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At least 883 records · Page 49Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Isolation of the C9b fragment of human complement component C9 using urea in the absence of detergents.

The bactericidal activity of the C5b-9 complex of complement is dependent upon the terminal complement component C9. The precursor C5b-8 complex is not harmful to bacterial cells until C9 is added to complete the C5b-9 complex. The C9 molecule can be proteolytically cleaved by thrombin to yield an intact, nicked molecule that remains fully functional when added to either bacterial cells or erythrocytes bearing pre-formed C5b-8 complexes. In investigating the membranolytic function of C9 in the C5b-9 complex, the carboxyl-terminal portion of the nicked molecule (C9b) has been shown to be membranolytic when added to erythrocytes, liposomes, or bacterial inner membranes in the absence of any other complement components. The isolation of C9b from nicked C9 has been accomplished by preparative gel electrophoresis using detergents, however the study of the activity of C9b in membrane systems may be complicated by the possible presence of residual detergent. To address this concern, we have used 4 M urea in conjunction with hydroxyapatite chromatography and a phosphate elution procedure to separate the domains of nicked C9. The isolated C9b domain, free of detergents and in the absence of any other complement components, was found to be membranolytic. C9b isolated in this manner was capable of lysing erythrocytes and inhibiting the growth of bacterial spheroplasts.

Complement C9↗
PubMed1992

Chromatin structure of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. A nucleosome repeat length that is shorter than the chromatosomal DNA length.

We have used new methods for chromatin isolation, together with conventional methods for measuring the nucleosome repeat length, to determine the repeat length of Schizosaccharomyces pombe chromatin. We obtain a result of 156(+/- 2) bp. Equivalent results are obtained using a psoralen crosslinking method for measuring the repeat length in viable spheroplasts. That result, together with other control experiments, rules out many possible artifacts. The measured value of 156(+/- 2) bp is smaller than the length of DNA found in the chromatosome. Thus, the chromatosome cannot be the fundamental unit of chromatin structure in all eukaryotes. The crossed linker model of chromatin higher order structure is incompatible with a nucleosome repeat length of 156 bp, and thus cannot apply to all eukaryotes. The solenoid model of higher order structure is compatible with this repeat length only if the solenoid is right-handed. We note two other properties of this chromatin. (1) Early in digestion, the DNA length of mononucleosomes from S. pombe and Aspergillus nidulans exceeds the nucleosome repeat length. (2) Many methods for isolating chromatin from S. pombe yield an apparent nucleosome repeat length of less than or equal to 140 bp; this result is found to be an artifactual consequence of nucleosome sliding.

Chromatin↗
PubMed1989

RNA transfection of Escherichia coli by electroporation.

Cells of Escherichia coli were efficiently transfected with Q beta phage RNA by electroporation. A single voltage shock at 6.25 kV/cm with a 25 microF capacitor resulted in an infectivity yield considerably higher than that attained by a lysozyme-EDTA spheroplast method or a CaCl2 procedure. A linear relationship was found between concentration of the input RNA and yield of the transfectants, over a wide range. Efficiency of the electroporation-mediated transfection (electrotransfection) was increased by addition of certain sodium salts but decreased by preincubation in a Tris buffer containing sucrose.

Bacteriophages↗
PubMed1983

Sedimentation behaviour of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from mixed lysates of yeast and rabbit liver.

The subcellular distribution of five aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from yeast, including lysyl-, arginyl- and methionyl-tRNA synthetases known to exist as high-molecular-weight complexes in lysates from higher eukaryotes, was investigated. To minimize the risks of proteolysis, spheroplasts prepared from exponentially grown yeast cells were lysed in the presence of several proteinase inhibitors, under conditions which preserved the integrity of the proteinase-rich vacuoles. The vacuole-free supernatant was subjected to sucrose density gradient centrifugation. No evidence for multimolecular associations of these enzymes was found. In particular, phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase activity was not associated with the ribosomes, whereas purified phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase from sheep liver, added to the yeast lysate prior to centrifugation, was entirely recovered in the ribosomal fraction. A mixture of lysates from yeast and rabbit liver was also subjected to sucrose gradient centrifugation and assayed for methionyl- and arginyl-tRNA synthetase activities, under conditions which allowed discrimination between the enzymes originating from yeast and rabbit. The two enzymes from rabbit liver were found to sediment exclusively as high-molecular-weight complexes, in contrast to the corresponding enzymes from yeast, which displayed sedimentation properties characteristic of free enzymes. The preservation of the complexed forms of mammalian aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases upon mixing of yeast and rabbit liver extracts argues against the possibility that failure to observe complexed forms of these enzymes in yeast was due to uncontrolled proteolysis. Furthermore, this result denies the presence, in the crude extract from liver, of components capable of inducing artefactual aggregation of the yeast aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and thus indirectly argues against an artefactual origin of the multienzyme complexes encountered in lysates from mammalian cells.

Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

DNA-DNA and DNA-protein crosslinking and repair in Neurospora crassa following exposure to nitrogen mustard.

A new method was developed for the analysis of DNA-protein crosslinks in Neurospora crassa. The formations of DNA-protein and DNA-DNA crosslinks were assayed following exposure of spheroplasts to HN2. Both types of crosslink were detected and were found to be repaired during recovery. Moreover a mutant sensitive to HN2 was defective in the removal of both types of crosslink.

DNA Repair↗
PubMed1982

Isolation and characterization of yeast ring chromosome III by a method applicable to other circular DNAs.

A method is described for the isolation and purification of covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Spheroplasts are lysed at pH 12.45 which denatures linear but not ccc DNA. Next, the lysate is taken through a gentle high-salt-phenol extraction to remove single-stranded DNA. The ccc DNA, recovered by ethanol precipitation, can be further studied by agarose gel electrophoresis, can be cut with restriction endonucleases and can be used to transform Escherichia coli. This method efficiently purifies large (approx. 190 kb) and small (approx. 1.5 kb, TRP1-RI Circle) circular DNAs and thus has general applicability for isolation and purification of plasmids from yeast.

Chromosomes↗
PubMed1991

Characterization of pGA1, a new plasmid from Corynebacterium glutamicum LP-6.

A new plasmid, pGA1, has been isolated from Corynebacterium glutamicum LP-6, and its detailed restriction map has been prepared. The 4.9-kb plasmid has a G + C content of 57%. It replicates in C. glutamicum ATCC13032 and is compatible with the three other plasmids, pCC1, pBL1 and pHM1519, commonly used for vector construction for amino acid-producing corynebacteria. Fusions of pGA1 with different Escherichia coli replicons (transferred from E. coli to Corynebacterium via transformation of spheroplasts or by filter mating experiments with intact cells) are shown to be suitable as shuttle plasmids; some of them are highly stable in C. glutamicum, even when propagated without any selection pressure.

Base Composition↗
PubMed1995

Transfer of yeast artificial chromosomes into mammalian cells and comparative study of their integrity.

Yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) from the CEPH MegaYAC library (Paris, France) ranging in size from 350 to 1600 kb and mapping to the q22.1 and q22.2 regions of human chromosome 21 were transferred into mammalian cells by spheroplast fusion. The integrity of the YACs from two adjacent parts of the region was compared after retrofitting and stable transfer into mammalian cells. We found that large YACs could easily be manipulated to allow transfer of the YAC material into mammalian cells and that the size of the YAC did not appear to be limiting for fusion. However, we show that there was great variability in the integrity of the YACs from the two regions, which was not related to the size of the YACs. Four YACs in region I from sequence-tagged site (STS) G51E05 up to STS LL103 showed, in general, no loss of material and correct gene transfer into mammalian cells. In contrast, the three YACs in the more centromeric region II (from STS G51B09 up to G51E05) frequently showed a loss of human material during handling, retrofitting and transfer. As a YAC from another library covering region II was also found to be unstable, we propose that the integrity of the YACs is highly dependent on the incorporated human chromosomal DNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Periplasmic location of Brucella abortus Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase.

Two types of superoxide dismutase (SOD) have been found in Brucella abortus, a cytosolic Mn-SOD and a Cu/Zn-SOD of unknown location. We sought to determine the subcellular location of Cu/Zn-SOD in B. abortus ST 19. We report a modified spheroplasting procedure for the release of periplasmic contents from B. abortus cells using a dipolar ionic detergent, Zwittergent 316. This detergent, used in place of EDTA, destabilizes the outer membrane sufficiently to allow penetration of lysozyme and the subsequent selective release of periplasmic proteins by osmotic shock. Cytoplasmic cross-contamination of periplasmic fractions was assessed by assaying for malate dehydrogenase activity. Cyanide-sensitive and cyanide-insensitive SOD activity was measured by both the xanthine oxidase-cytochrome c method and a hematoxylin assay. Results suggest that B. abortus Cu/Zn-SOD activity is periplasmic. This zwittergent-lysozyme extraction procedure may be applicable to the separation, isolation and characterization of many other periplasmic proteins of B. abortus and other Gram-negative organisms especially when cytosolic contamination is undesirable.

