Extra-nuclear location of histones in activated human peripheral blood lymphocytes and cultured T-cells.

Dextrin-2-sulphate (D2S) is a sulphated polysaccharide which inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection of T-cells by binding to the cell surface. During our investigations of the nature of this interaction, a cell membrane fraction was prepared by ultracentrifugation from the T-cell line, HPB-ALL. Separation of membrane proteins by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analysis for binding proteins using ligand blotting showed that 3H-D2S bound, in a saturable and displaceable manner, to two regions corresponding to molecular weights of 14,000-18,000 and 28,000-32,000. The N-terminal sequences of two of the major protein components in the 14,000-18,000 region were consistent with those of histones H2B and H3. The presence of histone H2B in the cell membrane preparation was confirmed by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a specific antibody. Histone standards were used to determine the level of each histone in the cell membrane fraction. In addition, the binding of 3H-D2S to purified histone standards was quantified. These results show that all of the binding of 3H-D2S to proteins in the 14,000-18,000 region of the cell membrane preparation can be attributed to the histones present. In contrast to HPB-ALL cells, a cell membrane fraction from freshly isolated human peripheral blood lymphocytes contained very low levels of histones. However, after culture with phytohaemagglutinin for 3 days the cell membrane fraction contained greatly increased levels of histones. To exclude the possibility of contamination of the cell membrane preparation with histones derived from the nucleus, cell membranes were also prepared using an affinity-based method using polyethyleneimine-cellulose. Immunoblotting of adsorbed plasma membranes showed the presence of histone H2B. SDS-polyacrylamide gels stained for protein also indicated that the preparation contained histones H1, H2A, H3 and H4. In further experiments whole cells were used to avoid contamination from nuclear proteins. Lactoperoxidase mediated 125I labelling, a method specific for radiolabelling cell surface proteins, confirmed the presence of histones H2B, H3 and H4 on the surface of HPB-ALL cells. Also, incubation of HPB-ALL cells or phytohaemagglutinin-activated peripheral blood lymphocytes with D2S caused displacement of histones from the cell surface into the supernatant without altering cell viability. In addition, immunocytochemistry of freshly isolated peripheral blood lymphocytes showed that histone H2B was located predominantly in the nucleus. However, in phytohaemagglutinin-activated peripheral blood lymphocytes immunoreactive material was also prominent in the endoplasmic reticulum and on the plasma membrane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

SAA, an apoprotein of HDL: its structure and function.

The putative precursor of amyloid protein AA appears in serum as an apoprotein (apoSAA) of heavier HDL fractions of lipoproteins found in humans and mice. ApoSAA is found by precipitation with specific anti-AA antibodies to be on a particle that also carries apoA-I and some C-apoproteins. In endotoxin-treated mice a lipoprotein fraction with about 2 moles of apoSAA to 1 mole of apoA-I can be isolated, an apoSAA-carrying subset of HDL being thus suggested. In mice, rapid clearance from plasma of native apoSAA compared to apoA-I suggests a special function for apoSAA. The C-terminal amino acid portion of apoSAA may play a role in this function.

Plasma proteins as early biomarkers of exposure to carcinogenic aromatic amines.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DG) has been used to study the changes induced in dog plasma polypeptides by the known urinary bladder carcinogens, 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP) and 2-naphthylamine (2-NA). Treatment with 3-aminobiphenyl (3-ABP) and 1-naphthylamine (1-NA), both considered to be non-carcinogenic, were used as controls. The purpose of this study was: (1) to determine whether or not changes that occurred in the plasma protein patterns were specific to 4-ABP and/or other related carcinogenic arylamines; (2) to measure the time course in the changes of the major polypeptides during dosing and their resynthesis during a recovery period; and (3) to determine, by microsequencing, the biochemical identity of the affected proteins. The results indicate that only the most potent carcinogen, 4-ABP, had the effect of suppressing the expression of some proteins, while the other aromatic amines caused no discernible change in the 2DG patterns during a 12-week dosing period. The 4-ABP caused dramatic suppression of two sets of proteins. One set of three spots had an apparent molecular weight of 32.5 kDa, and a pI of 5.8-6.0. The major component in this group was identified as the beta-chain of haptoglobin. Expression of this protein decreased markedly during the first 2 weeks of treatment and recovered slowly after dosing stopped. Since haptoglobin functions to bind with free hemoglobin and facilitates its elimination from the blood stream, these results can be rationalized as a consequence of 4-ABP binding to hemoglobin in the erythrocyte, resulting in cell death and hemolysis. The 4-ABP modified hemoglobin then binds to haptoglobin and this tertiary complex is purged from the blood stream, resulting in the disappearance of free haptoglobin. A second set of spots (mol. wt., 65 kDa; pI, 6.5-6.6) disappeared much faster than the haptoglobin, and recovered more quickly. The major protein is about one-fifth the intensity of haptoglobin and appeared to be N-terminally blocked. Internal microsequencing of four fragments obtained from tryptic cleavage of the major spot of this group showed significant similarity to the serum albumin sequence of several species. This spot group is not the major serum albumin spot, however, since the latter is readily identified as the most abundant spot on the plasma map. During the course of this study, several other polypeptides in the 2DG map of dog plasma were identified and are presented here.

