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I Listowsky

Publications and source records attributed to I Listowsky.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Subunit composition, organic anion binding, catalytic and immunological properties of ligandin from rat testis.

Rat testicular and liver cystols contain ligandin as determined immunologically, and have high glutathione-S-transferase activity. Unlike liver cytosol, testicular cytosol does not contain protein components that bind bilirubin or sulfobromophthalein with high affinity. To investigate these effects, ligandin was purified to homogeneity from rat testis. Whereas rat liver ligandin consists of equal amounts of two subunits with molecular weights of 22,000 (Ya) and 25,000 (Yb), more than 90% of testicular ligandin consists of Yb. Rat testicular ligandin is immunologically similar to liver ligandin, and has identical glutathione-S-transferase activity, but lacks the capacity for high affinity binding of bilirubin and sulfobromophthalein. The amino acid composition and other properties of testicular ligandin are similar to those of the Yb subunit of liver ligandin. Sulfobromophthalein and bilirubin biphasically inhibit the glutathione-S-transferase activity of liver ligandin: initial high affinity inhibition is followed by reduced inhibition. Testicular ligandin has only low affinity inhibition kinetics. These results suggest that Ya is required for high affinity binding, and that reduced organic anion binding by testicular ligandin results from the lower amounts of Ya in testis.

Amino Acids↗

Characterization of ferritin from human placenta. Implications for analysis of tissue specificity and microheterogeneity of ferritins.

Mammalian ferritins can be resolved into multiple components by isoelectric focusing, and each tissue contains a characteristic subset of isoferritins. Ferritin isolated from human liver was compared to acidic ferritin isolated from mid-gestational human placenta to define a structural basis for ferritin heterogeneity. Placenta ferritin contained several major bands with isoelectric points in the range of pI = 4.7-5.0 which were more acidic than the predominant isoferritins of human liver. Ferritin from each tissue was resistant to denaturation by 10 M urea and appeared to be identical by electron microscopy. Circular dichroism measurements revealed that placenta ferritin had substantially less ordered secondary structure than liver ferritin. Both types of ferritin contained only two subunits when analyzed by electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate gels, but isoelectric focusing of dissociated subunits in urea revealed 6-7 different components. In this system, placenta ferritin was enriched in the more acidic subunits and it completely lacked the most basic subunits noted in liver ferritin; placental ferritin had no unique components. Differences in isoelectric points among assembled ferritins from these two tissues appear to result from different proportions of these acidic and basic subunits.

Chemical Phenomena↗

Correlations between subunit distribution, microheterogeneity, and iron content of human liver ferritin.

Subunit heterogeneity of human liver ferritin was investigated by two-dimensional electrophoretic methods. The protein which ordinarily remains assembled in 10 M urea solution was dissociated into subunits in acid-urea or sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions. In agreement with earlier studies, the subunits migrated as two bands in sodium dodecyl sulfate or acid-urea gel electrophoresis systems or in two-dimensional combinations of these systems. Isoelectric focusing methods, however, resolved four major subunit bands and three to five minor bands. Each of these components migrated as either a 22 000 or a 19 000 molecular weight component in sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis in the second dimension. The multiple subunit model, which is contrary to currently accepted representations of ferritin structure, is compatible with certain inherent properties of the protein. Thus, ferritin was fractionated on the basis of iron content to show that the relative amounts of individual subunit types were directly dependent upon the iron composition of the protein. Iron-loaded molecules were deficient in the most basic subunit types, and apoferritin was enriched in these components. Aspects of microheterogeneity of assembled ferritin molecules were correlated to subunit heterogeneity, and discrete differences in subunit populations among purified isoferritin components were demonstrated.

Circular Dichroism↗

Ligandin. Bilirubin binding and glutathione-S-transferase activity are independent processes.

