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Biomedical subjects

D B McCormick

Publications and source records attributed to D B McCormick.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Effect of strain, sex and dietary riboflavin on pyridoxamine (pyridoxine) 5'-phosphate oxidase activity in rat tissues.

Weanling male rats of four strains--Buffalo, Long-Evans, Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Wistar--were fed a control or a riboflavin-deficient purified diet for 6 weeks. Both strain and diet had significant effects on pyridoxamine (pyridoxine) 5'-phosphate (PMP) oxidase activity in liver and kidney. No single strain had extreme PMP oxidase values or was consistently more responsive than the others to riboflavin deficiency. Weanling male and female SD rats were fed purified diets containing 2.5, 1.0, 0.5 or 0 mg of riboflavin/kg diet for 9 weeks. PMP oxidase values generally were lower in the females than in the males. In both sexes, increases in dietary riboflavin level were reflectd in increases in PMP oxidase activity in liver and kidney. These results confirm that PMP oxidase activity is a sensitive indicator of riboflavin status in the rat.

Animals↗

Isolation of volatile sulfur-containing microbial catabolites of biotin.

A soil pseudomonad was grown on biotin as sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. A product of thiolane ring degradation, methyl thioacetate, was isolated by Tenax trapping and identified by GC-Mass spectrometry in comparison to the synthetic compound. H2S is another catabolite which was isolated via heavy metal trapping and was quantified in culture supernatant. Studies of acetylation and methylation activities of broken pseudomonad cells indicated that methyl thioacetate may be formed by chemical alterations of H2S as the primary sulfur-containing catabolite of biotin. H2S can also serve as sole sulfur source for the pseudomonad.

Biotin↗

Purification of riboflavin-binding proteins from bovine plasma and discovery of a pregnancy-specific riboflavin-binding protein.

Riboflavin-binding proteins have been purified from bovine plasma using flavinyl agarose beads. At least three major protein bands, migrating in regions assigned to the beta- and gamma-globulins of plasma, are observed by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. These proteins coelute from a calibrated Sephadex G-100 column in the volume corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 150,000; a small amount of another riboflavin-binding protein (molecular weight approximately 37,000) is also present. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the proteins, with detection by autoradiography of those having tightly bound [2-14C]riboflavin, reveals one protein band which is present only in preparations from pregnant cows. This protein has been purified to apparent homogeneity by storing the mixture of riboflavin-binding proteins at 8 degrees C for 3 weeks, which precipitates the other, less stable proteins. Hence, bovine plasma, like that of the laying hen, contains a number of riboflavin-binding proteins, one of which correlates with pregnancy.

Animals↗

Spectroscopic studies of pyridoxamine (pyridoxine) 5'-phosphate oxidase. Equilibrium dissociation constants and spectra for riboflavin 5'-phosphate and analogues.

Pyridoxamine (pyridoxine) 5'-phosphate oxidase (EC 1.4.3.5) has been shown to bind 1 mol of riboflavin 5'-phosphate (FMN) per mol of apoenzyme and is active with or inhibited by numerous FMN analogues [Kazarinoff, M. N., & McCormick, D. B. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3436--3442]. The KD values and spectra for selected apoenzyme--flavin complexes have been determined and used to elucidate some of the properties of the FMN-binding site of this flavoprotein. Alterations of the pyrimidinoid portion of the flavin ring decrease binding considerably. The absorption spectra for the protein complexes with 3-deaza-FMN and 8-hydroxy-FMN indicate the presence of a dipolar or positively charged protein group near N1 and O2. The substitution of methyl for hydrogen at N3 apparently causes distortion of the interaction between the flavin ring and an active-site aromatic amino acid residue. Although binding is also decreased somewhat by substitutions at postions 8 and 8 alpha, considerable bulk [e.g., 8-(diethylamino)-FMN and 8 alpha-S-(N-acetyl-cysteinyl)-FMN] is accommodated. Hence, this portion of the flavin ring is probably oriented toward, possibly in contact with, solvent, as has been found for the flavodoxins. The importance of optimum interactions between the flavin and the apoprotein is further emphasized by large differences in the activity of flavin analogues that have similar midpoint potentials in solution.

Apoenzymes↗

Evidence for an essential histidyl residue at the active site of pyridoxamine (pyridoxine)-5'-phosphate oxidase from rabbit liver.

Pyridoxamine (pyridoxine)-5'-phosphate oxidase (EC 1.4.3.5) from rabbit liver is inactivated by diethylpyrocarbonate in an all-or-none fashion with first order kinetics with respect to modifier concentration. The rate of inactivation increases with pH and reflects a group with a pKa of 7.5. Inactivated enzyme is in the holo form with intact FMN. Four histidyls and a cysteinyl residue are modified by excess reagent. The restoration of enzymatic activity by hydroxylamine, the spectrophotometric and colorimetric amino acid analyses, and our previous studies on cysteine modification (Tsuge, H., and McCormick, D.B. (1979) in Flavins and Flavoproteins (Yamano, T., and Yagi, K., eds) Japan Scientific Societies Press, Tokyo, in press) all suggest that inactivation occurs solely by modification of histidine. Analyses by kinetic and statistical methods indicate that three histidines are modified slowly and are not critical for activity, while one histidine is modified nine times more rapidly and accounts for the observed inactivation. Inactivated enzyme shows no significant perturbations in structure, as evidenced by absorption, CD, fluorescence, and gel filtration, but is unable to bind the product, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Furthermore, the substrate-competitive inhibitor, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate oxime, protects from inactivation. Hence, diethylpyrocarbonate inactivates this enzyme by modifying a crucial histidyl residue at the substrate/product-binding site.

Animals↗

Preparation and properties of immobilized flavokinase.

Flavokinase (ATP: riboflavin 5'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.26) purified from rat liver by affinity chromatography, has been immobilized by amide linkage to omega-aminoalkyl-agarose beads. The immobilized enzyme differs from the soluble enzyme in having greater stability, slightly higher Km for the substrates, riboflavin and ATP, a broader pH optimum, and a lower energy of activation. These results suggest that the immobilized enzyme is influenced by the microenvironment of the bead and is subject to some degree of internal diffusional limitation. A small (3 ml), continuous, plug-flow reactor prepared with immobilized flavokinase effects 50% conversion of riboflavin to riboflavin 5'-phosphate (FMN) with a flow rate of 0.16 ml/min, which corresponds to an output of 5 nmol FMN/min. Immobilized flavokinase is effective for phosphorylating riboflavin and numerous riboflavin analogs and provides a facile method for preparing exclusively, unlike other synthetic methods, the 5'-phosphates.

Chemical Phenomena↗