A new tubulin-binding protein

A new brain protein is described which forms an insoluble complex with tubulin, with concomitant stoichiometric hydrolysis of GTP. The complex contains a maximum of one tubulin-binding protein (MW 52,500) per two tubulin dimers. The tubulin-binding protein (TBP) does not compete with colchicine, but in the presence of microtubule-associated proteins tubulin appeared less accessible to it. Proteins such as TBP might sequester tubulin and thereby function either to inhibit indiscriminate polymerization, or to promote ordered nucleation by maintaining high local concentrations.     

Isolation and characterization of a variant myoblast cell line that is temperature sensitive for differentiation.

A new variant rat myogenic cell line, ts485, was isolated by subcloning the cell line ts3b2 (H. T. Nguyen, R. M. Medford, and B. Nadal-Ginard, Cell 34:281-293, 1983). Unlike the progenitor cell line, ts485 was thermosensitive for differentiation. Experiments with conditioned medium suggested that diffusible extracellular factors were not involved in dictating the differential phenotypes of ts485 cells cultured at the permissive and nonpermissive temperatures. Temperature shift experiments performed on cultures of ts485 cells indicated that the temperature-sensitive lesion was in a factor active during the growth phase and required to trigger a cascade of events leading to terminal differentiation.     

Effect of postnatal development on calcium currents and slow charge movement in mammalian skeletal muscle

Single- (whole-cell patch) and two-electrode voltage-clamp techniques were used to measure transient (Ifast) and sustained (Islow) calcium currents, linear capacitance, and slow, voltage-dependent charge movements in freshly dissociated fibers of the flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscle of rats of various postnatal ages. Peak Ifast was largest in FDB fibers of neonatal (1-5 d) rats, having a magnitude in 10 mM external Ca of 1.4 +/- 0.9 pA/pF (mean +/- SD; current normalized by linear fiber capacitance). Peak Ifast was smaller in FDB fibers of older animals, and by approximately 3 wk postnatal, it was so small as to be unmeasurable. By contrast, the magnitudes of Islow and charge movement increased substantially during postnatal development. Peak Islow was 3.6 +/- 2.5 pA/pF in FDB fibers of 1-5-d rats and increased to 16.4 +/- 6.5 pA/pF in 45-50-d-old rats; for these same two age groups, Qmax, the total mobile charge measurable as charge movement, was 6.0 +/- 1.7 and 23.8 +/- 4.0 nC/microF, respectively. As both Islow and charge movement are thought to arise in the transverse-tubular system, linear capacitance normalized by the area of fiber surface was determined as an indirect measure of the membrane area of the t-system relative to that of the fiber surface. This parameter increased from 1.5 +/- 0.2 microF/cm2 in 2-d fibers to 2.9 +/- 0.4 microF/cm2 in 44-d fibers. The increases in peak Islow, Qmax, and normalized linear capacitance all had similar time courses. Although the function of Islow is unknown, the substantial postnatal increase in its magnitude suggests that it plays an important role in the physiology of skeletal muscle.     

Calcium/phospholipid-dependent kinase recognizes sites in microtubule-associated protein 2 which are phosphorylated in living brain and are not accessible to other kinases

Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2) purified after microtubule assembly cycles from bovine brain had been shown to contain about 10 esterified phosphates (mol/mol), which were relatively phosphatase resistant and essentially confined to the projection domain which contributes to the visible arms on microtubules. The kinase responsible for phosphorylating these sites had not been identified. We have approached this question by using a phosphatase that releases the bulk of these residues and then determining which kinase can now add additional residues corresponding to those released. Three kinases were chosen because of their abundance in brain and/or proximity to microtubules. Of these only Ca/phospholipid-dependent kinase was able to recognize the previously occupied sites. We also found that MAP-2 isolated from rat brain without assembly cycles contained more phosphate than previously recognized, greater than 30 mol/mol, suggesting that 20 of these had been inadvertently released by phosphatase during assembly cycles. All 3 kinases (Ca/phospholipid-dependent, cAMP-dependent, and Ca/calmodulin-dependent kinase II) recognized more sites in the bovine than in the rat MAP-2.     

Cloning and sequencing of mRNAs coding for two adult alpha globin chains of the salamander Pleurodeles waltlii

A cDNA library of erythrocyte mRNAs was established from immature red blood cells of the adult amphibian, Pleurodeles waltlii (urodele; salamander). The cDNA clones corresponding to the four adult globin chains were first identified and characterized by positive selection and the cDNAs derived from the two (major and minor) alpha-globin chains sequenced. The sequences presented contain both the complete 3'-noncoding region and the coding region of both chains, with the exception of the first nine codons of the minor alpha-chain, and a portion of the 5'-noncoding region of the major chain. The amino acid sequences of the encoded alpha-globin polypeptides have been deduced and compared with those of Xenopus laevis and of man. These comparative studies suggest that the alpha-globins of Pleurodeles waltlii and Xenopus laevis may have diverged from a common ancestral gene at the time when mammalian and amphibian lines diverged, and that they then evolved separately. Duplication of the alpha-gene, which is responsible for the polypeptide heterogeneity, appears to have occurred earlier in Pleurodeles waltlii than in Xenopus laevis.     

