scholarly journals The isolation and partial characterization of the plasma membrane from Trypanosoma brucei

1979 ◽  
Vol 180 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
H P Voorheis ◽  
J S Gale ◽  
M J Owen ◽  
W Edwards

Whole sheets of plasma membrane, each with their attached flagellum, were purified from Trypanosoma brucei. The method devised for their isolation included a new technique of cell breakage that used a combination of osmotic stress followed by mechanical sheer and avoided the problem of extreme vesiculation as well as the trapping of organelles in cell ‘ghosts’. The purified membranes all contained the pellicular microtubular array. The antigenic surface coat was completely released from the plasma membrane during the isolation procedure. The membranes had a very high cholesterol/phospholipid ratio (1.54). A large proportion (42%) of the cellular DNA was recovered in the plasma-membrane fraction unless a step involving deoxyribonuclease treatment, which decreased the DNA content to less than 13%, was included before secrose-density gradient centrifugation. This step also aided the separation of plasma membranes from other cellular components. The ouabain-sensitive Na+ + K+-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase and adenylate cyclase co-purified with the plasma membranes. Although 5′-nucleotidase was thought to be a plasma-membrane component, it was easily detached from the membrane. The purified membranes were essentially free of L-alanine-alpha-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, L-asparte-alpha-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, malate dehydrogenase, oligomycin-sensitive adenosine triphosphatase, glucose 6-phosphatase, Mg2+-stimulated p-nitrophenyl phosphatase and catalase.

1996 ◽  
Vol 318 (3) ◽  
pp. 821-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel AVILÉS ◽  
Irene ABASCAL ◽  
José Angel MARTÍNEZ-MENÁRGUEZ ◽  
María Teresa CASTELLS ◽  
Sheri R. SKALABAN ◽  
...  

1. Immunocytochemical and biochemical techniques have been used to localize and characterize a novel plasma membrane-associated, neutral-pH-optimum α-l-fucosidase from rat spermatozoa. Light and electron microscopy specifically localized the fucosidase on the plasma membrane of the convex region of the principal segment of testicular and cauda epididymal sperm heads. Immunoreactivity for α-l-fucosidase was also detected in the Golgi apparatus of spermatocytes and spermatids but no immunoreactivity was observed in the acrosome. 2. Fractionation of epididymal sperm homogenates indicated that over 90% of the α-l-fucosidase activity was associated with the 48000 g pellet. This pellet-associated activity could be solubilized with 0.5 M NaCl but not with 0.5% Triton X-100, suggesting that fucosidase is peripherally associated with membranes. Sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation of sperm homogenates indicated that fucosidase was enriched in the plasma membrane-enriched fraction. Analysis of α-l-fucosidase on intact epididymal sperm indicated that the enzyme was active, displayed linear kinetics and had a pH–activity curve (with an optimum near 7) which was comparable to that of fucosidase from epididymal sperm extracts. These results further suggest that fucosidase is associated with plasma membranes, and that its active site is accessible to fucoconjugates. Evidence that most of the fucosidase is associated with the exterior of the plasma membrane came from studies in which intact sperm had fucosidase activity comparable to that of sperm sonicates, and from studies in which approx. 90% of the fucosidase activity on intact sperm could be released from the sperm by gentle shaking with 0.5 M NaCl. Isoelectric focusing indicated that the NaCl-solubilized epididymal sperm fucosidase appears to have one major and one minor isoform with pIs near 7.2 and 5.2, respectively. SDS/PAGE and Western blotting indicated that the NaCl-solubilized extract of epididymal sperm contains two protein bands of 54 and 50 kDa which were highly immunoreactive with the IgG fraction of anti-fucosidase antibodies. Although the function of the novel sperm fucosidase is not known, its specific localization to the plasma membrane of the region of the rat sperm head involved in sperm–egg binding and its high enzymic activity at neutral pH on intact sperm suggest that this enzyme may have a role in sperm–egg interactions.


1977 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 295-310
Author(s):  
D.W. Galbraith ◽  
D.H. Northcote

A procedure for the isolation of plasma membranes from protoplasts of suspension-cultured soybean is described. Protoplasts were prepared by enzymic digestion of the cell wall and the plasma membrane was labelled with radioactive diazotized sulphanilic acid. The membrane systems from broken protoplasts were separated by continuous isopycnic sucrose gradient centrifugation. Radioactivity was localized in a band possessing a buoyant density of 1–14 g ml-1. The activities of NADPH- and NADH-cytochrome c reductase, fumarase, Mg2+-ATPase, IDPase and acid phosphodiesterase in the various regions of the density gradient were determined. A plasma membrane fraction was selected which was relatively uncontaminated with membranes derived from endoplasmic reticulum, tonoplasts and mitochondria. The results indicated that Mg2+-ATPase and possibly acid phosphodiesterase were associated with the plasma membrane.


