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Biomedical subjects

M Cohn

Publications and source records attributed to M Cohn.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Isotopic (18O) shift in 31P nuclear magnetic resonance applied to a study of enzyme-catalyzed phosphate--phosphate exchange and phosphate (oxygen)--water exchange reactions.

An isotopic shift of the (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance due to (18)O bonded to phosphorus of 0.0206 ppm has been observed in inorganic orthophosphate and adenine nucleotides. Thus, the separation between the resonances of (31)P(18)O(4) and (31)P(16)O(4) at 145.7 MHz is 12 Hz and, in a randomized sample containing approximately 50% (18)O, all five (16)O-(18)O species are resolved and separated from each other by 3 Hz. Not only does this yield the (18)O/(16)O ratio of the phosphate but, more important, the (18)O-labeled phosphate in effect can serve as a double label in following phosphate reactions, for oxygen in all cases and for phosphorus, provided the oxygen does not exchange with solvent water. Thus, it becomes possible to follow labeled phosphorus or labeled oxygen continuously as reactions proceed. Rate studies involving (i) phosphorus and (ii) oxygen are illustrated by continuous monitoring of the exchange reactions between (i) the beta phosphate of ADP and inorganic phosphate catalyzed by polynucleotide phosphorylase and (ii) inorganic orthophosphate and water catalyzed by yeast inorganic pyrophosphatase. In the ADP-P(i) exchange, the P(i) ((18)O(4)) yielded an alpha P((16)O(3) (18)O) and a beta P((18)O(4)), proving that bond cleavage occurs between the alpha P and the alpha-beta bridge oxygen. Among the many additional potential uses of this labeling technique and its spectroscopic observation are: (i) different labeling of each phosphate group of ATP, (ii) to follow rate of transfer of (18)O from a nonphosphate compound such as a carboxylic acid to a phosphate compound, and (iii) to follow the rate of scrambling (for example, of the beta-gamma bridge oxygen of ATP to nonbridge beta P positions) and simultaneously the rate of exchange of the gamma P nonbridge oxygens with solvent water in various ATPase reactions.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1977

The derivation and characterization of neuronal cell lines from rat and mouse brain.

This study shows that permanent cell lines can be established from rat and mouse brain by direct tissue culture methodology without the aid of exogenous chemical or viral transforming agents. These cells were derived from specific areas of the brain, such as the cerebellum and hippocampus, at chosen times during fetal and neonatal development. Success in establishing neuronal cell lines was dependent upon the use of selection pressures designed to keep the background of glial cells and fibroblasts at a minimum. These manipulations included care in the choice and processing of the original tissue, utilization of cytotoxic anti-glial sera, and continuous manual isolation of cells with neuronal morphology. Slow-growing nerve cells were thus allowed to adapt spontaneously to culture with a minimum of competition from faster-adapting cell types. Many of these cell lines are judged to be neuronal on the basis of their electrical excitability and their characteristic surface antigens. The cells respond positively in a sodium flux assay which has been shown to correlate well with the ability to generate an action potential, and also express one or more of three antigens previously found to be specific for nerve cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

19F nuclear magnetic resonance of 5-fluorouridine-substituted tRNA1Val from Escherichia coli.

The 19F NMR spectrum of Escherichia coli tRNA1Val in which [5-19F]uridine replaces 93% of all uridine and uridine-derived residues has been examined at 93.6 and 235 MHz. The resolution of 11 peaks and visibility of two additional shoulders at either frequency for the 14 FUra residues in the molecule attests to the excellence of 19F as a probe for the structure of tRNA1Val in solution. No significant gain in resolution was attained at the higher frequency. A comparison of the relative areas in the different regions of the 19F spectrum of mixed [FUra]tRNAs with that of [FUra]tRNA1Val suggests that the three single resonances at lowest field in the region 86.5 to 88.5 ppm upfield from trifluoroacetate correspond to the three invariant bases which form tertiary hydrogen bonds in all tRNAs, namely, 8 (U or s4U), 54 (T), and 55 (phi) in unsubstituted tRNAs.

Escherichia coli↗
PubMed1977

Magnetic resonance studies of the manganese guanosine di- and triphosphate complexes with elongation factor Tu.

