Assay of intercellular adhesiveness using cell-coated Sephadex beads as collecting particles.
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A simple, rapid and precise method, based on a previous method, for measuring relative rates of intercellular adhesion is described. DEAE-Sephadex beads were treated with nitrocellulose in order to allow cells to grow on their surfaces. Balb/c 3T3 and Balb/c 3T12 cells were used to characterize the assay. They formed confluent cell layers on nitrocellulose-treated DEAE-Sephadex. These cell-coated beads were employed to collect 32P-labelled cells from single cell suspensions. Since they formed statistically uniform, large collecting surfaces, the collection of labelled cells was markedly improved as compared to the original assay. The cell-coated beads collected a large percentage of the labelled cells in a short time. The percentage of cells collected was independent of the concentration of labelled cells in the assay mixture, and the collection was linear for approximately 60 min. The variability between replicate assays was usually +/- 5%. The assay allows the rapid and precise determination of intercellular adhesion in large numbers of individual samples. These features make it useful to screen for effects of different treatments on intercellular adhesions. (+info)
Conversion of dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose to free dTDP-4-keto-rhamnose by the rmIC gene products of Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
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dTDP-rhamnose is made from glucose-1-phosphate and dTTP by four enzymes encoded by rmIA-D. An Escherichia coli rmIC mutant was constructed and a crude enzyme extract prepared from it did not produce dTDP-4-keto-rhamnose, in contrast to a crude enzyme extract prepared from a wild-type E. coli strain where small amounts of this intermediate were found after incubation with dTDP-glucose in the absence of NADPH. These results showed that dTDP-4-keto-rhamnose, the product of RmIC, exists as a free intermediate. Further, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis rmIC gene was expressed and incubation of the resulting purified M. tuberculosis RmIC enzyme with dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose resulted in the conversion of approximately 7% of dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose to dTDP-4-keto-rhamnose. The enzyme also allowed for the incorporation of two deuterium atoms from deuterium oxide solvent into dTDP-4-keto-glucose. Thus the rmIC gene encodes dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose epimerase capable of epimerizing at both C-3' and C-5'; this enzyme produces free dTDP-4-keto-rhamnose but the equilibrium of the 4-keto sugar nucleotides lies strongly on the side of the gluco configuration. (+info)
Formation and characterization of antibody against 2'-(5"-phosphoribosyl)-5' AMP, the monomer form of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose).
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Specific antibody against 2'-(5"-phosphoribosyl)-5'AMP (PR-AMP), a monomer of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) (poly(ADP-Rib)), was produced by immunizing a rabbit with PR-AMP coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA). Antibody against PR-AMP was purified 53-fold from serum by (NH4) 2SO4 precipitation, and BSA-Sepharose 4B, DEAE-cellulose and (PR-AMP)-BSA-Sepharose 4B column chromatographies. Inhibition experiments show that the adenine ring, 5'-phosphate residue and ribose-ribose bond of PR-AMP were essential for the antigenic determinant of PR-AMP. Anti PR-AMP antibody bound, not only with PR-AMP, but also with poly(ADP-Rib) of various chain lengths, while anti poly(ADP-Rib) antibody bound with poly(ADP-Rib) but not with PR-AMP. (+info)
A novel NDP-6-deoxyhexosyl-4-ulose reductase in the pathway for the synthesis of thymidine diphosphate-D-fucose.
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The serotype-specific polysaccharide antigen of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Y4 (serotype b) consists of D-fucose and L-rhamnose. Thymidine diphosphate (dTDP)-D-fucose is the activated nucleotide sugar form of D-fucose, which has been identified as a constituent of structural polysaccharides in only a few bacteria. In this paper, we show that three dTDP-D-fucose synthetic enzymes are encoded by genes in the gene cluster responsible for the synthesis of serotype b-specific polysaccharide in A. actinomycetemcomitans. The first and second steps of the dTDP-D-fucose synthetic pathway are catalyzed by D-glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase and dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, which are encoded by rmlA and rmlB in the gene cluster, respectively. These two reactions are common to the well studied dTDP-L-rhamnose synthetic pathway. However, the enzyme catalyzing the last step of the dTDP-D-fucose synthetic pathway has never been reported. We identified the fcd gene encoding a dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose reductase. After purifying the three enzymes, their enzymatic activities were analyzed by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. In addition, nuclear magnetic resonance analysis and gas-liquid chromatography analysis proved that the fcd gene product converts dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose to dTDP-D-fucose. Moreover, kinetic analysis of the enzyme indicated that the Km values for dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose and NADPH are 97.3 and 28.7 microM, respectively, and that the enzyme follows the sequential mechanism. This paper is the first report on the dTDP-D-fucose synthetic pathway and dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose reductase. (+info)
Characterization of dTDP-4-dehydrorhamnose 3,5-epimerase and dTDP-4-dehydrorhamnose reductase, required for dTDP-L-rhamnose biosynthesis in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2.
