Cr^3＋胁迫对苦草叶片活性氧清除系统和叶细胞超微结构的影响

研究了不同浓度Cr^3＋胁迫对苦草[Vallisneria natarts（Lour．）Hara]叶片活性氧清除系统及细胞超微结构的影响。结果表明,随Cr^3＋浓度的提高（0．5-15．0mg·L^-1）,苦草叶片中O2^-·和MDA含量、SOD和POD及CAT活性均呈现先上升后显著下降的变化趋势,且在10．0和15．0mg·L^-1 Cr^3＋胁迫条件下显著低于对照（P〈0．05）。在1．0mg·L^-1Cr^3＋胁迫条件下,O2^-·的含量达到最高（0．96 OD·g^-2）;在2．0mg·L^-1Cr^3＋胁迫条件下,MDA含量和SOD、POD及CAT活性最高。随Cr^3＋胁迫浓度的提高,苦草叶片细胞超微结构受损程度逐渐加深,导致核仁和高尔基体消失;线粒体脊突膨胀,线粒体膜受损并出现囊泡状结构;叶绿体变形、类囊体膨胀受损并最终导致叶绿体破损。表明高浓度Cr^3＋胁迫对苦草叶片细胞产生了不可逆的伤害。     

Removal of estrogenic activity from endocrine-disrupting chemicals by purified laccase of Phlebia tremellosa

A white-rot basidiomycete, Phlebia tremellosa, produced a laccase that showed increased activity during degradation of phthalates. A laccase was purified through the ion exchange chromatography and preparative gel electrophoresis, and the estimated molecular weight was 75 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified laccase was pH 4.0 and 20 degrees C, respectively. The K(m) value of the enzyme was 55.7 microM, and the V(max) was 0.0541 OD min(-1) U(-1) for o-tolidine. Purified laccase reduced the estrogenic activity of four different endocrine-disrupting chemicals. However, this effect was reduced by a laccase inhibitor, kojic acid, which confirmed that the laccase was involved in the removal of estrogenic activity.     

不同蛋白含量饲料对南方鲇胃蛋白酶和淀粉酶活性的影响

为探讨营养、饲料与鱼类消化酶之间的相互作用,采用蛋白含量分别为44．8％、29．1％和13．3％的饲料饲养南方鲇(Silurus meridionalis),并在第0d、15d、25d和50d对胰脏、胃黏膜、前肠黏膜和后肠黏膜的胃蛋白酶(酸性蛋白酶)和淀粉酶活性进行了动态分析。结果显示：1)饲料中蛋白含量为29．1％—44．8％时南方鲇的生长速度显快于低蛋白含量饲料(13．3％);2)在实验后期(25d后),中等蛋白含量饲料组南方鲇的生长速度比其他两组快,此阶段该组鱼胃黏膜的胃蛋白酶活性呈上升趋势,而另两组该酶活性则呈下降趋势;低蛋白饲料组前肠黏膜和后肠黏膜的淀粉酶活性在实验后期急剧下降,与该组鱼的生长最慢相关联;3)在实验的50d内,不同蛋白含量饲料对胃蛋白酶和淀粉酶活性在各组织器官中的分布特征影响不大。实验期间,南方鲇消化器官中这两种消化酶活性的变化情况表明,在实验的不同阶段,饲料中的蛋白含量对南方鲇胃蛋白酶和淀粉酶的合成、分泌和活性大小的影响是不同的。     

Differentiation of the slow-binding mechanism for magnesium ion activation and zinc ion inhibition of human placental alkaline phosphatase

