Correlation between 13Calpha chemical shifts and helix content of peptide ensembles

Replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations are used to generate three ensembles of an S-peptide analog (AETAAAKFLREHMDS). Percent helicity of the peptide ensembles calculated using STRIDE is compared to percent helicity calculated from (13)C(alpha) chemical shift deviations (CSD) from random coil in order to test the assumption that CSD can be correlated to percent helicity. The two estimates of helicity, one based on structure and the other on CSD, are in close to quantitative agreement, except at the edges of helical stretches where disagreements of as much as 50% can be found. These disagreements can occur by CSDs both as an under- and an overestimate of peptide helicity. We show that underestimation arises due to ensemble averaging of positive CSDs from conformers with torsion angles in the helical region of Ramachandran space with negative CSDs corresponding to conformers of the peptide in the extended region. In contrast, overestimation comes about due to the fact that a large number of conformations with torsion angles in the helical region are not counted as helical by STRIDE due to a lack of correlated helical torsion angles in neighboring residues.     

Colicins produced by the Escherichia fergusonii strains closely resemble colicins encoded by Escherichia coli

Plasmid DNA of six Escherichia fergusonii colicinogenic strains (three producers of colicin E1, two of Ib and one of Ia) was isolated and the colicin-encoding regions of the corresponding Col plasmids were sequenced. Two new variants of colicin E1, one of colicin Ib, and one of colicin Ia were identified as well as new variants of the colicin E1 and colicin Ib immunity proteins and the colicin E1 lysis polypeptide. The recombinant Escherichia coli producer harboring pColE1 from E. fergusonii strain EF36 (pColE1-EF36) was found to be only partially immune to E1 colicins produced by two other E. fergusonii strains suggesting that pColE1-EF36 may represent an ancestor ColE1 plasmid.     

Inactivation of SAM-Methyltransferase is the Mechanism of Attenuation of a Historic Louse Borne Typhus Vaccine Strain

Louse borne typhus (also called epidemic typhus) was one of man''s major scourges, and epidemics of the disease can be reignited when social, economic, or political systems are disrupted. The fear of a bioterrorist attack using the etiologic agent of typhus, Rickettsia prowazekii, was a reality. An attenuated typhus vaccine, R. prowazekii Madrid E strain, was observed to revert to virulence as demonstrated by isolation of the virulent revertant Evir strain from animals which were inoculated with Madrid E strain. The mechanism of the mutation in R. prowazekii that affects the virulence of the vaccine was not known. We sequenced the genome of the virulent revertant Evir strain and compared its genome sequence with the genome sequences of its parental strain, Madrid E. We found that only a single nucleotide in the entire genome was different between the vaccine strain Madrid E and its virulent revertant strain Evir. The mutation is a single nucleotide insertion in the methyltransferase gene (also known as PR028) in the vaccine strain that inactivated the gene. We also confirmed that the vaccine strain E did not cause fever in guinea pigs and the virulent revertant strain Evir caused fever in guinea pigs. We concluded that a single nucleotide insertion in the methyltransferase gene of R. prowazekii attenuated the R. prowazekii vaccine strain E. This suggested that an irreversible insertion or deletion mutation in the methyl transferase gene of R. prowazekii is required for Madrid E to be considered a safe vaccine.     

Binding of a novel dopaminergic agonist radioligand [3H]-fenoldopam (SKF 82526) to D-1 receptors in rat striatum

Fenoldopam (SKF 82526), a dopamine agonist which exhibits D-1 receptor subtype selectivity, was evaluated as a radioligand for this receptor subtype. In saturation studies in rat striatal membrane preparations, [3H]-fenoldopam appeared to label a single binding site with a KD of 2.3 +/- 0.1 nM and a Bmax of 590 +/- 40 fmoles/mg protein. In competition binding experiments, binding was shown to be stereoselective, and rank ordering of affinities of dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic compounds closely correlated with potencies of these compounds in stimulating or inhibiting dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase (D-1) and in binding to D-1 sites labelled with the antagonist [3H]-cis-flupenthixol. The most potent competitors were the recently identified D-1 selective antagonists, SCH 23390 and SKF R-83566. [3H]-Fenoldopam was also used to assess agonist/D-1 receptor interactions. The results suggest that [3H]-fenoldopam is a useful and selective agonist radioligand for the D-1 receptor.     

