Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields affect lipid-linked carbonic anhydrase.

In the last years, the effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) on the activity of different enzymes were investigated. Only the membrane-anchored enzymes did decrease their activity, up to 50%. In this work, the effect of ELF-EMF on bovine lung membrane carbonic anhydrase (CA) were studied. Carbonic anhydrases are a family of 14 zinc-containing isozymes catalyzing the reversible reaction: CO(2)+H(2)O = HCO(3)(- )+H(+). CA differ in catalytic activity and subcellular localization. CA IV, IX, XII, XIV, and XV are membrane bound. In particular, CA IV, which is expressed in the lung, is glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol-linked to the membrane, therefore it was a candidate to inhibition by ELF-EMF. Exposure to the membranes to a field of 75 Hz frequency and different amplitudes caused CA activity to a reproducible decrease in enzymatic activity by 17% with a threshold of about 0.74 mT. The decrease in enzymatic activity was independent of the time of permanence in the field and was completely reversible. When the source of enzyme was solubilized with Triton, the field lost its effect on CA enzymatic activity, suggesting a crucial role of the membrane, as well as of the particular linkage of the enzyme to it, in determining the conditions for CA inactivation. Results are discussed in terms of the possible physiologic effects of CA inhibition in target organs.

Structural modification of proteins by direct electric current from low voltage.

The interaction of direct electric current (dc) and proteins is a little explored topic. We had reported that exposure of Crotalus atrox venom to dc caused irreversible inactivation of phospholipase A(2) and metalloprotease and that the eukaryote adenylate kinases (AK) precipitate in nondenaturing gel electrophoresis. AK1 displays an elevated percent difference of CHarged versus POlar amino acid content (CH-PO 14). Commercial AK1 and other 17 enzymes with various CH-PO values were exposed in solution to dc (0-0.7 mA) from low voltage (0-10 V), then enzymatic activity was assayed. The enzymes with CH-PO higher than 10.0 were irreversibly inactivated by current exposure; those with CH-PO between +3 and -5 were not. Inactivation was dependent on the ionic strength of the medium and not on the net charge of the protein. Circular dichroic spectroscopy showed a structural modification in some of the inactivated enzymes. CH-PO could be a crucial, although rough, parameter for predicting protein inactivation by low-voltage exposure. The observed effect seems due to the current density. Enzymatic activity maybe a more accurate sensor of conformational changes than circular dichroism spectroscopy. A better understanding of efficacy of many electrical devices utilized in medical practice may follow.

Expression of adenylate kinase 1 in bovine retinal cytosol.

Adenylate kinases (AKs) are ubiquitous phosphotransferases that contribute to homeostasis of adenine nucleotide composition in cells. Six AK isoforms were found in vertebrates. We report that soluble AK isoform 1 is expressed in the cytosol of bovine retina consistently devoid of rod outer segments. Immunoblotting analysis with a polyclonal antibody raised against soluble adenylate kinase and subsequent sequencing of eluted peptide by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry allowed enzyme isolation by joining purification methods to two-dimensional electrophoresis. In this study, we found that cytosolic adenylate kinase isoform 1 is expressed in bovine retina. Cytoplasmic AK1 would physiologically contribute to retinal energy metabolism.

Intracellular ATP level increases in lymphocytes irradiated with infrared laser light of wavelength 904 nm.

OBJECTIVE: Red and near-infrared laser irradiation is reported to have a range of biological effects on cultured cells and different tissues, leading to the hypothesis that laser light can affect energy metabolism. Increased adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis has been reported in cultured cells and rat brain tissue after irradiation at 632.8 nm and 830 nm, respectively. This study investigated whether diode pulsed laser irradiation enhances ATP production in lymphocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aliquots (500 microL) of an extract of cultured lymphocytes of the Molt-4 cell line were irradiated with diode laser light (lambda = 904 nm, pulsed mode, 6 kHz frequency) with an average emission power of 10 mW for 60 min. A Spectra Physics M404 power meter was used to measure light intensity. Controls were treated similarly but not irradiated. The amount of ATP was measured by the luciferin-luciferase bioluminescent assay. RESULTS: The amount of ATP in irradiated cell cultures was 10.79 +/- 0.15 microg/L (SD; n = 10), and in non-irradiated cell cultures it was 8.81 +/- 0.13 microg/L (SD; n = 10). The average percentage increase of irradiated versus control cell cultures was about 22.4% +/- 0.56% SD (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This significant increase is probably due to laser irradiation; it cannot be attributed to any thermal effect, as the temperature during irradiation was maintained at 37.0 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees C. Thus the therapeutic effects of the biostimulating power of this type of laser are identified and its indications may be expanded.

Simultaneous detection of molecular weight and activity of adenylate kinases after electrophoretic separation.

Adenylate kinases (AKs) are ubiquitous monomeric phosphotransferases catalyzing the reversible reaction, AMP + MgATP = ADP + MgADP, which plays a pivotal role in the energetic metabolism. In vertebrates, six AK isoforms are known. In this work, we report the detection of many AK isoforms directly on gel or NC after separation by denaturing electrophoresis and electroblotting, by an optimized protocol for the enzyme detection. The method allows to clarify the apparent MW of most of those AK isozymes that follow the cited reaction, especially onto NC where bands are sharper due to the absence of protein diffusion. In contrast, GTP:AMP phosphotransferases are not detectable. AK activity from many sources can be detected in both its reaction courses; ATP production appears as dark-blue bands, while ADP formation appears as nonfluorescent bands over a fluorescent background, under long-wavelength UV light. We show that nondenaturing gel electrophoresis is not the first choice for AK activity detection. Our method is different from the preceding reports on AK activity detection in bacteria after native polyacrylamide gel separations, in the absence of SDS or methanol. The procedure is also quantitative, allowing to determine the amount of enzyme present in samples.

Studies on adenylate kinase isoform bound to disk membranes of the rod outer segment of bovine retina.

An adenylate kinase (AK) activity modulated by calcium ion concentration has been found associated to the disk membranes of the rod outer segment of bovine retina. A maximum activity of about 80 nmol ATP produced per min per mg protein was found at physiological calcium concentrations. Preliminary experiments suggest that the membrane binding is presumably promoted by fatty acylation of the protein. In fact, a protein with a molecular weight corresponding to the disk adenylate kinase was recognized by a polyclonal antiserum against the first 15 N-terminal amino acids of AK1beta, a membrane-associated isoform of adenylate kinase, which belongs to the N-terminus myristoylated protein family. The adenylate kinase activity was also measured directly on the protein band transferred to nitrocellulose by Western blot.