Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.23 (beta-galactosidase)
14,648 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Xenoestrogens, such as o,p'-DDT and octyl phenol (OP), have been associated with reproductive abnormalities in various wildlife species. Xenoestrogens mimic the natural estrogen 17 beta-estradiol and compete for binding to the estrogen receptor. Even though the affinity of o,p'-DDT and OP for the estrogen receptor is approximately 1000-fold lower than 17 beta-estradiol, the actions of xenoestrogens could be enhanced if their bioavailability in serum were greater than 17 beta-estradiol. To test this hypothesis, the yeast estrogen screen (YES) was created by expressing human estrogen receptor (hER) and two estrogen response elements (ERE) linked to the lacZ gene. The beta-galactosidase activity of the YES system was significantly increased after treatment with 17 beta-estradiol or the xenoestrogens diethylstilbestrol (DES), o,p'-DDT, and OP but not with vehicle, antiestrogen ICI 164,384, dexamethasone, or testosterone. To determine whether serum proteins affected the bioavailability of natural estrogens compared to xenoestrogens, albumin, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), or charcoal-stripped serum were added to the YES system and beta-galactosidase activity assayed. Albumin and SHBG decreased beta-galactosidase activity in the presence of estradiol to a greater extent than DES, o,p'-DDT, and OP. Human and alligator charcoal-stripped serum were also effective at selectively reducing beta-galactosidase activity in the presence of estradiol compared to xenoestrogens. Human serum was more effective than alligator serum in reducing beta-galactosidase activity in the presence of xenoestrogens, indicating that serum may serve as a biomarker for sensitivity to xenoestrogens. Selective binding of 17 beta-estradiol by proteins in serum indicates that certain xenoestrogens may exert greater estrogenicity than originally predicted. The estrogenic potency of a compound involves its binding affinity, bioavailability in serum, and persistence in the environment. Our data demonstrate the utility of the YES system for identifying and characterizing environmental estrogens.
...
PMID:A yeast estrogen screen for examining the relative exposure of cells to natural and xenoestrogens. 874 43

During the growth of Kluyveromyces marxianus var. marxianus ATCC 10022 on lactose, peaks of glucose, but not beta-galactosidase activity, were detected in culture medium. Harvested and washed whole cells produced glucose and galactose from lactose, or ortho-nitro-phenol from the chromogenic substrate ortho-nitro-phenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG), indicating that beta-galactosidase is physically associated with cells. ONPG hydrolysis by whole cells presented a monophasic kinetics (Km 36.6 mM) in lactose exponential growth phase cells, but a biphasic kinetics (Km 0.2 and 36.6 mM) in stationary growth phase cells. Permeabilization with digitonin or disruption of cells from both growth phases led to monosite ONPG hydrolysis (Km 2.2 to 2.5 mM), indicating that beta-galactosidase is not located in the periplasm. In addition, the energy inhibitors fluoride or arsenate, as well as the uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) prevented ONPG hydrolysis by whole cells. These findings indicate that energy coupled transmembrane transport is the rate-limiting step for intracellular ONPG cleavage. The taxonomic and physiologic implications of the exclusive intracellular location of beta-galactosidase of K. marxianus var. marxianus ATCC 10022 are discussed.
...
PMID:Location of the beta-galactosidase of the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus var. marxianus ATCC 10022. 883 33

The blue beam of an Argon laser (488 nm) has been focused on the cell membrane in the presence of phenol-red, an usual component of cell culture media, through a 100 x objective. At the site of the beam impact, due probably to local temperature changes, the cell membrane modifies its permeability. As a consequence of the hit, circular areas, whose radius may be apparently regulated by changing the irradiation time and/or the radiation intensity (energy), appear on the wall, last for a short time and fade spontaneously within 1-2 minutes. No evident sings of cell injury or hurt have been observed afterward. Plasmid DNA, purposely added to culture fluid, easily slips in the cytoplasm; utilizing such approach, thereafter indicated as "optoporation', we have successfully transfected two genes, namely beta-galactosidase and chloramphenicol-acetyl-transferase in murine NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Therefore optoporation represents an additional procedure for gene transfer with several advantages over already available methods: (1) it only takes advantage of the presence of phenol-red, a normal cell medium component, with no need of addition of extraneous substances; (2) it is a very mild treatment virtually suitable for any cell type and (3) it allows transfection of selected cells even in the presence of cells of different type (providing that they are morphologically distinguishable).
...
PMID:Targeted gene transfer in eucaryotic cells by dye-assisted laser optoporation. 898 10

