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S Narasimhan

Publications and source records attributed to S Narasimhan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Prohibitin, a putative negative control element present in Pneumocystis carinii.

Little is known about the molecules involved in the regulation of Pneumocystis carinii replication and development in vitro and in vivo. We describe in this report the identification of a P. carinii gene encoding the P. carinii prohibitin protein. In mammals, the prohibitin gene product has been shown to negatively regulate cell proliferation. A cDNA clone encoding the P. carinii prohibitin gene was isolated from a P. carinii cDNA library and identified on the basis of amino acid sequence homology with prohibitin from mammalian sources. Southern blot analysis confirmed that the prohibitin cDNA clone was of P. carinii origin. Western blot analysis of total P. carinii protein indicated that the prohibitin gene is transcribed and translated in vivo. The P. carinii prohibitin gene was expressed in vivo in human fibroblasts and shown to arrest the cell cycle in the G1 phase. The results obtained suggest a potential role for P. carinii prohibitin in the regulation of P. carinii proliferation and development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Gene for an extracellular matrix receptor protein from Pneumocystis carinii.

An initial and crucial step in the establishment of many microbial infections is the attachment of the pathogen to the host cells. Thus, adherence of Pneumocystis carinii (Pc) to type I pneumocytes is believed to be important in the induction of Pc pneumonia. Little is known about the nature of the attachment of Pc to type I cells, although extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, such as fibronectin and laminin, have been implicated in the process. We report here the isolation of a Pc gene encoding a receptor protein that binds both fibronectin and laminin in vitro. A cDNA clone encoding the Pc ECM receptor was isolated from a Pc cDNA library and identified on the basis of sequence homology to the human colon carcinoma laminin receptor. Southern blot analysis of Pc genomic DNA confirmed that the cDNA was of Pc origin. Northern blot analysis of Pc total RNA showed a predominant mRNA of approximately 1400 nucleotides that hybridized to the ECM receptor gene. The ECM receptor predicted from the cDNA sequence is 295 amino acid residues long, with a molecular mass of 32.8 kDa. The C-terminal third of the polypeptide is highly negatively charged, whereas the N-terminal two-thirds contains hydrophobic segments that may play a role in membrane association. Sequence analysis and alignment of the N terminus with the laminin receptor cDNA sequence of human colon carcinoma support the conclusion that the Pc ECM receptor cDNA clone is a full-length clone. A Western blot of the overexpressed ECM receptor protein bound both laminin and fibronectin in vitro. Antibodies raised to the overexpressed receptor protein interacted with a 33-kDa protein in total Pc cell lysates. These findings raise the possibility that the Pc ECM receptor protein may mediate the organism's attachment to type I pneumocytes and, thus, may play a crucial role in Pc pathogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Effect of orotic acid on beta 1,4-galactosyltransferase during liver regeneration.

The study was designed to understand the effect of orotic acid (OA) on the expression of beta 1,4-galactosyltransferase (GalTase), an enzyme involved in the transfer of galactose from UDP-galactose to a non-reducing terminal N-acetylglucosamine of a glycoprotein or glycolipid. Rats were fed a semisynthetic diet containing 1% OA for 2 weeks and the livers were stimulated to regenerate by two-thirds partial hepatectomy (PH). The level of activity of the enzyme and the steady-state level of hepatic mRNA transcripts of GalTase were determined prior to PH and at 12, 24, 48, 72 h and 10 days after the surgery. The data show that the hepatic activity of GalTase is unaltered in both the control and OA-fed groups until 12 h following surgery, but begins to increase after this time period. In the control group a progressive increase was seen throughout the experimental period following PH. On the other hand in the OA-fed group 24 h after PH the initial increase seen up to 24 h was arrested later on and the activity remained inhibited throughout the rest of the experimental period. The supplementation of 1% OA diet with 0.3% adenine, which is known to reverse the OA-induced imbalance in the nucleotide pool sizes, relieved the inhibition of GalTase activity. The steady-state level of hepatic mRNA paralleled the activity of GalTase at all the time points studied during liver regeneration. The reduction in the level of mRNA transcripts of GalTase in the OA-fed group may not be due to either a general inhibition of synthesis and/or degradation of mRNAs as revealed by a comparison of the expression of beta-galactoside 2,6-sialyltransferase in both the control and OA-fed groups. The study thus suggests an imbalance in nucleotide pools, such as the one induced by OA, may play a role in the regulation of glycosylation by modulating the glycosyltransferases.

Adenine↗
PubMed1992

Tc-99m albumin scintigraphy in the localization of protein loss in the gut.

Scintigraphic localization of gastrointestinal protein loss has been recently reported. A noninvasive method for the localization of protein loss in the gut using Tc-99m labeled albumin seems encouraging and is described here. In six patients studied for protein-losing enteropathy, scintigraphic results of four were positive.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Hyaluronidase from infective Ancylostoma hookworm larvae and its possible function as a virulence factor in tissue invasion and in cutaneous larva migrans.

