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Geobacillus tepidamans GS5-97(T) is a novel Gram-positive, moderately thermophilic bacterial species that is covered by a glycosylated surface layer (S-layer) protein. The isolated and purified S-layer glycoprotein SgtA was ultrastructurally and chemically investigated and showed several novel properties. By SDS-PAGE, SgtA was separated into four distinct bands in an apparent molecular mass range of 106-166 kDa. The three high molecular mass bands gave a positive periodic acid-Schiff staining reaction, whereas the 106-kDa band was nonglycosylated. Glycosylation of SgtA was investigated by means of chemical analyses, 600-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-fight mass spectrometry. Glycopeptides obtained after Pronase digestion revealed the glycan structure [-->2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->3)-alpha-D-Fucp-(1-->](n=approximately 20), with D-fucopyranose having never been identified before as a constituent of S-layer glycans. The rhamnose residue at the nonreducing end of the terminal repeating unit of the glycan chain was di-substituted. For the first time, (R)-N-acetylmuramic acid, the key component of prokaryotic peptidoglycan, was found in an alpha-linkage to carbon 3 of the terminal rhamnose residue, serving as capping motif of an S-layer glycan. In addition, that rhamnose was substituted at position 2 with a beta-N-acetylglucosamine residue. The S-layer glycan chains were bound via the trisaccharide core -->2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1--> to carbon 3 of beta-D-galactose, which was attached in O-glycosidic linkage to serine and threonine residues of SgtA of G. tepidamans GS5-97(T).

Sorting and packaging of regulated secretory proteins involves protein aggregation in the trans-Golgi network and secretory granules. In this work, we characterized the pH-dependent interactions of pancreatic acinar cell-regulated secretory proteins (zymogens) with Muclin, a putative Golgi cargo receptor. In solution, purified Muclin co-aggregated with isolated zymogens at mildly acidic pH. In an overlay assay, [35S]sulfate biosynthetically labeled Muclin bound directly at mildly acidic pH to the zymogen granule content proteins amylase, prolipase, pro-carboxypeptidase A1, pro-elastase II, chymotrypsinogen B, and Reg1. Denaturation of Muclin with reducing agents to break the numerous intrachain disulfide bonds in Muclin's scavenger receptor cysteine-rich and CUB domains did not interfere with binding. Non-sulfated [35S]Met/Cys-labeled Muclin showed decreased binding in the overlay assay. Extensive Pronase E digestion of unlabeled Muclin was used to produce glycopeptides, which competed for binding of [35S]sulfate-labeled Muclin to zymogens. The results demonstrate that the sulfated, O-glycosylated groups are responsible for the pH-dependent interactions of Muclin with the zymogens. The behavior of Muclin fulfils the requirement of a Golgi cargo receptor to bind to regulated secretory proteins under the mildly acidic pH conditions that exist in the trans-Golgi network., (Copyright 2004 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) is a mucin on leukocytes that binds to selectins. P-selectin binds to an N-terminal region of PSGL-1 that requires sulfation of at least one of three clustered tyrosines (TyrSO(3)) and an adjacent core-2-based O-glycan expressing sialyl Lewis x (C2-O-sLe(x)). We synthesized glycosulfopeptides (GSPs) modeled after this region of PSGL-1 to explore the roles of individual TyrSO(3) residues, the placement of C2-O-sLe(x) relative to TyrSO(3), the relative contributions of fucose and sialic acid on C2-O-sLe(x), and the function of the peptide sequence for binding to P-selectin. Binding of GSPs to P-selectin was measured by affinity chromatography and equilibrium gel filtration. 2-GSP-6, which has C2-O-sLe(x) at Thr-57 and TyrSO(3) at residues 46, 48, and 51, bound to P-selectin with high affinity (K(d) approximately 650 nm), whereas an isomeric trisulfated GSP containing C2-O-sLe(x) at Thr-44 bound much less well. Non-sulfated glycopeptide (2-GP-6) containing C2-O-sLe(x) at Thr-57 bound to P-selectin with approximately 40-fold lower affinity (K(d) approximately 25 microm). Proteolysis of 2-GP-6 abolished detectable binding of the residual C2-O-sLe(x)-Thr to P-selectin, demonstrating that the peptide backbone contributes to binding. Monosulfated and disulfated GSPs bound significantly better than non-sulfated 2-GP-6, but sulfation of Tyr-48 enhanced affinity (K(d) approximately 6 microm) more than sulfation of Tyr-46 or Tyr-51. 2-GSP-6 lacking sialic acid bound to P-selectin at approximately 10% that of the level of the parent 2-GSP-6, whereas 2-GSP-6 lacking fucose did not detectably bind; thus, fucose contributes more than sialic acid to binding. Reducing NaCl from 150 to 50 mm markedly enhanced binding of 2-GSP-6 to P-selectin (K(d) approximately 75 nm), demonstrating the charge dependence of the interaction. These results reveal a stereospecific interaction of P-selectin with PSGL-1 that includes distinct contributions of each of the three TyrSO(3) residues, adjacent peptide determinants, and fucose/sialic acid on an optimally positioned core-2 O-glycan.

The covalently bound prosthetic group of lactoperoxidase (LPO) has been obtained by hydrolysis of the protein and identified as a dihydroxylated heme. A baculovirus expression system has been developed for LPO and used to obtain protein in which the heme is only partially covalently bound. Reaction of the purified heme. apoLPO complex with H2O2 results in both autocatalytic modification of the heme and covalent attachment to the protein. Hydrolytic experiments establish that the autocatalytically incorporated heme is bound normally. Two monohydroxylated heme intermediates have been detected. The peroxidative activity of LPO increases in proportion to the extent of covalently bound heme. The LPO results provide a paradigm for autocatalytic incorporation of heme groups into the mammalian peroxidases, including myeloperoxidase and eosinophil peroxidase, all of which exhibit strong sequence similarity with LPO and have covalently-bound heme groups.

Conformational changes occurring upon membrane binding and subsequent insertion of staphylococcal alpha-toxin were studied using complementary spectroscopic techniques. Experimental conditions were established where binding could be uncoupled from membrane insertion but insertion and channel formation seemed to be concomitant. Binding led to changes in tertiary structure as witnessed by an increase in tryptophan fluorescence, a red shift of the tryptophan maximum emission wavelength, and a change in the near UV CD spectrum. In contrast to what was observed for the soluble form of the toxin, 78% of the tryptophan residues in the membrane-bound form were accessible to the hydrophilic quencher KI. At this stage, the tryptophan residues were not in the immediate vicinity of the lipid bilayer. Upon membrane insertion, a second conformational change occurred resulting in a dramatic drop of the near UV CD signal but an increase of the far UV signal. Tryptophan residues were no longer accessible to KI but could be quenched by brominated lipids. In the light of the available data on channel formation by alpha-toxin, our results suggest that the tryptophan residues might be dipping into the membrane in order to anchor the extramembranous part of the channel to the lipid bilayer.

The alga Dunaliella salina is outstanding is its ability to withstand extremely high salinities. To uncover mechanisms underlying salt tolerance, a search was carried out for salt-induced proteins. The level of a plasma membrane 150-kDa protein, p150, was found to increase with rising external salinity (Sadka, A., Himmelhoch, S., and Zamir, A. (1991) Plant Physiol. 95, 822-831). Based on its cDNA-deduced sequence, p150 belongs to the transferrin family of proteins so far identified only in animals. This, to our best knowledge, is the first demonstration of a transferrin-like protein in a photosynthetic organism. Unlike animal transferrins, p150 contains three, rather than two, internal repeats and a COOH-terminal extension including an acidic amino acid cluster. In intact cells p150 is degraded by Pronase, indicating that the protein is extracellularly exposed. The relationship of p150 to iron uptake is supported by the induction of the protein in iron-deficient media and by its radioactive labeling in cells grown with 59Fe. Accumulation of p150 is transcriptionally regulated. It is proposed that p150 acts in iron uptake other than by receptor-mediated endocytosis and that its induction permits the cells to overcome a possible limitation in iron availability under high salinities.