The binding mechanism of Mg(2+) at the M3 site of human placental alkaline phosphatase was found to be a slow-binding process with a low binding affinity (K(Mg(app.)) = 3.32 mM). Quenching of the intrinsic fluorescence of the Mg(2+)-free and Mg(2+)-containing enzymes by acrylamide showed almost identical dynamic quenching constant (K(sv) = 4.44 +/- 0.09 M(-1)), indicating that there is no gross conformational difference between the M3-free and the M3-Mg(2+) enzymes. However, Zn(2+) was found to have a high affinity with the M3 site (K(Zn(app.)) = 0.11 mM) and was observed as a time-dependent inhibitor of the enzyme. The dependence of the observed transition rate from higher activity to lower activity (k(obs)) at different zinc concentrations resulted in a hyperbolic curve suggesting that zinc ion induces a slow conformational change of the enzyme, which locks the enzyme in a conformation (M3'-Zn) having an extremely high affinity for the Zn(2+) (K*(Zn(app.)) = 0.33 microM). The conformation of the M3'-Zn enzyme, however, is unfavorable for the catalysis by the enzyme. Both Mg(2+) activation and Zn(2+) inhibition of the enzyme are reversible processes. Structural information indicates that the M3 site, which is octahedrally coordinated to Mg(2+), has been converted to a distorted tetrahedral coordination when zinc ion substitutes for magnesium ion at the M3 site. This conformation of the enzyme has a small dynamic quenching constant for acrylamide (K(sv) = 3.86 +/- 0.04 M(-1)), suggesting a conformational change. Both Mg(2+) and phosphate prevent the enzyme from reaching this inactive structure. GTP plays an important role in reactivating the Zn-inhibited enzyme activity. We propose that, under physiological conditions, magnesium ion may play an important modulatory role in the cell for protecting the enzyme by retaining a favorable geometry of the active site needed for catalysis.     

Isolation and characterization of plasma membrane from lactating bovine mammary gland

Plasma membranes were isolated from lactating bovine mammary gland. Two crude membrane fractions; medium/d 1.033 (light membrane) and 1.033/1.053 interfaces (heavy membrane), were obtained by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation of osmotically washed microsomal fraction. Two crude membranes were further purified separately by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Both light and heavy membranes banded at a sucrose density of 1.14. The purified membranes appeared as heterogeneous smooth membrane vesicles on electron microscopy. The contaminating suborganelles were not detected. The yield of the purified membranes relative to the homogenate was 1.2%. The degree of purity of the membranes was shown by a great increase in the specific activity of 5′-nucleotidase over the homogenate of 20-fold for light membrane and of 16-fold for heavy membrane. The relative activities of Mg²⁺-ATPase, (Na⁺ + K⁺)-ATPase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, phosphodiesterase I, akaline phosphatase and xanthine oxidase were also high (12–18-times) and nearly 20% of these enzymes was recovered. The activity of marker enzyme for mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus was very low, while that of acid phosphatase for lysosome was relatively high (5-times). DNA and RNA contents were very low. The major polypeptides rich in other suborganelles were not detected profoundly in the membrane fraction and the polypeptide compositions in both light and heavy membranes were similar upon SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.     

Zn诱导的菹草叶抗氧化酶活性的变化和超微结构损伤

本文以培养在不同浓度梯度Zn 溶液中的菹草为材料, 研究Zn 对植物的影响。培养第5天, 测定叶内抗氧化酶系统活性等指标的变化, 并用透射电镜观察对细胞超微结构的损伤。结果表明:低浓度(<20mg/L)在短期内(5d)未对菹草产生影响, 各生理指标呈上升趋势。当培养浓度为50mg/L 时SOD 和CAT 活性达到峰值, 而其他指标则下降:其中POD 活性和叶绿素含量高于对照, 而可溶性蛋白含量则比对照低。100mg/L 培养浓度各指标均明显降低。同时电镜观察发现过量Zn 损伤了细胞的超微结构。当培养浓度大于50mg/L 时, 叶绿体被膜断裂, 叶绿体解体。线粒体脊突膨大, 线粒体空泡化。细胞核核膜断裂, 核仁散开。这说明过量Zn 削弱了细胞抗氧化酶的活性, 同时对细胞超微结构产生致死性损伤, 从而导致细胞死亡。     

长白蝮蛇类凝血酶基因的克隆及分析

从长白蝮蛇（Agkistrodon halys Ussuriensis)毒腺中抽提总RNA,采用RT－PCR扩增其类凝血酶基因,经全序列测定,类凝血酶基因Ussurin全长为708个核苷酸,即编码236个氨基酸;根据同源性,推测它的活性中心为His^43,Asp^88和Ser^182;二硫键为Cys^7-Cys^141,Cys^28-Cys^44,Cys^76-Cys^234,Cys^120-Cys^188,Cys^152-Cys^167和Cys^178-Cys^203。该蛇毒类凝血酶cDNA序列及推导的氨基酸序列均为首次报道。     

