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G E Smyth

Publications and source records attributed to G E Smyth.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Inhibition of cancer cell growth by polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid/cationic liposome complex: a new biological activity.

A complex of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [poly(I) x poly(C)] and cationic liposome (LIC) inhibited the growth of many tumor cell lines at low concentration in vitro, but poly(I) x poly(C) alone had no such antiproliferative effect. The IC50 values of LIC against the tumor cells ranged from 0.1 to 1000 ng/ml. LIC had strong cytotoxic effects on malignant cells of epithelial and fibroblastic origin from various tissues and was also effective against Adriamycin-resistant tumor cells. LIC did not significantly affect the growth of lymphoma cells, leukemia cells, normal diploid fibroblasts, or primary liver cells at concentrations up to 10 microg/ml. The mechanism of the antiproliferative effect of LIC against malignant cells was the induction of apoptosis. LIC induced the fragmentation of nuclear DNA and the degradation of rRNA in tumor cells. The DNA fragmentation occurred within 1-5 h after the addition of LIC, and both the fragmentation and the inhibition of cancer-cell growth were suppressed by a nuclease inhibitor. In contrast, caspase inhibitors did not affect the antiproliferative activity of LIC. These results suggest that LIC induced apoptosis in malignant cells through the direct activation of nucleases and not through the activation of caspases. LIC reduced the incidence and the size of metastatic liver-cancer tumors in two different mouse metastatic liver-cancer models using human colon carcinoma cells. Histochemical analysis revealed that the KM12-HX cells in the tumor nodules were undergoing apoptosis; therefore, LIC also induced the apoptosis of tumor cells in vivo. In these animal models, LIC caused no observed changes in normal hepatocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Inactivation of pig heart NADP-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase by two affinity reagents is due to reaction with a cysteine not essential for function.

Pig heart NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase is 65% inactivated by 3-bromo-2-ketoglutarate (Ehrlich, R.S., and Colman, R.F., 1987, J. Biol. Chem. 262, 12,614-12,619) and 90% inactivated by 2-(4-bromo-2,3-dioxobutylthio)-1,N6- ethenoadenosine 2',5'-bisphosphate (2-BDB-T epsilon A-2',5'-DP) (Bailey, J.M., and Colman, R.F., 1987, J. Biol. Chem. 262, 12,620-12,626). Both inactivation reactions result in enzyme with an incorporation of 1.0 mol reagent/mol enzyme dimer and both modified enzymes bind only 1.0 mol manganous isocitrate or NADPH/mol enzyme dimer as compared to 2.0 mol manganous isocitrate or NADPH/mol enzyme dimer for unmodified enzyme. The inactivation reactions, which occur at or near the nucleotide binding site, are mutually exclusive. Reaction with either affinity reagent led to the isolation of the same modified triskaidekapeptide, DLAGXIHGLSNVK. We have isolated from isocitrate dehydrogenase a peptide, DLAGCIHGLSNVK, that had been modified by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) with no loss of enzymatic activity. We now show that enzyme modified by NEM in the presence of isocitrate plus Mn2+ retains full catalytic activity but is not inactivated by either of the affinity reagents; thus, all three reagents appear to react at the same site. The analysis of HPLC tryptic maps of isocitrate dehydrogenase treated under denaturing conditions with iodo[3H]acetic acid or [3H]NEM demonstrates that both bromoketoglutarate and 2-BDB-T epsilon A-2',5'-DP react with the cysteine residue of DLAGCIHGLSNVK. We conclude that the cysteine of this triskaidekapeptide is close to the coenzyme binding site but is not essential for catalytic function.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1991

Cysteinyl peptides of pig heart NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase that are modified upon inactivation by N-ethylmaleimide.

Pig heart NADP-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase is inactivated by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) (Colman, R. F., and Chu, R. (1970) J. Biol. Chem. 245, 601-607), and is completely protected against inactivation, but not against the incorporation of NEM, by isocitrate plus Mn2+. We have now treated the enzyme with [3H]NEM in the absence and presence of isocitrate plus Mn2+, digested it with trypsin, and isolated and sequenced the labeled Cys peptides. In the inactive enzyme, two major peptides, SSGGFVWACK and DLAGCIHGLSNVK, and two minor peptides, CATITPDEAR and EPIICK, were labeled at Cys. Upon reaction with [3H]NEM in the presence of isocitrate plus Mn2+, full catalytic activity was retained and only DLAGCIHGLSNVK was labeled; the Cys of this peptide is therefore not essential for catalysis. The modification of SSGGFVWACK appears to be the major cause of inactivation by NEM. The Cys in SSGGFVWACK may have a catalytic role, most likely in the strengthened binding of Mn2+ in the presence of isocitrate. Isocitrate dehydrogenase was carboxymethylated under denaturing conditions with [14C]iodoacetate and digested with trypsin; 6 unique labeled Cys peptides, containing 6 unique Cys residues, were purified and sequenced. Six corresponding peptides were isolated from enzyme treated under denaturing conditions with [3H]NEM. These results eliminate the previous uncertainty regarding the number of Cys residues in the enzyme. A comparison of the sequences of the NH2-terminal 30 residues and the 6 Cys peptides of the pig heart NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase with the Escherichia coli NADP enzyme provides evidence for great dissimilarity between the two enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Nitroreductase activity of NADH dehydrogenase of the respiratory redox chain.

1. An NADH-dependent nitroreductase from the inner membrane of ox liver mitochondria copurified with Complex I of the respiratory redox chain (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.5.3). 2. The corresponding nitroreductase from ox heart mitochondria co-purified with the NADH-cytochrome c reductase of Mahler, Sarkar & Vernon [(1952) J. Biol. Chem. 199, 585-597] [NADH: (acceptor) oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.99.3], a component of Complex I that contains the FMN. 3. The mitochondrial nitroreductase activity is attributed to the flavoprotein component of Complex I.

Animals↗