On the mechanism of ketogenesis and its control. Purification, kinetic mechanism and regulation of different forms of mitochondrial acetoacetyl-CoA thiolases from ox liver. 1. Two mitochondrial forms of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolases designated as enzyme A and enzyme B were crystallized from ox liver. They could be shown to be homogenous by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. 2. In direction of acetoacetyl-CoA cleavage enzyme A shows a double competitive substrate inhibition when acetoacetyl-CoA is varied at different fixed CoA concentrations. With enzyme B a parallel kinetic pattern is obtained when acetoacetyl-CoA is varied at different fixed CoA concentrations. In direction of acetoacetyl-CoA synthesis both enzymes show linear reciprocal plots of initial velocities against acetyl-CoA concentrations in absence of CoA. These initial velocity kinetics in the forward and in the reverse direction are in accordance with a ping-pong mechanism of reaction for both enzymes involving an acetyl-S-enzyme as intermediate. 3. Under saturating concentrations of substrate, the ratios of acetoacetyl-CoA synthesis/aceto-acetyl-CoA cleavage is 0.31 for enzyme A and 0.08 for enzyme B. The maximum velocity in direction of acetoacetyl-CoA synthesis of enzymes A and B are 0.43 mumol X min-1 X unit thiolase-1 and 0.10 mumol X min-1 X unit thiolase-1, respectively. 4. Both enzymes show nearly the same affinity for acetyl-CoA. The Km values are 91 muM (enzyme A) and 80 muM (enzyme B). 5. Coenzyme A and acetoacetyl-CoA both act as inhibitors in direction of acetoacetyl-CoA synthesis: coenzyme A is a nonlinear competitive inhibitor of both enzymes. Acetoacetyl-CoA exerts a negative cooperativity on enzyme A (nH = 0.63) and is a competitive inhibitor for enzyme B (Ki = 1.6 muM). 6. The catalytic and regulatory properties of the acetoacetyl-CoA thiolases A and B are discussed in terms of their proposed role in regulating ketogenesis. Intracellular fluctuations of acetoacetyl-CoA/3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA ratios, resulting in a suspension of inhibition of both enzymes at high NADH/NAD ratios, are postulated as a control mechanism of ketogenesis in addition to mechanisms already known.


D-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (Entner-Doudoroff enzyme) from Pseudomonas fluorescens. Purification, properties and regulation. 1. The existence of two different D-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases in Pseudomonas fluorescens has been demonstrated. Based on their different specificity and their different metabolic regulation one enzyme is appointed to the Entner-Doudoroff pathway and the other to the hexose monophosphate pathway. 2. A procedure is described for the isolation of that D-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase which forms part of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway (Entner-Doudoroff enzyme). A 950-fold purification was achieved with an overall yield of 44%. The final preparation, having a specific activity of about 300 mumol NADH formed per min per mg protein, was shown to be homogeneous. 3. The molecular weight of the Entner-Doudoroff enzyme has been determined to be 220000 by gel permeation chromatography, and that of the other enzyme (Zwischenferment) has been shown to be 265000. 4. The pI of the Entner-Doudoroff enzyme has been shown to be 5.24 and that of the Zwischenferment 4.27. The Entner-Doudoroff enzyme is stable in the range of pH 6 to 10.5 and shows its maximal activity at pH 8.9. 5. The Entner-Doudoroff enzyme showed specificity for NAD+ as well as for NADP+ and exhibited homotropic effects for D-glucose 6-phosphate. It is inhibited by ATP which acts as a negative allosteric effector. Other nucleoside triphosphates as well as ADP are also inhibitory. 6. The enzyme catalyzes the transfer of the axial hydrogen at carbon-1 of beta-D-glucopyranose 6-phosphate to the si face of carbon-4 of the nicotinamide ring and must be classified as B-side stereospecific dehydrogenase.


Purification and properties of potato 1,4-alpha-D-glucan:1,4-alpha-D-glucan 6-alpha-(1,4-alpha-glucano)-transferase. Evidence against a dual catalytic function in amylose-branching enzyme. Q-Enzyme, the enzyme that synthesizes the 1,6-alpha-glucosidic branch linkages of amylopectin, has been purified from potato to near homogeneity. The molecular weight of the enzyme is 85000. The active enzyme is a monomer, with a molar activity at pH 7.0 and 24 degrees C of 15. The energy of activation is 25 kJ/mol below 15 degrees C, changing sharply to 63 kJ/mol above that temperature. Enzyme activity is not affected by Mg2+ or ATP. There are about 11 readily titratable sulfhydryl groups per molecule. The evidence that the enzyme is a single protein entity, without hydrolytic activity towards amylose, contrasts with an earlier report that Q-enzyme consists of two components, a hydrolase with molecular weight 70000, and a transferase with molecular weight 20000. Q-enzyme acts on native and synthetic amyloses to give products resembling amylopectin in terms of average unit chain length, degress of beta-amylolysis and iodine stain. The profiles of the unit chains of these synthetic products are, however, different from that of native amylopectin. Additional branch linkages are introduced by Q-enzyme into potato amylopectin, but the product bears no resemblance to phytoglycogen.


Factors affecting the molecular structure and the agglutinating ability of concanavalin A and other lectins. Ultracentrifugation analyses were performed on lectins under varying conditions of pH, ionic strength and temperature. It has been demonstrated that the phytohemagglutinin from Phaseolus vulgaris, the wheat germ agglutinin and the soybean agglutinin are stable when these parameters are varied, whereas the concanavalin A molecule exhibits a striking reversible dimer-tetramer transition with variation in pH (from 6.0 to 7.2) and temperature (from 4 degrees up to 37 degrees C). It has also been demonstrated that, in agglutination experiments undertaken at different temperatures, cells do eventually aggregate with the first three lectins provided that incubation time is sufficient, whereas the concanavalin-A-induced agglutination was previously found to be temperature-sensitive. These results strongly suggest that the effect of temperature on agglutination by lectins may essentially be due to a structural transition of the lectin itself and nott only to modification of cell surface properties.


Axoplasm chemical composition in Myxicola and solubility properties of its structural proteins. The chemical composition of axoplasm extracted from the giant axon of Myxicola infundibulum has been analysed, and some of the factors which disperse its gel structure have been identified. 2. The axoplasm contains about 3-6% protein, and 0-12% lipid. It is isosmotic with sea water and has a pH near 7-0. 3. Inorganic ions in extracted axoplasm include: Na+, 13m-mole/kg wet wtl; K+, 280; Cl-, 24; Ca2+, 0-3; Mg2+, 3. 4. Free organic ions in axoplasm include: gly, 180 m-mole/kg wet st.; cysteic acid, 120; asp, 75; glu, 10; ala, 7; tau, 5; thr, 2; gln and ser, trace; homarine, 63; isethionate, 0. 5. The gel structure is dispersed by solutions containing 1--10 mM-Ca2+, because this ion activates an endogenous protease. The gel can also be dispersed without proteilysis by solutions containing 0-5 M-KCl, or 0-5 M guanidine hydrochloride, or 3-5 M urea, all of which break down neurofilaments. 6. It is argued that many aspects of the composition and dispersal properties of Myxicola axoplasm are similar to those in other axons.


The metabolism of cyclohexanol by Acinetobacter NCIB 9871. Acinetobacter NCIB 9871 was isolated by elective culture on cyclohexanol and grows with this compound as sole source of carbon. It displays a restricted growth spectrum, being unable to grow on a wide range of alternative alicyclic alcohols and ketones. Cyclohexanol-grown cells oxidize the growth substrate at a rate of 230 mul of O2/h per mg dry wt with the consumption of 5.65 mumol of O2/mumol substrate. Cyclohexanone is oxidized at a similar rate with the consumption of 4.85 mumol of O2/mumol. 1-Oxa-2-oxocycloheptane and 6-hydroxyhexanoate are both oxidized at the same slow rate of 44 mul of O2/h per mg dry wt and adipate is not oxidized. Studies with cell extracts reveal the presence of inducible dehydrogenases for cyclohexanol, 6-hydroxyhexanoate and 6-oxohexanoate and a monooxygenase, that in conjunction with a lactonase converts cyclohexanone to 6-hydroxyhexanoate. The monooxygenase is therefore presumed to be of the lactone-forming type and the pathway for conversion of cyclohexanol to adipate; cyclohexanol leads to cyclohexanone leads to 1-oxa-2-oxocycloheptane leads to 6-hydroxyhexanoate leads to 6-oxohexanoate leads to adipate; for which key intermediates have been identified chromatographically, is identical with the route for the oxidation of cyclohexanol by Nocardia globerula CL1.


Multiple forms of human glutathione S-transferase and their affinity for bilirubin. The initial enzymic step in mercapturic acid formation is catalyzed by glutathione S-transferase. Several species of this enzyme, designated as transferases alpha, beta, gamma, delta and epsilon on the basis of increasing isoelectric points, were isolated from human liver. Evidence is presented that each of the purified species is homogeneous with respect to sodium dodecylsulfate-gel electrophoresis. Transferases alpha, beta and epsilon each appear as a single band on gel electrofocusing; transferases gamma and delta are present as two and three bands, respectively, with each band catalytically active. Amino acid analysis indicated the five transferases to be either very closely related or identical in this respect. All enzyme species have a molecular weight of about 48500 and consist of two apparently identical subunits. The spectrum of substrates is the same for each although the enzymes differ slightly in specific activity. As is the case for the rat liver enzymes, each of the human transferases binds bilirubin although this compound is not a substrate.


Hydrophobic interaction determined by partition in aqueous two-phase systems. Partition of proteins in systems containing fatty-acid esters of poly(ethylene glycol). In this report we describe a new method which is useful for measuring hydrophobic interactions between aliphatic hydrocarbon chains and proteins in aqueous environment. The method is based on partition of proteins in an aqueous two-phase system containing dextran and poly(ethylene glycol) and different fatty acid esters of poly(ethylene glycol). The partition is measured under conditions where contributions from electrostatic interactions are eliminated. The difference in partition of proteins in phase systems with and without hyrocarbon groups bound to poly(ethylene glycol), deltalog K, where K is the partition coefficient, is taken as a measure of hydrophobic interaction. Deltalog K varies with size of hydrocarbon chain and type of protein. The length of the aliphatic chain should be greater than 8 carbon atoms in order to get a measurable effect in terms of deltalog K. Bovine serum albumin, beta-lactoglobulin, hemoglobin and myoglobin have been shown to have different affinities for palmitic acid ester of poly(ethylene glycol). No hydrophobic effect could be observed for ovalbumin, cytochrome c or alpha-chymotrypsinogen A.


