Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0027960 (mole)
 21,279 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Voltage-gated Ca channels are very efficient pores: even while exhibiting strong ionic selectivity, they are highly permeant to divalent cations. Studies of the mechanism of selectivity and ion permeation have demonstrated that whole-cell Ca channel current in mixtures of Ca and Ba ions can be smaller than with equimolar concentrations of either ion alone. This anomalous mole fraction effect (AMFE) has provided an important impetus for proposed mechanisms of ion selectivity and permeation that invoke multiple ion binding sites. However, recordings of unitary L-type Ca currents did not demonstrate the AMFE [Marban, E. & Yue, D.T. (1988) Biophys. J. 55, 594a (abstr.)], raising doubts about whether it is an expression of ion permeation through open Ca channels. We have made patch-clamp recordings from single L-type Ca channels in PC-12 pheochromocytoma cells. Our results demonstrate a significant AMFE at the single-channel level but also indicate that the AMFE can only be found under restrictive conditions of permeant ion concentration and membrane potential. While the AMFE is clear at 0 mV when permeant ions are present at 10 mM, it is not evident when the divalent cation concentration is increased to 110 mM or the membrane potential is hyperpolarized to -40 mV. We compared our experimental observations with predictions of a single-file, two-binding-site model of the Ca channel. The model accounts for our experimental results. It predicts an AMFE under conditions that favor ion-ion interactions, as long as the outer binding site is not saturated due to high permeant ion concentration or negative membrane potential.
 ...
PMID:Voltage-gated calcium channels: direct observation of the anomalous mole fraction effect at the single-channel level. 254 93

The nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor was characterized by using a new series of anti-receptor monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). These MAbs (i) showed significantly greater reactivity with a melanoma cell line expressing higher levels of NGF receptor, (ii) inhibited the binding of 125I-labeled NGF to its receptor, and (iii) immunoprecipitated both metabolically labeled and 125I-labeled NGF affinity-labeled receptor. These experiments defined the receptor as a 75-kDa cell-surface protein. The NGF receptor was visualized by immunoperoxidase staining in tissue sections of human nevi, melanomas, neurofibromas, a pheochromocytoma, and peripheral nerves. Uniform staining of the cytoplasm suggests that, in addition to cell-surface NGF receptors, there is a population of intracellular receptors.
 ...
PMID:Characterization of nerve growth factor receptor in neural crest tumors using monoclonal antibodies. 609 11

A monoclonal antibody ( LK2H10 ) produced against a human pheochromocytoma reacted immunohistochemically with 126 normal and neoplastic endocrine tissues with secretory granules which were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. Antibody LK2H10 did not react with 46 other endocrine tissues or tumors without secretory granules nor with 113 normal and neoplastic nonendocrine cells and tumors. Tumors with abundant secretory granules showed intense and diffuse staining, and tumors with few granules, such as Merkel cell carcinomas, neuroblastomas, and small cell carcinomas of lung, showed focal staining. Antibody LK2H10 did not react with melanomas, nevi, posterior pituitary, peripheral nerve tissues, or neurons. The target structure of LK2H10 was identified as human chromogranin, of which the major fraction was chromogranin A (mol wt 68,000 daltons). Preabsorption with purified chromogranin A blocked immunoperoxidase staining by LK2H10 in normal adrenal medulla, in the anterior pituitary, and in a pheochromocytoma. Ultrastructural immunohistochemistry with LK2H10 showed that chromogranin was present in cytoplasmic secretory granules. These results indicate that chromogranin is widely distributed in the secretory granules of most polypeptide-producing endocrine tissues, and it is readily detected with the use of monoclonal antibody LK2H10 . The detection of this marker can be very helpful as a diagnostic aid for neuroendocrine cells and tumors.
 ...
PMID:Detection of chromogranin in neuroendocrine cells with a monoclonal antibody. 637 94

We are reporting a case of generalized nevus anemicus in an adult, which was not associated with phacomatosis or pheochromocytoma. The pharmacological investigation of the vasomotricity showed permanent vasoconstriction in the anemic areas. The cutaneous levels of catecholamines were seven times as high in the anemic areas as in the sound areas. We have investigated a possible increase in the number of APUD by a histochemical method (Grimelius's stain). This possible increase might have accounted for a local hypersecretion of catecholamines. Our investigation was negative. No etiological mechanism can be suggested.
 ...
PMID:[Acquired generalized anemic nevus]. 728 66

We describe here a new procedure permitting rapid (12-13 h) isolation of a pure oxygen-evolving photosystem II (PSII) core complex from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. This procedure involves dodecyl maltoside extraction of thylakoid membranes followed by single-step column chromatography using a weak anion-exchanger. SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting show that the complex consists of five intrinsic membrane proteins (CP47, CP43, D1, D1, and cyt b559), one extrinsic protein (MSP), and one unknown protein with a molecular mass of approximately 26 kDa. A chemical and functional analysis, normalized to 2 molecules of pheophytin a, indicates that this PSII core complex contains 1 photoactive plastoquinone, QA, 4 manganese atoms, 38 chlorophyll a molecules, 1 cytochrome b559, 2 plastoquinone-9, and 9-10 beta-carotenes. The complex exhibits high rates of oxygen evolution, typically 2400-2600 mumol of O2 (mg of Chl)-1 h-1 in the presence of 2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone as an artificial electron acceptor with a pH optimum of 6.5. A strong light minus dark multiline EPR signal, arising from the S2 state of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), is observed at 10 K following illumination at 198 K. The determination of the absolute oxygen yield per saturating microsecond flash indicates that essentially all of the PSII centers contain functional oxygen-evolving complexes. This point is further supported by the absence of photoaccumulation, upon room temperature illumination, of the immediate oxidant of the OEC, redox-active tyrosine, YZ.. On the basis of EPR spectra, oxidized minus reduced difference spectra, and SDS-PAGE, the preparation contains on a per mole basis with PSII only trace amounts of PSI (approximately 0.04), cytochrome b6/f complex (< or = 0.01), and ATPase (< or = 0.05). All of these results indicate that this PSII preparation is to date the most highly purified oxygen-evolving core complex from Synechocystis 6803 that retains all of the reaction centers active for oxygen evolution. As Synechocystis 6803 is being used extensively for site-directed mutagenesis of PSII, this preparation is particularly valuable for spectroscopic and biochemical analyses of PSII from wild-type and from site-directed mutants.
 ...
PMID:Biochemical and spectroscopic characterization of a new oxygen-evolving photosystem II core complex from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. 816 15

