Studies on sea-snake venoms. Crystallization of erabutoxins a and b from Laticauda semifasciata venom

1. The toxic principles in the venom of the sea-snake Laticauda semifasciata were separated into two components by CM-cellulose chromatography and obtained in crystalline forms. They were named ;erabutoxins a and b'. 2. The homogeneity of each toxin was shown by rechromatography, by disk electrophoresis, by ultracentrifuging, by toxicity measurements before and after repeated crystallizations and by N-terminal analysis. 3. They had molecular weights of about 7000. Both of them contained 61 (or 62) amino acid residues/molecule. The only difference between erabutoxins a and b was that one of the aspartic acid (or asparagine) residues in erabutoxin a was replaced by a histidine residue in erabutoxin b. 4. Both of the toxins had LD(50) values of 0.15mug./g. body wt. for mice and 0.07mug./g. for rats. It was shown with frog-muscle preparations that they acted on postsynaptic membrane to block neuromuscular transmission.     

Quantitative analysis of serum IL-6 and its correlation with increased levels of serum IL-2R in HIV-induced diseases

We have devised a luminescence sandwich ELISA for the quantification of IL-6 in both sera and cell culture supernatants, which had a detection limit of 100 fg/ml of test sample. By using the luminescence sandwich-ELISA, low but measurable levels of IL-6 (9.5 pg/ml on average) were found in the sera from normal individuals. The serum levels of IL-6 were elevated in HIV-seropositive asymptomatic carriers (55.5 pg/ml on average), and the IL-6 levels were correlated with the degree of HIV-induced disease progression (AIDS-related complex 106.8 pg/ml on average and (AIDS 283 pg/ml). IL-6 immunoreactivity in the sera of AIDS patients eluted at a 25,000 m.w. major peak, which was biologically active and heat-stable, and a 500,000 m.w. minor peak in size-exclusion HPLC. Interestingly, a significant correlation was observed between the serum IL-6 levels and soluble IL-2R levels. In vitro, HIV infection of PHA-activated PBMC led to enhanced release of IL-6 into the culture supernatants. Moreover, soluble IL-2R release was markedly increased by adding exogenous IL-6, whereas it was decreased by adding the neutralizing anti-IL-6 mAb to the cultures. These results demonstrate that increased IL-6 levels are significantly associated with sIL-2R levels, and suggest a cause of the increased levels of this receptor in patients with HIV infection. Furthermore, both serum IL-6 and serum IL-2R levels in HIV infection reflect the stage of the HIV-induced disease.     

Differential regulation of the low affinity Fc receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon R2/CD23) and the IL-2 receptor (Tac/p55) on eosinophilic leukemia cell line (EoL-1 and EoL-3)

Two types of activation Ag, low affinity FcR for IgE (Fc epsilon R2)/CD23 and IL-2R (Tac/p55), were expressed and differently regulated on human eosinophilic leukemia cell lines (EoL-1 and EoL-3). Because the binding of IgE on EoL-3 cells was completely inhibited by H107 (anti-Fc epsilon R2/CD23 mAb) but not by irrelevant mAb, essentially all the low affinity Fc epsilon R2 on EoL-3 seemed to be the Fc epsilon R2/CD23 molecules. Both IL-4 and IFN-gamma enhanced the surface expression of Fc epsilon R2, whereas IL-1, IL-2, and IL-5 showed no effects, as determined by surface staining with anti-Fc epsilon R2 antibody (H107). In contrast to Fc epsilon R2 up-regulation, IL-4 and IFN-gamma showed a differential effect on the regulation of IL-2R (Tac/p55). Whereas IFN-gamma up-regulated the receptor expression of IL-2R/Tac, IL-4 did not. The result suggests that these lymphokines are involved in the different aspects of the activation pathway of the eosinophils. The possible role of Fc epsilon R2 and IL-2R on the function of eosinophils in allergic reaction is discussed.     

Escherichia coli dnaT gene function is required for pBR322 plasmid replication but not for R1 plasmid replication.

Plasmid pBR322 was unable to replicate in a temperature-sensitive dnaT1 strain at a nonpermissive temperature, whereas a pBR322-derived plasmid carrying the wild-type dnaT+ gene was able to replicate under the same conditions. In contrast to pBR322, plasmid R1 could replicate in the dnaT1 strain at a nonpermissive temperature. In keeping with this finding, in vitro replication of plasmid R1 did not require DnaT protein.     

Isolation and characterization of an anticoagulant protein from human placenta

An anticoagulant protein was purified from the EDTA extract of human placental tissue. The purified protein had a molecular weight of 73,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under both reducing and non-reducing conditions. Because this protein had the ability to bind phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and cardiolipin in the presence of Ca2+, this protein was designated as calphobindin II (CPB-II). CPB-II prolonged the clotting time of normal plasma when coagulation was induced by tissue factor, cephalin and ellagic acid or recalcification, but did not affect thrombin-initiated fibrin formation. CPB-II also inhibited the activation of prothrombin by the complete prothrombinase complex or factor Xa-phospholipid-Ca2+ but not that by phospholipid-free factor Xa. In addition, CPB-II had an inhibitory activity against phospholipase A2.     

