Quaternary structure of oligomers: a new theory and its application.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · Search PubMed
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
This paper reports the discovery that the activity of the multienzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from beef kidney mitochondria is regulated by a phosphorylation-dephosphorylation reaction sequence. The site of this regulation is the pyruvate dehydrogenase component of the complex. Phosphorylation and concomitant inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase are catalyzed by an ATP-specific kinase (i.e., a pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase), and dephosphorylation and concomitant reactivation are catalyzed by a phosphatase (i.e., a pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase). The kinase and the phosphatase appear to be regulatory subunits of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.
The activity of the multienzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes, isolated from mitochondria of beef kidney, beef heart, and pork liver, is regulated by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Phosphorylation and concomitant inactivation of each of the three complexes are catalyzed by an ATP-specific kinase, and dephosphorylation and concomitant reactivation are catalyzed by a phosphatase. The phosphatase has been separated from the other component enzymes of each pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, and the three phosphatases are functionally interchangeable. The kinase has been isolated from the beef kidney complex, and it is functional with the beef heart and pork liver complexes. ADP is competitive with ATP, and the ADP effect is more pronounced with the kidney kinase than with the liver and heart kinases. Pyruvate protects strongly the heart and liver pruvate dehydrogenase complexes and, to a lesser extent, the kidney complex against inactivation by ATP. Pyruvate apparently exerts its effect on the pyruvate dehydrogenase component of the complex, rather than on the kinase.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of threonine supplementation on tyrosine metabolism in rats fed a low protein diet with excess tyrosine. The growth retardation and the development of eye and paw lesions that occur in rats ingesting a basal plus 3% or 5% L-tyrosine diet could be alleviated partially by the addition of 0.5% or 1.0% L-threonine to the diet. An increased blood tyrosine level in rats fed excess tyrosine was also lowered by threonine supplementation. In tyrotoxic conditions, the activities of liver tyrosine transaminase (EC 2.6.1.5) and threonine dehydratase (EC 4.2.9.16) were elevated, but p-hydroxyphenyl pyruvic acid oxidase (EC 1.13.11.27) which is also intimately associated with tyrosine toxicity was found to be inactivated. Furthermore, biosynthesis of ascorbic acid in liver was significantly lowered in this condition. However, addition of L-threonine in the diet, not only could cure the signs developed due to excess tyrosine, but also could affect the levels of enzymes studied.
We tested the hypothesis that a very rapid improvement in exercise performance of iron-deficient rats after treatment with iron might reveal a rate-limiting role of ionic iron as an enzyme cofactor in energy metabolism. Rats were given iron-deficient or control diets after weaning at 21 d of age and intraperitoneal iron dextran (50 mg/kg) at 45 d of age. Time to fatigue during an easy walking exercise (endurance) was measured 15 and 18 h after iron dextran or saline injection. Endurance increased more than threefold compared to the saline-treated, iron-deficient animals without a significant change in hemoglobin concentration. This prompt improvement suggests that lack of cofactor iron might play a metabolically important role in impairing exercise performance in the severely iron-deficient rat.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase was purified from corn root tips about 80-fold by centrifugation, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The resulting preparation was essentially free from malate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, malate enzyme, NADH oxidase, and pyruvate kinase activity. Kinetic analysis indicated that l-malate was a noncompetitive inhibitor of P-enolpyruvate carboxylase with respect to P-enolpyruvate (K(I) = 0.8 mm). d-Malate, aspartate, and glutamate inhibited to a lesser extent; succinate, fumarate, and pyruvate did not inhibit. Oxaloacetate was also a noncompetitive inhibitor of P-enolpyruvate carboxylase with an apparent K(I) of 0.4 mm. A comparison of oxaloacetate and l-malate inhibition suggested that the mechanisms of inhibition were different. These data indicated that l-malate may regulate CO(2) fixation in corn root tips by a feedback or end product type of inhibition.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Lactobacillus coprophilus subsp. confusus (NCDO 1586) and 18 other strains of slime-forming heterofermentative lactobacilli obtained from diverse sources are considered to form a new species on the basis of their physiological characteristics and similarities of their pyruvate reductases and lactate dehydrogenases. It is suggested that these strains should be named Lactobacillus confusus (Holzapfel & Kandler) comb. nov. (L. coprophilus subsp. confusus Holzapfel & Kandler), reasons being given. The type strain is NCDO 1586 (NCIB 9311, ATCC 10881). Strains of Lactobacillus vermiforme and Lactobacillus viridescens also form slime. However, L. vermiforme was readily separated from the other two by the criteria used. Although physiological characteristics separated L. viridescens from L. confusus, a relationship between these two species and also between them and the leuconostocs was indicated by the properties of the pyruvate reductases and lactate dehydrogenases. The slime produced by all species was found to be a glucan, probably a dextran, containing primarily alpha-1-6-glycosidic linkages.
Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species are released by immune-competent cells and contribute to cellular damage. On the other hand, certain pathogens, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, are known to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), while production of nitrogen radicals by bacteria presumably occurs but has been poorly studied. We determined the relative contributions of bacterial versus host-derived oxygen and nitrogen radicals to cellular damage in pneumococcal infection. A special focus was placed on peroxynitrite as a hypothetical common product formed by the reaction of H2O2 and NO. In microglial cultures, reduction of the formation of 3-nitrotyrosine and cellular damage required H2O2-deficient (DeltaspxB or DeltacarB) pneumococci and inhibition of host NO synthesis with aminoguanidine. In infected C57BL/6 mice, neuronal loss and immunopositivity for nitrotyrosine in the dentate gyrus were markedly reduced with DeltaspxB or DeltacarB bacterial mutants and in inducible nitric oxide synthase knockout mice. We conclude that although host and bacteria both produce oxygen and nitrogen radicals, the interplay of prokaryotic H2O2 and eukaryotic NO is a major contributor to cellular damage in pneumococcal meningitis.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Loss-of-function mutations in the following seven pneumococcal genes were detected and analyzed: pspA, spxB, xba, licD2, lytA, nanA, and atpC. Factors associated with these mutations included (i) frameshifts caused by reversible gain and loss of single bases within homopolymeric repeats as short as 6 bases, (ii) deletions caused by recombinational events between nontandem direct repeats as short as 8 bases, and (iii) substitutions of guanine residues caused at an increased frequency by the high levels of hydrogen peroxide (>2 mM) typically generated by this species under aerobic growth conditions. The latter accounted for a frequency as high as 2.8 x 10(-6) for spontaneous mutation to resistance to optochin and was 10- to 200-fold lower in the absence of detectable levels of H2O2. Some of these mutations appear to have been selected for in vivo during pneumococcal infection, perhaps as a consequence of immune pressure or oxidative stress.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.