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Y G Ko

Publications and source records attributed to Y G Ko.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Temperature regulation of the Tetrahymena mimbres glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein lipid composition.

By incubating Tetrahymena mimbres cells with [3H]myristic acid, [3H]ethanolamine, [3H]inositol, and [3H]mannose, proteins having apparent molecular masses of 23 and 63 kDa were identified as the cells' principal glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins. These proteins accounted for as much as 2-5% of the whole cell proteins, with the higher levels being recovered from non-growing cells. The two proteins, gpi 23 and gpi 63, were purified to near homogeneity through Triton X-114/water partitioning followed by preparative SDS/PAGE. The lipid components of the GPI anchors were determined by chemical and enzymic hydrolysis. Both proteins were anchored by ceramides, with the principal long-chain base being C18 sphinganine containing an O-methyl group at the 3 position. O-Methylation was shown not to be an artifact of hydrolysis. When T. mimbres was cultured at 15 degrees C, the ceramide fatty acid component of the GPI anchors was principally palmitic acid (75% in gpi 23 and 76% in gpi 63). GPI anchors from 28 degrees C-grown cells contained mainly stearic acid (79% in gpi 23 and 70% in gpi 63). Temperature change had little effect on the long-chain-base composition. The direction of temperature-induced lipid change in the protein-bound anchors was the same as found in the inositolphosphorylceramide putative precursors of the protein anchors described in the accompanying paper [Hung, Ko and Thompson (1995) Biochem. J. 307, 107-113], but the detailed fatty acid compositions of the precursors and the protein-bound lipids were quite different. The precise metabolic regulation of anchor lipid chain length supports the concept that composition of the lipid anchor is important in the function and/or metabolism of the anchored protein.

Animals↗

Purification of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins by modified triton X-114 partitioning and preparative gel electrophoresis.

Triton X-114 phase partitioning has frequently been used to obtain preparations enriched in glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins and other hydrophobic proteins from crude cellular homogenates. We have developed a new modification of this phase-partitioning technique which allows two distinct GPI-anchored proteins of Tetrahymena mimbres to be separated from other hydrophobic as well as hydrophilic proteins and recovered in approximately 90% yield. The unique feature of the new method is a 24-h incubation of the first Triton X-114 extract at -20 degrees C. This improves the partitioning of GPI-anchored proteins into the detergent phase while promoting the aggregation of other hydrophobic proteins. Individual GPI-anchored proteins in the detergent phase are then purified to near homogeneity by one-step preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. By substituting Triton X-114/water mixtures for the conventional SDS buffer used to collect proteins eluting from the preparative gel, the purified GPI-anchored protein can be rapidly concentrated from relatively large volumes of eluate by phase partitioning at 32 degrees C. The method is also effective in separating mammalian GPI-anchored alkaline phosphatase from other proteins. It is likely to be of general utility in characterizing the GPI anchor structures associated with nonabundant and abundant GPI-anchored proteins coexisting within the same cell type.

Cells, Cultured↗

Postural stability, tardive dyskinesia and developmental disability.

The postural stability of four adult populations was examined through force platform methods. The four groups were classified as: (1) developmentally disabled (severely and profoundly mentally retarded) with tardive dyskinesia; (2) developmentally disabled but with no history of neuroleptic medication; (3) tardive dyskinetic but of normal intelligence; and (4) a normal and healthy control group. Postural conditions included standing still with arms at side, standing still with one arm or both arms parallel to the ground, and standing still while swinging both arms in the sagittal plane. The findings showed that both tardive dyskinetic and/or developmentally disabled groups exhibited greater sway and variability in centre of pressure motion in contrast to the control group. The developmentally disabled with tardive dyskinesia group also exhibited a strong tendency to produce a different form to the postural sway strategy in that they produced rhythmical centre of pressure motions during stance that were, to some degree, task dependent. The findings show that the combined effects of developmental disability and tardive dyskinesia produce qualitatively and quantitatively different features in postural stability patterns. The data suggest that postural stability measures may be a useful index to assess tardive dyskinesia.

Antipsychotic Agents↗

Immobilization antigens from Tetrahymena thermophila are glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-linked proteins.

We have studied four strains of Tetrahymena thermophila, each of which expresses a different allele of the SerH gene and produces a distinctive surface protein of the immobilization antigen (i-antigen) class. Following exposure of the strains to [3H]ethanolamine or [3H]myristic acid, a protein corresponding in molecular mass to the characteristic i-antigen for that strain became highly labeled, as determined by mobility in sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis gels. Furthermore, antibodies raised to the i-antigens of the T. thermophila strains selectively immunoprecipitated radioactive proteins having molecular mass identical to that of the i-antigen characteristic for that particular strain. The lipid moieties labeled by [3H]myristate were not susceptible to hydrolysis by exogenous phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from bacteria. However, when protein extraction was carried out in the absence of phospholipase C inhibitors, radioactive fatty acids derived from [3H]myristate were rapidly cleaved from the putative i-antigens. On the basis of available data, it was concluded that T. thermophila i-antigens contain covalently-linked glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchors.

Animals↗