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D S Feingold

Publications and source records attributed to D S Feingold.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Dissociation and in vitro reconstitution of bovine liver uridine diphosphoglucose dehydrogenase. The paired subunit nature of the enzyme.

Uridine diphosphoglucose dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.22: UDPglucose dehydrogenase) at pH 5.5-7.8 is a stable homohexamer of 305 +/- 7 kDa that does not undergo concentration-dependent dissociation at enzyme concentrations greater than 5 micrograms/mL. Chemical cross-linking of the native enzyme at varying glutaraldehyde concentrations yields dimers, tetramers, and hexamers; at greater than 2% (w/v) glutaraldehyde, plateau values of 21% monomers, 16% dimers, 5% tetramers, and 58% hexamers are obtained. Dissociation at acid pH (pH 2.3) or in 4-6 M guanidine hydrochloride leads to inactive monomers (Mr 52,000). Denaturation at increasing guanidine hydrochloride concentration reveals separable unfolding steps suggesting the typical domain structure of dehydrogenases holds for the present enzyme. At greater than 4 M guanidine hydrochloride complete randomization of the polypeptide chains is observed after 10-min denaturation. Reconstitution of the native hexamer after dissociation/denaturation has been monitored by reactivation and glutaraldehyde fixation. The kinetics may be described in terms of a sequential uni-bimolecular model, governed by rate-determining folding and association steps at the monomer level. Trimeric intermediates do not appear in significant amounts. Reactivation is found to parallel hexamer formation. Structural changes during reconstitution (monitored by circular dichroism) are characterized by complex kinetics, indicating the rapid formation of "structured monomers" (with most of the native secondary structure) followed by slow "reshuffling" prior to subunit association. The final product of reconstitution is indistinguishable from the initial native enzyme.

Animals↗

Results of a survey of antifungal susceptibility tests in the United States and interlaboratory comparison of broth dilution testing of flucytosine and amphotericin B.

In a survey of 350 laboratories, 41 of 210 respondents indicated that they performed antifungal susceptibility tests. Two-thirds performed 20 or fewer tests per year, and most used a broth dilution method to test amphotericin B and flucytosine activity against Candida albicans. The broth dilution procedure of S. Shadomy and A. Espinel-Ingroff (p. 647-653, in E.H. Lennette, ed., Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 3rd ed., 1980) was the method most frequently cited, and therefore this method was used to test the susceptibility of five isolates of C. albicans and one of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to amphotericin B and flucytosine in seven research laboratories. Agreement among replicates performed on the same day by each laboratory was excellent for both drugs, all values being within 1 twofold drug dilution. Precision from week to week for each laboratory was also good, with 95 and 92% of values being within 1 drug dilution for amphotericin B and flucytosine, respectively. Interlaboratory precision, however, was poor. For amphotericin B, values varied 8- to 32-fold, and for flucytosine, they varied 32- to greater than 512-fold. We conclude that antifungal susceptibility testing is currently being performed in small volumes by numerous laboratories in the United States and that results from one laboratory may not agree with results from another. Improved standardization of fungal susceptibility tests is necessary before their results can be generally applied to clinical situations.

Amphotericin B↗

Cutaneous microbial flora.

The flora of the skin shows qualitative and quantitative variations in different areas of the body and under differing conditions. Certain organisms are always present; others, including skin and soft-tissue pathogens, are transient. The normal flora may, on occasion, cause bothersome infections. The normal flora may offer protection against the more harmful species in ways that are yet to be defined.

Bacteria↗

Effect of ketoconazole in combination with other inhibitors of sterol synthesis on fungal growth.

The effect of combination of ketoconazole with other sterol synthesis inhibitors on fungal growth was tested against a variety of fungi selected for resistance to ketoconazole. All of the sterol inhibitors, at concentrations lower than their MICs, caused an increase greater than fourfold in the ketoconazole susceptibility of some fungi. Some of the sterol synthesis inhibitors showed this effect with ketoconazole at levels that may be achieved clinically.

