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Biomedical subjects

P John

Publications and source records attributed to P John.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Mitochondrial regulation of cell surface components in relation to carcinogenesis.

The recently discovered mitochondrial regulation of certain surface properties of yeast and mouse cells is explained in terms of the intragenomic conflict and interallelic competition that can arise within an organism from the cytoplasmic inheritance of mitochondrial genes. These considerations lend support to the view that an alteration of mitochondrial DNA is one of the steps in chemical carcinogenesis.

Alleles↗
PubMed1981

Sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabs in early childhood.

Haemoglobin electrophoresis screening of 2341 infants from the oases of eastern Saudi Arabia, performed in an attempt to detect cases early and then to follow up and give better management to patients with sickle cell disease, showed 20% with S-trait and 43 with sickle cell disease (37 HbSS and 6 S-beta(0) thalassaemia). On follow-up from birth (or from 3 months) for a mean of 3 1/2 years there was more morbidity and mortality than in matched Saudi Arab controls, but these rates were lower than for affected black infants in the US or Jamaica. Serial haemoglobin levels were l g/dl lower than for controls; height and weight increases were the same. Mean fetal haemoglobin level was 32% at 4-5 years. Half of a subsample of 23 cases had evidence of coexistent alpha-thalassaemia which appeared to protect against functional asplenia, judged by the presence of Howell-Jolly bodies; however there was no difference in degree of anaemia or clinical course. Early screening is recommended for infants at risk for sickle cell disease, and comprehensive care should be given even if the infant has the less severe type.

Anemia, Sickle Cell↗
PubMed1979

From extracellular to intracellular: the establishment of mitochondria and chloroplasts.

Paracoccus and Rhodopseudomonas are unusual among bacteria in having a majority of the biochemical features of mitochondria; blue-green algae have many of the features of chloroplasts. The theory of serial endosymbiosis proposes that a primitive eukaryote successively took up bacteria and blue-green algae to yield mitochondria and chloroplasts respectively. Possible characteristics of transitional forms are indicated both by the primitive amoeba, Pelomyxa, which lacks mitochondria but contains a permanent population of endosymbiotic bacteria, and by several anomalous eukaryotic algae, e.g. Cyanophora, which contain cyanelles instead of chloroplasts. Blue-green algae appear to be obvious precursors of red algal chloroplasts but the ancestry of other chloroplasts is less certain, though the epizoic symbiont, Prochloron, may resemble the ancestral green algal chloroplast. We speculate that the chloroplasts of the remaining algae may have been a eukaryotic origin. The evolution or organelles from endosymbiotic precursors would involve their integration with the host cell biochemically, structurally and numerically.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1978

The protonmotive force in bovine heart submitochondrial particles. Magnitude, sites of generation and comparison with the phosphorylation potential.

1. The magnitude of the protonmotive force in respiring bovine heart submitochondrial particles was estimated. The membrane-potential component was determined from the uptake of S14CN-ions, and the pH-gradient component from the uptake of [14C]methylamine. In each case a flow-dialysis technique was used to monitor uptake. 2. With NADH as substrate the membrane potential was approx. 145mV and the pH gradient was between 0 and 0.5 unit when the particles were suspended in a Pi/Tris reaction medium. The addition of the permeant NO3-ion decreased the membrane potential with a corresponding increase in the pH gradient. In a medium containing 200mM-sucrose, 50mM-KCl and Hepes as buffer, the total protonmotive force was 185mV, comprising a membrane potential of 90mV and a pH gradient of 1.6 units. Thus the protonmotive force was slightly larger in the high-osmolarity medium. 3. The phosphorylation potential (= deltaG0' + RT ln[ATP]/[ADP][Pi]) was approx. 43.1 kJ/mol (10.3kcal/mol) in all the reaction media tested. Comparison of this value with the protonmotive force indicates that more than 2 and up to 3 protons must be moved across the membrane for each molecule of ATP synthesized by a chemiosmotic mechanism. 4. Succinate generated both a protonmotive force and a phosphorylation potential that were of similar magnitude to those observed with NADH as substrate. 5. Although oxidation of NADH supports a rate of ATP synthesis that is approximately twice that observed with succinate, respiration with either of these substrates generated a very similar protonmotive force. Thus there seemed to be no strict relation between the size of the protonmotive force and the phosphorylation rate. 6. In the presence of antimycin and/or 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide, ascorbate oxidation with either NNN'N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine or 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine as electron mediator generated a membrane potential of approx. 90mV, but no pH gradient was detected, even in the presence of NO3-. These data are discussed with reference to the proposal that cytochrome oxidase contains a proton pump.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1978

The protonmotive force in phosphorylating membrane vesicles from Paracoccus denitrificans. Magnitude, sites of generation and comparison with the phosphorylation potential.

