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Biomedical subjects

K Yamamoto

Publications and source records attributed to K Yamamoto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Manganese-mediated oxidative damage of cellular and isolated DNA by isoniazid and related hydrazines: non-Fenton-type hydroxyl radical formation.

The mechanism by which hydrazines induce damage to cellular and isolated DNA in the presence of metal ions has been investigated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), DNA sequencing methods, and the ESR spin-trapping technique. For the detection of single-strand breaks by PFGE, an experimental procedure with alkali treatment has been designed. Isoniazid, hydrazine, and phenylhydrazine induced DNA single- and double-strand breaks in cells pretreated with Mn(II), whereas iproniazid did not. With isolated 32P-DNA, isoniazid produced DNA damage in the presence of Cu(II), Mn(II), or Mn(III). Iproniazid damage isolated DNA only in the presence of Cu(II). The Cu(II)-mediated DNA damage by isoniazid or iproniazid is due to active oxygen species other than hydroxyl free radical (.OH), presumably the Cu(I)-peroxide complex. Cleavage of isolated DNA by isoniazid plus Mn(II) occurred without marked site specificity. The DNA damage was inhibited by .OH scavengers and superoxide dismutase (SOD) but not by catalase, suggesting the involvement of .OH formed via O2- but not via H2O2. Consistently, in ESR experiments .OH formation was observed during Mn(II)-catalyzed autoxidation of isoniazid, and the .OH formation was inhibited by SOD, but not by catalase. Iproniazid plus Mn(II) produced no or little .OH. We propose a reaction mechanism for the .OH formation without a H2O2 intermediate during manganese-catalyzed autoxidation of hydrazine. The present and previous data raise the possibility that hydrazines plus Mn(II)-induced cellular DNA damage may occur, at least in part, through the non-Fenton-type reaction.

Autoradiography

Effect of flash photoreactivation on Escherichia coli recA induction by ultraviolet light.

Excision-deficient Escherichia coli, carrying the gene for the photolyase on a multicopy plasmid, were irradiated with ultraviolet (UV) light then photoreactivated by illumination delivered from a camera flash unit. Such instantaneous illumination monomerizes only cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers already bound by the photolyase. Whereas the lethal effect of UV light and the number of C-to-T transition-type mutations induced by UV irradiation were both significantly reduced by subsequent irradiation with a single flash of light, single-flash photoreactivation did not reverse the induction of the recA gene by UV light. The results indicate, therefore, that non-photoreactivable DNA lesions play a role in recA induction.

Escherichia coli

Do the tumor cells of hepatocellular carcinomas dislodge into the portal venous stream during hepatic resection?

BACKGROUND: The current study was undertaken to investigate whether or not tumor cells are dislodged into the portal venous stream during hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinomas. METHODS: A catheter was placed using echo guidance into the portal branch through the mesenteric vein in 31 patients. Cytologic examinations were done on multiple blood samples at various operative stages. RESULTS: Tumor cells were recovered in 7 of 31 patients in whom the tumor sizes were more than 5 cm and portal invasions were found microscopically and/or macroscopically. By contrast, the remaining 24 tumors were less than 5 cm in size and showed negative portal invasions. Recovery of the tumor cells was found, not during the earlier operative stage of mobilization or rotation of the hepatic lobe, but during the later stages of hilar dissection or hepatic parenchymal dissection. CONCLUSIONS: The portal pedicles should be divided before hepatic dissection in segmentectomy and lobectomy to lessen the chance of dissemination of intravasated tumor cells.

Adult

Characterization of two forms of hemagglutinin/protease produced by Vibrio cholerae non-O1.

Two forms (34 kDa and 32 kDa) of hemagglutinin/protease produced by Vibrio cholerae non-O1 were characterized. The hemagglutinin/protease purified by immunoaffinity column chromatography using a monoclonal antibody was essentially a 34-kDa form. By incubation of the purified 34-kDa form at 37 degrees C, it was processed (autodigested) to the 32-kDa form. The N-terminal 20 amino acid sequences of both the 34- and 32-kDa forms were identical, suggesting that proteolytic processing at the C-terminal region of the 34-kDa hemagglutinin/protease resulted in the 32-kDa form. With this shift, protease activity increased, but hemagglutinating activity decreased, suggesting that the C-terminal region of the hemagglutinin/protease is related to hemagglutinating activity.