Spin-labelled phosphofructokinase. A simple and direct approach to the study of allosteric equilibria under near-physiological conditions. Rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase, spin-labelled at its most reactive thiol group, has an electron spin resonance spectrum which is very sensitive to the binding of substrates and allosteric effectors. The spectral changes have been interpreted in terms of a concerted allosteric transition between two conformational states with non-exclusive binding of effectors. On this basis MgATP, fructose 6-phosphate plus ATP, and NH+4ions behave as potent positive effectors, inorganic phosphate, sulphate, AMP, fructose 6-phosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate are less potent activators, and free ATP and H+ions are negative effectors, in agreement with the kinetic behaviour, but citrate behaves anomalously. In addition, the allosteric equilibrium can be displaced towards the inhibited state by selectively modifying two further thiol groups. Strong positive cooperativity occurs under suitable conditions with ATP, metal-ATP and fructose 6-phosphate. Biphasic changes of conformation, attributed to binding at the catalytic and inhibitory sites, have been observed in titrations with ATP. The differentiation of the two ATP binding sites arises in the presence of fructose 6-phosphate because of a distinct concerted effect on conformation between the two substrates at the active site. A similar effect occurs between ATP and citrate. Other heterotropic effects are more consistent with simple models; phosphates favour the binding, and reduce the cooperativity, of fructose 6-phosphate and metal-ATP, whereas excess ATP and H+ ions antagonise the binding and increase the cooperativity of fructose 6-phosphate. The observations are related to existing kinetic and binding studies where possible. Anomalous features of the behaviour suggest that the model should be regarded only as a first approximation.


Cytochrome c interaction with membranes. Absorption and emission spectra and binding characteristics of iron-free cytochrome c. A cytochrome c derivative from which iron is removed has been prepared and characterized. Several lines of evidence indicate that native and porphyrin cytochrome c have similar conformations: they have similar elution characteristics on Sephadex gel chromatography; in both proteins the tryptophan fluorescence is quenched and the pK values of protonation of the porphyrin are identical. Porphyrin cytochrome c does not substitute for native cytochrome c in either the oxidase reaction or in restoring electron transport in cytochrome-c-depleted mitochondria. It does however competitively inhibit native cytochrome c in these reactions, the Ki for inhibition being larger than the Km for reaction. The absorption and emission spectra, and the polarized excitation spectrum of the porphyrin cytochrome c are characteristic of free base porphyrin. The absence of fluorescence quenching of porphyrin cytochrome c  when the protein is bound to cytochrome oxidase suggests that heme to heme distance between these proteins is larger than 0.5 to 0.9 nm depending upon orientation. Binding of the porphyrin cytochrome c to phospholipids or to mitochondria increases the fluorescence polarization of a positively polarized absorption band, which indicates that the bound form of the protein does not rotate freely within the time scale of relaxation from the excited state.


The trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors in chick peas (Cicer arietinum L.). Purification and properties of the inhibitors. From a crude extract of chick peas (Cicer arietinum L.) inhibitors of trypsin and chymotrypsin were isolated by affinity chromatography on a column of trypsin-Sepharose 6B. The content of inhibitors was found to be 1.5 g/kg. They were further separated into six isoinhibitors by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-25. Two of the isoinhibitors accounted for about 50% of the isolated inhibitors and were further purified to a homogeneous state. The isoinhibitors had a molecular weight of about 10000 as determined by molecular-sieve chromatography on Sephadex G-75. They were stable towards extremes of pH and temperatures up to 75 degrees C or towards digestion by pepsin. They were also stable in 6 M urea but not in 6 M guanidine-HCl. The intact inhibitors were destroyed when the peas were cooked at 100 degrees C or when they were toasted at 130 degrees C. The four major inhibitors had similar amino acid compositions and did not contain detectable amounts of free sulfhydryl groups, tryptophan or carbohydrate. Cysteine is the dominant amino acid residue in all of them and accounted for about 20% of their amino acid content. The isoelectric point of the isoinhibitors lies in the range of pH 4.9-8.6 and two of the major inhibitors had isoelectric points of pH 4.75 and pH 4.96. They inhibited chymotrypsin to the same extent but differed in their inhibitory activities towards trypsin, indicating that they are mixtures of native and trypsinmodified forms and that they probably have separate sites for the two enzymes. They did not inhibit other proteolytic enzymes belonging to two groups (i.e., serine or cysteine enzymes) or originating from different sources (i.e., animals, plants or bacteria).


Investigations of the structure of 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase from Achromobacter. It was shown by gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecylsulphate solution that 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase from Achromobacter IVS is composed of two different subunits with molecular weights of about 78000 and 96000, respectively. The biotin is bound to the heavier subunit. It was previously found that 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase contains four biotin molecules per complex. A complex composed of four of each subunit would thus have a molecular weight of about 700000. This is compatible with the molecular weight of 760000 determined earlier by analytical ultracentrifugation. Both subunits were isolated preparatively. As the subunits, unlike the complex, are very sensitive to oxygen, special precautions had to be taken during isolation. The biotin-containing subunit was isolated by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose in 5 M urea. It no longer catalyzed the overall reaction, yet could still carboxylate free biotin. The biotin-free subunit was separated after dissociation of the enzyme by three-days' dialysis at pH 9.8 under nitrogen. On chromatography over a Sepharose-bound avidin column, the biotin-subunit was fixed and the biotin-free subunit was eluted unretarded. The latter subunit showed no enzymic activity. After the addition of the biotin-containing subunit, overall activity was regenerated. The speed of reassociation is very much enhanced by 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA. It was shown by reassociation experiments under different conditions that probably an initial complex, AxBy is formed, possessing a binding site for 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA. Upon the binding of this substrate the conformation may be changed to a form favourable for reconstitution. Finally, the structures of biotin enzymes from different sources are compared. In the course of evolution there is a tendency toward integration of the different constituent proteins into only one polypeptide chain.


Polyadenylated RNA from Vicia faba meristematic root cells. Localization and size estimation of the poly (A) segment. After incubating root apices from two-day-old bean seedlings with [3H] adenine the RNA was extracted from whole cells or polysomes, and the poly (A) sequences were isolated by nuclease digestion followed by poly(U)-Sepharose chromatography. The alterations of the RNA molecules due to the various treatments were monitored by sucrose density gradients. It was found that sequential extraction first at pH 7.6 then at pH 9.0 did not result in a separation between RNA poor in poly(A) sequences and poly(A)-rich RNA. Furthermore chromatography analysis of hydrolysates from nuclease-resistant RNA extracted either at pH 7.6 or pH 9.0 revealed that AMP constituted nearly 95% of the bases and that the poly(A) sequences, about 200 bases, were located at the 3' terminus of the polyadenylated RNA. No size difference was found for the poly(A) segment between the pH-7.6-extracted RNA and that extracted at pH 9.0.


Time-dependent inhibition of diamine oxidase by carbonyl-group reagents and urea. 1. The behaviour of several carbonyl group reagents and urea as time-dependent inhibitors of both pig kidney and human placental diamine oxidase is described. 2. Plots of log (vt/vo) against time were not linear with these reagents as the usual theories predict. 3. This was particularly the case with aminoguanidine and phenylhydrazine and a thorough study of the effects of these compounds on the human placental diamine oxidase is described. 4. By applying a new theory for time-dependent inhibition, the inhibition of diamine oxidase by aminoguanidine and phenylhydrazine is adequately accounted for. 5. The time-dependent recovery of activity on addition of sodium pyruvate suggested that the compounds used are acting solely as carbonyl group reagents, inhibiting by Schiff-base formation at the active-site carbonyl group.


Acetylglucagon: preparation and characterization. Acetylated derivatives of glucagon have been prepared by reacting this hormone under various conditions with acetic anhydride. They have been chemically characterized by the use of a 14C-labeled reagent, by peptide mapping techniques following hydrolysis by pronase and chymotrypsin, and by spectroscopy. Acetylation in sodium acetate (pH 5.5) results in a full substitution of the alpha-amino group of the N-terminal histidyl residue, but in a partial (about 0.3 acetyl group per residue) substitution of the epsilon-amino group of the lysyl residue 12. The monosubstituted (on the alpha-amino group) and the disubstituted (on both amino groups) acetylated components have been separated by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and CM-cellulose. Acetylation in sodium bicarbonate (pH 8.0) results in a complete substitution of both amino groups and of the hydroxyl groups of the tyrosyl residues 10 and 13. Complete deacetylation of the O-acetyltyrosyl residues occurs upon treatment with hydroxyl-amine. Mono, di and tetraacetylglucagon are homogeneous when analyzed by disc gel electrophoresis; di and tetrasubstituted derivatives show an increased mobility towards the anode. 125I-labeled derivatives of acetylglucagon show higher distribution coefficients in the aqueous two-phase dextran/poly(ethylene glycol) system than do similar derivatives of glucagon. Acetylation decreases in parallel the ability of glucagon to stimulate the activity of adenylate cyclase and to bind to its receptors in liver cell membranes of the rat. The biological potencies of the mono, di and tetrasubstituted derivates are, respectively, about 10, 1 and 0.1% that of native glucagon. The binding properties of the material dissociated from the acetylglucagon-receptor complex suggest that the reduction in biological activity results from a decrease in the intrinsic affinity of the modified glucagon for the receptors, as well as from the presence of small amounts of residual, unreacted glucagon. Studies with 125I-labeled derivatives of glucagon indicate that acetylation decreases the rate of association and increases the rate of dissociation of the hormone-receptor complex.


Purification and properties of a periplasmic aminoendopeptidase from Escherichia coli. A periplasmic aminoendopeptidase from Escherichia coli has been purified to hemogeneity. It is a monomer of molecular weight 45000 and containing one -- SH group that is necessary for catalytic activity. The study of its substrate specificity indicated that the enzyme has both aminopeptidase and endopeptidase activity. The pH optimum for L-alanine p-nitroanilide hydrolysis is between 7 and 7.5 and that for 125I-labeled casein proteolysis between 7.3 and 7.6. The activation energy for the hydrolysis of L-anine p-nitroanilide was calculated to be 5.3 kcal X mol-1 (22.2 kJ X mol-1).


