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Biomedical subjects

P K Chatterjee

Publications and source records attributed to P K Chatterjee.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Specific transcription from the adenovirus E2E promoter by RNA polymerase III requires a subpopulation of TFIID.

The early E2 (E2E) promoter of adenovirus type 2 possesses a TATA-like element and binding sites for the factors E2F and ATF. This promoter is transcribed by RNA polymerase II in high salt nuclear extracts, but by RNA polymerase III in standard nuclear extracts, as judged by sensitivity to low and high, respectively, concentrations of alpha-amanitin. Transcription by the two RNA polymerases initiated at the same site and depended, in both cases, on the TATA-like sequence and upstream elements. However, RNA polymerase III transcripts, unlike those synthesized by RNA polymerase II, terminated at two runs of Ts downstream of the initiation site. Although they are not essential, sequences downstream of the initiation site increased the efficiency of E2E transcription by RNA polymerase III. Such RNA polymerase III dependent transcription required a subpopulation of the general transcription factor, TFIID: TFIID that binds weakly to phosphocellulose (0.3 M eluate) complemented a TFIID-depleted extract to restore RNAp III transcription, whereas TFIID tightly associated with phosphocellulose (1 M eluate) was unable to do so.

Adenovirus E2 Proteins

Clinical and experimental mycotic keratitis caused by Aspergillus terreus and the effect of subconjunctival oxiconazole treatment in the animal model.

Aspergillus terreus was isolated from a case of Keratomycosis. The patient, a 50 year old, female presented with a large corneal ulcer with hypopyon. The direct microscopic examination of the scrapings revealed hyaline, thin, septate and branched hyphae. In vitro some antimycotics (amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, oxiconazole, amorolfine and ketoconazole) were tested against A. terreus by agar dilution method. Ketoconazole with MIC of 3 micrograms/ml after 7 days of incubation was most effective followed by oxiconazole (10 micrograms/ml). Experimental corneal ulcer was produced by injecting intralamellary 0.1 ml of the spore suspension containing 10 x 10(6) cfu/ml into the eyes of previously immunocompressed albino rabbits. Histopathologic examination showed infiltration and large destruction of the corneal stroma. Subconjunctival oxiconazole therapy exhibited complete cure. Based on our findings, a clinical evaluation of oxiconazole in human keratomycosis seems to be justified.

Amphotericin B

Clinical and experimental mycotic corneal ulcer caused by Aspergillus fumigatus and the effect of oral ketoconazole in the treatment.

Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from a case of keratomycosis. The patient, a 12-year-old boy presented with large corneal ulcer with hypopyon. The direct microscopic examination of scrapings revealed hyaline, septate mycelium. In vitro some antimycotics (amphotericin B,5-fluorocytosine, oxiconazole, amorolfine and ketoconazole) were tested against A. fumigatus by agar dilution method. Ketoconazole with minimum inhibitory concentration of 30 micrograms/ml after 11 days of incubation was most effective against A. fumigatus. Experimental corneal ulcer was produced by injecting intralamellary spore suspension (2.5 x 10(6) c.f.u.) into the right eyes of previously immunosuppressed albino and black wild types of rabbits. The extent of ocular infection was graded up to 32 days. Histopathologic examination showed infiltration and large destruction of corneal stroma. Oral ketoconazole therapy exhibited partial response followed by relapse. The black type of rabbit appeared more suitable as an animal model for mycotic keratitis.

Administration, Oral

Simultaneous determination of chlorzoxazone and acetaminophen in combined dosage forms by an absorbance ratio technique and difference spectrophotometry.

Two spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of chlorzoxazone and acetaminophen in their combined dosage forms. No preliminary separation step is required in either method. The first, an absorbance ratio technique using the isoabsorptive point as one of the wavelengths, together with "Q curve" analysis gives accurate and reproducible results for both drugs. The second, a difference spectrophotometric method is based on measurement of absorbance of an alkaline solution relative to that of an acidic solution of identical concentration of the sample at two different wavelengths. The method is suitable for routine analysis of such combinations of the drugs.

Acetaminophen

DNA-binding properties of an adenovirus 289R E1A protein.

