Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen über die Innenversilberung der Sehnenfibrillen

Zusammenfassung 1. Die Behandlung der nativen und formolfixierten Sehnenfibrillen mit einer ammoniakalischen Silberlösung führt immer zu einer Einlagerung von Silberpartikeln in den D-Teilen der Fibrillen.2. Bei den nativen Fibrillen liegen die Silberkörner in einem, zwei oder drei Streifen im D-Teil.3. In den formolfixierten Fibrillen ist das Silber nur in einem Streifen vorhanden.4. Die Behandlung der nativen und formolfixierten Sehnenfibrillen mit anderen Silbersalzen führt zu keiner Versilberung der Fibrillen.5. Die Behandlung der nativen Sehnenfibrillen mit neutraler Kochsalzlösung oder Trypsin und anschließender Versilberung führt zu keiner wesentlichen Änderung des Silberbildes.6. Hyaluronidase-, Citratpuffer- und Perjodateinwirkung auf native Sehnenfibrillen mit anschließender Versilberung führt zu keiner Innenversilberung der D-Teile.7. Acetylierung und Behandlung mit Bisulfit der nativen Fibrillen und anschließender Versilberung mit ammoniakalischer Silberlösung verhindert eine Innenversilberung der D-Teile.8. Die formolfixierten Fibrillen zeigen eine Innenversilberung der D-Teile nach einer Vorbehandlung mit einer neutralen Kochsalzlösung, Citratpuffer, Hyaluronidase, Trypsin und Perjodat. Nur die Acetylierung und die Behandlung mit Bisulfit verhindert eine Innenversilberung.9. Die Innenversilberung der Sehnenfibrillen durch eine ammoniakalische Silberlösung wird weder durch Licht noch durch Chloride oder lichtempfindliche Silbereiweißverbindungen hervorgerufen.10. Die Versilberung in den D-Teilen wird durch Stoffe in den Fibrillen bewirkt, die Silber aus einer ammoniakalischen Silberlösung ausfällen können.11. Die reduzierenden Stoffe haben enge Beziehungen zur citratlöslichen Fraktion und sind perjodat- und hyaluronidaseempfindlich. Formalinfixierung beeinflußt diesen Versilberungsmodus durch ein vermehrtes Auftreten von Querbindungen.12. Die Sonderstellung der ammoniakalischen Silberlösung für die Innenversilberung wird diskutiert. Sie kann stereochemische Gründe haben oder durch die große Beständigkeitskonstante erklärt werden.13. Das Ausfallen von metallischem Silber in den D-Teilen der Sehnenfibrillen kann nicht mit dem photographischen Prozeß in Verbindung gebracht werden. Das gilt auch für die Bindegewebsversilberung nachGömöri.14. Die Silberorte in den D-Teilen lassen sich nur teilweise mit den bekannten Querstreifungsbildern nach Osmium- oder Phosphorwolframsäurefixierung in Beziehung setzen.

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Summary 1. After treatment of native or formalin-fixed tendon fibrils with an ammoniacal silver solution, silver particles are deposited in the D-bands of the fibrils. In the native fibrils these are arranged in one, two or three striae per band, but after formalin fixation they lie in one stria only.2. No external reducing agent is necessary for the production of the particles.3. Pretreatment of native fibrils with neutral salt solution or with trypsin has no effect on subsequent silvering. On the other hand, silvering is abolished by treatment with hyaluronidase, citrate buffer or periodate and also by acetylation and bisulphite.4. Formalin-fixed fibrils show the silvering effect after all these procedures except acetylation or bisulphite treatment.5. It is postulated that silvering of the D-bands is due to reducing substances which can precipitate silver from ammonical solutions and that formalin influences the process by the production of cross linkages.

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Mit 6 Textabbildungen

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Durchgeführt mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

A lower size limit exists for export of fragments of an outer membrane protein (OmpA) of Escherichia coli K-12

The ompA gene codes for a 346 residue precursor of a 325 residue protein of the outer membrane of Escherichia coli K-12. Internally and/or COOH-terminally deleted genes were constructed that encode 123, 116, 88, 72 or 68 residue precursors. The former three were processed and localized to the periplasmic space; the latter two were not processed and remained cytosolic. These data suggest that the signal sequence has to interact with a component of the export apparatus (the Sec pathway) before translation is finished. Comparison of these results with others obtained for prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems shows that: (1) a very similar lower size limit exists for membrane translocation of the 147 residue chicken prelysozyme or the 229 residue bovine preprolactin; (2) precursors smaller than those reported here can be translocated in both systems; (3) the latter translocation, in contrast to, for example, the ompA gene products, does not depend on the cellular export machinery but most likely requires folding of the precursors into an export-competent conformation. In general, at least two quite different, not necessarily mutually exclusive, mechanisms for translocation of a protein across or assembly into a membrane appear to exist.     

cis-trans isomers of lycopene and beta-carotene in human serum and tissues.

Since cis or trans isomers of carotenoids may have different biological reactivities, the isomeric composition of lycopene and beta-carotene was measured in serum and seven human tissues. In addition to all-trans lycopene, at least three cis-isomers (9-, 13-, and 15-cis) were present, accounting for more than 50% of total lycopene. 13- and 15-cis-beta-carotene, however, were present at only 5% of the all-trans isomer. In addition, 9-cis-beta-carotene was present in tissue samples but not in serum. There were interindividual differences in carotenoid levels of the different tissue types, but liver, adrenal gland, and testes always contained significantly higher amounts of the carotenoids than kidney, ovary, and fat; carotenoids in brain stem tissue were below the detection limit. beta-Carotene was the major carotenoid in liver, adrenal gland, kidney, ovary, and fat, whereas lycopene was the predominant carotenoid in testes.     

