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Mechanism of the family 1 beta-glucosidase from Streptomyces sp: catalytic residues and kinetic studies.

The Streptomyces sp. beta-glucosidase (Bgl3) is a retaining glycosidase that belongs to family 1 glycosyl hydrolases. Steady-state kinetics with p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glycosides revealed that the highest k(cat)/K(M) values are obtained with glucoside (with strong substrate inhibition) and fucoside (with no substrate inhibition) substrates and that Bgl3 has 10-fold glucosidase over galactosidase activity. Reactivity studies by means of a Hammett analysis using a series of substituted aryl beta-glucosides gave a biphasic plot log k(cat) vs pK(a) of the phenol aglycon: a linear region with a slope of beta(lg) = -0.8 for the less reactive substrates (pK(a) > 8) and no significant dependence for activated substrates (pK(a) < 8). Thus, according to the two-step mechanism of retaining glycosidases, formation of the glycosyl-enzyme intermediate is rate limiting for the former substrates, while hydrolysis of the intermediate is for the latter. To identify key catalytic residues and on the basis of sequence similarity to other family 1 beta-glucosidases, glutamic acids 178 and 383 were changed to glutamine and alanine by site-directed mutagenesis. Mutation of Glu178 to Gln and Ala yielded enzymes with 250- and 3500-fold reduction in their catalytic efficiencies, whereas larger reduction (10(5)-10(6)-fold) were obtained for mutants at Glu383. The functional role of both residues was probed by a chemical rescue methodology based on activation of the inactive Ala mutants by azide as exogenous nucleophile. The E178A mutant yielded the beta-glucosyl azide adduct (by (1)H NMR) with a 200-fold increase on k(cat) for the 2,4-dinitrophenyl glucoside but constant k(cat)/K(M) on azide concentration. On the other hand, the E383A mutant with the same substrate gave the alpha-glucosyl azide product and a 100-fold increase in k(cat) at 1 M azide. In conclusion, Glu178 is the general acid/base catalyst and Glu383 the catalytic nucleophile. The results presented here indicate that Bgl3 beta-glucosidase displays kinetic and mechanistic properties similar to other family 1 enzymes analyzed so far. Subtle differences in behavior would lie in the fine and specific architecture of their respective active sites.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

N-benzoylimido complexes of palladium. Synthesis, structural characterisation and structure-reactivity relationship.

Benzoyl azides, ArC(O)N3, 2, (Ar = phenyl or substituted phenyl), react with [Pd2Cl2(dppm)2], 1, [dppm = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane] with the formation of novel [Pd2Cl2(mu-NC(O)Ar)(dppm)2], 3, benzoylnitrene complexes that were structurally characterised by multinuclear magnetic resonance and IR spectroscopy and, in several instances, by single crystal X-ray diffraction. As shown by crystallographic studies, the C2P4Pd2 rings adopt extended twist-boat conformations with methylene groups bending towards the bridging benzoylimido moieties. X-ray diffraction studies have revealed the chiral nature of the imido complexes, the chiral element being the propeller-like C2P4Pd2 ring. Structural data accumulated on complexes 3 such as short C-N distances (1.32 A), elongated C=O bonds (1.30 A) as well as the outstandingly high barrier to internal rotation around the N-C(O) linkage (88.3 kJ mol(-1)) are in line with extensive ppi-ppi interaction between the bridging nitrogen and the carbonyl carbon atoms. Theoretical calculations indicate an electron shift from the dimer towards the apical nitrogen atom, which, in turn, facilitates the donation of electrons towards the carbonyl moiety. To elucidate the structure-reactivity relationship of benzoyl azides towards 1, crystallographic and solution IR spectroscopic studies were carried out on a series of para-substituted benzoyl azides. The reaction obeys the Hammett equation. The large positive value of the reaction constant indicates that the azides act as electrophiles in the reaction studied. The enhanced reactivity of 2-nitrobenzoyl azide has been attributed to a decreased conjugation of the phenyl and carbonyl moieties in this reagent.

