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D H Sherman

Publications and source records attributed to D H Sherman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Characterisation of actI-homologous DNA encoding polyketide synthase genes from the monensin producer Streptomyces cinnamonensis.

Cloned DNA encoding polyketide synthase (PKS) genes from one Streptomyces species was previously shown to serve as a useful hybridisation probe for the isolation of other PKS gene clusters from the same or different species. In this work, the actI and actIII genes, encoding components of the actinorhodin PKS of Streptomyces coelicolor, were used to identify and clone a region of homologous DNA from the monensin-producing organism S. cinnamonensis. A 4799 bp fragment containing the S. cinnamonensis act-homologous DNA was sequenced. Five open reading frames (ORFs 1-5) were identified on one strand of this DNA. The five ORFs show high sequence similarities to ORFs that were previously identified in the granaticin, actinorhodin, tetracenomycin and whiE PKS gene clusters. This allowed the assignment of the following putative functions to these five ORFS: a heterodimeric beta-ketoacyl synthase (ORF1 and ORF2), an acyl carrier protein (ORF3), a beta-ketoacyl reductase (ORF5), and a bifunctional cyclase/dehydrase (ORF4). The ORFs are encoded in the order ORF1-ORF2-ORF3-ORF5-ORF4, and ORFs-1 and -2 show evidence for translational coupling. This act-homologous region therefore appears to encode a PKS gene cluster. A gene disruption experiment using the vector pGM160, and other evidence, suggests that this cluster is not essential for monensin biosynthesis but rather is involved in the biosynthesis of a cryptic aromatic polyketide in S. cinnamonensis. An efficient plasmid transformation system for S. cinnamonensis has been established, using the multicopy plasmids pWOR120 and pWOR125.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Functional replacement of genes for individual polyketide synthase components in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) by heterologous genes from a different polyketide pathway.

Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and Streptomyces violaceoruber Tü22 produce the antibiotics actinorhodin and granaticin, respectively. Both the aglycone of granaticin and the half-molecule of actinorhodin are derived from one acetyl coenzyme A starter unit and seven malonyl coenzyme A extender units via the polyketide pathway to produce benzoisochromane quinone moieties with identical structures (except for the stereochemistry at two chiral centers). In S. coelicolor and S. violaceoruber, the type II polyketide synthase (PKS) is encoded by clusters of five and six genes, respectively. We complemented a series of S. coelicolor mutants (act) defective in different components of the PKS (actI for carbon chain assembly, actIII for ketoreduction, and actVII for cyclization-dehydration) by the corresponding genes (gra) from S. violaceoruber introduced in trans on low-copy-number plasmids. This procedure showed that four of the act PKS components could be replaced by a heterologous gra protein to give a functional PKS. The analysis also served to identify which of three candidate open reading frames (ORFs) in the actI region had been altered in each of a set of 13 actI mutants. It also proved that actI-ORF2 (whose putative protein product shows overall similarity to the beta-ketoacyl synthase encoded by actI-ORF1 but whose function is unclear) is essential for PKS function. Mutations in each of the four complemented act genes (actI-ORF1, actI-ORF2, actIII, and actVII) were cloned and sequenced, revealing a nonsense or frameshift mutation in each mutant.

Anthraquinones↗
PubMed1989

Structure and deduced function of the granaticin-producing polyketide synthase gene cluster of Streptomyces violaceoruber Tü22.

A 6.5 kb region of DNA from Streptomyces violaceoruber, which contains polyketide synthase (PKS) genes for production of the benzoisochromane quinone moiety of the antibiotic, granaticin, was cloned and sequenced. Of six open reading frames (ORFs) identified, four (ORFs 1-4) would be transcribed in one direction and two (ORFs 5 and 6) divergently from ORFs 1-4. ORF1 and ORF2, which show evidence for translation coupling, encode (deduced) gene products which strongly resemble each other and the Escherichia coli fatty acid ketoacyl synthase (condensing enzyme), FabB. We conclude that ORF1 (which contains a characteristic cysteine residue) functions as a condensing enzyme, possibly as part of a heterodimeric protein including the product of ORF2. The predicted ORF3 gene product strikingly resembles acyl carrier proteins (ACPs) of fatty acid synthase (FAS), particularly in the region of the active site motif, while the predicted ORF5 and ORF6 gene products resemble known oxidoreductases, suggesting that they function as reductive steps required during assembly of the granaticin carbon skeleton. Comparison of the deduced ORF4 gene product with available protein databases failed to elucidate its potential function. The overall conclusion is that the granaticin-producing PKS would consist of at least six separate enzymes involved in carbon chain assembly, thus resembling a Type II, rather than a Type I, FAS.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Qa-2 antigen encoded by Q7b is biochemically indistinguishable from Qa-2 expressed on the surface of C57BL/10 mouse spleen cells.

