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Biomedical subjects

M K Jain

Publications and source records attributed to M K Jain.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Phospholipase A2 engineering. The structural and functional roles of aromaticity and hydrophobicity in the conserved phenylalanine-22 and phenylalanine-106 aromatic sandwich.

The highly conserved phenylalanine-22 and phenylalanine-106, arranged as an aromatic sandwich, form part of an invariant hydrophobic wall that shields the active site of bovine pancreatic phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from bulk solvent [Dijkstra, B. W., Drenth, J., & Kalk, K. H. (1981) Nature 289, 604-606]. The residues have also been suggested to interact with the sn-2 acyl chain of bound phospholipid substrate [White, S. P., Scott, D. L., Otwinowski, Z., Gelb, M. H., & Sigler, P. B. (1990) Science 250, 1560-1563]. We now report the importance of these two residues in the structure and function of PLA2 in terms of aromaticity (changing to Ile) and hydrophobic (changing to Ala) and hydrophilic (changing to Tyr) character of these residues. The structural properties of the mutants were analyzed by proton NMR and by guanidine hydrochloride-induced denaturation. The functional properties were determined by measuring kinetic parameters toward various substrates in the forms of monomers, micelles, and vesicles, and by measuring equilibrium dissociation constants at the interface. The results show that (i) The conformational stability of each mutant was as good as that of wild-type PLA2; none of the mutants was significantly perturbed structurally as judged from detailed 1H NMR analysis. These results suggest that neither the Phe-22/Phe-106 face-to-face pair nor the Phe-22/Tyr-111 edge-to-face pair plays a significant structural role. (ii) Mutations to Ile at either position 22 or position 106 resulted in only minor perturbations in activity. This suggests that the aromaticity is not important to the function of these two residues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Interfacial catalysis by phospholipase A2: the rate-limiting step for enzymatic turnover.

The kinetics of the phospholipase A2-catalyzed hydrolysis of bilayer vesicles and mixed micelles of several oxyglycero and thioglycero analogues of phospholipids have been studied. The results with vesicles show that, depending on the source of the enzyme, the rates of hydrolysis of the oxy-containing long-chain phosphatidylmethanols are 2.5- to 28-fold higher compared to the rates of hydrolysis of the analogous thio substrates. The oxygen to sulfur substitution does not significantly alter the affinities of the enzymes for the reaction products or calcium. Since it is unlikely that sulfur substitution changes the rate constants for the formation and dissociation of the enzyme-product complex by the same factor, the element effects seen in the rates of hydrolysis of the oxy- and thioester phospholipids in vesicles are primarily due to a change in the rate constant for the chemical step of the catalytic turnover cycle. For bovine pancreatic phospholipase A2, various mutants with lower catalytic activity were used to show that the value of the element effect does not increase in the mutants. These results establish that, for the pancreatic phospholipase A2, the element effect is fully expressed, and the chemical step is fully rate-limiting for both oxyglycero and thioglycero phospholipids in vesicles. It was found that the element effect decreases from 7 to 1 when long-chain phosphatidylmethanols are present in micelles of a neutral diluent. This result suggests that the chemical step is not rate-limiting during the hydrolysis of these mixed micelle substrates.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Basis for the anomalous effect of competitive inhibitors on the kinetics of hydrolysis of short-chain phosphatidylcholines by phospholipase A2.

The effect of four specific competitive inhibitors on the kinetics of hydrolysis of short-chain diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholines below their critical micelle concentrations was examined. The kinetics of hydrolysis of short-chain substrates dispersed as solitary monomers were generally consistent with the classical Michaelis-Menten formalism; i.e., hydrolysis began without any latency period, the steady-state rate was observed at higher substrate concentrations, the steady-state initial rate showed a linear dependence on the enzyme concentration, and the hyperbolic dependence of the initial rate on the substrate concentration could be described in terms of KM and Vmax parameters. The competitive nature of the inhibitors used in this study has been established by a variety of techniques, and the equilibrium dissociation constants for the inhibitors bound to the enzyme were measured by the protection method [Jain et al. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 7306-7317]. The kinetics of hydrolysis in the presence of competitive inhibitors could be described by a single dissociation constant. However, the value of the dissociation constant obtained under the kinetic conditions was comparable to that obtained by the protection method for the inhibitor-enzyme complex bound to a neutral diluent, rather than to the value of the dissociation constant obtained with solitary monomeric inhibitors and the enzyme in the aqueous phase. Spectroscopic methods showed that the effectively lower dissociation constant of an inhibitor bound to PLA2 at the interface is due to the stabilization of the enzyme-inhibitor complex by interaction with other amphiphiles present in the reaction mixture.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1992

Kinetic analysis of a high molecular weight phospholipase A2 from rat kidney: divalent metal-dependent trapping of enzyme on product-containing vesicles.

