Identification of protein vaccine candidates from Helicobacter pylori using a preparative two-dimensional electrophoretic procedure and mass spectrometry.

Helicobacter pylori is an important human gastric pathogen for which the entire genome sequence is known. This microorganism displays a uniquely complex pattern of binding to complex carbohydrates presented on host mucosal surfaces and other tissues, through adhesion molecules (adhesins) on the microbial cell surface. Adhesins and other membrane-associated proteins are important targets for vaccine development.

The assembly and secretion of apolipoprotein B-48-containing very low density lipoproteins in McA-RH7777 cells.

We have used an extraction procedure, which released membrane-bound apoB-100, to study the assembly of apoB-48 VLDL (very low density lipoproteins). This procedure released apoB-48, but not integral membrane proteins, from microsomes of McA-RH7777 cells. Upon gradient ultracentrifugation, the extracted apoB-48 migrated in the same position as the dense apoB-48-containing lipoprotein (apoB-48 HDL (high density lipoprotein)) secreted into the medium.

Use of an affinity proteomics approach for the identification of low-abundant bacterial adhesins as applied on the Lewis(b)-binding adhesin of Helicobacter pylori.

Microbial attachment to host cell surfaces is considered to be the first essential step for colonization and infection. In most known cases, attachment is mediated by a specific protein-carbohydrate interaction. We have used a carbohydrate-containing crosslinking probe to select bacterial surface adhesins for trypsin digestion, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and identification against genome sequence.

Purification and characterization of RNA polymerase II holoenzyme from Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

We have purified the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme from Schizosaccharomyces pombe to near homogeneity. The Mediator complex is considerably smaller than its counterpart in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, containing only nine polypeptides larger than 19 kDa. Five of these Mediator subunits have been identified as the S.

Mass spectrometric analysis of ceramide composition in mono-, di-, tri-, and tetraglycosylceramides from mouse kidney: an experimental model for uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Many bacteria have been shown to bind to the carbohydrate part of glycosphingolipids, but also the lipid moieties of receptor-active glycolipids are of importance. To investigate the chemistry of the ceramides of kidney glycolipids to which the uropathogenic Escherichia coli bind, different mass spectrometric techniques were utilized. First, a mixture of glycolipids isolated from man and mice kidney was separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and scanned by direct desorption from the plate by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (TLC/FAB-MS).

Acidic glycosphingolipids of cock testis elucidated by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy.

The main acidic glycosphingolipids (GSLs) of cock testis were identified as GalCer I3-sulfate and gangliosides GM4, GM3, GD3 and GT3. They contained N-acetylneuraminic acid as the major sialic acid, and ceramides composed mainly of sphingosine (dl8:1) and C18-24 non-hydroxy fatty acids. Appreciable amounts of hydroxy fatty acids were detected only in the GM4 preparation.

Assembly of very low density lipoprotein: a two-step process of apolipoprotein B core lipidation.

The liver plays a primary role in lipid metabolism. Important functions include the synthesis and incorporation of hydrophobic lipids, triacylglycerols and cholesteryl esters into the core of water-miscible particles called lipoproteins and the secretion of these particles into the circulation for transport to distant tissues. In this article, we present a brief overview of one aspect of the assembly process of very low density lipoproteins, namely, possible mechanisms for combining core lipids with apolipoprotein B.

Epitope dissection of receptor-active gangliosides with affinity for Helicobacter pylori and influenza virus.

Receptor-active gangliosides with affinity for Helicobacter pylori and influenza virus were chemically modified and analyzed by negative ion fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB MS) or electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI MS) after permethylation. Derivatizations included mild periodate oxidation of the sialic acid glycerol tail or conversion of the carboxyl group to primary alcohol or amides. The modified gangliosides were then tested for binding affinity using thin-layer plates overlaid with labeled microbes or microbe-derived proteins.

Binding of GTP and GDP induces a significant conformational change in the GTPase domain of Ffh, a bacterial homologue of the SRP 54 kDa subunit.

The bacterial Ffh protein is homologous to the SRP54 subunit of the signal recognition particle. Ffh plays a key role in the targeting of proteins to the membrane and it is composed of a N-terminal domain (N), a middle GTPase (G) domain and a C-terminal M domain which has binding sites for SRP RNA and signal peptide. The GTP binding and hydrolysis of Ffh is critical to its function.

The lactosylceramide binding specificity of Helicobacter pylori.

The possible role of glycosphingolipids as adhesion receptors for the human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori was examined by use of radiolabeled bacteria, or protein extracts from the bacterial cell surface, in the thin-layer chromatogram binding assay. Of several binding specificities found, the binding to lactosylceramide is described in detail here, the others being reported elsewhere. By autoradiography a preferential binding to lactosylceramide having sphingosine/phytosphingosine and 2-D hydroxy fatty acids was detected, whereas lactosylceramide having sphingosine and nonhydroxy fatty acids was consistently nonbinding.

Identification of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis resolved yeast proteins by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry.

Protein extract from yeast cells growing exponentially in saline medium was separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE), with the separation in the first dimension on a wide range immobilized pH (3-10) gradient. From one preparative 2-D gel a number of previously identified proteins were used as test material for our initial matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) efforts on large scale rapid protein spot identification. Sample preparation via in-gel trypsin digestion was slightly modified to be compatible to MS analysis, and via this modified procedure MS generated peptide mass profiles could, in most cases with good precision, identify the protein in question.

Screening for the presence of polyglycosylceramides in various tissues: partial characterization of blood group-active complex glycosphingolipids of rabbit and dog small intestines.

