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Biomedical subjects

J E Schultz

Publications and source records attributed to J E Schultz.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

In vivo development of teicoplanin resistance in a VanB Enterococcus faecium isolate.

Acquired vancomycin resistance in enterococci may be associated with teicoplanin susceptibility (VanB) or teicoplanin resistance (VanA). This paper characterizes the first instance of in vivo emergence of teicoplanin resistance in an Enterococcus faecium strain of VanB phenotype. Vancomycin-resistant (MIC, 256/512 micrograms/mL) E. faecium was isolated intermittently from a patient's blood over 4 months. The MIC of teicoplanin for the first 5 isolates was 1.0 micrograms/mL; it was 64 micrograms/mL for the final 2. Analysis of plasmid and chromosomal DNA revealed the isolates to be of clonal origin. Conjugal transfer of vancomycin resistance was not obtained. A vanB DNA probe hybridized with both teicoplanin-susceptible and resistant isolates, but a vanA probe failed to hybridize with any isolate. SDS-PAGE of membrane proteins from a teicoplanin-resistant isolate revealed constitutive production of a normally inducible 41-kDa protein. These findings challenge the ultimate utility of teicoplanin for treatment of infections caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1992

Purification, characterization and structure of protein phosphatase 1 from the cilia of Paramecium tetraurelia.

A type 1 serine/threonine protein phosphatase (PP1) which is mostly localized in the excitable ciliary membranes from the protozoan Paramecium, was purified to homogeneity. Approximately 4 micrograms enzyme of 37 kDa was isolated from 100 l axenic culture. The enzymic properties were characterized using phosphorylase a from rabbit skeletal muscle as a substrate and several known effectors of mammalian PP1. The protozoan PP1 was enzymically indistinguishable from its mammalian congener. The amino acid sequence of the Paramecium PP1 was deduced from its cDNA. The full-length clone was obtained in several steps starting with a pair of degenerate primers made according to the two most conserved peptides of rabbit PP1 and PP2A. The gene encodes a protein of 36,392 Da. The identity of the cloned gene and the isolated ciliary PP1 was unequivocally established by microsequencing of four tryptic and cyanogen-bromide peptides which were generated from the purified protein. Paramecium PP1 shows 75% amino-acid-sequence identity with rabbit PP1 alpha. Areas of major differences are the C-termini and N-termini and a sequence between residues 219-242.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Metabolism of inositol phosphates in the protozoan Paramecium. Characterization of a novel inositol-hexakisphosphate-dephosphorylating enzyme.

Basal and stimulated levels of inositol phosphates were determined in the protozoan Paramecium labelled with myo-[3H]inositol. Under resting conditions, intracellular InsP6 (phytic acid), InsP5 and InsP4 concentrations were 140, 10 and 2 microM, respectively. InsP5 was comprised of 56% Ins(1,2,3,4,5)P5 and/or Ins(1,2,3,5,6)P5, 40% Ins(1,2,4,5,6)P5 and/or Ins(2,3,4,5,6)P5 and small amounts of Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and Ins(1,2,3,4,6)P5. InsP4 was mainly Ins(1, 4, 5, 6)P4 and/or Ins(3, 4, 5, 6)P4. Other inositol phosphates were not detected at a detection limit of 50-85 nM. Using various depolarizing and hyperpolarizing stimuli, no significant changes in level of inositol phosphates were observed in vivo, indicating that in the ciliate a contribution of inositol phosphates to signal-transduction mechanisms is unlikely. In homogenates prepared from myo-[3H]inositol-labelled cells, a marked relative increase in InsP3 and InsP4 over the concentrations in vivo was observed. These inositol phosphates were identified as degradation products of endogenous InsP6. A novel separation methodology for inositol phosphates was established to allow unequivocal assignment of phosphate locations of all dephosphorylated InsP6-derived products. The dephosphorylation was catalyzed by a phytase-like enzyme with a molecular mass of 240 kDa, most likely of a hexameric structure. The enzyme had a pH optimum of 7.0 and did not require divalent cations for activity. Substrate concentrations above 300 microM were inhibitory. Dephosphorylation of InsP6 by the Paramecium enzyme differs from that of phytases from plants in that it proceeds via a sequential release of phosphate groups from positions 6, 5, 4 and 3 of the myo-inositol ring or/and positions 4, 5, 6 and 1.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Regulation of adenylyl cyclase from Paramecium by an intrinsic potassium conductance.

