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Chemical pathways of peptide degradation. III. Effect of primary sequence on the pathways of deamidation of asparaginyl residues in hexapeptides.

Deamidation of Asn residues can occur either by direct hydrolysis of the Asn residue or via a cyclic imide intermediate. The effects of primary sequence on the pathways of deamidation of Asn residues were studied using Val-Tyr-X-Asn-Y-Ala hexapeptides with substitution on the C-terminal side (Y) and on the N-terminal side (X) of the Asn residue. In acidic media the peptides deamidate by direct hydrolysis of the Asn residue to yield only Asp peptides, whereas under neutral or alkaline conditions, the peptides deamidate by formation of the cyclic imide intermediates which hydrolyze to yield both isoAsp and Asp peptides. At neutral to alkaline pH's the rate of deamidation was significantly affected by the size of the amino acid on the C-terminal side of the Asn residue. The amino acid on the C-terminal side of the Asn residue has no effect on the rate of deamidation at acidic pH. Changes in the structure of the amino acid on the N-terminal side of the Asn residue had no significant effect on the rate of deamidation at all the pH's studied. For peptides that underwent deamidation slowly, a reaction involving the attack of the Asn side chain on the peptide carbonyl carbon resulting in peptide bond cleavage was also observed.

Amino Acid Sequence

The octadecanoic pathway: signal molecules for the regulation of secondary pathways.

Plant defense against microbial pathogens and herbivores relies heavily on the induction of defense proteins and low molecular weight antibiotics. The signals between perception of the aggression, gene activation, and the subsequent biosynthesis of secondary compounds are assumed to be pentacylic oxylipin derivatives. The rapid, but transient, synthesis of cis-jasmonic acid was demonstrated after insect attack on a food plant and by microbial elicitor addition to plant suspension cultures. This effect is highly specific and not caused by a number of environmental stresses such as light, heavy metals, or cold or heat shock. Elicitation of Eschscholtzia cell cultures also led to a rapid alkalinization of the growth medium prior to jasmonate formation. Inhibition of this alkalinization process by the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine also inhibited jasmonate formation. The induction of specific enzymes in the benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid pathway leading to the antimicrobial sanguinarine was induced to a qualitatively and quantitatively similar extent by fungal elicitor, methyl jasmonate, and its linolenic acid-derived precursor 12-oxophytodienoic acid. It is herein proposed that a second oxylipid cascade may exist in plants starting from linoleic acid via 15,16-dihydro-12-oxophytodienoic acid to 9,10-dihydrojasmonate. Experiments with synthetic trihomojasmonate demonstrated that beta-oxidation is not a prerequisite for biological activity and that 12-oxophytodienoic acid and derivatives are most likely fully active as signal transducers. Octadecanoic acid-derived compounds are essential elements in modulating the synthesis of antibiotic compounds and are thus integral to plant defense.

Animals

Multiple pathways in nuclear transport: the import of U2 snRNP occurs by a novel kinetic pathway.

Protein import to the nucleus is a signal-mediated process that exhibits saturation kinetics. We investigated whether signal bearing proteins compete with U2 and U6 snRNPs during import. When injected into Xenopus oocytes, saturating concentrations of P(Lys)-BSA, a protein bearing multiple nuclear localization signals from SV40 large T-antigen, reduce the rate of [125I]P(Lys)-BSA and of [125I]nucleoplasmin import, consistent with their competing for and sharing the same limiting component of the import apparatus. In contrast, saturating concentrations of P(Lys)-BSA do not reduce the rate of HeLa [32P]U2 snRNP assembly or import. The import of U6 snRNP is also competed by P(Lys)-BSA. We conclude that U2 snRNP is imported into oocyte nuclei by a kinetic pathway that is distinct from the one followed by P(Lys)-BSA, nucleoplasmin, and U6 snRNP.

Animals

Ionic conductance pathways in the mouse medullary thick ascending limb of Henle. The paracellular pathway and electrogenic Cl- absorption.

