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Biomedical subjects

K B Taylor

Publications and source records attributed to K B Taylor.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of the levels of dissolved oxygen on the expression of recombinant proteins in four recombinant Escherichia coli strains.

Four recombinant strains of Escherichia coli were examined for the effects of the dissolved oxygen level on the level of biomass, the plasmid content, and the level of recombinant protein at the stationary phase of batch growth. Strains JM101/pYEJ001, and TB-1/pYEJ001 (encoding chloramphenicol acetyltransferase), and strain TB-1/p1034, and TB-1/pUC19 (encoding beta-galactosidase) were grown at the constant dissolved oxygen levels of 0, 50, and 100% air saturation, as well as in the absence of dissolved oxygen control. The biomass of all strains under constant aerobic conditions was 12-36 times higher than that under anaerobic conditions, but was the same as or slightly higher than that without dissolved oxygen control. The plasmid content in all strains under aerobic conditions was 2.9-11.7 times higher than that under aerobic conditions. The optimal dissolved oxygen concentration for the specific activity of recombinant proteins was dependent upon the strain. In no strain were constant aerobic conditions optimal. However, because of the effect on biomass, controlled aerobic conditions were optimal for the volumetric activity of recombinant protein in all but one strain.

Aerobiosis

Sanfilippo syndrome, type D: a spectrophotometric assay with prenatal diagnostic potential.

Sanfilippo syndrome, type D (MPS IIID), is characterized by moderate physical abnormalities, progressive mental deterioration, and deficient activity of N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfate sulfatase, a lysosomal hydrolase involved in the degradation of heparin, keratan sulfate, and heparan sulfate. To date, demonstration of the enzyme deficiency typically relies on a radiolabeled trisaccharide substrate derived from heparan sulfate. In our study, we have developed a spectrophotometric assay for the determination of N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfate sulfatase activity using the monosaccharide, N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfate, as substrate. The reaction mixture was incubated for 6 h at 37 degrees C and, after Dowex chromatography, released N-acetylglucosamine was measured by a modification of the method of Reissig. Assay conditions were optimized for cultured skin fibroblasts and primary cultures of amniotic fluid cells. The pH optimum for each was 5.5. The assay was linear for 24 h and up to 0.1 absorbance units. Activities of the three known MPS IIID skin fibroblast cell lines were more than 4 SD below the skin fibroblast control mean and more than 5 SD below the control mean for amniotic fluid cells. An enzyme deficiency in cultured amniotic fluid cells of the same magnitude as the skin fibroblasts of the known patients would be detectable and, therefore, prenatal diagnosis by this method is feasible.

Amniotic Fluid

Bile acid sulfotransferase I from rat liver sulfates bile acids and 3-hydroxy steroids: purification, N-terminal amino acid sequence, and kinetic properties.

A bile acid:3'phosphoadenosine-5'phosphosulfate:sulfotransferase (BAST I) from adult female rat liver cytosol has been purified 157-fold by a two-step isolation procedure. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 30,000 subunit has been determined for the first 35 residues. The Vmax of purified BAST I is 18.7 nmol/min per mg protein with N-(3-hydroxy-5 beta-cholanoyl)glycine (glycolithocholic acid) as substrate, comparable to that of the corresponding purified human BAST (Chen, L-J., and I. H. Segel, 1985. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 241: 371-379). BAST I activity has a broad pH optimum from 5.5-7.5. Although maximum activity occurs with 5 mM MgCl2, Mg2+ is not essential for BAST I activity. The greatest sulfotransferase activity and the highest substrate affinity is observed with bile acids or steroids that have a steroid nucleus containing a 3 beta-hydroxy group and a 5-6 double bond or a trans A-B ring junction. These substrates have normal hyperbolic initial velocity curves with substrate inhibition occurring above 5 microM. Of the saturated 5 beta-bile acids, those with a single 3-hydroxy group are the most active. The addition of a second hydroxy group at the 6- or 7-position eliminates more than 99% of the activity. In contrast, 3 alpha,12 alpha-dihydroxy-5 beta-cholan-24-oic acid (deoxycholic acid) is an excellent substrate. The initial velocity curves for glycolithocholic and deoxycholic acid conjugates are sigmoidal rather than hyperbolic, suggestive of an allosteric effect. Maximum activity is observed at 80 microM for glycolithocholic acid. All substrates, bile acids and steroids, are inhibited by the 5 beta-bile acid, 3-keto-5 beta-cholanoic acid. The data suggest that BAST I is the same protein as hydrosteroid sulfotransferase 2 (Marcus, C. J., et al. 1980. Anal. Biochem. 107: 296-304).