Hyperpolarization of the cell membrane of Paramecium stimulates adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) formation. Manipulations of the K+ resting conductance of the ciliate by adaptation in different buffers affected excitability of the cAMP generating system. Blockade of K+ channels inhibited hyperpolarization-stimulated cAMP formation. A mutant of Paramecium that is unable to control its K+ resting conductance had a defect in cAMP formation. Purified adenylyl cyclase, when incorporated into an artificial lipid bilayer membrane, revealed properties of a voltage-independent K+ channel. This indicates that the adenylyl cyclase of Paramecium has a secondary function as carrier of the K+ resting conductance. A hyperpolarization-activated K+ efflux appears to directly regulate adenylyl cyclase activity in vivo.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1992

Metabolic products of microorganisms. 261. Obscurolides, a novel class of phosphodiesterase inhibitors from streptomyces. I. Production, isolation, structural elucidation and biological activity of obscurolides A1 to A4.

A novel class of butyrolactones, named obscurolides, was isolated from the culture filtrate of Streptomyces viridochromogenes by chemical screening methods. The structural elucidation of the obscurolides A1 to A4 (1 approximately 4) is described. The carboxy group of the 4-aminobenzoic acid moiety of obscurolide A1 (1) is reduced in the other compounds. The isolated natural products have been proved to be diastereomeric mixtures by a partial racemization at C-7 which belongs to an allylic alcohol system. The obscurolides showed a weak inhibitory activity against calcium/calmodulin-dependent and independent phosphodiesterases from bovine.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1991

Identification of a 42 kDa protein as a substrate of protein phosphatase 1 in cilia from Paramecium.

Okadaic acid, a specific inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 in Paramecium causes sustained backward swimming in response to depolarising stimuli (S. Klumpp et al. (1990) EMBO J. 9, 685). Here, we employ okadaic acid, tautomycin, microcystin LR and inhibitor 1 as phosphatase inhibitors to identify a 42 kDa protein in the excitable ciliary membrane that is dephosphorylated by protein phosphatase 1. Identification of the 42 kDa protein was facilitated by the finding that the protein kinase responsible for its phosphorylation uses Ca-ATP as a substrate just as effectively as Mg-ATP. Notably, dephosphorylation of the 42 kDa protein is specifically inhibited by cyclic AMP; cyclic GMP has no effect.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Molecular and functional characterization of a carbon starvation gene of Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli induces the synthesis of at least 30 proteins at the onset of carbon starvation, two-thirds of which are positively regulated by the cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cAMP receptor protein (CRP) complex. Two of the cAMP-CRP-dependent genes mapped to 14 and 93 minutes of the chromosome and are designated cstA and cstB, respectively. The cstA promoter region was cloned and localized to a 600 base-pair fragment downstream from the iron-regulated entCEBA-P15 operon. Carbon starvation-inducible transcription initiated at three sites spaced one turn of the DNA helix apart. All had--10 sequences similar to consensus E sigma 70 promoters and poor--35 sequences. Deletion of a putative CRP binding site abolished carbon starvation-mediated induction. Sequence analysis of the cstA coding region revealed the presence of three sequential open reading frames potentially encoding two hydrophobic proteins of 60,223 Da and 15,201 Da and a hydrophilic protein of 7467 Da. Overexpression of the cstA region produced starvation-inducible proteins of the expected sizes. Suggestive evidence was obtained that cstA is involved in peptide utilization.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Differential effects of ovarian steroid hormones on beta-adrenoceptor downregulation caused by the antidepressants imipramine and rolipram.

Downregulation of beta-adrenoceptors in response to repeated administration of imipramine or rolipram was investigated in the brain of pregnant rats and ovariectomized animals treated with estrone, progesterone or a combination of both hormones. Ovariectomy alone was without influence on drug responses. Pregnancy and complete hormone replacement of animals prior to drug treatment halved the response to imipramine and obliterated that to rolipram. Administration of only estrone to ovariectomized rats did not affect the extent of adrenergic downregulation caused by imipramine, but fully suppressed the rolipram action. Castrated males with or without treatment with estrone and progesterone were used as further controls. Castration alone diminished the effects of both antidepressants. Treatment of gonadectomized rats with both ovarian steroid hormones voided the actions of rolipram. The data indicate that imipramine and rolipram share a common pathway for their mechanism of action which can be attenuated by ovarian steroid hormones. In addition, imipramine has a second major site of action which is not subject to modulation by female steroids.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Chromatographic separation of four Ser/Thr-protein phosphatases from solubilized ciliary membranes of Paramecium tetraurelia by heparin-sepharose.

Chromatography of deoxycholate-solubilized proteins from Paramecium ciliary membranes on heparin-Sepharose resolved three peaks of protein phosphatase activities: one type 2A-like and a type 2C phosphatase in the flow-through fractions, another type 2A-like enzyme in the 0.1 M NaCl eluate and type 1 protein phosphatase in the 0.5 M NaCl eluate. The differential sensitivity of the two type 2A-like phosphatases to heparin and protamine further substantiated the existence of distinct isozymes. Once solubilized, none of these ciliary phosphatases required detergent to remain soluble. The molecular mass as determined by chromatography on Superose 6 was in the range 30,000-45,000 dalton for all four protein phosphatases.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Guanylate cyclase in olfactory cilia from rat and pig.