Molecular evolution of voltage-sensitive ion channel genes: on the origins of electrical excitability

We have analyzed nucleic acid and amino acid sequence alignments of a variety of voltage-sensitive ion channels, using several methods for phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Ancient duplications within this family gave rise to three distantly related groups, one consisting of the Na+ and Ca++ channels, another the K+ channels, and a third including the cyclic nucleotide-binding channels. A series of gene duplications produced at least seven mammalian homologues of the Drosophila Shaker K+ channel; clones of only three of these genes are available from all three mammalian species examined (mouse, rat, and human), pointing to specific genes that have yet to be recovered in one or another of these species. The Shaw-related K+ channels and the Na+ channel family have also undergone considerable expansion in mammals, relative to flies. These expansions presumably reflect the needs of the high degree of physiological and neuronal complexity of mammals. Analysis of the separate domains of the four-domain channels (Ca++ and Na+) supports their having evolved by two sequential gene duplications and implies the historical existence of a functional two-domain channel.      

Stimulation of tubulin tyrosinolation in rabbit leukocytes evoked by the chemoattractant formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine

Cellular tubulin is subject to a posttranslational modification involving the reversible addition to tyrosine through peptide linkage to the C-terminal glutamate of the alpha-chain. The synthetic peptide chemoattractant, N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, causes a specific, dose-dependent stimulation of tubulin tyrosinolation in rabbit leukocytes. This stimulation is prevented by carbobenzoxy-phenylalanyl-methionine, benzoyl-tyrosine ethylester, and nordihydroguaiaretic acid, which are all inhibitors of chemotaxis presumed to act via membrane-associated events. The combination of 3-deazaadenosine and homocysteine thiolactone, which inhibits phospholipid methylation, and quinacrine, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2, also abolishes the response to the peptide. Colchicine, however, which causes a marked disassembly of cellular microtubules in these cells and also inhibits chemotaxis, does not have any inhibitory effect on the basal or peptide-stimulated rate of tubulin tyrosinolation. In contrast, taxol, a microtubule-stabilizing agent, has an inhibitory effect on both the basal and peptide-stimulated tyrosine incorporation. Taxol also inhibits chemotaxis in rabbit leukocytes. The results strongly suggest the role of closely linked membrane-cytoskeleton interactions in leukocyte chemotaxis, in which tyrosinolation of tubulin may be functionally involved.     

AN IMPROVED SYNTHESIS OF 9-[2-(DIETHOXYPHOSPHONOMETHOXY)ETHYL]ADENINE AND ITS ANALOGUES WITH OTHER PURINE BASES UTILIZING THE MITSUNOBU REACTION

Abstract

Unprotected adenine, 6-chloropurine, 2.6-diaminopurine. and 2-amino-6-chluropurine have been directly coupled with 2-(diethoxyphosphonomethoxy)ethanol under Mitsunobu reaction conditions to provide acyclic phosphonate nucleotide analogues which are intermediates for antiviral agents such as PMEA.     

Intensified Tuberculosis Case Finding among Malnourished Children in Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres of Karnataka,India: Missed Opportunities

Background

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the most serious form of malnutrition affecting children under-five and is associated with many infectious diseases including Tuberculosis (TB). In India, nutritional rehabilitation centres (NRCs) have been recently established for the management of SAM including TB. The National TB Programme (NTP) in India has introduced a revised algorithm for diagnosing paediatric TB. We aimed to examine whether NRCs adhered to these guidelines in diagnosing TB among SAM children.

Methods

A cross-sectional study involving review of records of all SAM children identified by health workers during 2012 in six tehsils (sub-districts) with NRCs (population: 1.8 million) of Karnataka, India.

Results

Of 1927 identified SAM children, 1632 (85%) reached NRCs. Of them, 1173 (72%) were evaluated for TB and 19(2%) were diagnosed as TB. Of 1173, diagnostic algorithm was followed in 460 (37%). Among remaining 763 not evaluated as per algorithm, tuberculin skin test alone was conducted in 307 (41%), chest radiography alone in 99 (13%) and no investigations in 337 (45%). The yield of TB was higher among children evaluated as per algorithm (4%) as compared to those who were not (0.3%) (OR: 15.3 [95%CI: 3.5-66.3]). Several operational challenges including non-availability of a full-time paediatrician, non-functioning X-ray machine due to frequent power cuts, use of tuberculin with suboptimal strength and difficulties in adhering to a complex diagnostic algorithm were observed.

Conclusion

This study showed that TB screening in NRCs was sub-optimal in Karnataka. Some children did not reach the NRC, while many of those who did were either not or sub-optimally evaluated for TB. This study pointed to a number of operational issues that need to be addressed if this collaborative strategy is to identify more TB cases amongst malnourished children in India.