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Biomedical subjects

R I Scott

Publications and source records attributed to R I Scott.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Oxygen utilisation by isopenicillin N synthase from Penicillium chrysogenum.

The enzyme isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS) converts delta-(L-alpha- aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine (ACV) to isopenicillin N; an equimolar amount of oxygen is used in this oxidative ring closure reaction. Oxygen uptake rates of the reaction catalysed by partially purified IPNS from Penicillium chrysogenum SC 6140 and P2 were measured using an oxygen electrode. In contrast to published properties of Cephalosporium acremonium IPNS, the enzyme from P. chrysogenum was not stimulated by the addition of glutathione and showed reduced stimulation by Fe2+. The analysis of oxygen uptake rates showed the reaction to be first order with respect to oxygen concentration and the Km for ACV to be 0.4 mmol dm-3. The implications of these results for cell-free reactions using this enzyme and penicillin fermentations are discussed.

Biotechnology

Effects of oxygen on recombinant protein production by suspension cultures of Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf-9) insect cells.

Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf-9) insect cells have been grown in serum-free medium in 250-ml spinner flasks. The maximum cell density obtained in these cultures was dependent on the aeration rate of the culture. Similar yields of uninfected cells were obtained when cultures were stirred in spinner flasks at 80 rev min-1 and in a 4-1 stirred-tank bioreactor and the dissolved oxygen in the bioreactor was controlled at 20% of air saturation. Cells were infected with a recombinant baculovirus at different multiplicities of infection: the timing and maximum level of expression of the recombinant protein were dependent on the multiplicity of infection, the cell density at infection, and on the aeration rate of the culture. Oxygen-limited growth resulted in undetectable levels of recombinant protein (< 6 ng recombinant protein 10(-7) cells). Compared with the maximum yields observed in spinner flask cultures, higher levels of recombinant protein were produced when cells were grown and infected in the bioreactor. The level of dissolved oxygen in the bioreactor was controlled at 50% of air saturation.

Animals

Kinetics of the reactions of trioxodinitrate and nitrite ions with cytochrome d in Escherichia coli.

The rate of reaction of trioxodinitrate with reduced cytochrome oxidase d in membrane particles from Escherichia coli at pH 7 and 25 degrees C depends linearly upon [HN2O3-] over the concentration range studied (up to 0.05 mM) and is also first-order in cytochrome d. The known rate of decomposition of trioxodinitrate to give NO- and NO2- is about 4.5-times faster than the rate of reaction of reduced cytochrome d with trioxodinitrate, implying that cytochrome d reacts directly with NO-, with a trapping ratio of between 0.20 and 0.25, rather than with trioxodinitrate. The implications of the facile formation of the NO(-)-nitrosyl complex of cytochrome d for the mechanism of denitrification are discussed with particular reference to the mechanism of N-N bond formation. The reaction of reduced cytochrome d with nitrite (a decomposition product of trioxodinitrate) under these conditions is much slower than that with trioxodinitrate. The kinetics show a biphasic dependence of initial rate upon nitrite concentration. The rate data at low [NO2-] are consistent with saturation of a high affinity site for nitrite, having Vmax = 4.29.10(-9) M s-1 and Km = 0.034 mM. The existence of two binding sites for nitrite is consistent with the suggestion that the cytochrome bd complex contains two cytochrome d haems.

Cytochrome d Group