The antioxidant characteristics of medicinal plant extracts from Western Siberia

An antioxidant activity of the water-alcohol extracts of leaves of ten herbs from Western Siberia was studied. In vivo the capability of extracts to protect cells of Escherichia coli against the bacteriostatic action of H ₂O₂ and the influence of the extracts on the expression of the antioxidant gene katG coding catalase-hydroperoxidase I were investigated. In vitro the radical-binding activity with DPhPG^· (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical), the chelating capability with ferrozine, and total composition of flavonoids and tannins were determined. The extracts of Filipendula stepposa and Limonium gmelinii were characterized by the highest antioxidant activity. According to data, the test extracts could have an antioxidant effect on bacteria in different ways at once including the direct inhibition of ROS (reactive oxygen species), iron ion chelation and antioxidant gene induction.     

Importance of lysine-286 at the NADP site of glutamate dehydrogenase from Salmonella typhimurium.

Affinity labeling studies of NADP(+)-glutamate dehydrogenase from Salmonella typhimurium have shown that the peptide Leu-282-Lys-286 is located near the coenzyme site [Haeffner-Gormley et al. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 5388-5394]. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the role of lysine-286. The mutant enzymes K286R, K286Q, and K286E were prepared by site-directed mutagenesis, expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified. The Vmax values (micromoles of NADPH per minute per milligram of protein) were similar for WT (270), K286R (529), K296Q (409), and K286E (382) enzymes. As measured at pH 7.9, the Km value for NADPH was much greater for K286E (280 microM) than for WT (9.8 microM), K286R (30 microM), or K286Q (66 microM) enzymes. The efficiencies (kcat/Km) of the WT and K286R mutant were similar (1.2 x 10(3) min-1 microM-1 and 1.0 x 10(3) min-1 microM-1, respectively) while those of K286Q (0.30 x 10(3) min-1 microM-1) and K286E (0.07 x 10(3) min-1 microM-1) were greatly reduced. The decreased efficiency of the K286E mutant results from the increase in Km-NADPH, consistent with a role for a basic residue at position 286 which enhances the binding of NADPH. Plots of Vmax vs pH showed the pH optima to be 8.1-8.3 for all enzymes at saturating NADPH concentrations. A 40-fold increase in Km-NADPH for K286E was observed as the pH increased from 5.98 to 8.08, from which a unique pKe of 6.5 was calculated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The physicochemical and biochemical characteristics of the cell walls in M+ and M- variants of Streptococcus group A type 29

The amino acid composition of cell walls and surface proteins, isolated from virulent (M+) and avirulent (M-) streptococcal strains (group A, type 29) has been determined by the method of E. H. Beachey et al. The kinetics of the lysis and proteolysis of streptococcal cell walls with muramidase and protease obtained from Actinomyces levoris and streptolysin has been studied. The constants describing the progress rates of these processes has been determined; their values in case of both lysis and proteolysis are higher in virulent strains than in avirulent ones.     

Engineering repeat proteins of the immune system

Limitations associated with immunoglobulins have motivated the search for novel binding scaffolds. Repeat proteins have emerged as one promising class of scaffolds, but often are limited to binding protein and peptide targets. An exception is the repeat proteins of the immune system, which have in recent years served as an inspiration for binding scaffolds which can bind glycans and other classes of biomolecule. Like other repeat proteins, these proteins can be very stable and have a monomeric mode of binding, with elongated and highly variable binding surfaces. The ability to target glycans and glycoproteins fill an important gap in current tools for research and biomedical applications.     

Cyclic GMP stimulates inositol phosphate production in cultured pituitary cells: possible implication to signal transduction

Addition of the stable and permeable analog 8-bromo cyclic GMP (8-BR-cGMP) to myo-[2-3H]inositol prelabeled cultured rat pituitary cells results in enhanced formation of [3H]-myo-inositol monophosphate (IP1). The stimulatory effect of the cyclic nucleotide analog is additive to the effect of Li+, which accumulates IP1 via inhibition of inositol 1-monophosphatase, and also to the effect of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) which stimulates the formation of IP1, as well as that of inositol 1,4-bisphosphate (IP2) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) via enhanced hydrolysis of polyphosphoinositides. Many Ca2(+)-mobilizing hormones acting via phosphoinosite turnover also stimulate cGMP formation. The cyclic nucleotide might then serve as a modulator by further hydrolysis of phosphoinositides needed for protein kinase C activation.     

Neomorph and leaf differentiation as alternative morphogenetic pathways in soybean tissue culture.

Somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis were induced on immature cotyledons of different soybean cultivars. The anatomical investigation of morphogenesis proved neomorph differentiation instead of somatic embryos, and leaf formation instead of shoot development. While normal embryos were induced in 0-3.1% of the explants, neomorphs developed at a much higher rate i.e. in 10.5-78.9% depending on the genotype. Likewise organogenesis preferably followed the pathway of leaflet development (3.1-26.3%) than that of shoot tip formation (0-2.6%). Low plant regeneration frequency of soybean can partly be explained with these two alternative abortive pathways of morphogenesis probably induced with higher frequency than the normal pathways by the generally used in vitro methods.     

Excretion of vanillic acid and homovanillic acid and tissue distribution of catecholamines and their metabolites in mice with various levels of pigmentation]

Studies concerning metabolism of catecholamines in mice differing with respect to the degree of pigmentation were based on determination of daily excretion of vanillylmandelic and homovanillic acid and tissue content of epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine and their methoxy derivatives. It was found that pigmented mice excrete more homovanillic acid, the metabolite of dopamine, than do albinotic mice. Tissue studies have shown that the brain of albinotic mice contains more dopamine and kidneys more epinephrine, norepinephrine and their methoxy derivatives than the respective organs of the pigmented mice. The probable reasons of differences in the rate of inactivation of catecholamines in albinotic and pigmented mice have been discussed.     

Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of major histocompatibility complex class IV (B-G) genotypes in meat-type chickens

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used as a molecular genotyping approach to characterize differences in major histocompatibility complex class IV genes in meat-type chickens. A high level of polymorphism was observed following digestion with each of the two restriction endonucleases PvuII and BglII. Examination of DNA from 54 chickens revealed 23 polymorphic fragments. Application of RFLP techniques in the analysis of family groups should make possible the determination of B-G genotypes in the meat type chickens.