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Genetic recombination in fused spheroplasts of Providence alcalifaciens.

Spheroplasts of Providence alcalifaciens strain P29 auxotrophs were prepared by combined treatment with glycine and lysozyme-EDTA. About 15% of spheroplasts had areas of cytoplasmic membrane exposed where cell wall was absent. The spheroplasts of different auxotrophs were mixed pairwise and fusion was attempted with polyethylene glycol or nascent calcium phosphate. After spheroplasts had regenerated to bacterial forms selection was made for recombinants. Recombinants arose at frequencies of 3.8 X 10(-6) to 1.7 X 10(-7) per spheroplast initially present, by both methods of fusion. The frequency was strongly dependent on the number of chromosomal loci used in selection. The possible order of five loci was determined and this corresponded to that on the closely related Proteus mirabilis chromosome. Control experiments excluded possibilities of auxotrophic reversion, conjugation, transformation, transfection or transduction as explanations of the results. Analysis of prototrophic clones yielded stable prototrophs or mixtures of stable prototrophs and stable recombinants. Parental types were not encountered. Unselected markers segregated among recombinants. It was concluded that the formation of recombinant bacteria was due to spheroplast fusion and that only stable products of the very temporary heteroploid state were haploid recombinants. The low frequency of recombination was ascribed to the limited number of spheroplasts with areas of exposed cytoplasmic membrane.

Cell Wall

X-ray diffraction studies of fibers and crystals of deoxygenated sickle cell hemoglobin.

Paracrystalline fibers of deoxygenated sickle hemoglobin in erythrocytes or concentrated solutions exhibit a phase transformation to a fully crystalline state. X-ray diffraction patterns of the fiber and crystallites are similar except in two respects: the equatorial spacings of the fibers suggest that they pack into a square lattice with a = 220 A, whereas those of the crystals can be indexed on the basis of a net of 187 A by 54 A, and the second-order near-meridional reflections are strong on the fiber pattern but weak on that of the crystallites. The crystallites are isomorphous with single crystals grown in polyethylene glycol solution at pH 4.5 whole structure has been determined at near-atomic resolution (Wishner, B.C., Ward, K.B. Lattmen, E.E. & Lowve, W.E. (1975) J. Mol. Biol. 98, 179-194). Double filaments of molecules with an axial repeat of 64 A comprise the basic unit of both the crystal and fiber structures. Each filament of the pair is translated with respect to its neighbor by half a molecular diameter along the fiber axis. The two filaments are held together by contacts made by Val 6beta in the molecules of one strand with hydrophobic side chains of the molecule in the neighboring strand. This interaction is probably the cause of the aggregation of filaments into fibers that leads to the sickling of erythrocytes.

Crystallography

Expression of lactate dehydrogenase isozyme 5 (LDH-5) in cultured mouse blastocysts in the absence of implantation and outgrowth.

Extensive extraction studies with Triton X-100 revealed only LDH-1 (B4) but no trace of LDH-5 (A4) in one-cell and two-cell mouse and rat embryos. The LDH isozyme pattern of preimplantation mouse embryos changes from the maternally inherited B subunit isozyme (LDH-1) to a pattern dominated by LDH-5 when mouse blastocysts are cultured under conditions that prevent hatching but allow trophoblast giant cell transformation. During differentiation of mouse blastocysts in vitro, implantation is therefore not essential for the appearance of the A subunit form of LDH (LDH-5) coded for by the embryonic genome. Mechanisms controlling the expression of LDH-5 in mouse blastocysts during in vivo development are discussed.

Animals

[Influence of detergents and inhibition of Na+,K+-ATPase and Mg2+ATPase on erythrocyte membrane SH-groups].

The article deals with the influence of sodium dodensylsulfate, lubrol and also of inhibition of Na+,K+-ATPase and Mg2+-ATPase activities by N-ethyl malemid on the form of curves of erythrocyte membranes amperometric titration by Ag+. It is shown that changes in a conformational structure of proteins membranes under the influence of detergents results in the transformation of SH-group of type I to SH-groups of type II. A 70% fall of Na+,K+-ATPase activity has the same result. So, the form of the curves for titration of erythrocyte membranes sulphydryl groups may serve as an indicator to the morpholocial and functional state of the membranes protein part.

