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Biomedical subjects

P F Knowles

Publications and source records attributed to P F Knowles.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Protein-lipid interactions in cytochrome oxidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Effects of detergents and reconstitution of enzyme activity by phospholipids by using cholate-mediated exchange.

Cytochrome oxidase, purified from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was shown to have associated phospholipid, cholate or detergent, which could be varied by dialysis or (NH4)2SO4 precipitation of the protein. Cholate and the detergents Triton X-100 and Tween 80 were shown to differ in their ability to support enzyme activity. Changes in the Vmax, but not the Km, for ferrocytochrome c as the cholate concentration was varied indicate that cholate increases the number of exposed active sites of the enzyme. Cholate was used to introduce chosen phospholipids into the lipid environment of yeast cytochrome oxidase. Kinetic studies clearly showed that cholate can mediate exchange of exogenous for endogenous phospholipid. All phospholipids screened supported activity up to the basal value for the unsubstituted enzyme, whereas mitochondrial phosphatidylethanolamine and various phosphatidlycholines (except 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) produced enhanced activity. A detailed kinetic examination revealed that the major effect of phosphatidylethanolamine is to increase k+1, whereas the major effect of phosphatidylcholine is to increase K+2 in the minimal kinetic scheme E + S k+1 in equilibrium k-1 ES k+2 leads to E + P Cardiolipin, although supporting activity, does not give any enhancement of k+1 or k+2 over the values for the cholate control. The relevance of these observations to protein-lipid interactions in cytochrome oxidase is discussed.

Cholic Acids↗
PubMed1977

Cooperativity of the phase transition in single- and multibilayer lipid vesicles.

The effect of membrane morphology on the cooperativity of the ordered-fluid, lipid phase transition has been investigated by comparing the transition widths in extended, multibilayer dispersons of dimyristoyl phosphatidyl-choline, and also of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, with those in the small, single-bilayer vesicles obtained by sonication. The electron spin resonance spectra of three different spin-labelled probes, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperdine-N-oxyl, phosphatidylcholine and stearic acid, and also 90 degrees light scattering and optical turbidity measurements were used as indicators of the phase transition. In all cases the transition was broader in the single-bilayer vesicles than in the multibilayer dispersions, corresponding to a decreased cooperativity on going to the small vesicles. Comparison of the light scattering properties of centrifuged and uncentrifuged, sonicated vesicles suggests that these are particularly sensitive to the presence of intermediate-size particles, and thus the spin label measurements are likely to give a more reliable measure of the degree of cooperativity of the small, single-bilayer vesicles. Application of the Zimm and Bragg theory ((1959) J. Chem. Phys. 31, 526-535) of cooperative transitions to the two-dimensional bilayer system shows that the size of the cooperative unit, 1/square root sigma, is a measure of the mean number of molecules per perimeter molecule, in a given region of ordered or fluid lipid at the centre of the transition. From this result it is found that it is the vesicle size which limits the cooperativity of the transition in the small, single-bilayer vesicles. The implications for the effect of membrane structure and morphology on the cooperativity of phase transitions in biological membranes, and for the possibility of achieving lateral communication in the plane of the membrane, are discussed.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1976

Evidence for phase boundary lipid. Permeability of Tempo-choline into dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles at the phase transition.

The existence of distinct regions of mismatch in molecular packing at the interfaces of the fluid and ordered domains during the phase transition of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles has been demonstrated by measuring the temperature dependence of the permeability to a spin-label cation and comparing this with a statistical mechanical calculation of the fraction of interfacial lipid. The kinetics of uptake and release of the 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxycholine (Tempo-choline) spin label by single-bilayer dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles were measured using electron spin resonance spectroscopy to quantitate the amount of spin label present within the vesicles after removal of the external spin-label by ascorbate at 0 degrees C. Both the uptake and release experiments show that the Tempo-choline permeability peaks to a sharp maximum at the lipid-phase transition, the vesicles being almost impermeable to Tempo-choline below the transition and having a much reduced permeability above. The temperature profile of the permeability is in reasonable quantitative agreement with calculations of the fraction of interfacial boundary lipid from the Zimm and Bragg theory of cooperative transitions, which use independent spin-label measurements of the degree of transition to determine the cooperativity parameter. The relatively high intrinsic permeability of the interfacial regions (P approximately 0.2-1.0 X 10(-8) cm/s) is attributed to the mismatch in molecular packing of the lipid molecules at the ordered-fluid boundaries, which could have important implications not only for permeability in natural membranes (e.g., in transmitter release), but also for the function of membrane-bound enzymes and transport proteins.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1976