Journal Article↗

The emergence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with decreased susceptibility to Azithromycin in Kansas City, Missouri, 1999 to 2000.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We describe the first cluster of persons with Neisseria gonorrhoeae with decreased susceptibility to azithromycin (AziDS; minimum inhibitory concentration >/=1.0 microg/mL) in the United States. GOAL The goal of this study was to identify risk factors for AziDS N. gonorrhoeae and to describe isolate microbiology. STUDY DESIGN: Persons with AziDS N. gonorrhoeae (cases) were identified in Kansas City, Missouri, through the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP) in 1999 and expanded surveillance, January 2000 to June 2001. A case-control study using 1999 GISP participants was conducted; control subjects had azithromycin-susceptible N. gonorrhoeae. RESULTS: Thirty-three persons with AziDS N. gonorrhoeae were identified. Case patients were older than control patients (median age, 33 years vs. 23 years; P <0.001). Fifty percent of cases and 13% of control subjects had a history of sex with a female commercial sex worker (odds ratio, 7.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-36.0); 50% of cases and 4% of control subjects met sex partners on street A (P <0.01). AziDS N. gonorrhoeae isolates were phenotypically and genotypically similar and contained an mtrR gene mutation. CONCLUSIONS: With few treatment options remaining, surveillance for antimicrobial-resistant N. gonorrhoeae is increasingly important, especially among persons at high risk.

Adolescent↗

Pyridine nucleotides of rabbit cornea with histotoxic anoxia: chemical analysis, non-invasive fluorometry and physiological correlates.

The pyridine nucleotides from both the epithelium and the endothelium of rabbit cornea were measured by the cycling assay. Sodium azide (10 mM) applied for 1 hr to induce histotoxic anoxia decreased the endothelial NAD+/NADH ratio from 4.62 to 1.49 and decreased the epithelial NAD+/NADH ratio from 2.56 to 1.08. The larger NAD+/NADH ratio for the endothelium as compared to the epithelium corresponds to a more oxidized state. The corresponding ratios for NADP+/NADPH were 1.2 for the endothelium and 0.70 for the epithelium. Sodium azide had no effect on the NADP+/NADPH ratio for the endothelium, but decreased the epithelial ratio to 0.62. Pyridine nucleotide fluorescence was measured with a difference corneal fluorometer on the perfused whole cornea preparation and the perfused everted corneal preparation. Sodium azide (10 mM) for 30 min resulted in a 19.4 +/- 0.7% increase in the pyridine nucleotide fluorescence from the whole corneal preparation and a 4.5 +/- 0.6% increase from the everted endothelial preparation. Corneal anoxia induced by stopping the perfusion on the endothelial side resulted in a 18.7 +/- 0.6% increase in pyridine nucleotide fluorescence for the whole corneal preparation. Sodium azide (10 mM) resulted in a 35% decrease in the transendothelial potential difference and a 76% decrease in the rate of transendothelial fluid transport. A comparison is made between invasive chemical analysis and real time, non-invasive fluorometry to measure histotoxic corneal anoxia.

Animals↗

Comparative mutagenicity of chemicals selected for test in the International Program on Chemical Safety's collaborative study on plant systems for the detection of environmental mutagens.