Qa-2 was immunoprecipitated from the surface of 125I-labeled C57BL/10 (B10) mouse spleen cells and compared with Qa-2 immunoprecipitated from the surface of R1.1 thymoma cells transfected with Q7b. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that Qa-2 glycoproteins from both of these sources have a relative molecular mass of approximately 37 kDa. After treatment with endoglycosidase F, the Qa-2 polypeptide chains derived from C57BL/10 spleen and Q7b-transfected R1.1 cells displayed identical mobilities in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis because of removal of N-linked oligosaccharide residues. Furthermore, treatment of Qa-2 proteins from both sources with cyanogen bromide or alpha-chymotrypsin resulted in identical peptide fragmentation patterns. These results therefore provide a biochemical correlation between a cloned Qa-region gene produce expressed on the surface of transfected cells, and the Qa-2 glycoprotein on spleen cells that was described a decade ago by serologic methods.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Molecular mapping of signals in the Qa-2 antigen required for attachment of the phosphatidylinositol membrane anchor.

Proteins anchored in the membrane by covalent linkage to phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) can be released by treatment with purified PtdIns-specific phospholipase C (Ptd-Ins-PLC). A recent survey of leukocyte antigens using flow cytometry has shown that staining of certain Qa antigens was diminished after PtdIns-PLC treatment, but staining of structurally related H-2 antigens was not affected. Therefore, in this study, the sensitivity of cell-surface Qa-2, H-2Kb, and H-2Db to hydrolysis by PtdIns-PLC was investigated biochemically by immunoprecipitation of radioiodinated molecules from cell lysates or supernatants. Qa-2, but not H-2Kb, was released from the surface of PtdIns-PLC-treated C57BL/10 mouse spleen cells and recovered in the cell supernatants. Similar analysis of thymoma cells transfected with cloned C57BL/10 genes showed that cell-surface Qa-2 molecules encoded by a Q7b cDNA and the Q7b or Q9b gene were sensitive to hydrolysis by PtdIns-PLC, whereas the H-2Kb and H-2Db gene products were resistant. Using thymoma cells transfected with hybrid genes constructed by exchanging exons between Q7b and H-2Db, the signals for PtdIns modification were localized to a defined region of Qa-2. This region differs from H-2Db most significantly by the presence of a central aspartate residue in the transmembrane segment and in the length of the cytoplasmic portion.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Tissue-specific expression of cell-surface Qa-2 antigen from a transfected Q7b gene of C57BL/10 mice.

We screened a cDNA library prepared from a BALB.B10 CTL clone that expresses Qa-2 antigen, and isolated four clones derived from Q7b, a Qa region gene of C57BL/10. One of these Q7b cDNAs and the Q7b chromosomal gene were subcloned into expression vectors and transfected into L cells and R1.1 thymoma cells. We found that the chromosomal Q7b gene expresses Qa-2 on the surface of R1.1 cells, but not on L cells while the Q7b cDNA expresses protein on the surface of both cell types. The levels of Qa-2 expression do not correlate with the total levels of Q7b mRNA in these transfectants. Our results suggest that the tissue-specific expression of Qa-2 may be controlled, in part, by mechanisms of alternate RNA splicing. By using hybrid gene constructs, we have mapped the tissue-specific element to the 3' part of the gene, downstream of a site near the middle of exon 4. The hybrid polypeptides differ significantly in their transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions. These portions of the protein also may play a role in the tissue-specific expression of Qa-2.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Molecular analysis of antigen recognition by insulin-specific T-cell hybridomas from B6 wild-type and bm12 mutant mice.

