII delta II have been compared to those of rFVIII and/or plasma derived (pd) FVIII. FVIII delta II has the following properties: (i) it exhibits FVIII procoagulant activity; (ii) it is expressed at 5-fold higher levels than is the complete molecule in comparable systems; (iii) it migrates for the most part as a single major band on SDS-PAGE, in contrast to the complete molecule; (iv) it is activated to a greater extent by thrombin than is either rFVIII or pdFVIII; and (v) it retains the ability to bind von Willebrand factor (vWf).     

Social effects on fruit fly courtship song

Courtship behavior in Drosophila has often been described as a classic innate behavioral repertoire, but more recently extensive plasticity has been described. In particular, prior exposure to acoustic signals of con‐ or heterspecific males can change courtship traits in both sexes that are liable to be important in reproductive isolation. However, it is unknown whether male courtship song itself is socially plastic. We examined courtship song plasticity of two species in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup. Sexual isolation between the species is influenced by two male song traits, the interpulse interval (IPI) and sinesong frequency (SSF). Neither of these showed plasticity when males had prior experience of con‐ and heterospecific social partners. However, males of both species produced longer bursts of song during courtship when they were exposed to social partners (either con‐ or heterospecific) than when they were reared in isolation. D. melanogaster carrying mutations affecting short‐ or medium‐term memory showed a similar response to the social environment, not supporting a role for learning. Our results demonstrate that the amount of song a male produces during courtship is plastic depending on the social environment, which might reflect the advantage of being able to respond to variation in intrasexual competition, but that song structure itself is relatively inflexible, perhaps due to strong selection against hybridization.