Physical methods and chemical modifications were used to discriminate between the bilirubin-binding capacity and glutathione-S-transferase activity of ligandin which was purified from rat liver. Binding of bilirubin occurs at a primary high affinity site (KA = 5 X 10(7) M-1) and at a secondary, lesser affinity site (KA = 3 X 10(5) M-1). Circular dichroism and fluorescence-quenching methods were used to distinguish between these sites. Cross-linked as well as reduced and alkylated ligandin lost high affinity bilirubin-binding capacity, but retained glutathione-S-transferase activity, bilirubin binding at a secondary site, and immunological reactivity. Succinylation of ligandin abolished catalytic activity and bilirubin binding at high and low affinity sites, but not immunological reactivity. Catalytic activity was unaffected by concentrations of bilirubin which saturated the primary binding site. These results suggest that the high affinity site at which bilirubin is bound to ligandin is independent from the site at which catalytically reactive substrates bind. The latter substrates probably interact at the secondary bilirubin binding site where bilirubin competitively inhibits glutathione-S-transferase activity.

Animals↗

Studies on subunit structure and evidence that ligandin is a heterodimer.

Several lines of evidence indicate that ligandin consists of two different subunits. The protein dissociates into two components that are detected by electrophoresis in a discontinuous sodium dodecyl sulfate system, or in acid-urea gels, and by isoelectric focusing in the presence of urea. The apparent molecular weights of the two polypeptides are 25,000 and 22,000. Alkylated or succinylated ligandins also exhibit subunit heterogeneity and resolved into two bands in these electrophoretic systems. Cross-linked ligandin showed only one band in sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis indicating that the two subunits are part of a heterodimeric protein rather than monomers of two different proteins. No dansylated terminal amino acids were detected suggesting that the NH2-terminal residues of both chains are blocked. One mole of arginine or phenylalanine was released per mole of ligandin after digestion with carboxypeptidase B or A, respectively. Tryptic maps of succinylated ligandin were consistent with identical disposition of arginine residues in both chains, but several additional tryptic peptides were obtained with native ligandin as compared to the predicted number if both subunits were identical. These observations are consistent with the possibility that both subunits contain common sequences and that a small peptide of about 25 to 30 amino acid residues is cleaved from the COOH-terminal of the larger subunit to produce the smaller subunit.

Amino Acids↗

Ligandin retains and albumin loses bilirubin binding capacity in liver cytosol.

Circular dichroism methods were used to detect bilirubin-ligandin interactions in rat liver cytosol and fractions obtained at various stages during purification of ligandin. Ligandin retained its capacity to bind bilirubin in the presence of components of liver supernatant, but albumin, which binds bilirubin in serum, lost the capacity to bind bilirubin in liver supernatant. This was attributed to a greater binding specificity exhibited by ligandin. In their respective physiological milieus, albumin and ligandin are structurally adapted to bind ligands: albumin in serum, and ligandin in the cytosol of the liver cell. These studies are consistent with the hypothesis that the concentration of ligandin within the liver could regulate the net flux of certain organic anions from plasma into the liver.

Animals↗

Differences in subunit composition and iron content of isoferritins.

Horse spleen ferritin was fractionated into its constituent isoferritins by isoelectric focusing. Separated isoferritins were stable and showed no tendency to redistribute when re-examined by analytical gel focusing. All of the isoferritins were immunologically indistinguishable when tested with antibodies raised against unfractionated horse spleen ferritin. The separated isoferritins also had similar conformations as determined by circular dichroism. Iron distribution studies, however, revealed a wide disparity among the isoferritins. The most acidic components had the lowest iron content but the iron content did not vary systematically throughout the isoferritin spectrum. Natural apoferritin, isolated from the ferritin by density gradient centrifugation, focused exclusively as the acidic moieties, whereas apoferritin prepared by reduction of native ferritin exhibited a banding pattern similar to that of unfractionated ferritin. The subunit structure of the isoferritins was examined by gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate or acidic urea systems. Multiple subunit types were demonstrated by both methods. The relative proportion of these subunit types varied progressively through the isoferritin spectrum. This difference in subunit population appears to be the basis for much of the structural heterogeneity in the apoferritin shells.

