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Biomedical subjects

F M Richards

Publications and source records attributed to F M Richards.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Cyclosporine, FK506, and rapamycin. Some effects on early activation events in serum-free, mitogen-stimulated mouse spleen cells.

Both cyclosporine and FK506 (FK) inhibit Con A-stimulated mouse spleen cells from entering the cell division cycle at the G0/G1 interface. Rapamycin, a fungal metabolite structurally related to FK, acts later and blocks progress through the cell division cycle at some point in G1. The effect of CsA, FK, and rapamycin drug combinations appeared additive, while certain concentrations of FK and rapamycin appeared to be antagonistic. The early blockade of lymphocyte activation caused by CsA and by FK was not due to altered membrane transport kinetics, nor to perturbation of the dynamic behavior of actin. However, both drugs showed the same specific effects on gene activation over a profile of genes encoding oncoproteins, putative transcription factors, cyclophilin, heat-shock proteins, IL-2, and IL-2-R. Of note was the drug-associated super-induction of krox-24 and reduced induction of krox-20. Both krox-24 and krox-20 encode proteins containing zinc-binding fingers, and are likely to regulate gene transcription, and this is the first report of gene control mechanisms being specifically affected by CsA and by FK.

Actins↗
PubMed1989

A proton nuclear magnetic resonance assignment and secondary structure determination of recombinant human thioredoxin.

Two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy has been applied to a structural analysis of the reduced form of a recombinant human thioredoxin, a ubiquitous dithiol oxidoreductase recently isolated from an immunocompetent lymphoblastoid cell line. The sequential assignment of the spectrum, including all proline residues, has been accomplished by using experiments to demonstrate through-bond and through-space connectivities. The secondary structure has been determined by a qualitative interpretation of nuclear Overhauser effects, NH exchange data, and 3JHN alpha coupling constants. The secondary structure was found to be similar to that of the X-ray structure of Escherichia coli thioredoxin, consisting of a mixed five-stranded beta-sheet surrounded by four alpha-helices. The assignment and structural characterization of human thioredoxin was facilitated by the increased resolution and sensitivity afforded by a magnetic field strength of 600 MHz and required the use of two temperatures and two pH conditions to resolve ambiguities caused by a duplication of resonances. This duplication, extending from Phe-41 to Val-59, and including Lys-3-Ile-5, Val-24, Val-25, Asn-39, and Ile-101-Glu-103, appears to be due to heterogeneity arising from the presence or absence of the N-terminal methionine.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Investigation of the effects of heat shock and agents which induce a heat shock response on the induction of differentiation of HL-60 cells.

A heat shock of 42.5-43.5 degrees C for 1 h applied to HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells induced the appearance of between 13 and 34% (n = 6) of cells which showed characteristics of mature metamyelocytes/granulocytes. This is the first time a physical agent has been shown to induce the differentiation of this leukemic cell line. The treatment of HL-60 cells with a variety of agents which have been documented to stress cells and induce thermotolerance or a heat shock-like response also induced granulocyte-like differentiation: continuous treatment for 4 days with ethanol (213 mM), sodium arsenite (6 microM), cadmium sulfate (60 microM), lidocaine (3 mM), and procaine (5 mM) induced 73, 54, 14, 54, and 55% of cells, respectively, to reduce the dye nitro blue tetrazolium. They were also capable of the phagocytosis of yeast particles. Examination of differentiated cells showed that those treated with ethanol, arsenite, lidocaine, and procaine also expressed nonspecific esterase activity, typical of monocytes, but did not adhere to plastic and had a cellular and nuclear morphology consistent with differentiation to metamyelocytes. Analysis of protein synthesis of HL-60 cells treated with 170 mM N-methylformamide, by the pulse labeling of cells for 2 h with [14C]leucine at various times, showed that the constitutive synthesis of both the Mr 90,000 and 70,000 heat shock proteins fell substantially after 2 h of exposure to N-methylformamide. When HL-60 cells were incubated with 1 M N-methylformamide, a toxic concentration of this agent, or were heat shocked, the synthesis of both the Mr 70,000 and Mr 90,000 proteins was induced. We propose that changes in heat shock protein synthesis may be an important element of the induction of differentiation of HL-60 cells, particularly as these proteins have recently been shown to regulate the stability of oncogene proteins, such as myc (Lüscher, B., and Eisenman, R. N., Mol. Cell Biol., 8: 2504-2512, 1988).

Cell Differentiation↗
PubMed1988

Effect of hydrostatic pressure on the solvent in crystals of hen egg-white lysozyme.