Scavenger receptors interact with a variety of modified proteins, mediate their endocytosis and degradation, and may play an important role in protein catabolism and pathogenic processes such as atherosclerosis, aging, and diabetes. Many scavenger receptors have been detected kinetically but few such binding proteins have actually been identified. Recently, we found that two membrane-associated proteins, gp30 and gp18, interact more avidly with albumins conformationally modified by chemical means or by surface adsorption to colloidal gold particles than with native albumin. In this study, we show that gp30 and gp18 behave similarly to other known scavenger receptors. Competition studies indicate a similar ligand binding profile to other known scavenger receptors. Polyanionic molecules (dextran sulfate, fucoidan, polyglutamic acid, polyinosinic acid, heparin) and modified albumins such as formaldehyde-treated or maleylated albumin (Mal-bovine serum albumin) competed with albumin conjugated to colloidal gold particles (A-Au) for the blotting of gp30 and gp18. A-Au and Mal-bovine serum albumin bound cultured endothelial cells with high affinity. Modified and native albumins were each internalized, but only modified albumins were then released degraded. Inhibition studies revealed that only the same molecules that were effective in blocking A-Au blotting of gp30 and gp18, also inhibited A-Au degradation. Addition of the lysosomotropic agent chloroquine resulted in more than 70% inhibition of degradation. Differential processing of A-Au by cultured smooth muscle and endothelial cells along with fibroblasts was observed in a manner consistent with gp30 and gp18 expression. Cumulatively, these results suggest that gp30 and gp18 may mediate the high affinity binding, endocytosis, and degradation of conformationally modified albumins but not native albumin.

The uptake of transferrin-bound iron by receptor-mediated endocytosis has been the subject of extensive experimental investigation. However, the path followed by iron (Fe) after release from transferrin (Tf) remains obscure. Once Fe is released from Tf within the endosome, it must be transported across the endosomal membrane into the cell. The present investigation describes the presence of a cytoplasmic Tf-free Fe pool which is detectable only when cells are detached from their culture dishes at low temperature, after initial incorporation of diferric transferrin at 37 degrees C. This cellular iron pool was greatly reduced if incubation temperatures were maintained at 37 degrees C or if cells were treated with pronase. Human melanoma cells (SK-MEL-28) in culture were prelabeled by incubation with human 125I-59Fe-transferrin for 2 h, washed, and reincubated at 4 degrees C or 37 degrees C in balanced salt solution in the presence or absence of pronase. The cells were then mechanically detached from the plates and separated into "internalized" and supernatant fractions by centrifugation. Approximately 90% of cellular 59Fe and 20% of 125I-Tf remained internalized when this reincubation procedure was carried out in balanced salt solution at 37 degrees C. However, at 4 degrees C, cellular internalized iron was reduced to approximately 50% of the initial value. The release of this component of cellular 59Fe (approximately 40% of total cell 59Fe) at 4 degrees C was completely inhibited in the presence of pronase and other general proteinases at 4 degrees C and at 37 degrees C, without affecting internalized transferrin levels. Similar results were obtained in fibroblasts and hepatoma cells, indicating that this phenomenon is not unique to melanoma cells. The characterization of this Tf-free cellular Fe pool which is detectable at low temperature may yield valuable insights into the metabolic fate of iron following its transport across the membrane of the endocytotic vesicle.

This paper extends our recent report that renal Na+,K(+)-ATPase is digested by trypsin in the absence of Ca2+ and presence of Rb+ ions to a stable 19-kDa fragment and smaller membrane-embedded fragments of the alpha chain and essentially intact beta chain. These are referred to as "19-kDa membranes." Occlusion of both Rb+ (K+) or Na+ ions is preserved, but ATP-dependent functions are lost (Karlish, S. J. D., Goldshleger, R., and Stein, W. D. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 4566-4570). We now show that extensive digestion with nonselective fungal proteases (Pronase and proteinase K) alone, in combination, or after tryptic digestion can remove up to 70% of membrane protein without destroying Rb+ occlusion. In the most heavily digested membranes, the 19-kDa fragment or a slightly shorter 18.5-kDa fragment and smaller fragments of the alpha chain remain, whereas the beta chain is largely digested, leaving smaller membrane-embedded fragments (13-15 kDa). For either trypsin or Pronase digestion, preservation of Rb+ occlusion and the specific fragmentation pattern is observed only in the absence of divalent metal ions (Mg2+ or Ca2+) and presence of either Rb+ or Na+ or congener ions. Tryptic digestion at pH 7.0 can split the beta chain into two fragments of approximately 50 and 16 kDa joined by an S-S bridge. The 16-kDa fragment is protected against further digestion by the presence of Rb+ ions, but probably is not directly involved in occluding cations. Tryptic 19-kDa membranes show a clear and reproducible fragmentation pattern in which all predicted membrane segments are identifiable. Families of fragments from 19-kDa membranes, including seven peptides of 7.6-11.7 kDa, have been separated by size-exclusion high performance liquid chromatography, concentrated, and resolved on 16.5% Tricine gels. N-terminal sequences of the different fragments have been determined after transfer to polyvinylidene difluoride paper. The most interesting findings are as follows. (a) Whereas the 19-kDa tryptic fragment begins at Asn831 as reported previously, the 18.5-kDa Pronase fragment begins at Thr834. (b) Fragments in tryptic 19-kDa membranes of 7.6-11.7 kDa begin at Asp68, Ile263, and Gln737, respectively. These include all putative transmembrane segments other than those in the 19-kDa fragment. (c) A Pronase fragment of 7.8 kDa begins at Thr834, i.e. apparently the 19-kDa fragment has been partially cut, without loss of Rb+ occlusion. (d) Tryptic 16- and approximately 50-kDa fragments of the beta chain begin at Ala5 and Gly143, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

To examine the nature of the factors influencing the galactosylation pattern of the heavy chain of murine immunoglobulin G (IgG), cell fusion was performed between a myeloma (P3x63Ag8) and a hybridoma (Sp2HL/Bu) cell line which secrete different IgGs possessing structurally distinct CH2-linked oligosaccharide moieties. The glycosylation patterns of the IgGs of the parental and fused cells were studied. Pronase digestion of the purified heavy chains and subsequent end labeling with fluorescein isothiocyanate produced fluoresceinated glycopeptides which were detected and purified by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Structural information was obtained by enzymatic digestion, lectin affinity chromatography, and methylation analysis. IgGs from both parental lines possessed oligosaccharide units displaying microheterogeneity based upon a common symmetrical biantennary structure terminating in beta-GlcNAc. The structures of both IgGs, however, differed in the pattern of the mono- and digalactosylated components. Clones, selected following the fusion of the parental cells, were expanded; and the individual IgGs were purified. All clones produced homodimeric IgG1 and IgG2b as well as heterodimeric IgG possessing both the gamma 1 and gamma 2b heavy chains. Analysis of the carbohydrate moieties of the gamma 1 chain from the homodimeric and heterodimeric IgGs and of the gamma 2b chain from the heterodimeric molecule demonstrates that the polypeptide structure of the heavy chain influences the terminal galactosylation of the glycan unit at the conserved site of glycosylation of IgGs.

Highly purified human mucins from postmortem intestinal tissue were fractionated on anion exchange columns to generate separate neutral and acidic species. The neutral mucin (less than 1.0 mol % sialic acid) was the major species (greater than 80% by weight) and contained a higher molar proportion of fucose, galactose, and N-acetylglucosamine, and a lower proportion of sialic acid and N-acetylgalactosamine than the acidic species (greater than 10 mol % sialic acid). Amino acid analyses revealed a highly significant enrichment in serine, aspartate, and alanine in the neutral species and proline, threonine, and glycine in the acidic species. Thiol reduction of each species to remove their integral 118,000-dalton component did not alter the essential interspecies differences. Differences in threonine, proline, and serine also remained after removal of all "naked" or pronase-susceptible peptide regions from each species. These results indicate that neutral and acidic mucins contain glycopeptide segments exclusive of their 118,000-dalton and naked peptide components, which differ in amino acid composition. The key amino acid markers are similar to those observed for fuco- and sialoglycopeptides obtained after proteolytic digestion of human colonic mucin by Gold et al. (Gold, D.V., Schochat, D., and Miller, F. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 6354-6358). The oligosaccharide composition of small intestinal and colonic mucin may therefore depend upon transcriptional control of the synthesis of specific mucin peptides as well as the post-translational activity of glycosyltransferases. These findings may have significance for the quality and functions of mucus produced in a variety of pathological states.

