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Biomedical subjects

M Inouye

Publications and source records attributed to M Inouye.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Association of the prolipoprotein accumulated in the presence of globomycin with the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

The prolipoprotein, a secretory precursor of the outer membrane lipoprotein of Escherichia coli, is known to be accumulated in the cell envelope when cells are grown in the presence of a cyclic antibiotic, globomycin. The prolipoprotein was localized in the cytoplasmic membrane when it was separated from the outer membrane by sucrose-density gradient centrifugation. However, when the envelope fraction was treated with sodium sarcosinate, the prolipoprotein was found almost exclusively in the sarcosinate-insoluble outer membrane fraction. The prolipoprotein separated in the cytoplasmic membrane by sucrose-density gradient centrifugation was soluble in sarcosinate and could not form a complex with the outer membrane once solubilized in sarcosinate. Labeling of the two lysine residues at positions 2 and 5 of the prolipoprotein with [3H]dinitrophenylfluorobenzene was enhanced 26-fold when the cells were disrupted by sonication. On the other hand, a tryptic fragment of the ompA protein, which is known to exist in the periplasmic space, increased its susceptibility to [3H]dinitrophenylfluorobenzene only 5.3-times upon disruption of the cell structure. These results indicate that the prolipoprotein accumulated in the presence of globomycin is translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane and interacts with the outer membrane. At the same time, it is attached to the cytoplasmic membrane with its amino-terminal signal peptide in such a way that the amino-terminal portion of the signal peptide containing two lysine residues is left inside the cytoplasm.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1983

DNA sequence of the promoter region of the ompC gene and the amino acid sequence of the signal peptide of pro-OmpC protein of Escherichia coli.

The osmoregulated ompC gene of Escherichia coli was cloned and the DNA sequence of a fragment encompassing the promoter region and a portion of the coding region was determined. There were no obvious homologies in the DNA sequences of the promoter regions of the ompC and ompF genes, in contrast to those of the coding regions of the two genes, both of which code for the matrix porins (major outer membrane proteins) and form passive diffusion pores. The amino acid sequence of the signal peptide of pro-OmpC protein was also deduced from the DNA sequence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Tandem repeat of the genes for protein S, a development-specific protein of Myxococcus xanthus.

Protein S, a development-specific protein of Myxococcus xanthus is produced only during fruiting body formation. More than 15% of total protein synthesis during this period is accounted for by the production of protein S. The genes for protein S were identified and cloned with the use of mixed probes consisting of eight synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides (tetradecamers) which correspond to a carboxyl-terminal portion of protein S. The two genes are oriented in the same direction and are separated approximately 1.2 kilobases. The DNA sequences of the carboxyl-terminal portions of the two genes reveal that both can code for the identical eleven amino acid sequence which corresponds to the carboxyl-terminal end of protein S. However, there are a few base substitutions upstream of these regions. This duplication of genes in M. xanthus may facilitate the extremely rapid synthesis of protein S during fruiting body formation.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1983

Prolipoprotein signal peptidase of Escherichia coli requires a cysteine residue at the cleavage site.

A signal peptidase specifically required for the secretion of the lipoprotein of the Escherichia coli outer membrane cleaves off the signal peptide at the bond between a glycine and a cysteine residue. This cysteine residue was altered to a glycine residue by guided site-specific mutagenesis using a synthetic oligonucleotide and a plasmid carrying an inducible lipoprotein gene. The induction of mutant lipoprotein production was lethal to the cells. A large amount of the prolipoprotein was accumulated in the outer membrane fraction. No protein of the size of the mature lipoprotein was detected. These results indicate that the prolipoprotein signal peptidase requires a glyceride modified cysteine residue at the cleavage site.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗
PubMed1983