1968 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
M. J. BERRIDGE ◽  
B. L. GUPTA

Adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity in the rectal papillae of Calliphora has been studied by biochemical and histochemical techniques. The microsomal fraction contained a Mg2+-activated ATPase with a pH optimum of 8.0. The enzyme was not stimulated by the addition of Na+ plus K+ and was insensitive to ouabain. Histochemical studies using modifications of the Wachstein-Meisel method showed that at pH 7.2 this Mg2+-activated ATPase was specifically localized on the intracellular surface of the lateral plasma membranes. A similar though less intense reaction was obtained with adenosine diphosphate and inosine triphosphate, but not with guanosine triphosphate, uridine triphosphate or β-glycerophosphate as substrates. At an acid pH (6.6-6.8), very little reaction occurred on the lateral plasma membrane but some reaction product was present in mitochondria and nuclei. Very little enzyme activity was found in the flattened rectal epithelium. These results are discussed in relation to the available data on transport ATPases and on the structural basis of fluid transport by rectal papillae. It is proposed that the ATPase localized on the stacks of lateral plasma membrane may be involved with ion secretion into the intercellular spaces to create the osmotic gradient necessary to extract water from the lumen.


2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (6) ◽  
pp. L1382-L1390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Palestini ◽  
Chiara Calvi ◽  
Elena Conforti ◽  
Laura Botto ◽  
Carla Fenoglio ◽  
...  

We evaluated the changes in plasma membrane composition, biophysical properties, and morphology of pulmonary endothelial cells in anesthetized rabbits receiving 0.5 ml · kg−1 · min−1 saline infusion for 180 min, causing mild interstitial edema. Plasma membrane fractions were obtained from lung homogenates with gradient centrifugation, allowing a sixfold enrichment in caveolin-1. In edematous lungs, cholesterol content and phospholipidic phosphorus increased by 15 and 40%, respectively. These data correlated with morphometric analysis of lungs fixed in situ by vascular perfusion with 2.5% glutaraldehyde, suggesting a relative increase in surface of luminal to interstitial front of the capillary endothelial cells, due to a convoluted luminal profile. In edematous lungs, the fraction of double-bound fatty acids increased in membrane lipids; moreover, the phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine and the cholesterol/phospholipid ratios decreased. These changes were consistent with the increase in fluorescence anisotropy of plasma membrane, indicating an increase in its fluidity. Data suggest that mechanical stimuli elicited by a modest (∼4%) increase in extravascular water cause marked changes in plasma membranes that may be of relevance in signal transduction and endothelial cell activation.


1981 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
M C Pike ◽  
R Snyderman

Chemotactic factors have been shown to inhibit the methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine in macrophages without affecting total phospholipid synthesis. It would thus be anticipated that newly synthesized membranes of macrophages exposed to chemoattractants would have an increased ratio of phosphatidylethanolamine to its methylated derivatives. These ratios were measured directly in newly synthesized phospholipids of plasma membranes isolated from guinea pig peritoneal macrophages. The phosphatidylethanolamine: methylated phospholipid ratio in such plasma membranes was increased by 53 to 111% upon exposure of the cells to chemotactic factors. This increase was due to decreased synthesis of methylated phospholipids and not to altered formation of phosphatidylethanolamine or activation of phospholipases. Methylated phospholipid ratios were also studied in the leading front lamellipodia isolated from macrophages migrating under chemotactic and nonchemotactic conditions. The phosphatidylethanolamine:methylated phospholipid ratios were increased up to fourfold in lamellipodia of macrophages migrating towards chemotactic agents when compared to those from cells migrating randomly. Biophysical changes in the plasma membrane produced by an increase in the ratio of phosphatidylethanolamine:methylated phospholipids as a result of exposure of cells to chemoattractants may be required for sustained directed migration.


2006 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 664-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane T Mooney ◽  
Monica Jann ◽  
Bruce L Geller

The amino acid sequence of the phage infection protein (Pip) of Lactococcus lactis predicts a multiple-membrane-spanning region, suggesting that Pip may be anchored to the plasma membrane. However, a near-consensus sortase recognition site and a cell wall anchoring motif may also be present near the carboxy terminus. If functional, this recognition site could lead to covalent linkage of Pip to the cell wall. Pip was detected in both plasma membranes and envelopes (plasma membrane plus peptidoglycan) isolated from the wild-type Pip strain LM2301. Pip was firmly attached to membrane and envelope preparations and was solubilized only by treatment with detergent. Three mutant Pip proteins were separately made in which the multiple-membrane-spanning region was deleted (Pip-Δmmsr), the sortase recognition site was converted to the consensus (Pip-H841G), or the sortase recognition site was deleted (Pip-Δ6). All three mutant Pip proteins co-purified with membranes and could not be solubilized except with detergent. When membranes containing Pip-Δmmsr were sonicated and re-isolated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, Pip-Δmmsr remained associated with the membranes. Strains that expressed Pip-H841G or Pip-Δ6 formed plaques with near unit efficiency, whereas the strain that expressed Pip-Δmmsr did not form plaques of phage c2. Both membranes and cell-free culture supernatant from the strain expressing Pip-Δmmsr inactivated phage c2. These results suggest that Pip is an integral membrane protein that is not anchored to the cell wall and that the multiple-membrane-spanning region is required for productive phage infection but not phage inactivation.Key words: phage infection protein, Pip, Lactococcus lactis, subcellular location.