The effect of thiodiglycol and dithiothreitol on the alkaline hydrolysis products of certain amino acid phenylthiohydantoins.

The thiazolinone and phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of most amino acids can be hydrolyzed with alkaline dithionite to generate the free amino acid. The acidification of this hydrolysate with 3 N HCl containing thiodiglycol leads in the case of glutamic acid, glutamine, aspartic acid, asparagine, and S-carboxy-methylcysteine to the generation of ninhydrin-reacting components having the chromatographic properties of other amino acids. The use of dithiothreitol instead of thiodiglycol appears to be more satisfactory in most instances.

The presence of fatty acids in human alpha-fetoprotein.

alpha-Fetoprotein has been prepared from human fetal tissue by procedures utilizing DEAE-Sephadex, concanavalin A-Sepharose, and isoelectric focusing. A major and a minor component with isoelectric points of 4.7 and 5.3, respectively, have been isolated and are similar to those prepared under various conditions by other investigators. The 4.7 material contains 2.4 mol of fatty acids/mol of protein, whereas the minor component is fat-free. The relative amounts of fatty acid vary somewhat with different preparations. The ranges found in three isolates were as follows: palmitic acid (8 to 11%), stearic acid (2 to 5%), oleic acid (10 to 28%), linoleic acid (7 to 15%), arachidonic acid (12 to 39%), and 4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (16 to 42%). Human fetal serum albumin contained 0.7 mol of fatty acid/mol of protein, with arachidonic acid and the docosahexaenoic acid comprising only 11.4% of the total. Removal of fatty acids by treatment with charcoal converted alpha-fetoprotein into material with an isoelectric point of pH 5.3. Addition of arachidonic acid to the lipid-free protein restored it to protein with a pH 4.7 isoelectric point, typical of the major native component. The possible role of the fatty acids in alpha-fetoprotein on the inhibition of various lymphocyte functions is projected.

Noninterfering synthetic peptides as internal controls for amino acid sequencing of sample unknowns.

Noninterfering synthetic peptides have been designed that may be used as internal sequencing standards (ISS-1 and ISS-2) by placing them in an amino acid sequencer with the sample. The peptides are composed of four unnatural amino acids which all yield phenylthiohydantoin derivatives having unique retention times compared with those obtained from the commonly observed natural residues. These internal standards indicate how the entire sequencing system was functioning during the actual analysis of an unknown by providing an initial yield and numerous repetitive yields. Verifying proper operation is extremely important when cycles appear blank due to the presence of modified amino acids or a blocked N-terminus. In addition, the ISS peptides can detect and identify different types of sequencing errors. This sometimes eliminates the need to rerun a sample due to blank cycles caused by mechanical malfunctions which result in failure to cleave the N-terminal residues. ISS-1 or ISS-2 may also be utilized during method development to compare different sample supports and to normalize sequencing data from proteins or peptides that have been treated differently.

Keratin 14 protein in cultured nonparenchymal rat hepatic epithelial cells: characterization of keratin 14 and keratin 19 as antigens for the commonly used mouse monoclonal antibody OV-6.

We have recently reported that cell lines of nonparenchymal origin isolated from rat liver and pancreas, which have been suggested to be the progeny of a facultative stem cell compartment in vivo, express an unusual combination of keratins (K). These cell lines express K8 and K14 but not K18 and K5, their normal partners in filament formation (Bisgaard HC, Thorgeirsson SS, J Cell Physiol 147:333-343, 1991). However, upon spontaneous transformation and differentiation toward a hepatoblastlike progeny, K14 expression is abrogated and replaced by expression of K18 (Wirth et al., Electrophoresis 13:305-332, 1992). In the study presented here, we confirmed by protein sequence analysis that K14 was a major component of the intermediate filaments in a nonparenchymal cell line of hepatic origin. Immunocytochemical analysis of the cells in monolayer demonstrated that K8 as well as K14 were incorporated in the cellular cytoskeleton. Further analysis by immunoprecipitation showed that filament complexes were formed between K8 and K14 as atypical partners. Thus, we concluded that in some nonparenchymal cell lines isolated from rat liver, K8 and K14 form a major intermediate filament network. Finally, we showed that an antibody widely used in studies of the cell lineages of hepatic and pancreatic tissues and their neoplasms, the mouse monoclonal antibody OV-6, recognizes a common epitope in K14 and K19.

