The analysis of recombinant interleukin-2 by thermospray liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

The complete sequence of recombinant human interleukin-2 expressed in Escherichia coli has been confirmed by thermospray liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (TS-LC-MS) of a tryptic digest derived from 100 micrograms (7 nmol) of reduced carboxymethylated interleukin-2. The preparation was shown by this method to contain predominantly unprocessed N-terminal initiator Met, with some authentic N-terminal Ala; the rest of the protein was as predicted from the DNA sequence, though some deamidated material was noted. TS-LC-MS proved to be a rapid and efficient method for surveying the protein tryptic peptide products allowing all the data to be collected in one chromatographic run; all tryptic fragments were identified by their molecular ions including those for the larger peptides (Mr 1500-3500) which, due to the presence of doubly and triply charged molecular ions, were brought within the mass range of the instrument (1800 Da). It is proposed that TS-LC-MS is a good general method for analyzing recombinant protein digests with respect to sequence confirmation, processing, and post-translational modification, and since each chromatographic peak is identified allows for subsequent monitoring of the protein by LC using uv detection. The method suffers from the disadvantages that all the sample is consumed during the experiment and that no fragment (sequence) ions are generally observed.     

Insulin effects on apolipoprotein B production by normal, diabetic and treated-diabetic rat liver and cultured rat hepatocytes.

1. The effect of insulin on apolipoprotein (apo B) secretion was studied in 24 h recirculating liver perfusions of isolated normal, diabetic and insulin-treated diabetic rats. In single perfusions from each group apo B accumulated in the media in a linear fashion. 2 In perfusions of normal rat livers, when the medium contained insulin plus cortisol, apo B production was significantly inhibited (by 35.8%), demonstrating a hormone effect on apo B secretion. 3. In perfusions of diabetic-rat livers, apo B production was decreased to 11.8% of normal when the medium contained no hormones, and was not significantly changed by the addition of insulin plus cortisol to the medium, suggesting that the hormone effect on apo B secretion is missing in long-term hypoinsulinaemic states. 4. Treatment of diabetic rats with daily insulin injection restored apo B production and restored the effect of insulin plus cortisol in the medium to inhibit apo B secretion during perfusion. 5. Parallel studies of apo B secretion with insulin alone, cortisol alone and insulin plus cortisol in the medium were performed in primary cultures of hepatocytes to compare results from liver perfusions. 6. Apo B secretion by hepatocytes from normal, diabetic and treated-diabetic rats was inhibited (by 36.8%, 57.1% and 57.9% respectively) when insulin alone was added to the medium. 7. Insulin plus cortisol inhibited apo B secretion by hepatocytes from normal and treated diabetic rats (by 30.2% and 47.2% respectively), but failed to inhibit apo B secretion by hepatocytes from diabetic rats.     

Staphylococcal nuclease: sequential assignments and solution structure

Sequential assignments are reported for backbone 15N and 1H of nearly all residues of staphylococcal nuclease (Nase) complexed with thymidine 3',5'-diphosphate and Ca2+. Because of the relatively large size of the Nase ternary complex, Mr 18K, the crucial element of our assignment strategy was the use of isotope-edited two-dimensional NMR spectra, particularly 15N-edited nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY), 15N-edited J-correlated spectroscopy (COSY), and 1H/15N or 1H/13C heteronuclear multiple quantum shift correlation spectroscopy (HMQC). These experiments, together with the more conventional NOESY, COSY, and homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn spectra of natural abundance or deuteriated samples, yielded backbone assignments of 127 of the 136 residues in the structured part of the protein. Using the NOESY data, we identified three helical domains and several beta-sheets which were in close correspondence with secondary structure identified in the crystal structure. Moreover, many long-range NOESY connectivities were identified that were in agreement with distances derived from the crystal structure. The region of the sequence in the neighborhood of residue 50 appears to be more flexible and disordered in solution than in the crystal. Very slowly exchanging amide protons are those found to be hydrogen bonded in the crystal structure; however, even hydrogen-bonded amides located within similar types of regular secondary structures, e.g., alpha-helices, exchange with greatly different rates.     

Mechanism of adenosine production by isolated rat heart mitochondria

Adenosine production by isolated rat heart mitochondria was examined and was observed to be dependent on an active adenine nucleotide transporter and a functional 5'-nucleotidase. It was found that mitochondria do not transport adenosine. These results suggest that mitochondria provide AMP for an extramitochondrial 5'-nucleotidase and this was verified by direct measurement of extramitochondrial levels of AMP and adenosine. A possible role for mitochondria in myocardial adenosine production is discussed.     