A guanylate cyclase was identified in cilia from rat and pig olfactory epithelia. Enzyme activities were 200-250 and 90-100 pmol/min.mg-1, respectively. Activity required the presence of non-ionic detergents, e.g., 0.1% Lubrol PX. MnGTP, not MgGTP was used as a substrate. Furthermore, 0.9 mM free Mn2+ was necessary for optimal activity indicating a regulatory site for a divalent cation. The guanylate cyclase displayed sigmoidal Michaelis-Menten kinetics suggesting cooperativity between MnGTP and enzyme. S0.5 was 160 microM MnGTP. The Hill coefficient of 1.7 indicates that more than one class of substrate-binding sites interact in a positive cooperative manner. ATP inhibited the enzyme and linearized plots of substrate kinetics with MnGTP. SH-Blocking agents reversibly inhibited enzyme activity. Sodium azide and nitroprusside were without effect as were several odorants. A guanylate cyclase activity in cilia from tracheal tissue had properties similar to the olfactory enzyme.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1990

Alkaline phosphatase from Paramecium cilia and cell bodies: purification and characterization.

A soluble alkaline phosphatase was purified 10 000-fold in an overall yield of 8% from both of the cilia and cell bodies of the protozoan Paramecium tetraurelia. The concentration in cilia (1.7 microM) was 6-fold higher than in cell bodies, although the latter contained most of the activity due to their much greater volume. The purified protein showed a single (36 kDa) protein staining band on SDS-PAGE. This value, in conjunction with the apparent molecular mass of 66 kDa for the native enzyme (gel filtration) suggests a dimeric structure. The specific activity of the purified phosphatase ranged from 10 to 70 mumols.min-1.mg-1 at the pH-optimum of 8.0 and the Km for p-nitrophenyl phosphate was 81 microM. Basal enzyme activity was inhibited by metal chelators and stimulated up to 12-fold by addition of divalent cations. Mg2+ acted as a non-essential mixed-type activator with a half-maximal effect at 7 microM. Ca2+ was inhibitory, the extent of inhibition was dependent on the concentration of Mg2+ in the assay. Furthermore, the kinetics of inhibition by Ca2+ varied with the Mg2+ concentration. Phosphate, pyrophosphate, and SH-group blocking agents also strongly inhibited. The enzyme did not dephosphorylate Tyr- or Ser-/Thr-phosphoproteins. The Paramecium enzyme is not of lysosomal origin and its properties are quite different from all known phosphatases. It is a novel type of phosphatase since it (i) shows F(-)-inhibition like Ser/Thr-phosphatases but (ii) is inhibited by vanadate and molybdate like Tyr-phosphatases, and (iii) inhibition by Ca2+ has not been reported for any other phosphatase.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1990

Okadaic acid, an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 in Paramecium, causes sustained Ca2(+)-dependent backward swimming in response to depolarizing stimuli.

Backward swimming is a stereotypic behavioural response of Paramecium. It is triggered by depolarizing stimuli, which open calcium channels in the excitable ciliary membrane. The influx of Ca2+ causes the reversal of ciliary beat and initiates backward swimming. Here, we demonstrate that the protein phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid does not affect the normal forward swimming pattern of Paramecium, but greatly extends the duration of backward swimming as initiated by depolarization caused by a rise in extracellular K+. Chelation of external Ca2+ results in an immediate resumption of forward swimming. The results suggest that the voltage-operated calcium channel is inactivated by a dephosphorylation event, and that okadaic acid blocks this dephosphorylation without any effect on the motile apparatus of the cilia. In addition, Paramecium is unique among eukaryotic cells, in that okadaic acid inhibits just one protein phosphatase, namely a type 1 enzyme, 75% of which is tightly associated with the excitable ciliary membrane. The type 2A protein phosphatases in Paramecium are unaffected by okadaic acid. The results indicate that protein phosphatase 1 is the enzyme responsible for the dephosphorylation and closure of the calcium channel in Paramecium.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Cloning and in vivo and in vitro regulation of cyclic AMP-dependent carbon starvation genes from Escherichia coli.