Amino acid sequence of rat mast cell protease I (chymase).

The amino acid sequence has been determined for rat mast cell protease I (RMCP I), a product of peritoneal mast cells. The active enzyme contains 227 residues, including three corresponding to the catalytic triad characteristic of serine protease (His-57, Asp-102, and Ser-195 in chymotrypsin). A computer search for homology indicates 73% and 33% sequence identity of RMCP I with rat mast cell protease II from mucosal mast cells and bovine chymotrypsin A, respectively. When the structure of RMCP I is compared to those of cathepsin G from human neutrophils and two proteases expressed in activated lymphocytes, 48-49% of the sequences are identical in each case. RMCP I has six half-cystine residues at the same positions as in RMCP II, cathepsin G, and the two lymphocyte proteases, suggesting disulfide pairs identical with those reported for RMCP II. A disulfide bond near the active site seryl residue and substrate binding site, present in pancreatic and plasma serine proteases, is not found in RMCP I or in the other cellular proteases. These results indicate that RMCP I and other chymotrypsin-like proteases of granulocyte and lymphocyte origin are more closely related to each other than to the pancreatic or plasma serine proteases.

Complete amino acid sequence of porcine heart citrate synthase.

The detailed proof of the 437-residue amino acid sequence (Mr 48,969) of porcine heart citrate synthase (EC 4.13.7) is described. The S-carboxymethylated protein has been cleaved at methionine (cyanogen bromide) and arginine (trypsin digest of citraconylated enzyme) residues to yield 14 and 17 major peptides, respectively. Peptides were initially fractionated by gel filtration, and those useful for sequence analysis were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Sequence analyses were performed on these primary peptides and on subpeptides generated by cleavage with the bromine adduct of 2-[(2-nitrophenyl)sulfenyl]-3-methylindole, Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease, trypsin, chymotrypsin, or acid. The overall sequence was confirmed by analyzing products of cleavage by hydroxylamine, acid, and subtilisin. A novel feature of the sequence is the identification of trimethyllysine at residue 368.

n-Tetradecanoyl is the NH2-terminal blocking group of the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase from bovine cardiac muscle.

The unusual NH2-terminal blocking group of the catalytic subunit of bovine cardiac muscle cyclic AMP-dependent protein was found to be amide-linked n-tetradecanoic acid by gas chromatographic-, direct chemical ionization-, and fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry. In addition, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry revealed the presence of an additional alanine which had been overlooked when the original sequence was determined. The corrected and completed NH2-terminal sequence of the 350-amino acid catalytic subunit is CH3(CH2)12CONH-Gly-Asn-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Lys.

Advances in protein sequencing.

Although this review cannot possibly cover the myriad of new ideas reported in the analyses of 1100 proteins, it does attempt to highlight procedures and strategies of interest, admittedly with a bias toward examples most familiar to us. It is clear that the scope, efficiency, and sensitivity of the analyses have increased and will continue to do so. Literally any protein sequence can now be solved. The diversity of tactics and strategies adds to the thrill of the chase. If the next few years continue to show the growing interplay between sequence chemists, X-ray crystallographers, and nucleic acid sequencing groups, we may truly begin to understand the meaning underlying the 20-letter hieroglyphics of protein chemistry.

The rat liver epithelial (RLE) cell nuclear protein database.

The master two-dimensional computer database of rat liver epithelial (RLE) cellular proteins (Wirth et al., Electrophoresis 1991, 12, 931-954) has been expanded to include detailed information concerning 1100 nucleoplasmic (cytosolic) and 850 particulate associated [35S]methionine labeled as well as 215 nucleoplasmic and 269 particulate associated [32P]orthophosphate labeled RLE nuclear polypeptides, respectively. The RLE nuclear protein database developed using the Elsie 5 gel analysis system contains both qualitative and quantitative annotations including polypeptide identification number, protein name (if known), molecular weight and pI information, quantitation and polypeptide spot shape, subcellular location, as well as specific information regarding transformation (chemical and spontaneous) and growth-related characteristics. Microsequencing of polypeptides directly from two-dimensional (2-D) blotted membranes has recently been established in our laboratory and provides a highly efficient and rapid means of polypeptide identification in the absence of specific antibodies. At present the RLE protein database is still in the developmental stage and is continually being updated as additional information is obtained. Nonetheless, it is anticipated that knowledge obtained concerning the identification and characterization of specific transformation and/or growth regulatory proteins in the RLE in vitro cell system will not only have direct application to other rodent and human 2-D protein databases currently under development but will also complement them.

