Contextual modulation of androgen effects on agonistic interactions.

Seasonal changes in steroid hormones are known to have a major impact on social behavior, but often are quite sensitive to environmental context. In the bi-directionally sex changing fish, Lythrypnus dalli, stable haremic groups exhibit baseline levels of interaction. Status instability follows immediately after male removal, causing transiently elevated agonistic interactions and increase in brain and systemic levels of a potent fish androgen, 11-ketotestosterone (KT). Coupling KT implants with a socially inhibitory environment for protogynous sex change induces rapid transition to male morphology, but no significant change in social behavior and status, which could result from systemically administered steroids not effectively penetrating into brain or other tissues. Here, we first determined the degree to which exogenously administered steroids affect the steroid load within tissues. Second, we examined whether coupling a social environment permissive to sex change would influence KT effects on agonistic behavior. We implanted cholesterol (Chol, control) or KT in the dominant individual (alpha) undergoing sex change (on d0) and determined the effects on behavior and the degree to which administered steroids altered the steroid load within tissues. During the period of social instability, there were rapid (within 2 h), but transient effects of KT on agonistic behavior in alphas, and secondary effects on betas. On d3 and d5, all KT, but no Chol, treated females had male typical genital papillae. Despite elevated brain and systemic KT 5 days after implant, overall rates of aggressive behavior remained unaffected. These data highlight the importance of social context in mediating complex hormone-behavior relationships.

An invertase with unusual properties secreted by sucrose-grown cells of Corynebacterium murisepticum.

The mode of sucrose utilisation by Corynebacterium murisepticum cells growing on M9 minimal medium supplemented with 0.4% sucrose as the carbon source was studied. It was observed that during growth of this organism, sucrose in the medium is hydrolysed to glucose and fructose, suggesting the formation of an extracellular invertase. Unlike in other microorganisms (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae) the invertase formation is not repressed by the presence of glucose in the medium. The invertase was found to be the only predominant extracellular protein in the culture broth and could be purified in a single step by precipitation at 90% ammonium sulphate saturation. The purified protein had a molecular mass of 70,000 daltons. It not only showed invertase activity, but also a fructosyltransferase activity as it could convert sucrose to beta-1,2-difructose, as well as to glucose and fructose.

Prevention of singlet oxygen-induced DNA damage by lipoate.

Among the several biologically and pharmacologically active sulfur compounds examined, only lipoic acid and dihydrolipoic acid provided protection to plasmid DNA against singlet molecular oxygen (1O2). 1O2 was generated in phosphate buffer by the thermal dissociation of the endoperoxide of 3,3'-(1,4-naphthylidene) dipropionate (NDPO2). The protecting effect of lipoic acid was time- and pH-dependent and significant protection was seen even at 50 microM. The antioxidant effect was adversely affected by temperatures above 45 degrees C. Superoxide dismutase and catalase marginally enhanced this effect. Metal chelation with EDTA decreased the protection by lipoate, indicating that metal ions may be involved. The protective effect was diminished when the disulfide was added after single-strand breaks were induced by 1O2. The formation of 8-oxoguanosine from guanosine upon exposure to NDPO2 was not altered by lipoate.

Evidence for excision repair in promitochondrial DNA of anaerobic cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The respiratory adaptation (i.e., essentially mitochondrial biogenesis) in the excision repair-defective rad3-type mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoing transition from the anaerobic to the aerobic state is found to be far more sensitive to 254-nm ultraviolet radiation (UV) than that of the RAD wild-type strain. We confirm that mitochondria of aerobic cells of a RAD strain lack the excision repair capacity of UV-induced pyrimidine dimers at all doses tested (1-15 J/m2). In contrast, in promitochondria of anaerobic cells of the wild-type strain excision repair appears to take place. This process is very efficient at low doses (at 0.5-5 J/m2 100% of the UV endonuclease-sensitive sites disappear), whereas at high doses its efficiency is reduced by about 50%. The promitochondrial excision repair of pyrimidine dimers appears to be under nuclear control since it is blocked in the rad2 mutant. Finally photoreactivation is found to be operating in nuclei, mitochondria and promitochondria.

Chemical radiosensitization by misonidazole: production and repair of DNA single-strand breaks in Yoshida ascites tumor cells.

Formation of strand-breaks in DNA and its repair in Yoshida ascites tumor cells exposed to gamma radiation (100-400 Gy) in presence and absence of misonidazole (10 mM) were studied. The methodology involved pre-labelling of cellular DNA by 3H-thymidine during cell proliferation in rats, irradiation of cells in vitro and analysing sedimentation profile of DNA by ultracentrifugation in alkaline sucrose density gradients. Irradiation under euoxic conditions resulted in formation of about 1.5 times greater number of strand breaks as compared to those formed during irradiation under hypoxic conditions. Misonidazole (10 mM) by its presence along with the cells during irradiation under hypoxic conditions caused a 3-fold increase in the number of single strand breaks, but under euoxic conditions of irradiation the presence of misonidazole did not enhance the strand break formation. Incubation of cells irradiated in absence of misonidazole for 1 hr in tissue culture medium at 37 degrees C resulted in repair of substantial fraction of the strand breaks while there was no repair of the DNA strand breaks in cells irradiated in the presence of the chemical.

