Acta chemica Scandinavica. Series B: Organic chemistry and biochemistry最新文献

cDNA encoding human carbonic anhydrase II has been isolated and its nucleotide sequence determined. Expression of the isolated carbonic anhydrase gene in Escherichia coli from a plasmid containing the tac promoter yielded an active enzyme at a level of about 1% of total protein.

Troponin C binds to phenyl-Sepharose in the presence of Ca2+ and can be eluted with EDTA. This property was used as an essential step in the purification of this protein from rabbit skeletal muscle. Troponin C was extracted with 6M urea from extensively washed ground muscle. The protein was bound to and eluted from DEAE-Sephadex, fractionated by size on Sephadex G75, and in a final step purified from UV-absorbing non-protein impurities on phenyl-Sepharose. The total yield of electrophoretically pure protein was 60 mg per 100 g of muscle, which is considerably higher than that previously obtained.

Rose Bengal mediated photooxidation of mitochondrial F1-ATPase and its beta-subunit resulted in inactivation and loss of about 50 and 60% of their histidine residues, respectively. The beta-subunit was not cleaved upon photooxidation. Photooxidation of histidine probably results in changes in the conformational stability of F1-ATPase leading to its inactivation. The participation of singlet molecular oxygen during the photooxidation process is suggested by the selective loss of histidine residues, while other amino acids, also sensitive to singlet oxygen attack, were not affected. Photochemical damage of F1-ATPase was prevented by various phenanthroline compounds, the order of efficiency being bathophenanthroline-Fe chelate greater than bathophenanthroline greater than orthophenanthroline-Fe chelate greater than bathophenanthroline-sulfonate-Fe chelate. The prevention by bathophenanthroline-Fe chelate of photochemical damage is interpreted on the basis of its interaction with the photosensitizer, Rose Bengal, probably implying a chemical reaction which decreases the actual concentration of the sensitizer and, thereby, the extent of photoinactivation.

First-order rate constants for the alkaline opening of the imidazole ring of several 7-methylguanine nucleotides and their structural analogues were determined. The results obtained suggested that intramolecular interaction between the negatively charged 5'-phosphate group and the positively charged imidazole ring markedly retard the attack of hydroxide ion on the C8 atom of the 7-methylguanine ring. In contrast, hardly any influence on the acidities of the interacting base and phosphate moieties was detectable. No effect on the complexing of the phosphate group with magnesium(II) ion could be detected.

The endogenous production of taurine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in rat ocular tissues was investigated. The activities of taurine-producing enzyme, cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (CSAD), and GABA-synthesizing enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), were observed in the retina, lens, iris-ciliary body and cornea. The highest specific activity of CSAD was in the cornea and that of GAD in the retina. The discrepancy between CSAD activity and taurine content within the ocular tissues indicates that intra- or extraocular transport processes may regulate the concentration of taurine in the rat eye. The GAD activity and the content of GABA were distributed in parallel within the rat ocular tissues. The quantitative results suggest that the GAD/GABA system has functional significance only in the retina of the rat eye.