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Biomedical subjects

J G Dong

Publications and source records attributed to J G Dong.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Characterization and haplotype analysis of 10 novel Y-STR loci in Chinese Han population.

In this study, we analyzed allelic sequences of 10 novel Y-specific STR loci, DYS454, DYS510, DYS513, DYS520, DYS542, DYS544, DYS552, DYS561, DYS587 and DYS593, surveyed the distribution of haplotypes in a Chinese Han population. Extracted DNA was amplified with PCR, followed by a horizontal non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with discontinuous buffer system. Purified alleles were sequenced on DNA sequencer (ABI Model 377) to verify the number of motif repeats. The number of alleles observed at each locus ranged from 3 to 8, yielding 102 haplotypes in 103 unrelated males samples. The allele diversity values for each locus ranged from 0.2099 (DYS544) to 0.7523 (DYS552). The haplotype diversity using all these loci was 0.9998. Our study revealed that they were valuable Y-specific markers for forensic applications.

China↗

Further characterization and population data for the pentanucleotide STR polymorphism D10S2325.

Pentanucleotide tandem repeat markers are interesting for forensic sciences, because they may present less stutter on the electrophoretic pattern. We focused on the analysis of the DNA sequence for each allele at the pentanucleotide STR locus D10S2325 in order to understand their structures in the human genome and to construct human allelic ladder, which is necessary for forensic DNA typing. In order to evaluate the forensic applicability of D10S2325 and to construct a preliminary database, the genotype distributions and allele frequencies in three major ethnic groups were investigated. The population samples included Caucasians (Germans), Africans (African Americans), and Asians (Chinese). A total of 520 samples from unrelated individuals was analyzed by Amp-FLP. An example of each allele and new alleles were sequenced. Allele determination was carried out by comparison with a sequenced human allelic ladder made in-house. This pentanucleotide STR provided easily interpretable results. A total of 15 alleles was found in our population samples. Three new alleles were observed and named as alleles 19 and 21 based on the number of repeat motifs, while allele 19 can be divided further into two alleles, 19a and 19 according to analysis of the sequence. No evidence of deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed. In 64 confirmed father/mother/child triplets no mutation event was observed. Using a maximum likelihood method, the mutation rate was indirectly estimated as 2.5 x 10(-5). These results suggest that D10S2325 is a useful marker for forensic casework and paternity analysis.

Black or African American↗

Theoretical and experimental CD of conformationally flexible complex molecules-application to ouabain pentanaphthoate and analogs.

Theoretical calculation of circular dichroic exciton-coupled spectra of ouabain 1,19,2',3',4'-pentanaphthoate and its analogs was executed by a combination of conformational analysis with molecular mechanics and quantum-chemical calculation. Most of the calculated CD spectra show good agreement with the corresponding experimental data, which suggests that the method may be generalized for applications to other conformationally flexible natural products. The CD calculation was then used to evaluate the plausibility of "fortuitous CD cancellation," which was observed in the microscale naphthoylation study of hypothalamic inhibitory factor, a presumed ouabain isomer from bovine hypothalamus.

Animals↗

Theoretical calculation of circular dichroic exciton-split spectra in presence of three interacting 2-naphthoate chromophores.

Ample experimental evidence shows that the principle of pairwise additivity holds in exciton coupled CD systems consisting of three or more interacting chromophores. This principle is one of the most important from a practical viewpoint. However, the rule has so far not been proven theoretically. In order to prove the additivity principle by calculation, three ouabagenin bisnaphthoates and 1,3,19-tris-naphthoates were chosen as models. Since this represents a challenging case where the 2-naphthoate chromophore can adopt s-cis or s-trans conformations and, moreover the C-19 side chain of ouabagenin is flexible, Monte Carlo conformational search was performed prior to the CD calculation. The pi-electron SCF-CI-DV MO calculation of CD was applied to all conformers within 3 kcal/mol range from the lowest energy. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical CD spectra was obtained for the ouabagenin bisnaphthoates and trisnaphthoate.

Carboxylic Acids↗

Structural studies of vinblastine alkaloids by exciton coupled circular dichroism.

SCF-CI-dipole velocity MO calculations have shown that the bisignate circular dichroic curves of vinblastine/vincristine alkaloids at ca 210 and 220-230 nm are due to exciton coupling between the indoline and indole moieties. Furthermore, a combination of X-ray crystal structure data with MM2 local energy minimization provides a convenient means for estimation of the preferred solution conformation.

Circular Dichroism↗

Activation of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase by carbon dioxide.

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase requires CO2/HCO3- as an essential activator for its activity. Taking advantage that the equilibrium concentrations of CO2 and HCO3- vary with pH and that the interconversions of CO2 and HCO3- are slower at low temperature, we identified CO2 rather than HCO3- as the active species involved in the activation process. Preincubation of the enzyme with a saturating concentration of CO2 resulted in increased activation of the enzyme when preincubation pH was raised, indicating that CO2 reacted with an enzyme group having an alkaline pKa. It is suggested that the CO2 activation of ACC oxidase involves the formation of a carbamate. CO2 increases the Vmax of the reaction but decreases the affinity of the enzyme toward its substrate ACC. A plausible reaction scheme accounting for the CO2 activation process is presented.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗

Purification and characterization of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase from apple fruit.