Analysis of titration data of EF-Tu-GDP with Mn(II) where free and bound Mn(II) were determined by proton relaxation rate of water (PRR) yields one tight Mn(II) binding site and a value of 2 muM for the dissociation constant of Mn(II) from the EF-Tu-MnGDP complex, K'A. The dissociation constant of manganese nucleotide from the ternary EF-Tu-MnGDP complex, K2, 0.2 muM, was derived from the known value of Ks, the dissociation constant for the binary EF-Tu-GDP complex, and the titration data of the ternary complex with excess GDP as titrant. The apparent number, n, of rapidly exchanging water ligands coordinated to bound Mn(II) in the ternary complex EF-Tu-MnGDP is estimated from the frequency dependence of the PRR of the complex to be approximately 1. The value of n and the values of PRR enhancements, epsilont = 4.3 for EF-Tu-MnGDP at 21 degrees, 24.3 MHZ and epsilont = 4.1 for the ternary GTP complex, are unusually low for protein-Mn-nucleotide complexes. The antibiotic X5108 which induces GTPase activity in EF-Tu-MgGTP was shown to bind stoichiometrically to EF-Tu-MnGDP and thereby change the PRR enhancement of the complex from 4.3 to 7.4. The characteristic broad lines in the EPR spectra of Mn(II) nucleotides are strikingly narrowed upon binding of Mn(II) nucleotides to EF-Tu. The long electron spin relaxation times inferred from the EPR spectra indicate a limited access of solvent water to the first coordination sphere of Mn(II) in its EF-Tu-nucleotide complexes. The frequency dependence of the PRR indicates that the electron spin relaxation time, T1e, is the dominant process modulating the Mn(II)-H2O interaction of the EF-Tu-MnGDP complex and consequently determines the correlation time. The value of T1e, estimated from the PRR experiments to be 2.5 ns at 21 degrees, is consistent with the lower limit of T1e obtained from the line widths of the EPR spectrum of the complex. Upon binding of a stoichiometric quantity of the antibiotic X5108, the EPR spectrum of EF-Tu-MnGDP is severely broadened indicating greater access of solvent water to the manganese coordination sphere, i.e. an opening of the nucleotide binding site as already suggested by the increased PRR enhancement.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1977

Asymmetric binding of the inhibitor di(adenosine-5') pentaphosphate (Ap5A) to adenylate kinase.

The effect of binding diadenosine pentaphosphate (Ap(5)A) to adenylate kinase (ATP:AMP phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.4.3) has been investigated by (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance. The symmetric molecule, Ap(5)A, is a potent inhibitor of the adenylate kinase reaction, 2 ADP right arrow over left arrow ATP + AMP. Free Ap(5)A has two groups of signals in its (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum centered at 11.1 and 22.8 parts/million (ppm) upfield from 85% H(3)PO(4) that are assigned to the end (1-P and 5-P) and middle (2-, 3-, and 4-P) phosphates, respectively. Addition of Mg(2+) shifts the centers of these resonances to 11.7 and 22.3 ppm. The spectrum of Ap(5)A bound to porcine adenylate kinase shows five groups of signals centered at 10.9, 11.9, 20.5, 22.7, and 24.0 ppm; the resonances at 11.1 ppm (1-P and 5-P) and at 22.8 ppm (2-P and 4-P) are now clearly split, indicating asymmetric binding of Ap(5)A to the enzyme. The asymmetry is strikingly enhanced in enzyme-bound MgAp(5)A, which has resonances at 10.5, 12.5, 18.6, 22.7, and 25.6 ppm. By the addition of Mn(2+) to the enzyme.MgAp(5)A complex, the observed signals in increasing order of shifts were tentatively assigned to 1-P, 5-P, 4-P, 3-P, and 2-P, where the 3-, 4-, and 5-P positions correspond to the ATP-binding site on the enzyme. The asymmetry introduced in the phosphate chain of enzyme.MgAp(5)A is indicated by the (31)P chemical shift of 7 ppm between 2- and 4-P, which is one of the largest thus far observed for phosphate substrates bound noncovalently to enzymes.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1977

Characterization of an inhibitory allogeneic effect on humoral responsiveness in vitro.

Evidence is presented that the induction of a humoral response is inhibitable by a thymus-derived cell (TI) that acts on the antigen-sensitive precursors of both the thymus-derived cooperating and the bone marrow-derived antibody-secreting cell-that is, the tC and B cell respectively. The inhibition of induction of the tC and B cell by the TI cell is shown to be reversed by increasing the effective level of cooperation. This competitive interaction between the inhibitory (TI) and cooperating (TC) systems is postulated to be part of the mechanism for regulating the class of the response, cell-mediated or humoral. The following properties of the inhibitory system were demonstrated: [1] The tI cell--the antigen-sensitive precursor of the TI cell--is both paralyzable and inducible. [2] The TI cell appears during the induction of a cell-mediated response and, if not identical to the effector cytotoxic ('killer') TK cell, the TI cell is induced in parallel with it. [3] The effector function of the TI cell, like that of the TK cell, is H-2-restricted.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

The class of surface immunoglobulin on virgin and memory B lymphocytes.

The class of surface immunoglobulin receptors for antigen on B cell precursors of different classes of antibody-forming cells was determined by utilizing a technique of class-specific antigen suicide. Spleen cells are first treated with a class-specific antiserum under conditions that result in the stripping of that class from the cell surface. The cells are then permitted to bind a highly radioactive trinitrophenyl (TNP)-conjugated protein, which leads to lethal irradiation of all TNP-specific B cells except those whose TNP receptors had been removed by the class-specific stripping of surface immunoglobulin. In this way, the class of antibody-forming cells resulting from TNP stimulation of B cells with different classes of surface immunoglobulin can be examined. It was found that the virgin B cell precursors of IgM-producing cells are two types: cells bearing IgM receptors only and those bearing both IgM and IgD receptors. All virgin B cells that gave rise to IgG1 antibody-forming cells had both IgM and IgD on their surfaces, demonstrating that an antigen-dependent switch from IgM and IgD to IgG1 production is a common feature of B cell maturation. In contrast, memory B cell precursors of IgG1 antibody-forming cells had predominantly IgG1 as their surface antigen receptor. The implications of these findings on current models of B cell maturation are analyzed.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

31P NMR studies of the arginine kinase reaction. Equilibrium constants and exchange rates at stoichiometric enzyme concentration.

