Polyoxazoline-peptide adducts that retain antibody avidity

Synthetic polymers have long been used to modify various properties of proteins such as activity and solubility. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been widely used to form adducts with enzymes and antibodies. In this study, the polyoxazoline family of water-soluble polymers was used to synthesize adducts containing a synthetic peptide recognized by a monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against human protein C (hPC). This is the first application of direct conjugation of unterminated or "living" polymer to a peptide. The avidity of the antibody for the various adducts was characterized with respect to size and hydrophilicity of methyl- and ethyl-substituted polyoxazoline polymers (POX). Avidity of the adducts was not found to be dependent upon the hydrophilicity and was slightly decreased due to polymer modification. The methyl-POX-peptide adducts were found to be highly water soluble, while the ethyl-POX-peptide adducts showed sporadic problems with aqueous solubility. Because the polymer-peptide adducts retained avidity for the antibody, polyoxazoline polymers may have potential application to protein-adduct chemistry.     

Efficient preparation of steroidal 5,7-dienes of high purity.

Protected forms of dehydroepiandrosterone, delta 5 cholenic acid, (25R)-26-hydroxycholesterol and diosgenin were converted to the corresponding delta 5,7 dienes by successive treatment with 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (dibromantin), tetrabutylammonium bromide and tetrabutylammonium fluoride. The crude products, which contained the delta 5,7 species contaminated by minor amounts of the delta 5 and delta 4,6 steroids, were purified by silica gel-AgNO3 chromatography to give the following steroids in approximately 99% purity and at least 50% yield: 3 beta-acetoxyandrosta-5,7-dien-17-one, methyl 3 beta-acetoxychola-5,7-dien-24-oate, (25R)-3 beta,26-diacetoxycholesta-5,7-diene and (25R)-3 beta-acetoxyspirosta-5,7-diene. Analogous treatment of acetate derivatives of pregnenolone and stigmasterol gave 3 beta-acetoxypregna-5,7-dien-20-one and 3 beta-acetoxystigmasta-5,7,22-triene in approximately 50% yield but of lower purity. Full 1H and 13C NMR assignments are given for seven delta 5,7 steroid acetates and the corresponding delta 5 starting materials. Coupling constants for rings A, B and C of delta 5,7 steroids are presented and stereochemical assignments have been made for the following 1H NMR signals: the C-11 protons of delta 5,7 steroids, the C-16 protons of sterols and bile acids, the C-22 and C-23 protons of bile acid esters and the C-28 protons of stigmasterol derivatives.     

Ribosomal protein L35: identification in spinach chloroplasts and isolation of a cDNA clone encoding its cytoplasmic precursor

We describe the isolation of spinach chloroplast ribosomal protein L35 and characterization of a cDNA clone encoding its cytoplasmic precursor. This protein was only recently identified in ribosomes, but the sequences of four L35 genes have now been reported and confirm its presence in eubacteria, chloroplasts, and cyanelles. Using N-terminal sequence data, oligonucleotides were designed and a cDNA library was screened. The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA clones shows that the spinach L35 protein is encoded as a precursor of 159 residues, comprising a mature protein of 73 residues and a transit peptide of 86 residues. The cleavage site for forming the mature protein is deduced to be Thr-Val-Phe-Ala decreases Ala-Lys-Gly-Tyr. The L35 protein in the photosynthetic organelle of the protozoan Cyanophora paradoxa is encoded in the organelle DNA [Bryant & Stirewalt (1990) FEBS Lett. 259, 273-280]. The corresponding gene has not been found in the chloroplast DNA of a lower plant (liverwort) and two higher plants. Our results demonstrate that the L35 protein in a higher plant (spinach) is encoded in the nucleus. This finding, in light of the endosymbiont hypothesis, suggests an organelle to nucleus transfer of the L35 gene at the evolutionary beginnings of land plants.     

Preliminary crystallographic data for the thiamin diphosphate-dependent enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase from brewers' yeast

Single crystals of the thiamin diphosphate (the vitamin B1 coenzyme)-dependent enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1) from brewers' yeast have been grown using polyethylene glycol as a precipitating agent. Crystals of the homotetrameric version alpha 4 of the holoenzyme are triclinic, space group P1, with cell constants a = 81.0, b = 82.4, c = 116.6 A, alpha = 69.5 beta = 72.6, gamma = 62.4 degrees. The crystals are reasonably stable in a rotating anode x-ray beam and diffract to at least 2.5 A resolution. The Vm value of 2.55 A/dalton is consistent with a unit cell containing four subunits with mass of approximately 60 kDa each. Rotation function results with native data indicate strong non-crystallographic 222 symmetry relating the four identical subunits, thus density averaging methods are likely to play a role in the structure determination.     

