Construction and characterization of a cosmid of Streptomyces lividans

Summary We constructed a plasmid pR4C1 in which a DNA fragment containing the cohesive ends of an actinophage, R4 was inserted into the ClaI site of plasmid pIJ365. The plasmid pR4C1 was packaged efficiently into R4 phage particles in vivo and therefore transferred by transduction. Southern hybridization analysis of DNA from pR4C1-transducing R4 phage particles indicated that the plasmid DNA was encapsidated as head-to-tail concatemers with the cohesive ends in the termini. We designated the pR4C1 plasmid a cosmid, following the termination of Collins and Hohn (1978).     

Life history of amphibians and gravity.

Anurans hold a unique position in vertebrate phylogeny, as they made the major transition from water to land. Through evolution they have acquired fundamental mechanisms to adapt to terrestrial gravity. Such mechanisms are now shared among other terrestrial vertebrates derived from ancestral amphibians. Space research, using amphibians as a model animal, is significant based on the following aspects: (1) Anuran amphibians show drastic changes in their living niche during their metamorphosis. Environments for tadpoles and for terrestrial life of frogs are quite different in terms of gravity and its associated factors. (2) Certain tadpoles, such as Rhacophorus viridis amamiensis, have a transparent abdominal wall. Thus visceral organs and their motion can be observed in these animals in non-invasive manner through their transparent abdominal skin. This feature enables biologists to evaluate the physiological state of these amphibians and study the autonomic control of visceral organs. It is also feasible for space biologists to examine how such autonomic regulation could be altered by microgravity and exposure to the space environment.     

Scavenger receptor for aldehyde-modified proteins

This paper describes an unexpectedly broad ligand specificity of a scavenger receptor of sinusoidal liver cells that is responsible for endocytic uptake of formaldehyde-treated bovine serum albumin (f-Alb). Binding of 125I-f-Alb to the isolated cells was effectively inhibited by bovine serum albumin (BSA) modified with aliphatic aldehydes such as glycolaldehye, DL-glyceraldehyde, and propionaldehyde whereas albumin preparations modified by aromatic aldehydes such as pyridoxal, pyridoxal phosphate, salicylaldehyde, and benzaldehyde did not affect this binding process. Binding of 125I-glycolaldehyde-treated BSA to the cells exhibited a saturation kinetics with an apparent Kd = 3.3 micrograms of the ligand/ml. This binding process was inhibited by unlabeled f-Alb as well as by the antibody raised against the f-Alb receptor. Indeed, 125I-glycolaldehyde-treated BSA underwent a rapid plasma clearance (t1/2 approximately 2 min) which was markedly retarded by unlabeled f-Alb. Upon treatment by these aldehydes, other proteins such as ovalbumin, soybean trypsin inhibitor, and hemoglobin were also converted to active ligands for the f-Alb receptor, while no ligand activity was generated with gamma-globulin and RNase A. These results clearly show that the f-Alb receptor, originally described as being specific for f-Alb, exhibits a broad ligand specificity in terms of both aldehydes and proteins and, hence, should be described as a scavenger receptor for aldehyde-modified proteins.     

Identification of 5-Hydroxy Eicosatetraenoic Acid in Cerebrospinal Fluid After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Abstract: To detect and identify lipid peroxides in the CFS following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), CSF samples were obtained sequentially from 10 patients who developed typical vasospasm and were analyzed by HPLC and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. One of the peaks appearing on the 7th day after SAH was identified as 5-hydroxy eicosatetraenoic acid. On HPLC, an identical peak was detected in samples from other SAH patients. The results gave unequivocal evidence that peroxides of arachidonic acid are present in the CSF following SAH, and a correlation between them and the occurrence of vasospasm seemed likely. The hypothesis that lipid peroxides are involved in the genesis of vasospasm deserves further investigation.     