Adenosine Triphosphatases

Initial studies of the molecular organization of the cell-substrate adhesion site.

Using selective extraction reagents and non-penetrating probes, studies have been initiated on the molecular organization of substrate-attached material, adhesion sites which pinch off from the cell surface of normal Balb/c 3T3 or SV40-transformed Balb/c 3T3 (SVT2) cells and which remain bound to the serum-coated substrate during EGTA-mediated detachment of cells. Extraction of SVT2 adhesion sites with non-ionic detergents resulted in (a) only small amounts of leucine-radiolabeled protein and glucosamine-radiolabeled polysaccharide being solubilized; (b) selective solubilization of 80% of the adhesion site actin, and (c) solubilization of 95% of the phospholipid from these membranous pools. ATP in combination with potassium chloride extracted 60% of the actin. The 3T3 and SVT2 adhesion site proteins which are accessible to lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination were also determined. Many of the serum-derived proteins, bound to the substrate, were iodinated during iodination treatment of serum-coated or substrate-attached material-coated substrates, whereas the cellular proteins in the adhesion sites were not iodinated even though they were present in larger quantity as revealed by Coomassie blue staining. Iodination of cells, followed by their EGTA-mediated detachment and reattachment to fresh serum-coated substrates, indicated that the principal iodinated cell surface component deposited in new adhesion sites is the large external transformation-sensitive glycoprotein (even though large external transformation-sensitive glycoprotein is not the only principal iodinated cell surface component of these cells). These studies further establish the selective enrichment in this adhesive material of specific cell surface components and indicate that they are tenaciously bound at the interface between the serum coating and the undersurface of the adhesion site membranous pools.

Actins

Proteolytic transformation of SC5b-9 into an amphiphilic macromolecule resembling the C5b-9 membrane attack complex of complement.

Proteolysis of fluid-phase SC5b-9 left a major part of the macromolecule intact and caused transition of the molecule from a hydrophilic to an amphiphilic state. The transformed complex exhibited neoantigens characteristic of the C5b-9 membrane attack complex of the complement. It yielded an SDS gel electrophoresis pattern that was similar, but not identical to that of the proteolysed, membrane attack complex. The proteolytically altered SC5b-9 complex bound lipid and incorporated into artificial lipid vesicles to yield a membrane-bound structure resembling the C5b-9 complement lesion.

Antigens

[Morphology of the microtubule system during the sphering, layering and polarization of normal and transformed fibroblasts].

The ultrastructure of the genital system (ductus seminalis, vestibulum, ductus tortuosus and canaliculus fecundans) has been studied during mating and oviposition. All these organs have a common organization and contain three parts: muscular and epithelial layer and chitin intima lining the interior surface of the female genital system. Ultrastructures of the muscular tissue and of the basal part of epidermis are similar. The luminal surface and microvilli are different in various organs of the female genital system. The ultrastructural pattern and the thickness of chitin intima may also vary, and can be used as a character for identificating different organs of the female system in ultrathin sections.

Animals

The polymerization of actin. III. Aggregates of nonfilamentous actin and its associated proteins: a storage form of actin.

When echinoderm sperm are treated with the detergent Triton X-100 at pH 6.4 in 10 mM phosphate buffer, the membranes are solubilized, but the actin which is located in the periacrosomal region remains as a phase-dense cup. These cups can be isolated free from the flagella and chromatin and can be solubilized by increasing the pH to 8.0 and by changing the ionic strength and type of buffer used. Since the actin does not exist in the "F" state in unreacted sperm, and since the actin remains as a unit that does not diffuse away, it must be present in the mature sperm in a bound or storage state. The actin is, in fact, associated with a pair of proteins whose mol wt are 250,000 and 230,000. When the isolated cups are digested with trypsin, these high molecular weight proteins are digested, thereby liberating the actin. The actin will polymerize if heavy meromyosin or subfragment 1 is added to a preparation of isolated cups. Evidence is presented that this pair of high molecular weight proteins is similar in molecular weight and properties to erythrocyte spectrin. Attempts at transforming the storage form of actin in the cup into filaments were only moderately successful. The best conditions for filament formation involve incubating the cup in ATP and divalent salts. Careful examination of these cups reveals that the actin polymerized preferentially on either end of oriented filaments that already exist in the cup, indicating that self-nucleation is inefficacious. I conclude that the actin can exist in the storage form by its association with spectrin-like molecules and that the actin in this state polymerizes preferentially onto existing filaments.