Under native conditions, apocytochrome b(5) exhibits a stable core and a disordered heme-binding region that refolds upon association with the cofactor. The termini of this flexible region are in close proximity, suggesting that loop closure may contribute to the thermodynamic properties of the apocytochrome. A chimeric protein containing 43 residues encompassing the cytochrome loop was constructed using the cyanobacterial photosystem I accessory protein E (PsaE) from Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 as a structured scaffold. PsaE has the topology of an SH3 domain, and the insertion was engineered to replace its 14-residue CD loop. NMR and optical spectroscopies showed that the hybrid protein (named EbE1) was folded under native conditions and that it retained the characteristics of an SH3 domain. NMR spectroscopy revealed that structural and dynamic differences were confined near the site of loop insertion. Variable-temperature 1D NMR spectra of EbE1 confirmed the presence of a kinetic unfolding barrier. Thermal and chemical denaturations of PsaE and EbE1 demonstrated cooperative, two-state transitions; the stability of the PsaE scaffold was found only moderately compromised by the insertion, with a DeltaT(m) of 8.3 degrees C, a DeltaC(m) of 1.5 M urea, and a DeltaDeltaG degrees of 4.2 kJ/mole. The data implied that the penalty for constraining the ends of the inserted region was lower than the approximately 6.4 kJ/mole calculated for a self-avoiding chain. Extrapolation of these results to cytochrome b(5) suggested that the intrinsic stability of the folded portion of the apoprotein reflected only a small detrimental contribution from the large heme-binding domain.
 ...
PMID:Insertion of the cytochrome b5 heme-binding loop into an SH3 domain. Effects on structure and stability, and clues about the cytochrome's architecture. 1545 37

The open reading frames (ORFs) encoding two potential protein-serine/threonine phosphatases from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 were cloned and their protein products expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The product of ORF sll1033, SynPPM3, is a homologue of the PPM family of protein-serine/threonine phosphatases found in all eukaryotes as well as many members of the Bacteria. Surprisingly, the recombinant protein phosphatase dephosphorylated phosphotyrosine- as well as phosphoserine-containing proteins in vitro. While kinetic analyses indicate that the enzyme was more efficient at dephosphorylating the latter, replacement of Asp608 by asparagine enhanced activity toward a phosphotyrosine-containing protein fourfold. The product of ORF sll1387, SynPPP1, is the sole homolog of the PPP family of protein phosphatases encoded by the genome of Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. Like many other bacterial PPPs, the enzyme dephosphorylated phosphoserine- and phosphotyrosine-containing proteins with comparable efficiencies. However, while previously described PPPs from prokaryotic organisms required the addition of exogenous metal ion cofactors, such as Mg2+ or Mn2+, for activity, recombinantly produced SynPPP1 displayed near-maximal activity in the absence of added metals. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated that recombinant SynPPP1 contained significant quantities, 0.32 to 0.44 mol/mole total, of Mg and Mn. In this respect, the cyanobacterial enzyme resembled eukaryotic members of the PPP family, which are metalloproteins. mRNA encoding SynPPP1 or SynPPM3 could be detected in cells grown under many, but not all, environmental conditions.
 ...
PMID:The protein phosphatases of Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803: open reading frames sll1033 and sll1387 encode enzymes that exhibit both protein-serine and protein-tyrosine phosphatase activity in vitro. 1610 28

Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and alkaline gel electrophoresis, the authors show that, compared with DNA derived from virions used to establish infection, herpes simplex virus DNA derived from quiescently infected rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells in culture accumulates alkaline-labile lesions. That is, compared with equivalent amounts of virion DNA, viral DNA from nerve growth factor-differentiated long-term infected cells in culture is consistently 3 to 10 times more refractory to amplification by PCR. Despite using equal mole amounts of DNA isolated from quiescently infected cells (determined by quantitative Southern blots), DNA from quiescently infected cells could not be detected by PCR under conditions in which the virion-derived DNA was easily detected. Refractoriness to PCR was confirmed by analysis with a ligation-mediated PCR technique. The refractoriness was not the result of genomic circularization. The refractoriness was, however, related to the time that the quiescently infected cells had been maintained in culture. The refractoriness to PCR was taken as an indication that the viral DNA was damaged. This hypothesis was confirmed by showing that viral DNA from quiescently infected PC12 cells accumulated alkaline-labile DNA lesions, as determined by alkaline gel electrophoresis. The phenomenon was not limited to tissue culture, because viral DNA derived from the ganglia of latently infected mice is also 3 to 10 times more refractory to amplification than are equivalent amounts of virion-derived genomes. Taken together, these results represent the first evidence that herpes simplex virus DNA is physically damaged as a function of long-term infection. Implications for viral reactivation and pathogenesis are discussed.
 ...
PMID:Evidence that herpes simplex virus DNA derived from quiescently infected cells in vitro, and latently infected cells in vivo, is physically damaged. 2087 12