D-beta-Hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase is a lipid-requiring enzyme which is localized on the inner face of the mitochondrial inner membrane. The apodehydrogenase, i.e. the purified enzyme devoid of lipid, has been purified from beef heart mitochondria and as such is inactive. It can be reactivated by insertion into phospholipid vesicles containing lecithin. Proteolytic digestion with different proteases has been carried out to obtain insight into the orientation of the enzyme in the membrane and to assess the extent of immersion of the protein into the phospholipid bilayer. Digestion of the apodehydrogenase with either trypsin, chymotrypsin, Staphylococcus aureus protease, thermolysin, carboxypeptidases A and Y, or Pronase (from Streptomyces griseus) leads to loss of activity, as assayed with phospholipid. Limited digestion with carboxypeptidase results in complete inactivation. Of the proteases tested, only Pronase and chymotrypsin cleave and inactivate the enzyme inserted into phospholipid vesicles (enzyme-phospholipid complex). For the enzyme-phospholipid complex, the loss of activity with Pronase digestion follows a single exponential decay to less than 10% of the initial activity. With chymotrypsin digestion, the staining intensity of the original approximately 31,500-dalton polypeptide decreases more rapidly than the loss of enzymic activity. The enzyme-phospholipid complex, after limited cleavage with chymotrypsin, retains enzymic activity and resonance energy transfer from protein to bound NADH and an approximately 26,000-dalton polypeptide is observed. Phospholipid alters the cleavage pattern with both chymotrypsin and Pronase, and the rate of inactivation of the enzyme-phospholipid complex is slowed in the presence of NAD(H). Moreover, the rate of inactivation of the apodehydrogenase with chymotrypsin is diminished approximately 3-fold in the presence of NAD+. Digestion of submitochondrial vesicles with either trypsin, chymotrypsin, or Pronase rapidly inactivates D-beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase; the addition of NAD+ or NADH, together with dithiothreitol and increased salt (to 50 mM), decreases the rate of inactivation, and with trypsin, virtually eliminates inactivation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The polypeptide of uromodulin, an immunosuppressive glycoprotein isolated from human urine, has been shown to be identical to that of Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein and is synthesized exclusively in the kidney (Hession, C., Decker, J. M., Sherblom, A. P., Kumar, S. (1987) Science 237, 1479-1484). Uromodulin binds recombinant murine interleukin 1 alpha with high affinity, and this binding can be inhibited by addition of specific saccharides (Muchmore, A. V., and Decker, J. M. (1987) J. Immunol. 138, 2541-2546). We now report that uromodulin binds recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rTNF) with high affinity. Both diacetylchitobiose and Man(alpha 1-6)(Man(alpha 1-3]-Man-O-ethyl are effective inhibitors of the binding, whereas a wide variety of other saccharides are not inhibitory. Although Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein contains predominantly tetraantennary N-linked chains, the binding to rTNF is unaffected by removal of terminal sialic acid, galactose, and N-acetylhexosamine residues. Fractionation of a Pronase digest of uromodulin by gel filtration yields material that inhibits the binding of uromodulin to rTNF but is of lower molecular weight than the major oligosaccharide. Uromodulin does not inhibit the cytotoxic activity of rTNF as monitored by lysis of tumor cell targets but effectively protects mice from lethal challenge with lipopolysaccharide, an event that may involve lymphokine toxicity. We have previously shown that rTNF binds to sections of human kidney and is localized in the same region as uromodulin. Thus, rTNF interacts with uromodulin via carbohydrate chains that are less processed than the major tetraantennary chain, and this interaction may be critical in promoting clearance and/or reducing toxicity of TNF and other lymphokines.

A major sialoglycoprotein (previously called gp105) on the human erythroleukemic cell line K562 was purified, and specific antibodies were raised in a rabbit. A number of different hematopoietic cell lines belonging to erythroid, myeloid, T-lymphoid, and B-lymphoid cell lineages were found to possess glycoproteins that were immunoprecipitated by these antibodies. However, the apparent molecular weights differed between cell lines, ranging from 113,000 to 150,000. In almost all cases, the immune precipitated molecule corresponded to the major sialoglycoprotein of the respective cell. Pulse-chase experiments showed that all cells produced an early precursor form of the molecule of 54 kDa, which was susceptible to endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H to give an apoprotein of 52 kDa. Neuraminidase treatment of the mature forms resulted in a characteristic decrease of the mobility in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (apparent molecular weights from 150,000 to 183,000). Amino acid analysis of the glycoprotein isolated from HL-60 cells showed a high content of serine, threonine, and proline, and the carbohydrate composition was compatible with the presence of a large number (approximately 90) of O-linked carbohydrate chains. The name leukosialin is proposed for this sialoglycoprotein, which seems to be widely distributed, but differently glycosylated, on leukocytes with diverse functions. In the following paper (Carlsson, S.R., Sasaki, H., and Fukuda, M. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 12787-12795), we demonstrate that the structures of O-linked oligosaccharides vary significantly depending on the cells from which leukosialin was isolated.

Previously, we reported that incorporation of threo-beta-fluoroasparagine into cellular protein inhibits N-linked glycosylation. We now show that short synthetic peptides which contain N-acetyl-threo-beta-fluoroasparagine fail to undergo glycosylation in a cell-free system except at extremely high substrate concentrations. An N-benzoyl-threo-beta-fluoroasparagine-containing peptide has a 100-fold lower Vmax/Km than the analogous N-benzoyl-asparagine-containing peptide. Substitution of a fluorine for a hydrogen on the beta-carbon of asparagine weakens the ability of the peptide to bind the oligosaccharyltransferase. A 100-fold excess of acetyl-threo-beta-fluoroasparaginyl-leucyl-threonine methylamide over acetyl-asparaginyl-leucyl-threonine methylamide inhibited glycosylation of the latter peptide by less than 10%. Both threo-beta-fluoroasparagine and erythro-beta-fluoroasparagine-containing peptides are glycosylated at the same rate. Glycofluoropeptides generated from beta-fluoroasparagine-containing peptides were N-glycosylated. These cell-free studies with synthetic fluoropeptides suggest that incorporation of beta-fluoroasparagine into cellular protein inhibits N-linked glycosylation by rendering protein substrates ineffective for glycosylation. In the course of this work, we also demonstrate that the N-linked glycosylating enzyme acts only on L-asparagine-containing peptides and not on D-asparagine peptides.

The membrane form of Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoprotein (mfVSG) is acylated with ester-linked tetradecanoic (myristic) acid (Ferguson, M. A. J., and Cross, G. A. M. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 3011-3015). Comparative analysis of Pronase peptides from mfVSG and soluble VSG localizes the site of mfVSG acylation to a COOH-terminal oligosaccharide structure. Chemical and enzymatic treatment of the acylated Pronase mfVSG fragment revealed that the myristic acid is present as a diglyceride (sn-1,2-dimyristin) that is probably linked to the COOH-terminal oligosaccharide via a phosphodiester bond between the sn-3-glycerol hydroxyl and a sugar hydroxyl group. The endogenous membrane-associated enzyme, which quantitatively cleaves myristic acid from mfVSG to produce soluble VSG, releases diglyceride, as would be expected of a phospholipase C.

Thy-1 is a developmentally regulated cell surface glycoprotein in nervous tissue. An inositol-containing glycolipid structure is covalently attached to its carboxyl terminus, which anchors the protein to the cell membrane. In the present paper we report the characterization of a water-soluble form of Thy-1, purified from human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In contrast to the membrane-bound form of Thy-1 (M-Thy-1) isolated from human brain cerebral cortex, CSF-Thy-1 behaved like a completely hydrophilic glycoprotein, as analyzed by charge-shift electrophoresis in the presence of detergents and by liposome incorporation experiments. CSF-Thy-1 displayed a slightly higher apparent molecular weight in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis than M-Thy-1. Digestions with endoglycosidases demonstrated that this difference in size was correlated to different processing of the three N-linked oligosaccharides, and the mobilities of the deglycosylated molecules were indistinguishable in sodium dodecyl sulfate gels. A Pronase-resistant carboxyl-terminal fragment was isolated from the CSF-Thy-1 after trypsin digestion and compared with the corresponding structure of M-Thy-1, obtained by treatment either with bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C or with human serum (as a source of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase D). The major fragment from CSF-Thy-1 behaved identically, with respect to size and charge, to the carboxyl-terminal fragment from M-Thy-1 solubilized by phospholipase D. These findings suggest an in vivo release of phosphatidylinositol-anchored Thy-1 glycoprotein from brain cells by the action of an endogenous phospholipase D.

