Inhibition of microtubule polymerization by the tubulin–colchicines complex; inhibition of spontaneous assembly

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 361-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. B. Keates ◽  
G. B. Mason

The inhibition of microtubule polymerization by colchicine requires the formation of tubulin–colchicine complexes, and inhibition of polymerization is proportional to the concentration of tubulin–colchicine complexes rather than to the total concentration of colchicine. Because the formation of such complexes is slow relative to polymerization, the kinetics of complex formation obscure the kinetics of inhibition of polymerization. We have taken defined quantities of preformed tubulin–colchicine complexes, relying on their slow dissociation, and added these to microtubule protein, which was allowed to polymerize by temperature shift to 37 °C. The degree of polymerization was then determined by measurement of turbidity at 400 nm. An appropriate kinetic analysis allowed us to distinguish effects of inhibitor on initiation and elongation phases of polymerization, without resorting to the use of initiation inhibitors. The results are consistent with a reversible association of tubulin–colchicine complex with microtubule ends blocking further elongation (Ki = 0.16 μM). Steady-state measurements suggest that copolymerization of tubulin–colchicine complex is a minor factor under the conditions used. By contrast, little inhibition of initiation was observed, possibly because tubulin–colchicine complex competes with the tubulin dimer, but not with the larger oligomers required for the initiation process.

1974 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 514-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Brown ◽  
G. Benjamin Bouck

The role of microtubules and microtubule nucleating sites in the unicell, Ochromonas has been examined through the use of two mitotic inhibitors, isopropyl N-phenylcarbamate (IPC) and isopropyl N-3-chlorophenyl carbamate (CIPC). Although IPC and CIPC have little or no effect on intact microtubules, the assembly of three separate sets of microtubules in Ochromonas has been found to be differentially affected by IPC and CIPC. The assembly of flagellar microtubules after mechanical deflagellation is partially inhibited; the reassembly of rhizoplast microtubules after pressure depolymerization is totally inhibited (however, macrotubules may form at the sites of microtubule initiation or elsewhere); and, the reassembly of the beak set of microtubules after pressure depolymerization may be unaffected although similar concentrations of IPC and CICP completely inhibit microtubule regeneration on the rhizoplast. These effects on microtubule assembly, either inhibitory or macrotubule inducing, are fully reversible. The kinetics of inhibition and reversal are found to be generally similar for both flagellar and cell shape regeneration. Incorporation data suggest that neither IPC nor CIPC has significant effects on protein synthesis in short term experiments. Conversely, inhibiting protein synthesis with cycloheximide has little effect on microtubule regeneration when IPC or CIPC is removed. Although the exact target for IPC and CIPC action remains uncertain, the available evidence suggests that the microtubule protein pool or the microtubule nucleating sites are specifically and reversibly affected. Comparative experiments using the mitotic inhibitor colchicine indicate some similarities and differences in its mode of action with respect to that of IPC and CIPC on assembly and disassembly of microtubules in these cells.


1966 ◽  
Vol 16 (01/02) ◽  
pp. 277-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Silver ◽  
M Murray

SummaryVarious investigators have separated the coagulation products formed when fibrinogen is clotted with thrombin and identified fibrinopeptides A and B. Two other peaks are observed in the chromatogram of the products of coagulation, but these have mostly been dismissed by other workers. They have been identified by us as amino acids, smaller peptides and amorphous material (37). We have re-chromatographed these peaks and identified several amino acids. In a closed system of fibrinogen and thrombin, the only reaction products should be fibrin and peptide A and peptide B. This reasoning has come about because thrombin has been reported to be specific for the glycyl-arginyl peptide bond. It is suggested that thrombin also breaks other peptide linkages and the Peptide A and Peptide B are attacked by thrombin to yield proteolytic products. Thrombin is therefore probably not specific for the glycyl-arginyl bond but will react on other linkages as well.If the aforementioned is correct then the fibrinopeptides A and B would cause an inhibition with the coagulation mechanism itself. We have shown that an inhibition does occur. We suggest that there is an autoinhibition to the clotting mechanism that might be a control mechanism in the human body.The experiment was designed for coagulation to occur under controlled conditions of temperature and time. Purified reactants were used. We assembled an apparatus to record visually the speed of the initial reaction, the rate of the reaction, and the density of the final clot formed after a specific time.The figures we derived made available to us data whereby we could calculate and plot the information to show the mechanism and suggest that such an inhibition does exist and also further suggest that it might be competitive.In order to prove true competitive inhibition it is necessary to fulfill the criteria of the Lineweaver-Burk plot. This has been done. We have also satisfied other criteria of Dixon (29) and Bergman (31) that suggest true competitive inhibition.


