Stereochemical course of DNA hydrolysis by nuclease S1

Nuclease S1 hydrolyzes the Sp-diastereomer of 5'-O-(2'-deoxyadenosyl)-3'-O-thymidyl phosphorothioate in H2(18)O to [18O]deoxyadenosine 5'-O-phosphorothioate which can be phosphorylated enzymatically to the Sp-diastereomer of [alpha-18O]deoxyadenosine 5'-O-(1-thiotriphosphate). 31P nmr spectroscopy shows the oxygen-18 in this compound to be in a nonbridging position at the alpha-phosphorus, indicating that the hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by nuclease S1 proceeds with inversion of configuration at phosphorus. This result is compatible with a direct nucleophilic attack of H2O at phosphorus without the involvement of a covalent enzyme intermediate.     

Heat stress and thermal dehydration: lactacidemia and plasma volume regulation.

This investigation was undertaken to study heat stress and dehydration effects on 1) plasma lactic acid (LA) concentration and 2) plasma LA effect on plasma volume conservation during thermal dehydration. Experiments were performed on conscious nonacclimated and heat-acclimated laboratory rats subjected to various levels of heat stress and/or dehydration (37-42 degrees C with and without drinking water). During the exposures, rectal temperature (Tre), plasma LA pyruvic acids, and hematocrit were measured. From these data, excess LA, indicative of anaerobic metabolism, was calculated. In separate experiments, transvascular protein efflux (half time of Evans blue-labeled albumin) was measured before and after plasma LA elevation, either by LA infusion or thermal dehydration. The results show that elevation of plasma LA was associated with a rise in Tre, with accelerated elevation within a Tre range of 41-42 degrees C. LA concentrations were similar for the same Tre in all experimental groups. In nonacclimated rats, this rise was accompanied by a significant rise in excess LA. In acclimated rats, only a minor rise in excess LA was observed. A positive correlation was found between plasma LA elevation and the increase in plasma protein efflux. It is concluded that there is a temperature threshold for the rise in plasma LA. In nonacclimated rats, local hypoxia may contribute to this rise. The data also suggest that, in nonacclimated rats, lactacidemia accelerates plasma protein and fluid loss, leading to circulatory failure during acute thermal dehydration.     

Cell surface beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase is associated with the detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton on migrating mesenchymal cells.

Cell surface beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (GalTase) partially mediates a variety of cell interactions with laminin-containing matrices, including mesenchymal cell spreading and migration and neurite initiation, by binding to N-linked oligosaccharides within the E8 domain of laminin. Previous studies using indirect immunofluorescence have suggested that some surface GalTase colocalizes with actin-containing microfilaments in migrating cells. In this study, we present more direct biochemical evidence showing that surface GalTase is associated with the detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton and that this association is dependent upon the integrity of the cytoskeleton, valency of the anti-GalTase antibody, and migratory status of the cell. Two-thirds of the surface GalTase was associated with the detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton when assayed either by monovalent anti-GalTase Fab fragments or by extracting any detergent-soluble GalTase prior to labeling with intact anti-GalTase IgG. However, 80-100% of the surface GalTase could be induced to associate with the cytoskeleton when cross-linked with anti-GalTase IgG prior to detergent extraction. Destabilizing cytoskeleton-protein interactions with high levels of KCl, elevated pH, or cytochalasin B reduced the amount of surface GalTase retained in the detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton fraction. Finally, we have shown previously that laminin induces the expression of GalTase onto lamellipodia of migrating cells, and in this study, we show that the laminin-induced increase in surface GalTase is cytoskeletally associated. Collectively, these data suggest that cell surface GalTase participates in cell spreading and migration on laminin by virtue of its association with the cytoskeleton.     

Inhibition of the restriction endonuclease BanII using modified DNA substrates. Determination of phosphate residues critical for the formation of an active enzyme-DNA complex

The restriction endonuclease BanII catalyzes the cleavage of double-stranded DNA and recognizes the degenerate sequence 5'-GPuGCPyC-3'. The poly-linker of M13mp18 contains one such sequence, 5'-GAGCTC-3'. The three other possible sites recognized by the enzyme were prepared by site-directed muta-genesis. The substitution of phosphate groups by phosphorothioate residues at some positions within the various recognition sites had relatively little effect on the rate of cleavage of the DNA. However, when the DNA contained a phosphorothioate group at the site of cleavage the rate of linearization of the DNA was decreased by a factor of 9. Interestingly, DNA which contained an additional phosphorothioate internucleotidic linkage immediately 3'-outside the recognition site could not be linearized by the enzyme. The results indicate that an important contact between enzyme and substrate is perturbed by the presence of the sulfur atom at this position.     

The base catalysed anomerisation of β-5-formyluridine; crystal and molecular structure of α-5-formyluridine

On treatment with strong base β-5-formyluridine undergoes an anomerisation to give a mixture of the α- and β-anomers. The anomers have been separated by fractional recrystallisation and the absolute configuration of the α-anomer has been determined by X-ray analysis.