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A H Futerman

Publications and source records attributed to A H Futerman.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Sphingomyelin synthesis in rat liver occurs predominantly at the cis and medial cisternae of the Golgi apparatus.

The intracellular site of sphingomyelin (SM) synthesis was examined in subcellular fractions from rat liver using a radioactive ceramide analog N-([1-14C]hexanoyl)-D-erythro-sphingosine. This lipid readily transferred from a complex with bovine serum albumin to liver fractions without disrupting the membranes, and was metabolized to radioactive SM. To prevent degradation of the newly synthesized SM to ceramide, all experiments were performed in the presence of EDTA to minimize neutral sphingomyelinase activity and at neutral pH to minimize acid sphingomyelinase activity. An intact Golgi apparatus fraction gave an 85-98-fold enrichment of SM synthesis and a 58-83-fold enrichment of galactosyltransferase activity. Controlled trypsin digestion demonstrated that SM synthesis was localized to the lumen of intact Golgi apparatus vesicles. Although small amounts of SM synthesis were detected in plasma membrane and rough microsome fractions, after accounting for contamination by Golgi apparatus membranes, their combined activity contributed less than 13% of the total SM synthesis in rat liver. Subfractions of the Golgi apparatus were obtained and characterized by immunoblotting and biochemical assays using cis/medial (mannosidase II) and trans (sialyltransferase and galactosyltransferase) Golgi apparatus markers. The specific activity of SM synthesis was highest in enriched cis and medial fractions but far lower in a trans fraction. We conclude that SM synthesis in rat liver occurs predominantly in the cis and medial cisternae of the Golgi apparatus and not at the plasma membrane or endoplasmic reticulum as has been previously suggested.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Purification and crystallization of a dimeric form of acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo californica subsequent to solubilization with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

A dimeric form of acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo californica was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography subsequent to solubilization with a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C of bacterial origin. Bipyramidal crystals of the enzyme were obtained from solutions in polyethylene glycol 200. The crystals diffract to 2.0 A (1 A = 0.1 nm) resolution. They were found to be orthorhombic, space group P2221, with a = 163.4(+/- 0.2) A, b = 112.1(+/- 0.2) A, c = 81.3(+/- 0.1) A.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1988

A membrane-associated dimer of acetylcholinesterase from Xenopus skeletal muscle is solubilized by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

The susceptibility to phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C of the membrane associated acetylcholinesterase (AChE) forms of Xenopus laevis skeletal muscle was examined. This treatment released almost all the detergent-soluble AChE species from muscle homogenates. Sucrose gradient analysis showed that the released acetylcholinesterase form corresponds to a hydrophilic G2 dimer, indicating that this dimer has a glycolipid anchoring domain which contains phosphatidylinositol.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1987

Modes of attachment of acetylcholinesterase to the surface membrane.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) occurs in multiple molecular forms differing in their quaternary structure and mode of anchoring to the surface membrane. Attachment is achieved by post-translational modification of the catalytic subunits. Two such mechanisms are described. One involves attachment to catalytic subunit tetramers, via disulfide bridges, of a collagen-like fibrous tail. This, in turn, interacts, primarily via ionic forces, with a heparin-like proteoglycan in the extracellular matrix. A second such modification involve the covalent attachment of a single phosphatidylinositol molecule at the carboxyl-terminus of each catalytic subunit polypeptide; the diacylglycerol moiety of the phospholipid serves to anchor the modified enzyme hydrophobically to the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane. The detailed molecular structure of these two classes of acetylcholinesterase are discussed, as well as their biosynthesis and mode of anchoring.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1987

Removal of covalently bound inositol from Torpedo acetylcholinesterase and mammalian alkaline phosphatases by deamination with nitrous acid. Evidence for a common membrane-anchoring structure.

Our earlier evidence suggested that both acetylcholinesterase and alkaline phosphatase are anchored to the cell surface via covalently-attached phosphatidylinositol [Low, Futerman, Ferguson & Silman (1986) Trends Biochem. Sci. 11, 212-215]. We now present chemical data, based upon a nitrous acid deamination reaction, showing that in both proteins the phosphatidylinositol moiety is attached through a glycosidic linkage to a sugar residue bearing a free amino group.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1987

Differential susceptibility to phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C of acetylcholinesterase in excitable tissues of embryonic and adult Torpedo ocellata.

The ability of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PIPLC) to solubilize acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the electromotor system of adult Torpedo ocellata and in the developing electric organ was examined. PIPLC solubilizes significant amounts of the membrane-bound G2 form of AChE throughout embryonic development of the electric organ, as it does in the adult electric organ, the AChE of which we have shown to contain covalently bound inositol in its membrane-anchoring domain. In the electromotor system of the mature fish, PIPLC solubilizes almost quantitatively the AChE dimer in the electromotor axon as in the electric organ itself, but the corresponding fraction in the electric lobe is almost totally resistant to the phospholipase. This finding implies that the covalently bound phosphatidylinositol is added concomitantly with axonal transport. A substantial part of the G2 form in back muscle is sensitive to PIPLC, whereas the G4 tetramer of Torpedo brain is completely resistant.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1985

Arrhenius plots of acetylcholinesterase activity in mammalian erythrocytes and in Torpedo electric organ. Effect of solubilization by proteinases and by a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

The temperature-dependence of the catalytic activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from rat erythrocyte-ghost membranes and from Torpedo electric-organ membranes was examined. In the case of rat erythrocyte AChE, a non-linear Arrhenius plot was observed both before and after solubilization by a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C or by proteinase treatment. Similarly, no significant differences were observed in Arrhenius plots of Torpedo electric-organ AChE before or after solubilization. These results support our suggestion that the catalytic subunit of AChE does not penetrate deeply into the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane and also suggest that care must be taken in ascribing break points in Arrhenius plots of membrane-bound enzymes to changes in their lipid environment.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1985

Identification of covalently bound inositol in the hydrophobic membrane-anchoring domain of Torpedo acetylcholinesterase.