Expression of bovine adrenodoxin in E. coli and site-directed mutagenesis of /2 Fe-2S/ cluster ligands.

Expression systems for adrenodoxin into the periplasm and the cytoplasm of E. coli have been developed as a prerequisite for site-directed mutagenesis studies. In both systems the /2Fe-2S/ cluster of the protein was correctly assembled, the cytoplasmic one gives, however, a tenfold higher expression level. To determine which of the five cysteines at positions 46, 52, 55, 92, and 95 coordinate the /2Fe-2S/ center, they have been individually mutated into serines. From these mutants, only C95S forms a functionally active holoprotein. Thus, residues 46, 52, 55, and 92 are the cysteines that coordinate the /2Fe-2S/ cluster in adrenodoxin.     

Plasmid-encoded resistance to macrolides and lincosamides in Staphylococcus hyicus

S chwarz , S., W egener , H. & B lobel , H. 1990. Plasmid-encoded resistance to macrolides and lincosamides in Staphylococcus hyicus. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 69 , 845–849.
A small plasmid of 2–35 kb, isolated from a porcine Staphylococcus fcyicus-culture, was found to be responsible for constitutive resistance to macrolide/lincosamide antibiotics. This plasmid-encoded property could be established by interspecific transformation experiments. The plasmid from porcine Staph. hyicus was designated as pSE2. It differed on the basis of its restriction map from the macrolid/lincosamid resistance (ML^R-)-plasmids of other staphylococcal species from infections of humans. Furthermore, the pSE2 plasmid encoded two proteins of approximately 20.5 and 30 kDa.     

Mechanical effects of ET-1 in cardiomyocytes isolated from normal and heart-failed rabbits

Endothelin (ET-1) is found at elevated concentrations in the plasma of patients with heart failure and in animal models of cardiomyopathy. The peptide is a potent positive inotropic agent, the effects of which are mediated by increases in cytosolic Ca²⁺ in cardiomyocytes. The object of this study was to investigate at the cellular level, the actions of ET-1 on contractile function and on Ca²⁺ currents in heart-failed ventricular myocardium. Male New Zealand White rabbits (8 wks) were treated with twice weekly injections of epirubicin (4 mg/kg/wk, n=7) or with saline (n=7) for 6 wks, followed by a washout period of 2 wks. Ventricular cardiomyocytes were isolated from rabbit hearts using Langendorff perfusion with collagenase; contractile function was examined using a video microscopy method, and L-type Ca²⁺ currents were recorded using a whole-cell patch-clamp technique. ET-1 produced a concentration-dependent increase in contractile response (% increase from basal value) to a maximum at 1 nM ET-1 of 69 ± 11% (mean ± S.D.) in control cardiomyocytes and 33 ± 6% in heart-failed cells. However, there was no significant change in the EC₅₀ obtained with ET-1 for healthy (0.31 ± 0.1 nM) and for failed cardiomyocytes (0.24 ± 0.1 nM). The effects of ET-1 on L-type Ca²⁺ channels were similar with a peak amplitude at 1 nM ET-1 of –3.26 ± 0.8 in control cardiomyocytes and –3.32 ± 0.9 nA in heart-failed cells. The attenuation of the contractile response to ET-1 in heart-failed cells may reflect a desensitization of ET receptors as a consequence of elevated circulating levels of ET and was not reflected by alteration of transmembrane Ca²⁺ conductance. It is probable, therefore, that multiple signalling pathways are involved in the actions of ET on ventricular myocardium.Recipient of Servier Investigator Award     

Role of the mitochondrial DnaJ homolog Mdj1p as a chaperone for mitochondrially synthesized and imported proteins.

Mdj1p, a DnaJ homolog in the mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is involved in the folding of proteins in the mitochondrial matrix. In this capacity, Mdj1p cooperates with mitochondrial Hsp70 (mt-Hsp70). Here, we analyzed the role of Mdj1p as a chaperone for newly synthesized proteins encoded by mitochondrial DNA and for nucleus-encoded proteins as they enter the mitochondrial matrix. A series of conditional mutants of mdj1 was constructed. Mutations in the various functional domains led to a partial loss of Mdj1p function. The mutant Mdj1 proteins were defective in protecting the tester protein firefly luciferase against heat-induced aggregation in isolated mitochondria. The mitochondrially encoded var1 protein showed enhanced aggregation after synthesis in mdj1 mutant mitochondria. Mdj1p and mt-Hsp70 were found in a complex with nascent polypeptide chains on mitochondrial ribosomes. Mdj1p was not found to interact with translocation intermediates of imported proteins spanning the two membranes and exposing short segments into the matrix, in accordance with the lack of requirement of Mdj1p in the mt-Hsp70-mediated protein import into mitochondria. On the other hand, precursor proteins in transit which had further entered the matrix were found in a complex with Mdj1p. Our results suggest that Mdj1p together with mt-Hsp70 plays an important role as a chaperone for mitochondrially synthesized polypeptide chains emerging from the ribosome and for translocating proteins at a late import step.