Bioterrorism today

Anthrax being sent through the postal service brought the risks of bioterrorism home to us all: but what dies it really mean?     

Chronic ethanol exposure attenuates the anti-apoptotic effect of NMDA in cerebellar granule neurons

Ethanol, added to primary cultures of cerebellar granule neurons simultaneously with NMDA, was previously shown to inhibit the anti-apoptotic effect of NMDA. The in vitro anti-apoptotic effect of NMDA is believed to mimic in vivo protection against apoptosis afforded by innervation of developing cerebellar granule neurons by glutamatergic mossy fibers. Therefore, the results suggested that the presence of ethanol in the brain at a critical period of development would promote apoptosis. In the present studies, we examined the effect of chronic ethanol exposure on the anti-apoptotic action of NMDA in cerebellar granule neurons. The neurons were treated with ethanol in vitro for 1-3 days in the absence of NMDA. Even after ethanol was removed from the culture medium, as ascertained by gas chromatography, the protective effect of added NMDA was significantly attenuated. The decreased anti-apoptotic effect of NMDA was associated with a change in the properties of the NMDA receptor, as indicated by a decrease in ligand binding, decreased expression of NMDA receptor subunit proteins, and decreased functional responses including stimulation of increases in intracellular Ca(2+) and induction of brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression. The latter effect may directly underlie the attenuated protective effect of NMDA in these neurons. The results suggest that ethanol exposure during development can have long-lasting effects on neuronal survival. The change in the NMDA receptor caused by chronic ethanol treatment may contribute to the loss of cerebellar granule neurons that is observed in animals and humans exposed to ethanol during gestation.     

Effects of noradrenergic neuronal activity on 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethylene glycol (DHPG) levels. Quantitation by high performance liquid chromatography

We describe a sensitive specific and simple high pressure liquid chromatographic procedure for determining 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethylene glycol (DHPG) in both plasma and tissue. DHPG is extracted from plasma or tissue extracts by adsorption onto alumina. DHPG in the alumina eluate is detected electrochemically following chromatography on a C₁₈ reverse phase column. The method is sensitive enough to detect approximately 20 pg/ml of plasma DHPG. Both clonidine (100 μg/kg) and desmethylimipramine (2.5 mg/kg) when administered to rabbits for 3 days induced significant falls in both cardiac and plasma DHPG concentrations. These experiments indicate that both tissue and plasma DHPG concentrations may be of value in assessing both the release and re-uptake of norepinephrine at peripheral sympathetic nerve endings in vivo.     

A three-phase pattern in growth, monoclonal antibody production, and metabolite exchange in a hybridoma bioreactor culture

The use of partial cubic spline data interpolation for the calculation of volumetric metabolite exchange rates suggested the existence of three distinct metabolic phases during bioreactor culture of a hybridoma cell line. During phase 1, a rapid amino acid uptake rate and ammonia release rate were observed. The growth rate was low and glutamine synthetase activity fell. In phase 2, maximum growth rate and minimum glutamine assimilation and ammonium production rates were observed. Attempts to corroborate the apparent ammonia assimilation in this phase using (15)NH(4)Cl resulted in low incorporation rates into alanine and glutamine. Maximum glutamine synthetase activity took place during this period. Maximum antibody production rate was observed during phase 3 during which peaks in glutamine assimilation, ammonia release, and glutamine synthetase activity were observed. The apparent existence of the three phases prompted us to carry out Northern blot analysis of glutamine synthetase RNA at appropriate times during the process. This revealed a pattern of appearance and dis-appearance of mRNA consistent with the three phases indicated by the fermentation parameters. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Purification and properties of pyridoxal-5''-phosphate-dependent histidine decarboxylases from Klebsiella planticola and Enterobacter aerogenes.

Histidine decarboxylases from Klebsiella planticola and Enterobacter aerogenes were purified to homogeneity and compared with the histidine decarboxylase from Morganella morganii. All three enzymes required pyridoxal 5'-phosphate as a coenzyme, showed optimal activity at pH 6.5, decarboxylated only histidine among the amino acids derived from protein, and were tetramers or dimers of identical subunits. Amino-terminal sequences of the three enzymes showed up to 81% homology through residue 33, but the enzymes differed sufficiently in amino acid composition and sequence so that no cross-reaction occurred between the K. planticola or E. aerogenes enzymes and antibodies to the decarboxylase from M. morganii. All three enzymes were inhibited by carbonyl reagents; by amino-, carboxyl-, and some methyl-substituted histidines; and by alpha-fluoromethylhistidine. These decarboxylases, all from gram-negative organisms, differed greatly in subunit structure, biogenesis, and other properties from the pyruvoyl-dependent histidine decarboxylases from gram-positive organisms described previously.     

Reproductive isolation among geographically and temporally isolated marine Brachionus strains

Using a polyclonal antibody against the mate recognition pheromone (MRP) of Brachionus rotundiformis Koshiki strain, we investigated the behavioral reproductive isolation and the similarity of MRP among geographically and temporally isolated B. rotundiformis strains. Males of the Koshiki strain did not discriminate in mating attempts among females of the Koshiki strain and those of conspecific allopatric strains from Hamana, Fiji, Thailand and Spain. Likewise, Koshiki males attempted mating with statistically indistinguishable frequency with Koshiki females and B. plicatilis strains. However, copulation was not consummated between Koshiki males and B. plicatilis females. The amount of anti-MRP binding to three allopatric B. rotundiformis strains was similar to that of the Koshiki strain, but binding to Hamana and the B. plicatilis strain was significantly lower. Four temporally separated B. rotundiformis populations were hatched from resting eggs collected from 0, 5, 10 and 15 cm depth in the sediment of Kai-ike pond in Koshiki island, Japan. Sediment age was determined using the ²¹⁰Pb method, allowing us to estimate that resting eggs from 15 cm depth were produced 65 years ago. Results of mating assays and anti-MRP binding showed that no behavioral reproductive isolation exists among the four temporally isolated Koshiki strains. B. rotundiformis appears to be reproductively isolated from B. plicatilis, but heterospecific matings are still attempted between B. plicatilis and B. rotundiformis, suggesting that the MRP remains sufficiently similar to elicit circling behavior.     

