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Biomedical subjects

N L Shaper

Publications and source records attributed to N L Shaper.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Cell surface galactosyltransferase: immunochemical localization.

A cell surface UDP-galactose:N-acetylglucosamine galactosyltransferase (GT) has been directly localized on bovine cells in tissue culture by immunohistochemical techniques. A conventional rabbit heteroantiserum was prepared against an affinity-purified soluble form of GT from bovine milk, and a monospecific IgG fraction was isolated by affinity chromatography on a GT adsorbent. As demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence, antigen to this antibody is present on the surface of all three bovine cell lines tested. It was uniformly distributed over the exposed membrane surface of fixed cells. Exposure of living cells to the anti-GT antibody resulted in its time-dependent aggregation in the plane of the membrane. Antigen (GT) was released from the membrane surface by trypsin digestion, and its reappearance required protein synthesis, since cycloheximide effectively prevented repopulation of the cell surface.

Actins↗

Receptor function of mouse sperm surface galactosyltransferase during fertilization.

Past studies from this laboratory have suggested that mouse sperm binding to the egg zona pellucida is mediated by a sperm galactosyltransferase (GalTase), which recognizes and binds to terminal N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues in the zona pellucida (Shur, B. D., and N. G. Hall, 1982, J. Cell Biol. 95:567-573; 95:574-579). We now present evidence that directly supports this mechanism for gamete binding. GalTase was purified to homogeneity by sequential affinity-chromatography on GlcNAc-agarose and alpha-lactalbumin-agarose columns. The purified enzyme produced a dose-dependent inhibition of sperm binding to the zona pellucida, relative to controls. To inhibit sperm/zona binding, GalTase had to retain its native conformation, since neither heat-inactivated nor Mn++-deficient GalTase inhibited sperm binding. GalTase inhibition of sperm/zona binding was not due to steric blocking of an adjacent sperm receptor on the zona, since GalTase could be released from the zona pellucida by forced galactosylation with UDPGal, and the resulting galactosylated zona was still incapable of binding sperm. In control experiments, when UDPGal was replaced with the inappropriate sugar nucleotide, UDPglucose, sperm binding to the zona pellucida remained normal after the adsorbed GalTase was washed away. The addition of UDPGal produced a dose-dependent inhibition of sperm/zona binding, and also dissociated preformed sperm/zona adhesions by catalyzing the release of the sperm GalTase from its GlcNAc substrate in the zona pellucida. Under identical conditions, UDP-glucose had no effect on sperm binding to the zona pellucida. The ability of UDPGal to dissociate sperm/zona adhesions was both time- and temperature-dependent. UDPGal produced nearly total inhibition of sperm/zona binding when the zonae pellucidae were first galactosylated to reduce the number of GalTase binding sites. Finally, monospecific anti-GalTase IgG and its Fab fragments produced a dose-dependent inhibition of sperm/zona binding and concomitantly blocked sperm GalTase catalytic activity. Preimmune IgG or anti-mouse brain IgG, which also binds to the sperm surface, had no effect. The sperm GalTase was localized by indirect immunofluorescence to a discrete plasma membrane domain on the dorsal surface of the anterior head overlying the intact acrosome. These results, along with earlier studies, show clearly that sperm GalTase serves as a principal gamete receptor during fertilization.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗

Human placental apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease. Mechanism of action.

The mechanism of action of the homogeneous preparation of human placental apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease, described in the previous paper (Shaper, N. L., Grafstrom, R. H., and Grossman, L. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 13455-13458), has been investigated in detail. This enzyme cleaves apyrimidinic DNA both 5' and 3' to the site of damage in a ratio of 60:40, respectively. Even though this enzyme can cleave on both sides of an internal AP site, it does not release deoxyribose 5-phosphate from terminal AP sites. However, a compound, tentatively identified as alpha, beta unsaturated deoxyribose 5-phosphate, is nonenzymatically released only from 5'-terminal AP sites, presumably by a beta-elimination mechanism.

DNA Glycosylases↗

Human placental apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease. Its isolation and characterization.

An endonuclease from human placenta has been purified to apparent homogeneity, which acts specifically on DNA containing either apurinic or apyrimidinic sites. The isolation procedure, which results in a 20,000-fold purification and an overall yield of 15%, employs chromatography on a gel of octyl succinic anhydride coupled to agarose by diaminohexane spacers, isoelectric focusing, Sephadex G-75 chromatography, and DNA agarose affinity chromatography. Under conditions in which proteolysis is minimized, this enzyme appears to be the major species of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease. The endonuclease is a monomeric protein with an apparent Mr = 37,000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme has a pI of 7.4-7.6, requires Mg2+, is partially stimulated by Mn2+, and is inhibited by EDTA. It has no detectable exonuclease or phosphomonoesterase activity.

DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase↗

Cleavage of pyrimidine dimers in specific DNA sequences by a pyrimidine dimer DNA-glycosylase of M. luteus.

Pyrimidine dimer formation in response to UV radiation is governed by the thymine content of the potential dimer and the two flanking nucleotides. An enzymatic activity can be purified from Micrococcus luteus that cleaves the N-glycosyl bond between the 5' pyrimidine of a dimer and the corresponding sugar without rupture of a phosphodiester bond. We propose that strand scission at a dimer site by the M. luteus enzyme requires two activities, a pyrimidine dimer DNA-glycosylase and an apyrimidinic/apurinic endonuclease.

Apurinic Acid↗