The hydrophobic, membrane-bound form of Torpedo acetylcholinesterase is specifically solubilized by a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C, suggesting that acetylcholinesterase is bound to the membrane via a direct and specific interaction with phosphatidylinositol (Futerman et al., Biochem. J. (1985) 226, 369-377). Here we demonstrate the presence of covalently bound inositol in the membrane-anchoring domain of purified Torpedo acetylcholinesterase. Upon removal of this domain, levels of inositol are reduced to only 15-20% of those found in the intact enzyme. The results presented strongly support our suggestion that phosphatidylinositol is indeed involved in anchoring acetylcholinesterase to the plasma membrane.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1985

Physicochemical behaviour and structural characteristics of membrane-bound acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo electric organ. Effect of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

Quantitative solubilization of the phospholipid-associated form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from Torpedo electric organ can be achieved in the absence of detergent by treatment with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PIPLC) from Staphylococcus aureus [Futerman, Low & Silman (1983) Neurosci. Lett. 40, 85-89]. The sedimentation coefficient on sucrose gradients of AChE solubilized in detergents (DSAChE) varies with the detergent employed. However, the coefficient of AChE directly solubilized by PIPLC is not changed by detergents. Furthermore, PIPLC can abolish the detergent-sensitivity of the sedimentation coefficient of DSAChE purified by affinity chromatography, suggesting that one or more molecules of phosphatidylinositol (PI) are co-solubilized with DSAChE and remain attached throughout purification. DSAChE binds to phospholipid liposomes, whereas PIPLC-solubilized AChE and DSAChE treated with PIPLC do not bind even to liposomes containing PI. Sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis shows that PIPLC-solubilized AChE, like unmodified DSAChE, is a catalytic subunit dimer; electrophoresis in the presence of reducing agent reveals no detectable difference in the Mr of the catalytic subunit of unmodified DSAChE, of AChE solubilized by PIPLC and of AChE solubilized by Proteinase K. The results presented suggest that DSAChE is anchored to the plasma membrane by one or more PI molecules which are tightly attached to a short amino acid sequence at one end of the catalytic subunit polypeptide.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1985

Solubilization of membrane-bound acetylcholinesterase by a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PIPLC) quantitatively solubilizes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from purified synaptic plasma membranes and intact synaptosomes of Torpedo ocellata electric organ. The solubilized AChE migrates as a single peak of sedimentation coefficient 7.0S upon sucrose gradient centrifugation, corresponding to a subunit dimer. The catalytic subunit polypeptide of AChE is the only polypeptide detectably solubilized by PIPLC. This selective removal of AChE does not affect the amount of acetylcholine released from intact synaptosomes upon K+ depolarization. PIPLC also quantitatively solubilizes AChE from the surface of intact bovine and rat erythrocytes, but only partially solubilizes AChE from human and mouse erythrocytes. The AChE released from rat and human erythrocytes by PIPLC migrates as a approximately 7S species on sucrose gradients, corresponding to a catalytic subunit dimer. PIPLC does not solubilize particulate AChE from any of the brain regions examined of four mammalian species. Several other phospholipases tested, including a nonspecific phospholipase C from Clostridium welchii, fail to solubilize AChE from Torpedo synaptic plasma membranes, rat erythrocytes, or rat striatum.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1983

A hydrophobic dimer of acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo californica electric organ is solubilized by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

A dimeric form of acetylcholinesterase from the electric organ of Torpedo californica was solubilized by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from Staphylococcus aureus. The solubilized enzyme had a sedimentation coefficient of 7.3S which was not modified by detergents. The high salt-soluble asymmetric forms of acetylcholinesterase were not solubilized by the phospholipase. Our data suggest that the hydrophobic dimer of acetylcholinesterase may be associated with the plasma membrane through a specific interaction involving phosphatidylinositol.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1982

Heat inactivation of gamma-glutamyltransferase in homogenates of human kidney.

The properties of gamma-glutamyltransferase in homogenates of human kidney were investigated by measuring its susceptibility to inactivation by heating at 56 degree C. In freshly prepared homogenates, or after short storage at -20 degree C, the enzyme was observed to be relatively heat-stable. However, it could be transformed into a heat-labile form by treatment with thiol compounds or the proteolytic enzymes trypsin and papain. This process was not necessarily accompanied by solubilisation of the enzyme from the particulate fraction of the homogenate. The addition of 1 mmol/1 glutathione during the heating step completely protected the enzyme against heat inactivation in either the relatively heat-stable form or the heat-labile form produced as a result of prior treatment with enzymes or thiol reagent. The observation that glutathione concentrations lower than the apparent Km for glutathione as a substrate fully protect the enzyme against heat inactivation suggests that the enzyme contains a second binding site for glutathione. This second site would be of higher affinity for glutathione than the substrate-binding site but would not itself participate in the enzyme reaction.

Glutathione↗