Actins

The lysosomal permeability test modified for toxicity testing with cultured heart endothelioid cells.

A modified lysosomal fragility test is described which is suitable for use with cultured cells. The permeability (fragility) of the lysosomal membranes of the cells to the substrate beta-glycerophosphate is measured by assessing the degree of particulate lysosomal straining seen after exposing the cells to the Gomori acid phosphatase staining reaction under carefully controlled conditions. Monolayer cultures of endothelioid cells from the hearts of neonatal rats have been used in all experiments. The time-course of lysosomal straining for cells exposed to various treatments (normal saline, isotonic sucrose, 0.25 m sucrose, distilled water, acetate buffer pH 5.0, cold acetone, neutral formalin, acetic-ethanol, Triton X-100, hydrocortisone, choloroquine and vitamin A) was compared with that of control cells stained under identical conditions. Statistical differences in staining between the test and control cells were determined by the Wilcoxin Signed Rank Test and also by regression analysis following a transformation designed to allow for the saturation character of the reaction. The success of the modified technique depends upon meticulous methodology. It is capable of demonstrating both lysosomal membrane labilization and stabilation, second- and third-stage lysosomal activation, and apparent lysosomal enzyme loss or destruction in situ. The technique also allows the degree of reversible or first-stage lysosomal activation to be subdivided on an almost continous basis and is suitable for investigating the effects of drugs and other agents on the integrity of the lysosome in situ.

Animals

[Structural transformation of human erythrocyte membranes initiated by group specific antibodies].

Some changes have been found in the rates of the desintegration by sodium dodecylsulfate of human erythrocite membranes (EM) after incubation with specific group antibodies (GA) from incompatible blood. GA have no effect on the disintegration rates of EM by sodium desoxycholate and Triton X-100. The data are considered as the evidence of the structural transition in EM induced by GA and resulting in modification of integrative coupling forces primarily in the protein components of the membrane. The stopflow technique has been used to investigate the dependence of the desintegration rates in the quick phase (10 to 100 ms) upon the GA concentrations in the incubation medium and upon the incubation time. The obtained curves are distinctly S-shaped that is peculiar of cooperative processes.

Chemical Phenomena

Two functional states of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase.

The "total" ATPase activity of rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles includes a Ca2+-independent component ("basic") and Ca2+-dependent component ("extra"). Only the "extra" ATPase is coupled to Ca2+ transport. These activities can be measured under conditions in which the observed rates approximate maximal velocities. The "basic" ATPase is predominant in one of the various SR fractions obtained by prolonged density-gradient centrifugation of SR preparations already purified by repeated differential centrifugations and extractions at high ionic strength. This fraction (low dnesity, high cholesterol) has a protein composition nearly identical with that of other SR fractions in which the "extra" ATPase is predominant. In these other fractions the ratio of "extra" to "basic" ATPase activities is temperature dependent, being approximately 9.0 at 40 degrees C and 0.5 at 4 degrees C. In all the fractions and at all temperatures studied, similar steady-state levels of phosphorylated SR protein are obtained in the presence of ATP and Ca2+. Furthermore, in all cases the "basic" (Ca2+-independent) ATPase acquires total Ca2+ dependence upon addition of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100. This detergent also transforms the complex substrate dependence of the SRATPase into a simple dependence, displaying a single value for the apparent Km. The experimental findings indicate that the ATPase of rabbit SR exists in two distinct functional states (E1 and E2), only one of which (E2) is coupled to Ca2+ transport. The E1 in equilibrium E2 equilibrium is temperature-dependent and entropy-driven, indicative of its relation to the physical state of the ATPase protein in its membrane environment. Thenonlinearity of Arrhenius plots of Ca2+-dependent ("extra") ATPase activity and Ca2+ transport is explained in terms of simultaneous contribtuions from both the free energy of activation of enzyme catalysis and the free energy of conversion of E1 to E2. Thermal equilibrium between the two functional states is drastically altered by factors which affect membrane structure and local viscosity.

