scholarly journals Inhibition of protein synthesis in vitro by proteins from the seeds of Momordica charantia (bitter pear melon)

1980 ◽  
Vol 186 (2) ◽  
pp. 443-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Barbieri ◽  
M Zamboni ◽  
E Lorenzoni ◽  
L Montanaro ◽  
S Sperti ◽  
...  

1. A haemagglutinating lectin was purified from the seeds of Momordica charantia by affinity chromatography on Sepharose 4B and on acid-treated Sepharose 6B. It has mol.wt. 115 000 and consists of four subunits, of mol.wts. 30 500, 29 000, 28 500 and 27 000. 2. The lectin inhibits protein synthesis by a rabbit reticulocyte lysate with an ID50 (concentration giving 50% inhibition) of approx. 5 micrograms/ml. Protein synthesis by Yoshida ascites cells is partially inhibited by the lectin at a concentration of 100 micrograms/ml. 3. From the same seeds another protein was purified which has mol.wt. 23 000 and is a very potent inhibitor of protein synthesis in the lysate system, with an ID50 of 1.8 ng/ml. This inhibitor has no effect on protein synthesis by Yoshida cells, and has no haemagglutinating properties. 4. Artemia salina ribosomes preincubated with the lectin or with the inhibitor lose their capacity to perform protein synthesis. The proteins seem to act catalytically, since they inactivate a molar excess of ribosomes. 5. The lectin and the inhibitor are somewhat toxic to mice, the LD50 being 316 and 340 micrograms/100 g body wt. respectively.

1979 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 633-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Barbieri ◽  
E Lorenzoni ◽  
F Stirpe

Protein synthesis by a rabbit reticulocyte lysate is inhibited by the haemagglutinating lectins from Momordica charantia and Crotalaria juncea seeds and from the roe of Rutilus rutilus, and by a commercial preparation of the mitogenic lectin from Phytolacca americana. The haemagglutinins from the seeds of Ricinus communis and of Vicia cracca acquired inhibitory activity after their reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol.


1980 ◽  
Vol 185 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Barbieri ◽  
M Zamboni ◽  
L Montanaro ◽  
S Sperti ◽  
F Stirpe

1. The subunits were isolated of modeccin (subsequently referred to as modeccin 4B), the toxin purified from the roots of Adenia digitata by affinity chromatography on Sepharose 4B [Gasperi-Campani, Barbieri, Lorenzoni, Montanaro, Sperti, Bonetti & Stirpe (1978) Biochem J. 174, 491-496]. They are an A subunit (mol.wt. 26 000), which inhibits protein synthesis, and a B subunit (mol.wt. 31 000), which binds to cells. Both sununits, as well as intact modeccin, gave single bands on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, but showed some heterogeneity on isoelectric focusing and on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis at pH 9.5. 2. A second form of modeccin, not retained by Sepharose 4B, was purified by affinity chromatography on acid-treated Sepharose 6B: this form is subsequently termed modeccin 6B 3. Modeccin 6B has a molecular weight indistinguishable from that of modeccin 4B, and consists of two subunits of mol.wts. 27 000 and 31 000, joined by a disulphide bond. The subunits were not isolated because of their high insolubility in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. 4. As compared with modeccin 4B, modeccin 6B is slightly less toxic to animals, does not agglutinate erythrocytes, and is a more potent inhibitor of protein synthesis in a lysate of rabbit reticulocytes, giving 50% inhibition at the concentration of 0.31 microgram/ml.


1978 ◽  
Vol 174 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gasperi-Campani ◽  
L Barbieri ◽  
E Lorenzoni ◽  
L Montanaro ◽  
S Sperti ◽  
...  

1. Modeccin, the toxin of Adenia digitata (Modecca digitata), was purified from the roots of this plant by affinity chromatography on Sepharose 4B. 2. This toxin is a protein with mol.wt. 57000, which on treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol can be dissociated into two subunits of mol.wts. 25000 and 32000. 3. Modeccin inhibits protein synthesis in vitro in a lysate of rabbit reticulocytes and in Ehrlich ascites cells; the effect on cells is decreased in the presence of lactose. 4. Dissociation of modeccin into subunits decreases the toxicity to animals and the inhibition of protein synthesis in cells, but enhances the inhibition of protein synthesis in the lysate system.


1974 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Woodland ◽  
Sarah E. Ayers

Micro-injection into the oocytes and eggs of Xenopus laevis was used to ascertain the effects of synthetic polyribonucleotides on protein synthesis in living cells. Poly(U) and poly(A) were not translated detectably, nor did they change the rate of endogenous protein synthesis. The same was true of poly(G,U), poly(A,G,U), poly(A,C,G,U), G-U-G-(U)n, A-(U)n and AUG. In contrast, A-U-G-(U)n was a potent inhibitor of protein synthesis in the cell. This might be because it is initiated normally but lacks a termination codon, or because it inhibits the translation of other molecules in some way not dependent on its normal initiation. Poly(G,U), poly(A,G,U) and poly(A,C,G,U) inhibited haemoglobin synthesis when they were injected into the oocyte with haemoglobin mRNA. The synthetic polyribonucleotides did not inhibit the translation of the natural mRNA when the two sorts of molecules were injected at different times. It is suggested that the synthetic RNA molecules compete with the natural mRNA for a pre-initiation factor in limited supply.