The ability of microorganisms to degrade L-tyrosine to phenol, pyruvate, and ammonia is catalyzed by the inducible enzyme L-tyrosine phenol lyase (EC 4.1.99.2). To investigate possible mechanisms for how the synthesis of this enzyme is regulated, a variety of biochemical and genetic procedures was used to analyze transcription from the tpl promoter of Citrobacter freundii ATCC 29063 (C. braakii). By computer analysis of the region upstream of the tpl structural gene, two segments of DNA bearing strong homology to the known operator targets of the TyrR protein of Escherichia coli were detected. A DNA fragment of 509 bp carrying these operator targets plus the presumptive tpl promoter was synthesized by PCR and used to construct a single-copy tpl-lacZ reporter system. The formation of beta-galactosidase in strains carrying this reporter system, which was measured in E. coli strains of various genotypes, was strongly dependent on the presence of a functional TyrR protein. In strains bearing deletions of the tyrR gene, the formation of beta-galactosidase was reduced by a factor of 10. Several mutationally altered forms of TyrR were deficient in their abilities to activate the tpl promoter. The pattern of loss of activation function was exactly parallel to the effects of the same tyrR mutations on the mtr promoter, which is known to be activated by the TyrR protein. When cells carrying the tpl-lacZ reporter system were grown on glycerol, the levels of beta-galactosidase were 10- to 20-fold higher than those observed in glucose-grown cells. The effect was the same whether or not TyrR-mediated stimulation of the tpl promoter was in effect. By deleting the cya gene, it was shown that the glycerol effect was attributable to stimulation of the tpl promoter by the cyclic AMP (cAMP)-cAMP reporter protein system. A presumptive binding site for this transcription factor was detected just upstream of the -35 recognition hexamer of the tpl promoter. The transcriptional start point of the tpl promoter was determined by chemical procedures. The precise locations of the TyrR binding sites, which were established by DNase I footprinting, agreed with the computer-predicted positions of these regulatory sites. The two TyrR operators, which were centered at coordinates -272.5 and -158.5 with respect to the transcriptional start point, were independently disabled by site-directed mutagenesis. When the upstream operator was altered, activation was completely abolished. When the downstream operator was altered, there was a fourfold reduction in reporter enzyme levels. The tpl system presents a number of intriguing features not previously encountered in TyrR-activated promoters. First among these is the question of how the TyrR protein, bound to widely separated operators, activates the tpl promoter which is also widely separated from the operators.
...
PMID:The tpl promoter of Citrobacter freundii is activated by the TyrR protein. 929 52

A peptide containing residues 1-50 of the Aalpha-chain of fibrinogen, expressed as a fusion peptide with beta-galactosidase, is rapidly cleaved by thrombin at Arg-16, similarly to whole fibrinogen. When Phe-8, which is highly conserved, is replaced with tyrosine (F8Y), the cleavage is slowed drastically [Lord, Byrd, Hede, Wei and Colby (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 838-843]. To examine the structural basis for this result, we have determined the crystal structure of bovine thrombin complexed with a synthetic peptide containing residues 1-23 of fibrinogen Aalpha and the F8Y mutation. The crystals are in space group P43212, with unit-cell dimensions of a = 88.3 A (1 A = 0.1 nm), c = 195.5 A and two complexes in the asymmetric unit. The final R factor is 0.183 for 2sigma data from 7.0 to 2.5 A resolution. There is continuous density for the five residues in the P3, P2, P1, P1' and P2' positions of the peptide (Gly-14f to Pro-18f) at the active site of thrombin, and isolated but well-defined density for Tyr-8f at position P9 in the hydrophobic pocket of thrombin. The tyrosine residue is shifted relative to phenylalanine in the native peptide because the phenol side chain is larger and makes a novel, intrapeptide hydrogen bond with Gly-14f. Adjacent peptide residues cannot form the hydrogen bonds that stabilize the secondary structure of the native peptide. Consequently, the 'reaction'geometry at the scissile bond, eight residues from the mutation, is perturbed and the peptide is mostly uncleaved in the crystal structure.
...
PMID:Crystal structure of fibrinogen-Aalpha peptide 1-23 (F8Y) bound to bovine thrombin explains why the mutation of Phe-8 to tyrosine strongly inhibits normal cleavage at Arg-16. 930 32

The synthetic glycosides, p-nitrophenyl- and o-nitrophenyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-alpha- D-galactopyranosides, were found to be effective chromogenic substrates for an endo-alpha-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminidase. We did not experience any problems when these substrates were used for the screening of column fractions during the purification of the endoenzyme from Diplococcus pneumoniae culture filtrates. However, it should be pointed out that a combination of exo-beta-galactosidase, capable of cleaving beta 1-->3 linkages, and an exo-alpha-N-acetyl galactosaminidase would also liberate nitrophenol from the above substrates. The enzyme had no action on several other synthetic glycosides tested indicating the strict specificity of this enzyme for the disaccharide Gal beta-->GalNAc linked via an alpha-linkage to the aglycone. The enzyme was inactive when the aglycone was methanol but shows activity against the glycosides of phenol, nitrophenols, serine, and threonine. The use of p-nitrophenyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-beta -D-galactopyranosyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside, which is a competitive inhibitor of the endoenzyme, as an affinity ligand for the purification of the enzyme is described.
...
PMID:Action of endo-alpha-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminidase on synthetic glycosides including chromogenic substrates. 976 98

