Biomedical subjects

D J Schlemm

Publications and source records attributed to D J Schlemm.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Medicinal yeast extracts.

Alcoholic extracts of bakers' yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) have been used for over 60 years in over-the-counter medications for the treatment of hemorrhoids, burns, and wounds. Although previous studies suggested that small peptides were responsible for the medical observations, the peptides were never resolved into separate fractions and identified. In the present report, a protein fraction was prepared by RPC18 chromatography of the extract which enhances wound closure in both diabetic and non-diabetic littermates. The peptides are active in nanomolar amounts and are 600 times more active than the initial extract. SDS-PAGE and N-terminal amino acid sequencing identified 4 polypeptides in the extract. Three of the proteins were small molecular weight stress-associated proteins: copper, zinc superoxide-dismutase, ubiquitin, and glucose lipid regulated protein (HSP 12). The fourth protein, acyl-CoA binding protein II, has not been previously associated with stress proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Molecular surgery of the basement membrane by the argon laser.

Although the argon laser is used successfully to weld a number of different tissues, the underlying chemical and cellular mechanisms for this process are not precisely defined. Consequently, a biochemical model has been developed in vitro using the well-defined extracellular matrix from the murine Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) sarcoma. Control and experimental samples of EHS basement membranes were irradiated with a Trimedyne argon laser at 500-3,000 Joules/cm2 at 0 degrees C. The samples were diluted into cold phosphate-buffered saline and allowed to gel at 35 degrees C. The time course of the gelation reaction was followed in a spectrophotometer at 360 nm. Irradiation reduced the absorbance 7.5-15% compared to controls and was independent of the dilution over a 10-fold range. Gelation was also measured by determining the amount of protein by the Bradford assay that could be collected by centrifugation at 10,000g for 10 minutes. Argon-irradiated samples had 30-40% less protein in the precipitate than the controls. The addition of 5 mM beta-mercaptoethanol to the EHS extract blocked the effect of the laser on the gelation reaction. In addition, when gelation was carried out in the absence of calcium and magnesium, there were no differences between laser-treated samples and controls. The basement membrane proteins were separated by electrophoresis through polyacrylamide gels under denaturing plus reducing or denaturing and non-reducing conditions. No differences in the polypeptide composition were noted between irradiated and control samples using either Coomassie- or silver-staining techniques.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Degradation of the chlorinated phenoxyacetate herbicides 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid by pure and mixed bacterial cultures.

Combined cell suspensions of the 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T)-metabolizing organism Pseudomonas cepacia AC1100, and the 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)-metabolizing organism Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 were shown to effectively degrade either of these compounds provided as single substrates. These combined cell suspensions, however, poorly degraded mixtures of the two compounds provided at the same concentrations. Growth and viability studies revealed that such mixtures of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T were toxic to AC1100 alone and to combinations of AC1100 and JMP134. High-pressure liquid chromatography analyses of culture supernatants of AC1100 incubated with 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T revealed the accumulation of chlorohydroquinone as an apparent dead-end catabolite of 2,4-D and the subsequent accumulation of both 2,4-dichlorophenol and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol. JMP134 cells incubated in the same medium did not catabolize 2,4,5-T and were also inhibited in initiating 2,4-D catabolism. A new derivative of strain AC1100 was constructed by the transfer into this organism of the 2,4-D-degradative plasmid pJP4 from strain JMP134. This new strain, designated RHJ1, was shown to efficiently degrade mixtures of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T through the simultaneous metabolism of these compounds.

2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Topical application of yeast extract accelerates the wound healing of diabetic mice.

Alcoholic extracts of yeast have been used as the active ingredient in medications under names such as "tissue or skin respiratory factor," Biodyne (Sperti Drug Co, Cincinnati, Ohio--now defunct), and live yeast cell derivative (LYCD). Beneficial clinical results from the use of LYCD have been reported for the treatment of burns, wounds, and hemorrhoids. The medicinal effects of LYCD have recently been localized to a protein fraction containing a mixture of several peptides. The effects of topical application of the peptide mixture on wounds were examined in diabetic mice, an animal model in which the healing process is disrupted and delayed. Full-thickness wounds were created on the backs of diabetic (DB) and nondiabetic (non-DB) mice. Half of the DB and non-DB mice were treated with 0.05 mL of LYCD after wounding and for 4 successive days. All other mice received vehicle. Wound areas were measured at Day 0 and at 2-day intervals. Mice were sacrificed at 3, 7, 10, 21, and 28 days postinjury. Differences in the extent and quality of healing appeared between DB mice receiving LYCD and DB mice receiving vehicle by day 10 (P < .0001). By 24 days postinjury, DB mice receiving LYCD had achieved 100% wound closure, whereas DB mice receiving vehicle had achieved only 31.4% wound closure. Histologic examination of wounds reflected improved wound healing in DB mice receiving LYCD as compared with those receiving vehicle. A topically applied yeast extract peptide mixture significantly attenuates wound closure and the degree of cellular reorganization of full-thickness excisional wounds of DB mice.

Administration, Topical↗