Effect of 2,450 MHz microwave radiation on the development of the rat brain.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 2,450 MHz microwave radiation at an incident power density of 10 mW/cm2 daily for 3 hours from day 4 of pregnancy (in utero exposure) through day 40 postpartum, except for 2 days at the perinatal period. The animals were killed, and the brains removed, weighed, measured, and histologically examined at 15, 20, 30, and 40 days of age. The histologic parameters examined included the cortical architecture of the cerebral cortex, the decline of the germinal layer along the lateral ventricles, the myelination of the corpus callosum, and the decline of the external germinal layer of the cerebellar cortex. In 40-day-old rats, quantitative measurements of neurons were also made. The spine density of the pyramidal cells in layer III of the somatosensory cortex, and the density of basal dendritic trees of the pyramidal cells in layer V were measured in Golgi-Cox impregnated specimens. In addition, the density of Purkinje cells and the extent of the Purkinje cell layer in each lobule were measured in midsagittal sections of the cerebellum stained with thionin. There were no remarkable differences between microwave-exposed and control (sham-irradiated) groups for any of the histologic or quantitative parameters examined; however, the findings provide important information on quantitative measurements of the brain. The data from this study failed to demonstrate that there is a significant effect on rat brain development due to microwave exposure (10 mW/cm2) during the embryonic, fetal, and postnatal periods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Expression of the native alpha and beta interferon genes in human cells.

We have investigated the expression of human interferon (IFN)-related transcripts in Sendai virus-induced lymphoblastoid (Namalwa) cells and in poly(I) X poly(C)-induced fibroblast (FS-4) cells by electrophoresis of RNA through agarose-CH3HgOH gels followed by (a) blot hybridization of the RNA using IFN-alpha 1 and IFN-beta 1 cDNA probes, and (b) translation of the eluted RNA into biologically active IFN using the Xenopus laevis oocyte assay. In Namalwa cells induced with or without prior treatment with bromodeoxyuridine we can detect IFN-alpha 1 hybridizable, translationally active, cytoplasmic RNA of lengths 0.3-0.6, 2-3, 3.5-5, and 7-8 kb in addition to the expected 0.8-1.4-kb RNA and IFN-beta 1-hybridizable, translationally active, cytoplasmic RNA of lengths 0.9 kb and approximately 4 kb. However the translationally active 1.8-kb IFN-alpha L mRNA(s) in Namalwa cells (P. B. Sehgal, May, LaForge, and Inouye, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 79, 6932-6936, 1982) appears to have less than 60-70% nucleotide sequence homology with IFN-alpha 1 in the coding region because it does not cross-hybridize IFN-alpha 1 cDNA even under very relaxed hybridization conditions. In induced FS-4 cells we can detect IFN-beta 1-hybridizable and translationally active cellular RNA of lengths 0.3-0.4, 0.65, 0.9, 1.8, 2-3, 3.5-5, and 7-8 kb. No hybridization is detected in RNA of length 1.3 kb ("IFN-beta 2 mRNA"). Direct comparisons between the translation and hybridization data using dot-blot hybridization procedures confirm that the apparently subcistronic 0.35-kb IFN-beta 1 hybridizable-RNA species detected in FS-4 cells is translationally active.

Bromodeoxyuridine↗
PubMed1983

Isolation of novel human genomic DNA clones related to human interferon-beta 1 cDNA.