Amino Acid Sequence

The RCK gene associated with t(11;14) translocation is distinct from the MLL/ALL-1 gene with t(4;11) and t(11;19) translocations.

We previously demonstrated that the 11q23 breakpoint region, designated the RCK locus, of the RC-K8 B-lymphoma cell line with t(11;14)(q23;q32) is centromeric to PBGD, while breakpoints of infantile leukemia cell lines with t(11;19)(q23;p13) are detectable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis with the CD3D probe. In the present study, using a probe within 1.0 kilobase of the t(11;14) breakpoint, we isolated a partial complementary DNA clone for the putative RCK gene, which detects a 7.5-kilobase mRNA. Sequence analysis predicted a novel protein of 472 amino acids which demonstrated sequence homology to a translation initiation factor/helicase family. We also isolated a phage clone from the CD3D/G yeast artificial chromosome clone (yB22B2) which detects 11- and 12-kilobase mRNAs, most likely for the MLL/ALL-1 gene associated t(4;11)(q21;q23) and t(11;19)(q23;p13) translocations. By pulsed-field gel electrophoresis after NotI digestion, this recombinant clone is on a 96-kilobase fragment, while RCK and PBGD probes are on a more telomeric 690-kilobase NotI fragment. These results, altogether, suggested that two different genes, RCK and MLL/ALL-1, are associated with 11q23 translocation of hematopoietic tumors.

Amino Acid Sequence

Carbohydrate-binding proteins in bovine kidney have consensus amino acid sequences of annexin family proteins.

Ca(2+)-dependent carbohydrate-binding proteins were purified from bovine kidney extracts. Upon SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nonreducing conditions, the purified fraction gave doublet protein bands corresponding to 33 kDa (p33) and 41 kDa (p41). Under reducing conditions, a single protein band (p33) was observed. p33 and p41 were submitted to proteolytic digestion with endoproteinase Lys-C, the peptides produced were separated by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography, and their amino acid sequences were determined by an automated gas-phase protein sequenator. Most of the resulting partial amino acid sequences of these proteins were strikingly homologous to annexin IV, an annexin family protein, i.e. Ca2+/phospholipid-binding proteins, especially in the consensus sequences. In the presence of Ca2+, both proteins bound to vesicles composed of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine, but not phosphatidylcholine. These results indicated that p33 and p41 are members of annexin family proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence

Tissue-type plasminogen activator, type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor and their complex in plasma with disseminated intravascular coagulation.

The levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), and t-PA/PAI-1 complex antigens were analyzed in the plasma of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) patients and healthy controls. Other fibrinolytic parameters such as the levels of plasminogen, alpha 2-antiplasmin (alpha 2-AP), plasmin/alpha 2-AP (PAP), and D-dimer were also estimated to clarify the fibrinolytic states in these plasmas. The antigens of t-PA, PAI-1, and t-PA/PAI-1 complex were found to increase from 8.5 +/- 4.3, 54.4 +/- 21.2, and 8.6 +/- 3.5 ng/ml in normal plasma to 36.4 +/- 25.1, 106.8 +/- 54.7, and 46.6 +/- 34.5 ng/ml in DIC plasma, respectively. The molar ratio of total t-PA to total PAI-1 was 1:6 and 1:3 in normal plasma and DIC plasma, respectively, indicating an enhanced fibrinolytic state in the DIC plasma. The DIC plasma revealed a significant consumption of plasminogen (62.1 +/- 27.8%), and alpha 2-AP (63.7 +/- 25.3%) and an increase in PAP (2.6 +/- 2.7 micrograms/ml) and D-dimer (3.9 +/- 10.7 micrograms/ml). These results suggest that the production and secretion of t-PA and PAI-1 from endothelial cells were enhanced in DIC, resulting in an increased t-PA/PAI-1 complex with dominant fibrinolytic activity.

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Constitutional translocation t(4;22) (q12;q12.2) associated with neurofibromatosis type 2.