1949 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. F. O'Farrell ◽  
B. M. Jones ◽  
G. A. Brett

The persistent toxicity of films of pyrethrum in P31 oil may endure on suitable surfaces under warehouse conditions for much longer periods than hitherto supposed, but unexplained fluctuations in toxicity may occur.Within the range 0·8 per cent. to 1·3 per cent. total pyrethrins, the pyrethrum content appears to be only a minor factor in determining the persistent toxicity of such films.The nature of the surface sprayed is of great importance in determining the persistent toxicity of pyrethrum films in P31 oil, which is negligible on concrete and increases steadily through the following list of surfaces—brick, heavy hessian, light hessian, jute, cotton, and wood; the last-mentioned two being particularly good substrates.Residual deposits of DDT or “ Gammexane ” derived from kerosene sprays are of little use on concrete, but appear otherwise little affected by the nature of the surface treated; they give a uniform degree of persistent toxicity on the various surfaces listed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingtong Zong ◽  
Si-Min Xu ◽  
Wenying Shi ◽  
Chao Lu

AbstractThe living supramolecular polymerization technique provides an exciting research avenue. However, in comparison with the thermodynamic spontaneous nucleation, using simple monomers to realize living supramolecular polymerization is hardly possible from an energy principle. This is because the activation barrier of kinetically trapped simple monomer (nucleation step) is insufficiently high to control the kinetics of subsequent elongation. Here, with the benefit of the confinement from the layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanomaterial, various simple monomers, (such as benzene, naphthalene and pyrene derivatives) successfully form living supramolecular polymer (LSP) with length control and narrow dispersity. The degree of polymerization can reach ~6000. Kinetics studies reveal LDH overcomes a huge energy barrier to inhibit undesired spontaneous nucleation of monomers and disassembly of metastable states. The universality of this strategy will usher exploration into other multifunctional molecules and promote the development of functional LSP.


1952 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. Warner ◽  
J. Reid Shelton

Abstract Three olefins were oxidized in the liquid phase with molecular oxygen to determine the kinetics of the oxidation reactions and the relationship to oxidation of rubber. The instantaneous rate of oxidation was found to be related to the analytically determined olefin and peroxide concentrations by the equation : Rate=k (unreacted olefin)(peroxide), where rate equals moles of oxygen per mole of original olefin per hour and the parentheses represent molarities. Presence of a phenyl group was found to affect k, but only in a minor way, indicating that the same fundamental kinetic mechanism applies in both aromatic and aliphatic olefins. The data are consistent with the general kinetic mechanism of Bolland involving oxygen attack at the alpha-methylenic group. However, it appears probable that initial oxygen attack can also occur at the double bond, resulting in the formation of a peroxide biradical, which may then react with other olefin molecules, initiating the usual chain reaction mechanism.