Amino Acid Sequence

Evidence for an ordered reaction mechanism for bile salt: 3'phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate: sulfotransferase from rhesus monkey liver that catalyzes the sulfation of the hepatotoxin glycolithocholate.

The in vivo formation of the sulfate ester of glycolithocholate is a critical step in the elimination of this hepatotoxic bile salt. Rhesus monkeys fed chenodeoxycholate or ursodeoxycholate, the precursors of lithocholate, develop frank cirrhosis in association with accumulation of nonsulfated glycolithocholate in bile. An enzyme catalyzing the formation of glycolithocholate-3-sulfate has been isolated from hepatic cytosol of adult female rhesus monkeys and has been purified 146-fold. When reduced it appears as a 30 kD band on an SDS-polyacrylamide gradient gel. It has a pH optimum of 7.0 and is stimulated by low concentrations of Mg2+ (up to 2 mM), but does not have an absolute requirement for this metal ion. The kinetics of this enzyme have been investigated to ascertain whether its reaction mechanism can account for the poor in vivo rate of glycolithocholate sulfation. Inhibitor studies with an oxidized metabolite of lithocholate, 3-keto-5 beta-cholanoate, showed that the latter is a competitive inhibitor of glycolithocholate and is noncompetitive with the active form of sulfate, 3'phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate. The monophosphonucleotide 3'-AMP is a competitive inhibitor of 3'phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate, and is noncompetitive with glycolithocholate. These observations are consistent with a sequentially ordered Bi Bi reaction mechanism in which the bile salt is the first substrate to bind to the enzyme. Such a reaction mechanism for bile salt:3'phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate:sulfotransferase would be, therefore, the first time in which the sulfate acceptor (the bile salt) is the initial substrate to bind to a sulfotransferase. These studies have shown that although rhesus monkeys have a liver enzyme capable of forming the sulfate ester of glycolithocholate, its reaction mechanism and the potent inhibition caused by simple metabolites, such as 3-keto-5 beta-cholanoate, may serve to under-express the activity of the enzyme in vivo.

Animals

Octopine dehydrogenase from Pecten maximus: steady-state mechanism.

The steady-state kinetic mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by octopine dehydrogenase [N2-(1-carboxyethyl)-L-arginine:NAD+ oxidoreductase] was investigated at pH 6.9 and 9.2 by studies of substrate inhibition, analogue inhibition, and product inhibition. In the direction of octopine synthesis, the inhibition patterns in the presence of delta- guanidinovalerate and propionate show that NADH binds to the enzyme first followed by L-arginine and pyruvate which bind randomly. In the direction of octopine oxidation, the substrate patterns show that NAD binds to the enzyme before octopine in a rapid equilibrium fashion, and the product inhibition patterns show that the products L-arginine and pyruvate are released in a random fashion. Double, synergistic, substrate inhibition by L-arginine and pyruvate was shown to be due to binding (hypothetically of the imine) to the free enzyme and the enzyme-NAD complex. Furthermore, an alternate minor pathway was demonstrated which includes an enzyme-NADH-octopine complex and an enzyme-octopine complex.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases

Solvent isotope effects on the reaction catalyzed by yeast hexokinase.

