scholarly journals The actin content of fibroblasts

1975 ◽  
Vol 147 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Bray ◽  
C Thomas

Cultures of chick skin fibroblasts were dissolved in solutions of sodium dodecyl sulphate, and their entire protein content was examined by gel electrophoresis. The most abundant species migrated in the same position as muscle actin. It gave a similar pattern of iodinated peptides after reaction with radioactive sodium iodide and digestion with proteinases, and contained comparable amounts of Nt-methylhistidine. Its amount was estimated by quantitative densitometry of stained gels with bovine serum albumin as an internal standard, and by radioactive assay of cultures that had been grown in the presence of [35S]methionine. The values obtained ranged from 7 to 14% of the total cellular protein, with an average of 8.5%. A protein band in the position of muscle myosin was also present and accounted for about 2.5% of the total protein. Both this and the actin band increased in relative amount with the age of the cultures.

1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 1270-1278
Author(s):  
C Greer ◽  
R Schekman

Inhibition of DNase I activity has been used as an assay to purify actin from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast actin). The final fraction, obtained after a 300-fold purification, is approximately 97% pure as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Like rabbit skeletal muscle actin, yeast actin has a molecular weight of about 43,000, forms 7-nm-diameter filaments when polymerization is induced by KCl or Mg2+, and can be decorated with a proteolytic fragment of muscle myosin (heavy meromyosin). Although heavy meromyosin ATPase activity is stimulated by rabbit muscle and yeast actins to approximately the same Vmax (2 mmol of Pi per min per mumol of heavy meromyosin), half-maximal activation (Kapp) is obtained with 14 micro M muscle actin, but requires approximately 135 micro M yeast actin. This difference suggests a low affinity of yeast actin for muscle myosin. Yeast and muscle filamentous actin respond similarly to cytochalasin and phalloidin, although the drugs have no effect on S. cerevisiae cell growth.


1986 ◽  
Vol 250 (6) ◽  
pp. C861-C870 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Rovner ◽  
M. M. Thompson ◽  
R. A. Murphy

Two putative myosin heavy chains designated SM1 and SM2 were detected on a 3.5% polyacrylamide-sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis system loaded with homogenates of several mammalian smooth muscles. The two polypeptides were present in nearly equal amounts in all smooth muscle tissues tested and in myosin purified from swine carotid media and stomach. Both proteins were equally stained by smooth muscle-specific myosin antibodies. The smaller of the polypeptides had a mobility nearly identical to that of the single heavy chain observed in purified fast-twitch skeletal myosin. Electrophoresis of pyrophosphate extracts from swine carotid media, swine stomach, rabbit thoracic aorta, and guinea pig taenia coli on nondenaturing pyrophosphate gels revealed a single protein band. When subsequently electrophoresed on a sodium dodecyl sulfate gel, the native bands from swine tissue extracts revealed the two putative heavy chains in nearly equal amounts, as well as a large amount of a higher molecular weight peptide whose properties reflect those of filamen. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel analysis of the myosin band from pyrophosphate gels of purified swine stomach myosin showed exclusively the two heavy chains in a nearly 1:1 ratio. Smooth muscle myosin migrates homogeneously on pyrophosphate gels, and the virtual equality of the two heavy chains may reflect the presence of large amounts of a myosin isoenzyme, which is a heavy-chain heterodimer.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 1270-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Greer ◽  
R Schekman

Inhibition of DNase I activity has been used as an assay to purify actin from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast actin). The final fraction, obtained after a 300-fold purification, is approximately 97% pure as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Like rabbit skeletal muscle actin, yeast actin has a molecular weight of about 43,000, forms 7-nm-diameter filaments when polymerization is induced by KCl or Mg2+, and can be decorated with a proteolytic fragment of muscle myosin (heavy meromyosin). Although heavy meromyosin ATPase activity is stimulated by rabbit muscle and yeast actins to approximately the same Vmax (2 mmol of Pi per min per mumol of heavy meromyosin), half-maximal activation (Kapp) is obtained with 14 micro M muscle actin, but requires approximately 135 micro M yeast actin. This difference suggests a low affinity of yeast actin for muscle myosin. Yeast and muscle filamentous actin respond similarly to cytochalasin and phalloidin, although the drugs have no effect on S. cerevisiae cell growth.