The mass density of protein crystals can be measured in Ficoll gradients as a function of hydrostatic pressure. Carbon tetrachloride-toluene mixtures provide convenient density markers, and the compressibility of these standards is reported. Measurements on tetragonal crystals of hen egg-white lysozyme yielded densities at room temperature of 1.2367(+/- 0.0010) g cm-3 at 1 atm and 1.2586(+/- 0.0017) g cm-3 at 1000 atm (1 atm = 101,325 Pa). When combined with the unit cell dimensions at these two pressures these values lead to an estimated compression (fractional change in volume) of the crystal solvent at 1000 atm of 0.0369(+/- 0.0054). This value is comparable to that of a 0.7 M solution of NaCl. From an approximate estimate of the Donnan effect for the crystal in the 1.4 M-NaCl mother liquor, the crystal solvent contains 0.8 M-Na+ and 2.5 M-Cl-. It is concluded that the compressibility of solvent in lysozyme crystals is, within experimental error, the same as bulk solvent and does not exhibit the dramatically altered compressibility expected of an ice or glass-like solid. The crystallographically observable water sites, 151 at 1 atm and 163 at 1000 atm, showed a tendency to increase the number of hydrogen bonds made to other water sites at the expense of hydrogen bonds made to protein. The explanation for this phenomenon is presently unknown. Water sites that occur in both structures tend to have comparable temperature factors and show some tendency to follow the pressure-induced changes in protein atom positions. The compression expected for the water molecules themselves is too small to be observable at the resolution of the X-ray data collected in this study.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The pH-dependent conformational change of diphtheria toxin.

Labeling by a hydrophobic photoactivatable reagent and limited proteolysis have been used to study conformational changes of diphtheria toxin related to its pH-dependent membrane insertion and translocation. TID (3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[125I]iodophenyl)diazirine) labels diphtheria toxin at pH 5 much more efficiently than at pH 7, both in the presence and absence of lipid vesicles. In the absence of membranes, the extent of labeling is greater and the pH dependence is stronger. As analyzed on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels and by high pressure liquid chromatography, both the A- and B-subunits and most of the cyanogen bromide fragments of the toxin are labeled by TID at acid pH. The products of trypsin cleavage of diphtheria toxin at pH 5 are different from those seen at neutral pH. Trypsin-susceptible sites were identified by gel electrophoresis of the trypsin fragments, combined with electrophoresis and high pressure liquid chromatography of CNBr digests of trypsin-treated toxin. At neutral pH, the main sites of digestion are at the junction between the A- and B-fragments and near the NH2 terminus of the A-fragment. At pH 5.2, these sites are less efficiently cut, and new sites appear near the NH2 terminus of the B-fragment, in an amphipathic portion of the sequence. Thus, even in the absence of membranes, acid pH induces a significant conformational change in diphtheria toxin. This change involves burial of some previously accessible sites, exposure of previously inaccessible sites, and the formation of hydrophobic regions over an extensive portion of the polypeptide chain.

Affinity Labels↗
PubMed1988

NMR sequential assignment of Escherichia coli thioredoxin utilizing random fractional deuteriation.

All non-proline residues except for the N-terminal dipeptide have been assigned in the 108-residue protein Escherichia coli thioredoxin. Central to these experiments has been the use of protein samples in which all carbon-bound hydrogen positions are substituted to 75% with deuterium by bacterial growth on partially deuteriated carbon sources and media. The dilution of the local proton density gives rise to narrower line widths with little loss in sensitivity. In addition, passive or secondary coupling to protons not directly involved in the coherence transfer process of correlation experiments is largely suppressed, thus significantly improving the resolution for side-chain couplings. Simultaneous multiresidue-type assignments have been obtained by incorporation of several amino acids with differing selective alpha- and/or beta-deuteriation into a fractionally deuteriated background. Combined with several single residue type labeling experiments, these selective labelings have yielded direct residue type assignments for two-thirds of the protein. In addition to improved resolution, the amide to carbon-bound proton NOESY spectra offered equivalent sensitivity while the amide to amide NOESY spectra offered superior sensitivity to that observed for natural abundance samples. The resultant sequential assignment has an average number of nearest-neighbor NOE connectivities of 2.35 out of the possible 3 alpha-amide, beta-amide, and amide-amide connectivities.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1988

Identification of structural motifs from protein coordinate data: secondary structure and first-level supersecondary structure.