We recently described the purification of two aminopeptidases from Streptomyces griseus (Vosbeck, K.D., Chow, K.-F., and Awad, W.M., Jr. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 6329-6034). An analysis of the amino acid composition reveals very little differences in the two proteins. Each protein has alanine as the NH2-terminal residue. The aminopeptidases were treated separately with acetic anhydride; as noted in the past, the presence of glycerol is required to achieve excellent yields of acetylated active derivatives (Siegel, S., and Awad, W.M., Jr. (1973 J. Biol. Chem. 248, 3233-3240). However, in the present case much higher concentrations of glycerol (50%) are needed during acetylation to obtain derivatives with completely reacted NH2-terminal residues. The epsilon-amino groups were not completely acetylated. In contrast to the native enzymes, the acetylated derivatives show an affinity for DEAE-cellulose, a property consonant with the changes in net charge. The kinetic constants for each enzyme against L-leucine-p-nitroanilide do not change significantly after acetylation. The specificities of the two aminopeptidases were examined extensively on a semiquantitative basis. The activities are not restricted by the length of substrate chains. Each enzyme shows a preference for hydrophobic residues at the ultimate and penultimate positions. Charge residues are released a slower rates. No prolidase activity is demonstrable even at high enzyme to substrate ratios; however, NH2-terminal proline residues are released readily. D-Amino acid residues at the ultimate or penultimate position substantially reduce the rate of hydrolysis; D-leucyl-D-leucine is not hydrolyzed...

Hamster sarcoma virus (HSV) transformation of Nil-8 fibroblasts is associated with an increase in the average size of N-acetyllactosamine (complex) type N-linked glycans due to an increase in both the average number of branches/chain and in the fraction of N-linked glycans containing poly(GlcNAc(beta 1,3) Gal-(beta 1,4)) (polylactosaminylglycan) chains. Analysis of glycopeptides from the envelope glycoproteins of Sindbis virus and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) grown in Nil-8 and Nil/HSV cells indicated that the transformation-associated shift to larger N-linked oligosaccharides selectively affects some glycosylation sites far more than others. Glycosylation of the Sindbis virus glycoproteins and of Asn-179 of VSV G was similar in Nil-8 and Nil/HSV cells; oligosaccharide processing generally did not proceed beyond the biantennary complex stage. In contrast, Asn-336 of VSV G carried primarily biantennary complex glycans in Nil-8-grown virus (ratio, triantennary, and larger to biantennary complex glycans (tri+/bi) = 0.5) but more highly branched structures in Nil/HSV-grown virus (tri+/bi = 8.1). All of the triantennary or larger oligosaccharides from Asn-336 of Nil/HSV-grown VSV G bound to leukoagglutinating phytohemagglutinin-agarose, indicating the presence of a branch attached to the Man3GlcNAc2 core via a beta 1,6-linked GlcNAc residue and suggesting that increased UDP-GlcNAc:alpha-D-mannoside beta 1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyl transferase V (GlcNAc transferase V) activity accompanied transformation. At least 20% of these leukoagglutinating phytohemagglutinin-binding oligosaccharides were sensitive to an enzyme specific for polylactosaminylglycan chains, Escherichia freundii endo-beta-galactosidase.

A divalent cation-independent and spermine-stimulated phosphatase (protein phosphatase SP) that is active toward the phosphorylated pyruvate dehydrogenase complex has been purified about 15,000-fold to near homogeneity from extracts of bovine kidney mitochondria. Half-maximal stimulation, 1.5- to 3-fold at pH 7.0-7.3, occurred at 0.5 mM spermine. Protein phosphatase SP exhibited an apparent Mr = 140,000-170,000 as estimated by gel-filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-300. Two major subunits, with apparent Mr = 60,000 and 34,000, were detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gel-permeation chromatography of protein phosphatase SP on Sephacryl S-200 in the presence of 6 M urea and 1.4 M NaCl increased its activity 3- to 6-fold and was accompanied by conversion to the catalytic subunit with an apparent Mr = approximately 34,000. Protein phosphatase SP was inactive with p-nitrophenyl phosphate and was not inhibited by protein phosphatase inhibitor 1, inhibitor 2, or the protein inhibitor of branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase phosphatase. Protein phosphatase SP was inhibited by sheep antibody to the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 2A from rabbit skeletal muscle. It appears that protein phosphatase SP is related to protein phosphatase 2A.

Juvenile hormones (JH) are sesquiterpene derivatives that regulate both morphogenetic and reproductive development in insects. The larval epidermis of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, was found to take up both 3H-JH I and a biologically active JH analog, [125I]iodovinylmethoprenol (IVMA), from the incubation medium with 33% of the label going to the nucleus in both cases. An exchange assay using isolated nuclei showed the presence of two binding sites with approximate KD values of 7 and 88 nM for JH I and 4 and 59 nM for IVMA. There were about 10,000 of the high affinity sites per nucleus. The binding of both hormones was sensitive to pH and Pronase digestion. In competition studies, JH II and JH III competed for 3H-JH I binding sites, whereas IVMA, hydroprene, and methoprene did not. In similar studies, methoprene and hydroprene competed for [125I]IVMA binding sites but JH I, JH II, and JH III were all ineffective. These results are consistent with the presence of specific and distinct binding sites for JH and IVMA in these nuclei.

Murine T-lymphomas and Thy-1- mutants were labeled overnight with [3H]ethanolamine to detect proteins which possess a glycophospholipid anchor. When labeled cells were treated with 10% trichloroacetic acid and then analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography, both Thy-1 and a second intensely labeled protein (46 kDa) were observed. The presence of the radiolabeled 46-kDa protein in wild type and class E Thy-1 negative cells (cells in which Thy-1 is synthesized but cannot be labeled with [3H]ethanolamine) suggested incorporation into a distinct moiety. Labeling of the 46-kDa protein with [3H]ethanolamine is rapidly inhibited by cycloheximide. Further characterization of the 46-kDa protein by subcellular fractionation and Triton X-114 partitioning indicated that the protein is located in the cytosol. The protein is basic and does not bind to either concanavalin A or wheat germ agglutinin. Labeling of a 46-kDa protein has also been demonstrated in Chinese hamster ovary, COS, rat myeloma, cloned human T-lymphocytes, and HeLa cells. Pronase digestion of the [3H]ethanolamine-labeled 46-kDa protein of wild type lymphoma cells generated a nonbasic and polar labeled fragment which is labile to strong acid and base ([3H]ethanolamine is liberated), insensitive to periodate oxidation and alkaline phosphatase, and does not bind to concanavalin A or wheat germ agglutinin. Judging from methylation studies, the labeled ethanolamine residue does not contain a free amino group. Based on these results, we report a novel post-translational modification of selected protein(s) by the covalent addition of [3H]ethanolamine.

Whole rat liver nuclei were reacted with UDP-[14C]galactose in the presence of bovine beta(1----4) galactosyltransferase. The reaction mixture was electrophoresed on a reducing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel. Autoradiograms of the gel demonstrated a major labeled broad band migrating with an apparent molecular weight of 65,000-66,000. A number of other less prominently labeled bands were also present. The labeled 65,000-66,000 band when cut from the gel and subjected to alkaline reduction while in the gel matrix exclusively yielded a 14C-labeled disaccharide that co-migrated with a [14C]Gal-GlcNAcol standard in descending paper chromatography. Treatment of this disaccharide with beta-galactosidase (beta-D-galactoside galactohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.23) from Aspergillus niger removed all the [14C]galactose label. Treatment of the labeled 65,000-66,000 polypeptide with Endoglycosidase F, however, did not remove the [14C]galactose label. Western transfer blots of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels performed with horseradish peroxidase-labeled succinyl wheat germ agglutinin, a lectin specific for GlcNAc, on unlabeled nuclei revealed a dominant band at 63,000-64,000. Subjecting 14C-labeled nuclei to this procedure resulted in a shift of the major horseradish peroxidase-labeled succinyl wheat germ agglutinin band to 65,000-66,000. The shifted band was coincident with the [14C]galactose band as visualized on an autoradiogram. A survey of other rat tissue nuclei revealed the same spectrum of [14C]galactose acceptor proteins with a dominant 65,000-66,000 galactose-labeled band.