The regulation of three Escherichia coli carbon starvation (cst) genes fused to lacZ was examined. Expression of these genes is induced by starvation for a carbon source. The role of carbon and cyclic AMP (cAMP) availability and of an altered-function crp mutation were investigated for their effect on cst expression in vivo. The experiments indicated that cAMP concentrations controlled the absolute expression of one cst fusion, but the other two cst fusions were dependent upon some component not present in exponentially growing cells under conditions of glucose excess, even when cAMP was added. To examine the regulation of these genes in further detail, the three cst::lacZ fusions were cloned on multicopy plasmids. All three cst::lacZ fusions retained their inducible regulatory phenotype in the multicopy state. Analysis of the expression of the cloned cst::lacZ fusions in an in vitro-coupled transcription-translation cell-free system demonstrated that the predominant promoter(s) present on each cloned DNA was dependent on sigma 70 for expression. In vitro cAMP titration curves indicated that this molecule was necessary and sufficient for the expression of one fusion but not sufficient for the second fusion, while the third fusion exhibited constitutive levels of expression in vitro. The results are discussed in the context of the E. coli carbon starvation response.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1990

Cyclic GMP levels and guanylate cyclase activity in pheromone-sensitive antennae of the silkmoths Antheraea polyphemus and Bombyx mori.

Female sex pheromones applied to freshly isolated, living antennae of male Antheraea polyphemus and Bombyx mori led to an increase of cGMP. A 1:1 mixture of 2 pheromone components of Antheraea polyphemus blown for 10 sec in physiological concentrations over their antennal branches raised cGMP levels about 1.34-fold (+/- 0.08 SEM, n = 23) from a basal level of 3.0 +/- 0.6 (SEM, n = 20) pmol/mg protein. Similarly, bombykol elicited a 1.29-fold (+/- 0.13 SEM, n = 23) cGMP increase in antennae of male Bombyx mori from a basal level of 2.7 +/- 0.5 (SEM, n = 24) pmol/mg protein. No cross-sensitivity was found with respect to pheromones from either species. In antennae of female silkmoths, the cGMP response was missing upon stimulation with their own respective pheromones according to the known lack of pheromone receptor cells in the female. cAMP levels in the male antennae of 14.2 +/- 2.9 (SEM, n = 4) pmol/mg protein in A. polyphemus and 15.0 +/- 3.0 (SEM, n = 5) pmol/mg protein in B. mori were not affected by pheromone stimulation. Within 1-60 sec, the extent of cGMP increase in B. mori was independent of the duration of pheromone exposure. The levels of cGMP in pheromone-stimulated antennae of both species remained elevated for at least 10 min, i.e., much longer than the duration of the receptor potential measured in single-cell recordings. Guanylate cyclase activity was identified in homogenates of male and female antennae from both species. The Km of the guanylate cyclase from male B. mori for the preferential substrate MnGTP was 175 microM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Porin of Paramecium mitochondria isolation, characterization and ion selectivity of the closed state.

Porin was isolated and purified from mitochondria of Paramecium tetraurelia. The protein showed a single band of apparent Mr 37,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide electrophoretograms. The reconstitution of the protein into artificial lipid bilayer membranes revealed it to be a porin giving pores with an average single-channel conductance of 0.26 nS in 0.1 M KCl. This conductance is about half of that of other eukaryotic porins studied to date. The pore formed by the mitochondrial porin of Paramecium was found to be voltage-dependent and switched to a defined substrate at membrane voltages larger than 20 mV. In the open state the pore exhibited the characteristics of a general diffusion pore because the mobility sequence of the ions inside the pore was similar to that in the bulk aqueous phase. The effective diameter was estimated to be about 1.3 nm. The properties of the low conductance state of the pore were studied in detail. In this state the pore favored the passage of cations, in contrast to the open state which favored anions slightly. The possible role of the low-conductance state in the regulation of transport processes across the outer mitochondrial membrane and in mitochondrial metabolism is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase: purification and characterization of the toxic form of the enzyme.

Bordetella pertussis produces a calmodulin-sensitive adenylate cyclase (AC) which is an essential virulence factor in mammalian pertussis. Here we report the purification and characterization of the toxic form of the enzyme, which penetrates eukaryotic cells and generates high levels of intracellular cAMP. This form was purified from an extract of B.pertussis strain carrying a recombinant plasmid which over-produced both enzymatic and toxic activities of the enzyme. Western blot analysis of the extract using anti-B.pertussis AC antibodies detected only one protein of 200 kd. However, gel filtration of the extract resolved two peaks of enzymatic activity. The first peak of aggregated material contained greater than 70% of the total enzymatic activity, and the second peak contained the majority of the toxic activity. Purification of the enzyme from both peaks yielded proteins of 200 kd, with similar biochemical and immunological properties. Yet only the enzyme purified from the second peak could penetrate human lymphocyte and catalyse the formation of intracellular cAMP. B.pertussis AC gene expressed in Escherichia coli produced a calmodulin-dependent enzyme of 200 kd, which lacked lymphocyte penetration capacity. It is proposed that a post-translational modification that occurs in B.pertussis but not in E.coli confers upon the 200 kd protein of B.pertussis AC the toxic properties.

Adenylate Cyclase Toxin↗