1985 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
P M Bayley ◽  
F M M Butler ◽  
D C Clark ◽  
E J Manser ◽  
S R Martin

The kinetics of assembly were studied for bovine and pig microtubule protein in vitro over a range of conditions of pH, temperature, nucleotide and protein concentration. The kinetics are in general biphasic with two major processes of similar amplitude but separated in rate by one order of magnitude. Rates and amplitudes are complex functions of solution conditions. The rates of the fast phase and the slow phase attain limiting values as a function of increasing protein concentration, and are more stringently limited at pH 6.5 than pH 6.95. Such behaviour indicates that mechanisms other than the condensation polymerization of tubulin dimer become rate-limiting at higher protein concentration. The constancy of the wavelength-dependence of light-scattering and ultrastructural criteria indicate that microtubules of normal morphology are formed in both phases of the assembly process. Electrophoretic analysis of assembling microtubule protein shows that MAP- (microtubule-associated-protein-)rich microtubules are formed during the fast phase. The rate of dissociation of oligomeric species on dilution of microtubule protein closely parallels the fast-phase rate in magnitude and temperature-dependence. We propose that the rate of this process constitutes an upper limit to the rate of the fast phase of assembly. The kinetics of redistribution of MAPs from MAP-rich microtubules may be a factor limiting the slow-phase rate. A working model is derived for the self-assembly of microtubule protein incorporating the dissociation and redistribution mechanisms that impose upper limits to the rates of assembly attainable by bimolecular addition reactions. Key roles are assigned to MAP-containing fragments in both phases of microtubule elongation. Variations in kinetic behaviour with solution conditions are inferred to derive from the nature and properties of fragments formed from oligomeric species after the rapid temperature jump. The model accounts for the limiting rate behaviour and indicates experimental criteria to be applied in evaluating the relative contributions of alternative pathways.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 12121-12165 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. I. Jacobs ◽  
W. J. Burke ◽  
M. J. Elrod

Abstract. Isoprene, the most abundant non-methane volatile organic compound (VOC) emitted into the atmosphere, is known to undergo gas phase oxidation to form eight different hydroxynitrate isomers in "high NOx" environments. These hydroxynitrates are known to affect the global and regional formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA), as well as affect the distribution of nitrogen. In the present study, we have synthesized three of the eight possible hydroxynitrates: 4-hydroxy-3-nitroxy isoprene (4,3-HNI) and E/Z-1-hydroxy-4-nitroxy isoprene (1,4-HNI). Oxidation of the 4,3-HNI isomer by the OH radical was monitored using a flow tube chemical ionization mass spectrometer (FT-CIMS), and its OH rate constant was determined to be (3.64 ± 0.41) × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1. The products of 4,3-HNI oxidation were monitored, and a mechanism to explain the products was developed. An isoprene epoxide (IEPOX) – a species important in SOA chemistry and thought to originate only from "low NOx" isoprene oxidation – was found as a minor, but significant product. Additionally, hydrolysis kinetics of the three synthesized isomers were monitored with NMR. The bulk, neutral solution hydrolysis rate constants for 4,3-HNI and the 1,4-HNI isomers were (1.59±0.03 × 10−5 s−1 and (6.76 ± 0.09) × 10−3 s−1, respectively. The hydrolysis reactions of each isomer were found to be general acid-catalyzed. The reaction pathways, product yields and atmospheric implications for both the gas phase and aerosol-phase reactions are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Niello ◽  
Spyridon Sideromenos ◽  
Ralph Gradisch ◽  
Ronan O'Shea ◽  
Jakob Schwazer ◽  
...  

Abstract α-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone (αPVP) is a psychostimulant and drug of abuse associated with severe intoxications in humans. αPVP exerts long-lasting psychostimulant effects, when compared to the classical dopamine transporter (DAT) inhibitor cocaine. Here, we compared the two enantiomeric forms of αPVP, the R- and the S-αPVP, with cocaine using a combination of in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches. We found that αPVP enantiomers substantially differ from cocaine in their binding kinetics. The two enantiomers differ from each other in their association rates. However, they show similar slow dissociation rates leading to pseudo-irreversible binding kinetics at DAT. The pseudo-irreversible binding kinetics of αPVP is responsible for the observed non-competitive pharmacology and it correlates with persistent psychostimulant effects in mice. Thus, the slow binding kinetics of αPVP enantiomers profoundly differ from the fast kinetics of cocaine both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting drug-binding kinetics as a potential driver of psychostimulant effects in vivo.


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