A review has been made for the four compounds (maleic hydrazide, methyl nitrosourea, sodium azide, azidoglycerol) tested in the International Program on Chemical Safety's collaborative study on plant systems. Maleic hydrazide (MH) is a weak cytotoxic/mutagenic chemical in mammalian tissues and is classified as a class 4 chemical. In contrast, with few exceptions such as Arabidopsis, MH is a potent mutagen/clastogen in plant systems. The difference in its response between plant and animal tissue is likely due to differences in the way MH is metabolized. MH appears to be noncarcinogenic and has been given a negative NCI/NTP carcinogen rating. Methyl nitrosourea (MNU) is a toxic, mutagenic, radiomimetic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic chemical. It has been shown to be a mutagen in bacteria, fungi, Drosophila, higher plants, and animal cells both in vitro and in vivo. MNU is a clastogen in both animal and human cell cultures, plant root tips and cell cultures inducing both chromosome and chromatid aberrations as well as sister-chromatid exchanges. Carcinogenicity has been confirmed in numerous studies and involves the nervous system, intestine, kidney, stomach, bladder and uterus, in the rat, mouse, and hamster. MNU produces stage-specific teratogenic effects and also interferes with embryonic development. The experimental evidence that strongly indicates the mutagenic effects of MNU underlines the possible hazard of this compound to human beings. The experimental evidence for the stringent handling of this compound is clear. Sodium azide (NaN3) is cytotoxic in several animal and plant systems and functions by inhibiting protein synthesis and replicative DNA synthesis at low dosages. It is mutagenic in bacteria, higher plants and human cells and has been used as a positive control in some systems. In general, tests for clastogenicity have been negative or weakly positive. No evidence of carcinogenicity has been reported in a 2-year study seeking carcinogenic activity in male and female rats. Its advantages in comparison to other efficient mutagens are claimed to be a high production of gene mutations accompanied by a low frequency of chromosomal rearrangements and safer handling because of its nonclastogenic and noncarcinogenic action on humans. Azidoglycerol (AG) is a very potent mutagen in bacteria, yeast and higher plants including Arabidopsis and Tradescantia; however, it only slightly enhances the frequencies of recessive lethals in Drosophila. AG is at best a weak clastogen and is without effect in inducing chromosomal aberrations and SCEs in human peripheral lymphocytes in vitro. In microbial and plant systems, AG is considerably more potent than sodium azide in the maximal frequencies of mutation induced. In particular, in Saccharomyces cerevisae, AG is 3000-fold more mutagenic than sodium azide. Its carcinogenic and teratogenic properties are unknown.

Animals↗

Evaluation of glass-cermet cores under cast crowns.

The goal of this study was to compare two core materials--glass-cermet and amalgam--in terms of crown retention when significant tooth structure is missing. The glass-cermet's ability to bond to teeth with and without the aid of retentive pins and/or grooves was examined. The effects of two storage solutions, formalin and sodium azide, on the bond of the glass-cermet were also evaluated. Sixty human molars were obtained and stored in either formalin or sodium azide. Thirty molars were prepared with one wall of tooth structure remaining, and the other 30 were prepared with two walls. Before being restored with glass-cermet, the preparations received either no retention, retentive grooves and pins, or retentive grooves only. Each preparation restored with amalgam received pins and grooves. Type III gold crowns were cemented in vitro with glass-ionomer luting agent, thermocycled 2500 times (5-50 degrees C), and then removed under a tensile force. The to amalgam and has adequate adhesion to the tooth, without additional retention, when at least two walls of the tooth remain. However, when only one wall of the tooth remains, the amalgam core is superior under tensile forces. There was a significant difference between the sodium azide and formalin storage solutions with regard to bond strength in one group (two walls, no pins, no grooves). In general, the cores placed on teeth stored in sodium azide exhibited tensile bond strengths lower than those stored in formalin.

Adhesiveness↗

Possible relationship between pyrido-pyrrolo-isoquinoline derivative (BD-40) cell uptake and cell viability.

BD-40 is a pyrido-pyrrolo-isoquinoline derivative which possesses an heterocyclic nucleus very closely related to ellipticine and a diethylaminopropyl amino lateral chain (Rivalle et al., 1979). Cellular effects of the drug have been studied. Viability and morphology of the cells were irreversibly impaired by 24 hours drug treatments at concentrations exceeding 0.10 micro M. Spectrofluorimetric determinations of the drug repartition between cytoplasm and nucleus showed that 10 per cent of BD-40 was found in the nucleus for external drug concentrations lower than 0.10 micro M. On the other hand, for cytotoxic doses exceeding 0.10 micro M, 40 to 50 per cent of the total intracellular BD-40 were found in the nuclear fraction. Although possible exchange phenomena during the course of the cell fractionation cannot be excluded, these results suggest that a direct relationship exists between BD-40 nuclear content and cell lethality. Comparisons of intracellular drug contents in the absence and the presence of a metabolic inhibitor, sodium azide, indicated that drug content of azide-treated cells was approximately twice that of untreated cells. Besides, sodium azide blocked the release of the drug when previously loaded cells were placed in BD-40-free medium. These results are in agreement with the existence of an active outward transport (efflux), which is sodium azide-sensitive.

