PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

James A Raymond

Publications and source records attributed to James A Raymond.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Ice binding, recrystallization inhibition, and cryoprotective properties of ice-active substances associated with Antarctic sea ice diatoms.

Extracellular macromolecules associated with Antarctic sea ice diatoms were previously shown to have ice-binding activities. The function of these ice-active substances (IASs) has not been identified. Here we show that two of the IASs have a strong ability to inhibit the recrystallization of ice, possibly signifying a cryoprotectant function. To test this possibility, two species of marine diatom (one Antarctic and one temperate) were subjected to a single freeze-thaw cycle (approximately 20h at -4 or -5 degrees C) in the presence or absence of IAS. Viability, based on a double staining technique, was 15-29% higher in the presence of IAS. Etching of single crystal ice hemispheres grown from dilute IAS solutions indicated that the IASs bind to specific faces of ice and are incorporated into the ice lattice. Together, these results suggest that the IASs acts as a cryoprotectant, probably through some ice-binding mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

A bacterial TMAO transporter.

Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) acts as an osmolyte in a wide variety of marine organisms, but little is known about the mechanisms by which it accumulates in certain tissues. To determine whether a TMAO-specific transporter occurs in Nature, we examined a bacterium Aminobacter aminovorans that is known to be able to subsist on methylamine as the sole carbon source. We found that A. aminovorans is also able to grow on TMAO as the sole carbon source, and that it takes up [14C]labeled TMAO at a rate of approximately 50 pmol min(-1) x mg protein(-1). TMAO uptake was strongly inhibited by unlabeled TMAO (5 mM) but not by related compounds such as methylamine, betaine or gamma-amino-n-butyric acid (GABA), indicating that a TMAO-specific transporter is present. The TMAO transporter appears to have an ATP requirement but no ion exchange requirement. This appears to be the first evidence of a TMAO-specific transporter in any organism. The TMAO-grown cells also expressed transporters that were specific to betaine and trimethylamine. Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, which have a betaine transporter that is also capable of transporting GABA, were unable to take up TMAO.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reduction of freeze-thaw-induced hemolysis of red blood cells by an algal ice-binding protein.

Antarctic sea ice diatoms produce ice-binding proteins (IBPs) that are strong inhibitors of the recrystallization of ice. Their function may be to reduce cell damage in the frozen state. We show here that an IBP from the diatom Navicula glaciei Vanheurck also has the ability to reduce freeze-thaw damage to red blood cells and that the effect may be due to its ability to inhibit recrystallization of ice.

Antarctic Regions↗