Brucella abortus↗
PubMed1992

Purification of cytochrome c oxidase by lysine-affinity chromatography.

A method for the purification of cytochrome c oxidase that is based on the affinity of this enzyme for polycations such as poly-L-lysine is described. When detergent extracts of bovine cardiac mitochondria were applied to either a poly-L-lysine-agarose or a lysine-Sepharose column at low ionic strength, cytochrome c oxidase was found to adhere tightly, whereas the bulk of the proteins were eluted by washing with the same buffer. The cytochrome c oxidase was eluted by application of a linear potassium chloride gradient to the columns. The resulting enzyme was identical to that obtained by more traditional purification methods in terms of its subunit composition, optical and resonance Raman spectra, and cytochrome c oxidizing activity. When detergent extracts of spheroplasts from Paracoccus denitrificans were applied to these columns, the cytochrome c oxidase from this organism was also found to adhere tightly. Thus this purification method appears applicable to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic forms of the enzyme. The advantages of this new purification method are that it is less labor intensive than the traditional procedure and less expensive than methods based on cytochrome c-affinity chromatography.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Different action of killer toxins K1 and K2 on the plasma membrane and the cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Study of Saccharomyces cerevisiae killer toxin-sensitive strains with the deltakre2 phenotype (resistant to toxin K1, sensitive to toxin K2) showed that the phenotype is complemented by the KRE2 gene not only in intact cells but also in spheroplasts, and resistance to K1 thus resides very probably in the plasma membrane. deltakre1 deletant displays a faulty interaction with both K1 and K2 toxin. Hence, Kre1p probably serves as plasma membrane receptor for both toxins. Deletants in seven other genes (GDA1, SAC1, LUV1, KRE23, SAC2, KRE21, ERG4) exhibit different degrees of the deltakre2-like resistance pattern, but the phenotype in deltagda1 and deltasac1 is not connected with a defect in K1 toxin interaction with the plasma membrane, similarly as in deltakre6 and deltakre11 strains with a higher resistance to K2 toxin. Differences between the K1 and K2 killer toxin thus occur on the level of both the plasma membrane and the cell wall.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed2006

Development of a rapid and convenient method for the quantification of HIV-1 budding.

In cells, the expression of Gag protein, one of the major structural proteins of retroviruses, is sufficient for budding virus-like particles (VLPs) from the cell surface. We have previously reported that spheroplasts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing HIV-1 Gag proteins from an episomal plasmid constitutively released a large amount of VLPs into culture media; however, commercially available ELISA kits which detect mature capsid of HIV-1 could not detect uncleaved 55-kDa Gag proteins released from budding yeast. We therefore developed a method to quantitate VLP levels released from budding yeast by using fusion protein from HIV-1 Gag and Firefly Luciferase. This system is useful for screening cellular factor(s) involved in retrovirus budding from S. cerevisiae.

Gene Products, gag↗
PubMed2006

Transformation of yeast by infectious prion particles.

We present methods to prepare infectious Sup35 protein aggregates and use them for genetic transformation of yeast. The protein aggregates are prepared from bacterially expressed recombinant protein, which is converted to amyloid fibers by extended incubation or by nucleated growth using yeast prion particles as seeds. The aggregates are introduced into yeast by a modified spheroplast transformation protocol. The phenotype of the yeast transformants is further characterized by robust prion strain typing methods. The methodology can be used to introduce different [PSI(+)] particles to many laboratory yeast genetic backgrounds. It can be adapted for applications in other yeast prion systems as well.

Amyloid↗
PubMed1992

Bioelectrorheological model of the cell. 3. Viscoelastic shear deformation of the membrane.