Net Cl- absorption in the mouse medullary thick ascending limb of Henle (mTALH) involves a furosemide-sensitive Na+:K+:2 Cl- apical membrane symport mechanism for salt entry into cells, which occurs in parallel with a Ba++-sensitive apical K+ conductance. The present studies, using the in vitro microperfused mouse mTALH, assessed the concentration dependence of blockade of this apical membrane K+-conductive pathway by Ba++ to provide estimates of the magnitudes of the transcellular (Gc) and paracellular (Gs) electrical conductances (millisiemens per square centimeter). These studies also evaluated the effects of luminal hypertonicity produced by urea on the paracellular electrical conductance, the electrical Na+/Cl- permselectivity ratio, and the morphology of in vitro mTALH segments exposed to peritubular antidiuretic hormone (ADH). Increasing luminal Ba++ concentrations, in the absence of luminal K+, produced a progressive reduction in the transcellular conductance that was maximal at 20 mM Ba++. The Ba++-sensitive transcellular conductance in the presence of ADH was 61.8 +/- 1.7 mS/cm2, or approximately 65% of the total transepithelial conductance. In phenomenological terms, the luminal Ba++-dependent blockade of the transcellular conductance exhibited negative cooperativity. The transepithelial osmotic gradient produced by luminal urea produced blebs on apical surfaces, a striking increase in shunt conductance, and a decrease in the shunt Na+/Cl- permselectivity (PNa/PCl), which approached that of free solution. The transepithelial conductance obtained with luminal 800 mM urea, 20 mM Ba++, and 0 K+ was 950 +/- 150 mS/cm2 and provided an estimate of the maximal diffusion resistance of intercellular spaces, exclusive of junctional complexes. The calculated range for junctional dilution voltages owing to interspace salt accumulation during ADH-dependent net NaCl absorption was 0.7-1.1 mV. Since the Ve accompanying ADH-dependent net NaCl absorption is 10 mV, lumen positive, virtually all of the spontaneous transepithelial voltage in the mouse mTALH is due to transcellular transport processes. Finally, we developed a series of expressions in which the ratio of net Cl- absorption to paracellular Na+ absorption could be expressed in terms of a series of electrical variables. Specifically, an analysis of paired measurement of PNa/PCl and Gs was in agreement with an electroneutral Na+:K+:2 Cl- apical entry step. Thus, for net NaCl absorption, approximately 50% of Na+ was absorbed via a paracellular route.

Absorption

Control-pattern analysis of metabolic pathways. Flux and concentration control in linear pathways.

Metabolic control analysis [Kacser and Burns (1973) Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol. 27, 65-104; Heinrich and Rapoport (1974) Eur. J. Biochem. 42, 89-95] leads to a description of the systemic properties of a metabolic system (expressed as control coefficients) in terms of the local kinetic properties of the individual enzyme-catalyzed reactions (expressed as elasticity coefficients). This paper describes a non-algebraic diagrammatic method which generates the mathematical expressions for flux or concentration-control coefficients in terms of elasticity coefficients. According to a set of simple rules, 'flux-control patterns' or 'concentration-control patterns' are drawn on a metabolic diagram. Each control pattern represents a product of elasticity coefficients that occurs as a term in the expression for a control coefficient. The rules also generate the correct sign that precedes each term. The control patterns are then used to build the expressions for control coefficients. The procedure was developed in such a way that each control pattern can be understood in terms of a 'chain of local effects' which shows how a perturbation in the activity of an enzyme is propagated through the metabolic pathway.

Biological Transport

A lacZ reporter fusion method for the genetic analysis of regulatory mutations in pathways of fungal secondary metabolism and its application to the Aspergillus nidulans penicillin pathway.

Secondary metabolism, usually superfluous under laboratory conditions, is intrinsically elusive to genetic analysis of its regulation. We describe here a method of analyzing regulatory mutations affecting expression of secondary metabolic genes, with an Aspergillus nidulans penicillin structural gene (ipnA [encoding isopenicillin N-synthase]) as a model. The method is based on a targeted double integration of a lacZ fusion reporter gene in a chromosome different from that containing the penicillin gene cluster. The trans-acting regulatory mutations simultaneously affect lacZ expression and penicillin biosynthesis. One of these mutations (npeE1) has been analyzed in detail. This mutation is recessive, prevents penicillin production and ipnA'::'lacZ expression, and results in very low levels of the ipnA message at certain times of growth. This indicates that npeE positively controls ipnA transcription. We also show that this tandem reporter fusion allows genetic analysis of npeE1 by using the sexual and parasexual cycles and that lacZ expression is an easily scorable phenotype. Haploidization analysis established that npeE is located in chromosome IV, but npeE1 does not show meiotic linkage to a number of known chromosome IV markers. This method might be of general applicability to genetic analysis of regulation of other fungal secondary metabolic pathways.