Human tracheobronchial mucin was isolated from lung mucosal gel by chromatography on Sepharose 4B in the presence of dissociating and reducing agents, and its thiol residues were carboxyamidomethylated with iodo[1(-14)C]acetamide. The 14C-carboxyamido-methylated mucin was purified by chromatography on Sepharose 2B. No low molecular weight components were detected by molecular sieve chromatography or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of dissociating and reducing agents or by analytical density centrifugation in CsCl/guanidinium chloride. After digestion of the purified 14C-mucin with trypsin-L-1-tosylamido-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone, three fractions (TR-1, TR-2, and TR-3) were observed by chromatography on Sepharose 4B. TR-1, a 260-kDa mucin glycopeptide fragment, contained all of the neutral hexose and blood group activity and 20% of the radioactivity in the undigested mucin. TR-1 was refractory to a second incubation with trypsin but could be digested by papain or Pronase to a smaller mucin glycopeptide fraction, as judged by the slight decrease in apparent molecular weight on Sepharose CL-4B. These mucin glycopeptides contained approximately 50% of the radioactivity in the TR-1 fraction, indicating that the glycosylated domains of carboxyamidomethylated tracheobronchial mucin contained thiol residues. The remainder of the radioactivity from papain or Pronase digests of TR-1 eluted, like the TR-3 fractions, in the salt fraction on Sepharose CL-4B. Peptide mapping of the nonglycosylated TR-3 fraction by TLC and high voltage electrophoresis yielded six principal and several less intensely stained ninhydrin reactive components, with the radiolabel concentrated in one of the latter peptides. Peptide purification of the TR-3 fraction by high pressure liquid chromatography on a C18 reverse phase column demonstrated the presence of four major peptides, with TR-3A being the dominant component. The TR-3D peptide contained S-carboxy-aminomethylcysteine and had 69% sequence similarity to the sgs-7 salivary glue protein of Drosophila.

The role of specific receptors in the translocation of diphtheria toxin A fragment to the cytosol and for the insertion of the B fragment into the cell membrane was studied. To induce nonspecific binding to cells, toxin was either added at low pH, or biotinylated toxin was added at neutral pH to cells that had been treated with avidin. In both cases large amounts of diphtheria toxin became associated with the cells, but there was no increase in the toxic effect. There was also no increase in the amount of A fragment that was translocated to the cytosol, as estimated from protection against externally added Pronase E. In cells where specific binding was abolished by treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol 13-acetate, trypsin, or 4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid, unspecific binding did not induce intoxication or protection against protease. This was also the case in untreated L cells, which showed no specific binding of the toxin. When Vero cells with diphtheria toxin bound to specific receptors were exposed to low pH, the cells were permeabilized to K+, whereas this was not the case when the toxin was bound nonspecifically at low pH or via avidin-biotin. The data indicate that the cell-surface receptor for diphtheria toxin facilitates both insertion of the B fragment into the cell membrane and translocation of the A fragment to the cytosol.

In inside-out red cell membrane vesicles active calcium transport and the formation of the enzyme-phosphate complex (EP) of the calcium pump were simultaneously investigated and the effects of a limited proteolytic digestion examined. In order to visualize the proteolyzed EP forms we have induced the formation of a maximum level EP from [gamma-32P]ATP in the presence of Ca2+ + La3+ and applied a good-resolution acidic discontinuous sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system. Proteolysis of inside-out vesicle membranes by trypsin, Pronase, papain, or chymotrypsin produces a calmodulin-like activation of the calcium pump, abolishes its calmodulin sensitivity, and decreases the original 140-kDa EP complex to a limit polypeptide of 80 kDa. Trypsin digestion produces another major intermediary fragment of 90 kDa, which is still a low-activity calmodulin-sensitive form of the pump. The red cell calcium pump is activated by trypsin both in the absence and presence of Ca2+ during digestion although the rate of activation and the appearance of the 80-kDa polypeptide are enhanced by Ca2+. If proteolytic digestion is carried out by chymotrypsin, a calmodulin-insensitive maximum activation of the calcium pump coincides with the formation of a 125-130-kDa EP-forming polypeptide. Chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase A have synergistic effects on the formation of this latter high-activity species. Based on these data we suggest a probable molecular arrangement for the functional parts of the red cell membrane calcium pump.

The basal lamina components laminin, heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG), and type IV collagen were synthesized and codeposited in the extracellular matrix (ECM) by a cultured human cell line from gestational choriocarcinoma (JAR). Laminin and HSPG formed a noncovalent complex detected by the coimmunoprecipitation of HSPG with laminin from cell lysates and culture media. The complex was stable in the cell lysis buffer that contained detergents (1% Triton X-100, 0.5% deoxycholate, and 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate) and sodium chloride (from 0.15 to 1.0 M), but was dissociated by adding 8 M urea to the detergent lysates. Even though JAR cells produced roughly equal amounts of HSPG and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, only HSPG complexed with laminin, suggesting a specific interaction between these basal lamina components. The laminin-HSPG complex was deposited and retained in the ECM. This was shown biochemically by isolating an enriched fraction of ECM from JAR cells cultured on native type I collagen gels. At steady state, more than half (52%) of the laminin-HSPG in the culture was recovered in the ECM fraction, in contrast to 16% of the total laminin and 29% of the total type IV collagen, which were secreted to a greater extent than laminin-HSPG into the culture medium. The retention of the laminin-HSPG complex in the ECM suggests that it may participate in the assembly of the basal lamina-like extracellular matrix deposited by JAR cultures. Omission of ascorbate from the culture medium abolished the ECM deposition of type IV collagen but had little effect on the deposition of laminin or laminin-HSPG. This demonstrates that the stable deposition of laminin-HSPG and laminin in the collagen-based choriocarcinoma cultures is not dependent on an assembled network of type IV collagen.

A host protein, which is required for the replication of a plasmid DNA (pLA1), has been purified from extracts of uninfected HeLa nuclei. This plasmid DNA contains the origin of adenovirus DNA replication but lacks the 55,000-dalton terminal proteins. The purified host protein has been designated factor pL. Factor pL is essential for the initiation of DNA replication of EcoRI-digested pLA1 DNA, which proceeds via the formation of a covalent complex between the 80,000-dalton adenovirus coded preterminal protein and 5' dCMP. Factor pL has been purified approximately 120-fold to greater than 75% homogeneity. It is a heat labile and N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive protein with a native Mr = 39,000 (+/- 2,000). Initiation of DNA replication using EcoRI-digested pLA1 DNA as the template requires the 80,000-dalton preterminal protein and the 140,000-dalton adenovirus DNA polymerase, in addition to factor pL, and is stimulated as much as 10-fold by nuclear factor I ( Nagata , K., Guggenheimer , R. A., Enomoto , T., Lichy , J. H., and Hurwitz , J. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 79, 6438-6442). Factor pL has no effect on in vitro DNA replication when adenovirus DNA covalently linked to the 55,000-dalton terminal protein is used as the template, however the replication of adenovirus DNA treated with Pronase, becomes totally dependent upon the addition of factor pL.

The chicken oocyte receptor for low and very low density lipoproteins has been identified and characterized. Receptor activity present in octyl-beta-D-glucoside extracts of oocyte membranes was measured by a solid phase filtration assay, and the receptor was visualized by ligand blotting. The protein had an apparent Mr of 95,000 in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels under nonreducing conditions and exhibited high affinity for apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins, but not for high density lipoproteins or lipoproteins in which lysine residues had been reductively methylated. Binding of lipoproteins was sensitive to EDTA, suramin, and treatment with Pronase. In these aspects, the avian oocyte system was analogous to the mammalian low density lipoprotein receptor in somatic cells. Furthermore, a structural relationship between the mammalian and avian receptors was revealed by immunoblotting: polyclonal antibodies directed against the purified bovine low density lipoprotein receptor reacted selectively with the 95-kDa chicken receptor present in crude oocyte membrane extracts.

The effect of anion-specific inhibitors on the utilization of the sugar nucleotides (UDP-glucose, GDP-mannose, and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine) required for the formation of the oligosaccharide-lipid involved in N-glycosylation has been studied in intact endoplasmic reticulum (ER) vesicles from thyroid. Of the reagents tested, the nonpenetrating probe DIDS (4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid) and its dihydro derivative (H2DIDS) were the most effective, causing a pronounced impairment in the synthesis from UDP-Glc of dolichyl phosphate (Dol-P) glucose (50% reduction at 60 microM DIDS) and in the incorporation of glucose into oligosaccharide-lipid and N-glycosylated protein; in contrast, no inhibition was observed in the formation from UDP-Glc of a glycogen-like proteoglucan. The specificity of the DIDS effect was indicated by the finding that methyl isothiocyanate, a nonanionic amino-reactive agent, demonstrated negligible inhibition. While DIDS also effected a block in the formation of Dol-P-P-GlcNAc from UDP-GlcNAc, no impairment in the utilization of GDP-Man for Dol-P-Man synthesis was observed. Since the DIDS inhibition of UDP-Glc and UDP-GlcNAc utilization was maintained after disruption of the ER vesicles with Triton, even when the incubations were supplemented with Dol-P, it appears that this reagent does not interact with sugar nucleotide translocator proteins but rather with the cytoplasmically oriented anion binding sites of glycosyltransferases (UDP-Glc- and UDP-GlcNAc:Dol-P glucosyl- and GlcNAc-1-P transferases). This is consistent with the protease sensitivity of these enzymes in the intact ER vesicles. Incubation of the vesicles with tritiated H2DIDS (8 microM) introduced radioactivity into membrane polypeptides with molecular weights of about 52,000 and 31,000 as observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, suggesting that this inhibitor may prove useful as an affinity label in further studies of some of the glycosyltransferases involved in the synthesis of lipid-monosaccharide intermediates.