Animals↗

The acid/base catalyst in the exoglucanase/xylanase from Cellulomonas fimi is glutamic acid 127: evidence from detailed kinetic studies of mutants.

The exoglucanase/xylanase Cex from Cellulomonas fimi hydrolyzes beta-1,4-glycosidic bonds with net retention of anomeric configuration, releasing the disaccharides beta-cellobiose or beta-xylobiose. It uses a double-displacement mechanism involving a glycosyl-enzyme intermediate which is formed and hydrolyzed with general acid/base catalytic assistance. Glu127 was proposed as the acid/base catalyst on the basis of sequence alignments, and mutants at this position were constructed in which the glutamic acid is replaced by alanine or glycine. The following kinetic analysis provides firm support for the assignment of Glu127 as the acid/base catalyst and suggests a more general strategy for identification of this residue in other glycosidases. Substrates which do not require protonic assistance for initial bond cleavage exhibit kcat/Km values similar to those of wild-type enzyme, whereas substrates which do require assistance have kcat/Km values over 6000-fold smaller. Thus rate constants for glycosylation are affected to different degrees by this substitution, depending upon their need for acid catalysis. The deglycosylation rate constant is decreased 200-fold by such substitution, due to the removal of general base catalytic assistance. In the presence of sodium azide a new product, beta-cellobiosyl azide, is formed with these mutants whereas only cellobiose is formed with wild-type enzyme or the Glu127Asp mutant under similar conditions. Addition of azide results in very significant increases in kcat values, ranging from 8-fold for 4''-nitrophenyl cellobioside to over 200-fold for 2'',4''-dinitrophenyl cellobioside, whereas kcat/Km values for these substrates remain essentially constant. No effects on rate upon azide addition are seen with substrates containing aglycons of poor leaving group ability.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Actinomycetales↗

Evidence for a carbocation intermediate during conversion of bipinnatin-A and -C into irreversible inhibitors of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

The lophotoxins are naturally occurring antagonists of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. These toxins are small diterpenes that irreversibly inhibit nicotinic receptors by specific covalent modification of Tyr190 in the alpha-subunits of the receptor. The naturally occurring lophotoxin analogs, bipinnatin-A and -C, are inactive protoxins. Activation of these toxins occurs spontaneously in buffer and involves replacement of the C2 acetate ester with a hydroxyl group. The mechanism involved in conversion of the inactive bipinnatins into their biologically active solvolysis products was investigated in this study. Solvolysis of bipinnatin-A in buffer containing [18O]water demonstrated that the C2 hydroxyl of the biologically active solvolysis product originated from the solvent. The rates of solvolysis of bipinnatins-A and -C were not affected by sodium azide. However, in the presence of azide, solvent products decreased and new azide-containing products appeared. Thus azide acted as a nucleophile after a rate-limiting step, such as the formation of a carbocation intermediate. The kaz/ks values for bipinnatin-A (2900 M-1) and bipinnatin-C (1450 M-1) suggest that the carbocation intermediates are relatively stable. Compounds capable of spontaneously generating carbocations may represent a novel new class of active-site-directed affinity reagents that can be applied to other receptors and enzymes.

Azides↗

Rapid Ca2+ influx induced by the action of dibutylhydroquinone and glucagon in the perfused rat liver.

Glucagon induces a slight Ca2+ efflux when administered to the perfused rat liver. However, the hormone promotes rapid and significant Ca2+ influx after the prior administration of 2, 5-di(t-butyl)-1,4-hydroquinone (BHQ), an agent that promotes Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The concentrations of glucagon that promote Ca2+ influx are similar to those that promote glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in isolated hepatocytes. The permeable analogue of cAMP, but not that of cGMP, is able to duplicate the Ca2+-mobilizing effects of glucagon. The influx of Ca2+ into liver is blocked by Ni2+. Administration of sodium azide, an inhibitor of mitochondrial electron transport, also blocks the BHQ plus glucagon-induced Ca2+ influx and this is reversed when azide administration is terminated. The actions of azide are evident within 60 s after administration or withdrawal, and also occur when either oligomycin or fructose is co-administered; this provides evidence for an effect of azide independent of cellular ATP depletion. Measurement of total calcium in mitochondria that were isolated rapidly from perfused livers after the combined administration of glucagon and BHQ confirmed that large quantities of extracellular Ca2+ had entered these organelles. These experiments provide evidence that in the perfused rat liver the artificial emptying of the ER Ca2+ pool allows glucagon to promote rapid and sustained Ca2+ influx that seems to terminate in mitochondria.

