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Biomedical subjects

K Kurachi

Publications and source records attributed to K Kurachi.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Structural and functional basis of the developmental regulation of human coagulation factor IX gene: factor IX Leyden.

Hemophilia B Leyden is characterized by unusual developmental regulation of factor IX synthesis in affected individuals. One family affected with the hemophilia B Leyden phenotype was found to have a specific single-base mutation (G----A) at nucleotide -6 of the factor IX gene. The mutation site was found in a small region of the 5'-untranslated sequence designated the Leyden-specific region (LS region). This region, approximately 40 base pairs in length, contains the unique mutation sites of all the known factor IX Leyden genes (five families) analyzed to date. This fact strongly suggests that the LS region is directly or indirectly involved in the developmental regulation of factor IX biosynthesis. Base changes at nucleotide -20 as well as at nucleotide -6 and deletions of the 3' half of the LS region reduced expression activity of the factor IX gene to approximately 15-31% that of the normal control, as assessed in a cultured cell (HepG2) expression system. The LS region binds at least two proteins. Androgen significantly increased the transcriptional activities of both mutant and normal factor IX genes in a concentration-dependent manner.

Aging↗
PubMed1990

Preparation and antitumor activity of hydroxyethylated derivatives of 6-branched (1----3)-beta-D-glucan, SSG, obtained from the culture filtrate of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum IFO 9395.

SSG is an antitumor branched (1----3)-beta-D-glucan obtained from the culture filtrate of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum IFO 9395. Hydroxyethylation of SSG higher than MS 0.45 (MS value represents molar ratio of hydroxyethyl group vs. glucosyl group) by ethyleneoxide in aqueous sodium hydroxide lose the antitumor activity. Degradation of branching point of hydroxyethylated SSG (HE-SSG) by the sequential treatments of periodate oxidation, borohydride reduction, and mild acid hydrolysis of these derivatives regenerated the antitumor activity. These results directly demonstrated that the branching point covered, at least a part of, the dormant active site of SSG.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Isolation and characterization of a novel large protease accumulated in mammalian cells in the presence of inhibitors.

We have isolated and characterized a novel, large, multicatalytic protease from mammalian cells. This protease was designated PABI (protease accumulated by inhibitors). When baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells were grown in medium containing leupeptin, a potent serine-cysteine protease inhibitor, the trypsin-like protease activity (PABI) in the cells increased its level more than 100-fold over the control. This increase was also observed in other cultured cells such as COS, HepG2, and skin fibroblast cells. The activity was also elevated by treatment with other protease inhibitors including chymostatin or trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamide-(4-guanidino)butane. Immunoblot analysis, by employing antisera prepared against the purified PABI, also showed a concomitant increase of this protein in BHK, COS, and HepG2 cells on leupeptin treatment. PABI was purified to a homogeneous state from leupeptin-treated BHK cells. PABI is a glycoprotein of molecular weight 700,000. PABI was found to be a multimer of a major subunit of apparent Mr of 84,000, as shown by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electron microscopic analysis. PABI dissociates into subunits only under reducing conditions in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. PABI has both trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like protease activities toward synthetic substrates. Both activities were inhibited by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, aprotinin, bovine pancreas trypsin inhibitor, and chymostatin. Leupeptin inhibited only the trypsin-like activity of PABI. p-Chloromercuribenzoate had no effect on either activity. Furthermore, PABI degraded collagen type I and fibronectin. These results indicate that PABI is a novel protease which differs from any known proteases including cytosolic high molecular weight proteases. The physiological function of PABI is yet to be determined.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1989

[Evaluation of the internal carotid artery blood flow velocity waveforms using continuous-wave Doppler ultrasound in pregnant women].

The internal carotid artery blood flow velocity waveforms were measured with continuous-wave Doppler ultrasound in 17 normal nonpregnant and 50 pregnant women. 1) The measurement of the blood flow velocities in the pregnant women revealed a characteristic pattern. That is, in the women in the early pregnant stage (less than 16 weeks' gestation, n = 13), the velocity was lower than that of nonpregnant women. In the middle pregnant stage (16 to 27 weeks' gestation, n = 18), the velocity became higher than in the early stage and in the late stage (equal to and more than 28 weeks' gestation, n = 19), it again became slower. 2) The initial systolic peak blood velocity (S1), end-diastolic blood velocity (d), time averaged maximal blood velocity (M), Pourcelot ratio (PR), systolic-diastolic ratio (S/D) and pulsatility index (PI) were calculated and did not show laterality in any group. 3) PR, S/D and PI of the women in the early stages of pregnancy were higher than those of nonpregnant women, indicating that the cerebral vascular resistance became higher in early pregnancy. This technique presented the possibility of the assessment of the cerebral blood circulation in pregnant women.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Factor IXPortland: a nonsense mutation (CGA to TGA) resulting in hemophilia B.