Aspergillus nidulans

Bio-inorganic regulation of pathways of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. 1. Effect of iron and manganese on the enzyme profile of pathways of carbohydrate metabolism in adipose tissue during development.

The effect of Fe2+ and Mn2+ on the pattern of emergence of enzymes in adipose tissue was studied in weaned rats given a high-fat diet; comparison was made with groups given a high-carbohydrate diet for 3 weeks. The addition of Fe2+ resulted in increased activity of key enzymes of glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway and lipogenesis, while further supplementation with Mn2+ enhanced these changes. The Mn2+ treatment thus appeared partially to overcome the regulatory feedback mechanisms of the high-fat diet and to provide a signal for the increase in enzymes involved in glucose oxidation and lipogenesis.

Adipose Tissue

In situ estrogen production via the estrone sulfatase pathway in breast tumors: relative importance versus the aromatase pathway.

Estrone and estradiol concentrations in breast tumor tissue are an order of magnitude higher than circulating plasma levels in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Local production of estrogen in the neoplastic tissue is one of several possible explanations for this plasma/tissue gradient. This study evaluated breast tumor estrogen production via the estrone sulfate to estrone (sulfatase) pathway and compared this with the androstenedione to estrone (aromatase) system in human and rodent mammary tumors. Estrogen production from estrone sulfate was related linearly with time and tissue concentrations, exhibited an apparent Km of 20 microM, and produced a linear Eadie-Hofstee kinetic plot consistent with a single class of enzymatic sites. Measurement of sulfatase in 35 human breast tumors using enzyme saturating conditions revealed estrone production ranging from 0.8-125 mumol/g protein . h. The corresponding range in host mammary tumors was 3.5-7.1 mumol/g protein . h. In human breast tumors, sulfatase activity did not correlate with the levels of estrogen receptor or progesterone receptor. Comparison of sulfatase with aromatase activity in human tumors at physiological levels of substrate revealed estrone formation via sulfatase of 2.8 pmol estrone produced/g protein . h, while aromatase produced only 0.27 pmol/g protein . h. In rat mammary tumors, sulfatase activity was similar to that in human tumors, whereas aromatase activity could not be detected, even with a highly sensitive assay. Thus, estrone sulfatase appears to be the enzyme primarily responsible for intratissue estrone production in hormone-dependent breast carcinomas.

Animals

Glucuronic acid pathway in alloxan diabetic rabbits. (I). Urinary excretion of metabolites related to the glucuronic acid pathway.

Studies on the activity of the glucuronic acid pathway in alloxan diabetic rabbits were carried out. Amount of D-glucaric acid, L-ascorbic acid, and D-glucuronic acid in urine increased in the case of the alloxan diabetic rabbits. The transformation from D-glucuronolactone to D-glucaric acid was higher than normal in the diabetic animals. The expired 14-CO2 decreased and urinary excretion of labeled L-gulonic acid increased after administration of 6-14-C-glucuronolactone in the diabetic rabbits. L-Gulonic acid dehydrogenase, lactonase II, and beta-glucuronidase activities were reduced, and UDPGA-pyrophosphatase, D-glucuronic acid-1-phosphatase, and UDPGA-transferase activities increased in the diabetic rabbit liver. From these results, it may be concluded that an increase of endogenous D-glucuronic acid in the diabetic states could be attributed to a metabolid defect in the step of L-gulonic acid dehydrogenation and to the enhancement of UDPGA-pyrophosphatase and D-glucuronic acid-1-phosphate phosphatase activities.

Adipates

Metabolic and endocrine modulation of anabolic and catabolic pathways of glucose and fatty acids. I. Chemical anatomy of the major metabolic pathways of the energogenic general function.

