A comparison of skyshine computational methods.

A variety of methods employing radiation transport and point-kernel codes have been used to model two skyshine problems. The first problem is a 1 MeV point source of photons on the surface of the earth inside a 2 m tall and 1 m radius silo having black walls. The skyshine radiation downfield from the point source was estimated with and without a 30-cm-thick concrete lid on the silo.

Characterization of a phosphoenzyme intermediate in the reaction of phosphoglycolate phosphatase.

When 32P-glycolate and phosphoglycolate phosphatase from spinach are mixed, 32P is incorporated into acid precipitated protein. Properties that relate the phosphorylation of the enzyme to the phosphatase are: the Km value for P-glycolate is similar for protein phosphorylation and substrate hydrolysis; the 32P in the phosphoenzyme is diluted by unlabeled P-glycolate or the specific alternative substrate, ethyl-P; the activator Cl- enhances the effectiveness of ethyl-P as a substrate and as an inhibitor of the formation of 32P-enzyme; and 32P is lost from the enzyme when 32P-glycolate is consumed. The phosphorylated protein has a molecular weight of 34,000, which is half that of the native protein and is similar in size to the labeled band that is seen on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels.

The enzymic synthesis of ribose-1,5-bisphosphate: studies of its role in metabolism.

Ribose-1,5-bisphosphate is synthesized in a reaction that uses ribose-1(or 5)-P as the phosphoryl acceptor and the acyl-P of 3-phosphoglyceryl phosphate as the donor. Glucose-1,6-bisphosphate is synthesized in a similar reaction. The relative activity with the two substrates remains unchanged over almost 300-fold purification of the enzyme, indicating that glucose-1,6-bisphosphate synthase catalyzes both reactions.

Mechanism of activation by anions of phosphoglycolate phosphatases from spinach and human red blood cells.

Phosphoglycolate phosphatases from spinach and human red blood cells show a number of common features not often found in enzymes. Both enzymes are activated more than 50-fold by millimolar concentrations of Cl-. Other inorganic anions and a number of carboxylic acids also activate.

The synthesis of mannose 1-phosphate in brain.

The interconversion of mannose-6-P and mannose-1-P in brain has been shown to be catalyzed by a distinct enzyme. The enzyme has been separated from most of the phosphoglucomutase activity of the brain. The residual phosphoglucomutase activity (less than 1%) may be associated with phosphomannomutase itself.

Distribution of glucose-1,6-bisphosphate and IMP-activated glucose bisphosphatase in brain and retina.

The activity of glucose-1,6-bisphosphatase and the level of its substrate were measured in 16 gray areas and four fiber areas of mouse brain and 10 layers or sublayers of monkey retina. Because of the low activity of the enzyme and the small sample sizes, it was necessary to develop a method with two different amplification steps (overall amplification about 10(6]. The enzyme ranged in activity 100-fold from a low in monkey retina photoreceptor cells to a high in the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus.

The effects of anions on phosphoglycerate mutase.

Chloride (5-100 mM) can activate the phosphoglycerate mutase reaction (3-PG in equilibrium with 2-PG). I-, N0-3, or higher Cl- inhibit the mutase reaction while allowing mixing of isotope from [32P]3-PG into a large pool of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate. p-Hydroxybenzoate inhibits without causing isotope dilution.

Macro-structural organization of phosphoglycerate mutase.

The three-dimensional structure of phosphoglycerate mutase has been analyzed using a contoured distance matrix and by visual inspection using three-dimensional computer graphics. Three folding lobes have been identified and their internal structure tentatively characterized. The active site is located at a lobe interface with a channel providing possible access from above and below.

Measurement of the dissociation constant of MgATP at physiological nucleotide levels by a combination of 31P NMR and optical absorbance spectroscopy.

To resolve a controversy in the literature concerning the affinity of Mg++ for ATP to be used in our noninvasive 31P NMR procedure for the determination of free Mg++ in living cells, we have reinvestigated the apparent dissociation constant of MgATP under physiologic ionic conditions and over the cellular range of ATP concentrations by a combination of NMR and optical absorbance techniques. The new combination method utilizes 31P NMR chemical shifts to determine the degree of Mg++ chelation of ATP in a solution containing free ATP and MgATP, and uses a properly calibrated indicator dye, antipyrylazo III, for optical measurement of free Mg++ in the same solution. The data yield an average value of 50 +/- 10 microM for the apparent dissociation constant of MgATP which indicates low levels of free Mg++ (less than 1 mM) in several different types of tissues, including perfused heart muscle, contrary to a recent report in the literature.