Antifungal Agents↗

Biosynthesis of heparin. Substrate specificity of heparosan N-sulfate D-glucuronosyl 5-epimerase.

The substrate specificity of heparosan N-sulfate D-glucuronosyl 5-epimerase from a mouse mastocytoma was examined to determine the effects of N-acetyl and O-sulfate groups on substrate recognition by the enzyme. [5-3H]Glucuronosyl-labeled heparosan N-sulfate was prepared enzymatically and was modified chemically by partial N-desulfation and N-acetylation. After enzymatic release of tritium, the location of remaining label was determined by deaminative cleavage and analysis of resulting di-, tetra-, and higher oligosaccharides. This analysis indicated that a D-glucuronosyl residue is recognized as a substrate if it is linked at C-1 to an N-acetylated glucosamine residue and at C-4 to an N-sulfated unit. However, the reverse structure, in which the D-glucuronosyl moiety is bound at C-1 to an N-sulfated residue and at C-4 to N-acetylated glucosamine, is not a substrate. Similar studies with O-sulfated heparin intermediates showed that O-sulfate groups either at C-2 of the L-iduronosyl moieties or at C-6 of vicinal D-glucosaminyl moieties prevent 5-epimerization. These findings were confirmed by studies of the reverse reaction, in which tritium was incorporated from 3H2O into partially O-desulfated heparin and the location of incorporated radioactivity was determined. These and more direct experiments corroborated the previous conclusion that the L-iduronosyl moieties are formed after N-sulfation but before O-sulfation. Assessment of the influence of substrate size on the reaction further showed that a large substrate is preferred; an octasaccharide released tritium at a rate approximately 10% of that observed for the parent polysaccharide, and some release occurred also with smaller oligosaccharides.

Animals↗

Special effects of UDP-sugar binding to bovine liver uridine diphosphoglucose dehydrogenase.

The binding of NADH to uridine diphosphate glucose dehydrogenase has been examined by equilibrium dialysis. There is an absolute requirement for the presence of UDP-glucose for the binding of NADH. Other analogs such as UDPxylose, UDPgalactose and UDPglucuronic acid cannot replace UDPglucose as an effector of NADH binding. UDPxylose competes with UDPglucose for the UDP-sugar-binding site, and in so doing releases the bound NADH. The binding of NADH to UDPglucose dehydrogenase in the presence of UDPglucose reaches a saturation limit of 3 mol NADH bound per enzyme hexamer, and displays positive cooperativity, Hill number = 1.34. The effects of UDP-sugars on the fluorescence of UDPglucose dehydrogenase derivatized at the catalytic sites with a fluorophore have also been studied. Two classes of UDPxylose-binding site have been detected. One class has high affinity (Kdiss = 3 microM, determined by equilibrium dialysis) but does not affect fluorophore fluorescence, and the other has lower affinity (Kdiss = 120 microM) and leads to red-shifted fluorescence quenching, presumably by effecting exposure of the fluorophore to solvent. The high-affinity sites are identified as the UDP-sugar subsites of the underivatized catalytic sites, and the low-affinity sites as UDP-sugar subsites of the fluorophore-labeled catalytic sites.

Animals↗

New assay for uronosyl 5-epimerases.