Activation and maturation mechanisms of boar acrosin zymogen based on the deduced primary structure

We have isolated cDNA clones encoding boar acrosin, a serine protease participating in the initial stage of fertilization, from boar testis lambda gt11 cDNA libraries. Nucleotide sequencing of the overlapping clones indicates that the composite cDNA inserts contain 1,391 base pairs coding for a 5'-untranslated region, an open reading frame, a stop codon, a 3'-untranslated region, and a poly(A)+ tail. A polyadenylation signal, AATAAA, is located 33 bases upstream from the start of the poly(A)+ tail. The amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNAs shows that boar acrosin is initially synthesized as a prepro-protein with a 16-residue signal peptide at the NH2 terminus. This signal sequence is followed by a 399-residue sequence corresponding to the acrosin zymogen. COOH-terminal sequence analysis of boar sperm 55-kDa proacrosin and its processed forms indicates that the mature acrosin molecule contains 322 amino acid residues in two polypeptide chains, a 23-residue light chain and a 299-residue heavy chain, with a combined molecular mass of 35,735 Da, and that the 55-kDa proacrosin molecule has 14-, 18-, and 43-residue segments as COOH-terminal extensions that are removed during proacrosin maturation. The COOH-terminal 43-residue segment is rich in proline residues, including an unusual repeat of 23 consecutive prolines. The deduced amino acid sequence of boar acrosin shows a high degree of identity with major portions of other serine proteases, including the active site region and the location of cysteine residues. We conclude that boar acrosin is synthesized as a single-chain polypeptide with the regions corresponding to the light and heavy chains covalently connected by two disulfide bonds, and that the single-chain molecule is autoactivated by cleavage of the Arg23-Val24 bond after removal of the COOH-terminal 14-residue segment, resulting in the formation of the light and heavy chains. This two-chain molecule is then converted to the mature enzyme by removal of the COOH-terminal 18- and 43-residue segments.     

Pyrogenic action of endothelin in conscious rabbit.

Injection of 0.3 nmol/kg endothelin(ET)-1 into the ear vein of conscious rabbits induced a significant increase in body temperature. ETB receptor specific agonist, namely 4-Ala-ET-1, also caused an elevation of the body temperature in a dose-dependent manner by injection into the ear vein of rabbit. These results suggest that ET play important roles in regulation of body temperature through selective stimulation of ETB receptor.     

Bioreductive activation of mitomycin C by DT-diaphorase.

The role of DT-diaphorase (DTD, EC 1.6.99.2) in the bioreductive activation of mitomycin C was examined using purified rat hepatic DTD. The formation of adducts with reduced glutathione (GSH), binding of [3H]mitomycin C to DNA, and mitomycin C-induced DNA interstrand cross-linking were used as indicators of bioactivation. Mitomycin C was metabolized by DTD in a pH-dependent manner with increasing amounts of metabolism observed as the pH was decreased from 7.8 to 5.8. The major metabolite observed during DTD-mediated reduction of mitomycin C was 2,7-diaminomitosene. GSH adduct formation, binding of [3H]mitomycin C and mitomycin C-induced DNA interstrand cross-linking were observed during DTD-mediated metabolism. In agreement with the pH dependence of metabolism, increased bioactivation was observed at lower pH values. Temporal studies and experiments using authentic material showed that 2,7-diaminomitosene could be further metabolized by DTD resulting in the formation of mitosene adducts with GSH. DNA cross-linking during either chemical (sodium borohydride) or enzymatic (DTD) mediated reduction of mitomycin C could be observed at pH 7.4, but it increased as the pH was decreased to 5.8, showing the critical role of pH in the cross-linking process. These data provide unequivocal evidence that the obligate two-electron reductase DTD can bioactivate mitomycin C to reactive species which can form adducts with GSH and DNA and induce DNA cross-linking. The use of mitomycin C may be a viable approach to the therapy of tumors high in DTD activity, particularly when combined with strategies to lower tumor pH.     

Selective inhibition of MAO-A in serotonergic synaptosomes by two amphetamine metabolites, p-hydroxyamphetamine and p-hydroxynorephedrine

The present study was carried out mainly to clarify whether the two amphetamine metabolites, p-hydroxyamphetamine (P-OHA) and p-hydroxynorephedrine (p-OHN) are taken up by mouse brain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) nerve terminals to inhibit type A monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) and then potentiate the abnormal behavior, head-twitch. Of the two metabolites, only intracerebroventricular p-OHA, at 80 μg/mouse, sufficient to cause a head-twitch response (HTR), appreciably inhibited MAO-A activity without affecting MAO-B activity in homogenates of the mouse striatum, hypothalamus and the rest of the forebrain; and p-OHN did not inhibit either type of MAO at the dose tested. Estimation of intra- and extrasynaptosomal MAO-A activity showed that both metabolites significantly inhibited only the intrasynaptosomal deamination of 5-HT by MAO-A with p-OHA being more potent. Taken together with our previous findings, these present results clearly indicate that p-OHA may accumulate in the 5-HT nerve terminals through the uptake system, and concomitantly inhibit MAO-A activity. These actions of p-OHA may increase intraneuronal 5-HT levels and then potentiate 5-HT release to cause interaction with the post-synaptic 5-HT receptors.