Human quadricepts muscle mitochondria: A functional characterization

Human quadriceps mitochondria were isolated from ca. 80 mg tissue in ca. 45% yield. The preparation is described with respect to content of mitochondrial markers and nine different respiratory activities. The specific state 3 activities were high in comparison with literature data, indicating high integrity and purity of the preparation. Examples of state 3 rates, in µmol O min^-1 g protein^-1 (25°C): pyruvate + malate, 400; succinate, 514; malate + glutamate, 444. The notion of high integrity was also supported by the reproducibility of the preparation and the magnitude of the respiratory control ratios and the P/O ratios. The mitochondria most likely had lost ca. 30% of their cytochrome c upon isolation, but it was substantiated that this loss had not influenced the state 3 rates. Functional assays of single reactions or groups of reactions could be based on respiration experiments. The respiratory chain activity, for instance, was measured as respiration of NADH in freeze-permeabilized mitochondria (1263 mol O min^-1 g protein^-1). Comparison of uncoupled rates of respiration and state 3 rates indicated that the ATP synthesis exerted major flux control over respiration of succinate + glutamate, malate + glutamate and pyruvate + malate. These reactions, showing very similar rates of ATP synthesis, could be used as a functional assay of ATP synthesis (1200 mol ATP min^-1 g protein^-1). Respiration of succinate, palmitoyl-carnitine + malate, or glutamate could not support the maximal rate of ATP synthesis and the upstream reactions probably exerted major flux control in these cases. The specific activities appeared very constant in this group of young men, only the respiratory activity with glutamate might show biological variation.     

Principles of affinity-based biosensors

Despite the amount of resources that have been invested by national and international academic, government, and commercial sectors to develop affinity-based biosensor products, little obvious success has been realized through commercialization of these devices for specific applications (such as the enzyme biosensors for blood glucose analysis). Nevertheless, the fastest growing area in the biosensors research literature continues to involve advances in affinity-based biosensors and biosensor-related methods. Numerous biosensor techniques have been reported that allow researchers to better study the kinetics, structure, and (solid/liquid) interface phenomena associated with protein-ligand binding interactions. In addition, potential application areas for which affinity-based biosensor techniques show promise include clinical/diagnostics, food processing, military/antiterrorism, and environmental monitoring. The design and structural features of these devices—composed of a biological affinity element interfaced to a signal transducer—primarily determine their operational characteristics. This paper although not intended as a comprehensive review, will outline the principles of affinity biosensors with respect to potential application areas.     

Evidence for specific RNA/protein interactions in the differential segment of the W sex chromosome in the amphibian Pleurodeles waltl

Pleurodeles exhibits a ZZ/ZW system of GSD (genotype sex determination). However, the Z and W sex chromosomes appear to be morphologically identical. A short RNA sequence is described that was specifically bound to lampbrush loops in the differential segment of the sexual bivalent IV. The distribution of these labeled loops in experimentally produced ZZ and WW females enabled us to demonstrate that such labeled loops were perfectly correlated with the W chromosome. Therefore, this RNA sequence constitutes an excellent marker for the W differential segment. Furthermore, analysis of the labeled loops under various experimental conditions suggested that their labeling is caused by specific interactions between this RNA sequence and lampbrush loop-associated proteins (RNA/protein interactions). North-western assays revealed that nuclear polypeptide(s) of 65 kDa could be responsible for such binding.     