Male siblings with severe hemophilia b were studied for the molecular defect responsible for their disorder. To define the precise DNA alteration, a 362-bp fragment in the first part of exon VIII of the factor IX gene was amplified and sequenced. A single-base-pair substitution of C----T at the nucleotide sequence 30875 was found which resulted in a nonsense mutation (TGA) and terminated the protein synthesis of factor IX at amino acid residue 252. The single-base change occurred as a classic CG dinucleotide alteration to TG (or CA), a common mechanism for point mutations in mammals.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Expression of human angiogenin in cultured baby hamster kidney cells.

Baby hamster kidney cells were transformed with DNA sequences derived from the gene for human angiogenin. Expression was under the transcriptional control of the inducible mouse metallothionein 1 promoter. Recombinant angiogenin was purified and shown to be chemically, biologically, and enzymatically indistinguishable from the natural product. The large-scale production of recombinant angiogenin achieved should facilitate detailed studies into the structure-function relationships of this potent angiogenic molecule.

Angiogenesis Inducing Agents↗
PubMed1988

A novel trypsin-like serine protease (hepsin) with a putative transmembrane domain expressed by human liver and hepatoma cells.

Recombinant clones with cDNA inserts coding for a new serine protease (hepsin) have been isolated from cDNA libraries prepared from human liver and hepatoma cell line mRNA. The total length of the cDNA is approximately 1.8 kilobases and includes a 5' untranslated region, 1251 nucleotides coding for a protein of 417 amino acids, a 3' untranslated region, and a poly(A) tail. The amino acid sequence coded by the cDNA for hepsin shows a high degree of identity to pancreatic trypsin and other serine proteases present in plasma. It also exhibits features characteristic of zymogens to serine proteases in that it contains a cleavage site for protease activation and the highly conserved regions surrounding the His, Asp, and Ser residues that participate in enzyme catalysis. In addition, hepsin lacks a typical amino-terminal signal peptide. Hydropathy analysis of the protein sequence, however, revealed a very hydrophobic region of 27 amino acids starting 18 residues downstream from the apparent initiator Met. This region may serve as an internal signal sequence and a transmembrane domain. This putative transmembrane domain could be involved in anchoring hepsin to the cell membrane and orienting it in such a manner that its carboxyl terminus, containing the catalytic domain, is extracellular.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Human genes for complement components C1r and C1s in a close tail-to-tail arrangement.

Complementary DNA clones for human C1s were isolated from cDNA libraries that were prepared with poly(A)+ RNAs of human liver and HepG2 cells. A clone with the largest cDNA insert of 2664 base pairs (bp) was analyzed for its complete nucleotide sequence. It contained 202 bp of a 5' untranslated region, 45 bp of coding for a signal peptide (15 amino acid residues), 2019 bp for complement component C1s zymogen (673 amino acid residues), 378 bp for a 3' untranslated region, a stop codon, and 17 bp of a poly(A) tail. The amino acid sequence of C1s was 40.5% identical to that of C1r, with excellent matches of tentative disulfide bond locations conserving the overall domain structure of C1r. DNA blotting and sequencing analyses of genomic DNA and of an isolated genomic DNA clone clearly showed that the human genes for C1r and C1s are closely located in a "tail-to-tail" arrangement at a distance of about 9.5 kilobases. Furthermore, RNA blot analyses showed that both C1r and C1s genes are primarily expressed in liver, whereas most other tissues expressed both C1r and C1s genes at much lower levels (less than 10% of that in liver). Multiple molecular sizes of specific mRNAs were observed in the RNA blot analyses for both C1r and C1s, indicating that alternative RNA processing(s), likely an alternative polyadenylylation, might take place for both genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

An insertion within the factor IX gene: hemophilia BEl Salvador.

A patient with moderate to severe hemophilia B has been found to have a large insertion within his factor IX gene. The site of insertion is located in a DNA segment of approximately 0.8 kb between exon IV and an EcoRI site within intron D. The size of the DNA insertion is approximately 6 kb, and it contains at least two TaqI sites, two EcoRI sites, and one HindIII site. The insert probably originates from outside the FIX gene and does not represent an internal duplication. We propose that this abnormal FIX gene be called FIX El Salvador in recognition of the birthplace of the patient.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

DNA analysis of seven patients with hemophilia B who have anti-factor IX antibodies: relationship to clinical manifestations and evidence that the abnormal gene was inherited.