1974 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 954-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phyllis Bodel

The characteristics of pyrogen production and release by human blood monocytes were investigated. A dose-response assay of monocyte pyrogen in rabbits indicated a linear relationship of temperature elevation to dose of pyrogen at lower doses. Monocytes did not contain pyrogen when first obtained, nor did they release it spontaneously even after 5 days of incubation in vitro. Pyrogen production was apparent 4 h after stimulation by endotoxin or phagocytosis, and continued for 24 h or more. Puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, prevented both initiation and continuation of pyrogen production and release. Pyrogen-containing supernates retained most pyrogenic activity during overnight incubation even in the presence of activated cells. Lymphocytes appeared to play no role in either initiation or continuation of pyrogen production in these studies.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 993-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
V K Pathak ◽  
D Schindler ◽  
J W Hershey

The phosphorylation of the alpha-subunit of initiation factor eIF-2 leads to an inhibition of protein synthesis in mammalian cells. We have performed site-directed mutagenesis on a cDNA encoding the alpha-subunit of human eIF-2 and have replaced the candidate sites of phosphorylation, Ser-48 and Ser-51, with alanines. The cDNAs were expressed in vitro by SP6 polymerase transcription and rabbit reticulocyte lysate translation, and the radiolabeled protein products were analyzed by high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The wild-type and Ser-48 mutant proteins became extensively phosphorylated by eIF-2 kinases present in the reticulocyte lysate, and when additional heme-controlled repressor or double-stranded RNA-activated kinase was present, phosphorylation of the proteins was enhanced. The Ser-51 mutant showed little covalent modification by the endogenous enzymes and showed no increase in the acidic variant with additional eIF-2 kinases, thereby suggesting that Ser-51 is the site of phosphorylation leading to repression of protein synthesis.


Aldosterone, the major sodium retaining hormone in man, will stimulate active transport of sodium across the urinary bladder of the toad, Bufo marinus in vitro , at physiological concentrations of the hormone.The in vitro action of aldosterone is mimicked by steroid hormones with known mineralocorticoid properties and it is competitively inhibited by other analogues, e.g. spironolactone and cortisone. Aldosterone is bound to physiological receptor sites within the transporting epithelial cells, chiefly within the nuclei, and is displaced from these binding sites specifically by structural analogues including other mineralocorticoids. Effects of aldosterone are dependent upon availability of metabolizable substrates to support the active transport of sodium. Although the stimulation of sodium transport by aldosterone can be specifically inhibited by actinomycin D, an inhibitor of RNA synthesis, and by puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, direct evidence of stimulation of new RNA and protein synthesis during the latent period with physiological concentrations of aldosterone is still lacking. It is possible, however, that the amounts of RNA and protein that are involved are too small to be detected by available techniques. Evidence is summarized which leads us to conclude that the increased sodium transport induced by aldosterone is the consequence of a reduced resistance of the apical plasma membrane of the transporting epithelia to the entry of sodium into the transport pathway.


1980 ◽  
Vol 186 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gasperi-Campani ◽  
L Barbieri ◽  
P Morelli ◽  
F Stirpe

Of 33 seed extracts examined, 12 inhibited protein synthesis in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate. This activity seems to be due to a protein, since (i) it was recovered with the (NH4)2SO4 precipitate, (ii) it was retained by dialysis membranes, and (iii) in all cases but one was destroyed by boiling. Only the extracts from the seeds of Adenia digitata and, to a lower extent, of Euonymus europaeus inhibited protein synthesis in intact cells.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 519-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Guidry ◽  
S Hohn ◽  
M Hook

Bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC), grown in vitro, are shown to synthesize and secrete factor(s) that stimulate fibroblasts to contract collagen matrices. The amount of contraction-promoting activity in the conditioned media is dependent on conditioning time and the number of cells in the culture. Production of the contraction-promoting activity continues at a high stable level for at least 5 d in serum-free medium but is abolished when the cells are exposed to an inhibitor of protein synthesis. The mechanism of action of the contraction factor(s) derived from endothelial cells was compared with that of unidentified serum factors. The endothelial cell-secreted factor(s) depends on active protein synthesis by the target cell but does not need to be present during the contraction process. The serum factors on the other hand promote collagen contraction in the absence of de novo protein synthesis but need to be continuously present. Preliminary biochemical characterization of the contraction-promoting factors produced by endothelial cells revealed properties similar to those of previously identified growth factors. However, the BAEC-secreted factor was found to be distinct from a previously identified contraction-promoting transforming growth factor beta.


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