Five treatment procedures evaluated for the elimination of ascorbate interference in the enzymatic determination of urinary oxalate.

We evaluated the efficacies of five treatment procedures for eliminating ascorbate interference in the enzymatic determination of urinary oxalate. Aliquots of urine samples, containing different amounts of added ascorbate and oxalate, were individually subjected to ferric chloride, sodium nitrite, sodium periodate, charcoal, or ascorbate oxidase treatment to eliminate ascorbate interference. Oxalate contents of the urine samples were then determined by a banana oxalate oxidase-horseradish peroxidase-linked assay with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone and 3-(dimethylamino)benzoic acid as chromogens. Only those urine samples treated with ascorbate oxidase or charcoal consistently gave recovery of oxalate close to 100%. Treatment with other reagents, though improving the recovery of oxalate, gave inconsistent results. On the basis of these data, we describe procedures for simply and reliably assaying oxalate by using banana oxalate oxidase.

Influence of cellular differentiation on ultraviolet induced DNA damage and its repair mechanisms in B. cereus.

Susceptibility to UV irradiation of B. cereus BIS-59 spores undergoing germination at various stages-dormant spores to vegetative cell stage and their ability to recover from radiation damage were studied. For a given dose of radiation, the number of spore photoproducts (SPP) formed in the DNA of dormant spores was about 5-times greater than that of thymine dimers (TT) formed in the DNA of vegetative cells. At intermediate stages of the germination cycle, there was a rapid decline in the UV radiation-induced SPP formed in DNA with a concomitant increase in the UV radiation-induced TT formed in DNA. Bacterial spores undergoing germination (up to 3 hr) in the low nutrient medium (0.3% yeast extract) displayed much higher resistance to UV radiation than those germinating in the rich nutrient medium, even though there was no discernible difference under the two incubation conditions in respect of the extent of germination and the time at which the outgrowth stage appeared (3 hr). This was due to the formation TT in the DNA of spores germinating in the low nutrient as compared to that of spores germinating in the rich-nutrient medium. In UV-irradiated dormant spores, SPP formed in the spore DNA did not disappear even after prolonged incubation in the non-germinating medium. However, when the UV-irradiated dormant spores were germinated in low or rich nutrient medium, a significant proportion of SPP in DNA was eliminated. The dormant spores incubated in either of the germinating media for 15 min and then UV-irradiated were capable of eliminating SPP (presumably by monomerization) even by incubation in a non-germinating medium and in the complete absence of protein synthesis (buffer holding recovery), thereby implying that spore-repair enzymes were activated in response to initial's germination. The acquisition of photo-reactivation ability appeared in spores subjected to germination only in the rich-nutrient medium at the outgrowth stage and required de novo synthesis of the required enzymes.

DNA synthesis in nuclei and nuclear matrices of regenerating rat liver: effect of whole-body gamma irradiation.

Partial hepatectomy (PH) of rats (Wistar strain) resulted in acceleration of DNA synthesis in liver which reached a maximum at 36 h after PH. Whole-body radiation exposure (10 Gy) of the rats at 12 h after PH completely arrested this stimulation in DNA synthesis. The elevation of DNA synthetic rate in response to PH and complete obliteration of this stimulation by whole-body radiation exposure were found to be the reflection of levels of DNA polymerase-alpha in nuclei and nuclear matrices isolated from the rat livers. Studies based on assays of DNA polymerase in nuclei and nuclear matrices, with and without exogenous DNA template (activated calf thymus DNA), revealed that whole-body irradiation blocked induction of DNA polymerase-alpha and, in turn, assembling of DNA polymerizing apparatus. Irradiation of nuclei (suspended in buffer) in vitro at doses as high as 500 Gy did not have any inhibitory effect on DNA polymerase-alpha activity.

Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase containing megadalton complex from young rat thymus nuclei: identification and characterization.

Nuclear matrix prepared from 2-3 week old rat thymuses contains tightly bound TdT activity which has been quantitatively solubilized with nonionic detergent and sonication. TdT is contained in a discrete complex with a sedimentation value of 23 S. The complex is retained on an anti-TdT antibody column and contains DNA ligase and 3'-5' exonuclease activities as well as DNA and several other proteins but is devoid of replicative DNA polymerases. Such a type of multienzyme complex is absent from the nuclear extracts of thymus prepared from older rats and also from liver and spleen extracts of young and old rats.