The interaction of organic phosphates with human and chicken hemoglobin. In this study of the binding properties of inositol hexaphosphate and 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate to chicken and human deoxyhemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin were compared. It appeared that in all cases the binding to chicken hemoglobin is much stronger than to human hemoglobin. This is very probably due to the fact that 4 out of the 12 residues, responsible for the binding of phosphates in chicken hemoglobin, are arginines. These are absent in human hemoglobin, where the binding site is made up to only 8 residues. For chicken hemoglobin one strong binding site could be observed in both unliganded and liganded hemoglobin. From these observations we conclude that the same binding site is involved in both the oxy- and deoxy structure showing different affinity to phosphates in the two conformational states. For human hemoglobin we reached the same conclusion.


Hepatic nucleases. Extrahepatic origin and association of neutral liver ribonuclease with lysosomes. In the large granule fraction of rat liver, the density distribution of inhibitor-sensitive neutral ribonuclease is similar to that for acid hydrolases and its density distribution is similarly modified by Triton WR-1339 accumulation in lysosomes. Particulate neutral ribonuclease is latent; the enzyme is unmasked by very low digitonin concentrations or hypoosmotic shock. These observations demonstrate that the bulk of liver neutral ribonuclease is associated with the lysosomal system. In view of the neutral pH optimum of the enzyme and of some particularities of its distribution in fractionation experiments, the possiblilty of an extrahepatic origin of neutral ribonuclease has been investigated. After partial pancreatectomy, a significant decrease is observed in both plasma and liver neutral ribonuclease. The effect is specific, for it does not occur for other lysosomal enzymes. Also, labelled bovine pancreatic ribonuclease, when injected intravenously, is taken up by the liver. The sedimentable labelled enzyme has a density distribution similar to the distribution of other foreign proteins, horseradish peroxidase or yeast invertase. These results are explained by the uptake of plasmatic neutral ribonuclease from pancreatic origin by the liver.


Glutathione reductase from human erythrocytes. Molecular weight, subunit composition and aggregation properties. Glutathione reductase from human erythrocytes exists predominatly as an entity of 100 000 molecular weight under various conditions of pH and ionic strength. The S20,W of 5.5 S and D20W of 50 mum2/s correlate with the molecular weight determined by sedimentation equilibrium. The homogeneity of this species is primarily dependent on the presence of thiols and secondarily on high concentrations of salt. The amino-acid composition of the enzyme shows similarities both with glutathione reductases from other sources and with lipoamide dehydrogenase. From the flavin content and dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis it is inferred that the native enzyme is a dimer composed of similar subunits of 50 000 molecular weight. In the absence of thiols, glutathione reductase shows a tendency to form tetramers and larger aggregates. Although these larger species are also catalytically active, under cellular conditions the presence of its product, reduced glutathione, should maintain the enzyme as the dimeric entity.


GAMMA-Glutamyl transpeptidase of sheep-kidney cortex. Isolation, catalytic properties and dissociation into two polypeptide chains. Gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase was isolated from sheep kidney cortex as an apparently homogeneous, highly active protein. At optimal pH and in the absence of acceptors, the enzyme catalyzes the release of about 510 mumol of p-nitroaniline per mg protein per min from the model substrate L-gamma-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in a sodium dodecylsulfate buffer system showed the presence of a large (Mr approximately 65000) and a small (Mr approximately 27000) polypeptide chain. Dissociation into two polypeptide chains was also achieved in 8 M urea. Amidination with dimethylsuberimidate produced a crosslinked protein of molecular weight approximately 90000. In the course of this work a convenient procedure was developed for the determination of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity using L[glycine-2-3H]glutathione as the substrate. In this procedure the release of cysteinyl-[2-3H]glycine from glutathione is followed, after separation of the radioactive di-peptide from unreacted glutathione on a small Dowex-1 acetate column. The reactions with gamma-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide and glutathione are both strongly activated by several metal ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+) and by a number of amino acids and peptide acceptors. The products of the reaction with glutathione were identified as cysteinylglycine, gamma-glutamylglutathione and glutamate. The formation of these products is consistent with the function of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in both the gamma-glutamyl transfer reaction and in the hydrolysis of the gamma-glutamyl bond. The activating effect of metal ions in the reaction with glutathione was shown to be dependent on the acceleration of the transfer reaction; the rate of hydrolysis of the gamma-glutamyl bond remaining unchanged.


Pyrophosphatase and glucuronosyltransferase in microsomal UDPglucuronic-acid metabolism in the rat liver. 1. A radiochemical method for the studies on the microsomal UDPglucuronic acid metabolism has been developed. 2. The rat liver microsomes caused a rapid hydrolysis of UDPglucuronic acid to D-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate and further although much slower to free D-glucuronic acid. In Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4) they were produced in ratio 72 : 1. No other metabolites were found in measurable amounts. The pyrophosphatase splitting UDPglucuronic acid showed a pH optimum at 8.9, but the liberation of D-glucuronic acid from UDPglucuronic acid had two pH maxima (pH 3.5 and 8.5). EDTA appeared to be less powerful inhibitor of pyrophosphatase than previously suggested. About 25 per cent of the UDPglucuronic acid hydrolyzing activity was still remaining in the presence of 10 mM EDTA. D-Glucaro-1,4-lactone was found to have a slight inhibitory action on the pyrophosphatase activity. Citrate inhibited powerfully the hydrolysis of UDPglucuronic acid and the liberation of free D-glucuronic acid. Phosphate was also inhibitory. 3. In the presence of an exogenous UDPglucuronosyltransferase substrate, 4-nitrophenol, the formation of D-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate and free D-glucuronic acid were slightly reduced, and D-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate, 4-nitrophenylglucuronide and free D-glucuronic acid were produced in ratio 78 : 23 : 1. When 10 mM EDTA was added to diminish the hydrolytic consumption of the glucuronyl donor substrate, the corresponding ratio was still as unfavorable as 19 : 2.6 : 1. The measurable activity of UDPglucuronosyltransferase was lower in the presence of phosphate or citrate than in Tris-HCl buffer, although they protected the glucuronyl donor substrate against hydrolysis. 4. The results indicate that even in the presence of added glucuronyl acceptor substrate the hydrolysis of UDPglucuronic acid predominates the conjugation in rat liver microsomes. The rate of the hydrolysis of UDPglucuronic acid is quite considerable even in the presence of EDTA, and it is recommended to control the UDPglucuronic acid pyrophosphatase activity when UDPglucuronosyltransferase and glucuronidation reactions are studied. Free D-glucuronic acid appears to be produced from UDPglucuronic acid for further use via D-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate, the rate-limiting step being the hydrolysis of this intermediate. UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, glucuronides of either endogenous or exogenous aglycones and beta-glucuronidase have only a minor role in this respect in rat liver microsomes.


Incorporation of (1-14C)palmitoyl-CoA into phosphatidylcholine by plasma membranes of rat submaxillary glands in vitro. 1. On incubation with the isolated rat submaxillary gland plasma membranes, [1-14C]palmitoyl-CoA was incorporated mainly into phosphatidylcholine and hydrolysed to [1-14C]palmitic acid and CoASH. 2. The addition of lysophosphatidylcholine enhanced the incorporation into phosphatidylcholine and lowered the hydrolysis of palmitoyl-CoA markedly. 3. In the presence of lysophosphatidylcholine, palmitoyl-CoA incorporation into phosphatidylcholine was maximum at 0.1 mM palmitoyl-CoA, 0.5 mM lysophosphatidylcholine and between pH 7.0 and 9.0. 4. The incorporation into phosphatidylcholine was stimulated by Na+, K+ and K-, inhibited by Ca2+ and Mg2+ and unaffected by sodium deoxycholate and ATP. 5. Epinephrine inhibited the incorporation of palmitoyl-CoA into phosphatidylcholine in the presence or absence of ATP, the inhibition being more in the presence of ATP than in its absence. Dibutyryl adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate mimicked the inhibitory effect of epinephrine.


Hydrogen-isotope exchange of oxidized and reduced cytochrome c. A comparison of mass spectrometry and infrared methods. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange in 2H20 solutions of the two redox states of horse heart cytochrome c was investigated at 20 degrees C, pH 7, by mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy. Mass spectrometry indicates that ferricytochrome has 20 hydrogens unexchanged after 24 h, 28 hydrogens exchanging between 10 min and 24 h, and 156 hydrogens exchanging within 10 min; comparative values for ferrocytochrome are 45, 19 and 140. The displacement of the exchange curves obtained by infrared corresponds to 8 to 9 peptide hydrogens. These combined methods show many non-peptide hydrogens exchanging rapidly (87 and 79 for ferricytochrome c and ferrocytochrome c respectively), whereas others, probably buried inside the molecule and involved in hydrogen bonds, are not exchanged, even after 24 h (14 and 30 hydrogens respectively, which is relatively large for a small protein). Infrared results are given in terms of changes of standard free energy for the transconformational reaction which exposes the peptide hydrogens to solvent: in ferricytochrome c and ferrycoytochrome c, 30% and 40% respectively of the peptide hydrogens are protected by conformational transitions stabilized by more than 5 kcal/mol (21 kJ/mol), which implies a large increase in rigidity for the reduced form.


Bacterial metabolism of resorcinylic compounds: purification and properties of orcinol hydroxylase and resorcinol hydroxylase from Pseudomonas putida ORC. The hydroxylase activities observed in extracts of Pseudomonas putida ORC after growth on orcinol and resorcinol as sole source of carbon have been purified to homogeneity. Both enzymes were shown to be flavoproteins and to contain approximately 1 mol of FAD for each polypeptide chain, S20,W values for each enzyme are 4.1 +/- 0.1 and are independent of the presence of their aromatic substrates. Molecular weight determinations under native (approximately 68000) and denaturing (approximately 70000) conditions indicated that they are monomeric. The visible absorption spectra identical but the circular dichroic spectra of the two proteins can be distinguished. Although each protein catalyzes the NAD(P)H and O2-dependent hydroxylation of both orcinol and resorcinol, the efficiency of the transformations of the substrates by the two enzymes is radically different; furthermore resorcinol hydroxylase is much more versatile in the aromatic compounds it can utilize as substrates and effectors. Other properties of the enzymes which clearly establish their own identity include their serological characteristics and amino acid composition; the latter property is particularly evident when the quantities of valine and alanine residues are compared. The synthesis of each enzyme is also under different regulatory constraints, being controlled by the substrate used for growth.


[Possible structural-functional organization of the system of local cerebral blood flow regulation]. rCBF under normal conditions in the rabbit, cat, and monkey brain was found to have a spontaneous periodicity while rCBF responses to afferent flicker stimulation usually revealed a double-phasic fluctuative pattern. This suggests that the rCBF regulatory system consists of not less than two regulatory chains with different time constants, and a feedback. The data on cerebral vascular responses to microapplication of mCSF solutions with various pH, potassium and catecholamines concentrations, suggest that rapid regulatory chains may be conditioned by potassium and neurogenic vascular effects, while slow ones could be mediated by CO2 and related pH changes.