The pH dependence of the maximum velocity (V) for the phosphorylation of glucose, the V/Kglucose and the V/KMgATP have been obtained in H2O and 2H2O. In H2O, V decreases below a pK of 5.8, V/Kglucose decreases below a pK of 6.1 and V/KMgATP decreases below a pK of 6.7. In 2H2O, complex behavior is observed for these parameters as a function of pD. The ratios of the parameters in H2O and 2H2O above their respective pK values give solvent deuterium isotope effects of about 1.5-1.7 for all three parameters. When 1,5-anhydromannitol is used as an alternative substrate, an isotope effect different than unity is obtained only for V/K1,5-anhydromannitol which gives a value of about 0.7. Both the complex pH profiles and the relative magnitude of the isotope effects are interpreted in terms of a pH-dependent change in the E X glucose complex.

Catalysis

A new opine derived from nopaline.

Nopaline (N-[4-[(aminoiminomethyl)amino-]-1S-carboxybutyl]-2R-aminopentanedioic acid and isonopaline (N-[4-[(aminoiminomethyl)amino-1S-carboxybutyl]- 2S-aminopentanedioic acid) have been synthesized and separated by crystallization. In addition, a derivative of each of these compounds that forms spontaneously from the parent compounds under the usual crystallization conditions was isolated and characterized. The chemical properties, elemental analysis, 1H-NMR spectrum, and electrophoretic behavior of the derivative from nopaline are consistent with N-[4-[ (aminoiminomethyl)amino]-1S-carboxybutyl]-2-pyrrolidone-5R-carboxylic acid, also called pyronopaline. The presence of pyronopaline in crown gall tumor tissue and the catabolism of it by the bacterium A. tumefaciens establish it as a new opine.

Arginine

Fetal gastric and colonic implants in syngeneic and allogeneic mice developing typical inflammatory changes.

Implants of fetal stomach and colon under the kidney capsule of syngeneic, and H-2 compatible and H-2 incompatible allogeneic mice were examined histologically at different time intervals after the procedure. According to the time of implantation typical inflammatory changes were seen in syngeneic stomach and colon implants, which resembled changes seen in chronic atrophic gastritis and chronic ulcerative colitis. Immunofluorescence studies showed that the host developed antibodies against fetal antigens, while there was no evidence for cellular immune response to fetal syngeneic antigens with the direct leukocyte migration inhibition test. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

Aging

Inhibition of parietal cell function by human gammaglobulin containing gastric parietal cell antibodies.

Parietal cell antibodies (PCA) are found in up to 90% of sera from pernicious anaemia patients but it is often stated that they could represent an epiphenomenon without being directly responsible for the achlorhydria. In the present studies a direct effect of these antibodies on the secretory function of gastric acid-secreting cells has been demonstrated in two different experimental systems. In one set of experiments IgGs containing PCA activity were shown to inhibit acid secretion specifically in the living gastric mucosa of the bull frog suspended as a diaphragm between two chambers. The other system demonstrated their inhibition of carbonic anhydrase activity in a cytochemical bioassay for human G17-gastrin, suggesting a blocking effect on the gastrin receptors in the canalicular microvilli or the cell membrane. These experiments suggest a direct pathogenic role for PCA in autoimmune fundal gastritis and in pernicious anaemia.

Anemia, Pernicious

Cell-mediated cytotoxicity and humoral immune response in ascorbic acid-deficient guinea pigs.

Guinea pigs were divided into three dietary groups: ascorbic-acid deficient, pair-fed, and ad libitum control. Two weeks later guinea pigs were immunized intradermally with 5 x 10(8) chicken erythrocytes in Freund's complete adjuvant. Hemagglutinating antibody titers to chicken erythrocytes 2 weeks after immunization were comparable in all three dietary groups. In vitro 51Cr release from labeled chicken erythrocyte target cells incubated with lymphoid cells from spleens of ascorbic acid-deficient guinea pigs was significantly less than with spleen cells from pair-fed and ad libitum control guinea pigs. The percentage of splenic lymphoid cells that formed rosettes with rabbit erythrocytes, a T cell marker, was the same in all three dietary groups. The defect of ascorbic acid deficiency may reflect an impairment of T lymphocytes function in cell-mediated cytotoxicity or a change in number or function of another cell type.

Animals

Epidemic gastritis with hypochlorhydria.