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase catalyzes the oxidation of ACC to ethylene. Following conventional column fractionation, the enzyme was purified 180-fold to near homogeneity with a specific activity of 20 nmol/(mg.min). This purified enzyme preparation migrated as a single protein band with an apparent molecular mass of 35 kDa on SDS/PAGE and 39 kDa on gel filtration. As in vivo, the purified enzyme required CO2 for activity. Removal of CO2 from the reaction mixture completely abolished the enzyme activity, while 0.5% atmospheric CO2 (0.15 mM in the medium) gave half-maximal activity. The purified enzyme displayed an absolute requirement for Fe2+ and ascorbate. The stoichiometry of the enzymatic reaction was determined: ACC + ascorbate + O2-->C2H4 + HCN + CO2 + dehydroascorbate + 2 H2O. A polyclonal antibody was raised against a synthetic tridecapeptide (PDLEEEYRKTMKE) whose sequence was deduced from the apple pAE12 cDNA [Dong, J. G., Olson, D., Silverstone, A. & Yang, S. F. (1992) Plant Physiol. 98, 1530-1531], which is homologous to tomato cDNAs encoding ACC oxidase. On a Western blot, this antibody specifically recognized the purified ACC oxidase protein. The amino acid composition of the purified enzyme agreed well with that deduced from the pAE12 sequence. When the protein was cleaved with CNBr and one of the peptide fragments was isolated and sequenced for 20 cycles, its sequence (KEFAVELEKLAEKLLDLLCE) precisely matched that predicted from pAE12 (residues 115-134). When preclimacteric apple fruit was treated with ethylene, a parallel increase in in vivo and in vitro ACC oxidase activities was observed, and this increase was accompanied by a concomitant increase in the level of pAE12 transcript. These observations support the conclusion that the isolated ACC oxidase protein is encoded by pAE12.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗

Induction of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase mRNA by auxin in mung bean hypocotyls and cultured apple shoots.

Auxin is known to promote ethylene production in vegetative tissues by increasing the activity of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase; therefore, we have studied the effect of auxins on ACC synthase mRNA expression. Total RNA was isolated from auxin-incubated cultured apple (Malus sylvestris Mill.) shoots or mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) hypocotyls. These RNAs and a set of oligonucleotide primers corresponding to two conserved amino acid sequences (SNPLGTT and MSSFGLV) found in ACC synthases isolated from other species were used for polymerase chain reaction-based amplification of DNA fragments encoding the ACC synthase-active site domain. We obtained and sequenced a 290-base pair cDNA fragment (pAA1) from cultured apple shoots and a 328-base pair cDNA clone (pMBA1) from mung bean hypocotyls. Comparisons of their deduced amino acid sequences with those of previously characterized ACC synthase cDNAs indicate that both fragments are, indeed, closely related to ACC synthase cDNA. Northern blot analyses further showed that the expression of these transcripts is regulated by auxin treatment. These data indicate that auxin induces ethylene production transcriptionally by increasing the ACC synthase transcripts. The pAA1 shares 46% amino acid sequence homology with ripening-regulated apple fruit ACC synthase, indicating that ripening-regulated and auxin-regulated ACC synthases are encoded by different genes. In mung bean hypocotyls, aminooxyacetic acid, a potent inhibitor of ACC synthase activity, promoted the expression of auxin-induced ACC synthase mRNA, but cycloheximide inhibited this induction.

Journal Article↗

Purification and characterization of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase from apple fruits.

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase, a key enzyme in ethylene biosynthesis, was isolated and partially purified from apple (Malus sylvestris Mill.) fruits. Unlike ACC synthase isolated from other sources, apple ACC synthase is associated with the pellet fraction and can be solubilized in active form with Triton X-100. Following five purification steps, the solubilized enzyme was purified over 5000-fold to a specific activity of 100 micromoles per milligram protein per hour, and its purity was estimated to be 20 to 30%. Using this preparation, specific monoclonal antibodies were raised. Monoclonal antibodies against ACC synthase immunoglobulin were coupled to protein-A agarose to make an immunoaffinity column, which effectively purified the enzyme from a relatively crude enzyme preparation (100 units per milligram protein). As with the tomato enzyme, apple ACC synthase was inactivated and radiolabeled by its substrate S-adenosyl-l-methionine. Apple ACC synthase was identified to be a 48-kilodalton protein based on the observation that it was specifically bound to immunoaffinity column and it was specifically radiolabeled by its substrate S-adenosyl-l-methionine.

Journal Article↗

Characterization and sequencing of the active site of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase.

The pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase (S-adenosyl-L-methionine methylthioadenosine-lyase, EC 4.4.1.14), the key enzyme in ethylene biosynthesis, is inactivated by its substrate S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet). Apple ACC synthase was purified with an immunoaffinity gel, and its active site was probed with NaB3H4 or Ado[14C]Met. HPLC separation of the trypsin digest yielded a single radioactive peptide. Peptide sequencing of both 3H- and 14C-labeled peptides revealed a common dodecapeptide of Ser-Leu-Ser-Xaa-Asp-Leu-Gly-Leu-Pro-Gly-Phe-Arg, where Xaa was the modified, radioactive residue in each case. Acid hydrolysis of the 3H-labeled enzyme released radioactive N-pyridoxyllysine, indicating that the active-site peptide contained lysine at position 4. Mass spectrometry of the 14C-labeled peptide indicated a protonated molecular ion at m/z 1390.6, from which the mass of Xaa was calculated to be 229, a number that is equivalent to the mass of a lysine residue alkylated by the 2-aminobutyrate portion of AdoMet, as we previously proposed. These results indicate that the same active-site lysine binds the PLP and convalently links to the 2-aminobutyrate portion of AdoMet during inactivation. The active site of tomato ACC synthase was probed in the same manner with Ado[14C]Met. Sequencing of the tomato active-site peptide revealed two highly conserved dodecapeptides; the minor peptide possessed a sequence identical to that of the apple enzyme, whereas the major peptide differed from the minor peptide in that methionine replaced leucine at position 6.

Amino Acid Sequence↗