The X-ray crystal structure of 6-deoxy-α-l-sorbofuranose. Conformational analysis of ketohexofuranosides and their comparison with ribofuranosides and arabinofuranosides

The crystal and molecular structure of 6-deoxy-l-sorbose have been determined by the application of multisolution methods and refined to an R-index of 0.063 for 560 reflections, using three-dimensional intensity data collected on a Picker automatic diffractometer. The compound crystallizes in the space group P2₁2₁2₁ with unit-cell dimensions a = 18.470 (10), b = 7.636 (10), and c = 5.371 (8) Å; Z = 4. The molecule occurs as the α-furanose form, which is also the preponderant tautomer in solution. The puckering of the furanoid ring is C-3′-exo-C-4′-endo (₃T⁴) [equivalent to C-2′-exo-C-3′-endo (₂T³) in the numbering for d-ribose], with P and τ_m angles of -6.5 and 42.7° respectively. Conformational analysis of the known ketofuranosides shows that the ₃T⁴ (₂T³ in d-ribose numbering) puckering mode, which is typical of α-nucleosides, is favored, in contrast to the favored ³T₂ or ²T₃ puckering mode for the β-d-ribonucleosides and β-d-arabinonucleosides. The conformational differences among furanoid rings are mainly influenced by the configuration at the anomeric carbon atom. The favored orientation about the C-2′-C-1′ bond (O-5′-C-2′-C-1′-O-1′)of the ketofuranosidesis — gauche. All four hydroxyl groups are involved in donor-acceptor hydrogen bonding, and O-4′-8 appears to be involved in a bifurcated hydrogen bond to O-2′ and O-3′ of neighboring molecules.     

Structure of guanylyl-3',5'-cytidine monophosphate. II. Description of the molecular and crystal structure of the calcium derivative in space group P2(1).

The structural features of calcium guanosine-3′,5′-cytidine monophosphate (GpC) have been elucidated by X-ray diffraction analysis. The molecule was crystallized in space group P2₁ with cell constants of a = 21.224 Å, b = 34.207 Å, c = 9.327 Å, and β = 90.527°, Z = 8. The hydration of the crystal is 21% by weight with 72 water molecules in the unit cell. The four GpC molecules in the asymmetric unit occur as two Watson-Crick hydrogen-bonded dimers related by a pseudo-C face centering. Each dimer consists of two independent GpC molecules whose bases are hydrogen bonded to each other in the traditional Watson-Crick fashion. Each dimer possesses a pseudo twofold axis broken by a calcium ion and associated solvent. The four molecules are conformationally similar to helical RNA, but are not identical to it or to each other. Instead, values of conformational angles reflect the intrinsic flexibility of the molecule within the range of basic helical conformations. All eight bases are anti, sugars are all C3′-endo, and the C4′-C5′ bond rotations are gauche-gauche. The R factor is 12.6% for 2918 observed reflections at 1.2-Å resolution.     

Radioimmunoassay studies of intestinal calcium-binding protein in the pig. I. Identification of intestinal calcium-binding protein in blood and response to a low calcium diet.

We have developed a radioimmunoassay for porcine intestinal calcium-binding protein (CaBP) and have used it to detect CaBP in pig plasma. Plasma CaBP is identical to intestinal CaBP on the basis of immunological activity, molecular size, and molecular charge properties. The plasma CaBP concentration was greater in the portal blood than in mixed venous blood, suggesting that blood CaBP originates in the gut. Two of four 15-week-old littermate pigs were placed on a low calcium diet (0.15% calcium, 0.65% phosphorus) and two on a control diet (0.65% calcium, 0.65% phosphorus). After 2 weeks, the entire small intestine was removed and divided into nine 1.8-m segments. CaBP was assayed in both plasma and intestinal mucosa. When the two pigs on a low calcium diet were compared with two control pigs, there was a general increase in immunoreactive CaBP in both plasma and intestinal mucosa. However, there was no increment in immunoreactive CaBP in the first 1.8-m segment of small intestine. Seventy-one percent of the increment in CaBP occurred distal to the first two segments. The largest fractional low calcium diet effect occurred in the ileum. The mean CaBP concentration for the total small intestine increased by a factor of 1.9. The plasma CaBP concentration increased by a factor of 2.6. In these pigs, plasma CaBP was a more reliable indicator of change in CaBP status than was the measurement in the proximal gut segment which contained the duodenum. The assay of CaBP in blood is convenient and may obviate the sampling errors inherent in intestinal biopsy.     

Caffeine Junkie: an Unprecedented Glutathione S-Transferase-Dependent Oxygenase Required for Caffeine Degradation by Pseudomonas putida CBB5

Caffeine and other N-methylated xanthines are natural products found in many foods, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. Therefore, it is not surprising that bacteria have evolved to live on caffeine as a sole carbon and nitrogen source. The caffeine degradation pathway of Pseudomonas putida CBB5 utilizes an unprecedented glutathione-S-transferase-dependent Rieske oxygenase for demethylation of 7-methylxanthine to xanthine, the final step in caffeine N-demethylation. The gene coding this function is unusual, in that the iron-sulfur and non-heme iron domains that compose the normally functional Rieske oxygenase (RO) are encoded by separate proteins. The non-heme iron domain is located in the monooxygenase, ndmC, while the Rieske [2Fe-2S] domain is fused to the RO reductase gene, ndmD. This fusion, however, does not interfere with the interaction of the reductase with N₁- and N₃-demethylase RO oxygenases, which are involved in the initial reactions of caffeine degradation. We demonstrate that the N₇-demethylation reaction absolutely requires a unique, tightly bound protein complex composed of NdmC, NdmD, and NdmE, a novel glutathione-S-transferase (GST). NdmE is proposed to function as a noncatalytic subunit that serves a structural role in the complexation of the oxygenase (NdmC) and Rieske domains (NdmD). Genome analyses found this gene organization of a split RO and GST gene cluster to occur more broadly, implying a larger function for RO-GST protein partners.