We have investigated genomic DNA samples of 24 patients with hemophilia B (factor IX deficiency), including seven patients with anti-factor IX antibodies (inhibitors), by molecular probes. Seventeen patients without inhibitors against factor IX and three patients with inhibitor showed no abnormalities in their restriction fragments generated by digestions of the genomic DNA by BamHl, EcoRl, Mspl, or Taql and hybridized with a factor IX cDNA probe (pHFIX). The remaining four patients with inhibitors were found to have gross deletions of the factor IX gene. Among those four patients, two were from the same family. Quantitative Southern blotting clearly showed that the abnormal gene was inherited in this family. DNA from the mother of another patient with deletion of the factor IX gene showed normal gene dosage, indicating that the mutation must have occurred at the mother's germ cells. The genomic DNA samples of four patients with gross factor IX gene deletions were found to lack the entire factor IX gene as analyzed with a factor IX cDNA as well as with a 3'-genomic factor IX fragment as probes. The hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) gene probe, however, was found to hybridize with all of these DNA samples, indicating that the deletions in these genomic DNA samples had not extended to the region containing the HPRT gene locus in q27 proximal to the factor IX gene locus on the X chromosome. Several clinical characteristics were compared between inhibitor cases with gene deletion and inhibitor cases without obvious gene deletion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chromosome Deletion↗
PubMed1987

Characterization of a cDNA for human protein C inhibitor. A new member of the plasma serine protease inhibitor superfamily.

A cDNA library in lambda-phage lambda gt11 containing DNA inserts prepared from human liver mRNA was screened with monoclonal antibodies to human protein C inhibitor. Six positive clones were isolated from 6 X 10(6) phages and plaque purified. The cDNA in the phage containing the largest insert, which hybridized to a DNA probe prepared on the basis of the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the mature inhibitor, was sequenced. This cDNA insert contained 2106 base pairs coding for a 5'-noncoding region, a 19-amino acid signal peptide, a 387-amino acid mature protein, a stop codon, and a long 3'-noncoding region of 839 base pairs. Based on the amino acid sequence of the carboxyl-terminal peptide released by cleavage of protein C inhibitor by activated protein C as well as by thrombin, the reactive site peptide bond of protein C inhibitor is Arg354-Ser355. Five potential carbohydrate-binding sites were found in the mature protein. The high homology of the amino acid sequence of protein C inhibitor to the other known inhibitors clearly demonstrates that protein C inhibitor is a member of the superfamily of serine protease inhibitors including alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, alpha 1-antitrypsin, antithrombin III, ovalbumin, and angiotensinogen. Based on the difference matrices for these proteins, we present possible phylogenetic trees for these proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

MspI polymorphic site within the factor IX gene. Localization of the site and an improved method for detection.

We have localized the position of the MspI polymorphic site that exists within the factor IX gene. The location of the MspI polymorphic site is within intron D, 1.9 kb upstream from the beginning of exon V and 4 kb downstream from a known polymorphic TaqI site. The use of a specific genomic probe simplifies the interpretation of the MspI polymorphism by reducing the number of non-overlaping DNA fragments to three bands; 2.4, 3.4, and 5.8 kb.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1987

Isolation and characterization of cDNAs encoding the heavy chain of human inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (I alpha TI): unambiguous evidence for multipolypeptide chain structure of I alpha TI.

Human inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (I alpha TI) is a plasma glycoprotein of Mr 180,000, which has been described as a single polypeptide chain. Recently, however, we proposed that I alpha TI might be composed of a heavy (H) chain (Mr = 95,000) and a light (L) chain (Mr = 40,000) synthesized by two separate mRNAs. In the present study we have characterized cDNAs for the H chain of I alpha TI. These cDNAs collectively covered two sequences (977 and 1450 base pairs in length) with single open reading frames. The deduced amino acid sequences were highly homologous to each other and well matched with partial amino acid sequences obtained from purified serum I alpha TI. RNA blot analyses of liver RNAs with H- or L-chain cDNAs as probes clearly identified two distinct mRNAs of 3.3 and 1.3 kilobases, which corresponded to H or L chain, respectively. Poly(A)+ RNAs hybrid-selected with H-chain cDNAs coded for polypeptide chains of Mr 90,000-95,000. These results unambiguously establish that I alpha TI is made of multipolypeptides, possibly including one H and two L chains. The H chain contains potential calcium-binding sites and also regions homologous to the proposed reactive site for thiol-proteinase inhibitors. These data indicate that I alpha TI is a complex, multifunctional protein. mRNAs for both the H and L chains were found only in liver.

Alpha-Globulins↗