Adenosine Triphosphatases

Actin filaments in the acrosomal reaction of Limulus sperm. Motion generated by alterations in the packing of the filaments.

When Limulus sperm are induced to undergo the acrosomal reaction, a process, 50 mum in length, is generated in a few seconds. This process rotates as it elongates; thus the acrosomal process literally screws through the jelly of the egg. Within the process is a bundle of filaments which before induction are coiled up inside the sperm. The filament bundle exists in three stable states in the sperm. One of the states can be isolated in pure form. It is composed of only three proteins whose molecular weights (mol wt) are 43,000, 55,000, and 95,000. The 43,000 mol wt protein is actin, based on its molecular weight, net charge, morphology, G-F transformation, and heavy meromyosin (HMM) binding. The 55,000 mol wt protein is in equimolar ratio to actin and is not tubulin, binds tenaciously to actin, and inhibits HMM binding. Evidence is presented that both the 55,000 mol wt protein and the 95,000 mol wt protein (possibly alpha-actinin) are also present in Limulus muscle. Presumably these proteins function in the sperm in holding the actin filaments together. Before the acrosomal reaction, the actin filaments are twisted over one another in a supercoil; when the reaction is completed, the filaments lie parallel to each other and form an actin paracrystal. This change in their packing appears to give rise to the motion of the acrosomal process and is under the control of the 55,000 mol wt protein and the 95,000 mol wt protein.

Actins

Characterization of group H streptococcal temperate bacteriophage phi 227.

phi 227, a temperate phage from a group H streptococcus (Streptococcus sanguis), was propagated vegetatively in group H strain Wicky 4-EryR, and its characteristics were determined. A procedure dependent on multiplicity of infection, incubation time, and treatment of crude lysates with diatomaceous earth was found to optimize phage yield, resulting in titers of 1 X 10(10) to 2 X 10(10) PFU/ml. Without prior treatment with diatomaceous earth, subsequent purification procedures (methanol, ammonium sulfate, polyethylene glycol) gave recoveries of less than 1% of crude lysate titers. Adsorption of phi227 to host cells was relatively unaffected by the medium, but calcium (not substituted by magnesium) was required for formation of infectious centers. The phage receptor was present on purified cell walls, resisted trypsin and heat, and was removed ty hydrochloric acid, trichloracetic acid, and hot formamide: however, formamide-extracted material failed to inactivate phage, and the nature of the receptor is unknown. Single-step growth experiments showed a latent period of 39 min and a burst size of 100 PFU/infectious center; results were unaffected by omission of supplemental Ca2+, by supplementation with Mg2, addition of glucose, or changes of pH between 6.35 and 8.0; but increased temperature (40 to 43 degrees C) shortened the latent period and decreased the burst size. The latent period was prolonged in genetically competent host cells and in chemically defined medium; and in the latter, the burst size was smaller. Phage replication was sensitive to those metabolic inhibitors which inhibited the host streptococcus: these included rifampin, fluorodeoxyuridine, hydroxyurea, dihydrostreptomycin, and 6-P-hydroxyphenylazouracil. The data suggest that phi227 does not code for a rifampin-resistant RNA polymerase. However, in a rifampin-resistant host strain, phage replication and lysogen formation were both decreased suggesting that altered host core polymerase had less affinity for (some) promotors on the phi227 template. In transfection, a Ca2+-dependent stabilization step that was inhibited by Mg2+ was demonstrated; transformation was not affected by either Ca2+ or Mg2+, and the site and nature of the stabilization are unknown. More than one molecule of DNA was required for plaque formation. Biophysical characterization showed a type B phage of buoyant density (CsCl) 1.50, containing five proteins and 54.8% DNA. The duplex linear DNA had a molecular weight (calculated from contour length) of 23.2 X 10(6) and a guanine plus cytosine content (calculated from melting point) of 42.3 mol%. Similar characterizations of streptococcal phages, including biophysical data, have not been previously available.

Adsorption

Cell adhesion and acquisition of detergent resistance by the cytoskeleton of cultured chick fibroblasts.