This study is an attempt to integrate the intermediary metabolism of energogenic substrates--glucose and fatty acids--within the framework of the energogenic general function (EGF), which is active in two distinct phases: anabolic and catabolic. EGF is a component of the metabolic general function (MGF), which together with the reproductive general function and the adaptation general function may be taken to represent three main "general functions of organisms" common to all beings, whether animal or vegetal. This initial paper presents, descriptively and graphically, the main anabolic functions and pathways of glucose and fatty acids and, separately, the main catabolic ones, in other words, the "chemical anatomy" of EGF. The study begins with the anabolic "digestive" function of the digestive tract, concerning the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and proteins. Conversion of the non-absorbable macromolecules of ingested carbohydrates into absorbable micromolecules of glucose, is shown to enable the latter, after absorption, to carry out the two characteristic anabolic processes: transmembrane "transport" and "condensation". Absorption and vehiculation of hydrophobic lipids is carried out by means of the major function of intestinal cells: synthesis of chylomicrons. Chylomicrons are hydrophilic special lipoprotein particles which are able to transport fats to the adipose tissue and cholesterol to the liver. In the liver the anabolic aspects of EGF are represented by two main functions: glycogeno-genesis, i.e. "non-reductive" condensation of glucose into glycogen stores, and lipoproteino-genesis, i.e. "reductive" condensation of glucose into lipoproteins or VLDL (very low density lipoproteins). VLDL are hydrophilic (vehiculable) spheric particles (containing triacylglycerols and cholesteryl esters in their core, and phospholipids, cholesterol and apolipoprotein-B at their surface), which are to be released into the general circulation. The anabolic phase in the muscles is characterized by the transmembrane "transport" of glucose and its "condensation" into intracellular glycogen stores; in the adipose tissue it is characterized by accumulation of triacylglycerols. The chemical anatomy of the "gluco-keto-productive" catabolic liver is clearly different from that of the "VLDL-productive" anabolic liver. Hepatic production of glucose (gluco-genesis) is achieved via glycogeno-lysis and via gluco-neo-genesis (GNG) from lactate, amino acids and glycerol. Hepatic production of ketone bodies (keto-genesis) is achieved through processing the fatty acids mobilized from the adipose tissue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adipose Tissue

Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/cytosolic phospholipase A2 pathway in a rat mast cell line. Indications of different pathways for release of arachidonic acid and secretory granules.

The role of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in the release of arachidonic acid was examined in a mutated mast cell (RBL-2H3(m1)) line that expressed both native Fc epsilon R1 and the G protein-coupled muscarinic m1 receptor. Stimulation of these cells with Ag, carbachol, Ca(2+)-ionophore, or thapsigargin resulted in the phosphorylation of Raf1, MEK1, p42mapk MAP kinase, and the recently cloned cytosolic phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and increased activities of both MAP kinase and PLA2, as well as release of arachidonic acid. Because this cascade of reactions was inhibited by guanosine 5'-(2-thiodiphosphate), it appeared to be dependent on a GTP-binding protein(s). These reactions, however, were not dependent on protein kinase C; the cascade was totally resistant to the actions of a selective protein kinase C inhibitor, Ro31-7549, whereas release of the secretory granule marker, hexosaminidase, was blocked by this agent. Differences between the stimulatory pathways for release of arachidonic acid and hexosaminidase were evident also from the effects of the kinase inhibitor, quercetin. The above cascade of reactions, including release of arachidonic acid, was inhibited by 50% with approximately 5 microM quercetin, whereas secretion was inhibited only at higher concentrations of inhibitor. Moreover, inhibition of the activation of MAP kinase and release of arachidonic acid were closely correlated. This and previous findings suggested that release of arachidonic acid was attributable to the regulation of cytosolic PLA2 by MAP kinase (for activation of PLA2) and Ca2+ (for association of PLA2 with the membrane), whereas release of hexosaminidase was regulated primarily by Ca2+ and protein kinase C.

Animals

Nephritic factor (NeF) of alternate pathway (NeFA) and of classical pathway (NeFc).

NeFA and NeFc were studied in various cases (115 cases). 5 cases were followed up for a long time. NeFA assay was done by the "microtest plate method". We detected the NeF activity for the first time in the cases of Sjögren syndrome (SjS) and SjS+SLE+Hashimoto's disease (Hashimoto). In some cases NeF activity disappeared after therapy, and in one case NeFA and NeFc were positive at first, but then only NeFA activity became negative following the adequate therapy. As to the antibody nature of NeF, the possibility was suggested that NeFA might be anti C3b autoantibody and NeFc might be anti C4b and/or C4b2a auto-antibody.

Complement Activation