Suitability of staining techniques for the detection and quantitation of nonhistone high mobility group proteins.

Three different staining techniques were compared for the detection of nonhistone high mobility group (HMG) proteins after acidic urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Silver staining after glutaraldehyde fixation provides the highest detection sensitivity. Because of the acid solubility of HMG proteins special care has to be taken concerning fixation. Staining with colloidal CBB G-250 according to Neuhoff et al. is superior in sensitivity and reliability of quantitation when compared with noncolloidal Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250. High detection sensitivity and reproducibility of quantitation are prerequisites for studying the tissue-specific expression of HMG proteins. In the present study tissue-specific differences in the molar amounts of various HMG proteins in thymus and erythrocytes of the chicken are documented by application of the methods tested.     

Insights into high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins from Poaceae family: An in silico approach for studying homologs

High mobility group (HMG) proteins are the major architectural proteins. Among HMG proteins, High Mobility Group A (HMGA) is characterized by AT-hook (ATH) motifs, which have an affinity for AT-rich DNA. In this study, we characterized the plant HMGAs from the Poaceae family using in silico methods. The protein sequences for rice HMGAs were retrieved and the corresponding orthologs from grasses were extracted. The phylogenetic analysis identified three major evolutionary clades of grass HMGAs and their ATH motif analysis revealed that HMGAs from clade 1 and 2, except for clade 2 HMGAs, are devoid of high-affinity DNA-binding domain. The clade 2 HMGAs also displayed a highly conserved length of all the spacers and the length of the C-terminal tail following the last ATH. Moreover, the C-terminal tail in clade 2 HMGAs is smaller than HMGAs from any other clade. Unlike clade 2, other clades of Poaceae HMGAs displayed high variability in the length of spacers. Despite several differences among HMGAs of different clades in Poaceae, the H1/H5 domain was found to be highly conserved. This study has revealed the detailed analyses of Poaceae HMGAs and it will be useful for further investigation aiming at the determination of precise biological functions and molecular mechanisms of grass HMGAs.     

Volumetric properties of the glycyl group of proteins in aqueous solution at high pressures

Sound speeds have been measured for aqueous solutions of alanine and the peptides alanylglycine (alagly), alanylglycylglycine (ala(gly)(2)), alanylglycylglycylglycine (ala(gly)(3)) and alanylglycylglycylglycylglycine (ala(gly)(4)) at T=298.15 K and at the pressures p=0.1, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 40.0, 60.0, 80.0 and 100.0 MPa. A method is described whereby reliable partial molar volumes at infinite dilution, Vo2, partial molar isentropic compressions at infinite dilution, Ko(S,2), and partial molar isothermal compressions at infinite dilution, Ko(T,2), for the solutes can be derived from the sound speed data. These results were used to obtain partial molar volumes, isentropic and isothermal compressions for the backbone glycyl group of proteins, CH(2)CONH, over the pressure range p=0.1 to 100.0 MPa. The variations of these properties with pressure are discussed in terms of the likely glycyl-group-water interactions.     

Factors controlling the mobility of photosynthetic proteins

Protein diffusion in and around the photosynthetic membrane must play a crucial role in photosynthetic functions including electron transport, regulation of light-harvesting, and biogenesis, turnover and repair of membrane components. Protein mobility is controlled by a complex web of specific interactions, plus the viscosity of the environment and the extent of macromolecular crowding. I discuss the techniques that can be used to measure protein mobility in photosynthetic membranes. I then summarize what we know about the constraints on protein mobility imposed by macromolecular aggregation and crowding in and around the thylakoid membranes of green plants and cyanobacteria, with particular reference to the fluidity of the thylakoid membrane and the aqueous phases on either side of the membrane (the stroma/cytoplasm and the thylakoid lumen). Current indications are that the stroma/cytoplasm is a relatively fluid environment, whereas protein mobility in the lumen may be extremely restricted. The thylakoid membrane itself has an intermediate fluidity: some protein complexes are virtually immobile, probably due to their incorporation into large, stable macromolecular aggregates. However, there is sufficient free space to allow the long-range diffusion of some complexes. Finally, I discuss some future directions for research in this area.     

Physicochemical properties of a new group of regulatory proteins isolated from various mammal tissues

Russian Chemical Bulletin - The found similarity of the set of physicochemical characteristics of regulatory proteins active in microdoses isolated from various mammal tissues allows them to be...     

Proteins synthesized in vitro in the cell nuclei of various rabbit organs

The differences in the composition of the proteins that have been detected show a tissue specificity of the products synthesized by the nuclei of these cells.     

Proteins synthesized in vitro in the cell nuclei of various rabbit organs

The differences in the composition of the proteins that have been detected show a tissue specificity of the products synthesized by the nuclei of these cells.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 565–568, July–August, 1987.     

The decay of the high mobility cation in cyclohexane

The decay of the high mobility cation of cyclohexane, produced by photoionization of anthracene in SF₆ saturated solutions of cyclohexane, is examined in detail. A Monte Carlo technique is used to simulate the observed d.c.-conductivity signal, on the basis that both high mobility and normal mobility ions are initial products of the photoionization. The proportion which best fits the experimental results is about 80% high mobility ions, and these ions decay with a rate constant of about 2.2×10⁶s^-1. This decay is predominantly due to either reaction with an impurity or some other transformation of high mobility ion which occurs in the pure solvent.The effects of various additives on the decay of the high mobility species have been determined and correlated with thermochemical properties of the species involved. The results give some support to the idea that the c-C₆H⁺₁₃ ion is the high mobility ion and argue against c-C₆H⁺₁₁ being responsible for the high mobility.     