Template primer-dependent binding of 5'-fluorosulfonyl-benzoyldeoxyadenosine by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I. Identification of arginine 682 as the binding site and its implication in catalysis.

We have labeled a template primer-dependent substrate deoxynucleoside triphosphate binding domain in Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I using an affinity labeling analogue of dATP, the 5'-fluorosulfonylbenzoyldeoxyadenosine (FSBdA). Using enzyme-template primer complex as a test system, we find that FSBdA-mediated inactivation occurs only when the template in the enzyme-template primer complex is poly(dT).(dA)10. A ribonucleotide analogue, 5'-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine (FSBA) is not an effective inactivator under these conditions. In the absence of template primer, however, deoxyribonanalogue (FSBdA) irreversibly inactivates polymerase activity with characteristics similar to those reported for FSBA (Pandey, V.N., and Modak, M.J. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 6068). Binding stoichiometric studies in the presence and absence of template primer revealed that only 1 mol of FSBdA is incorporated per mol of enzyme which results in complete inactivation. The site of FSBdA action was investigated by comparative tryptic peptide mapping, followed by amino acid composition analysis of the modified peptide. Arginine 682 was found to be the target of FSBdA reactivity. We therefore conclude that the domain containing Arg-682 plays a major role in template-dependent dNTP binding and polymerization.

Modulation of lipid peroxidation in human spermatozoa and human prostate by prostatic inhibin.

Loss of sperm motility as a result of the production of hydrogen peroxide by lipid peroxidation is regulated by as yet unidentified prostatic factor(s). Inhibinlike peptide of prostatic origin isolated from human seminal plasma, with a molecular size of about 10,400 daltons, was studied for its effect on ascorbate-induced lipid peroxidation in human spermatozoa. Dose-related suppression of lipid peroxidation was observed at dose levels of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 micrograms. The data suggest that inhibinlike peptide could be one of the factors involved in the regulation of lipid peroxidation and thereby of sperm motility. Inhibinlike peptide also exhibited local action in both normal and benign hyperplastic human prostate tissue by enhancing the rate of lipid peroxidation. These findings have implications in the pathophysiology of the prostate.

A sensitive assay for Staphylococcus aureus nucleases.

A sensitive assay for staphylococcal nuclease involving incubation of the enzyme sample with heat-denatured [3H]thymidine labelled DNA from E. coli, precipitation with trichloroacetic acid and measurement of the radioactivity of acid-soluble nucleotides released has been developed. The assay is sensitive enough to be used for comparing the levels of nucleases elaborated by different strains of S. aureus as well as for determining the extent of contamination of S. aureus in food and water samples even at levels at which the conventional spectrophotometric and toluidine blue-DNA methods are totally inadequate.

Effect of dimethyl sulphoxide on mitochondrial biogenesis in regenerating rat liver and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Effect of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) on mitochondrial biogenesis in regenerating rat liver and cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during aerobiosis has been studied by monitoring the cytochrome oxidase activity. A single dose of DMSO (275 mg/100-125 g body wt) to normal rats stimulated cytochrome oxidase activity in liver mitochondria while the same dose to partial hepatectomized rats inhibited the enzyme activity. Administration of low dose of DMSO (92 mg/100-125 g body wt) to partial hepatectomized rats did not alter the enzyme activity. Anaerobic cells of S. cerevisiae on aerobiosis for 2 hr attained cytochrome oxidase activity level on par with aerobic cells. Inclusion of DMSO (275 mg/100 ml) in the growth medium of S. cerevisiae during respiratory adaptation exerted partial inhibitory effect on the formation of cytochrome oxidase at 2 hr period, while the 10-fold concentration inhibited the enzyme formation completely. However, the inhibitory effect of DMSO on enzyme formation was abolished on prolonged growth (18 hr and above), while these doses had no influence on cytochrome oxidase in aerobic cells of S. cerevisiae. The results imply that DMSO may be exerting its effect on the assembly of subunits into active enzyme complex during mitochondrial biogenesis.

Evidence for the presence of DNA primase in mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Chromatography of a DNA polymerase preparation from mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on DNA-cellulose column, using Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) buffer containing 0.6 M NaCl as eluent, was found to yield a fraction exhibiting DNA primase-like activity free of DNA polymerase. This fraction could support the synthesis of 12-15 residue-long oligoribonucleotides on single-stranded natural or synthetic DNA templates. The oligoribonucleotides could be further elongated by incorporation of deoxyribonucleotides in the presence of Klenow fragment.

Purification and characterisation of an inducible beta-galactosidase from Corynebacterium murisepticum.