The existence in invertebrates, unicellular eukaryotes, and prokaryotes of materials that resemble several vertebrate peptide hormones led to the suggestion that these peptide messengers may have arisen earlier in evolution than had previously been thought. Consistent with this hypothesis, we describe here material in two plants, spinach and Lemma gibba G3, that is very similar to mammalian insulin, yet distinctive. In each of the early purification steps, which consisted of acidic methanol chloroform extraction and sequential chromatography on C-18 hydrophobic resin, Sephadex G-50, CM-Sepharose, and a short C-3 high performance liquid chromatography column, the immunoactive material from plants resembled the common vertebrate insulins. The protein nature of the material was suggested by its destruction by Pronase but not by the inactivated enzyme. In addition, on TSK chromatography it eluted in a position similar to that of insulin, i.e. equivalent to a protein of 6000 daltons. Using an isocratic high performance liquid chromatography system, the plant immunoactivity eluted earlier, and thus was more hydrophilic, than most of the common mammalian insulins, including pork insulin. The interaction of the plant material with anti-insulin antibodies in a radioimmunoassay was confirmed by using an affinity column of anti-insulin antibodies which adsorbed the plant immunoactivity at neutral pH, and released the material with acid elution. Using a quantitative double radioimmunoassay, the plant insulin-like material was distinguished immunologically from chicken insulin. Although the plant insulin-like material is clearly distinct from pork insulin chromatographically, and from chicken insulin immunologically, it resembles vertebrate insulins in its overall configuration. The plant insulin-like material bound to insulin receptors on IM-9 lymphocytes and stimulated glucose oxidation and lipogenesis in isolated adipocytes from young rats. The bioactivity was neutralized in the presence of anti-insulin antibodies, but not in the presence of normal guinea pig IgG. The role of this insulin-like material in plants is unknown but its existence is consistent with an early evolutionary origin of the insulin messenger peptide family. Alternatively we cannot exclude a later convergent development of this family or introduction of vertebrate DNA into plants.

DNA containing 5-azacytosine is an irreversible inhibitor of DNA(cytosine-5)methyltransferase. This paper describes the binding of DNA methyltransferase to 32P-labeled fragments of DNA containing 5-azacytosine. The complexes were identified by gel electrophoresis. The EcoRII methyltransferase specified by the R15 plasmid was purified from Escherichia coli B(R15). This enzyme methylates the second C in the sequence CCAGG and has a molecular mass of 60,000 Da. Specific binding of enzyme to DNA fragments could be detected if either excess unlabeled DNA or 0.8% sodium dodecyl sulfate was added to the reaction mixture prior to electrophoresis. Binding was dependent upon the presence of both the CCAGG sequence and azacytosine in the DNA fragment. S-Adenosylmethionine stimulated the formation of the complex. The complex was stable to 6 M urea but could be digested with pronase. These DNA fragments could be used to detect the presence of several different methyltransferases in crude extracts of E. coli. No DNA protein complexes could be detected in E. coli B extracts, a strain that contains no DNA(cytosine-5)methyltransferases. The chromosomally determined methylase with the same specificity as the purified EcoRII methylase could be detected in crude extracts of E. coli K12 strains. The MspI methylase cloned in E. coli HB101 could also be detected in crude extracts. These enzymes are the only proteins that bind azacytosine-containing DNA in crude extracts of E. coli.

Three membrane-bound adenosine triphosphatases were investigated for homology in the sequence of four amino acids about the active site of phosphorylation. The ATPases were as follows: sodium-potassium-dependent ATPase from dog kidney, Na,K-ATPase; hydrogen-potassium-dependent ATPase from hog gastric mucosa, H,K-ATPase, an ATPase similar to Na,K-ATPase; and an ATPase activity in the plasma membrane of corn, Zea mays, roots (CR-ATPase), a higher plant ATPase. A membrane preparation containing an ATPase of Acholeplasma laidlawii, a prokaryote, (AL) was also investigated. For most of the experiments, the preparations were phosphorylated from [gamma-32P]ATP, denatured in acid, and subjected to proteolytic digestion. Radioactive phosphopeptides were separated by high voltage paper electrophoresis and characterized by sensitivity to chemical reagents. In gastric H,K-ATPase, the aspartate residue at the active site was determined directly by labeling with [3H]borohydride. A common sequence around the active site was found for Na,K-ATPase, H,K-ATPase, and CR-ATPase. This sequence, -Cys-(Ser/Thr)-Asp(P)-Lys-, is similar to that in the calcium ion-transport ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum. The AL membrane preparation showed an acylphosphate that turned over rapidly after a chase of labeled membranes with unlabeled ATP. The corresponding sequence was different from that of the three ATPases. An acylphosphate was on two polypeptides with molecular weights of about 80,000 and 60,000; these appear not to correspond to subunits of a Na+-stimulated ATPase in this organism (Lewis, R. N. A. H., and McElhaney, R. N. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 735, 113-122).

When Vero cells with surface-bound 125I-labeled, nicked diphtheria toxin were exposed to pH 4.5, two polypeptides of Mr 20,000 and 25,000 became protected against externally applied Pronase E. The 20-kDa polypeptide appears to be the toxin A-fragment, whereas the 25-kDa polypeptide must be derived from the B-fragment. Permeabilization of the cells with saponin allowed efflux of the 20-kDa fragment to occur, whereas most of the 25-kDa polypeptide remained associated with the cells. A number of compounds and conditions which protect cells against diphtheria toxin prevented the protection against Pronase E. Protection of the 25-kDa polypeptide occurred even when the transmembrane proton gradient (delta pH) was dissipated by acidification of the cytosol, whereas protection and release of the A-fragment were prevented under these conditions. Electrical depolarization and ATP depletion of the cells did not inhibit protection and release of the A-fragment. The data indicate that delta pH is required for the transfer of the A-fragment to the cytosol, whereas the insertion of part of the B-fragment into the membrane occurs at low pH, even in the absence of a delta pH.

The distribution along the polypeptide of the carbohydrate units of two major calf thyroid cell surface glycoproteins, GP-1 and GP-3, was obtained from a study of their glycopeptides obtained after Pronase digestion. The GP-3 molecule (Mr = 20,000) yielded two large glycopeptides (Mr = 9,500 and 7,000) in equimolar amounts which each consisted of one N-linked (Mr = 5,400) and several small O-linked oligosaccharides accounting for a total of nine carbohydrate attachment sites in a 27-amino acid residue segment of the peptide chain. The Pronase treatment of GP-1 (Mr = 100,000) revealed the presence of a large protease-resistant fragment (Mr = 50,000) which contained 34 carbohydrate units (eight N-linked and 26 O-linked) in a segment of 105 amino acids. In addition to these densely glycosylated peptides (one glycosylation site/3 amino acid residues), small glycopeptides with polymannose saccharide units were found in the digests of both proteins. The occurrence of repeating N-acetyllactosamine sequences in the N-linked carbohydrate units of GP-1 and GP-3 was suggested by the composition and size of the oligosaccharides released by hydrazinolysis and was demonstrated by endo-beta-galactosidase treatment. The cleavage products from digestion with this enzyme were identified as NeuAc alpha 2----6Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal, Gal alpha 1----3Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal, Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal, and GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal with the tetrasaccharides constituting the predominant species. The terminal alpha-D-Gal residues accounted for the binding of GP-1 and GP-3 glycopeptides to Bandeiraea simplicifolia I-agarose; concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography indicated that most of the N-linked carbohydrate units of both glycoproteins contained more than two branches. Difference in the branching on the poly-N-acetyllactosamine sequences of GP-1 and GP-3 was suggested by the finding that only the latter glycoprotein, as well as its glycopeptides, reacted with anti-blood group I antibodies; neither glycoprotein demonstrated blood group i antigenicity. Examination of cultured thyroid follicular cells revealed that both I and i determinants were present at the cell surface.