Structural and functional role of the amino-terminal region of porcine cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase. Catalytic and structural properties of enzyme derivatives truncated on the amino-terminal side

In porcine cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase, a dimeric enzyme, the amino-terminal region anchoring onto the neighboring subunit is linked to the adjoining floppy peptide segment (residues 12-47), an integral part of the small domain whose facile movement upon substrate binding is a striking "induced fit" feature of this enzyme. To assess the contribution by the amino-terminal region to small domain movement and protein stability, a series of enzyme derivatives truncated on the amino-terminal side (residues 1-9) was prepared by using oligonucleotide-directed in vitro mutagenesis. Deletion of residues 1-3 showed no effect on catalytic activity and heat stability. Del 1-5 mutant enzyme with an extra methionine at position 5 showed only 43% of the kappa cat value (in the overall transamination) of the wild-type enzyme. Further deletion up to residue 9 resulted in a slight decrease in kappa cat values. Del 1-9 mutant enzyme still retained a kappa cat value of 33% that of wild-type enzyme. Km values for aspartate and 2-oxoglutarate increased sharply upon deletion of residues 1-9. Accordingly, Del 1-9 mutant enzyme showed a striking decrease in the kappa cat/Km value, to only 2% of that for the wild-type enzyme. Deletion of amino-terminal residues 1-9 resulted also in a large decrease in thermostability and in an enhanced susceptibility to limited proteolysis by protease 401, which is known to cleave at Leu20 of the wild-type enzyme. These findings indicate that an increase in the conformational freedom of the floppy segment (residues 12-47) would occur upon the loss of most of the anchorage region, thereby presenting an entropic barrier to conformational changes that facilitate substrate binding with high affinity.     

Endocytic uptake of nonenzymatically glycosylated proteins is mediated by a scavenger receptor for aldehyde-modified proteins

Long term incubation of proteins with glucose, named the Maillard reaction (Maillard, L. C. (1912) C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 154, 66-68), gives rise to advanced glycosylation end product (AGE) with fluorescence, color, as well as cross-linked properties. The receptor-mediated endocytosis of AGE-proteins by macrophages was reported (Vlassara, H., Brownlee, M., and Cerami, A. (1985) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 5588-5592). The present study on the binding of AGE-bovine serum albumin (BSA) to rat peritoneal macrophages and sinusoidal liver cells demonstrated the presence of a saturable, high affinity receptor for AGE-BSA with Kd = 2.4 x 10(-7) M (macrophages) and 2.1 x 10(-7) M (sinusoidal cells). The cellular binding of AGE-BSA and its endocytic uptake by these cells were competitively inhibited by BSA preparations modified with aliphatic aldehydes such as formaldehyde or glycolaldehyde, ligands known to be specific for a scavenger receptor for aldehyde-modified proteins (Horiuchi, S., Murakami, M., Takata, K., and Morino, Y. (1986). J. Biol. Chem. 261, 4962-4966). These ligands also had a profound in vivo effect on the plasma clearance of 125I-AGE-BSA as well as its hepatic uptake. Thus, endocytic uptake of AGE-proteins by macrophages appeared to be mediated by a scavenger receptor for aldehyde-modified proteins. This provides evidence for the biological importance of the scavenger receptor in eliminating senescent macromolecules from the circulation.     

Interstrain differences in bitter taste responses in mice

Interstrain differences in bitter taste responses were examinedusing inbred strains of mice. Taste responses were recordedfrom the glossopharyngeal and chorda tympani nerves of SWR/J,LP/J, BDP/J and DBA/2J mice. There were large differences inthe magnitude of responses to sucrose octaacetate (SOA) in boththe glossopharyngeal and chorda tympaninerves of SWR/J miceas compared with the other strains of mice. SOA thresholds ofSWR/J mice were 10^–7–^–6 M, whereas they were– 10^–4 M in LP/J mice. On the other hand, no appreciabledifferences were observed in the responses to quinine hydrochlorideand pnenyl-thio-carbamide. The results obtained in the presentexperiments fully explain the findings in behavioral studiesshowing that only SWR/J mice avoid SOA solutions whereas otherstrains do not. ^*Present address: Department of Physiology, Niigata UniversitySchool of Dentistry, Niigata 951, Japan