The beta-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.32) of Corynebacterium murisepticum (inducible by lactose and galactose) was purified by successive column chromatography on Sephadex G-200, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and DEAE-cellulose (DE52). The enzyme was found to be a dimer of identical subunits of molecular mass 100,000 daltons. The Km values of the enzyme for the substrates lactose and o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) are 16.7 mM and 4.4 mM, respectively, indicating, its low affinity for the substrates. The Ouchterlony immunodiffusion method exhibited immunological homogeneity of the enzyme preparation. The catalytic site of the enzyme does not take part in antigen-antibody reaction.

Suppression of lipid peroxidation in human spermatozoa by prostatic inhibin.

Loss of sperm motility owing to the production of hydrogen peroxide by lipid peroxidation is regulated by yet unidentified prostatic factor(s). Inhibinlike peptide (HSPI) of prostatic origin isolated from human seminal plasma and having a molecular weight of about 10,400 daltons was studied for its effect on ascorbate-induced lipid peroxidation in human spermatozoa. Dose-related suppression of lipid peroxidation occurred at a dose level of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 micrograms. HSPI may be one of the factors involved in the regulation of lipid peroxidation and therefore sperm motility.

Dimethyl sulfoxide elicited increase in cytochrome oxidase activity in rat liver mitochondria in vivo and in vitro.

A single intraperitoneal injection of dimethyl sulfoxide (275 mg/100 g body wt.) to rats stimulated cytochrome oxidase activity in liver mitochondria 2-5-fold. The enzyme activity remained at this level for as long as 5 days post-injection. There was however only 10.5% increase in the content of cytochromes a and a3 (as determined spectrophotometrically) in the same period in response to DMSO injection. The addition of either DMSO or dimethyl sulfate (a metabolite of DMSO) to isolated liver mitochondria also caused 2-3-fold increase in cytochrome oxidase activity. The results indicate that enhancement in cytochrome oxidase activity in liver mitochondria after administration of DMSO to rats is on account of activation of cytochrome oxidase caused by structural alterations in mitochondrial membranes rather than de novo synthesis of cytochrome oxidase.

Involvement of calcium and dipicolinic acid in the resistance of Bacillus cereus BIS-59 spores to u.v. and gamma radiations.

The role of dipicolinic acid (DPA) in determining the resistance of Bacillus cereus spores to u.v. and gamma radiation was investigated. B. cereus BIS-59 spores containing varying amounts of DPA were prepared by appropriate compositional adjustments in the secondary media. Compared with spores containing 6 per cent DPA (dry weight) those containing 0.8 per cent DPA were far more sensitive to u.v. radiation. Similar u.v. radiation sensitivity was also found in respect of a DPA-less mutant of B. cereus T 6A 1. Pre-treatment of DPA deficient spores (of wild type or mutant B. cereus) with DPA or the presence of DPA during irradiation resulted in increased resistance of these spores to u.v. radiation. In the range 0.2 to 1 per cent DPA content of spores of B. cereus BIS-59, a striking inverse relationship could be discerned between the DPA content and the number of spore photo-products (5-thymidyl, 5,6-dihydrothymine) formed in DNA and spore viability. The resistance of B. cereus spores to gamma radiation did not seem to be influenced by their DPA content.

Mechanism of Ca2+ and dipicolinic acid requirement for L-alanine induced germination of Bacillus cereus BIS-59 spores.

Spores prepared from different sporulating media containing varying amounts of Ca and dipicolinic acid (DPA), exhibited differential responses to germination in L-alanine (0.25 M). Ca-spores with moderately high Ca and DPA contents could be triggered to germination by L-alanine, whereas P-spores with low contents of Ca and DPA could not be germinated by L-alanine unless Ca2+ or DPA was exogenously added. The initiation of L-alanine induced germination by P-spores in the presence of 45CaCl2 was associated with a marked uptake of 45Ca2+. Experiments involving stepwise extraction of 45Ca from prelabelled spores indicated that a part of the spore calcium may be involved in L-alanine induced germination. Both Ca2+ and DPA seemed to have a stimulatory effect on the incorporation of 14C-L-alanine.

Identification of a heat-labile cellular nuclease in Staphylococcus aureus with properties similar to the extracellular nuclease (EC 3.1.4.7).

Besides the well-known heat-stable extracellular staphylococcal nuclease (EC 3.1.4.7) and cell surface bound nuclease, one more nuclease, which is heat-labile, has been identified and purified on phosphorylated cellulose column and characterized. Analyses by Sephadex G-75 gel chromatography indicates that the heat-labile cellular nuclease has molecular weight of about 16,000 similar to those of extracellular and cell-surface bound nucleases. Like the heat-stable nucleases, the heat-labile enzyme acts on both DNA and RNA, is more active on heat-denatured DNA, requires Ca2+ ions for activity and maximum catalytic activity is observed at pH 9.8-10 and at 45 degrees C. The results suggest that the three enzymes have properties strikingly similar to one another and therefore may be related structurally.