A computer program is described that produces a description of the secondary structure and supersecondary structure of a polypeptide chain using the list of alpha carbon coordinates as input. Restricting the term "secondary structure" to the conformation of contiguous segments of the chain, the program determines the initial and final residues in helices, extended strands, sharp turns, and omega loops. This is accomplished through the use of difference distance matrices. The distances in idealized models of the segments are compared with the actual structure, and the differences are evaluated for agreement within preset limits. The program assigns 90-95% of the residues in most proteins to at least one type of secondary element. In a second step the now-defined helices and strands are idealized as straight line segments, and the axial directions and locations are compiled from the input C alpha coordinate list. These data are used to check for moderate curvature in strands and helices, and the secondary structure list is corrected where necessary. The geometric relations between these line segments are then calculated and output as the first level of supersecondary structure. A maximum of six parameters are required for a complete description of the relations between each pair. Frequently a less complete description will suffice, for example just the interaxial separation and angle. Both the secondary structure and one aspect of the supersecondary structure can be displayed in a character matrix analogous to the distance matrix format. This allows a quite accurate two-dimensional display of the three-dimensional structure, and several examples are presented. A procedure for searching for arbitrary substructures in proteins using distance matrices is also described. A search for the DNA binding helix-turn-helix motif in the Protein Data Bank serves as an example. A further abstraction of the above data can be made in the form of a metamatrix where each diagonal element represents an entire secondary segment rather than a single atom, and the off-diagonal elements contain all the parameters describing their interrelations. Such matrices can be used in a straightforward search for higher levels of supersecondary structure or used in toto as a representation of the entire tertiary structure of the polypeptide chain.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1988

Investigations of the relationship between cell proliferation and differentiation of HL-60 cells induced to differentiate by N-methylformamide.

The relationship between the N-methylformamide (NMF)-induced differentiation of HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells, to myeloid cells, and their proliferative potential was determined in suspension culture. Continuous incubation with 170 mM NMF induced 70% of cells to differentiate after 2-2.5 cell divisions, whether or not cells were replenished with fresh medium and serum. 100 mM NMF induced significant levels of differentiation only when cells were allowed to reach a plateau of growth, and this was prevented by replenishment of the medium and serum. Under these conditions of "re-feeding", the cells could be made to undergo greater than 10 cell divisions, and differentiated only when they were allowed to reach a plateau in their growth. The data suggests that NMF may induce differentiation only when the proliferative potential of the cells is limited, either by the drug itself or by the conditions of growth.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1987

Replacement of proline-76 with alanine eliminates the slowest kinetic phase in thioredoxin folding.

The conformational transition observed upon addition of guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn-HCl) to solutions of oxidized Escherichia coli thioredoxin is dominated by a slow kinetic phase (time constant tau 1 = 300-800 s) that has features appropriate to a proline peptide isomerization. This observation has been interpreted as reflecting a folding pathway involving an obligatory isomerization of the imide peptide bond between isoleucine-75 and proline-76 [Kelley, R. F., & Stellwagen, E. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 5095-5102]; this peptide bond is known to have the cis configuration in the folded state [Eklund, H., Cambillan, C., Sjöberg, B.-M., Holmgren, A., Jörnvall, H., Höög, J.-O., & Brändén, C.-I. (1984) EMBO J. 3, 1443-1449]. We have tested this hypothesis by examining the conformational transitions of two thioredoxin mutants, trxA76 having an alanine substituted for proline-76 and trxA2 [Russel, M., & Model, P. (1983) J. Bacteriol. 154, 1064-1070] having proline-34 replaced with serine. Both mutant proteins display far-ultraviolet circular dichroic spectra similar to that of native wild-type thioredoxin. The tryptophan fluorescence emission of native trxA2 is equivalent to that of wild-type thioredoxin, while the emission intensity of native trxA76 at 350 nm is 2-fold greater. Tryptophan fluorescence and peptide ellipticity measurements indicate that the mutant proteins undergo two-state and reversible equilibrium unfolding transitions upon addition of guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn-HCl). These transitions are centered at 2.4 and 1.5 M Gdn-HCl for trxA2 and trxA76, respectively, as compared to a midpoint of 2.5 M denaturant for wild-type thioredoxin. As observed for wild-type thioredoxin, fluorescence measurements reveal monophasic unfolding kinetics for trxA2 at a variety of final denaturant concentrations. The tau for unfolding varies monotonically from 210 s in 2.4 M Gdn-HCl to 7 s for a final Gdn-HCl concentration of 3.5 M. Refolding of denatured trxA2 in 1.5 M Gdn-HCl detected by fluorescence measurements is described by three kinetic phases with time constants and fractional amplitudes (alpha) similar to those of wild-type thioredoxins. The fractional amplitude (alpha 1) of the slowest of these phases, tau 1 = 430 +/- 38 s in 2.0 M Gdn-HCl, decreases with final Gdn-HCl concentration. Multimixing experiments suggest that this phase results from an equilibration between denatured forms and has a tau of 34 s in 4 M denaturant, features previously observed for the wild-type protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Alanine↗
PubMed1987

Tertiary templates for proteins. Use of packing criteria in the enumeration of allowed sequences for different structural classes.