[Regulation of local tissue PO2 in the cerebral cortex of the cat]. Local PO2 was measured in the cat cortex on adjacent sites with a platinum multiwire surface electrode both during steady state conditions and with varying arterial oxygen supply. Concomitantly, PO2 in the sinus sagittalis was recorded continuously through the vascular wall. Under normoxia and steady state conditions local tissue PO2 values varied between O Torr and almost arterial levels of 85 Torr in accordance with theoretical calculations. With increased arterial oxygen supply local tissue PO2 as measured on agjacent sites was found to react fairly differently. Linear increases in local tissue PO2 as compared with arterial PO2, as well as constant levels, or only very small increases, were recorded. The constancy of local PO2 (="local PO2 autoregulation") was caused by local vasoconstriction. With reduced supply of arterial oxygen, however, tissue PO2 dropped in all studied sites down to hypoxia and anoxia. PO2 autoregulation during a decrease in arterial PO2, as described by Bicher (1973) could not be found.


[Differences in the responses of taste receptors to organic and inorganic acids with changes in the concentration of bicarbonate in the solution]. The thresholds of the pH for citric acid (pH=4.9) were found to exceed by 1.4 pH the thresholds for HC1 (3.5) at 1.2 mmol/1 bicarbonate in the solution. The reaction to citric acid was higher than to HC1 at equal pH. Decreasing of bicarbonate from 1.2 mmol/1 to 0 reduced pH threshold only for sitric acid from 4.90 to 3.15. pH threshold for HC1 remained 3.5 The chorda tympani response to stimulation with solutions containing bicarbonate (1.2 mmol/1) was higher than in absence of bicarbonate. The data obtained suggest two ranges of the acids in action.


Analysis of skin grafts across the MSA-barrier in mice pretreated with sera from specifically or syngeeically grafted donors. Prolonged survival of weakly incompatible skin allografts in mice (across the barrier presented by the MSA) can be induced by pretreating the recipients not only with a specific anti-MSA serum (obtained on day 5 after a single MSA-incompatible skin graft) but also be means of control serum obtained in a similar way from the recipients of fully compatible (syngeneic) skin grafts. Administration of serum from non-grafted mice had no effect on graft survival. The similar biological effect of both sera had a counterpart in their similar content and spectrum of glycosaminoglycans. Also in the skin grafts themselves, the course of both qualitative and quantitative changes of GAG in the early postgrafting period was in the allogeneic and syngeneic situation similar. The possible role of these substances in the serum and at the site of grafting and their effect on the outcome of the allograft response are discussed.


Effect of normal and ulcer-type diet on the acidity of gastric contents in patients with duodenal ulcer. Patients with uncomplicated duodenal ulcer were given two types of diet -a normal and a ulcer-type diet. The data obtained did not show any statistically significant difference between the action of the two diets. No evidence was then found to be in support of the still widely used restricted diet in the treatment of peptic ulcer.


Impaired Sertoli cell function in experimental cryptorchidism in the rat. The production of testicular androgen-binding protein (ABP), as a measure of Sertoli cell function, was studied after unilateral or bilateral experimental cryptorchidism in adult rats. Two or 4 weeks after the testis had been translocated to the abdomen, no major changes were found in the concentration of ABP per mg protein, although there was a marked and progressive decrease in ABP content per testis. However, the rate of ABP production was greatly decreased, as measured by the accumulation of ABP during 16-h ligation of the efferent ducts or by the production of ABP by testis mince in an in vitro system. This indicates that the Sertoli cell function is severly impaired by the intra-abdominal position.


The oxygen transport system of red blood cells during diabetic ketoacidosis and recovery. Daily evaluations of 8 newly detected ketoacidotic diabetics showed the Bohr-effect of haemoglobin to be decreased by 50% while erythrocyte 2,3-DPG was decreased below 10 mumoles/g Hb. 2,3-DPG correlated strongly with pH during acidosis and with plasma inorganic phosphate (Pi) subsequently to the first insulin administration. Oxygen affinity of haemoglobin, measured as P50 act pH, was unchanged in ketoacidosis compared to the time, however, P50 act pH fell striking (p less than 0.001) and remained decreased up to 7 days depending upon the resynthesis of 2,3-DPG in relation to Pi. The Hill-coefeficient in reflecting the slope of the oxygen dissociation curve was diminished in ketoacidosis (p less than 0.005), and decreased further after pH-normalization (p less than 0.005). There was a close association of n with 2,3-DPG (p less than 0.001) and additionally with Pi at 2,3-DPG-levels below 10 mumoles/g Hb. Based on these findings a decreased erythrocyte oxygen release of one fifth during acidosis and more than one third after pH-correction can be hypothesised. In view of the intimate relation of Pi to the oxygen transport system it is suggesed that treatment of ketoacidosis should include Pi-sugstitution.


Fluorescence of oxidized flavoproteins from perifused isolated pancreatic islets. In perifused pancreatic islets, the fluorescence of oxidized flavoproteins (FAD) was recorded continuously. Elevation of glucose concentration in the medium form 0 or 5 mM to 20 mM led to decrease in FAD-fluorescence beginning 10 sec after change of medium. L-leucine (10 mM), (+/-)-B-BCH (20 mM) and alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (10 mM) caused typical kinetics of FAD-fluorescence decrease. The results are interpreted to indicate rapid changes of the functional state of B-cell mitochondria induced by the above-mentioned stimulators of insulin release.


Comparison of amino acids bathing the oxyntic gland area in the stimulation of gastric secretion. This study was undertaken to compare the ability of L- and D-isomers of amino acids bathing the oxyntic gland area to stimulate acid secretion in conscious dogs with Heidenhain pouch (HP), gastric fistula (GF) and pancreatic fistula (PF). Acid outputs from HP were determined by an intragastric titration method when amino acid solutions were perfused into HP at various concentrations, pH values, and distention pressures. Only L-isomers of all natural amino acids were found to stimulate acid secretion, whereas D-isomers of amino acids tested were completely inert in this respect. The comparison of the secretagogue activity of amino acids shows that L-histidine among essential amino acids and glycine among nonessential amino acids exhibited the strongest stimulation of acid outputs, reaching, respectively, 52 and 40% of the maximal response to histamine. Decreasing the pH of L-histidine solution perfused into HP in sequential order from 5.0 to 1.0 resulted in a stepwise reduction of acid output, falling at pH 1.0 to about 40% of the peak response achieved at pH 5.0. Local irrigation of HP by 2% xylocaine and intravenous infusion of atropine (100 mug per kg per hr) or metiamide (2.9 mg per kg per hr) reduced but did not abolish HP response to chemical stimulation and the pH dependency of this response. We conclude that only L- and not D-isomers of amino acids bathing the oxyntic gland area stimulate acid secretion by a local, gastrin-independent mechanism sensitive to distention pressure and pH.


Evidence of tandem duplication of genes in a merodiploid region of Pneumococcal mutants resistant to sulfonamide. A Pneumococcal mutant, sulr-c, resistant to sulfonamides, and three transformants bearing associated d or d+ resistance markers have earlier been reported to be unstable and show distinct patterns and frequencies of segregating stable progeny lacking the c marker. Each of the four strains showed a characteristic dosage of the genes involved in the merodiploidy. Complementary strands of DNA's from these stable and unstable strains were resolved and homoduplex and heteroduplex hybrids made from the separated DNA strands were used as donors in genetic transformations. Activities of a normal marker (streptomycin resistance) and those involved in the heterozygosity (c, d and d+) were quantitatively measured. From those heteroduplexes made up of opposite strands derived from a heterozygote and a stable strain, the normal marker is transferred efficiently, but the heterozygous markers are not. On the other hand, if both strands of a heteroduplex are derived from different heterozygotic strains, all markers can be transferred with usual efficiency to a stable recipient strain. The lowered efficiency in the former type of heteroduplex is attributed to an inhomology resulting from a tandem duplication in the merodiploid strains, and a postulated DNA repair process stimulated by it while in the form of the donor duplex. The inhomology probably includes (a) a microheterogeneity between the c site and the wild type locus, and (b) a more extensive incompatibility attributable to an extra segment of genome in a tandem duplication covering the c and d sites. The first of these inhomologies produces a lowered efficiency of transfer from all configurations of the particular d allele associated with the mutant c marker, and therefore accounts for the characteristic transfer patterns even from the native merodiploid DNA's.


A study of Pneumococcal merodiploids at the molecular level. The DNA of a sulfonamide-resistant Pneumococcal strain (heterozygous for sulr-c) and that of three highly resistant and persistently heterozygous cd transformants, derived by introducing sulr-c marker into a stable sulfonamide resistant strain (sulr-d), were studied to analyze the genetic basis of their merodiploidy. The physical properties of the native and denatured DNA from the heterozygotes and the nonheterozygous strains were not distinguishable. The denaturability and the renaturability of biological activity for the heterozygous markers were essentially identical to those of the normal markers. The heterozygosity extends to the closely linked locus giving rise to four different configurations of cd and cd+ transformants, characterized by their frequencies of segregation and donor-marker activities. The marker-activity ratios and the frequency of co-transfer of heterozygous markers were found to remain the same in each when the donor DNA was native, denatured or reannealed without fractionation or reannealed after remixing of resolved strands. Possible models were weighed against these observations and these considerations led to the suggestion that tandem duplication of a gene region may be responsible for the heterozygosity and instability of this region. A more detailed examination of this model will be presented in an accompanying paper.


Genetic hybridization at the unlinked thy and str loci of Streptococcus. The sanguis and pneumoniae species of Streptococcus were used as recipients in transformations from str+ to str-r and from thy- to thy+. The str-r mutations in the two species had been previously shown to be allelic. Homology of the thy- mutations in the two species was demonstrated in the similar phenotypic properties they conferred (death in the absence of thymidine, lack of thymidylate synthetase). The str and thy loci are unlinked in each species.--- When the two species are transformed by both homospecific and heterospecific DNA, the efficiency is always lower in the heterospecific cross. The efficiency of heterospecific transformation is considerably lower at the thy than at the str locus. DNA was extracted from recipients that had integrated markers of heterospecific origin. When such hybrid DNA is tested on the original recipient species, the heterospecific markers are usually as efficient as homospecific markers. When tested on the original donor species, however, the hybrid DNA is usually more efficient than heterospecific DNA. This is true for both thy and str transformation. -- -- Forty independent thy+ hybrids were obtained in the cross of sanguis thy- recipients with pneumoniae thy+ DNA. These hybrids fall into a number of classes based upon the relative efficiency with which their extracted DNA's are able to transfer the thy+ marker into pneumoniae thy- cells. The most efficient of these DNA's exhibits about 20% of the efficiency of homospecific pneumoniae thy+ DNA and three orders of magnitude greater efficiency than heterospecific sanguis thy+ DNA. Thus, very little of the inefficiency of heterospecific transformation of the thy locus is ascribable to a classic restriction mechanism. Rather, the wild-type thy+ loci in the two species appear to differ at multiple sites, and independent heterospecific transfers result in differential extents of integration of these sites. On this basis, the thy+ loci of the two species differ at a greater number of sites than do the respective str+ loci.