2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 2247-2250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirinat Srionnual ◽  
Fujitoshi Yanagida ◽  
Li-Hsiu Lin ◽  
Kuang-Nan Hsiao ◽  
Yi-sheng Chen

ABSTRACT Weissella cibaria 110, isolated from the Thai fermented fish product plaa-som, was found to produce a bacteriocin active against some gram-positive bacteria. Bacteriocin activity was not eliminated by exposure to high temperatures or catalase but was destroyed by exposure to the proteolytic enzymes proteinase K and trypsin. The bacteriocin from W. cibaria 110 was purified, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the purified bacteriocin contained one protein band that was approximately 2.5 kDa in size. Mass spectrometry analysis showed the mass of the peptide to be approximately 3,487.8 Da. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis was performed, and 27 amino acids were identified. Because it has no similarity to other known bacteriocins, this bacteriocin was defined as a new bacteriocin and termed weissellicin 110.


1975 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
pp. 1416-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Fujita ◽  
S D Litwin ◽  
N Hartman

A method is described which employs differential centrifugation and sucrose density gradient centrifugation to isolate a membrane fraction from human lymphocytes. Membrane preparations from long-term human cultured B- and T-lymphoid lines, peripheral blood lymphocytes, tonsillar lymphocytes, and thymocytes were analyzed on 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate-7.5% polyacrylamide gels stained for protein and carbohydrate. The most important finding was a major glycoprotein of approximately 30,000 daltons associated with the membrane preparations from B lymphocytes. T-lymphocyte preparations did not contain readily detectable amounts of this membrane-associated component. The T-cell lymphoid line MOLT-4 was unique in that it had a narrow protein band at approximately 30,000 daltons which did not contain carbohydrate.


2002 ◽  
Vol 126 (10) ◽  
pp. 1179-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea K. Bruecks ◽  
Martin J. Trotter

Abstract Background.—The histopathologic features of dermatofibroma vary remarkably, and this diversity may occasionally cause problems in differentiating between benign and malignant mesenchymal lesions, including smooth muscle neoplasms. Immunohistochemical stains are sometimes necessary to clarify the histogenesis of a lesion. Objective.—To evaluate dermatofibromas for expression of desmin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC) antigens, which are commonly used as evidence of smooth muscle differentiation. Methods.—We studied 100 consecutive cases of dermatofibroma using hematoxylin-eosin–stained sections and immunoperoxidase staining with antibodies against desmin, SM-MHC, and smooth muscle actin. Results.—We found focal positivity for desmin in 9 cases, and in 2 of these cases, at least 10% of lesional cells showed strong expression. We found focal staining for SM-MHC in 10 cases, and in 2 of these cases, at least 10% of the lesional cells were positive. Regions positive for desmin and/or SM-MHC did not show definite histologic features of myogenous differentiation on hematoxylin-eosin–stained sections. All dermatofibromas expressing desmin and SM-MHC were also strongly positive for smooth muscle actin. Conclusions.—About 10% of dermatofibromas show focal expression of desmin and SM-MHC, and this expression may be present in up to 10% to 15% of lesional cells. Thus, in dermal spindle cell lesions, focal expression of these muscle antigens, like that of smooth muscle actin, is not diagnostic of a smooth muscle tumor.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Mariana Wahjudi ◽  
Catherina . ◽  
Nita Marcelia Wangunhardjo ◽  
Ernest Suryadjaja ◽  
Xavier Daniel

<p class="Els-Abstract-text">The <em>xyn</em>B gene of <em>Bacillus</em><em> subtilis</em> subsp. spizizenii W23 is predicted to encode a xylan 1,4-beta-xylosidase. Application of XynB enzymes in industries is wide. Production of this enzyme in its host cells is naturally restricted by repression process. It will give certain beneficial to over-expressed the enzymes in other host-cells under inducing promoter. This study aimed to clone the <em>xyn</em>B gene from <em>Bacillus</em><em> subtilis</em> subsp. spizizenii W23, to pMMB67EH plasmid, and to over-express the <em>xyn</em>B gene in <em>Escherichia coli </em>Origami as host cells. The <em>x</em><em>yn</em>B gene was successfully amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique using a pair of primers flanking the gene sequence and chromosomal DNA of the W23 strain as a template. The <em>xyn</em>B gene inserted in recombinant plasmid was confirmed by PCR detection using primers pair’s specific for <em>xyn</em>B gene and for the vector, then continued by restriction analyses.  The result showed that transformants clone 9 and 10 bear the recombinant pMMB-<em>xyn</em>B plasmid. The xylanase activity of <em>xyn</em>B gene in <em>Escherichia coli</em> Origami clone 10 was detected by sodium-dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel analyses and with addition of isopropyl-β-D-thio-galactoside (IPTG) as an inducer. The protein seem to be over-expressed as intra- and extra-cellular protein detected on SDS-PAGE gel. Result from xylan degrading activity on Luria-Bertani-xylan-IPTG plate with addition of Congo Red, showed that the cells with pMMB-<em>xyn</em>B recombinant plasmid have clear zone around the colonies while the transformant bearing an empty plasmid showed no clear zone. It could be concluded that the <em>xyn</em>B gene of <em>Bacillus subtilis</em> subsp.spizizenii W23 has been successfully been cloned on pMMB67EH plasmid and over-expressed in the <em>Escherichia coli</em> Origami cells as intra- and extra-cellular protein, as observed on SDS-PAGE gel analysis. The protein has activity on xylan degradation.</p>