Hydrophobic binding properties of purified bovine gallbladder mucin were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy using 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) and N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine. The purified glycoprotein contained 75.5%, dry weight, as carbohydrate, 16.3% as protein, and 3.7% as sulfate; Mr = 2.2 X 10(6) was estimated by chromatography on Sephacryl S-500. Mucin contained a large number of low-affinity binding sites for these hydrophobic ligands. The dissociation constant, KD of mucin-ANS binding was 2.7 X 10(-5); each mucin molecule had approximately 42 binding sites for ANS. These binding sites were deduced to be on the unglycosylated portion of the protein core, as Pronase digestion completely eliminated binding. Reduction of mucin with 2-mercaptoethanol increased the fluorescence yield by formation of subunits with increased binding sites for the ligand. Increasing NaCl concentration (0.125 to 2.0 M) and decreasing pH (9 to 3) progressively increased fluorescence with the charged ligand ANS, suggesting that the binding site may have acidic groups which are shielded at high ionic strength or low pH. The fluorescent yield with N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine, an uncharged ligand, was an order of magnitude higher than with ANS. Bilirubin and bromosulfophthalein inhibited mucin-induced ANS fluorescence, but bile acids did not. Gallbladder mucin contains hydrophobic binding domains in the nonglycosylated peptide core that are involved in polymer formation and binding of biliary lipids and pigment.

Thirty-four human sera containing parietal cell autoantibodies (PCA) specifically immunoprecipitated two antigens, with apparent molecular masses of 60-90 kDa and 100-120 kDa under nonreducing conditions and 60-90 kDa and 120-150 kDa under reducing conditions, from porcine gastric membrane extracts. A third antigen of 92 kDa was only observed in immunoprecipitates analyzed under reducing conditions. By immunoblotting, 24 of the 34 PCA-positive sera reacted with only the 60-90-kDa antigen, three reacted with a broad 60-120-kDa smear, one reacted only with a 92-kDa antigen and six did not react. Reactivity with the 60-90-kDa antigen was observed with gastric membranes from dog, pig, rat, and rabbit. Twenty PCA-negative sera did not react with these components by immunoprecipitation or immunoblotting. PCA reactivity with the 60-90-kDa antigen was abolished when the gastric membranes were (a) digested with Pronase, (b) reduced with 100 mM dithiothreitol, (c) treated with sodium periodate, or (d) digested with N-glycanase. The 60-90-kDa and 100-120-kDa components were insensitive to neuraminidase treatment. N-glycanase digestion of 125I-labeled antigens purified by immunoprecipitation and preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis collapsed the 60-90-kDa antigen to a sharp 34-kDa band; the 100-120-kDa component was unaffected. These observations suggest that (i) parietal cell antigens comprise three components of 60-90, 92, and 100-120 kDa; (ii) the epitopes differ in conformational sensitivity; (iii) the 60-90-kDa antigen is a conserved molecule comprising a 34-kDa core protein extensively glycosylated with N-linked oligosaccharides; (iv) sialic acid residues are not present in the 60-90- and 100-120-kDa molecules, and (v) the carbohydrate and protein moieties of the 60-90-kDa molecule are required for antibody binding.

An activator protein which stimulates the degradation of globotriaosylceramide by human hepatic alpha-galactosidase (alpha-D-galactoside galactohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.22) was isolated from human liver and purified some 1300-fold. The purified activator was heat stable up to 95 degrees C, its molecular weight was estimated at 20,000 by gel filtration. Ampholyte displacement chromatography resolved the activating factor into two fractions with isoelectric points at pH 4.6 and pH 4.8, respectively, with otherwise identical properties. The protein did not stimulate the hydrolysis of the water-soluble 4-methylumbelliferyl-alpha-galactoside.

To determine how the carbohydrate moiety of fibronectin influences the susceptibility of protein to proteolytic degradation, we compared the effects of various proteases on glycosylated and nonglycosylated fibronectins. Nonglycosylated fibronectin, from tunicamycin-treated chicken embryo fibroblasts, was degraded more rapidly to acid-soluble products than glycosylated fibronectin by pronase, thermolysin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin. The absence of carbohydrate did not markedly affect overall patterns of proteolytic fragments identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Except for the expected increases in electrophoretic mobilities of the nonglycosylated peptides, the only important difference was that of the nonglycosylated fragment corresponding to the carbohydrate-rich, collagen-binding domain, was completely digested by the proteases in 60 min at 30 degrees C. In contrast, the comparable fragment from glycosylated fibronectin was resistant to protease digestion. Heparin-binding domains that normally lack carbohydrate are equally susceptible to proteases in glycosylated and nonglycosylated fibronectin. We conclude that the carbohydrate component of fibronectin plays an important role in the stabilization of a specific domain of the protein against proteolytic degradation; however, the carbohydrate does not alter overall proteolytic specificity.

Human eosinophils were cultured for up to 7 days in enriched medium in the absence or presence of recombinant human interleukin (IL) 3, mouse IL 5, or recombinant human granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and then were radiolabeled with [35S]sulfate to characterize their cell-associated proteoglycans. Freshly isolated eosinophils that were not exposed to any of these cytokines synthesized Mr approximately 80,000 Pronase-resistant 35S-labeled proteoglycans which contained Mr approximately 80,000 glycosaminoglycans. RNA blot analysis of total eosinophil RNA, probed with a cDNA that encodes a proteoglycan peptide core of the promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cell, revealed that the mRNA which encodes the analogous molecule in eosinophils was approximately 1.3 kilobases, like that in HL-60 cells. When eosinophils were cultured for 1 day or longer in the presence of 10 pM IL 3, 1 pM IL 5, or 10 pM GM-CSF, the rates of [35S]sulfate incorporation were increased approximately 2-fold, and the cells synthesized Mr approximately 300,000 Pronase-resistant 35S-labeled proteoglycans which contained Mr approximately 30,000 35S-labeled glycosaminoglycans. Approximately 93% of the 35S-labeled glycosaminoglycans bound to the proteoglycans synthesized by noncytokine- and cytokine-treated eosinophils were susceptible to degradation by chondroitinase ABC. As assessed by high performance liquid chromatography, 6-16% of these chondroitinase ABC-generated 35S-labeled disaccharides were disulfated disaccharides derived from chondroitin sulfate E; the remainder were monosulfated disaccharides derived from chondroitin sulfate A. Utilizing GM-CSF as a model of the cytokines, it was demonstrated that the GM-CSF-treated cells synthesized larger glycosaminoglycans onto beta-D-xyloside than the noncytokine-treated cells. Thus, IL 3, IL 5, and GM-CSF induce human eosinophils to augment proteoglycan biosynthesis by increasing the size of the newly synthesized proteoglycans and their individual chondroitin sulfate chains.

alpha-Hemocyanin of Helix pomatia is a copper-containing glycoprotein which serves as an oxygen carrier in the hemolymph. Its carbohydrate moiety has as constituents fucose, xylose, 3-O-methylgalactose, mannose, galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, and N-acetyl-glucosamine residues. Alkaline borhydride did not split off any carbohydrate material, suggesting the absence of O-glycosidic chains. The N-glycosidic carbohydrate chains of this glycoprotein were liberated by hydrazinolysis of a Pronase digest then fractionated as alditols on Bio-Gel P-4. The fractions containing the low-molecular-weight glycans were investigated by 500-MHz 1H NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with sugar and methylation analysis. The largest, and most abundant, compound was established to be: (Formula: see text). Another compound was characterized as the afuco analogue of this structure. H. pomatia alpha-hemocyanin is the first example of an animal glycoprotein having xylose as a constituent of N-glycosidic carbohydrate chains.