Fibrin plate method with reagents purified by affinity chromatography and its use for determination of fibrinolytic and other proteolytic activity in saliva, bile and plasma. A modification of the fibrin plate method is presented. Plasminogen-free human fibrinogen and plasminogen purified by affinity chromatography have been used. Fibrin plates without and with a constant amount of plasminogen and with agarose as stabilizing medium were used for the estimation of plasmin and plasminogen activator activity. Activator activity could be demonstrated in sterile bile and saliva. When plasmin activity was present, estimations of plasminogen activator were approximate. The method is sensitive, small volumes of reagents and samples are needed. The error of the method is comparatively low and the reproducibility is good.


[Thefts without motive of gain as a psychopathologic syndrome (author's transl)]. Thefts without motive of pain have been known since the early 19th century. But the problem has not been solved. While they were formerly considered a mental disease, today they are not seen as something special. But they still happen. Only a small percentage of common shop-lifting can be called a psycholopathologic syndrome. Many explanations and analyses have been published which are discussed in detail. In a group described here comprehensively difficult marital situations full of conflict, marital sexual frustration, depression, physical and mental exhaustion and aggressive and suicidal tendencies are found. Theft appears to be closely connected with these. But the pattern of motivation and causation is by no means stereo-typed. In order to clear up such actions one will have to consider as exactly as possible the biographic connection and what happens during the act - quite apart from somatic conditions. Present assessment in reports is totally unsatisfactory. To clear up the controversial questions is urgently necessary.


The structures of the phytochrome chromophore in both photoreversible forms. Spectral measurements of phytochrome are performed after unfolding of the peptide chain. By comparison with bile pigments of known structure, structure 1a, containing a hydrogenated ring A, is deduced for the PR chromophore. Its spectral properties indicate that the chromophore of the physiologically active PFR form has lost the double bond of the bridge joining rings A and B.


A micro-method for quantitative determination of acylneuraminic acids from erythrocyte membranes. A micro-method is presented which enables the fast and exact determination of acid-hydrolyzed acylneuraminic acids in erythrocyte membranes. Erythrocytes from 1 ml of human and rabbit blood containing ACD buffer are, washed and hemolyzed on Millipore filters of pore size 1.2 mu. Acylneuraminic acids are released from the erythrocyte membranes still on the filters under the optimal conditions of 0.1 N HCl at 80 degrees C for 50 min. A prerequisite for the determination of the true amount of acylneuraminic acids using the periodic acid/thiobarbituric acid assay is the small-scale extraction of lipids from the hydrolysate and anion-exchange chromatography of acylneuraminic acids. The values thus obtained must be corrected, as 20% of acylneuraminic acids are destroyed during acid hydrolysis. In samples of human blood from 10 healthy individuals, on an average 223 nmol acylneuraminic acids per ml of packed erythrocytes were found, and in the same amount of rabbit erythrocytes, 1e method for a screening of the acylneuraminic acid content of erythrocyte membranes in hemolytic diseases or of other cell membranes is discussed.


Human liver acid phosphatases.

Human liver acid phosphatases. Human liver contains three chromatographically distinct forms of non-specific acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2). Acid phosphatases I, II and III have molecular weights of greater than 200 000, of 107 000, and of 13 400, respectively. Following partial purification, isoenzyme II was obtained as a single activity band, as assessed by activity staining with p-nitrophenyl phosphate and alpha-naphthyl phosphate on polyacrylamide gels run at several pH values. With 50mM p-nitrophenyl phosphate as a substrate, enzymes II and III exhibit plateaus of activity over the pH range 3 - 5 and 3.5 - 6, respectively. Acid phosphatase II is not significantly inhibited by 0.5% formaldehyde. The activity of human liver acid phosphatase II and of human prostatic acid phosphatase towards several substrates is compared. The liver enzyme, is marked contrast to the prostatic enzyme, does not hydrolyze O-phosphoryl choline.


Isolation and characterization of pepsin-treated type III collagen from calf skin. Calf skin collagen was solubilized by incubating acid-extracted calf skin with pepsin at pH 2.0 and 25 degrees C, conditions that did not cause degradation of the triple helical region of collagen. Type III collagen was separated from type I collagen by differential salt precipitation at pH 7.5. The isolated type III collagen contained mainly gamma and higher molecular weight components cross-linked by reducible and/or non-reducible bonds. The isolated alpha1 (III) chains had an amino acid composition characteristic of type III collagen. Denatured but unreduced type III collagen, chromatographed on carboxymethyl-cellulose, eluted in the alpha 2 region, while after reduction and alkylation the alpha1 (III) chains eluted between the positions of alpha1 (I) and alpha2. The mid-point melting temperature temperature (tm) of type III collagen (35.1 degrees C) in a citrate buffer at pH 3.7 was somewhat lower than that of type I collagen (35.9 degrees C). Renaturation experiments at 25 degrees C showed that denatured type III collagen molecules with intact intramolecular disulfide bridges (gamma components) reform the triple helical structure of collagen much faster than reduced and carboxymethylated alpha1 (III) chains.


High-dosage and versatile drug therapy with treatment-resistant psychotic patients. The author believes that many of the chronic patients in psychiatric institutions and mental health facilities could be helped if physicians were more willing to try different combinations and higher dosages of psychotropic drugs than are commonly used. He presents case studies of two chronic patients who were helped by innovative use of drugs and discusses factors to be considered in implementing high-dosage and versatile drug therapy.


A new variant of glucosephosphate isomerase deficiency. A new variant of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase deficiency is described. The enzyme kinetics and properties were studied. Genetic and electrophoretic data pointed to a double heterozygous state in the patient. These data are compared to the other variants described in the literature until now.


[Infusion treatment in shock].

[Infusion treatment in shock]. Nowadays, above all dextran, gelatin and starch solutions are available for the infusion theraphy of the various forms of shock. The application of these volume substitutes must be strictly controlled to avoid in particular cardial and pulmonal commplications. Blood transfusion combined with a volume substitute should only be applied in cases of heavy loss of blood. The treatment of metabolic acidose which usually occurs simultaneously is carried out with an alkaline solution.


Suppressor T cells and host resistance to tye 111 pneumococcus after treatment with antilymphocyte serum. The antibody response to type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SS-II) was significantly increased in mice treated with antilymphocyte serum (ALS). BALG/c mice given 0.25 ml of ALS on days -1, 0, and 1 relative to the days of immunization with 0.5 mug of SSS-II had a 20-fold increment (11,383 increased to 199,917) in the number of splenic plaque-forming cells enumerated on day 5 compared with untreated, immunized controls. This effect has been attributed to the elimination of subpopulation of thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells) that has suppressor function. The present series of experiments relate the augmented antibody response to SSS-II in mice treated with ALS to increased host resistance after infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae, type III (Pn-II). The 50%  lethal dose of Pn-III in niminnunized mice was 102 and the 100% lethal dose was 103 organisms. Mice immunized with 0.5 mug of SSS-III and challenged 5 days later with Pn-III were completely protected against a dose of up to 108 organisms. Mice treated with 0.25 ml of ALS on days -1, 0, and 1, immunized with SSS-III on day 0, and challenged with 2.5 X 10(9) Pn-III on day 5 had a mean survival time of greater than 100 h compared with 16 h for immunized non-serum-treated controls. Animals given a single injection of ALS before immunization showed no increase in resistance, whereas mice treated after immunization had significant prolongation of survival times. Untreated, immunized mice challenged with 5 X 10(9), 1 X 5 X 10(8) Pn-II survived 14 to 19 h, whereas ALS-treated animals had mean survival times of 48, 174, and 222 h, respectively. These findings suggest that immunoregulatory T cells may have a biologically significant effect in a narrow zone in which the normal host immune response is insufficient but still potentially capable of providing some additional degree of protection if suppressor cells are elimated.


[Past and present aspects of diarrheal disease in childhood. Clinical study and treatment (author's transl)]. The etiologic and pathophysiologic findings described in the first part of this paper have important consequences: The recognition of the specific etiology of diarrhea requires new laboratory methods: most of these, however, are technically easy to perform and do not require a large laboratory. A long-ranging consequence of this changed concept is a well-founded modification of therapy. The most important discovery was, that in a well balanced glucose electrolyte solution sodium and glucose enhance their absorption mutually and increase the absorption of water by solvent drag. Since in most acute diarrheas the mechanisms of absorption of glucose and electrolytes are retained this mechanism can be utilized for fast oral rehydration and reinstitution of normal intestinal homeostasis. Prompt institution of a diet consisting of the previously mentioned glucose-electrolyte solution usually prevents severe dehydration and the need for stationary treatment. The elimination of lactose and long chain fatty acids from the diet prevents continuation of the pathologic osmotic and chemical conditions in the intestine. Antibiotics are not indicated in acute diarrhea with the exception of diarrhea caused by enteroinvasive E. Coli or Shigella, in the case of Salmonella-gastroenteritis even contraindicated. Further research concentrates on the development of drugs for neutralisation of E. Coli enterotoxin and the prevention of diarrheas by development of effective vaccines.


Population growth-a menace to what?