2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 4834-4841 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Bowen ◽  
Jerald C. Ensign

ABSTRACT Cells of the entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens contain two types of morphologically distinct crystalline inclusion proteins. The larger rectangular inclusion (type 1) and a smaller bipyramid-shaped inclusion (type 2) were purified from cell lysates by differential centrifugation and isopycnic density gradient centrifugation. Both structures are composed of protein and are readily soluble at pH 11 and 4 in 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and in 8 M urea. Electrophoretic analysis reveals that each inclusion is composed of a single protein subunit with a molecular mass of 11,000 Da. The proteins differ in amino acid composition, protease digestion pattern, and immunological cross-reactivity. The protein inclusions are first visible in the cells at the time of late exponential growth. Western blot analyses showed that the proteins appeared in cells during mid- to late exponential growth. When at maximum size in stationary-phase cells, the proteins constitute 40% of the total cellular protein. The protein inclusions are not used during long-term starvation of the cells and were not toxic when injected into or fed toGalleria mellonella larvae.


1982 ◽  
Vol 204 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sammye L. Newman ◽  
Joyce L. Barwick ◽  
Nabil A. Elshourbagy ◽  
Philip S. Guzelian

We have defined conditions that permit quantitative and specific measurement of the metabolism of the major phenobarbital-inducible form of cytochrome P-450 protein in primary non-proliferating monolayer cultures of adult rat hepatocytes. Isolated antibodies specifically directed against phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 are used to immunoprecipitate the cytochrome from lysates of cultured hepatocytes pulse-labelled with [3H]leucine. Phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 protein is then isolated from the immunoprecipitate by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gradient slab gels. Specificity of the assay for phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 was established by competition experiments involving other forms of purified cytochrome P-450 as well as by testing antibodies directed against these other forms of the cytochrome. Using purified phenobarbital cytochrome P-450, radiolabelled in both its haem and apoprotein portions, as an internal standard, we demonstrated that, with this immunoassay, recovery of cytochrome P-450 from microsomal samples is nearly complete. Basal rates of synthesis of phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 representing as little as 0.02–0.05% of total cellular protein synthesis were reliably and reproducibly detected in hepatocyte culture maintained in serum-free medium for 72h. Moreover, inclusion of phenobarbital in the culture medium for 96h stimulated not only synthesis de novo of phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 protein, but also accumulation of spectrally and catalytically active cytochrome P-450. Advantages of this immunoassay are that metabolism (synthesis or degradation) of the haem or protein of this important form of the cytochrome can be measured conveniently in the small samples available from cultured cells without the necessity of preparing subcellular fractions.


1987 ◽  
Vol 253 (4) ◽  
pp. E395-E400 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Ganguly ◽  
Y. Taira ◽  
V. Elimban ◽  
M. Roy ◽  
N. S. Dhalla

The ATPase activity of myofibrils and myosin from hindlimb muscle was investigated in animals 4 wk after the induction of diabetes by an intravenous injection of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg). Ca2+-stimulated ATPase in myofibrils was increased in diabetic muscle at various times of incubation (1-7 min) as well as at different concentrations of free Ca2+ (10(-7)-10(-5) M Ca2+). Such an increase in Ca2+-stimulated ATPase was evident as early as 1 wk after streptozotocin injection, but Mg2+-ATPase activity remained unaltered. Treatment of diabetic animals with insulin Ca2+-ATPase and actin-activated ATPase activities of pure myosin were similarly increased in diabetic muscle. Myosin ATPase was also activated by K+- or NH4+-EDTA; these responses were more in diabetic muscle. However, sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis failed to reveal differences in the patterns of contractile proteins, and pyrophosphate gels did not show significant changes in myosin isozyme patterns between diabetics and controls. The results of this study demonstrate an activation of contractile protein ATPase of skeletal muscle in diabetes and seem to indicate that such an alteration may be responsible for enhanced contractile function of skeletal muscle in this disease.


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