The arginine kinase reaction, the reversible transfer of the terminal phosphoryl group of ATP to L-arginine, has been investigated by the technique of 31P NMR at catalytic and stoichiometric concentrations of the enzyme. Three of the four substrates, ATP, ADP, and P-arginine produce easily distinguishable resonances in the 31P NMR spectrum, thus permitting a determination of equilibrium constants from the integrated areas of the resonances. From the linewidths, the exchange rates between reactants and products may be evaluated. At pH 7.25 and a temperature of 12 degrees, the equilibrium constant at catalytic enzyme concentration: Keq = [MgADP] [P-arginine]/[MgATP] [L-arginine], is found to be 0.10 +/- 0.02 and that at stoichiometric enzyme concentration: K'eq = [E-MgADP] [E-P-arginine]/[E-MgATP] [E-arginine] to be 1.56 +/- 0.5. Thus, as the enzyme concentration increased, the production of P-arginine is increasingly favored. From the NMR line shapes in the presence of excess enzyme, the rate of the single step, the transfer of the phosphoryl group on the surface of the enzyme is found to be 192 +/- 15 s-1 in the forward direction, i.e. from E-MgATP, and 154 +/- 15 s-1 in the reverse direction from E-P-argine. At 12 degrees and pH 7.25, the rate of the overall reaction in the forward direction was determined from kinetic measurements to be 19 s-1, an order of magnitude slower than the rate measured by NMR. It can, therefore, be concluded that the interconversion of substrates on the surface of the enzyme is not the rate-determining step in the overal reaction. From the equilibrium constants and other known data the dissociation constant of P-arginine from its enzyme complex can be determined and is found to be 100 muM.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1976

Changes in tertiary structure accompanying a single base change in transfer RNA. Proton magnetic resonance and aminoacylation studies of Escherichia coli tRNAMet f1 and tRNAMet f3 and their spin-labeled (s4U8) derivatives.

The properties of Escherichia coli tRNAMet f1 and tRNAMet f3 that differ by only one base change, m7G to A at position 47, have been compared structurally by proton magnetic resonance and functionally by the aminoacylation reaction. The NMR spectra of the two tRNA species in the region between 0 and 4 ppm below 4,4-dimethyl-4-silapentane-1-sulfonic acid (DSS) (methyl and methylene region) were the same except for the absence of the lowest field peak at 3.8 ppm in tRNAMet f3, thus unequivocally identifying this resonance at the methyl group of m7G47 of tRNAMet f1. The same resonance disappears in tRNAMet f1 spin-labeled at s4U8 and reappears in the diamagnetic reduced spin-labeled tRNAMet f1 from which the average distance between the spin-label and the methyl protons of m7G is estimated to be less than 15 A. The proximity of m7G47 but not T55 to s4U8 in the structure of E. coli tRNAMet f1 in solution is consistant with the crystallographic model for yeast tRNAPhe. A spectral comparison of the hydrogen-bond regions (11-14 ppm below DSS) of tRNAMet f1 and tRNAMet f3 reveals major shifts of four resonances previously assigned to tertiary hydrogen bonds. Of the four, the one at lowest field (14.8 ppm) had been assigned by chemical modification to the tertiary (s4U8-A14) hydrogen bond and the one at 13.3 ppm had been tentatively assigned to the tertiary hydrogen bond G23-m7G47 of the 13-23-47 triple. A more positive assignment of the G23-m7G47 at 13.3 ppm could be made from the additional evidence that this resonance, which was first observed in the difference spectrum between spin-labeled tRNAMet f1 and its reduced form, is the only one missing in the analogous difference spectrum of tRNAMet f3. At low ionic strength and in the absence of magnesium ions, the differences in the hydrogen-bonded region of the NMR spectra of tRNAMet f1 and tRNAMet f3 are much greater than in the presence of magnesium ions. The optimal magnesium concentration required for maximal initial velocities is also higher for tRNAMet f3 than for tRNAMet f1. The perturbation caused by the spin-label in destabilizing hydrogen bonds in the region between 13 and 14 ppm is greater for tRNAMet f3 than tRNAMet f1 but the distance relations for the hydrogen bonds in the region between 12 and 13 ppm (the major paramagnetic perturbations) are conserved in the two species. The disruption of one hydrogen bond relative to native tRNAMet f1 either by spin-labeling (s4U8-A14) or by substitution of m7G by A in tRNAMet f3 has little effect on the aminoacyl acceptor activity or the velocity of the aminoacylation reaction at optimal magnesium concentration, but the absence of both tertiary hydrogen bonds in the augmented D-helix region in the spin-labeled tRNAMet f3 results in approximately 60% reduction both in acceptance activity and in initial velocity of the aminoacylation reaction.

Base Sequence↗