The kinetics of hydrolysis of 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine vesicles catalyzed by the high molecular weight phospholipase A2 from rat kidney show an anomalous behavior. The reaction progress lasts for several minutes and then stops after only 5-10% of the available substrate has been hydrolyzed. Addition of more enzyme but not more substrate leads to a new round of hydrolysis. Although this initially suggested that the enzyme becomes inactivated during the turnover, such a conclusion could not be substantiated. Addition of buffer containing 0.15 M NaCl and bovine serum albumin to the reaction after the progress ceased leads to the re-initiation of the lipolysis. The enzyme is not strongly inhibited by the reaction products. Although the enzyme does not bind irreversibly to vesicles composed of pure 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, it does become irreversibly trapped on vesicles that contain a critical mole percentage of reaction products. This trapping is the most likely explanation for the cessation of the reaction progress. Both the binding of enzyme to 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine vesicles and the hydrolysis of 1-stearoyl-2-[3H]arachidonyl-sn-glycerophosphocholine contained in these vesicles require the presence of products. Furthermore, the trapping of enzyme is independent of catalytic turnover. The trapping is sensitive to the structure of the fatty acid present in the vesicles and requires the presence of divalent metals (either Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, or Mg2+). Since the concentrations of the metals needed for the enzymatic activity correlate with the amounts needed to promote the trapping, it is suggested that the role of the metal is only to promote the interfacial binding of the enzyme.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗
PubMed1992

Substituted methyl benzimidazole carbamate: efficacy against experimental cysticercosis.

Methyl [5-([4-(2-pyridinyl)-1-piprazinyl] carbonyl)-1H benzimidazole-2-yl] carbamate, a broad spectrum anthelmintic, was tested against Cysticercus fasciolaris in rats and the cysticercoids of Hymenolepis nana in beetles. A dose of 50 mg kg-1, given intraperitoneally (i.p.) to infected rats on 10 alternate days, was found most effective, killing all mature cysticerci. The same dose, given on each of five days, either from the fifth day prior to infection or the sixth day following infection, fully arrested the establishment of cysticerci. A single prophylatic dose of 500 mg kg-1, given intramuscularly (i.m.), protected rats against challenge with Taenia taeniaeformis eggs for 10 days. The test compound, mebendazole and praziquantel were all totally ineffective against mature cysticercoids in grain beetles but, of the beetles fed the drugs in flour, 66.3%, 50% and 83.8%, respectively, failed to support the development of immature cysticercoids. The effective cysticidal action of the compound makes it a candidate medical anthelmintic.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Alterations in metabolic activity of Cysticercus fasciolaris on some anthelmintic treatments.

Effect of candidate compounds 81-470 i.e. methyl [5[4-(2-pyridinyl)-1-piperazinyl]carbonyl]-1H-benzimidazole-2-yl]- carbamate and 86-162 i.e. methyl-5(6)-(alpha-hydroxyphenyl methyl) benzimidazole-2-carbamate along with reference drugs mebendazole and praziquantel on energy metabolism of C. fasciolaris recovered from rats treated with single dose of 500 mg/kg, ip was investigated. All the drugs significantly lowered the rate of uptake of glucose and alanine by the parasite. Suppression in the formation of lactate, the major end-product, was also noticed. Nonetheless the ratio of lactate produced versus the substrates consumed was not substantially affected. The recovered cysticerci also possessed less glycogen and ATP compared to the normal parasites. Although the effects exerted by the drugs were of the identical nature, they significantly differed in the magnitude of their action. Mebendazole followed by praziquantel maximally affected all the above metabolic activities while 86-162 proved to be the weakest in action. The results suggest that the examined drugs exert their chemotherapeutic activity by interfering with uptake of glucose and alanine but do not significantly alter their catabolism.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1979

Phase transition characteristics of diphosphatidyl-glycerol (cardiolipin) and stereoisomeric phosphatidyldiacylglycerol bilayers. Mono- and divalent metal ion effects.