A Jonah-like chymotrypsin from the therapeutic maggot Lucilia sericata plays a role in wound debridement and coagulation

Lucilia sericata larvae are used in maggot debridement therapy, a traditional wound healing approach that has recently been approved for the treatment of chronic wounds. Maggot excretion products (MEP) contain many different proteases that promote disinfection, debridement and the acceleration of wound healing, e.g. by activating the host contact phase/intrinsic pathway of coagulation. In order to characterise relevant procoagulant proteases, we analysed MEP and identified a chymotrypsin-like serine protease with similarities to Jonah proteases from Drosophila melanogaster and a chymotrypsin from Lucilia cuprina. A recombinant form of the L. sericata Jonah chymotrypsin was produced in Escherichia coli. The activated enzyme (Jonah_m) had a pH optimum of 8.0 and a temperature optimum of 37 °C, based on the cleavage of the chromogenic peptide s-7388 and casein. Jonah_m reduced the clotting time of human plasma even in the absence of the endogenous protease kallikrein, factor XI or factor XII and digested the extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin, laminin and collagen IV, suggesting a potential mechanism of wound debridement. Based on these characteristics, the novel L. sericata chymotrypsin-like serine protease appears to be an ideal candidate for the development of topical drugs for wound healing applications.     

Hexokinase receptors: Preferential enzyme binding in normal cells to nonmitochondrial sites and in transformed cells to mitochondrial sites

Hexokinase plays an important role in normal glucose-utilizing tissues like brain and kidney, and an even more important role in highly malignant cancer cells where it is markedly overexpressed. In both cell types, normal and transformed, a significant portion of the total hexokinase activity is bound to particulate material that sediments upon differential centrifugation with the crude mitochondrial fraction. In the case of brain, particulate binding may constitute most of the total hexokinase activity of the cell, and in highly malignant tumor cells as much as 80 percent of the total. When a variety of techniques are rigorously applied to better define the particulate location of hexokinase within the crude mitochondrial fraction, a striking difference is observed between the distribution of hexokinase in normal and transformed cells. Significantly, particulate hexokinase found in rat brain, kidney, or liver consistently distributes with nonmitochondrial membrane markers whereas the particulate hexokinase of highly glycolytic hepatoma cells distributes with outer mitochondrial membrane markers. These studies indicate that within normal tissues hexokinase binds preferentially to non-mitochondrial receptor sites but upon transformation of such cells to yield poorly differentiated, highly malignant tumors, the overexpressed enzyme binds preferentially to outer mitochondrial membrane receptors. These studies, taken together with the well-known observation that, once solubilized, the particulate hexokinase from a normal tissue can bind to isolated mitochondria, are consistent with the presence in normal tissues of at least two different types of particulate receptors for hexokinase with different subcellular locations. A model which explains this unique transformation-dependent shift in the intracellular location of hexokinase is proposed.     

Determination of enzyme activities of energy metabolism in the maturing rat oocyte.

Enzyme activities were determined quantitatively in individual rat oocytes to study their energy metabolism during maturation. Low hexokinase activity and high activities of lactate dehydrogenase and enzymes in the phosphate pathway, i.e., glucose 6-P and 6-P gluconate dehydrogenases, were characteristic of immature oocytes. Hexokinase may be a rate-limiting enzyme that enables oocytes to use glucose as an energy source. During maturation, the activities of hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, and malate dehydrogenase increased significantly, suggesting that the glycolytic pathway, as well as the tricarboxylic acid cycle, developed as the first meiotic division proceeded. In contrast, the activities of glucose 6-P and 6-P gluconate dehydrogenases decreased in maturing oocytes. The observation that the enzyme pattern in mature oocytes resembles more closely that in somatic cells appears to be significant, especially in light of previous studies showing this developmental trend in preimplantation embryos.