Animals↗

The mechanisms by which haemoglobin inhibits the relaxation of rabbit aorta induced by nitrovasodilators, nitric oxide, or bovine retractor penis inhibitory factor.

The mechanisms by which haemoglobin and methaemoglobin inhibit the vasodilator actions of glyceryl trinitrate, sodium azide, nitric oxide, and the bovine retractor penis inhibitory factor (IF) were studied on rabbit endothelium-denuded aortic rings. Methaemoglobin was less effective than haemoglobin against each vasodilator, it was more effective at inhibiting the relaxation to azide than that to glyceryl trinitrate. Glyceryl trinitrate was neither bound nor inactivated when passed through columns of haemoglobin-agarose or methaemoglobin-agarose. Azide was reversibly bound but less by haemoglobin-agarose than by methaemoglobin-agarose. Inhibition of the vasodilator actions of glyceryl trinitrate is not attributable therefore to a direct interaction with the haemoproteins, although a small part of the inhibition of azide-induced relaxation by methaemoglobin is likely to be due to a direct interaction. Columns of haemoglobin-agarose were more effective than columns of methaemoglobin-agarose in removing nitric oxide from solution. The greater ability of haemoglobin, compared to methaemoglobin, to inhibit vasodilatation induced by nitrovasodilators may therefore reflect the greater ability of haemoglobin to bind nitric oxide which is the active principle of the nitrovasodilators. Neither the acid-activated nor the inactive forms of IF were bound or inactivated when passed through columns of methaemoglobin-agarose. Neither form of IF was retained on passage through columns of haemoglobin-agarose, but the resulting activity in the eluates was less than control, was unstable and, unlike the original activity, decayed rapidly on ice. The greater ability of haemoglobin, compared to methaemoglobin, to inhibit vasodilatation induced by IF might therefore reflect the greater ability of haemoglobin to interact with this vasodilator and inactivate it.

Animals↗

Isolation and characterization of mutants defective in the cyanide-insensitive respiratory pathway of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The branched respiratory chain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa contains at least two terminal oxidases which are active under normal physiological conditions. One of these, cytochrome co, is a cytochrome c oxidase which is completely inhibited by concentrations of the respiratory inhibitor potassium cyanide as low as 100 microM. The second oxidase, the cyanide-insensitive oxidase, is resistant to cyanide concentrations in excess of 1 mM as well as to sodium azide. In this work, we describe the isolation and characterization of a mutant of P. aeruginosa defective in cyanide-insensitive respiration. This insertion mutant was isolated with mini-D171 (a replication-defective derivative of the P. aeruginosa phage D3112) as a mutagen and by screening the resulting tetracycline-resistant transductants for the loss of ability to grow in the presence of 1 mM sodium azide. Polarographic studies on the NADH-mediated respiration rate of the mutant indicated an approximate 50% loss of activity, and titration of this activity against increasing cyanide concentrations gave a monophasic curve clearly showing the complete loss of cyanide-insensitive respiration. The mutated gene for a mutant affected in the cyanide-insensitive, oxidase-terminated respiratory pathway has been designated cio. We have complemented the azide-sensitive phenotype of this mutant with a wild-type copy of the gene by in vivo cloning with another mini-D element, mini-D386, carried on plasmid pADD386. The complemented cio mutant regained the ability to grow on medium containing 1 mM azide, titration of its NADH oxidase activity with cyanide gave a biphasic curve similar to that of the wild-type organism, and the respiration rate returned to normal levels. Spectral analysis of the cytochrome contents of the membranes of the wild type, the cio mutant, and the complemented mutant suggests that the cio mutant is not defective in any membrane-bound cytochromes and that the complementing gene does not encode a heme protein.

Azides↗

Mitochondria as a source of reactive oxygen species during reductive stress in rat hepatocytes.

