Presence of immunoreactive endothelin in human plasma

A highly specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay has been established for measurement of human endothelin (hET) in human plasma. After extraction of plasma with an octyl-silica column, this assay allowed for detection of immunoreactive (IR) hET as low as 0.2 fmol/ml. In 16 healthy subjects, the mean concentration of plasma IR-hET was 0.6 fmol/ml. Reverse-phase HPLC coupled with radioimmunoassay revealed two major IR-hET components, one corresponding to authentic hET(1-21) and another with more hydrophilicity than hET(1-21). These data indicate that ET is a circulating vasoconstrictor hormone in man.     

Proteinic prorenin-releasing-stimulator (PRS) in the rat submandibular gland

The release of prorenin as well as renin from rat renal slices was confirmed by a rat prorenin-prosegment ELISA system and an assay system for determining the renin activity. A significant increase of the prorenin release was found by adding rat submandibular gland extract to the slice medium, indicating the existence of a prorenin-releasing stimulator (PRS) in the extract. The pI and molecular mass of PRS were 8.5-8.7 and 28-30 kDa, respectively. The PRS was completely inactivated by boiling or a proteinase treatment.     

Synthesis of human endothelin-1 precursors in Escherichia coli

Endothelin, the most potent vasoconstrictor found in nature, is thought to be important in the regulation of blood pressure and/or local blood distribution. Human placenta cDNA fragment encoding preproendothelin-1 (preproET-1) and its carboxyl terminal mature precursor (C-matured precursor) was expressed in E. coli. These products were characterized by both enzyme immunoassay and Western blot analysis.     

Nucleotide sequence of Suncus murinus immunoglobulin mu gene and comparison with mouse and human mu genes

RNA polymerase from the archaebacterium Sulfolobus acidocaldarius was chemically modified with AMP o-formylphenyl ester followed by reduction with borohydride. The modified protein catalyzes the labeling of its own largest subunit when incubated with [-³³P]UTP in the presence of poly[d(A-T)]. On cleaving of the labeled protein using cyanogen bromide, hydroxylamine or amino acid-specific endoproteinases for a very brief period, the pattern and size of the radioactive fragments formed are best explained by attachment of the label between Gly⁸⁴³ and Met⁸⁹⁵ of the largest subunit. In this region there exists a highly conserved sequence which is also found in other archaebacterial, eukaryotic and prokaryotic RNA polymerases. This suggests that the binding site for the initiating substrate of RNA polymerases has been conserved during evolution.     

Sarafotoxin receptors mediate phosphoinositide hydrolysis in various rat brain regions

Sarafotoxin-b, a potent snake vasoconstrictor peptide homologous to the mammalian endothelial vasoconstrictor endothelin, induces phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis in various brain regions of the rat. Sarafotoxin-b induced PI hydrolysis is largely independent of extracellular Ca2+ and is detected in all brain regions where toxin-binding sites are found. These results point to the existence of a hitherto undetected neuroreceptor associated with the PI cycle.     

Identification of thiol groups and a disulfide crosslink site in bovine myelin proteolipid protein

The existence of disulfide crosslinks limits the number of possible folded structures a protein can assume. Thus localization of disulfide and thiol groups is a key to understanding the conformation and orientation of myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) in the myelin membrane. [¹⁴C]Carboxamidomethylated PLP was fragmented with chymotrypsin, and the resulting mixture was partially separated by reversed-phase HPLC. Purified ¹⁴C-labeled peptides and a disulfide containing peptide were characterized by amino acid analysis. These experiments showed that Cys-32 and Cys-34 are free thiols, and are presumably on the interior of the cell or within the membrane bilayer, and that Cys-200 and Cys-219 are joined by a disulfide bond, and are probably located on the extracellular face of the membrane. Sequence analysis experiments indicate that Cys-5, Cys-6 and Cys-9 are linked by disulfides, probably to other parts of the protein on the extracellular face of the membrane.     

Cyclic AMP inhibits mitogen-induced DNA synthesis in hamster fibroblasts, regardless of the signalling pathway involved

Mitogen-induced initiation of DNA synthesis in quiescent Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (CCL39) is strongly inhibited by 8-Br cAMP and cAMP-evaluating agents (prostaglandin E1, cholera toxin, isobutylmethylxanthine). This inhibition is reversible and occurs very early in G0/G1. As exponential growth is much less affected by increased cAMP, we propose that cAMP inhibits an early signal essential for the exit from G0. CCL39 cells can be stimulated by alpha-thrombin, which activates phosphoinositide (PI) breakdown, as well as by mitogens (FGF or FGF + serotonin) which do not involve the PI pathway. Here we show that the action of both classes of mitogens is likewise inhibited by cAMP. Therefore, although PI breakdown is inhibited by cAMP in CCL39 cells, this effect cannot entirely account for th antimitogenic activity of cAMP. Other early steps of the mitogenic response must be also affected.     