Twenty different human and animal tissues were investigated for the presence of polyglycosylceramides. The glycolipids were isolated by peracetylation of dry tissue residues left after conventional lipid extraction, followed by extraction with chloroform and subsequent Sephadex LH-20, Sephadex LH-60 and silica gel chromatography. In most of the cases only trace amounts of complex glycolipids were found.

Persistent medical problems and permanent impairment five years after occupational injury.

In a comprehensive, one year material of 1,785 occupational injuries in the township of Umeå, Sweden. 1985-04-01/1986-03-31, the proportion of persons with persistent medical problems, two years after the event, was 39%. These were investigated again in 1990, five years after the event, and the proportion of persons with persistent medical problems had dropped to 23%.

Spin trapping of methyl radicals by the acyl nitroso compound Ph--C(= O)NO formed in the photochemical reaction between benzohydroxamic acid, dimethyl sulfoxide and hydrogen peroxide. An EPR study.

By the use of EPR spectroscopy, it has been shown that acyl nitroso compounds can act as spin traps for short-lived radicals with the formation of acyl aminoxyl radicals. The reaction was studied for the system benzohydroxamic acid [Ph--C(= O)N(H)]-dimethyl sulfoxide-hydrogen peroxide. The acyl aminoxyl radicals appeared almost immediately when the reaction mixture was irradiated in situ in the EPR cavity with UV light.

Persistent medical problems and permanent impairment: injuries associated with work, vehicles, and sports.

Among injuries treated in one year at the University Hospital in Umeå, Sweden, work- and sports-related accidents caused 16% each and vehicle-related accidents caused 12% of all injuries treated. Most fatalities and severe injuries were associated with vehicles. The proportion of victims with permanent medical impairment was highest among vehicle- and work-related injuries-6%.

Effects of mechanical load on cartilage matrix biosynthesis in vitro.

Cultured bovine articular cartilage full thickness explants were mechanically loaded, both statically and cyclically, at high frequency (2s of load with 2s intervals of no load) and low frequency (60s of load with 60s intervals of no load), at 1 MPa. Metabolic effects of the load were studied by radiolabeling and compared with non-loaded cartilage explants. High frequency load had a stimulatory effect on protein and proteoglycan synthesis while low frequency and static load showed decreased synthesis.

Computer-controlled mechanical testing machine for small samples of biological viscoelastic materials.

Time dependency in the mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials means that a variety of tests is often required to fully characterize their properties. Computer control is the best way of controlling loads and displacements and the rate at which they are applied, as well as recording and analysing the data produced. This paper describes apparatus for measuring the viscoelastic properties of articular cartilage in compression which is readily adaptable to any small sample in which accurate strain measurements require small, carefully controlled displacements.

Cartilage matrix proteins. A basic 36-kDa protein with a restricted distribution to cartilage and bone.

A non-collagenous quantitatively prominent protein was purified from guanidine hydrochloride extracts of bovine tracheal cartilage. Purification was achieved by cesium chloride density gradient centrifugation and chromatography on DEAE-cellulose at pH 7.0 followed by CM-cellulose at pH 5.

Large cartilage proteoglycan (PG-LA) influences the biosynthesis of macromolecules by isolated chondrocytes.

Bovine articular and tracheal chondrocytes were cultured at high density in multilayers. Intact or fragmented large aggregating proteoglycans (PG-LA) from cartilage were added to the cultures and the biosynthetic response studied by the incorporation of [3H]-leucine and [35S]-sulfate for proteins and proteoglycans respectively. Incorporated radiolabel and patterns of synthesized macromolecules were compared with control cultures without additives and cultures containing either of the synthetic polymers dextran or dextran sulfate.

Chondrocyte-matrix interactions. Attachment to proteins isolated from cartilage.

Interactions between bovine chondrocytes and cartilage extracellular matrix proteins and proteoglycans were demonstrated by cell attachment to plastic surfaces coated with the macromolecules. Chondrocytes, which had been maintained in suspension culture, attached to fibronectin, bone sialoprotein, collagen II, and two novel 36- and 58-kDa proteins isolated from cartilage. Attachment to fibronectin and bone sialoprotein was inhibited by competition with an Arg-Gly-Asp containing peptide, whereas attachment to the 36- and the 58-kDa proteins was not affected.

Hyposmolar entrapping of a spin label into aged red cells.

The aging of human erythrocytes stored in vitro at 4 degrees C was studied by the entrapping method. Erythrocytes were subjected to a sudden hyposmolar stress by suspension in solutions of varying osmolarity in the presence of the spin label tempocholine. The curves obtained when the amount of the spin label entrapped in the ghosts after resealing was plotted against the osmolarity of the buffer solutions exhibited an entrapping which increased with time of the in vitro storage of the erythrocytes (40-60 and 80-100 days).

Two novel matrix proteins isolated from articular cartilage show wide distributions among connective tissues.

Two proteins of Mr = 58,000 and 59,000, respectively, were purified from 4 M guanidinium chloride extracts of articular cartilage by dissociative CsCl-density gradient centrifugation followed by gel chromatography on Sephadex G-200 and ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The two proteins differ in ionic properties and only the one with Mr = 59,000 bound to the ion exchanger. Although the two proteins showed dissimilar peptide patterns after proteolysis, their amino acid composition was similar, with very high contents of leucine and aspartic acid/asparagine.

Stereoselective binding of 3-acetoxy-, and 3-hydroxy-1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones to human serum albumin. Selective allosteric interaction with warfarin enantiomers.

Stereoselective binding of oxazepam, lorazepam, temazepam and methyl lorazepam as well as of their acetates to human serum albumin was investigated by different techniques. The 2'-chlorine and the N(1)-methyl substitution exert opposite effects on the antipodes. Enantiomers of oxazepam acetate (OAc) and lorazepam acetate (LAc) displace diazepam.