Cell killing, oxygen consumption, and hydroperoxide formation were determined in rat hepatocytes after glycolytic and respiratory inhibition. These conditions model the ATP depletion and reductive stress of anoxia ("chemical hypoxia"). Glycolysis was inhibited with iodoacetate, and mitochondrial electron transfer was blocked with sodium azide, cyanide, or myxothiazol. Cell killing, hydroperoxide formation, and inhibitor-insensitive oxygen consumption were greater after azide than after myxothiazol or cyanide. Desferrioxamine, an inhibitor of iron-catalyzed hydroxyl radical formation, delayed cell killing after each of the respiratory inhibitors. Anoxia also delayed cell killing during chemical hypoxia. However, during anoxic incubations, desferrioxamine did not delay the onset of cell death. These findings indicate that reactive oxygen species participate in lethal cell injury during chemical hypoxia. In isolated mitochondria, previous studies have shown that myxothiazol inhibits Q cycle-mediated ubisemiquinone formation in complex III (ubiquinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase) and that ubisemiquinone can react with molecular oxygen to form superoxide. Decreased killing of hepatocytes with myxothiazol compared with azide suggests, therefore, that mitochondrial oxygen radical formation by complex III is involved in cell killing during reductive stress. In support of this hypothesis, myxothiazol reduced rates of cell killing and hydroperoxide formation in hepatocytes incubated with azide or cyanide. This mitochondrial mechanism for oxygen radical formation may be important in relative but not absolute hypoxia.

Animals↗

Cytochrome oxidase inhibition: a novel animal model of Alzheimer's disease.

A profound decrease in activity of the mitochondrial enzyme cytochrome oxidase in blood platelets is a recently identified concomitant of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated a possible pathogenic link between this finding and the symptoms of AD by mimicking this mitochondrial enzyme deficiency in rats. Rats were infused chronically with a selective inhibitor of cytochrome oxidase, sodium azide, or with saline delivered via subcutaneously implanted osmotic minipumps. The azide treatment impaired both spatial and nonspatial learning. Further, the azide treatment inhibited a low-threshold form of hippocampal long-term potentiation, primed burst potentiation. The behavioral deficits were not secondary to a sensory or motor impairment. Thus, chronic azide treatment of rats models some characteristics of AD.

Alzheimer Disease↗

Energetic requirement of insulin secretion distal to calcium influx.

A number of agents that inhibit oxidative phosphorylation by different mechanisms (carbonyl cyanide mchlorophenylhydrazone [CCCP], sodium azide, oligomycin) induced an increase of cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in pancreatic beta-cells, as measured by microfluorimetry with digital imaging. All three agents are known inhibitors of insulin secretion, and the secretory response to 20 mmol/l glucose was found to be abolished in spite of elevated [Ca2+]i. Two reasons could account for this dissociation between increase of [Ca2+]i and insulin secretion: 1) the increase did not take place at a site critical for exocytosis, 2) a threshold concentration of a metabolism-derived factor like ATP exists for the induction of exocytosis. The increase of [Ca2+]i by CCCP and sodium azide involved release of Ca2+ from internal stores, whereas oligomycin induced a slow D 600-inhibitable Ca2+ influx. Because CCCP and sodium azide, but not oligomycin, decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential concomitantly with the increase of [Ca2+]i, release of Ca2+ from the mitochondria most probably plays a decisive role for the internal mobilization. A Ca2+ influx induced by 40 mmol/l K+ or 250 micromol/l tolbutamide was unimpaired in the presence of oligomycin, but oligomycin completely abolished insulin secretion in response to these agents. While CCCP and sodium azide opened ATP-sensitive K+ channels, oligomycin was virtually ineffective, although it could be shown to significantly reduce beta-cell ATP production. By comparison of the effects of different inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation, we conclude that the initiation of exocytosis in beta-cells is particularly sensitive to a decrease of energy metabolism, more than ATP-sensitive K+ channels or voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels. Thus, any increase of [Ca2+]i in beta-cells that occurs in a situation of a decreased ATP supply is unlikely to elicit a secretory response.