About 30% of the proteins of adherent cultured chick embryo fibroblasts are not solubilized by the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100 and remain firmly attached to the substratum. The insoluble residue contains a considerable part of the cell's cytoskeleton and its major constituents are large external transformation-sensitive (LETS) protein, the heavy chain of myosin, a 52,000 molecular weight protein and actin. Kinetic studies reveal that cytoskeleton insolubility in Triton is acquired either concurrently with cell adhesion or very closely with it. Neither cell adhesion nor binding of the Triton cytoskeleton to the substratum require de novo synthesis of protein. In the attempt to assess the role of LETS protein in cytoskeleton attachment, we find that trypsin-detached cells rapidly acquire Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton although their LETS protein content is about 15--20% of its level in long-term cultures. Removal of the great majority of LETS molecules of adherent cultures by either urea or trypsin treatment does not affect the relative amount or composition of the anchored cytoskeletal proteins. Also, LETS protein of cultures exposed to cycloheximide for extended periods of time, is reduced to 10% of its maximum amount without much affecting the attachment and composition of the cytoskeleton. It is deduced that the great majority of LETS protein is not required for the attachment of the Triton cytoskeleton to the substratum.

Actins

Solubilization and characterization of a platelet membrane ADP-binding protein.

Previous studies have shown that platelet membranes bind radiolabeled ADP and have nucleoside diphosphokinase activity which transforms added ADP to ATP. In order to further characterize these reactions, the ADP-binding and nucleoside diphosphokinase activity of purified platelet membranes were solubilized by freeze-thaw injury followed by extraction with isotonic buffered saline. Up to 80% of membrane ADP-binding activity was solubilized along with 20% of the total membrane protein, a 4-fold purification. A Millipore filter binding assay was developed to detect the soluble binding protein using [3H]ADP as radioligand. Binding of [3H]ADP was rapid, reversible, saturable, and was destroyed by heat, trypsin digestion, and 1 mM N-ethylmaleimide. By Scatchard analysis, there was a single class of binding sites with a Kd of 3.8 x 10(-7) M. Unlabeled nucleotides competed with [3H]ADP with the following potency series: ATP = ADP greater than AMP greater than adenosine. The solubilized nucleoside diphosphokinase activity could be separated from ADP-binding activity by ultracentrifugation on 5 to 20% sucrose density gradients containing 0.6 M KCl suggesting that the activities reside on separate molecules. Hydrodynamic parameters were calculated for the binding protein by gel filtration and ultracentrifugation. The s20,w was 4.1, Stoke's radius 35 x 10(-8)cm, axial ratio (f/fo) 1.09, and the Mr = 61,000. The studies suggest that this platelet ADP-binding protein may act as the receptor for initiating ADP-induced aggregation and release.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Polymerization of actin. V. A new organelle, the actomere, that initates the assembly of actin filaments in Thyone sperm.

Between the acrosomal vacuole and the nucleus is a cup of amorphous material (profilactin) which is transformed into filaments during the acrosomal reaction. In the center of this cup in untreated Thyone sperm is a dense material which I refer to as the actomere; it is composed of 20-25 filaments embedded in a dense matrix. To visualize the substructure of the actomere, the profilactin around it must be removed. This is achieved either by demembranating the sperm with Triton X-100 and then raising the pH to 8.0, or by adding inophores to intact sperm at pH 8.0. Under these conditions, the actomere remains as a unit while the rest of the profilactin is solubilized or polymerized. When demembranated sperm are incubated under conditions in which the actin should polymerize, filaments grow from the end of the actomere: the actomere thus appears to behave as a nucleating body. This observation is strengthened by experiments in which untreated sperm are incubated in seawater or isotonic NaCl at pH 7.0 and the ionophore X537A is added; in this case, only a partial polymerization of the actin occurs and the acrosomal vacuole does not fuse with the cell surface. The actin filaments that do form, however, are attached to the apical end of the actomere. In fact, the elongating filaments push their way into and frequently through the acrosomal vacuole. Thus, it appears that the sperm organizes the actin filaments by controlling their nucleation. My model is that the cell controls the ammount of unbound actin such that it is slightly above the critical concentration for polymerization. Then, spontaneous nucleation is unfavored and polymerization would proceed from existing nuclei such as the actomer.

Acrosome