Prenatal stress impairs maternal behavior in a conflict situation and reduces hippocampal benzodiazepine receptors

Maternal behavior (pup retrieval) was assessed in prenatally stressed rats during control and conflict situations (having to pass through an airstream) when their pups were 4-5 days old. There was no difference in pup retrieval between experimental and control rats under normal conditions but only 52% of the former retrieved their pups during the conflict situation, compared with 96% of the controls. Catecholamine (CA) levels in the arcuate nucleus (Arc.n.) and noradrenaline in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) were not altered in prenatally stressed females, but their dopamine levels in the POM tended to be lower (p less than 0.1). The number of benzodiazepine (BZ) receptors in the hippocampi of prenatally stressed females was significantly lower than in controls. We conclude from these results that random prenatal noise and light stress increases the vulnerability to stressful situations in the female offspring during adulthood, which may be accompanied by altered CA function in the hypothalamus and BZ binding in the hippocampus.     

Macrophages isolated from liver granulomas of murine Schistosoma mansoni synthesize predominantly TxA2 during the acute and chronic phases of infection

Macrophages isolated from liver granulomas of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni for 8 or 20 wk synthesize predominantly thromboxane A2 with smaller amounts of the PGE2 and PGI2. There is no physiologic production of leukotrienes, as determined by RIA and HPLC. Thromboxane A2 is the predominant arachidonic acid metabolite whether the cells are stimulated by a phagocytic stimuli such as zymosan or the exogenous substrates arachidonic acid and PGH2. These data indicate that the predominant arachidonate enzymatic activity in these cells is thromboxane synthase.     

Phylogenetic evidence for horizontal transmission of group I introns in the nuclear ribosomal DNA of mushroom-forming fungi

Group I introns were discovered inserted at the same position in the nuclear small-subunit ribosomal DNA (nuc-ssu-rDNA) in several species of homobasidiomycetes (mushroom-forming fungi). Based on conserved intron sequences, a pair of intron-specific primers was designed for PCR amplification and sequencing of intron-containing rDNA repeats. Using the intron-specific primers together with flanking rDNA primers, a PCR assay was conducted to determine presence or absence of introns in 39 species of homobasidiomycetes. Introns were confined to the genera Panellus, Clavicorona, and Lentinellus. Phylogenetic analyses of nuc-ssu-rDNA and mitochondrial ssu-rDNA sequences suggest that Clavicorona and Lentinellus are closely related, but that Panellus is not closely related to these. The simplest explanation for the distribution of the introns is that they have been twice independently gained via horizontal transmission, once on the lineage leading to Panellus, and once on the lineage leading to Lentinellus and Clavicorona. BLAST searches using the introns from Panellus and Lentinellus as query sequences retrieved 16 other similar group I introns of nuc-ssu-rDNA and nuclear large-subunit rDNA (nuc-lsu-rDNA) from fungal and green algal hosts. Phylogenetic analyses of intron sequences suggest that the mushroom introns are monophyletic, and are nested within a clade that contains four other introns that insert at the same position as the mushroom introns, two from different groups of fungi and two from green algae. The distribution of host lineages and insertion sites among the introns suggests that horizontal and vertical transmission, homing, and transposition have been factors in intron evolution. As distinctive, heritable features of nuclear rDNAs in certain lineages, group I introns have promise as phylogenetic markers. Nevertheless, the possibility of horizontal transmission and homing also suggest that their use poses certain pitfalls.      

Identification of a gastrin binding protein in porcine gastric mucosal membranes by covalent cross-linking with iodinated gastrin

A gastrin binding protein (GBP) has been identified in detergent extracts of porcine gastric mucosal membranes by covalent cross-linking to 125I-[Nle15]gastrin with disuccinimidyl suberate. The apparent molecular weight of the cross-linked complex (80,000) is uneffected by reduction suggesting that the GBP is not composed of disulfide-bonded subunits. Subtraction of the molecular weight of 125I-gastrin indicates that the molecular weight of the GBP is 78,000. A similar molecular weight has been observed previously for the gastrin receptor (74,000) on intact canine parietal cells and plasma membranes therefrom, and for the receptor for the related hormone cholecystokinin (76,000-85,000) on pancreatic acinar membranes under reducing conditions. The similarity in molecular weight between the gastrin receptor and the solubilized GBP suggests that the latter protein is probably the gastrin receptor. However, the concentration (2 microM) of [Nle15]gastrin required for 50% inhibition of cross-linking of gastrin to the GBP solubilized in 0.1% Triton X-100 is 200-fold greater than the value (10 nM) observed for the gastrin receptor on isolated canine gastric parietal cells. A lower concentration (0.3 microM) of [Nle15]gastrin was required to inhibit cross-linking in a milder detergent (0.4% digitonin, 0.08% cholate). Thus, the reduced affinity for gastrin of the putative solubilized form of the gastrin receptor appears to be a result of detergent extraction.