The charge stoichiometry of cytochrome c oxidase in the reconstituted system.

Purified cytochrome c oxidase was reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles having high internal pH buffering capacity. In the presence of valinomycin, 2 K+ ions were taken up by the vesicles per electron transferred from cytochrome c to oxygen. The charge stoichiometry of 2 was obtained from simultaneous measurement of changes of K+, H+, and oxygen in the medium after addition of the reductant ascorbate/TMPD (N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine). The changes in oxygen concentration were measured with a fast responding oxygen electrode (90% response time, 0.4 s). The existence of a proton pump in cytochrome c oxidase could thus be confirmed, and its charge stoichiometry measured, in a reconstituted system uncomplicated by other respiratory chain components.     

A gamma-aminobutyric acid/benzodiazepine receptor complex from bovine cerebral cortex. Improved purification with preservation of regulatory sites and their interactions

A gamma-aminobutyrate/benzodiazepine receptor complex has been purified from bovine cerebral cortex by an improved procedure using a zwitterionic detergent. A high affinity binding site for the chloride ion channel-blocking ligand [35S]t-butyl bicyclophosphorothionate ( TBPS ) was co-purified with the high affinity binding sites for gamma-aminobutyrate and benzodiazepines. The latter two have previously been shown to reside on the same physical structure ( Sigel , E., Stephenson , F.A., Mamalaki , C., and Barnard , E. A. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 6965-6971). The dissociation constants, as measured in assay medium containing zwitterionic detergent were 90 +/- 20 nM for TBPS and 11 +/- 4 nM for [3H]flunitrazepam, whereas the binding of [3H]muscimol, a gamma-aminobutyrate agonist, showed a more complex binding behavior with more than one site. If the same preparation was assayed in a medium containing instead Triton X-100 as the detergent, the binding of TBPS was strongly inhibited, [3H]flunitrazepam binding was unaffected, and [3H]muscimol bound to a single class of sites with a dissociation constant of 33 +/- 3 nM. Regulatory interactions were retained in the complex isolated by the improved method: [3H]flunitrazepam binding was stimulated by gamma-aminobutyrate or by pentobarbital, and in a dose-dependent manner. The same two subunit types of Mr = 53,000 and 57,000 are present in the purified receptor complex as previously reported.     

Telmisartan induces apoptosis and regulates Bcl-2 in human renal cancer cells

It has been well-characterized that the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) physiologically regulates systemic arterial pressure. However, RAS signaling has also been shown to increase cell proliferation during malignancy, and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are able to decrease pro-survival signaling by inhibiting anti-apoptotic molecules and suppressing caspase activity. In this study, the apoptotic effects of telmisartan, a type of ARB, was evaluated using a non-cancerous human renal cell line (HEK) and a human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell line (786). Both types of cells were treated with telmisartan for 4 h, 24 h, and 48 h, and then were assayed for levels of apoptosis, caspase-3, and Bcl-2 using MTT assays, flow cytometry, and immunostaining studies. Analysis of variance was used to identify significant differences between these data (P < 0.05). Following the treatment of 786 cells with 100 µM and 200 µM telmisartan, a marked inhibition of cell proliferation was observed. 50 µM cisplatin also caused high inhibition of these cells. Moreover, these inhibitions were both concentration- and time-dependent (P < 0.05). Various apoptotic effects were also observed compared with control cells at the 24 h and 48 h timepoints assayed (P < 0.001). Furthermore, positive caspase-3 staining and down-regulation of Bcl-2 were detected, consistent with induction of cell death. In contrast, treatment of HEK cells with telmisartan did not produce an apoptotic effect compared with control cells at the 24 h timepoint (P > 0.05). Treatment with cisplatin promoted in HEK cells high index of apoptosis (P < 0.001). Taken together, these results suggest that telmisartan induces apoptosis via down-regulation of Bcl-2 and involvement of caspase-3 in human RCC cells.     