Synthesis and phase transition chaaracteristics of aqueous dispersions of the homologous (12 : 0, 14 : 0, 16 : 0) diphosphatidylglycerols (cardiolipins) and phosphatidyldiacylglycerols are reported. Electron microscopy of the negatively stained aqueous dispersions reveals a characteristic lamellar structure suggesting that these phospholipid molecules are organized as bilayers in the aqueous dispersions. The phase transition temperature (Tm) and the enthalpy of transition (delta H) increase monotonically with chain length in the cardiolipin and phosphatidyldiacylglycerol series; Tm for phosphatidyldiacylglycerol is higher than that for cardiolipin of the same chain-length. The transition temperatures for the enantiomeric sn-3,3- and sn-1,1-phosphatidyldiacylglycerol and for the diastereomeric, meso-sn-1,3-phosphatidyldiacylglycerol are approximately the same. The molar enthalpy for the transition of cardiolipin-NH+4 bilayers is approximately twice the value for the phosphatidylcholines of the same chain length, i.e., the molar enthalpy per acyl chain is approximately the same in the two systems. The transition temperatures for metal ion salts of C16-cardiolipin exhibit a biphasic dependence upon the unhydrated ionic radii, i.e., the highest Tm is observed for Ca2+-cardiolipin and decreases for the salts of ions with smaller and larger ionic radii than that of Ca2+. The lowest Tm is observed for Rb+-cardiolipin. Monovalent metal salts of cardiolipin exhibit two phase transitions. This effect may result from different conformational packing of the four acyl chains due to differences in metal-phosphate binding.

Cardiolipins↗
PubMed1978

Fatty acid biosynthesis in yeast.

Fatty acid synthetase and acetyl CoA carboxylase mutants have been used to study several aspects of fatty acid biosynthesis in yeast: the contribution of the various enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis and modification to the overall cellular fatty acid composition, the mechanism of fatty acyl chain elongation in yeast, the molecular structure and the reaction mechanism of the fatty acid synthetase complex and the genetic control of the biosynthesis of this multi-enzyme system. Genetic and biochemical evidence suggest an alpha6beta6 molecular structure of this complex, where alpha and beta are multifunctional proteins comprising, respectively, 3 and 5 of the various fatty acid synthetase component functions. The two subunits alpha and beta are synthesized on two different, unliked genes, fas 2 and fas 1. The biosynthesis of both is coordinated. The various component enzyme activities reside in distinct domains on the multifunctional chains. While most domains appear to be functionally independent, the three acyl transferases exhibit extensive mutual interactions. It is suggested that the biosynthesis of a multifunctional protein is favoured on the grounds of kinetics and regulation as compared with the formation of a complex of the corresponding individual enzymes.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗
PubMed1978

Lag phase during the action of phospholipase A2 on phosphatidylcholine modified by alkanols.

Theaction of pig pancreatic phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) on phosphatidylcholine bilayer is studied under a variety of substrate modification conditions including the incorporation of long chain alcohols (hexanol and several isomeric octanols) into the bilayer. The rate of hydrolysis shows a biphasic dependence upon the concentration of the activating alcohol. The hexanol to lipid molar ratio in the bilayer is approximately 1.4:1 at the optimal alkanol concentration. The lag phase at the beginning of hydrolysis has been shown to depend upon the nature of the bilayer as modified by different alkanols and by intrinsic differences in the unilamellar vesicles (approximate diameter approximately 250 A) compared to the multilamellar vesicles. The rate constant for the activation process responsible for the lag period is first order and does not depend upon the concentration of the enzyme, substrate, alkanol, and calcium. These and other experiments are interpreted in terms of a hypothesis that the pancreatic phospholipase interacts with the bilayer by a catalytic and a recognition site. The data suggest that the packing of the interface regulates the interaction of both the catalytic and the recognition site. It is postulated that the biphasic activation profile as a function of hexanol concentration may be a consequence of two-site interactions between the enzyme and the substrate interface.

Alcohols↗
PubMed1978

Interaction of fluorinated ether anesthetics with artificial membranes.

Fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is applied to the study of the environment of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine-bound fluorinated ether anesthetics (enflurane, fluoroxene and methoxyflurane) both below and above the lipid gel to liquid crystal phase transition temperature. Line widths and spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) measurements are consistent with substantial immobilization of the lipid-bound anesethetic molecules. Heating anesthetic/lipid mixtures above the lipid transition temperature leads to narrowing of the lipid-bound anesthetic fluorine resonances accompanied by little or no change in anesthetic fluorine-19 chemical shifts, suggesting that although the mobility of the bound anesthetic increases at the higher temperature, the nature of the anesthetic-lipid interaction changes little as a result of this phase change. Differential scanning calorimetric studies of the effects of these anesthetics on the phase transition behavior of the phospholipid indicate that the regions of the bilayer in which volatile anesthetics partition at lower concentrations are different from the regions in which they partition at higher concentrations.

Anesthetics↗