Interaction of nitrogen dioxide with human plasma. Antioxidant depletion and oxidative damage.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2.) is often present in inhaled air and may be generated in vivo from nitric oxide. Exposure of human blood plasma to NO2. caused rapid losses of ascorbic acid, uric acid and protein thiol groups, as well as lipid peroxidation and depletions of alpha-tocopherol, bilirubin and ubiquinol-10. No increase in protein carbonyls was detected. Supplementation of plasma with ascorbate decreased the rates of lipid peroxidation, alpha-tocopherol depletion and loss of uric acid. Uric acid supplementation decreased rates of lipid peroxidation but not the loss of alpha-tocopherol. We conclude that ascorbic acid, protein -SH groups, uric acid and alpha-tocopherol may be important agents protecting against NO2. in vivo. If these antioxidants are depleted, peroxidation of lipids occurs and might contribute to the toxicity of NO2..     

A model for mercuric ion reduction in recombinant Escherichia coli

Plasmid-encoded mercuric reduction involves transfer of Hg(2+) across the cellular envelope and reduction to Hg(0) by the cytoplasmic mercuric reductase using NADPH. A mathematical model was developed for the binding and transfer of Hg(2+) by transport proteins and the subsequent reduction of Hg(2+). The values of the model parameters were determined using experimental data. The derived rate expressions were similar to the previously experimentally determined ones. The model predicted that a differential amplification of the transport protein relative to mercuric reductase expression levels may enhance the Hg(2+) reduction rate in whole cells.     

Isolation and partial characterization of a lactotransferrin receptor from mouse intestinal brush border

Several lines of evidence have recently suggested the occurrence of a specific lactotransferrin receptor in the small intestinal brush-border membrane in several animal species, which is thought to be involved in lactotransferrin-mediated intestinal iron absorption. We report here for the first time the isolation and partial characterization of this receptor from mouse intestinal brush border. The receptor has been purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography on an immobilized human lactotransferrin column. The purified receptor was found to be active in that it binds iron-free and iron-saturated lactotransferrin with a Kd of 0.1 microM. Anti-receptor antibodies were prepared, and the receptor was further isolated by immunoaffinity chromatography in higher yield but in a denatured form. The purified receptor was revealed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis to be a protein of about Mr = 130,000, consisting of a single polypeptide chain. The isoelectric point was determined to be 5.8. The receptor was further shown to bear concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin L binding glycans. Digestion by N-glycanase and endo-N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase B led to a decrease of Mr = 25,000, while the endo-N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase H was uneffective, suggesting that the lactotransferrin receptor is mainly glycosylated by bi- and triantennary glycans. To gain further insight into the interaction of the receptor with lactotransferrin, namely, the number of ligand molecules bound per molecule of receptor, mouse lactotransferrin was cross-linked to its membrane-bound enterocyte receptor by use of radiolabeled sulfosuccinimidyl 3-[[2-(p-azidosalicylamido)ethyl]dithio]propionate (SASD).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Enumeration and identification of IS3 elements in Escherichia coli strains.

Escherichia coli K-12 strains ordinarily contain five IS3 elements. Three of these correspond to previously mapped IS3 elements (R. C. Deonier, G. R. Oh, and M. Hu, J. Bacteriol. 129:1129--1140, 1977; S. Hu, E. Ohtsubo, and N. Davidson, J. Bacteriol. 122:749--763, 1975), and two additional IS3 elements are identified. The distribution of IS3 elements among deoxyribonucleic acid fragments generated by digestion with EcoRI indicates a basic pattern from which deviation is detected.     

Kinetics of glycogen phosphorylase a with a series of semisynthetic, branched saccharides. A model for binding of polysaccharide substrates.

The requirement of muscle phosphorylase for branched polysaccharide substrates was investigated by kinetic studies on semisynthetic branched saccharides. One series of saccharides was prepared from maltoheptose by oxidizing the reducing group to a carboxyl group and coupling this with an amino group of ethylenediamine. The resulting aminooligosaccharide was coupled with p-nitrophenyl esters of mono-, di-, tetra-, and polycarboxylic aicds to produce saccharides containing one, two, four, and approximately 52 maltodextrin chains per molecule. A similar series of saccharides was prepared from a heterogeneous maltodextrin of average chain length 11.7. Kinetic constants were determined for the reaction with phoshorylase a in the direction of chain elongation. Michaelis constants are equilibrium constants for dissociation of saccharide from the enzyme-AMP-glucose-1P-saccharide complex. The Michaelis constants, expressed in terms of the concentration of nonreducing end groups, are independent of maltodextrin chain length but decrease considerably as the number of chains per molecule increases. Maximum velocities do not differ greatly from that for glycogen. Among the synthetic saccharides, only the polymer behaves similarly to glycogen in exhiiting a decreasing reaction rate as the chains are elongated. The kinetic constants are quantitatively consistent with a model in which two chain termini from the same saccharide molecule bind to the phosphorylase molecule simultaniously, Differences in binding between saccharides having different numbers of equally accessible chains are caused solely by statistical factors in the equilibrium. Highly branched substrates bind better because of their greater multiplicity of two end-group pairs.     