We report on a female patient with bilateral acoustic neurinomas and other tumors in the central nervous system (neurofibromatosis type 2: NF2) and the constitutional translocation, t(4;22) (q12;q12.2). The precise identification of the translocation breakpoint (q12.2) on chromosome 22 implies the refined localization of a gene responsible for NF2, and would provide a clue to its molecular characterization and to the isolation of the gene. Chromosomes of a paraspinal neurinoma from the patient were also analyzed, and the same karyotype as seen in cultured peripheral lymphocytes was found. The patient's father was also a carrier of the translocation, but he had no clinical symptoms of NF2, nor did other relatives. Several explanations are offered for the different expression of the translocation between the patient and her father.

Adult

Purification and some properties of L-fucose dehydrogenase from Agrobacterium radiobacter and its application to the assay of bound-fucose in glycoconjugates.

L-Fucose dehydrogenase was found in the cell extract of Agrobacterium radiobacter and purified to homogeneity about 480-fold with 16% recovery. The molecular weight of the enzyme was approx. 64,000. The enzyme was active in the neutral pH range, unlike other L-fucose or D-arabinose dehydrogenases which are active only in the alkaline pH range. Using this enzyme and alpha-L-fucosidase F-I of Bacillus circulans (Tsuji, Y., Yamamoto, K., Tochikura, T., Seno, T., Ohkubo, Y. and Yamaguchi, H. (1990) J. Biochem. 107, 324-330) simultaneously, we developed a new coupled enzymatic method in a single buffer system for determining bound-fucose in biological materials. The fucose released by alpha-L-fucosidase F-I was oxidized with L-fucose dehydrogenase in the presence of NAD+, and the NADH formed was measured by absorbance of ultraviolet or utilized to generate color in a reaction involving CuSO4 and neocuproine. Using these methods, bound-fucose in various oligosaccharides and proteins such as lacto-N-fucopentaoses and porcine gastric mucin were quantitated within 15 min.

Animals

The antibiotic azatyrosine suppresses progesterone or [Val12]p21 Ha-ras/insulin-like growth factor I-induced germinal vesicle breakdown and tyrosine phosphorylation of Xenopus mitogen-activated protein kinase in oocytes.

The antibiotic azatyrosine [DL-3-(5-hydroxy-2-pyridyl)alanine] suppressed meiotic maturation in oocytes induced by progesterone or the combination of [Val12]p21Ha-ras microinjection and insulin-like growth factor I. The suppression was dose-dependent in the range of 20-250 microM azatyrosine. In addition, azatyrosine blocked the tyrosine phosphorylation of Xp42, a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, after progesterone or [Val12]p21Ha-ras/insulin-like growth factor I stimulation. Activation of maturation-promoting factor, as shown by a decrease in the tyrosine phosphorylation of the Xenopus homolog of p34cdc2, was also suppressed by azatyrosine. Azatyrosine had no effect in vivo or in vitro on the growth factor-induced autophosphorylation of the oocyte insulin-like growth factor I receptor. Azatyrosine has been shown by others [Shindo-Okada, N., Makabe, O., Nagahara, H. & Nishimura, S. (1989) Mol. Carcinog. 2, 159-167] to inhibit the growth of ras-transformed cells without affecting that of nontransformed cells. In oocytes, the antibiotic exerts an inhibitory action on both a ras-dependent and a ras-independent pathway. Lack of an effect of azatyrosine on germinal vesicle breakdown induced by the microinjection of an extract from mature oocytes, however, suggests that azatryosine is acting upstream of maturation-promoting factor activation.

Amino Acid Sequence

Platelet-derived growth factor BB-dimer suppresses the expression of macrophage colony-stimulating factor in human vascular smooth muscle cells.

Vascular smooth muscle cell is a major cell component involved in the process of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB dimer on the expression of macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) in vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from human umbilical artery. On Northern blot analysis of total RNAs isolated from smooth muscle cells, with human cDNA for M-CSF, a marked dose-dependent reduction of mRNA level was found in PDGF-BB-treated smooth muscle cells. Cellular production of M-CSF was estimated by immunoblot analysis of cell lysate with specific polyclonal antibody against recombinant human M-CSF. A concentration of 10 ng/ml PDGF-BB significantly reduced M-CSF mass in smooth muscle cells compared with that in the absence of PDGF-BB. These results suggest that PDGF-BB plays an important role in the cellular metabolism of vascular wall by regulating the rate of M-CSF production in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Antibodies

Purification, molecular cloning, and expression of lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