Molecular cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of a cellodextrinase gene from Bacteroides succinogenes S85.

A DNA fragment coding for a cellodextrinase of Bacteroides succinogenes S85 was isolated by screening of a pBR322 gene library in Escherichia coli HB101. Of 100,000 colonies screened on a complex medium with methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-cellobioside as the indicator substrate, two cellodextrinase-positive clones (CB1 and CB2) were isolated. The DNA inserts from the two recombinant plasmids were 7.7 kilobase pairs in size and had similar restriction maps. After subcloning from pCB2, a 2.5-kilobase-pair insert which coded for cellodextrinase activity was isolated. The enzyme was located in the cytoplasm of the E. coli host. It exhibited no activity on carboxymethyl cellulose, Avicel microcrystalline cellulose, acid-swollen cellulose, or cellobiose but hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-cellobioside and p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-lactoside. The Km (0.1 mM) for the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl-cellobioside by the enzyme expressed in E. coli was similar to that reported for the purified enzyme from B. succinogenes. Expression of the cellodextrinase gene was subjected to catabolite repression by glucose and was not induced by cellobiose. The origin of the DNA insert from B. succinogenes was confirmed by Southern blot analysis. Western blotting (immunoblotting) using antibodies raised against the purified B. succinogenes cellodextrinase revealed a protein with a molecular weight of approximately 50,000 in E. coli clones which comigrated with the native enzyme isolated from B. succinogenes. These data indicate that the cellodextrinase gene expressed in E. coli is fully functional and codes for an enzyme with properties similar to those of the native enzyme.     

Immobilization of proteins on oxidized crosslinked Sepharose preparations by reductive amination

Mild periodate oxidation of certain commercially available crosslinked agarose beads (Sepharose CL-4B and CL-6B) results in the generation of aldehydo groups which were useful for immobilization of amino compounds by reductive amination using pyridine borane. Consumption of periodate ion and production of formaldehyde were only observed with crosslinked Sepharose preparations and were correlated with a binding capacity much greater than that of uncross-linked gels when subjected to the reductive amination reaction. Up to 50 mg (approximately 0.73 mumol) of bovine serum albumin and 30 mumol of glycylglycine were coupled per gram of moist oxidized Sepharose CL-6B. The immobilization reaction was shown to proceed at neutral pH requiring about 12 h for completion and to be relatively insensitive to temperature and pyridine borane concentration. The oxidized gel was shown to be stable for at least 2 months upon storage in 0.1 M acetic acid. This method has proven to be useful for the preparation of a variety of affinity matrices and immobilized enzymes.     

Assignment of autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA1) centromeric to the HLA region on the short arm of chromosome 6, using multilocus linkage analysis.

A 7-generation kindred with the HLA-linked form of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA1) was studied to determine whether the SCA1 gene maps centromeric or telomeric to the HLA loci. The DNA markers flanking the HLA-(A-B) region were used for polymorphism studies and multilocus linkage analysis. These two markers are the cDNA for the beta-subunit of HLA-DP, which is centromeric to HLA-(A-B), and the cDNA for coagulation factor XIIIa (F13A), which is telomeric to HLA-(A-B). Haplotypes were constructed using multiple polymorphisms for these two DNA markers, and pairwise linkage analysis revealed a maximum lod score of 2.18 for SCA1 versus HLA-DP at a recombination fraction of .05 and a maximum lod score of 0 for SCA1 versus F13A at a recombination fraction of .50. A possible crossover between HLA-(A-B) and HLA-DP was identified, but lack of samples from key individuals hampered the analysis. To clarify the phase and improve the analysis, the two chromosomes 6 for the crossover individual were separated in somatic cell hybrids. The results strongly favored the probability that the crossover occurred between HLA-(A-B-DR) and HLA-DP with SCA1 segregating with HLA-DP, consistent with a location centromeric to HLA-(A-B). Multilocus linkage analysis was used to evaluate further the location of SCA1 relative to F13A, HLA-(A-B), and HLA-DP; the results indicated that the SCA1 gene locus is centromeric to HLA-DP with odds of 46:1 favoring this most likely location over the second most likely location, i.e., telomeric to HLA-(A-B) between the HLA complex and F13A.