scholarly journals Oligomeric interactions provide alternatives to direct steric modes of control of sugar kinase/actin/hsp70 superfamily functions by heterotropic allosteric effectors: Inhibition of E. coli glycerol kinase

2009 ◽  
Vol 492 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald W. Pettigrew
2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (15) ◽  
pp. 4493-4498 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Samuel Raj ◽  
Hideyuki Tomitori ◽  
Madoka Yoshida ◽  
Auayporn Apirakaramwong ◽  
Keiko Kashiwagi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli CAG2242 cells are deficient in thespeG gene encoding spermidine acetyltransferase. When these cells were cultured in the presence of 0.5 to 4 mM spermidine, their viability was greatly decreased through the inhibition of protein synthesis by overaccumulation of spermidine. When the cells were cultured with a high concentration of spermidine (4 mM), a revertant strain was obtained. We found that a 55-kDa protein, glycerol kinase, was overexpressed in the revertant and that synthesis of a ribosome modulation factor and the RNA polymerase ς38 subunit, factors important for cell viability, was increased in the revertant. Levels of l-glycerol 3-phosphate also increased in the revertant. Transformation of glpFK, which encodes a glycerol diffusion facilitator (glpF) and glycerol kinase (glpK), to E. coli CAG2242 partially prevented the cell death caused by accumulation of spermidine. It was also found that l-glycerol 3-phosphate inhibited spermidine binding to ribosomes and attenuated the inhibition of protein synthesis caused by high concentrations of spermidine. These results indicate that l-glycerol 3-phosphate reduces the binding of excess amounts of spermidine to ribosomes so that protein synthesis is recovered.


2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (15) ◽  
pp. 5532-5540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Yang ◽  
Yvonne Eyobo ◽  
Leisl A. Brand ◽  
Dariusz Martynowski ◽  
Diana Tomchick ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Pantothenate kinase (PanK) catalyzes the first step in the five-step universal pathway of coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis, a key transformation that generally also regulates the intracellular concentration of CoA through feedback inhibition. A novel PanK protein encoded by the gene coaX was recently identified that is distinct from the previously characterized type I PanK (exemplified by the Escherichia coli coaA-encoded PanK protein) and type II eukaryotic PanKs and is not inhibited by CoA or its thioesters. This type III PanK, or PanK-III, is widely distributed in the bacterial kingdom and accounts for the only known PanK in many pathogenic species, such as Helicobacter pylori, Bordetella pertussis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here we report the first crystal structure of a type III PanK, the enzyme from Thermotoga maritima (PanKTm), solved at 2.0-Å resolution. The structure of PanKTm reveals that type III PanKs belong to the acetate and sugar kinase/heat shock protein 70/actin (ASKHA) protein superfamily and that they retain the highly conserved active site motifs common to all members of this superfamily. Comparative structural analysis of the PanKTm active site configuration and mutagenesis of three highly conserved active site aspartates identify these residues as critical for PanK-III catalysis. Furthermore, the analysis also provides an explanation for the lack of CoA feedback inhibition by the enzyme. Since PanK-III adopts a different structural fold from that of the E. coli PanK—which is a member of the “P-loop kinase”superfamily—this finding represents yet another example of convergent evolution of the same biological function from a different protein ancestor.


Author(s):  
D. E. Philpott ◽  
A. Takahashi

Two month, eight month and two year old rats were treated with 10 or 20 mg/kg of E. Coli endotoxin I. P. The eight month old rats proved most resistant to the endotoxin. During fixation the aorta, carotid artery, basil arartery of the brain, coronary vessels of the heart, inner surfaces of the heart chambers, heart and skeletal muscle, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, brain, retina, trachae, intestine, salivary gland, adrenal gland and gingiva were treated with ruthenium red or alcian blue to preserve the mucopolysaccharide (MPS) coating. Five, 8 and 24 hrs of endotoxin treatment produced increasingly marked capillary damage, disappearance of the MPS coating, edema, destruction of endothelial cells and damage to the basement membrane in the liver, kidney and lung.