Population growth-a menace to what? Originally, many of the initiators of the World Population Conference, which took place in Bucharest in 1974, had hoped that the Conference would imply a final breakthrough for the view that family planning measures should be given top priority in all less-developed countries. In fact, however, the Plan of Action passed by the Conference contains very little relating to population and family planning. Instead, the document is dominated by wordy phrases about the necessity of attaining social and economic development in those countries. Will the insight that family planning programs work efficiently only if they are an integral part of programs for the social and economic development of a country lead to such programs being realized? There is every reason to doubt that the plan of Action will have any such effect. The reasons for the underdevelopment of Third World countries cannot be removed through such United Nations resolutions. In the People's Republic of China, family planning is widely accepted, especially in the towns, and now also among the rural population. Limiting the number of children is considered part of China's development effort. China is a less-developed country that is in the process of rapid social and economic development. The issue at stake in other Third World countries is how to achieve a similar development. As soon as this goal is achieved, family planning efforts are meaningful and have a chance of success. The experience of China demonstrates that even there it took time before the efforts succeeded. There are many Third World countries that could, without much difficulty, support a population considerably larger than the present one. But there are no doubt also a number of countries where the population is already so large that a continued population increase would be harmful. The need to achieve rapid development becomes increasingly urgent, not in the least to make it possible to attain a reduced population growth. The sad truth is that so little development takes place in those countries. Without social and economic development, the present rapid population increase will continue in those countries where there is already an overly dense population.


Training of the barefoot doctor in the People's Republic of China: from prevention to curative service. Among the changes that have been brought about in health delivery in the People's Republic of China, the introduction of the barefoot doctor has been one of the most important and effective ways that the government has devised to radically alter the concept of health care. Through close identification with the community in terms of recruitment, training, and practice, the barefoot doctor is a concrete manifestation of the ideological principles of following the mass line and being self-reliant. The paper focuses on the building of rural health services, with special reference to the training of the barefoot doctor as the first-level contact person in primary care in the communes. It describes the training programs in a school of public health and the career mobility possible to the barefoot doctor in joining the ranks of medical practitioners.


Effect of the beta-receptor blocking agent Visken on the action of coumarin. In a double-blind study, the influence of Visken on the effect of anticoagulant therapy with Marcoumar was examined. In comparison to a placebo group, neither any influence on the Quick time, nor any increased tendency to haemorrhage bleeding could be detected.


Investigations of the excretion of gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase into the urine. The excretion of the enzyme gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase and its isoenzymes into the urine was investigated in patients with renal diseases and compared with the excretion of the enzymes leucine-aminopeptidase and lactate-dehydrogenase. In animal experiments an increased excretion of these enzymes was found after autotransplantation. Increased excretion of gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase was also found in patients with glomerulonephritis and in the polyuric phase of acute tubular necrosis, but not in cases of pyelonephritis and in the oliguric phase of acute tubular necrosis. The alterations of the isoenzyme pattern during diseases with increased enzyme excretion are in accordance with the hypothesis that the enzymes are liberated from the kidney tissue into the urine, and only a minority stems from the blood. Investigation of the excretion of gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase and its isoenzymes into the urine seems to be of both scientific and clinical interest.


Interaction of adrenergic antagonists with prostaglandin E2 and tetrahydrocannabinol in the eye. Both alpha- and beta-adrenergic antagonists have been utilized in an atempt to discern the site of action of prostaglandin (PG) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the eye. Both alpha- and beta-adrenergic antagonists (alpha-antagonists, phentolamine and phenoxybenzamine; beta-antagonists, propranolol and sotalol) cuased a dose-dependent reduction in intraocular pressure and blood pressure and increased total outflow facility. The results are consistent with the concept that both alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptors are present in the anterior uvea and that vasomotor tone is essential to the maintenance of normal intraocular pressure. No antagonist reduced the PG-induced elevation of intraocular pressure unless the blood pressure was severely lowered. All antagonists inhibit the normal PG-induced increase in total outflow facility, indicating that these agents protect the blood-aqueous barrier from breakdown without altering the vasodilatory response to PG. All antagonists reduced the fall in intraocular pressure produced by THC by approximately 50 per cent, except for sotalol which completely abolished the intraocular pressure fall. Only the alpha-adrenergic antagonists prevented the THC-induced increase in total outflow facility. The results indicate that true outflow facility may well be regulated exclusively by alpha-receptors. The data are consistent with the effect of THC being primarily a vasodilation of the efferent blood vessels of the anterior uvea. The partial inhibition by alpha-adrenergic antagonists may also suggest a lesser role of THC on the afferent vessels.


Induction of corneal graft rejection by passive cell transfer. An experimental model is presented demonstrating that penetrating corneal grafts in the rabbit may be rejected by passive transfer into the anterior chamber of specifically sensitized lymphoid cells. Destruction of histo-incompatible corneal endothelium is always marked by the formation of focal pock-like areas of damage in this system, rather than by the typical moving line of rejecting endothelium usually seen in spontaneous graft rejection. Where the transferred lymphoid cells are compatible with the tissues of the graft recipient, the picture is one of a severely affected graft on a field of uninvolved recipient corneal endothelium. Where the lymphoid cells are compatible with the graft and not with the tissues of the recipient, one sees a clear corneal graft surviving on a field of endothelial destruction on the recipient bed. The specificity of these reactions is illustrated in terms of the histocompatibility relationships between corneal donor, graft recipient, and the donor of the sensitized lymphoid cells.


Acute tubular necrosis.  An experimental model detailing the biochemical events accompanying renal injury and recovery. Male Charles River mice, divided into control or experimental groups, received on Day 0 either sterile 0.3 MNaHCO3 in 0.9 per cent saline (pH7.4) intraperitoneal injection or pteroylglutamic acid (200 mug per body weight), similarly buffered to pH7.6, and were sacrificed on Days 0, 1/4, 1/2, 1,2,3,4,7, and 14. The experimental kidneys demonstrated intratubular deposits of pteroylglutamic acid with edema between  Days 1 and 4 with cortical scarring by Day 14. The experimental kidneys reached maximal increases in weight (+90 per cent) on Day 2, RNA (+61 per cent, protein (+67 per cent) on Day 3, and DNA (+25 per cent) on Day 4 before falling to below control levels on Day 14. The control kidneys demonstrated the gradual incremental increases of normal renal growth throughout this period. No change in renal size, protein, RNA, or DNA could be detected in those animals who failed to demonstrate renal tubular damage. It is postulated that the response of the kidney to folic acid administration is a reparative response and not a response directed toward accelerated renal growth.


Properties of the 3-o-methyl-D-glucose transport system in Acholeplasma laidlawii. Transport of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3-O-MG) by Acholeplasma laidlawii cells was studied. The 3-O-MG transport system appeared to be constitutive in cells grown on 3-O-MG and glucose; the transport process depended on the concentration of substrate used and exhibited typical saturation kinetics, with an apparent Km of 4.6 muM. 3-O-MG was transported as a free carbohydrate and was not metabolized further in the cell. Dependence on pH and temperature and the results of efflux and "counterflow" experiments demonstrated the carrier nature of the transport system. 6-Deoxyglucose and glucose competitively inhibited 3-O-MG transport, whereas maltose inhibited in non-competitively. p-Chloromercuribenzoate, p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate, N-ethylmaleimide, and iodoacetate inhibited transport of 3-O-MG. Cells were able to accumulate 3-O-MG against a concentration gradient. Some electron transfer inhibitors (rotenone and amytal), arsenate, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and proton conductors such as 2,4-dinitrophenol, carbonylcyanide, m-chlorophenylhydrazone, pentachlorophenol, and tetrachlorotrifluoromethylbenzimidazole inhibited this process.


Starvation survival of Salmonella enteritidis. Washed cells of Salmonella enteritidis harvested from a defined medium during logarithmic growth were subjected to starvation in pH 7 phosphate buffer at 37 C. Viability was measured by slide cultures and plate counts. The survival of cell suspensions equivalent to 1 to 10 mg (dry wt)/ml was influenced by cryptic growth. The rate of cryptic growth, assessed by plate counts, increased with cell density and could not be alleviated by starvation with dialysis. Dialysis of the starving culture did retard the onset of cryptic growth but did not eliminate it, indicating that the major substrates for regrowth were relatively large cellular components. In phosphate buffer, 6.7 homologous heat-killed cells allowed for the doubling of one S. enteritidis cell. Cryptic growth was not observed when cells were starved on the surface of membrane filters or in suspensions equivalent to 20 mug (dry wt)/ml (105 cells/ml). Similar half-life survival times were calculated for both these populations, but the shape of their survival curves differed significantly. These differences were attributed to stress factors encountered during cell preparation and during starvation. The half-life survival time of S. enteritidis starved at 20 mug (dry wt)/ml was 140 h in phosphate buffer, 82 h in 3,6-endomethylene-1,2,3,-6-tetrahydrophthalic acid buffer, and 77 h in tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer.


Mismatch correction in pneumococcal transformation: donor length and hex-dependent marker efficiency. A hypothesis that preferential rejection of donor markers by the hex system of pneumococcus is due to lethal double-strand breaks has been examined in terms of its implications for the extent of the excision required. Experiments reported here were directed at asking whether hex-dependent marker efficiency depends on the length of the donor deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). In the absence of intracellular competition for hex function, there was no detectable effect of DNA size on hex-dependent marker efficiency as donor DNA was sheared from greater than 1 x 107 daltons to 3.6 x 105 daltons. The latter DNA was purified by two successive velocity fractionations to ensure that the activity seen was representative of DNA of that size. Quantitative examination of the system shows that, for the lethal event hypothesis to be true, the excision step has to remove an average of 7,000 to 10,000 nucleotides. This figure is so much greater than that seen in other excision processes that alternate hypotheses should be considered. The presently known properties of the hex system can be accounted for by a model invoking the migratory features of type I restriction enzymes.


Microcalorimetric study of the anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli: growth thermograms in a synthetic medium. A microcalorimetric technique was used for studying the growth of Escherichia coli during anaerobiosis. The growth thermograms obtained are complex and the shape of curves is dependent on the hydrogen lyase activity of the cells. Fermentation balances are given for different culture conditions, and simple growth thermograms are obtained when the hydrogen lyase activity is inhibitied.


Physiological study of ergot: induction of alkaloid synthesis by tryptophan at the enzymatic level. The enhancement of ergot alkaloid production by tryptophan and its analogues in both normal and high-phosphate cultures is more directly related to increased dimethylallyltryptophan (DMAT) synthetase activity rather than to a lack of regulation of the tryptophan biosynthetic enzymes. Thiotryptophan [beta-(1-benzo-thien-3-yl)-alanine] is rather ineffective in the end product regulation of tryptophan biosynthesis, whereas tryptophan and 5-methyltryptophan are potent effectors. The presence of increased levels of DMAT synthetase in ergot cultures supplemented with tryptophan or thiotryptophan, and to a lesser extent with 5-methyltryptophan, suggests that the induction effect involves de novo synthesis of the enzyme. Thiotryptophan and tryptophan but not 5-methyltryptophan can overcome the block of alkaloid synthesis by inorganic phosphate. The results with thiotryptophan indicate that the phosphate effect cannot be explained merely on the basis of a block of tryptophan synthesis.