An extracellular lipase secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa TE3285 was purified. A genomic library of this strain was constructed in lambda EMBL3, and a DNA fragment 2.7 kb long containing the lipase gene, lipA, was isolated with an oligonucleotide probe synthesized on the basis of the partial amino acid sequence of a purified preparation of the enzyme. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed an open reading frame of 933 bases, and the deduced amino acid sequence agreed well with the molecular mass and partial amino acid sequences of mature lipase. The results of alignment of the amino acid sequences of five lipases from Pseudomonas species considered together with the published crystal structure studied with human pancreatic lipase showed that Ser82, His251, and Asp209 were catalytic residues and that a surface loop from residues 172 to 204 was responsible for the substrate specificity. About 50 bases downstream of lipA, there was another gene, lipB. The sequence of lipB was highly homologous to that of putative modulators of the production of active lipases in other Pseudomonas species. Expression plasmids encoding lipA followed by the complete or incomplete lipB gene downstream of the lac promoter of pUC18 were constructed. lipA was expressed in Escherichia coli 1100 only in the presence of the complete lipB gene.

Amino Acid Sequence

Lipid microsphere containing lipophilic heme: preparation and oxygen transportation under physiological conditions.

Lipophilic heme (1-laurylimidazole-ligated 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(alpha, alpha, alpha, alpha-o- pivalamidophenyl)porphinatoiron(II) complex) is solubilized in lipid (triglyceride) at high concentrations and emulsified with a phospholipid in physiological salt solution, giving a deeply red-colored suspension of lipid microspheres (approx. 250 nm in diameter). The heme forms an oxygen adduct in a similar manner as oxyhemoglobin and the lipid microspheres take up and release oxygen reversibly at 37 degrees C in the aqueous medium. The oxygen-transporting ability is comparable with that of the red blood cell. Intravenous injection of the heme/lipid microsphere solution to rabbits demonstrates that it transports oxygen even in vivo and that it is cleared from the blood stream with a half-life time of approx. 1 h.

Animals

Nonconservative recombination in Escherichia coli.

Homologous recombination between two duplex DNA molecules might result in two duplex DNA molecules (conservative) or, alternatively, it might result in only one recombinant duplex DNA molecule (nonconservative). Here we present evidence that the mode of homologous recombination is nonconservative in an Escherichia coli strain with an active RecF pathway (a recBC sbcBC mutant). We employed plasmid substrates that enable us to recover both recombination products. These plasmids carry two mutant alleles of neo gene in direct orientation, two drug-resistance marker genes, and two compatible replication origins. After their transfer to the cells followed by immediate selection for the recombination to neo+, we could recover only one recombination product. A double-strand break at the region of homology increased this nonconservative recombination. If a nonconservative exchange should leave an end, this end may stimulate another exchange. Such "successive half crossing-over events" can explain several recombination-related phenomena in E. coli, including the origin of plasmid linear multimers and of transcribable, nonreplicated recombination products, and also in yeast and mammalian cells.

Bacterial Proteins

Erythropoietin rapidly induces tyrosine phosphorylation in the human erythropoietin-dependent cell line, UT-7.

UT-7 is a human megakaryoblastic cell line capable of growing in interleukin-3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or erythropoietin (Epo) (Cancer Res 51:341, 1991). We used this cell line and a selected Epo-dependent subcell line (UT-7/Epo) to study the early signal transduction events induced by Epo. When UT-7 cells were exposed to Epo, tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins (with molecular weight equivalent to that of p85, p110, and p145) was observed. Protein phosphorylation occurred in both a dose- and time-dependent manner. p85 showed a marked increase in phosphotyrosine content within 30 seconds; maximal phosphorylation was observed at 1 minute. Subsequently, tyrosine phosphorylation of p110 and p145 was observed, beginning at 1 minute and reaching plateau at 5 minutes. The degree of phosphorylation of these three proteins gradually decreased thereafter. In addition, in UT-7/Epo cells, Epo induced tyrosine phosphorylation of other proteins that were not observed in Epo-induced UT-7 cells. The concentration of Epo required to induce tyrosine phosphorylation was in the same range of concentration required to stimulate cell growth. Epo was also able to activate p21ras as measured by exchange of guanosine diphosphate for guanosine triphosphate. These data show that tyrosine phosphorylation and P21ras activation are early signals in the Epo-induced mitogenic pathway.

Erythropoietin