An analytical electromechanical model of a spherical cell exposed to an alternating electric field was used to calculate shear stress generated in the cellular membrane. Shape deformation of Neurospora crassa (slime) spheroplasts was measured. Statistical analysis permitted empirical evaluation of creep of the cellular membrane within the range of infinitesimal stress. Final results were discussed in terms of various rheological models.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed2001

Ca(2+) transport into an intracellular acidic compartment of Candida parapsilosis.

In this report, we study Ca2+ transport in permeabilized Candida parapsilosis spheroplasts prepared by a new technique using lyticase. An intracellular non-mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake pathway, insensitive to orthovanadate and sensitive to the V-H(+)-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A(1), nigericin and carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone was characterized. Acidification of the compartment in which Ca2+ accumulated was followed using the fluorescent dye acridine orange. Acidification was stimulated by the Ca2+ chelator EGTA and inhibited by Ca2+. These results, when added to the observation that Ca2+ induces alkalization of a cellular compartment, provide evidence for the presence of a Ca2+/nH(+) antiporter in the acid compartment membrane. Interestingly, like in acidocalcisomes of trypanosomatids, the antioxidant 3,5-dibutyl-4-hydroxytoluene inhibits the V-H(+)-ATPase. In addition, the antifungal agent ketoconazole promoted a fast alkalization of the acidic compartment. Ketoconazole effects were dose-dependent and occurred in a concentration range close to that attained in the plasma of patients treated with this drug.

Acridine Orange↗
PubMed1997

Release of cytochrome c and decrease of cytochrome c oxidase in Bax-expressing yeast cells, and prevention of these effects by coexpression of Bcl-xL.

The characteristics of mitochondria of yeast cells expressing the pro-apoptotic gene Bax or coexpressing Bax and the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-xL have been investigated in whole cells, isolated mitochondria and permeabilized spheroplasts. It is found that Bax-induced growth arrest of yeast cells is related to two defects in the respiratory chain: (i) a decrease in the amount of cytochrome c oxidase, the terminal enzyme of the respiratory chain, and (ii) a dramatic increase in the release of cytochrome c to the cytosol. Other components of the inner mitochondrial membrane (bc1 complex and F0F1-ATPase) are unaffected. Coexpression of Bcl-xL almost fully prevented the effect of Bax. Surprisingly, these results obtained in yeast parallel similar observations reported in mammalian cells.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1977

Sulphydryl-mediated DNA breakage by phlemomycin in Escherichia coli.

Sulphydryl-mediated DNA breakage, which is induced by the antibiotic phleomycin in vitro, has been found to contribute significantly to the DNA damage produced by phleomycin in Escherichia coli. The effect of pleomycin was inhibited in vivo, as in vitro, by chelating agents, sulphydryl blocking agents and antioxidants. An increase in the intracellular concentration of free sulphydryl resulted in an increased response to phleomycin, while mutants containing very low levels of free sulphydryl due to a defect in glutathione synthesis showed greatly reduced DNA breakage, particularly at low phleomycin concentrations. In spheroplasts of these gshA mutants, restoration of the response to phleomycin of dithiothreitol. Sulphydryl-mediated breakage appears to be the principal mechanism for DNA damage in E. coli at libly enzymic, operates at higher phleomycin concentrations.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1991

Properties of the two terminal oxidases of Escherichia coli.

Proton translocation coupled to oxidation of ubiquinol by O2 was studied in spheroplasts of two mutant strains of Escherichia coli, one of which expresses cytochrome d, but not cytochrome bo, and the other expressing only the latter. O2 pulse experiments revealed that cytochrome d catalyzes separation of the protons and electrons of ubiquinol oxidation but is not a proton pump. In contrast, cytochrome bo functions as a proton pump in addition to separating the charges of quinol oxidation. E. coli membranes and isolated cytochrome bo lack the CuA center typical of cytochrome c oxidase, and the isolated enzyme contains only 1Cu/2Fe. Optical spectra indicate that high-spin heme o contributes less than 10% to the reduced minus oxidized 560-nm band of the enzyme. Pyridine hemochrome spectra suggest that the hemes of cytochrome bo are not protohemes. Proteoliposomes with cytochrome bo exhibited good respiratory control, but H+/e- during quinol oxidation was only 0.3-0.7. This was attributed to an "inside out" orientation of a significant fraction of the enzyme. Possible metabolic benefits of expressing both cytochromes bo and d in E. coli are discussed.

Cardiolipins↗