Microcalorimetric study of the anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli: measurements of the affinity of whole cells for various energy substrates. Microcalorimetry has been used to determine the affinity of whole cells of Escherichia coli for glucose, galactose, fructose, and lactose. Anaerobic growth thermograms were analyzed, and the Km and Vmax values for these energy substrates were measured at pH 7.8. Results obtained with this technique using various organisms growing anaerobically on different sugars are compared. This comparison shows that in practically all cases the cellular rate of catabolic activity is a hyperbolic function of the energy substrate concentrations at low sugar concentrations. In some cases this technique also allows determination of kinetics at high sugar concentrations.


Purification and properties of polyol dehydrogenase from Cephalosporium chrysogenus. A polyol dehydrogenase of broad specificity was purified 178-fold from extracts of the filamentous fungus Cephalosporium chrysogenum. The enzyme was found to act as an oxido-reductase in two substrate-coenzyme systems: D-sorbitol (or xylitol)-nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and D-mannitol-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). The dehydrogenase was composed of five isozymes, which, as a mixture, exhibited these properties: Km to D-sorbitol and D-mannitol, 7.15 to 10(-2) M; PH optimum, 9 to 10; molecular weight, 300,000 subunit weight, 29,000; PI, 5.8 to 7.5. The NADP-linked activity was labile to treatment with heat or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Mixed substrate assays support the hypothesis that both NAD-, and NADP-linked activities are associated with isozymes of a single dehydrogenase.


Effect of alkali on the structure of cell envelopes of Chlamydia psittaci elementary bodies. Suspensions of isolated cell envelopes of infectious elementary bodies (EB) of Chlamydia psittaci at alkaline pH showed a rapid, extensive decrease in absorbance, accompanied by the release of a cell envelope component in a sedimentable form. This phenomenon was observed both at 0 C and with envelopes which had been previously heated to 100 C. Monovalent and divalent cations effectively inhibited the turbidity loss, whereas ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) caused an accelerated decrease in turbidity. The turbidity loss observed after incubation of the envelopes at alkaline pH could be reversed to the level of the initial value by dialysis against distilled water containing Mg2+. Thin-section electron photomicrographs of purified EB exposed to alkaline buffer with EDTA revealed the loss of the internal contents of cells, but these cells still maintained their round shapes. The cell surface of treated EB appeared pitted in negatively stained preparations, whereas intact EB had a smooth surface. Electron microscopic studies on negatively stained preparations of the clear supernatant obtained after the treatment of the envelope with alkaline buffer containing EDTA demonstrated the presence of spherical particles, approximately 6 to 7 nm in diameter, and rodlike particles, which appeared to be made up of two or more spherical particles.


Protein-carbohydrate-lipid complex isolated from the cell envelopes of Chlamydia psittaci in alkaline buffer and ethylenediaminetetraacetate. Exposure of isolated cell envelopes from purified infectious elementary (EB) of Chlamydia psittaci to sodium carbonate-bicarbonate buffer at pH 10 plus ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) results in partial solubilization of the total protein. The released materials represent 20% of the dry weight, 16% of the total protein, 40% of the total carbohydrate, and 9% of the total lipid of the cell envelopes. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation, and Sephadex G-200, Sepharose 4B, or diethylaminoethyl-cellulose column chromatography, reveal a protein-carbohydrate-lipid complex of several hundred thousand molecular weight that contains 50% protein. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the isolated EB cell envelopes reveals two major protein bands, A and B, with estimated molecular masses of approximately 85,000 and 53,000, respectively, both of which also stain for the presence of carbohydrate and lipid. Gel electrophoresis of the protein-carbohydrate-lipid complex reveals two protein bands, C and D, with estimated molecular weights of approximately 17,000 and 13,000, respectively, which contain lipid and a small amount of carbohydrate; bands A and B are not present in the complex. Gel electrophoresis of the cell envelope residues after extraction of the complex with alkali and EDTA shows a single main band, corresponding to the position of band B, which contains protein, carbohydrate, and lipid; band A is completely missing. B and A is believed to be a component of the complex, which is split into two subunits on alkali solubilization.


Purification and properties of beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Escherichia coli. beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EC 3.2.1.30) has been purified from Escherichia coli K-12 to near homogeneity based on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in both 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate and in 6 M urea at pH 8.5. The purified enzyme shows a pH optimum of 7.7 and the Km for p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-2-acetamido-2-deoxyglucopyranoside is 0.43 mM. The molecular weight of this enzyme, determined by both Sephadex gel filtration and by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, is equivalent to 36,000. It is shown to be a soluble cytoplasmic enzyme. Studies on the substrate specificites of the purified enzyme indicate that this enzyme is an exo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase.


Acid protease activity during germination of microcysts of the cellular slime mold Polysphondylium pallidum. Extracts of dormant microcysts of Polysphondylium pallidum demonstrate pH optima for the hydrolysis of casein at 3.5 and 6.0. During germination the intracellular pH 6.0 caseinolytic specific activity does not change significantly. The pH 6.0 protease is also active on azo-albumin, revealing the same developmental pattern with this substrate. Both acid protease activities are excreted during the germination process. Addition of purified nonspecific protease to cultures speeds up germination, suggesting that the excreted protease may play a role in removal of the microcyst wall. When cycloheximide is added to cultures, complete germination (emergence) is stopped whereas the pH 6.0 protease activity still accumulates to between 50 and 60% of the maximum control activity. Although this suggests that post-translational controls might mediate the accumulation of a portion of the pH 6.0 protease increase, mixing and dilution experiments with cell extracts do not reveal the differential presence of soluble activators or inhibitors of this activity at different developmental stages. The presence of tightly bound enzyme-inhibitor complexes for protease B in dormant microcysts has not been ruled out and is currently under study.


Altered nutritional requirements associated with mutations affecting the structures of ribonucleic acid polymerase in Lactobacillus casei. Rifampin-resistant mutants were isolated from Lactobacillus casei S1 and examined for possible simultaneous alteration in nutritional properties. Among the 36 mutants obtained either spontaneously or after mutagenesis with 2-aminopurine, 22 were found to be altered with respect to the specific growth requirements. The majority (20 of 22) of the latter mutants were shown to require L-glutamine in addition to the nutrients required by the parental strain for maximal growth, whereas the remaining mutants had apparently lost the requirement for L-aspartate. Further studies with one of the glutamine-requiring mutants revealed that the rifampin resistance of this strain is due to the resistance of ribonucleic acid polymerase itself and that a single mutation is responsible for both rifampin resistance and the glutamine requirement. These results strongly indicate that a structural alteration of the ribonucleic acid polymerase caused by the rifampin resistance mutation somehow affected glutamine metabolism, possibly through change in selective transcription of the genes involved.


Preparations and properties of ribonucleic acid polymerase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-dependent ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus was purified to apparent homogeneity and its properties were compared with those of the Escherichia coli B enzyme. The molecular weights of the two native active enzymes as well as their alpha and beta subunits appeared to be similar. No subunit corresponding to that of sigma from E. coli was found, and furthermore no separation between the beta subunits could be detected by gel electrophoresis. A number of different DNAs were transcribed by the enzyme from A. calcoaceticus. Maximal RNA synthesis occurred at pH 8.7, 10 mM Mg2+, or 0.3 mM Mn2+ and at a total ionic strength of 0.1. Higher ionic strengths led to increasing inhibition of transcription and at mu = 0.4 complete inhibition was observed. The mechanism of inhibition of salt was not related to the initiation event as observed with T4 core RNA polymerase (R.Kleppe, 1975). In an attempt to understand the mechanism of inhibition by salt, the effect of ionic strength on the sedimentation properties of the enzyme was investigated. At low ionic strength, enzyme species with sedimentation coefficients, s20,w, of 5.8S, 12.4S, and 19.3S were present. In buffers with higher ionic strengths the relative amounts of the 12.4S species decreased. It is suggested, therefore, that the inhibition of activity at higher salt concentrations is caused by a decrease in concentration of the active enzyme species.


Urea-hydrolyzing activity of a T-strain mycoplasma: Ureaplasma urealyticum. The urea-hydrolyzing activity of a T-strain mycoplasma was studied in experiments using whole cells and cell-free enzyme preparations by measuring the release of 14CO2 from [14C]urea. Under the conditions used, the urea concentration optimum is approximately 5.6 X 10(-3) M urea. The activity is soluble and not membrane bound. It is stable at -70 C for several weeks but is more labile at higher temperatures. The pH optimum is between 5.0 and 6.0. The effect of several inhibitors on the activity was tested and revealed similarities, as well as differences, between T-strain mycoplasma urease activity and the urease activity of other organisms and plants.


Arginine decarboxylase from a Pseudomonas species. An arginine decarboxylase has been isolated from a Pseudomonas species. The enzyme is constitutive and did not appear to be repressed by a variety of carbon sources. After an approximately 40-fold purification, the enzyme appeared more similar in its properties to the Escherichia coli biosynthetic arginine decarboxylase than to the E. coli inducible (biodegradative) enzyme. The Pseudomonas arginine decarboxylase exhibited a pH optimum of 8.1 and an absolute requirement of Mg2+ and pyridoxal phosphate, and was inhibited significantly at lower Mg2+ concentrations by the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine. The Km for L-arginine was about 0.25 mM at pH 8.1 AND 7.2. The enzyme was completely inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoate. The inhibition was prevented by dithiothreitol, a feature that suggests the involvement of an -SH group. Of a variety of labeled amino acids tested, only L-arginine, but not D-arginine was decarboxylated. D-Arginine was a potent inhibitor of arginine decarboxylase with a Ki of 3.2 muM.


Derepression of certain aromatic amino acid biosynthetic enzymes of Escherichia coli K-12 by growth in Fe3+-deficient medium. 3-Deoxy-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthase, prephenate dehydratase, tryptophan synthase, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoylserine synthase enzyme activities are derepressed in wild-type Escherichia coli K-12 cells grown on Fe3+-deficient medium. This derepression is reversed when FeSO4 is added to the growth medium. Addition of shikimic acid to the Fe3+-deficient growth medium caused repression of the first three enzyme activities but not of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoylserine synthase activity. Addition of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid to the Fe3+-deficient growth medium has no effect on any of the above-mentioned enzyme activities. The Fe3+ deficiency-mediated derepression of 3-deoxyarabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthase activity is due to an elevation of the tyrosine-sensitive isoenzyme; the phenylalanine-sensitive isoenzyme is not derepressed under these conditions.