Role of inosine 5'-phosphate in activating glucose-bisphosphatase.

Glucose-bisphosphate (G1c-1,6-P2) phosphatase has been purified greater than 200-fold from the cytosol of mouse brain. As reported earlier, the enzyme requires inosine monophosphate (IMP) and Mg2+ for activity [Guha, S.K.

On the noninvasive measurement of intracellular free magnesium by 31P NMR spectroscopy.

We previously introduced a noninvasive measurement of the concentration of free Mg2+ in intact cells and tissues using 31P NMR. To resolve a controversy in the literature concerning the affinity of Mg2+ for ATP used in our procedure, the apparent dissociation constant of MgATP under simulated intracellular conditions has been determined by three independent magnetic resonance methods, including a newly developed combination procedure for determining this value at intracellular ATP levels. The new combination method, which utilizes 31P NMR to determine the degree of Mg2+ chelation of ATP and the dye antipyrylazo III for optical determination of free Mg2+, yielded a value of (50 +/- 10) microM for this apparent dissociation constant at pH 7.

Brain glucose bisphosphatase requires inosine monophosphate.

Glucose bisphosphate phosphatase has been partially purified from the cytosol of mouse brain. Enzyme activity required Mg2+ and a heat-stable cofactor. The activator was present in boiled extracts of mouse brain mitochondrial-nuclear fraction, of red blood cells, or of rabbit muscle.

Active site phosphohistidine peptides from red cell bisphosphoglycerate synthase and yeast phosphoglycerate mutase.

Bisphosphoglycerate synthase (glycerate-1,3-P2 yields glycerate-2,3-P2) and phosphoglycerate mutase (glycerate-3-P formed from glycerate-2-P) are both phosphorylated by substrates at a histidine residue forming covalent intermediates which have been shown to function in the phosphoryl transfer reactions catalyzed by these enzymes (Rose, Z. B., and Dube, S.

Phosphoglycerate mutase. Kinetics and effects of salts on the mutase and bisphosphoglycerate phosphatase activities of the enzyme from chicken breast muscle.

The steady state kinetics and effects of salts on chicken breast phosphoglycerate mutase have been examined. The enzyme can catalyze three phosphoryl transfer reactions: mutase, bisphosphoglycerate phosphatase, and bisphosphoglycerate synthase. The mutase rate was measured in the favorable direction (Keq = glycerate-3-P/glycerate-2-P approximately equal to 12) using [2T]glycerate-2-P as substrate.

The determination of the free magnesium level in the human red blood cell by 31P NMR.

The phosphorus NMR spectra of intracellular ATP in glycolyzing human red blood cells maintained at 37 degrees C in an atmosphere containing 5% CO2 have been obtained and quantitated under completely aerobic and anaerobic conditions. A comparison of the separation between the alphaP and betaP resonances and the alpha-beta and beta-gamma 31P spin-spin coupling constants of intracellular ATP with appropriate controls directly reveals that 84 +/- 4% and 78 +/- 4% of the total ATP are complexed to Mg2+ in the aerobic and anaerobic states of the cell, respectively. This determination does not differentiate between molecules free in solution and those bound to hemoglobin due to rapid exchange on the NMR time scale of free and complexed ATP.

A procedure for decreasing the level of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate in red cells in vitro.

The physiological adaptation to anemia and other hypoxic states includes an increase in the level of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) in the red cell. We suggest that the high level of 2,3-DPG may have adverse effects in vivo. It has been found that red cells incubated with glycolate lose 2,3-DPG at a rapid rate relative to controls.

Rates of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of phosphoglycerate mutase and bisphosphoglycerate synthase.

Phosphoglycerate mutase and bisphosphoglycerate synthase (mutase) can both be phosphorylated by either glycerate-1,3-P2 or glycerate-2,3-P2 to form phosphohistidine enzymes. The present study uses a rapid quench procedure to determine if, for each enzyme, the formation of the phosphorylated enzyme and phosphate transfer from the enzyme can occur at rates consistent with the overall reactions. With bisphosphoglycerate synthase from horse red blood cells (glycerate-1,3-P2 leads to glycerate-2,3-P2) at pH 7.

The sequence of a peptide containing the active site phosphohistidine residue of phosphoglycerate mutase from chicken breast muscle.

Phosphoglycerate mutase is phosphorylated on a histidine residue by the cofactor of the reaction, 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (Rose, Z. B. (1970) Arch.