We assume that each class of protein has a core structure that is defined by internal residues, and that the external, solvent-contacting residues contribute to the stability of the structure, are of primary importance to function, but do not determine the architecture of the core portions of the polypeptide chain. An algorithm has been developed to supply a list of permitted sequences of internal residues compatible with a known core structure. This list is referred to as the tertiary template for that structure. In general the positions in the template are not sequentially adjacent and are distributed throughout the polypeptide chain. The template is derived using the fixed positions for the main-chain and beta-carbon atoms in the test structure and selected stereochemical rules. The focus of this paper is on the use of two packing criteria: avoidance of steric overlap and complete filling of available space. The program also notes potential polar group interactions and disulfide bonds as well as possible burial of formal charges. Central to the algorithm is the side-chain rotamer library. In an update of earlier studies by others, we show that 17 of the 20 amino acids (omitting Met, Lys and Arg) can be represented adequately by 67 side-chain rotamers. A list of chi angles and their standard deviations is given. The newer, high-resolution, refined structures in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank show similar mean chi values, but have much smaller deviations than those of earlier studies. This suggests that a rotamer library may be a better structural approximation than was previously thought. In using packing constraints, it has been found essential to include all hydrogen atoms specifically. The "unified atom" representation is not adequate. The permitted rotamer sequences are severely restricted by the main-chain plus beta-carbon atoms of the test structure. Further restriction is introduced if the full set of atoms of the external residues are held fixed, the full-chain model. The space-filling requirement has a major role in restricting the template lists. The preliminary tests reported here make it appear likely that templates prepared from the currently known core structures will be able to discriminate between these structures. The templates should thus be useful in deciding whether a sequence of unknown tertiary structure fits any of the known core classes and, if a fit is found, how the sequence should be aligned in three dimensions to fit the core of that class.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Algorithms↗
PubMed1987

Crystal structure of hen egg-white lysozyme at a hydrostatic pressure of 1000 atmospheres.

The crystal structure of tetragonal hen egg-white lysozyme at a hydrostatic pressure of 1000 atmospheres has been determined by X-ray diffraction to a nominal resolution of 2 A. The crystals, originally grown in 0.83 M-NaCl, had to be transferred to 1.4 M-NaCl to prevent crystal cracking at 300 to 400 atm. The a and b axes of the unit cell contracted by 0.6%, whilst the c axis increased by 0.1%. The unit cell volume contracted by 1.1%. Both the 1 atm and the 1000 atm structures were refined by restrained least-squares to yield final R factors of 14.9% in each case. Since the data were collected by an accurate difference protocol, the change in structure is considered to be more accurate than the absolute structure. The probable accuracy of the atomic shifts is shown to be +/- 0.06 A. The estimated volume decrease of the whole molecule corresponded to an isothermal compressibility of 4.7 X 10(-3) kbar-1. The contraction was non-uniformly distributed. Domain 2 (residues 40 to 88) was essentially incompressible, whilst domain 1 (residues 1 to 39, 89 to 129) had a compressibility of 5.7 X 10(-3) kbar-1. The interdomain region was also compressible. The average B factor decreased about 1 A2 at 1000 atm, but there was a wide range of decreases and increases in individual values. The pressure-induced deformation was analyzed with difference distance matrices. The beta-sheet (residues 42 to 60) and helix 2 (residues 24 to 36) were deformed the least under pressure. The other helices were more deformed and one loop region (residues 61 to 87) actually appeared to expand. The main-chain atoms of the beta-sheet and helix 2 were used to perform a least-squares superposition of the 1 atm and 1000 atm models. The root-mean-square pressure-induced shift for all atoms was 0.2 A, with a few atoms moving more than 1 A. There was no evidence for co-ordinated movement about the hinge axis defined by alpha carbon atoms 38 and 97. The 1 atm and 1000 atm refined structures included 151 and 163 ordered water molecules, respectively. The changes in these ordered water molecules and the mean compressibility of all of the solvent in the crystal will be described elsewhere.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Electrostatic field of the large fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I.

The electrostatic field of the large fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment) has been calculated by the finite difference procedure on a 2 A grid. The potential field is substantially negative at physiological pH (reflecting the net negative charge at this pH). The largest regions of positive potential are in the deep crevice of the C-terminal domain, which is the proposed binding site for the DNA substrate. Within the crevice, the electrostatic potential has a partly helical form. If the DNA is positioned to fulfil stereochemical requirements, then the positive potential generally follows the major groove and (to a lesser extent) the negative potential is in the minor groove. Such an arrangement could stabilize DNA configurations related by screw symmetry. The histidine residues of the Klenow fragment give the positive field of the groove a sensitivity to relatively small pH changes around neutrality. We suggest that the histidine residues could change their ionization states in response to DNA binding, and that this effect could contribute to the protein-DNA binding energy.

DNA Polymerase I↗