Molecular analysis of the heterodimeric T-cell antigen receptor of insulin-specific class II-restricted T-cell hybridomas (THys) derived from C57BL/6 (B6) wild-type and B6.C-H-2bm12 (bm12) mutant mice revealed that such T cells use a diverse V gene repertoire. Analysis of three THys that use related V genes, however, showed a number of novel features. Two THys that share major histocompatibility complex restriction use V alpha genes that are 98.6% homologous. Two THys sharing the same antigen fine specificity use a particular germ line V beta D beta J beta combination. A 21-base-pair deletion in the 5' segment of the J beta gene occurs in one THy, suggesting a novel mechanism for generating diversity in T-cell antigen receptor beta genes. The first amino acid encoded by N sequences at the V-D junction is conserved in a pair of T cells which recognize identical antigenic epitopes. The implications of these findings for the structural mechanisms underlying major histocompatibility complex-restricted antigen-specific T-cell recognition are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Molecular biology of the H-2 histocompatibility complex.

The H-2 histocompatibility complex of the mouse is a multigene family, some members of which are essential for the immune response to foreign antigens. The structure and organization of these genes have been established by molecular cloning, and their regulation and function is being defined by expression of the cloned genes.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Expression of structurally diverse Qa-2-encoded molecules on the surface of cloned cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Extracts of 125I-labeled cloned murine cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were immunoprecipitated with alloantisera to the cloned CTL and rabbit antisera to beta-2 microglobulin. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of the specific precipitates revealed, as expected, 125I-labeled components that corresponded to products of class I genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). However, additional class I gene products of relatively low apparent molecular weight (Mr) were also observed. Similar analyses of spleen cells from a variety of MHC-congenic mouse strains suggested that the class I molecules of relatively low Mr are encoded in the Qa-2 region of the MHC, and this was confirmed by immunoprecipitation with a monoclonal antibody to Qa-2. Surprisingly, however, the cell surface Qa-2 molecules of different CTL clones differed in Mr, in isoelectric focusing (IEF) pattern, and in the number of distinguishable molecules expressed per clone: some clones seemed to express only a single Qa-2-encoded molecule while others expressed two distinct ones. Treatment of the immunoprecipitated Qa-2 with endoglycosidase F (Endo F) resulted in a decrease in Mr of approximately 5,000-6,000, corresponding to the expected loss of N-linked oligosaccharides, but the decrease did not eliminate structural variability among the clones. Structural diversity of the Qa-2-encoded molecules expressed on CTL could arise because CTL clones differ (a) in the particular Qa-2 genes they express, (b) in the way they splice Qa-2 gene transcripts or, perhaps, (c) in Endo F-resistant oligosaccharides on their Qa-2 molecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Immunoprecipitation of cell surface structures of cloned cytotoxic T lymphocytes by clone-specific antisera.

Clones of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) differ in their specific reactivity with diverse target cell antigens. To learn about the uniqueness of individual CTL clones we injected rats and mice with cloned CTL in an effort to prepare clone-specific antisera and to analyze the CTL surface molecules that were immunoprecipitated by these antisera. Three clones were studied. They were all derived from BALB.B mice and were specific for antigens encoded by the major histocompatibility complex of the H-2d haplotype. Antisera raised in rats against individual clones contained antibodies to lymphocyte function-associated antigen type 1 (LFA-1) and inhibited the cytotoxic activity of all of the clones. In contrast, BALB/c and BALB.K mice injected with individual clones consistently yielded alloantisera that were clone specific in their ability to inhibit CTL-mediated lysis of target cells (P815). In addition, these alloantisera immunoprecipitated from extracts of 125I-radiolabeled CTL a disulfide-bonded dimer consisting of approximately equal to 45-kilodalton subunits. This dimer resembles the putative T-cell antigen-recognition receptor recently identified in several laboratories. The alloantisera also immunoprecipitated CTL surface molecules that were associated with beta 2-microglobulin and that differed in apparent molecular mass (37-38 kilodaltons) in different clones.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Salting out: experience in 9,000 cases.

A complete method of saline abortion has been presented. This method has been well thought out, is physiologically sound, and has been proven safe and reliable. Although we have reduced the potential for complications to a minimum, those specific to the salting-out procedure as well as those inherent in any mid-trimester labor and delivery cannot be completely eliminated. Therefore, there can be no shortcuts. Salting out must be performed only in a hospital where well trained specialists are available to handle any complications that may occur.

Abortion, Induced↗