An adenovirus 2 289 amino acid (289R) E1A protein purified from Escherichia coli has been shown to interact with DNA by two independent methods. UV-crosslinking of complexes containing unmodified, uniformly 32P-labelled DNA and purified E1A protein induced efficient labelling of the protein with covalently attached oligonucleotides, indicating that the E1A protein itself contacts DNA. Discrete nucleoprotein species were also observed when E1A protein--DNA complexes were analysed by gel electrophoresis. Although the 289R E1A protein exhibited no significant binding to single-stranded DNA or to RNA, no evidence for its sequence-specific binding to double-stranded DNA was obtained with either assay. Identification of the sites of covalent attachment of 32P-labelled oligonucleotides by partial proteolysis of the crosslinked E1A protein indicated that the interaction of this protein with DNA is mediated via domain(s) in the C-terminal half of the protein. Such previously unrecognized DNA-binding activity is likely to contribute to the regulatory activities of this important adenoviral protein.

Adenovirus Early Proteins

Adenovirus type 2 endopeptidase: an unusual phosphoprotein enzyme matured by autocatalysis.

A 19-kDa protein, present in low copy number in purified adenovirus type 2, has been characterized. Several criteria were used to establish that this protein is neither a degradation product of the known structural proteins of the virion nor a minor, unusually modified, form of protein VII. This 19-kDa protein, unlike other virion proteins, possesses alkali-resistant phosphoamino acids. Analysis by partial proteolysis indicated that it is related to a 23-kDa phosphoprotein present in H2ts-1 virions assembled in infected cells maintained at 39 degrees C. Affinity labeling with [3H]diisopropyl fluorophosphate showed that the 19-kDa protein contains the active site for a serine protease. We, therefore, conclude that the 19-kDa protein is the active form of the adenovirus-encoded endopeptidase, defined by the H2ts-1 mutation, and is synthesized as a 23-kDa precursor that appears to mature by autocatalysis.

Adenoviruses, Human

Comparison of the interactions of the adenovirus type 2 major core protein and its precursor with DNA.

The interactions of the major core protein of adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) protein VII, and its precursor, protein pre-VII, with viral DNA, were studied using UV light induced crosslinking of 32P-labelled oligonucleotides to the proteins. Proteolytic fragments of these two proteins that contain DNA-binding domains were identified by virtue of their covalently attached, alkali-resistant 32P-radioactivity. The overall efficiency of crosslinking of protein pre-VII to DNA, in H2ts1 virions assembled at 39 degrees C, was comparable to that of the crosslinking of protein VII to DNA in Ad2 virions. However, a protease V8 fragment comprising the N-terminal half of protein pre-VII crosslinked to DNA at least ten times more efficiently than the corresponding N-terminal fragment of protein VII, which is truncated by the removal of 23 amino acids from the N-terminus of protein pre-VII during virion maturation.

Adenoviruses, Human

Identification of proteins and protein domains that contact DNA within adenovirus nucleoprotein cores by ultraviolet light crosslinking of oligonucleotides 32P-labelled in vivo.

A new approach to the identification of DNA binding proteins has been developed and used to study the DNA-protein interactions within the nucleoprotein core of subgroup C adenoviruses. Virions labelled in vivo with [32P]orthophosphate were exposed to ultraviolet light and the DNA digested by chemical or enzymatic methods. Labelled phosphoamino acids of the virion phosphoproteins were selectively hydrolysed by alkali, permitting proteins crosslinked to DNA to be identified by virtue of their covalently attached, 32P-labelled nucleotides. In parallel experiments, [3H]arginine-labelled virions were crosslinked by exposure to ultraviolet light and analysed by more conventional methods. The results indicate that proteins VII and V lie in close contact with viral DNA within the core. The compact arrangement of the nucleoprotein core appears to be capable of trapping protein VII molecules that are not covalently attached to DNA after exposure to ultraviolet light, suggesting that viral DNA might be wrapped around clusters of protein VII molecules. The domains of protein VII that lie in contact with DNA were identified by partial proteolytic mapping of the sites of covalent-attachment of the 32P-labelled oligonucleotides. The implications of these data for the nature of the interactions that mediate the packaging of viral DNA within the nucleoprotein core of adenovirions are discussed.

Adenoviridae

Adenoviral protein VII packages intracellular viral DNA throughout the early phase of infection.