Animals↗

Circular dichroism analysis of the secondary structure of Z protein and its complexes with bilirubin and other organic anions.

Circular dichroism (CD) methods were employed to study the conformation of Z protein and characterize its complexes with bilirubin and other organic anions. Z protein-bilirubin complexes exhibited a spectrum with overlapping ellipticity bands of opposite sign in the bilirubin absorption region. These results were compared with those obtained with ligandin, the other major organic anion binding protein of liver. Secondary structural differences between the two proteins were easily demonstrated since ligandin is predominantly an alpha-helical protein and Z features mainly beta-structure. Furthermore, the optical activity pattern generated by bilirubin binding to Z was virtually a mirror image of that of the ligandin bilirubin system. CD experiments were designed to study the direct transfer of bilirubin between Z protein and ligandin, and it was shown that both proteins have almost equal affinities for bilirubin. The bilirubin on Z was readily displaced by oleic acid and displaced to a lesser extent by sulfobromophthalein,

Animals↗

Interactions of bilirubin and other ligands with ligandin.

Circular dichroism methods were used to study the structure of rat ligandin and the binding of organic anions to the protein. Ligandin has a highly ordered secondary structure with about 40%alpha helix, 15% beta structure, and 45% random coil. Bilirubin binding occurred primarily at a single high affinity site on the protein. The binding constant for bilirubin (5 X 10-7 Mminus 1) was the highest among the ligands studied. The bilirubin-ligandin complex exhibited a well-defined circular dichroic spectrum with two major overlapping ellipticity bands of opposite sign in the bilirubin absorption region. This spectrum was virtually a mirror image of that of human or rat serum albumin-bilirubin complexes. Studies on the direct transfer of bilirubin from ligandin to rat serum albumin showed that sasociation constants of bilirubin-ligandin complexes were approximately tenfold less than those of the bilirubin-albumin system. Ligandin exhibited a broad specificity with respect to the typeof ligand bond. A series of organic anions inclucing dyes used clinically for liver function tests, fatty acids, hormones, heme derivatives, bile acids, and other ligands that were considered likely to interact with ligandin, were examined. Most induced ellipticity changes consistent with competitive displacement of bilirubin from ligandin and relative affinities of these compounds for ligandin were determined based on their effectiveness in desplacing the bilirubin. Some substances such as glutathione, conjugated sulfobromophthaleins and lithocholic acid bound to ligandin but induced anomalous spectral shifts, when added to ligandin-bilirubin complexes. Other compounds, including some that act as substrates for the glutathione transferase activity exhibited by ligandin, revealed no apparent competitive effects with respect to the bilitubin binding site.

Animals↗

Characterization of the different polypeptide components and analysis of subunit assembly in ferritin.

Ferritin was dissociated into subunits by various denaturants and the subunits were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Human, horse, rat, and rabbit ferritins all exhibited characteristic patterns of heterogeneity; components with molecular weights of about 19,000, 11,000, and 8,000 were invariably found in these preparations. This result contradicts earlier reports that ferritin consists of 24 identical subunits. These polypeptides were isolated, purified in the presence of low concentrations of detergent, and characterized. Evidence based on amino acid compositions, NH2-terminal analysis and investigation of detergent-induced breakdown products, indicated that the 19,000 molecular weight component is a composite of the 8,000 and 11,000 molecular weight chains. Circular dichroism studies showed that the 19,000 molecular weight polypeptide retained appreciable amounts of ordered secondary structure whereas the two lower molecular weight peptides were unfolded to a much greater extent. If the 8,000 and 11,000 molecular weight polypeptides were recombined in equimolar amounts and the denaturant was completely removed, a substance with electrophoretic mobility and morphological appearance of native apoferritin was obtained.

Amino Acids↗