Southern blot-hybridization analyses of human DNA (from Namalwa lymphoblastoid cells) digested with the restriction endonuclease EcoRI were carried out under optimal conditions with two human fibroblast interferon (IFN-beta 1) cDNA probes, pD19 and pD24, which contain IFN-beta 1 inserts 0.8 and 0.7 kilobase (kb) long, respectively. The analyses revealed the presence of several hybridizable DNA fragments, including two of lengths 6.8 and 5.5 kb, in addition to the classical IFN-beta 1 genomic DNA fragment of length approximately equal to 2.0 kb. We have screened a human DNA library in lambda bacteriophage Charon 4A by using a 32P-labeled IFN-beta 1 insert cDNA (pD24) and thereby isolated six strongly positive human genomic DNA clones. One of these (lambda B37) represents the classical human IFN-beta 1 gene; another (lambda B37) contains a 6.8-kb EcoRI DNA fragment(s) which cross-hybridizes with the IFN-beta 1 cDNA insert probes pD19 and pD24; and the remaining four (which are identical to each other and are exemplified by lambda B4) contain two EcoRI DNA fragments approximately 5.5 and 9 kb long which also cross-hybridize the IFN-beta 1 cDNA probes. A mRNA 0.9 kb long derived from the classical IFN-beta1 gene is expressed in poly(I) . poly(C)-induced human diploid fibroblasts (FS-4 strain). Induced FS-4 cells also contain polyadenylylated RNA 1.8, 3, 5, and approximately equal to 8 kb long derived from the lambda B3 gene, all of which appear to code for biologically active human IFN-beta as tested by using the Xenopus laevis oocyte translation assay. These data strongly indicate that lambda B3 represents a novel functional IFN-beta gene. A 12-kb polyadenylylated RNA, derived from lambda B4, is expressed constitutively at a low level in FS-4 cells, but the amount of this RNA increases 5-7 hr after exposure of the cells to poly(I) . poly(C).

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Structural similarities between the development-specific protein S from a gram-negative bacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, and calmodulin.

During differentiation of Myxococcus xanthus, a large amount of protein S is produced and assembled on the surface of the myxospore by a process that specifically requires Ca2+. The gene for protein S has been cloned, and two tandemly repeated homologous genes have been found to be within a short distance of each other in the M. xanthus chromosome. We determined the DNA sequence of 3,692 bp encompassing both genes and deduced the amino acid sequences of the two gene products. The gene 1 (upstream) product and the gene 2 (downstream) product show extensive amino acid sequence homology (88%). However, from their structures, protein S was found to be produced from gene 2, indicating that gene 2 is specifically turned on during differentiation. The structure of protein S shows striking similarities with calmodulin: protein S is composed of four internally homologous domains. In particular, the first and the third domains, consisting of 38 residues each, show a high level of homology (79%), and the second and the fourth domains, consisting of 40 residues each, show homology of 65%. In the first and the third domains, there is a common sequence of nine residues, Glu (or Asp)-Asn-Asn-Thr-Ile-Ser-Ser-Val-Lys, which is highly homologous to one of the proposed Ca2+-binding sequences in bovine brain calmodulin, Asp-Gly-Asn-Gly-Thr-Ile-Thr-Thr-Lys.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Effects of inserting eight amino acid residues into the major lipoprotein on its assembly in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

A DNA sequence consisting of 24 base pairs was inserted into the structural gene (lpp) coding for the major lipoprotein of the Escherichia coli outer membrane which was carried on a high-copy-number plasmid in which expression was regulated through a lac promoter-operator region. This modification resulted in the insertion of eight amino acid residues, Glu-Glu-Phe-Leu-Glu-Glu-Phe-Leu, between the glutamine residue at position 9 and the leucine residue at position 10 of the wild-type lipoprotein sequence. When production of the mutant lipoprotein was induced by a lac inducer, the cells became swollen, showed unusual morphology, and eventually lysed. When the membrane fraction was analyzed after the induction, the mutant lipoprotein was found to have been normally secreted across the cytoplasmic membrane and assembled in the outer membrane. This lipoprotein was modified with glycerol and palmitic acid and even formed the bound form, which was linked covalently to peptidoglycan. The major difference between the membrane-associated mutant lipoprotein and the wild-type lipoprotein was that the mutant lipoprotein became sensitive to trypsin treatment. These results indicate that the substantial alteration in mutant lipoprotein structure near the amino-terminal end does not interfere with modification of the amino-terminal cysteine residue or cleavage of the signal peptide by the prolipoprotein-specific signal peptidase. However, this mutant lipoprotein assembled in the outer membrane appears to have deleterious effects with respect to envelope structure and cellular morphology and viability.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Inhibition of secretion of a mutant lipoprotein across the cytoplasmic membrane by the wild-type lipoprotein of the Escherichia coli outer membrane.