Class I and III polyhydroxyalkanoate synthases from Ralstonia eutropha and Allochromatium vinosum: characterization and substrate specificity studies

Class I and III polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthases catalyze the conversion of beta-hydroxybutyryl coenzyme A (HBCoA) to polyhydroxybutyrate. The Class I PHA synthase from Ralstonia eutropha has been purified by numerous labs with reported specific activities that vary between 1 and 160 U/mg. An N-terminal (His)6-PHA synthase was constructed and purified with specific activity of 40 U/mg. The variable activity is shown to be related to the protein's propensity to aggregate and not to incomplete post-translational modification by coenzyme A and a phosphopantetheinyl transferase. The substrate specificities of this enzyme and the Class III PHA synthase from Allochromatium vinosum have been determined with nine analogs of varied chain length and branching, OH group position within the chain, and thioesters. The results suggest that in vitro, both PHA synthases are very specific and provide further support for their active site structural similarities. In vitro results differ from studies in vivo.     

YfcX enables medium-chain-length poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) formation from fatty acids in recombinant Escherichia coli fadB strains

Expression of Escherichia coli open reading frame yfcX is shown to be required for medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA(MCL)) formation from fatty acids in an E. coli fadB mutant. The open reading frame encodes a protein, YfcX, with significant similarity to the large subunit of multifunctional beta-oxidation enzymes. E. coli fadB strains modified to contain an inactivated copy of yfcX and to express a medium-chain-length synthase are unable to form PHA(MCL)s when grown in the presence of fatty acids. Plasmid-based expression of yfcX in the FadB(-) YfcX(-) PhaC(+) strain restores polymer formation. YfcX is shown to be a multifunctional enzyme that minimally encodes hydratase and dehydrogenase activities. The gene encoding YfcX is located downstream from yfcY, a gene encoding thiolase activity. Results of insertional inactivation studies and enzyme activity analyses suggest a role for yfcX in PHA monomer unit formation in recombinant E. coli fadB mutant strains. Further studies are required to determine the natural role of YfcX in the metabolism of E. coli.     

Carboxypeptidase E, a prohormone sorting receptor, is anchored to secretory granules via a C-terminal transmembrane insertion.

Carboxypeptidase E (CPE) is a sorting receptor that directs the prohormone pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) to the regulated secretory pathway, and is also a prohormone processing enzyme in neuro/endocrine cells. It has been suggested that the 25 C-terminal amino acids are necessary for the binding of CPE to secretory granule membranes, but its orientation in the membrane is not known. In this study, we examined the structure and orientation of the membrane-binding domain at the C-terminus of CPE. In vitro experiments using model membranes demonstrated that the last 22 amino acids of CPE (CP peptide) insert in a shallow orientation into lipid bilayers at low pH. Circular dichroism analysis indicated that the CP peptide adopts a partial alpha-helical configuration at low pH, and helix content increases when it is bound to lipid. Protease protection experiments, immunolabeling, and immunoisolation of intact secretory granules with a C-terminal antibody revealed a cytoplasmic domain in CPE, consistent with a transmembrane orientation of this protein. We conclude that the membrane-binding domain of CPE must adopt an alpha-helical configuration to bind to lipids, and that CPE may require another integral membrane "chaperone" protein to insert through the lipid bilayer in a transmembrane fashion.     

Structural organization of the beta-globin locus of B-haplotype sheep

Goats and some sheep synthesize a juvenile hemoglobin, Hb C (alpha 2 beta C2), at birth and produce this hemoglobin exclusively during severe anemia. Sheep that synthesize this juvenile hemoglobin are of the A haplotype. Other sheep, belonging to a separate group, the B haplotype, do not synthesize hemoglobin C and during anemia continue to produce their adult hemoglobin. To understand the basis for this difference we have determined the structural organization of the beta- globin locus of B-type sheep by constructing and isolating overlapping genomic clones. These clones have allowed us to establish the linkage map 5' epsilon I-epsilon II-psi beta I-beta B-epsilon III-epsilon IV- psi beta II-beta F3' in this haplotype. Thus, B sheep lack four genes, including the BC gene, and have only eight genes, compared with the 12 found in the goat globin locus. The goat beta-globin locus is as follows: 5' epsilon I-epsilon II-psi beta X-beta C-epsilon III-epsilon IV-psi beta Z-beta A-epsilon V-epsilon VI-psi beta Y-beta F3'. Southern blot analysis of A-type sheep reveals that these animals have a beta- globin locus similar to that of goat, i.e., 12 globin genes. Thus, the beta-globin locus of B-haplotype sheep resembles that of cows and may have retained the duplicated locus of the ancestor of cows and sheep. Alternatively, the B-sheep locus arrangement may be the result of a deletion of a four-gene set from the triplicated locus.