During skin penetration, infective hookworm larvae encounter hyaluronic acid as they migrate between epidermal keratinocytes and through the ground substance of the dermis. A hyaluronidase would facilitate passage through the epidermis and dermis during larval invasion. Zoonotic hookworm larvae of the genus Ancylostoma were shown to contain a hyaluronidase activity that migrated on modified sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) hyaluronic acid gels with an apparent Mr of 49,000. A second form with an Mr of 87,000 was also identified. The major etiologic agent of cutaneous larva migrans, A. braziliense, was shown to have the greatest enzyme activity, hydrolyzing up to 3.3 micrograms of hyaluronic acid per h per micrograms of total parasite protein at pH 6.0, whereas A. caninum and A. tubaeforme each had much less enzyme activity. The differences in enzyme activities between species correlated with differences in the intensities of the lytic zones at 49 and 87 kDa on SDS-PAGE hyaluronic acid gels. Hookworm hyaluronidase activity exhibited a broad pH optimum between 6.0 and 8.0 and did not hydrolyze chondroitin sulfate, two features that suggest that the hookworm enzyme is more like the invertebrate leech hyaluronidase than mammalian testicular or lysosomal hyaluronidase. Larvae of A. braziliense were shown to release hyaluronidase activity and degrade radiolabeled hyaluronic acid in vitro. Gold sodium thiomalate was identified as an enzyme inhibitor. The hyaluronidase is the second major virulence factor that we have identified from infective hookworm larvae.

Ancylostoma↗
PubMed1989

Expression of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III in hepatic nodules generated by different models of rat liver carcinogenesis.

Our earlier studies revealed that N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III (GnTase III), which catalyzes the insertion of a bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (bi-Gn) in the complex-type N-linked glycans of cellular glycoproteins, is present in hepatic nodules promoted by the orotic acid model. Neither the bi-Gn residues nor the activity of GnTase III is detectable in normal livers and in the surrounding non-nodular liver of the rat. The present study was designed to find out whether an expression of activity of GnTase III is a phenotypic property characteristic of hepatic nodules or simply unique to nodules produced by the orotic acid model. Fischer male 344 rats were initiated with two different carcinogens namely 1,2-dimethyl-hydrazine or diethylnitrosamine and promoted by other models such as the resistant hepatocyte model and the choline deficient diet model, in addition to the orotic acid model. The hepatic nodules generated by these three different models and hepatocellular carcinomas exhibited significant levels of activity of GnTase III while non-nodular surrounding liver, regenerating liver after 2/3 partial hepatectomy or livers of age and sex matched control rats, had no detectable activity. The detection of the activity of GnTase III in nodules and in cancer is in agreement with the presence of bi-Gn residues reported in gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase of cancer tissues of rats. These results are consistent with the conclusion that the expression of GnTase III is activated during hepatocarcinogenesis and is not related to any particular initiator or promoter.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The binding of the Lewis-a human blood group determinant by two hybridoma monoclonal anti-Lea antibodies.

The combining sites of two hybridoma monoclonal antibodies with specificities for the Lewis-a human blood group determinant, beta-D-Galp-(1----3)-[alpha-L-Fucp-(1----4)]-beta-D-GlcpNAc-(1---- , were probed by use of a wide range of inhibitors of the reaction between an 125I-labelled artificial Lewis-a antigen and the antibodies under the conditions of a solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Amongst the inhibitors examined were the eight possible monodeoxy derivatives of the trisaccharide methyl glycoside. As was previously found for other antibodies and lectins, the results indicated that, in each case, a cluster of polar groups provide a key polar interaction with the protein. The further involvement of large lipophilic regions of the trisaccharide was also indicated. These regions are expected to provide an essentially nonpolar interaction for complex formation, and appear to include intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded hydroxyl groups. Although the features of the trisaccharide that are recognized are similar in kind, the patterns are very different. For example, in the case of antibody AH8-34, the key polar group is provided by OH-2 and OH-3 of the beta-D-Galp group, whereas for the other antibody (CF4-C4) OH-3 and OH-4 of the beta-D-Galp group and OH-4 of the alpha-L-Fucp group provide the key polar interaction. It appears that, for AH8-34, the trisaccharide is accepted with OH-2 of the beta-D-Galp group and OH-3 of the alpha-L-Fucp group intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded to neighboring proton acceptors. For CF4-C4, such intramolecular hydrogen-bonding appears to involve OH-4 and OH-6 of the beta-D-Galp group.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1988

Interaction of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides with an immobilized rice (Oryza sativa) lectin column.

The carbohydrate-binding specificity of rice (Oryza sativa) lectin was investigated by testing the ability of radioactively labelled glycopeptides and oligosaccharides to bind to a rice lectin-Sepharose 4B column. Rice lectin binds asparagine-linked oligosaccharides through the core NN'-diacetylchitobiose moiety. Whereas beta 1-4-mannose enhances the binding strength only to a small extent, alpha 1-3-linked core mannose increases it considerably. A core alpha 1-6-linked mannose residue has a slightly inhibitory effect. Binding is not affected when one or both of the alpha-mannose residues are substituted with mannose at C-2, C-3 and C-6 or with N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) at C-2 positions. The presence of an alpha 1-6-fucose residue attached to the asparagine-linked GlcNAc also does not affect the binding. The binding of complex biantennary glycopeptides is not altered by the presence of one or two galactose residues in the non-reducing terminus, but the presence of one or two sialic acid residues decreases the binding capacity. A bisecting beta 1-4-linked GlcNAc attached to beta-linked mannose residue enhances the binding of sialo, asialo and asialoagalacto complex biantennary-type glycopeptides. Bisected hybrid-type glycopeptides bind very tightly to a rice lectin-Sepharose 4B column: Substitution of alpha 1-3-mannose residue at C-2 and C-4 with GlcNAc completely inhibits the binding of both bisected and non-bisected complex asparagine-linked glycopeptides. O-Glycosidically linked oligosaccharides containing GlcNAc bind very weakly to a rice lectin column. The applicability of immobilized rice lectin columns in the fractionation of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides is discussed.

Asparagine↗