A globomycin-resistant mutant of Escherichia coli was found to produce a precursor of the major outer membrane lipoprotein (prolipoprotein), in which the glycine residue at position 14 within the signal peptide was replaced by an aspartic acid residue. The same mutation has been reported by Lin et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 175:4891-4895, 1978). The structural gene of the mutant prolipoprotein was inserted into an inducible expression cloning vehicle. When the mutant prolipoprotein was produced in lipoprotein-minus host cells, 82% of the unprocessed protein was found in the membrane fraction, with the remaining 18% localized in the soluble fraction. However, when the production of the mutant prolipoprotein was induced in the wild-type lpp+ host cells, only 31% of the mutant prolipoprotein was found in the membrane fraction, leaving the remaining 69% in the soluble, cytoplasmic fraction. In addition, the assembly of the wild-type lipoprotein in these cells was not affected, whether the mutant prolipoprotein was produced or not. These results suggest that secretions of both mutant and wild-type prolipoproteins utilize the same component(s) responsible for the initial stages of secretion across the cytoplasmic membrane. However, it appears that the wild-type lipoprotein has a higher affinity for these components than does the mutant lipoprotein.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1982

Osmoregulation of gene expression. I. DNA sequence of the ompR gene of the ompB operon of Escherichia coli and characterization of its gene product.

The ompB region on the Escherichia coli chromosome codes for two genes, ompR and envZ, which are required for the osmolarity sensitive biosynthetic regulation of the outer membrane matrix proteins (porins), OmpF and ompC. A part of the ompB region containing the ompR gene has been cloned (Wurtzel, E. T., Movva, N. R., Ross, F. L., and Inouye, M. (1981) J. Mol. Appl. Genet. 1, 61-69). We have determined the DNA sequence, including the promoter and structural regions encompassed in a 1.3-kilobase pair Ava I-Eco RI subfragment. This fragment codes for the entire ompR gene as well as the 5' end of the envZ gene. The ompR gene codes for a protein of 32,489 daltons, consisting of 284 amino acid residues. This was confirmed by identifying the gene product by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and determining a partial amino acid sequence of the NH2-terminal region of the gene product. A sequence of 57 amino acid residues located in the COOH-terminal region of the protein is extremely basic. It contains 10 arginine plus lysine residues in contrast to 1 glutamic acid residue in this region. In vitro transcription of the DNA from this region indicates that ampR and envZ are co-transcribed as a polycistronic mRNA from a promoter located 5' to the ompR gene. Translation of the am pR gene terminates at two tandem TAS codons and translation of the envZ gene initiates 29 nucleotides downstream. Cloning of the promoter region of ompB at a site 5' to the structural portion of the beta-galactosidase gene indicates that transcription of ompB is under positive control by cAMP.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Lack of effect of 2.45-GHz microwave radiation on the development of preimplantation embryos of mice.

The development of preimplantation embryos after exposure to microwave radiation was studied. Female CD-1 mice were induced to superovulate, mated, and exposed to 2.45-GHz microwave or sham radiation for 3 h at power densities of 9 mW/cm2 and 19 mW/cm2 on either day 2 or 3 of pregnancy (plug day was considered day 1). Another group of mice was exposed to heat stress by placing the dams in an environmental room at an ambient temperature of 38 degrees C and relative humidity at 62% for 3 h on day 2 of pregnancy. All groups were euthanized on day 4 of pregnancy and embryos were recovered by flushing excised uterine horns. Embryos were examined for abnormalities and classified by the developmental stages. They were then treated with hypotonic solution and dissociated for counting blastomeres. Heat stress caused stunted development of embryos, but no remarkable effect of microwave radiation could be found on the development of preimplantation embryos.

Animals↗