Control of differentiation in streptomycetes: involvement of extrachromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid and glucose repression in aerial mycelia development. When Streptomyces alboniger spores were grown in Hickey-Tresner broth containing 5 muM ethidium bromide, a high frequency of permanently cured aerial mycelia-negative (am-) colonies was recovered. The appearance an am- colonies was time dependent: a very low frequency (0.3%) at zero time, a maximum (9 to 21%) after 2 to 5 days of growth, and a decline again to low frequencies later in the growth cycle. On agar, cured am- colonies of S. alboniger still produced puromycin. The development of aerial mycelia in S. alboniger, S. scabies, and S. coelicolor was also sensitive to glucose repression. Colonies grown on Hickey-Tresner agar containing 2% glucose remained phenotypically am- throughout the observation period. Adenine (2.5 mM or greater), and to a lesser extent adenosine and guanosine, specifically reversed the repression. The accumulation of undissociated organic acids appears to be involved in glucose repression of aerial mycelia formation. However, this does not appear to be the case with puromycin production in S. alboniger; glucose repression was observed over the pH range 5.0 to 7.5.


Studies on cytochrome oxidase. Partial resolution of enzymes containing seven or six subunits, from yeast and beef heart, respectively. Highly active, essentially homogeneous, preparations of ferrocytochrome c oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) have been obtained from both yeast and beef heart by extraction with cholate, fractionation with ammonium sulfate, and replacement of cholate by Tween 20. The molecular weights of the resultant proteins equal 260 +/- 23 X 10(3) and 205 +/- 10(3); they contain seven and six different polypeptide subunits, respectively, all in equimolar amounts, with apparent molecular weights of 42.4, 34.1, 24.7, 14.6, 14.6, 12.3, 10.6 X 10(3), and 47.5, 20.4, 14.5, 14.5, 13.0, 11.0 X 10(3), respectively. By means of apolar chromatography on L-leucine coupled to agarose these enzymes can be stripped of their largest subunit(s) resulting in preparations with molecular weights of 170 +/- 17 X 10(3) and 124 +/- 20 X 10(3), and containing only five polypeptides, with the largest remaining one (molecular weight congruent to 20 X 10(3)) present in less than stoichiometric amounts. This interconversion and subunit removal has been monitored by exclusion chromatography, four systems of acrylamide gel electrophoresis--some with the protein labeled with 125I under denaturing conditions--isoelectric focusing, and hydrodynamic methods. It has virtually no effect on heme a and copper content and on the catalytic parameters of the enzymes.  We conclude that subunits I and II in enzymes from fungal, and subunit I in those from animal, sources are dispensable for the catalysis of the oxidation of ferrocytochrome c by, and are probably not essential for the attatchment of prosthetic groups to, these proteins.


Isolation and characterization of crystalline methylglyoxal synthetase from Proteus vulgaris. Methylglyoxal synthetase, which catalyzes the conversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate to methylglyoxal and inorganic phosphate, has been isolated and crystalized in good yields from Proteus vulgaris. The enzyme was shown to be homogeneous by a variety of criteria and was found to be a dimer (Mr = 135,000; s20,w = 7.2 S) composed of two apparently identical catalytic and physical properties and their interconvertible nature suggest that they do not represent true isozymes. The enzyme is specific for dihydroxyacetone phosphate and does not form methylglyoxal from glyceraldehyde 3-phophate, glyceraldehyde, or dihydroxyacetone. Nonphosphorylated analogs are neither substrates nor competive inhibitors, but a variety of phosphorylated analogs are competitive with respect to dihydroxyacetone phosphate. The enzyme is inhibited by inorganic orthophosphate in a complex manner which is overcome by dihydroxyacetone phosphate in a signoidal manner


Beef kidney 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid oxygenase. Purification, characterization, and analysis of the assay. Beef kidney 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid oxygenase has been purified to homogeneity. It is a single subunit protein of Mr = 34,000 +/- 2,000 with a frictional coefficient (f/f0) of about 1.1. The enzyme readily aggregates to form, apparently inactive, higher molecular weight oligomers. The very rapid loss of enzyme activity during the assay was analyzed extensively. It was found to be due to inactivation of the enzyme by the substrate, 3-hydroxyanthranilate, and unrelated to enzyme turnover or oxidation of bound iron. The loss of activity was shown to be a first order decay process, and methods are given for obtaining accurate initial reaction rates under all conditions. Evidence was presented that the enzyme assumes a catalytically inactive conformation at pH 3.4, which only relatively slowly rearranges to an active form at pH 6.5; the rearrangement can be blocked by the presence of substrate. We have found that Fe2+, which is required for enzymatic activity, can equilibrate freely, albeit slowly, with the enzyme during the course of the enzyme reaction even in the presence of saturating 3-hydroxanthranilate. Under assay conditons, the Fe2+ has an apparent dissociation constant of 0.04 mM. The kinetic properties of the enzyme were found to be dramatically different in beta,beta-dimethylglutarate buffer and collidine buffer; both the rate of loss of activity during the assay and the substrate Km and Vmax were affected.


Effects of colipase and taurodeoxycholate on the catalytic and physical properties of pancreatic lipase B at an oil water interface. A monolayer reaction system employing tripropionin and siliconized glass beads was used to study the effects of taurodeoxycholate and colipase on the catalytic activity, interfacial stability, and interfacial affinity of porcine pancreatic lipase B (EC 3.1.1.3) The stability and catalytic activity of lipase at the bead-water interface are governed by the same two ionizable groups with pKa values (in the absence of cofactors) of 5.6 and 9.3. Colipase alone or with bile salt caused only a slight perturbation of these values. At low concentrations, 0 to 0.3mM, taurodeoxycholate increases the stability of lipase by 5-fold. At higher concentrations, 0.3 to 0.8 mM, but still below its critical micelle concentration, taurodeoxycholate prevents the adsorption of lipase to the bead-water interface. This appears to be the major mechanism by which this bile salt inhibits lipolysis. Colipase exerts small positive effects on lipase stability and catalytic activity. More importantly, colipase enables the adsorption of lipase in the presence of bile salt, thereby reversing the inhibition.


Rickettsial permeability. An ADP-ATP transport system. The obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium, Rickettsia prowazeki, has a carrier-mediated transport system for ADP and ATP. The transport of nucleotides was measured by membrane filtration assays; the assay was shown not to harm the relatively labile rickettsiae. The nucleotide transport system was shown to reside in the rickettsiae, not in the contaminating yolk sac mitochondria of the preparation. The influx of nucleotide had an activation energy of 12 to 13 kcal above 22 deg-rees (an apparent transition temperature), and 30 kcal below this value. The uptake of nucleotide was independent of the Mg2+ concentration, but was markedly stimulated by the phosphate concentration. The pH optimum of the influx of nucleotide was pH 7. The specificity of the transport system was remarkable in that it required a specific moiety in each portion of the nucleotide, i.e. an adenine base, a ribose sugar, and two or three, but not one, phosphates. Of the wide variety of compounds tested, the system could transport only ADP, ATP, and (beta, gamma-methylene) adenosine 5'-triphosphate. The influx of nucleotide was a saturable process; half-maximum velocity was achieved at a nucleotide concentration of about 75 muM. ADP and ATP were competitive inhibitors of each other's transport. Although at least 95% of the labeled intracellular nucleotide was exchangeable, efflux of labeled nucleotide was observed only in the presence of unlabeled nucleotide in the medium. Half-maximum efflux was achieved at a concentration of about 75 muM. A large intracellular to extracellular concentration gradient of labeled nucleotide was maintained in the presence of metabolic inhibitors and uncouplers, which completely abolished rickettsial hemolysis. While having no effect on the steady state, KCN and DNP accelerated both influx and efflux. Measurements of the endogenous pool of adenine nucleotides in isolated rickettsiae show that is was large (5 mM), and that these unlabeled nucleotides exchanged, on approximately a 1/1 basis, with exogenously added nucleotide. These studies support the proposal that rickettsiae are not "leaky" to adenine nucleotides or to small molecules in general, and that they have a carrier-mediated transport system which allows an exchange of host and parasite ADP and ATP.


Monomeric purine nucleoside phosphorylase from rabbit liver. Purification and characterization. Rabbit liver purine nucleoside phosphorylase (purine nucleoside: orthophosphate ribosyltransferase EC 2.4.2.1.) was purified to homogeneity by column chromatography and ammonium sulfate fractionation. Homogeneity was established by disc gel electrophoresis in presence and absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, and isoelectric focusing. Molecular weights of 46,000 and 39,000 were determined, respectively, by gel filtration and by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis. Product inhibition was observed with guanine and hypoxanthine as strong competitive inhibitors for the enzymatic phosphorolysis of guanosine. Respective Kis calculated were 1.25 x 10(-5) M for guanine and 2.5 x 10(-5) M for hypoxanthine. Ribose 1-phosphate, another product of the reaction, gave noncompetitive inhibition with guanosine as variable substrate, and an inhibition constant of 3.61 x 10(-4) M was calculated. The protection of essential --SH groups on the enzyme, by 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol, was necessary for the maintenance of enzyme activity. Noncompetitive inhibition was observed for p-chloromercuribenzoate with an inhibition constant of 5.68 x 10(-6)M. Complete reversal of this inhibition by an excess of 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol was demonstrated. In the presence of methylene blue, the enzyme showed a high sensitivity to photooxidation and a dependence of photoinactivation on pH, strongly implicating histidine as the susceptible group at the active site of the enzyme. The pKa values determined for ionizable groups of the active site of the enzyme were near pH 5.5 and pH 8.5 The chemical and kinetic evidences suggest that histidine and cysteine may be essential for catalysis. Inorganic orthophosphate (Km 1.54 x 10(-2) M) was an obligatory anion requirement, and arsenate substituted for phosphate with comparable results. Guanosine (Km 5.00 x 10(-5) M), deoxyguanosine (Km 1.00 x 10(-4)M) and inosine (Km 1.33 x 10(-4)M), were substrates for enzymatic phosphorolysis. Xanthosine was an extremely poor substrate, and adenosine was not phosphorylyzed at 20-fold excess of the homogeneous enzyme. Guanine (Km 1.82 x 10(-5)M),ribose 1-phosphate (Km 1.34 x 10(-4) M) and hypoxanthine were substrates for the reverse reaction, namely, the enzymatic synthesis of nucleosides. The initial velocity studies of the saturation of the enzyme with guanosine, at various fixed concentrations of inorganic orthophosphate, suggest a sequential bireactant catalytic mechanism for the enzyme.