Human placental diamine oxidase. Improved purification and characterization of a copper- and manganese-containing amine oxidase with novel substrate specificity.

1. Isoelectric focusing studies of human placental diamine oxidase showed the pI value of the active enzyme to be 6.5. This information was used in modifying the enzyme purification by incorporating column chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex with ionic strength and pH gradient elution and this, together with affinity chromatography on concanavalin A--Sepharose, gave a highly purified preparation, with a specific activity of 7.0 units/mg. 2. The enzyme gave the expected stoicheiometry with p-dimethylaminomethylbenzylamine as substrate (Keq. 2700) and also oxidized [8-arginine]vasopressin, [8-lysine]vasopressin, collagen and tropocollagen. Polyacrylamide gel slices showed identical migration of diamine-oxidizing and [8-lysine]vasopressin-oxidizing activity. 3. The molecular weight, determined by ultracentrifugation, sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, variable polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and Sephadex G-200 column chromatography, was estimated to be approx. 70000. 4. E.s.r. spectroscopy showed that copper and manganese were present in the purified enzyme. This result was confirmed by atomic absorption spectroscopy, which indicated a stoicheiometry for copper and manganese of approx. 1.0 and 1.2g-atom respectively/70000mol.wt. unit. 5. The e.s.r. spectral intensity did not decrease nor did the spectral line shape change when excess of p-dimethylaminomethylbenzylamine was added to the enzyme. 6. Addition of K13CN to the enzyme eliminated the copper e.s.r. signal without affecting the manganese signal. 7. The placental enzyme therefore appears to differ from other amine oxidases in terms of its metal cofactor requirement, molecular weight and substrate specificity, and possible roles in vivo for this enzyme are discussed.

Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing)↗
PubMed1972

A catalytic mechanism for the enzyme benzylamine oxidase from pig plasma.

Initial-velocity and product-inhibition studies on the enzyme benzylamine oxidase from pig plasma indicate that the order of substrate addition and product release is benzylamine on, ammonia off, oxygen on, hydrogen peroxide off, benzaldehyde off. Ammonia, but not benzaldehyde, is released under strictly anaerobic conditions which provides independent evidence for this order. Benzyl alcohol is a substrate for the enzyme. A chemical mechanism consistent with all the data is proposed.

Alcohols↗
PubMed1969

Electron-spin-resonance evidence for enzymic reduction of oxygen to a free radical, the superoxide ion.

1. An electron-spin-resonance signal with g( parallel)2.08 and g( perpendicular)2.00 is observed by the rapid-freezing technique during the oxidation of substrates by molecular oxygen catalysed by xanthine oxidase at pH10. 2. The intensity of this signal is shown to depend on oxygen rather than on enzyme concentration, indicating that it is due to an oxygen free radical and not to the enzyme. 3. The same species is shown to be produced in the reaction at pH10 between hydrogen peroxide and periodate ions. Studies with this system have facilitated comparison of the properties of the oxygen radical with data in the literature on the products of pulse radiolysis of oxygenated water over a wide pH range. 4. It is concluded that the species observed is the superoxide ion, O(2) (-), and that the stability of this ion is greatly increased in alkaline solution. A mechanism explaining the alkaline stability is proposed. 5. The importance of O(2) (-) in the enzymic reaction is discussed.

Alkalies↗