Publications by authors named "J J Volwerk"

Binding characteristics of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) from Bacillus cereus binding to the phospholipid-water interface were determined by spectroscopic methods and correlated with PI-PLC's catalytic properties. Binding of the enzyme to micelles and bilayers of zwitterionic phosphocholines is accompanied by an increase in the fluorescence emission from tryptophan, whereas a decrease in the emission is observed with synthetic anionic lipids containing a phosphomethanol head group. A similar decrease in the tryptophan emission is observed with phosphatidylinositol (PI) analogues containing the phospho-D-1-myo-inositol head group, but not with the enantiomeric L-1-myo-inositol.

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A water-soluble, chemiluminescent substrate for sensitive detection of bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) activity was synthesized. This was achieved by replacing the diacylglycerol moiety found in the natural substrate, phosphatidylinositol, by a dioxetane-containing moiety, resulting in the synthetic substrate (+/-)-3-(4-methoxyspiro[1,2-dioxetane-3,2'- tricyclo[3.3.

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Phosphatidylinositol(PI)-specific phospholipase C activity was detected on the surface of rat astrocytes, rat C6 glioma cells, and rat embryo (REF52) fibroblasts. The cell surface phospholipase C (ecto-PLC) activity was calcium-dependent, did not result from secreted phospholipase C, and was not released from the cell surface by bacterial PI-specific phospholipase C. Agents known to stimulate intracellular PI turnover, including carbachol, L-glutamic acid, acetylcholine, and orthovanadate, did not induce measurable alterations in the activity of the ecto-PLC.

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The substrate stereospecificity of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus is examined using the resolved optical isomers of synthetic myo-inositol 1-(4-nitrophenyl phosphate), a chromogenic substrate for the phospholipase. The synthetic route employs mild acid-labile protecting groups and separation of the substituted myo-inositol enantiomers as the (-)-camphanyl ester diastereomers. Measurements of the initial rates of cleavage of the D and L enantiomers of the nitrophenyl substrate by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from B.

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Confluent monolayers of four contact-inhibited mouse fibroblast lines (Swiss 3T3, Balb/c 3T3, NIH 3T3, and C3H10T1/2) were found to have substantial levels of a cell surface phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (ecto-PLC). In contrast, confluent cultures of virally, chemically, or spontaneously transformed variants derived from these cell lines expressed undetectable or negligible levels of this enzyme activity. A simple and rapid assay, using lysophosphatidylinositol radio-labeled in the inositol group ([3H]-lysoPI) as the substrate was developed to provide a quantitative measure of the phospholipase C activity present at the external cell surface.

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