Animals↗

In vitro oxygen consumption and motility of Cryptobia salmositica, Cryptobia bullocki, and Cryptobia catostomi (Sarcomastigophora: Kinetoplastida).

Cryptobia salmositica (pathogenic and vaccine strains), Cryptobia bullocki (pathogenic), and Cryptobia catostomi (nonpathogenic) have similar oxygen consumption rates (0.17 +/- 0.01 nm O2/10(6) parasites). Incubation with sodium azide (5 microliters of a 1-M solution to 1 ml of parasite suspension, i.e., a 5-mM final concentration) reduced the oxygen consumption by approximately 4.5-fold. Motility of the parasites was also greatly reduced in sodium azide. The oxygen consumption and motility of the parasites returned to preazide treatment levels when the azide was removed even after 24 hr of incubation in sodium azide. The activities of hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, and cytochrome C oxidase were not detected in the 3 species of Cryptobia.

Animals↗

Effects of DIDS on the chick retinal pigment epithelium. II. Mechanism of the light peak and other responses originating at the basal membrane.

4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (DIDS) appears to block a Cl- conductance in the basal membrane of the chick retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) (Gallemore and Steinberg, 1989). The present paper describes the effect of DIDS, as well as effects of anion movement blockade with other pharmacological agents, on 3 responses that originate as depolarizations of the RPE basal membrane: the light peak of the DC electroretinogram, the response to sodium azide, and the response to a small transtissue hyperosmotic gradient. Intracellular and extracellular potentials, and measurements of subretinal [K+]o were obtained from an in vitro preparation of chick retina-RPE-choroid. Choroidal perfusion with each of 4 anion transport and Cl- channel blockers (DIDS, 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene, phenylanthranylic acid, and thiocyanate) suppressed the light peak. DIDS, the most potent agent, abolished the basal membrane light-peak depolarization. Choroidal perfusion with azide depolarized the basal membrane and decreased its apparent resistance, Rba, as in cat (Linsenmeier and Steinberg, 1987). The basal membrane depolarization, recorded extracellularly as an increase in the transtissue potential (TTP), was blocked by DIDS. Azide also increased RPE c-wave amplitude, which could be explained by the decrease in Rba, and it suppressed the light peak. As previously described (Shirao and Steinberg, 1987), a 25 mOsm transtissue hyperosmotic load (retinal side hyperosmotic) increased the TTP, increased the c-wave and decreased the transtissue resistance. DIDS suppressed each of these effects. We conclude that the light peak, the response to azide, and the response to a retinal hyperosmotic load may each originate as an increase in a basal membrane anion conductance that may be permeable to chloride.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid↗

Characterization of hog thyroid peroxidase.

Several fundamental properties of purified hog thyroid peroxidase (A413 nm/A280 nm = 0.55) were investigated in comparison with bovine lactoperoxidase. The Mr of thyroid peroxidase was 71,000. The prosthetic group of thyroid peroxidase was identified spectrophotometrically as protoheme IX after the enzyme was hydrolyzed with Pronase. Optical spectra of oxidized and reduced thyroid peroxidases and their complexes with azide and cyanide were very similar to lactoperoxidase, except that lactoperoxidase had two reduced forms with the Soret band either at 446 or 435 nm, and thyroid peroxidase lacked a reduced form having the 446-nm band. From comparison of their pyridine hemochrome spectra, epsilon mM at 413 nm of thyroid peroxidase was estimated to be 114, being the same as that of lactoperoxidase. The cyanide inhibition for the reaction of thyroid peroxidase was competitive with hydrogen peroxide and the inhibition constant was in rough accord with the dissociation constant of its cyanide complex measured from spectrophotometric titration. Azide inhibited the reaction with an inhibition constant which was about one one-thousandth of the dissociation constant for its spectrally discernible complex. The azide inhibition was not competitive with hydrogen peroxide and decreased as the reaction proceeded. Aminotriazole inhibited the reaction strongly, and the inhibition was augmented during the reaction. These inhibition patterns of azide and aminotriazole were more or less observed in the reaction of lactoperoxidase, but not in the case of horseradish peroxidase. Characteristics of animal peroxidases are discussed.

Animals↗