Author(s):  
James A. Lake

The understanding of ribosome structure has advanced considerably in the last several years. Biochemists have characterized the constituent proteins and rRNA's of ribosomes. Complete sequences have been determined for some ribosomal proteins and specific antibodies have been prepared against all E. coli small subunit proteins. In addition, a number of naturally occuring systems of three dimensional ribosome crystals which are suitable for structural studies have been observed in eukaryotes. Although the crystals are, in general, too small for X-ray diffraction, their size is ideal for electron microscopy.


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

Bacterial viruses adsorb specifically to receptors on the host cell surface. Although the chemical composition of some of the cell wall receptors for bacteriophages of the T-series has been described and the number of receptor sites has been estimated to be 150 to 300 per E. coli cell, the localization of the sites on the bacterial wall has been unknown.When logarithmically growing cells of E. coli are transferred into a medium containing 20% sucrose, the cells plasmolize: the protoplast shrinks and becomes separated from the somewhat rigid cell wall. When these cells are fixed in 8% Formaldehyde, post-fixed in OsO4/uranyl acetate, embedded in Vestopal W, then cut in an ultramicrotome and observed with the electron microscope, the separation of protoplast and wall becomes clearly visible, (Fig. 1, 2). At a number of locations however, the protoplasmic membrane adheres to the wall even under the considerable pull of the shrinking protoplast. Thus numerous connecting bridges are maintained between protoplast and cell wall. Estimations of the total number of such wall/membrane associations yield a number of about 300 per cell.


Author(s):  
John L.Beggs ◽  
John D. Waggener ◽  
Wanda Miller ◽  
Jane Watkins

Studies using mesenteric and ear chamber preparations have shown that interendothelial junctions provide the route for neutrophil emigration during inflammation. The term emigration refers to the passage of white blood cells across the endothelium from the vascular lumen. Although the precise pathway of transendo- thelial emigration in the central nervous system (CNS) has not been resolved, the presence of different physiological and morphological (tight junctions) properties of CNS endothelium may dictate alternate emigration pathways.To study neutrophil emigration in the CNS, we induced meningitis in guinea pigs by intracisternal injection of E. coli bacteria.In this model, leptomeningeal inflammation is well developed by 3 hr. After 3 1/2 hr, animals were sacrificed by arterial perfusion with 3% phosphate buffered glutaraldehyde. Tissues from brain and spinal cord were post-fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide, dehydrated in alcohols and propylene oxide, and embedded in Epon. Thin serial sections were cut with diamond knives and examined in a Philips 300 electron microscope.


Author(s):  
J. P. Petrali ◽  
E. J. Donati ◽  
L. A. Sternberger

Specific contrast is conferred to subcellular antigen by applying purified antibodies, exhaustively labeled with uranium under immunospecific protection, to ultrathin sections. Use of Seligman’s principle of bridging osmium to metal via thiocarbohydrazide (TCH) intensifies specific contrast. Ultrathin sections of osmium-fixed materials were stained on the grid by application of 1) thiosemicarbazide (TSC), 2) unlabeled specific antiserum, 3) uranium-labeled anti-antibody and 4) TCH followed by reosmication. Antigens to be localized consisted of vaccinia antigen in infected HeLa cells, lysozyme in monocytes of patients with monocytic or monomyelocytic leukemia, and fibrinogen in the platelets of these leukemic patients. Control sections were stained with non-specific antiserum (E. coli).In the vaccinia-HeLa system, antigen was localized from 1 to 3 hours following infection, and was confined to degrading virus, the inner walls of numerous organelles, and other structures in cytoplasmic foci. Surrounding architecture and cellular mitochondria were unstained. 8 to 14 hours after infection, antigen was localized on the outer walls of the viral progeny, on cytoplasmic membranes, and free in the cytoplasm. Staining of endoplasmic reticulum was intense and focal early, and weak and diffuse late in infection.


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