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The thymidine diphosphate-L-rhamnose biosynthesis pathway is required for assembly of surface glycoconjugates in a growing list of bacterial pathogens, making this pathway a potential therapeutic target. However, the terminal reactions have not been characterized. To complete assignment of the reactions, the four enzymes (RmlABCD) that constitute the pathway in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 were overexpressed. The purified RmlC and D enzymes together catalyze the terminal two steps involving NAD(P)H-dependent formation of dTDP-L-rhamnose from dTDP-6-deoxy-D-xylo-4-hexulose. RmlC was assigned as the thymidine diphosphate-4-dehydrorhamnose 3,5-epimerase by showing its activity to be NAD(P)H-independent. Spectrofluorometric and radiolabeling experiments were used to demonstrate the ability of RmlC to catalyze the formation of dTDP-6-deoxy-L-lyxo-4-hexulose from dTDP-6-deoxy-D-xylo-4-hexulose. Under reaction conditions, RmlC converted approximately 3% of its substrate to product. RmlD was unequivocally identified as the thymidine diphosphate-4-dehydrorhamnose reductase. The reductase property of RmlD was shown by equilibrium analysis and its ability to enable efficient biosynthesis of dTDP-L-rhamnose, even in the presence of low amounts of dTDP-6-deoxy-L-lyxo-4-hexulose. Comparison of 23 known and predicted RmlD sequences identified several conserved amino acid residues, especially the serine-tyrosine-lysine catalytic triad, characteristic for members of the reductase/epimerase/dehydrogenase protein superfamily. In conclusion, RmlD is a novel member of this protein superfamily. (+info)
Control of teichoic acid synthesis during phosphate limitation.
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The synthesis of teichoic acids was examined in Bacillus subtilis Marburg grown under conditions of phosphate limitation. The results indicate that the inhibition of polyglycerolphosphate synthesis observed under these conditions is the result of two processes. The first process is reversible and is independent of new protein synthesis; the second process is irreversible and requires the synthesis of new protein. During growth, under conditions of phosphate limitation, there is a slow decrease in the level of CDP glycerol pyrophosphorylase activity which is by itself not sufficient to account for the decrease in the rate of polyglycerolphosphate synthesis. (+info)
Regulation of exopolysaccharide production by Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris By the sugar source.
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Lactococcus lactis produced more exopolysaccharide (EPS) on glucose than on fructose as the sugar substrate, although the transcription level of the eps gene cluster was independent of the sugar source. A major difference between cells grown on the two substrates was the capacity to produce sugar nucleotides, the EPS precursors. However, the activities of the enzymes required for the synthesis of nucleotide sugars were not changed upon growth on different sugars. The activity of fructosebisphosphatase (FBPase) was by far the lowest of the enzymes involved in precursor formation under all conditions. FBPase catalyzes the conversion of fructose-1, 6-diphosphate into fructose-6-phosphate, which is an essential step in the biosynthesis of sugar nucleotides from fructose but not from glucose. By overexpression of the fbp gene, which resulted in increased EPS synthesis on fructose, it was proven that the low activity of FBPase is indeed limiting not only for EPS production but also for growth on fructose as a sugar source. (+info)
Thymidine diphosphate-6-deoxy-L-lyxo-4-hexulose reductase synthesizing dTDP-6-deoxy-L-talose from Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.
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The serotype c-specific polysaccharide antigen of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans NCTC 9710 contains an unusual sugar, 6-deoxy-L-talose, which has been identified as a constituent of cell wall components in some bacteria. Two genes coding for thymidine diphosphate (dTDP)-6-deoxy-L-lyxo-4-hexulose reductases were identified in the gene cluster required for biosynthesis of serotype c-specific polysaccharide. Both dTDP-6-deoxy-L-lyxo-4-hexulose reductases were overproduced and purified from Escherichia coli transformed with the plasmids containing these genes. The sugar nucleotides converted by both reductases were purified by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography and identified by (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance and gas-liquid chromatography. The results indicated that one of two reductases produced dTDP-6-deoxy-L-talose and the other produced dTDP-L-rhamnose (dTDP-6-deoxy-L-mannose). The amino acid sequence of the dTDP-6-deoxy-L-lyxo-4-hexulose reductase forming dTDP-6-deoxy-L-talose shared only weak homology with that forming dTDP-L-rhamnose, despite the fact that these two enzymes catalyze the reduction of the same substrate and the products are determined by the stereospecificity of the reductase activity. Neither the gene for dTDP-6-deoxy-L-talose biosynthesis nor its corresponding protein product has been found in other bacteria; this biosynthetic pathway is identified here for the first time. (+info)