Follicular 19 S thyroglobulin (molecular weight 660,000) from rat, human, and bovine thyroid tissues contains approximately 10-12 mol of phosphate/mol of protein. These phosphate residues can be radiolabeled when rat thyroid hemilobes, FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells, or bovine thyroid slices are incubated in vitro with [32P]phosphate. Thus labeled, the [32P]phosphate residues comigrate with unlabeled 19 S follicular thyroglobulin on sucrose gradients and gel filtration columns; are specifically immunoprecipitated by an antibody preparation to rat or bovine thyroglobulin as appropriate; and co-migrate with authentic 19 S thyroglobulin when subjected to analytic or preparative gel electrophoresis. Tunicamycin prevents approximately 50% of the phosphate from being incorporated into FRTL-5 cell thyroglobulin. Approximately one-half of the phosphate in FRTL-5 cell or bovine thyroglobulin can also be released by enzymatic deglycosylation and can be located in Pronase-digested peptides which contain mannose, are endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H but not neuraminidase-sensitive, and release a dually labeled oligosaccharide containing mannose and phosphate after endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H digestion. The remainder of the phosphate is in alkali-sensitive phosphoserine residues (3-4/mol of protein) and phosphotyrosine residues (approximately 2/mol of protein). This is evidenced by electrophoresis of acid hydrolysates of 32P-labeled thyroglobulin and by reactivity with antibodies directed against phosphotyrosine residues. The phosphoserine and phosphotyrosine residues do not appear to be randomly located through the thyroglobulin molecule since approximately 75-85% of the phosphotyrosine and phosphoserine residues were recovered in a approximately 15-kDa tryptic peptide or a approximately 24-kDa cyanogen bromide peptide, each almost devoid of carbohydrate. 31P nuclear magnetic resonance studies of bovine thyroglobulin confirm the presence and heterogeneity of the phosphate residues on thyroglobulin preparations.

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) was labeled with sodium [125I]iodide using the chloramine-T method and subsequently purified by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Three main 125I-labeled peaks designated A, B, and C resulted from the radioiodination and purification procedures. They were characterized by electrophoresis of tryptic fragments; Edman degradation (for Peaks A and C); enzymatic digestion to amino acids by leucine aminopeptidase, carboxypeptidase Y and Pronase; and treatment with cyanogen bromide. Peak A corresponds to VIP monoiodinated on Tyr10 and with the Met17 residue oxidized to methionine sulfoxide. This [mono[125I]iodo-Tyr10,MetO17]VIP displays the following characteristics. 1) It constitutes quantitatively the major product of the iodination procedure (62.5%); 2) it is well resolved from other labeled and unlabeled products; 3) it is stable (2 months at -20 degrees C); 4) it possesses a high specific activity (2050 Ci/mmol); 5) it maintains the biological activity of native VIP; and 6) it binds to antibody and membrane recognition sites in a specific, saturable, and reversible manner. Reduction of [mono[125I]iodo-Tyr10, Met-O17]VIP to [mono[125I]iodo-Tyr10]VIP does not improve the performance of the tracer in a radioimmunoassay. The method described in this article is simple and rapid and yields a molecular form of 125I-labeled VIP that has been fully characterized and is suitable for use in biological studies.

Heterologous anti-human platelet membrane antisera were raised in rabbits against membranes prepared from human intact or chymotrypsin- or pronase-treated platelets. Anti-intact, anti-chymotrypsin, and anti-pronase-treated platelet membrane antibodies (IgG and Fab fragments) inhibited the fibrinogen-induced aggregation of ADP-stimulated platelets and of chymotrypsin-treated platelets. The specific binding of 125I-fibrinogen to these platelets was also inhibited. As revealed by the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of 125I-surface-radiolabeled platelet proteins and by the electrophoresis of the immunoprecipitates prepared from these labeled proteins, predominant components on the surface of intact platelets were glycoproteins IIb and IIIa. These proteins were immunoprecipitated by all three antibodies. In addition, chymotrypsin-treated platelets contained an Mr = 66,000 protein on their surface that was also immunoprecipitated by the three types of anti-platelet membrane antibodies. The appearance of this Mr = 66,000 protein on the surface of chymotrypsin-treated platelets correlated with the exposure of fibrinogen receptors on the platelet surface as evidenced by the increased platelet aggregation and the enhanced 125I-fibrinogen binding shown by chymotrypsin-treated platelets. The origin of the Mr = 66,000 protein labeled on chymotrypsin-treated platelets was studied by first labeling intact platelets with 125I and then treating these platelets with chymotrypsin. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the total labeled proteins present after chymotrypsin treatment and those immunoprecipitated by anti-pronase-treated platelet membrane antibody from detergent extracts of chymotrypsin-treated platelets suggested that the Mr = 66,000 protein was a proteolytic cleavage product of glycoprotein IIIa. Analysis on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels of the major chymotryptic cleavage products of partially purified glycoprotein IIIa and analysis of the peptide of glycoprotein IIIa immunoprecipitated by anti-pronase-treated platelet membrane antibody revealed that the Mr = 66,000 protein produced by chymotrypsin on the platelet surface was the major chymotryptic cleavage product of glycoprotein IIIa. We propose a hypothesis that the Mr = 66,000 is a part of glycoprotein IIIa present on the surface of proteolytically treated platelets and it may function in fibrinogen binding and fibrinogen-induced platelet aggregation and that the 66,000-dalton region of glycoprotein IIIa in intact platelets may represent the fibrinogen-binding domain of glycoprotein IIIa.

The chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan of rat brain was digested with Pronase, and after removal of glycosaminoglycans, the resulting glycopeptides were treated with alkaline borohydride to release O-glycosidically linked oligosaccharides. These were fractionated by ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration, and preparative thin layer chromatography, and their structural properties were studied by specific enzymatic degradations, methylation analysis, and gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry of disaccharides as their trimethylsilylated and permethylated derivatives. In addition to the previously characterized N-acetyl-galactosamine-linked oligosaccharides and neutral mannitol-containing oligosaccharides [GlcNAc(beta 1-3) Manol and Gal(beta 1-4)[Fuc(alpha 1-3)]GlcNAc(beta 1-3)Manol] (where Fuc is fucose), we have now identified the sialylated tetrasaccharide NeuAc(alpha 2-3)Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNAc (beta 1-3)Manol, which accounts for approximately 20% of the mannitol-containing oligosaccharides. The proteoglycan also contains mannose-linked keratan sulfate chains (with a molecular size of 3,000 to 10,000 Da) composed of disaccharide repeating units consisting of Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNAc-6-O-SO4(beta 1-3), with a small proportion of branch points at C-6 of galactose residues. There is approximately one keratan sulfate chain per four chondroitin sulfate chains of 18,000-19,000 Da. After alkaline borohydride treatment of the neutral and monosialyl glycopeptide fractions, the combined decrease in mannose and N-acetylgalactosamine was very close to the observed destruction of serine + threonine and was accompanied by an equimolar increase in alanine and alpha-aminobutyric acid. One half of the mannose was destroyed by alkaline borohydride treatment of the glycopeptides and stoichiometrically converted to mannitol, while there were only small changes in the relative amounts of the other sugars and amino acids. The data demonstrate that over half of the carbohydrate-peptide linkages in the proteoglycan are of the mannosyl-O-serine/threonine type.

The effect of the known inhibitors of iron uptake, n-butylamine and NH4Cl, was examined at the molecular level to more precisely define the mechanisms by which these lysosomotropic agents block iron uptake by rabbit reticulocytes. Utilizing a rapid pulse-chase technique to follow the handling of a cohort of 59Fe, 125I-transferrin bound to rabbit reticulocytes, both amines were observed to have no effect on the cell-mediated release of 59Fe from internalized transferrin. The results indicated, however, that both agents acted to 1) retard the internalization of transferrin bound to transferrin receptors on the plasma membrane of reticulocytes, 2) retard the externalization of internalized transferrin, and 3) block the transport into the cytosol of iron released from transferrin.

Structures of O-linked oligosaccharides of leukosialin isolated from K562 erythroid, HL-60 promyelocytic, and HSB-2 T-lymphoid cell lines were examined. Leukosialin was isolated by specific immunoprecipitation from cells which were metabolically labeled with [3H]glucosamine, and glycopeptides were isolated after Pronase digestion. O-Linked oligosaccharides were released by alkaline borohydride treatment, and the structures of purified oligosaccharides were elucidated by specific exoglycosidase digestion, Smith degradation, and methylation anaylsis. Oligosaccharides from K562 cells were found to be GalNAcOH, Gal beta 1----3GalNAcOH, NeuNAc alpha 2----6GalNAcOH, NeuNAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----3GalNAcOH, Gal beta 1----3(NeuNAc alpha 2----6)GalNAcOH, and NeuNAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----3(NeuNAc alpha 2----6)GalNAcOH. On the other hand, oligosaccharides from HL-60 and HSB-2 cells were found to be NeuNAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----3GalNAcOH, NeuNAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----6(Gal beta 1----3)GalNAcOH, Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----6(NeuNAc alpha 2----3)Gal beta 1----3)GalNAcOH, and NeuNAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----6(NeuNAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----3)GalNAcOH. These results clearly indicate that leukosialin can be differently glycosylated with O-linked chains, and each erythroid or myeloid (and T-lymphoid) cell line expresses a characteristic set of O-linked oligosaccharides which differ in core structures as well as in sialylation.