The proteins associated with parental, adenoviral DNA in productively-infected HeLa cells have been examined both directly and indirectly. HeLa cells infected with 32P-labelled Ad2 were irradiated with u.v. light at various points in the infectious cycle. Following degradation of the DNA, nuclear proteins carrying cross-linked nucleotides, or oligonucleotides, were distinguished from virion phosphoproteins by the resistance of their 32P radioactivity to 1 M NaOH. The major core protein of the virion, protein VII, was found to be associated with viral DNA throughout infection, even when cells were infected at a multiplicity of 0.14. Micrococcal nuclease digestion of intranuclear viral DNA 4 h after infection liberated two nucleoprotein particles containing viral DNA, neither of which co-migrated with HeLa cell mononucleosomes. These results indicate that core protein VII remains associated with parental adenoviral DNA during productive infections. The observation that protein VII can be cross-linked to DNA in cells infected at very low multiplicity, together with the results of a comparison of proteins cross-linkable to viral DNA in cells infected by wild-type virus and a non-infectious mutant containing the precursor to protein VII, suggest that nucleoproteins comprising viral DNA and protein VII must be the templates for expression of pre-early and early viral genes.

Adenoviruses, Human

Partition of E1A proteins between soluble and structural fractions of adenovirus-infected and -transformed cells.

The partition of E1A proteins between soluble and structural framework fractions of human cells infected or transformed by subgroup C adenoviruses was investigated by using gentle cell fractionation conditions. A polyclonal antibody raised against a trpE-E1A fusion protein (K.R. Spindler, D.S.E. Rosser, and A. J. Berk, J. Virol. 132-141, 1984) synthesized in Escherichia coli was used to measure the steady-state levels of E1A proteins recovered in the various fractions by immunoblotting. The relative concentration of E1A proteins recovered in the soluble fraction of adenovirus type 2-infected cells was at least fivefold greater than the relative concentration in the corresponding fraction of transformed 293 cells. The observed distribution of E1A proteins was not altered by the sulfhydryl-blocking reagent N-ethylmaleimide. E1A proteins were recovered in nuclear matrix, chromatin, and cytoskeleton fractions after further fractionation of the structural framework fraction. However, the E1A protein species that could be identified by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis were not uniformly distributed among the subcellular fractions examined. The results obtained when fractionation was performed in the presence of the oxidation catalysts Cu2+ or (ortho-phenanthroline)2 Cu2+ indicate that E1A proteins can be efficiently cross-linked, via disulfide bonds, to the structural framework of both adenovirus-infected and adenovirus-transformed cells.

Adenoviridae Infections

Interactions among the three adenovirus core proteins.

Interactions among the three adenovirus core polypeptides V, VII, and mu were examined, using the reversible chemical cross-linker dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cross-linked species obtained from gradient-purified adenovirus type 2 cores were well represented among the cross-linked products of pentonless virions and crude core preparations. The more efficiently formed cross-linked core species were also identified with the arginine-specific cross-linker, p-azidophenyl glyoxal. In addition to dimers of polypeptides V and VII, efficient cross-linking of V to VII, V to mu, and VII to V to mu was detected in adenovirus cores. Notably absent were cross-linked species corresponding to higher multimers of polypeptide VII. A major core-capsid interaction appeared to be via the association of polypeptide V with a dimer of polypeptide VI.

Adenoviruses, Human

Formation of vesicular stomatitis virus nucleocapsid from cytoskeletal framework-bound N protein: possible model for structure assembly.

The pathway of vesicular stomatitis virus N protein from synthesis to assembly into capsids was studied by use of detergent extraction of infected HeLa cells together with protein cross-linking. One half of the newly synthesized N protein was extracted with the soluble cell proteins and, when cross-linked, never formed the N-N dimer characteristic of mature nucleocapsids. In contrast, the cytoskeleton-bound N protein first showed a diffuse spectrum of protein-protein cross-links but, after a lag of 40 min, assumed the cross-link pattern of N protein in nucleocapsids. The efficiency of forming N-N cross-linked dimers is the same for N protein on the skeleton as in nucleocapsids derived from mature virus, suggesting very similar configurations. However, the N protein bound on the skeletal framework formed several additional cross-links that were not found in mature virus and were apparently formed to cellular proteins estimated to be ca. approximately 46,000 and 60,000 in molecular weight.

Capsid

Photochemical production of psoralen - DNA monoadducts capable of subsequent photocrosslinking.

Irradiation of 4' -aminomethyl-4,5' ,8-trimethyl psoralen in the presence of DNA at wavelengths between 380 and 400nm leads to efficient production of monoadducts with no significant amount of crosslinking. The yield of monoadduct attainable is high (about 35 adducts per 1000 base pairs) and can be made still higher by repeated irradiation with fresh psoralen derivative. Subsequent irradiation at 350nm results in crosslinking of a almost half of the monoattached psoralen. Studies of the yield of nonoadduct and crosslink as function of irradiation wavelength show that the action spectrum for crosslink formation is blue-shifted relative to that for monoadduct formation.

DNA