Search

The possibility of using the 5-[3-(E)-(4-azido-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzamido)-propenyl-1]-UTP (N3-TFBP-UTP) as the affinity modificator of bacteriophage T7 DNA-dependent RNA polymerase was demonstrated. The UTP derivative used was rather efficient substrate substituting UTP in the transcription reaction performed by the enzyme. The UV treatment of "stopped" reaction complex formed using three of four substrate ribonucleotides, allow to obtain the covalent binding between the enzyme and the reaction product of 9 nucleotides length. The isolation and the analysis of the obtained "nucleotide-peptide" showed that the sequence of modified peptide corresponded to the fragment Tyr802-Lys826, which belonged to the conservative motif C in the enzyme structure. His811 or Asp812 residues belonging to this sequence are most probable targets of the modification.

Prolonged treatment of AIDS patients with azidothymidine results in the development of resistance to the drug which correlates with the appearance of point mutations in the reverse transcriptase (RT) coding region within the HIV-1 pol gene. Kinetic studies of interactions of wild type RT and its mutants harbouring the above mutations with substrates and azidothymidine 5'-triphosphate (AZTTP) have been carried out. The complete mutant containing all the above described mutations possess the highest resistance on all the templates tested. Significant increases in resistance for mutants 67,70,215 and 67,215 on all the templates have also been observed. Inhibition of mutant enzymes by AZTTP depends on the template used.

The interactions of HIV-I reverse transcriptase with some alkaloids were studied. Among nine compounds tested three--berberine, palmatine and sanguiritrine--inhibited RT. The dependence of the inhibition on the type of template-primer was also demonstrated. The kinetic analysis as well as circular dichroism experiments suggest the complex mechanism of RT inhibition by alkaloids. This mechanism includes both enzyme-alkaloid and alkaloid-template interactions; the latter effect also results in RT inhibition.

Prolonged therapy of AIDS patients with azidothymidine results in the development of resistance to the drug. This phenomenon is accompanied by the appearance of point mutations in the pol gene coding for reverse transcriptase (RT). Kinetic studies of interactions of wild type RT and its forms containing the above-mentioned mutations with substrates and azidothymidine 5'-triphosphate have been carried out. Considerable differences in the affinities of RT and the mutants for RNA and DNA heteropolymer templates were established. The mutations did not affect the RT affinity for dNTP; however, its location influenced considerably the inhibition of the reaction with azidothymidine 5'-triphosphate.

Monomeric DNA and RNA polymerases contain a number of conserved motifs. By means of random and oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis the point mutants of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase containing the amino acid substitutions in motif B which is the part of the active site were obtained. The kinetic properties of the mutants were studied. The results obtained suggest that amino acid residues 636, 639 and 646 are involved in the binding of the initiating GTP, the selection of correct nucleoside triphosphate and interaction with the promoter, respectively.

The phosphorylation of lysine-rich histones F1, F2a2 and F2b of calf thymus has been investigated using homogeneous histone kinase from pig brain. 32P-labelled phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of corresponding histones were obtained. According to N-terminal analysis and the quantitative determination of amino acid composition of the obtained radioactive peptides the sites of phosphorylation were identified in the primary structure of lysine-rich histones, namely, Ser-38 for the polypeptide chain of histone F1, Ser-19 or 18 for histone F2a2 and Ser-14 and 36 for histone F2b. Thus, the high specificity of brain histone kinase in vitro was demonstrated.

The interaction of T-killers with target cells was studied to reveal the biochemical changes in the latter. On specific binding of target cells with T-killers the activity in target cells of cAMP phosphodiesterase increased 2.1-fold, the level of cAMP decreased 1.5-fold, the adenylate cyclase activity decreased 2.0-fold, the phosphorylation of intracellular proteins decreased 1.8-fold, the cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity decreased 1.7-fold. No change in the activity of lysosomal enzymes was observed. At the "independent target cells lysis" stage the level of cAMP increased 1.8-fold, the phosphodiesterase activity decreased 1.7-fold, the cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity increased 1.8-fold, the released activity of acid phosphatase increased up to 40% compared with the control cells. In the presence of 1 mM dibutyryl cAMP the released activity of the acid phosphatase in target cells was inhibited by 29%, the target cells lysis was decreased by 23,5%. The data obtained allowed to suppose that the activation of the host lysosomal enzymes causes target cells autolysis and that cAMP takes part in the regulation of these processes.

T7 RNA polymerase, covalently modified with 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine, looses the ability of binding the promoter (pGEM-2 plasmid) and poly(dC) template as well as the initiating nucleoside triphosphate (GTP). However the enzyme retains the unspecific binding with DNA fragments of considerable length.