Metal ion-coordinating properties of imidazole and derivatives in aqueous solution: interrelation between complex stability and ligand basicity

The stability constants of the 1:1 complexes formed between Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, Ba²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺ or Cd²⁺ (M²⁺) and the simple, sterically unhindered imidazole-type ligands, imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 5-chloro-1-methylimidazole, N-(2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl)imidazole or 4′-(imidazol-1-yl)acetophenone (L), were determined by potentiometric pH titrations in aqueous solution (25°C; I = 0.5 M, NaNO₃). The construction of log K_ML^M versus pK_HL^H plots results in straight lines; the equations for the least-squares lines are calculated and listed. These data allow calculation of the expected stability constant for a complex of any imidazole-type ligand, provided its pK_HL^H value (in the pK_a range 4–8) is known. For the stabilities of Fe²⁺ complexes with imidazole-type ligands an estimation procedure is provided. It is shown further that the complex formation between 1-methylbenzimidazole (MBI) and Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺ or Zn²⁺ is s sterically hindered, i.e. the data points for these M(MBI)²⁺ complexes do not fall on the straight lines defined by the imidazole-type ligands.     

Activation of protein kinase C results in down-modulation of different recombinant GABAA-channels.

Different combinations of cloned rat brain subunits of the GABAA receptor were expressed in Xenopus oocytes. The effect of the phorbol ester PMA, an activator of protein kinase C, on the expressed GABA-gated ion current was determined. Ion currents were diminished by beta-PMA, but not by the control substance alpha-PMA, irrespective of the subunit combination studied. The mechanism of current decrease was investigated in more detail for the subunit combination alpha 5 beta 2 gamma 2. The reversal potential of the current remained unaffected, while the maximal current amplitude was decreased and the apparent Ka for GABA-dependent channel gating was shifted to higher concentrations.     

Significance of binary and ternary copper(II) complexes for the promotion and protection of adenosine 5′-di- and triphosphate toward hydrolysis

The dephosphorylation of ADP and ATP was characterized as the first-order rate constant in dependence on pH in the absence and presence of Cu²⁺, and together with Cu²⁺ and a second ligand. The reaction is strongly accelerated by Cu²⁺ and passes through pH optima at about 6.2 and 6.5 for the Cu²⁺ ?ADP and ?ATP systems, respectively (I = 0.1, NaClO₄; 50°C). In the presence of 2,2′-bipyridyl (Bipy), ternary complexes are formed with the nucleotides ADP or ATP (NP), Cu(Bipy)(NP), which are very stable towards dephosphorylation over a large pH range. Similar stabilizing effects were observed in ternary complexes formed with imidazole or OH^?. These results can easily be rationalized by taking into account that in the binary Cu²⁺ complexes macrochelates are formed by the interaction between the adenine moiety and the metal ion. This interaction is crucial for obtaining the labile species and hence, in the mixed-ligand complexes, where the macrophelate can not be formed, the phosphates are protected toward hydrolysis. In agreement with these results is the dephosphorylation behavior of Cu(CDP)^? and Cu(CTP)^2?; they are rather stable. This is in accord with the small coordination tendency of the cytosine moiety.By computing the pH dependence of the distribution of the several species, it is shown that the active species are Cu(ATP)^2? and Cu(ADP)^? and not the hydroxy complexes, [Cu(ATP)(OH)]₂^6? and [Cu(ADP)(OH)₂^4? as were suggested earlier. With the aid of the initial rate, $\text{ν}{}_0\text{=}\text{d}\text{[}\text{PO}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{3?}}\text{]}\text{d}\text{t}$, the rate laws of the ascending side of the pH optima were determined: $\text{ν}{}_0\text{= k}\text{[}\text{Cu(NP)}\text{]}\text{[}\text{H}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{]}$. The descending side of the pH optima is attributed to the formation of Cu(NP)(OH), where the metal ion interaction with N-7 of the adenine moiety is inhibited.     

Ionic channels: modulation by G proteins and by phosphorylation.

The gating of ion channels may be modulated by G proteins or by phosphorylation. Direct coupling between G proteins and ion channels has been shown in excised patches of membrane. Steps must now be taken to study the protein domains of G proteins and ion channels involved in the mutual interaction. The concept of channel modulation by protein kinases has recently been extended to include additional types of ion channel.