Age‐related memory vulnerability to interfering stimuli is caused by gradual loss of MAPK‐dependent protection in Drosophila

Age‐related memory impairment (AMI) is a common phenomenon across species. Vulnerability to interfering stimuli has been proposed to be an important cause of AMI. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this vulnerability‐related AMI remain unknown. Here we show that learning‐activated MAPK signals are gradually lost with age, leading to vulnerability‐related AMI in Drosophila. Young flies (2‐ or 3‐day‐old) exhibited a significant increase in phosphorylated MAPK levels within 15 min after learning, whereas aged flies (25‐day‐old) did not. Compared to 3‐day‐old flies, significant 1 h memory impairments were observed in 15‐, 20‐, and 30‐day‐old flies, but not in 10‐day‐old flies. However, with post‐learning interfering stimuli such as cooling or electric stimuli, 10‐day‐old flies had worse memory performance at 1 h than 3‐day‐old flies, showing a premature AMI phenomenon. Increasing learning‐activated MAPK signals through acute transgene expression in mushroom body (MB) neurons restored physiological trace of 1 h memory in a pair of MB output neurons in aged flies. Decreasing such signals in young flies mimicked the impairment of 1 h memory trace in aged flies. Restoring learning‐activated MAPK signals in MB neurons in aged flies significantly suppressed AMI even with interfering stimuli. Thus, our data suggest that age‐related loss of learning‐activated neuronal MAPK signals causes memory vulnerability to interfering stimuli, thereby leading to AMI.     

The Neisseria gonorrhoeae type IV pilus promotes resistance to hydrogen peroxide- and LL-37-mediated killing by modulating the availability of intracellular,labile iron

The Neisseria gonorrhoeae Type IV pilus is a multifunctional, dynamic fiber involved in host cell attachment, DNA transformation, and twitching motility. We previously reported that the N. gonorrhoeae pilus is also required for resistance against hydrogen peroxide-, antimicrobial peptide LL-37-, and non-oxidative, neutrophil-mediated killing. We tested whether the hydrogen peroxide, LL-37, and neutrophil hypersensitivity phenotypes in non-piliated N. gonorrhoeae could be due to elevated iron levels. Iron chelation in the growth medium rescued a nonpiliated pilE mutant from both hydrogen peroxide- and antimicrobial peptide LL-37-mediated killing, suggesting these phenotypes are related to iron availability. We used the antibiotic streptonigrin, which depends on free cytoplasmic iron and oxidation to kill bacteria, to determine whether piliation affected intracellular iron levels. Several non-piliated, loss-of-function mutants were more sensitive to streptonigrin killing than the piliated parental strain. Consistent with the idea that higher available iron levels in the under- and non-piliated strains were responsible for the higher streptonigrin sensitivity, iron limitation by desferal chelation restored resistance to streptonigrin in these strains and the addition of iron restored the sensitivity to streptonigrin killing. The antioxidants tiron and dimethylthiourea rescued the pilE mutant from streptonigrin-mediated killing, suggesting that the elevated labile iron pool in non-piliated bacteria leads to streptonigrin-dependent reactive oxygen species production. These antioxidants did not affect LL-37-mediated killing. We confirmed that the pilE mutant is not more sensitive to other antibiotics showing that the streptonigrin phenotypes are not due to general bacterial envelope disruption. The total iron content of the cell was unaltered by piliation when measured using ICP-MS suggesting that only the labile iron pool is affected by piliation. These results support the hypothesis that piliation state affects N. gonorrhoeae iron homeostasis and influences sensitivity to various host-derived antimicrobial agents.     

Flexible Solar Thermal Fuel Devices: Composites of Fabric and a Photoliquefiable Azobenzene Derivative

Controllable storage and release of solar energy has always been a highlighted scientific issue for its benefit of mankind. Solar thermal fuels (STFs) supply a closed cycle and renewable energy‐storage strategy by transforming solar energy into chemical energy stored in the conformation of molecular isomers, such as cis/trans‐azobenzene, and releasing it as heat under various stimuli. Although the potential high energy density of the STFs which are based on the hybrids of azobenzene derivatives and carbon nanomaterials has been reported the solvent‐assistant charging hinders their practicability. In this study, a solid‐state STF device is designed and fabricated by compositing one photoliquefiable azobenzene (PLAZ) derivative with a flexible fabric template. The photoinduced phase transition of the PLAZ derivative enables the charging of the flexible STFs to be totally solvent‐free. Interestingly, the energy‐storage capacity (energy density ≈201 J g^?1) of flexible PLAZ STFs has been improved by the soft fabric template. The exothermic situation is monitored with one infrared camera, which shows 4 °C temperature difference between charged and discharged samples under blue light stimulus. The flexible STFs are may be used in practice as heating equipment.     

Screening of binding proteins that interact with human Salvador 1 in a human fetal liver cDNA library by the yeast two-hybrid system

Salvador promotes both cell cycle exit and apoptosis through the modulation of both cyclin E and Drosophila inhibitor of apoptosis protein in Drosophila. However, the cellular function of human Salvador (hSav1) is rarely reported. To screen for novel binding proteins that interact with hSav1, the cDNA of hSav1 was cloned into a bait protein plasmid, and positive clones were screened from a human fetal liver cDNA library by the yeast two-hybrid system. hSav1 mRNA was expressed in yeast and there was no self-activation and toxicity in the yeast strain AH109. Twenty proteins were found to interact with hSav1, including HS1 (haematopoietic cell specific protein1)-associated protein X-1 (HAX-1); neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 9, pyruvate kinase, liver and RBC, cytochrome c oxidase subunit Vb, enoyl coenzyme A hydratase short chain 1, and NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 beta subcomplex, demonstrating that the yeast two-hybrid system is an efficient method for investigating protein interactions. Among the identified proteins, there were many mitochondrial proteins, indicating that hSav1 may play a role in mitochondrial function. We also confirmed the interaction of HAX-1 and hSav1 in mammalian cells. This investigation provides functional clues for further exploration of potential apoptosis-related proteins in disease biotherapy.