Primary structure of porcine heart citrate synthase.

The sequence of 437 amino acid residues of porcine heart citrate synthase [citrate oxaloacetate-lyase (pro-3S-CH2COO leads to acetyl-CoA), EC 4. 1. 3. 7] has been determined by the alignment of fragments generated by cleavage with cyanogen bromide and with trypsin. Isolation of the peptides was facilitated by recent developments in the high-performance liquid chromatography of peptide mixtures. The alignment of these peptides was consistent with that previously deduced from fragments derived by restricted cleavage of citrate synthase by limited proteolysis and cleavage of aspartyl-prolyl bonds and asparaginyl-glycyl bonds. The enzyme contains a modified amino acid, trimethyllysine, at residue 368, showing that the enzyme is subjected to post-translational modification.

Molecular characterization and sequencing of antifreeze proteins from larvae of the beetle Dendroides canadensis.

The deduced amino acid sequences of antifreeze proteins (AFPs) from larvae of the beetle Dendroides canadensis were determined from both complementary DNAs (cDNAs) and from peptide sequencing. These consisted of proteins with a 25-residue signal peptide and mature proteins 83 (Dendroides antifreeze protein; DAFP-1) or 84 (DAFP-2) amino acids in length which differed at only two positions. Peptide sequencing yielded sequences which overlapped exactly with those of the deduced cDNA sequences of DAFP-1 and DAFP-2, while the partial sequence of another AFP (DAFP-3) matched 21 of 28 residues. Seven 12- or 13-mer repeating units are present in these antifreeze proteins with a consensus sequence consisting of: Cys-Thr-X3-Ser-X5-X6-Cys-X8-X9-Ala-X11-Thr-X1 3, where X3 and X11 tend toward charged residues, X5 tends toward threonine or serine, X6 toward asparagine or aspartate, X9 toward asparagine or lysine, and X13 toward alanine in the 13-mers. The most interesting feature of these proteins is that throughout the length of the mature antifreeze proteins every sixth residue is a cysteine. These sequences are not similar to any of the known fish AFPs, but they are similar to AFPs from the beetle Tenebrio molitor.

Direct N-terminal sequence analysis of rat liver plasma membrane glycoproteins separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Nine previously uncharacterized membrane glycoproteins from normal rat liver have been analyzed by amino acid sequencing from two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) after transblotting to Immobilon-P membranes. Three of these components show altered levels of expression in liver tumors. A single electroblotted polyacrylamide gel yielded sufficient quantities of these glycoproteins for amino acid sequencing and the N-terminal structure could be determined for four of them. The remaining five glycoproteins of interest were not sequenceable in this manner, presumably because they had blocked N-termini. Prior to electrophoresis, two enrichment methods were applied to the crude liver membrane preparations: affinity chromatography with concanavalin A to isolate the plasma membrane glycoproteins and then fast protein liquid chromatography on Superose 12 to obtain components having a specific range of molecular weights. These materials were next subjected to 2-D PAGE using pH 4-6 carrier ampholytes in the first dimension and 7.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate gels in the second. The proteins were then electroblotted to Immobilon-P membranes and located by staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250. Our results demonstrate that N-terminal sequencing (gas-phase) can be achieved on polypeptides obtained from approximately 250 micrograms of total glycoproteins applied to a single 2-D gel.

Complete amino acid sequence of the catalytic subunit of bovine cardiac muscle cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

The complete amino acid sequence of the 349-residue catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase from bovine cardiac muscle is presented. The sequence of the subunit (Mr 40,580 including phosphate groups at threonine-196 and serine-337) was derived largely by automated Edman degradation of nine fragments generated from the carboxymethylated protein by cleavage of methionyl bonds with cyanogen bromide. These fragments were aligned along the polypeptide chain by analysis of methionine-containing tryptic peptides isolated from protein radiolabeled in vitro by [14C]methyl exchange at methionyl residues. The molecule contains only two cysteinyl residues, at positions 198 and 342. It is relatively polar, containing clusters of cationic residues toward the amino terminus and anionic residues towards the carboxyl terminus. Predictions of secondary structure suggest the presence of three major domains with approximately half of the residues occurring in alpha-helices and 12% in beta-strands.