Simple assays have been developed for the two uronosyl 5-epimerases which participate in the biosynthesis of heparin and dermatan sulfate (heparosan N-sulfate D-glucuronosyl 5-epimerase and chondroitin D-glucuronosyl 5-epimerase, respectively). Following previously published procedures, substrates labeled with tritium in the C-5 positions of the D-glucuronosyl and L-iduronosyl residues were prepared enzymatically by incubation of O-desulfated heparin and dermatan with 3H2O and crude epimerase preparations from bovine liver and human skin fibroblasts, respectively. In the new assays, 3H2O generated from these substrates during the epimerase reactions was quantitated by the method of Pollard et al. (Anal. Biochem. (1981) 110, 424-430). In this procedure, 3H2O in the aqueous reaction mixture is extracted into a toluene-based organic phase containing 25% isoamyl alcohol, while the polysaccharide substrate remains in the aqueous phase and does not generate scintillations. This procedure is much simpler than that used previously which involves distillation of each reaction mixture and quantitation of the radioactivity in the distillate. The new assays have been validated by the demonstration that conditions of linearity with time and enzyme concentration can be established for both epimerase reactions. Assays of this type should be useful in the study of any enzymatic reaction where 3H2O is formed from a 3H-labeled substrate and the unreacted substrate is not appreciably soluble in the organic phase.

Animals↗

Effect of ketoconazole on the fungicidal action of amphotericin B in Candida albicans.

Amphotericin B-susceptible Candida albicans became resistant to the drug after growth in the presence of ketoconazole. Chromatographic analysis of cellular sterols showed that the organisms became depleted of ergosterol in parallel with the development of amphotericin B resistance. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to combination chemotherapy with these two important antifungal agents.

Amphotericin B↗

GDPmannose dehydrogenase and biosynthesis of alginate-like polysaccharide in a mucoid strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

GDPmannose dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.132) in a mucoid strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a patient with cystic fibrosis was identified by demonstrating the NAD-linked formation of GDPmannuronate from GDPmannose mediated by a cell extract of the organism. Nonmucoid mutant strains did not contain GDPmannose dehydrogenase, which suggests that the enzyme is involved in the biosynthesis of alginate-like polysaccharide by P. aeruginosa.

Alginates↗

Gangrenous and crepitant cellulitis.

A dangerous and little-discussed group of soft tissue (skin, subcutaneous tissue, fascia, and skeletal muscle) infections are characterized by the presence of extensive gangrene and/or discernible tissue gas. The identifying characteristics of these infections, as well as diagnostic measures and therapy, are reviewed.

Cellulitis↗

Systemic absorption of clindamycin hydrochloride after topical application.

Clindamycin has become a highly popular drug for the topical therapy of acne; however, the extent to which it is systemically absorbed from the skin has has not been established. We measured the serum level and urinary excretion of clindamycin on the third day and the twenty-seventh day of therapy in thirteen patients who were applying 1% clindamycin hydrochloride topically for acne. There was no detectable antibiotic in the serum of any subject (less than 0.4 microgram/ml); in contrast, clindamycin was found in the urine of ten of the thirteen patients. There was marked intersubject variation in the urinary excretion of the drug, ranging from less than 10 to 500 micrograms/day. However, there was a highly significant correlation (p less than 0.0001) for a given subject between excretion values on days 3 and 27. There was no correlation between urinary excretion of clindamycin and either racial pigmentation or severity of acne in this relatively small group of patients. After topical application of 1% clindamycin hydrochloride, an average of 4% to 5% of clindamycin appears to be absorbed systemically, but greater amounts are absorbed in some individuals.

Acne Vulgaris↗

Action of antifungal imidazoles on Staphylococcus aureus.

In Staphylococcus aureus, using the imidazoles miconazole and ketoconazole, detailed studies of minimal inhibitory concentrations, kinetics of growth, viability, and release of intracellular K+ confirm that the two imidazoles work differently in this bacterium. Miconazole is bactericidal at low concentrations and causes release of cellular K+. Ketoconazole has no bactericidal effect at any tested concentration and has little effect on K+ permeability of S. aureus; it slows growth at high concentration. This is reflected in a low minimal inhibitory concentration for miconazole and a high one for ketoconazole. The probable mechanisms of the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of the imidazoles are discussed in light of these results and the previously described antifungal mechanisms of the drugs. alpha-Tocopherol blocks the action of both imidazoles.

Antifungal Agents↗