Increasing evidence suggests that the use of a single bioassay will never provide a full picture of the quality of the environment. Only a test battery, composed of bioassays of different animal and plant species from different trophic levels will reduce uncertainty, allowing an accurate assessment of the quality of the environment. In the present study, a test battery composed of 20 bioassays of varying biological endpoints has been compared. Apart from lethality and reproductive failure in earthworms, springtails, nematoda, algae and vascular plants, these endpoints also included bioavailibility of metals (bacteria), heat-shock induction (nematodes, algae), DNA damage (bacteria, earthworm, vascular plants), beta-galactosidase (Daphnia) and esterase activity (algae) and a range of immunological parameters (earthworm). Four chemicals (cadmium, phenol, pentachlorophenol and trifluralin)--each representing a different toxic mode of action--were applied in a dilution series (from 1 mg/kg up to 1000 mg/kg) onto OECD standard soil. The tests have been performed both on these artificially contaminated soil samples and on aqueous extracts subsequently obtained from these soils. The results show that the immunological parameters and the loss of weight in the earthworms were among the most sensitive solid-phase assays. Esterase inhibition and heat-shock induction in algae were shown to be extremely sensitive when applied to soil extracts. As previously shown at the species level, no single biological endpoint was shown to be the most sensitive for all four modes of toxic action.
...
PMID:Comparative sensitivity of 20 bioassays for soil quality. 983 7

The effect of heavy metals and organic compounds on the activity of the enzyme beta-galactosidase in a standardized bioassay has been evaluated, considering future applications in environmental monitoring. The tests were done using a commercial extract of a hydrolase from the eukaryote yeast Kluyveromyces lactis and o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) as substrate. The enzyme was exposed to Cr(VI), Cd(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Hg(II), phenol, sodium dodecyl sulfate, methanol and pentachlorophenol for 5, 15, 30, and 60 min. According to the results, a 15 min exposure time was considered optimum for the performance of the assay. Results of tests with metals showed IC50 values ranging between 9.25mg/L for Cd(II) and 0.015mg/L for Hg(II), with an order of sensitivity of: Cd(II) < Ni(II) < Cr(VI) = Pb(II) < Cu(II) < Hg(II). Sensitivity to organic compounds ranged from 200 to 4,000 mg/L, showing a higher specificity to heavy metals. The present in vitro free enzyme test showed a similar behavior to other tests based on beta-galactosidase such as the MetPlate. Furthermore, when compared to data from the literature on acute toxicity assays currently used in environmental assessment, test results show good agreement regarding the sensitivity to metals. After standardization, the proposed test could be used as a rapid and low-cost assay when evaluating biological effects of heavy metals in monitoring programs.
...
PMID:Development of a free beta-galactosidase in vitro test for the assessment of heavy metal toxicity. 1133 10

One of the urgent tasks in understanding endocrine disruptors (EDs) is to compile a list of suspected substances among the huge number of chemicals by using the screening test method. An in vitro screening test is a more useful tool for primary selection of suspected EDs. We have developed an assay for EDs using the yeast two-hybrid system. The assay is based on the ligand-dependent interaction of two proteins, a hormone receptor and a coactivator, and the hormonal activity is detected by beta-galactosidase activity. This assay is a very simple and inexpensive test method with high repeatability to detect the agonist, and it is applicable for the detection of antagonist and active compounds after metabolism. Accordingly, it has been used in more than 40 laboratories in Japan. To date, we have tested the estrogenic activity of more than 500 chemicals including natural substances, medicines, pesticides and industrial chemicals. Sixty-four compounds were evaluated as positive and most of these possessed a common structure: phenol with a hydrophobic moiety at the para-position without bulky groups at the ortho-position. These results are expected to facilitate further risk assessment of chemicals, especially EDs.
...
PMID:[Bioassay for endocrine disruptors by using yeast two-hybrid system]. 1157 61

Enzyme-based hybridization assays for the simultaneous electrochemical measurements of two DNA targets are described. Two encoding enzymes, alkaline phosphatase and beta-galactosidase, are used to differentiate the signals of two DNA targets in connection to chronopotentiometric measurements of their electroactive phenol and alpha-naphthol products. These products yield well-defined and resolved peaks at +0.31 V (alpha-naphthol) and +0.63 V (phenol) at the graphite working electrode (vs. Ag/AgCl reference). The position and size of these peaks reflect the identity and level of the corresponding target. The dual target detection capability is coupled to the amplification feature of enzyme tags (to yield fmol detection limits) and with an efficient magnetic removal of non-hybridized nucleic acids. Proper attention is given to the choice of the substrates (for attaining well resolved peaks), to the activity of the enzymes (for obtaining similar sensitivities), and to the selection of the enzymes (for minimizing cross interferences). The new bioassay is illustrated for the simultaneous detection of two DNA sequences related to the BCRA1 breast-cancer gene in a single sample in connection to magnetic beads bearing the corresponding oligonucleotide probes. Prospects for electrochemical coding of multiple DNA targets are discussed.
...
PMID:Dual enzyme electrochemical coding for detecting DNA hybridization. 1243 May 95


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 Next >>