Seventeen of 37 healthy volunteers participating in studies of acid secretion and 1 patient with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome became rapidly and profoundly hypochlorhydric. A mild illness with epigastric pain occurred in 9 subjects, usually several days before detection of hypochlorhydria. Gastric mucosal biopsy specimens taken from subjects during hypochlorhydria revealed severe fundal and antral gastritis; however, even when acid secretion was severely depressed, parietal cells were abundant and appeared normal histologically. During hypochlorhydria, gastric permeability to hydrogen, sodium, and lithium was normal in 4 subjects. Serum gastrin concentrations were usually normal, whereas serum pepsinogen concentrations were invariably elevated. Serum parietal cell antibodies were not present. Acid secretion returned to near baseline levels in 14 of 17 subjects after a mean of 126 days (range 53--235); severity of gastritis diminished concurrently in 7 of 10 subjects on whom biopsies were serially performed. An infectious etiology is suspected, although serologic studies and bacterial and conventional viral cultures of stool and gastric juice have not identified a candidate agent.

Achlorhydria

HLA antigens in Addisonian pernicious anaemia: absence of a HLA and disease association.

An examination of HLA antigens in 72 unrelated Caucasian subjects with pernicious anaemia (PA) has revealed no significant association of any HLA-A or B genes with the disease. These data do not confirm the previous reports in the literature which had suggested an increased frequency of the B7 and/or A3 antigen among patients. In addition, the study of four families, each with two or more PA patients, does not support close linkage between disease susceptibility or autoantibody formation and the HLA locus. These data suggest that genes in or near the HLA region may not significantly affect susceptibility to PA.

Anemia, Pernicious

Isotope effects in the binding of NADH to equine liver alcohol dehydrogenase.

The isotope effect upon the binding constant of NADH to equine liver alcohol dehydrogenase is determined with a method in which the isotopic ratio is measured concurrently in the free and the bond form of the coenzyme, by use of a propellent-pressurized ultrafiltration apparatus for separation of the two. The value for KH/KD for the binding constants was 1.00 +/- 0.02 at pH 10.3 and 25 degrees C.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases

Gastric morphology and serum gastrin levels in pernicious anaemia.

Mucosal biopsies from multiple sites in the stomachs of 21 patients with pernicious anaemia have been examined. The histological changes almost always involved the entire gastric mucosa, including that of the pyloric antrum. Metaplastic changes were almost universal and consisted of intestinal metaplasia in the body and antrum and pyloric metaplasia in the body. The severity of the pyloric metaplasia was such as to make the distinction between body and antrum on biopsy impossible. No relationship was found between serum gastrin activity and the histological appearances of the gastric antrum or body.

Adult

Gastritis duodenitis, and circulating levels of gastrin in duodenal ulcer before and after vagotomy.

Biopsy specimens have been taken from five standard sites in the stomach and from the duodenal bulb in order to investigate the association of gastritis and duodenitis with duodenal ulcer. Twenty patients with chronic duodenal ulcer were investigated in this manner and in addition had gastric secretion tests and a radio-immune assay of serum gastrin under differing conditions. The patients were then treated either by a truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty (TVP) or by a highly selective vagotomy without a drainage procedure (HSV). All the investigations were repeated three months postoperatively. Duodenal ulcer was usually associated with gastriitis, although this varied in extent and severity from patient to patient. In nearly all the patients, gastritis was present at the pyloric end of the stomach and along the lesser curve. In more than half of the patients, gastritis was also present in the body of the stomach but the fundus was usually spared. Chronic duodenitis was found in the duodenal bulb in all these patients. After vagotomy there was a marked increase in both the extent and severity of the proximal gastritis in both treatment groups but the distal gastritis remain almost unchanged. There was little change in the incidence of duodenitis after vagotomy but its severity was lessened. No correlation was found between the peak acid output (PAO) in response to Histalog and the severity of the gastritis or the duodenitis either before or after operation, with one exception. The postoperative PAO was significantly less in those patients who developed a severe proximal gastritis after vagotomy. No relationship was found between the severity of the distal gastritis and the levels of serum gastrin. No correlation was found between either the basal or peak acid output and the corresponding serum gastrin levels before or after vagotomy.

Biopsy