1. The magnitude of the protonmotive force in phosphorylating membrane vesicles from Paracoccus denitrificans was estimated. The membrane potential component was determined from the uptake of S(14)CN(-), and the transmembrane pH gradient component from the uptake of [(14)C]methylamine. In each case a flow-dialysis technique was used to monitor uptake. 2. With NADH as substrate, the membrane potential was about 145mV and the pH gradient was below 0.5 pH unit. The membrane potential was decreased by approx. 15mV during ATP synthesis, and was abolished on addition of carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. In the presence of KCl plus valinomycin the membrane potential was replaced by a pH gradient of 1.5 units. 3. Succinate oxidation generated a membrane potential of approx. 125mV and the pH gradient was below 0.5 pH unit. Oxidation of ascorbate (in the presence of antimycin) with either 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine or NNN'N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine as electron mediator usually generated a membrane potential of approx. 90mV. On occasion, ascorbate oxidation did not generate a membrane potential, suggesting that the presence of a third energy-coupling site in P. denitrificans vesicles is variable. 4. With NADH or succinate as substrate, the phosphorylation potential (DeltaG(p)=DeltaG(0)'+RTln[ATP]/ [ADP][P(i)]) was approx. 53.6kJ/mol (12.8kcal/mol). Comparison of this value with the protonmotive force indicates that more than 3 protons need to be translocated via the adenosine triphosphatase of P. denitrificans for each molecule of ATP synthesized by a chemiosmotic mechanism. In the presence of 10mm-KNO(3) the protonmotive force was not detectable (<60mV) but DeltaG(p) was not altered. This result may indicate either that there is no relationship between the protonmotive force and DeltaG(p), or that for an unidentified reason the equilibration of SCN(-) or methylamine with the membrane potential and the pH gradient is prevented by NO(3) (-) in this system.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1978

Measurement by a flow dialysis technique of the steady-state proton-motive force in chromatophores from Rhodospirillum rubrum. Comparison with phosphorylation potential.

1. In the light a transmembrane electrical potential of 100 mV has been estimated to occur in chromatophores from Rhodospirillum rubrum. The potential was determined by measuring the steady-state distribution of the permeant SCN- across the chromatophore membrane using a flow dialysis technique. The potential was not observed in the dark, nor in the presence of antimycin. It was dissipated on the addition of carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. The potential was reduced by between 15 and 20 mV when ADP and Pi were added. Hydrolysis of ATP by the chromatophores generated a membrane potential of about 80 mV. 2. Using a flow dialysis technique light-dependent uptake of methylamine was observed only in the presence of concentrations of SCN- that were 500-fold higher than were used to measure the membrane potential. It is concluded that the pH gradient across the illuminated chromatophore membrane is insignificant except in the presence of relatively high concentrations of a permeant anion like thiocyanate. Further evidence that a negligible pH gradient was generated by the chromatophores is that addition of K+ and nigericin to illuminated chromatophores did not stimulate uptake of SCN-. 3. In the light of chromatophores established and maintained a phosphorylation potential of up to 14 kcal/mol. If a phosphorylation potential of this magnitude is to be poised against a proton-motive force that comprises solely a membrane potential of approx. 100 mV, then at least five protons must be translocated for each ATP synthesised via a chemiosmotic mechanism.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1978

Natural history of sickle cell anemia in Saudi Arabs. A study of 270 subjects.

We studied 270 Saudi Arabs with homozygous sickle cell anemia, using chart review, a register (since 1969), and home visiting in 42 cases. Average follow-up for the total group was 10 years. Seventy-four percent of those diagnosed by age 3 years presented on screening or with merely anemia; 26% presented with illness, abnormal physical findings, or pain. Compared with American or Jamaican blacks, serious complications occurred only 6% to 25% as frequently; leg ulcers did not occur at all; the mortality under age 15 years was 10% as great; mean levels of blood hemoglobin were higher (10 g/dl), reticulocyte count was lower (5% to 6%), and mean fetal hemoglobin (HbF), which was inversely correlated with reticulocytes, was higher (22% to 26.8%). The high HbF is believed to account for the very mild clinical manifestations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Tightly bound nucleotides of the energy-transducing ATPase, and their role in oxidative phosphorylation. I. The Paracoccus denitrificans system.

1. The coupling ATPase of Paracoccus denitrificans can be removed from the membrane by washing coupled membrane fragments at low salt concentrations. 2. This ATPase resembles coupling ATPases of mitochondria, chloroplasts and other bacteria. It is a negatively charged protein of molecular weight about 300,000. An inhibitor protein in bound tightly to the ATPase in vivo, and can be destroyed by trypsin treatment. 3. ATP and ADP are found tightly bound to the coupling ATPase of P. denitrificans, both in its membrane-bound and isolated state. The ATP/ADP ratio on the enzyme is greater than one. 4. Under de-energised condtions, the bound nucleotides are not available to the suspending medium. When the membrane is energised however, the bound nucleotides can exchange with added nucleotides and incorporate 32Pi. 32Ppi is incorporated into the beta and gamma positions of the bound nucleotides, but beta-labelling probably does not occur on the coupling ATPase. 5. Uncouplers inhibit the exchange of the free nucleotides or 32Pi into the bound nucleotides, while venturicidin (an energy transfer inhibitor) and aurovertin stimulate the exchange. 6. The response of the bound nucleotides to energisation is consistent with their being involved directly in the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1977

Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial respiration monitored by electrodes.

A technique is described by which both oxygen and nitrate (or nitrate or chlorate) levels were continuously monitored during bacterial respiration. Paracoccus (Micrococcus) denitrificans and Escherichia coli oxidizing succinate rapidly ceased to reduce nitrate when oxygen was available, and equally rapidly commenced nitrate reduction when all the oxygen had been consumed. By contrast, membrane vesicles isolated from P. denitrificans reduced oxygen and nitrate simultaneously. The respiratory nitrate reductase in intact cells of P. denitrificans appeared to be inacessible to chlorate present in the reaction medium, and it is suggested that the nitrate reductase is orientated on the plasma membrane so that nitrate gains access from the inner (cytosolic) face.

Aerobiosis↗