1978 ◽  
Vol 234 (3) ◽  
pp. F247-F254
Author(s):  
R. Iyengar ◽  
D. S. Mailman ◽  
G. Sachs

Two types of plasma membrane were purified from canine distal renal medulla by the techniques of differential and zonal density-gradient centrifugation followed by free-flow electrophoresis. One group of plasma membranes was identified as basal-laterally derived based on a 30-fold enrichment of Na-K-ATPase, a 20-fold enrichment of vasopressin-stimulated adenylate cyclase, and a 33-fold enrichment of [3H]vasopressin binding sites. The second type of plasma membrane was free of these markers, but had a cholesterol and phospholipid composition similar to them. Alkaline phosphatase also had a similar distribution in the two fractions. This lighter membrane fraction contained a membrane-bound cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase as well as substrate for this kinase. In addition there was a 26-fold enrichment of specific activity of an anion (SO32-)-activated ATPase which was insensitive to mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor protein, in contrast to the mitochondrial fraction of the tissue. Based on the relative preponderance of collecting duct tissue in the distal medulla and the yield of membrane protein, these membranes are tentatively identified as containing apical membranes of the collecting duct.


1984 ◽  
Vol 219 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
A A Davies ◽  
N M Wigglesworth ◽  
D Allan ◽  
R J Owens ◽  
M J Crumpton

Purified preparations of lymphocyte plasma membrane were extracted exhaustively with Nonidet P-40 in Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline medium. The insoluble fraction, as defined by sedimentation at 10(6) g-min, contained about 10% of the membrane protein as well as cholesterol and phospholipid. The lipid/protein ratio, cholesterol/phospholipid ratio and sphingomyelin content were increased in the residue. Density-gradient centrifugation suggested that the lipid and protein form a common entity. As judged by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, the Nonidet P-40-insoluble fractions of the plasma membranes of human B lymphoblastoid cells and pig mesenteric lymph-node lymphocytes possessed similar qualitative polypeptide compositions but differed quantitatively. Both residues comprised major polypeptides of Mr 28 000, 33 000, 45 000 and 68 000, together with a prominent band of Mr 120 000 in the human and of Mr 200 000 in the pig. The polypeptides of Mr 28 000, 33 000, 68 000 and 120 000 were probably located exclusively in the Nonidet P-40-insoluble residue, which also possessed a 4-fold increase in 5′-nucleotidase specific activity. The results indicate that a reproducible fraction of lymphocyte plasma membrane is insoluble in non-ionic detergents and that this fraction possesses a unique polypeptide composition. By analogy with similar studies with erythrocyte ghosts, it appears likely that the polypeptides are located on the plasma membrane's cytoplasmic face.


1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2589-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
R S Molday ◽  
L L Molday

The plasma membrane and disk membranes of bovine retinal rod outer segments (ROS) have been purified by a novel density-gradient perturbation method for analysis of their protein compositions. Purified ROS were treated with neuraminidase to expose galactose residues on plasma membrane-specific glycoproteins and labeled with ricin-gold-dextran particles. After the ROS were lysed in hypotonic buffer, the plasma membrane was dissociated from the disks by either mild trypsin digestion or prolonged exposure to low ionic strength buffer. The dense ricin-gold-dextran-labeled plasma membrane was separated from disks by sucrose gradient centrifugation. Electron microscopy was used to follow this fractionation procedure. The dense red pellet primarily consisted of inverted plasma membrane vesicles containing gold particles; the membrane fraction of density 1.13 g/cc consisted of unlabeled intact disks and vesicles. Ricin-binding studies indicated that the plasma membrane from trypsin-treated ROS was purified between 10-15-fold. The protein composition of plasma membranes and disks was significantly different as analyzed by SDS gels and Western blots labeled with lectins and monoclonal antibodies. ROS plasma membrane exhibited three major proteins of 36 (rhodopsin), 38, and 52 kD, three ricin-binding glycoproteins of 230, 160, and 110 kD, and numerous minor proteins in the range of 14-270 kD. In disk membranes rhodopsin appeared as the only major protein. A 220-kD concanavalin A-binding glycoprotein and peripherin, a rim-specific protein, were also present along with minor proteins of 43 and 57-63 kD. Radioimmune assays indicated that the ROS plasma membrane contained about half as much rhodopsin as disk membranes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document