Molecular basis for substrate specificity of protein kinases and phosphatases

Regulation of various metabolic processes occurs by the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of enzymes. Both the protein kinases that catalyze the phosphorylations and the protein phosphatases that catalyze the dephosphorylations display relatively broad specificity, reacting with a number of distinct sites in target enzymes. In this way changes in the activity of a particular kinase or phosphatase can cause coordinated and pleiotropic responses. However, the kinases and phosphatases do not exhibit a one-to-one correspondence in their reactions. Residues at different positions may be phosphorylated by a single kinase, yet dephosphorylated by different individual phosphatases. Conversely, sites which are substrates for different individual kinases may be dephosphorylated by a single phosphatase. In exploring the molecular basis for these differences this article shows that whereas kinases react with specific primary structures that often times appear as beta bends, the phosphatases recognize higher order structure, less strictly ruled by amino acid sequence surrounding the phosphorylated site. The differences, seen in the ability of these enzymes to utilize synthetic peptide substrates, might be rationalized in terms of function. Kinases need protruding segments of structure that can be enwrapped to exclude water, thereby minimizing ATP hydrolysis and enhancing phosphotransferase activity. On the other hand phosphatases are hydrolytic enzymes that may operate especially well on protein interfaces. Hydrolytic action often measured with p-nitrophenylphosphate is not necessarily indicative of a protein phosphatase and consideration of the mechanism reveals why this substrate can be misleading.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Big flies, small repeats: the "Thr-Gly" region of the period gene in Diptera

The region of the clock gene period (per) that encodes a repetitive tract of threonine-glycine (Thr-Gly) pairs has been compared between Dipteran species both within and outside the Drosophilidae. All the non- Drosophilidae sequences in this region are short and present a remarkably stable picture compared to the Drosophilidae, in which the region is much larger and extremely variable, both in size and composition. The accelerated evolution in the repetitive region of the Drosophilidae appears to be mainly due to an expansion of two ancestral repeats, one encoding a Thr-Gly dipeptide and the other a pentapeptide rich in serine, glycine, and asparagine or threonine. In some drosophilids the expansion involves a duplication of the pentapeptide sequence, but in Drosophila pseudoobscura both the dipeptide and the pentapeptide repeats are present in larger numbers. In the nondrosophilids, however, the pentapeptide sequence is represented by one copy and the dipeptide by two copies. These observations fulfill some of the predictions of recent theoretical models that have simulated the evolution of repetitive sequences.      

Bioassay for detecting active site insensitivity in horn fly (Diptera: Muscidae) larvae

A bioassay was used to detect active site insensitivity (knock-down resistance [kdr]) in pyrethroid resistant larvae of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (L.). The larvae of the resistant population had KD50's 42.0-, 28.1- and 29.2-fold greater to permethrin, fenvalerate and lambda-cyhalothrin, respectively, compared with the susceptible population. In filter paper bioassays, resistant adult horn flies were 17 to 39.1 times less susceptible to the pyrethroids than susceptible adults at LC50. These results further document active site insensitivity as the major mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in the horn fly.     

Quantitative measurement of lipoprotein surface charge by agarose gel electrophoresis.

The electrophoretic mobilities of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and six pure proteins in a 0.5% agarose gel have been compared to literature electrophoretic mobility values determined by the Tiselius moving boundary method. There is a strong correlation (r = 0.99) between the electrophoretic mobilities determined by the two techniques. The electrophoretic behavior of charged particles smaller than very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) is not markedly perturbed by a 0.5% agarose matrix, and variations in mobility primarily reflect differences in particle valence and density of surface charge. Application of electrokinetic theory to derive protein and lipoprotein net charges from the electrophoretic mobilities in agarose yields a quantitative delineation of lipoprotein electrophoretic migration patterns wherein the beta mobility region comprises a surface potential range of -4.5 to -7.0 mV; the pre-beta region a range of -7.0 to -10.5 mV; the alpha mobility region a range of -10.5 to -12.5 mV and the serum albumin region a range of -12.5 to -14.0 mV. Because protein conformation and charge are critical in metabolic regulation, the agarose gel electrophoresis technique provides a valuable analytical tool that should help to elucidate further details of the structure-function relationships of serum lipoprotein particles.