中华姬鼠与大林姬鼠的同工酶差异

中华姬鼠（Ａｐｏｄｅｍｕｓｄｒａｃｏ）和大林姬鼠（Ａｐｏｄｅｍｕｓｐｅｎｉｎｓｕｌａｅ）是形态学上十分相似的两种鼠类。为了对两种姬鼠的分类提供生物化学方面的依据,采用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶等电聚焦电泳方法比较和分析了两种姬鼠的ＬＤＨ同工酶、ＥＳＴ同工酶和ＳＯＤ同工酶的差异。结果表明,两种姬鼠的ＬＤＨ同工酶酶谱基本相似,而ＥＳＴ同工酶和ＳＯＤ同工酶酶谱则存在明显的种间差异。根据ＥＳＴ同工酶Ａ２带的有无和ＳＯＤ同工酶主带等电点的差别,能将两种姬鼠很容易区分开来。     

粘虫颗粒体病毒增效因子的分离纯化及其生化性质

粘虫颗粒体病毒经０．０２ｍｏｌ／ＬＮａＯＨ碱溶,先用ＳｅｐｈａｄｅｘＧ－２００凝胶过滤层析柱从病毒蛋白粗提中分离增效因子,然后选用ＤＥＡＥ－ＳｅｐｈａｒｏｓｅＣＬ－６Ｂ离子交换层析柱进一步纯化增效因子,得到少量电泳纯的增效因子蛋白样品。     

42份武夷名丛茶树资源生化成分多样性分析

对武夷山茶区42份武夷名丛茶树资源的主要生化成分进行了评价鉴定和遗传多样性分析。结果发现,武夷山茶树资源的生化成分存在丰富的多样性和变异,平均遗传多样性指数达到2.06%,平均变异系数达到22.01%。通过多变量的主成分分析,前3个主成分代表了茶树生化成分多样性的89.02%的信息。基于生化成分,把42份武夷名丛聚类划分为3个类群。3个类群除了咖啡碱含量差异不显著外,其他各生化成分均存在显著差异。第Ⅰ、Ⅱ类群大部分为适制乌龙茶的资源,第Ⅲ类群大部分为适制绿茶的资源。并从中筛选出一批生化成分特异的资源。     

Using Isolated Mitochondria from Minimal Quantities of Mouse Skeletal Muscle for High throughput Microplate Respiratory Measurements

Skeletal muscle mitochondria play a specific role in many disease pathologies. As such, the measurement of oxygen consumption as an indicator of mitochondrial function in this tissue has become more prevalent. Although many technologies and assays exist that measure mitochondrial respiratory pathways in a variety of cells, tissue and species, there is currently a void in the literature in regards to the compilation of these assays using isolated mitochondria from mouse skeletal muscle for use in microplate based technologies. Importantly, the use of microplate based respirometric assays is growing among mitochondrial biologists as it allows for high throughput measurements using minimal quantities of isolated mitochondria. Therefore, a collection of microplate based respirometric assays were developed that are able to assess mechanistic changes/adaptations in oxygen consumption in a commonly used animal model. The methods presented herein provide step-by-step instructions to perform these assays with an optimal amount of mitochondrial protein and reagents, and high precision as evidenced by the minimal variance across the dynamic range of each assay.     

Strain,biochemistry, and cultivation-dependent measurement variability of algal biomass composition

Accurate compositional analysis in biofuel feedstocks is imperative; the yields of individual components can define the economics of an entire process. In the nascent industry of algal biofuels and bioproducts, analytical methods that have been deemed acceptable for decades are suddenly critical for commercialization. We tackled the question of how the strain and biochemical makeup of algal cells affect chemical measurements. We selected a set of six procedures (two each for lipids, protein, and carbohydrates): three rapid fingerprinting methods and three advanced chromatography-based methods. All methods were used to measure the composition of 100 samples from three strains: Scenedesmus sp., Chlorella sp., and Nannochloropsis sp. The data presented point not only to species-specific discrepancies but also to cell biochemistry-related discrepancies. There are cases where two respective methods agree but the differences are often significant with over- or underestimation of up to 90%, likely due to chemical interferences with the rapid spectrophotometric measurements. We provide background on the chemistry of interfering reactions for the fingerprinting methods and conclude that for accurate compositional analysis of algae and process and mass balance closure, emphasis should be placed on unambiguous characterization using methods where individual components are measured independently.