Studies on the scandium distribution in organs of fattened chicken by neutron activation analysis

Tissues samples of chicken /blood, liver, spleen, fat, pancreas, kidney, lung, breast muscle, brain, femur, faeces, egg yolk, white of egg/, were analyzed for scandium concentration. ScCl₃ was applied intravenously /1 mg kg^–1 body weight/. High scandium concentrations were found in the liver /34. 35 ppm/, spleen /15.46 ppm/, and lung /15.52 ppm/ three days after application. This experiment shows that accumulation of scandium occurs in the yolk of egg but not in the white of the egg.     

Contributions of various serum proteins to the binding of prasterone sulfate in humans.

The binding of prasterone sulfate (PS) in human plasma was investigated. Binding percentages of PS to human plasma, human serum albumin (HSA), human alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and human gamma-globulin (GGL) were independent of the PS concentration between 0.1 and 8.0 micrograms/ml. The mean binding percentages were 99.1% for human plasma, 98.3% for HSA, 12.6% for AGP and 8.1% for GGL. Though PS is an acidic drug, binding of PS to AGP was observed. From the binding index, it was found that PS mainly bound to HSA in human plasma and that the contributions of AGP and GGL to PS in plasma were negligible.     

Determination of veterinary drug residues in chicken meat using corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry

A positive corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry (CD-IMS) has been evaluated for the determination of three residual veterinary drugs including furazolidone (FUR), chloramphenicol (CAP), and enrofloxacin (ENR) in poultry for the first time. Pretreatment included extraction of the drugs from samples and further treatment of the extracts by solid phase extraction (SPE) using C₁₈ sorbents. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were less than 20 μg kg⁻¹ for all compounds. The calibration plots for these compounds were linear to about three orders of magnitude. The validity of the method was demonstrated by the analysis of spiked and real samples.     

Rapid high voltage isoelectric focusing of proteins in rod gels.

A rapid procedure of isoelectric focusing (IEF) of proteins in polyacrylamide rod gels (i.d., 1.1 mm; length, 7.5 cm) is described. The time required for IEF can be reduced to 0.5 h by using high voltages up to 3000 V in the presence or absence of urea in the gels. When used as the first dimension of a two-dimensional technique for IEF sodium dodecyl sulphate electrophoresis, high voltage IEF gives smaller protein spots on the second dimension gel, associated with an increase in resolution. The method has been tested by a two-dimensional separation of an eye sample of the goodeid fish Xenotoca eiseni.     

Affinity of the elements in group VI of the periodic table to tumors and organs]

In order to investigate the tumor affinity radioisotopes, chromium (51Cr), molybdenum (99Mo), tungsten (181W), selenium (75Se) and tellurium (127mTe)--the elements of group VI in the periodic table--were examined, using the rats which were subcutaneously transplanted with Yoshida sarcoma. Seven preprarations, sodium chromate (Na251CrO4), chromium chloride (51CrCl3), normal ammonium molybdate ((NH4)299MoO7), sodium tungstate (Na2181WO4), sodium selenate (Na275SeO4), sodium selenite (Na275SeO3) and tellurous acid (H2127mTeO3) were injected intravenously to each group of tumor bearing rats. These rats were sacrificed at various periods after injection of each preparation: 3 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours in all preparations. The radioactivities of the tumor, blood, muscle, liver, kidney and spleen were measured by a well-type scintillation counter, and retention values (in every tissue including the tumor) were calculated in percent of administered dose per g-tissue weight. All of seven preparations did not have any affinity for malignant tumor. Na251CrO4 and H2127mTeO3 had some affinity for the kidneys, and Na275SeO3 had some affinity for the liver. Na2181WO4 and (NH4)299MoO4 disappeared very rapidly from the blood and soft tissue, and about seventy-five percent of radioactivity was excreted in urine within first 3 hours.     

Measurements of reduced mobility of standard compounds by high resolving power ion mobility spectrometer in remote laboratories

An atmosphere pressure ion mobility spectrometer is described. Both electrospray and corona discharge ion sources were used. Increased up to 100 resolving power allows obtaining higher selectivity and potentially widens application area. Satisfactory reproducibility of measured reduced mobility is required for improving reliability of identification including interlaboratory reproducibility of measured reduced mobility. Results of measurement were shown for the samples containing compounds proposed earlier as standards, those were measured in remote laboratories. Measured reduced mobility for 2,6-di(tert-butyl)pyridine amounted 1.48 cm²/V · sec for the measurements where corona discharge was used, and 1.46 cm²/V · sec for the measurements, where electrospray ionization was used. Both values are in a good agreement with a value 1.48 cm²/V · sec obtained earlier on the previous version of the instrument. Values of reduced mobility calculated by results of measurements accomplished in Munich for tetraethylammonium iodide, tetra-pentylammonium iodide and tetraoctylammonium bromide amounted correspondingly 1.77, 1.10, and 0.64 cm²/V · sec when electrospray ionization was used. The data are in a very good agreement with the values obtained earlier on the previous version of the instrument in remote laboratory.     

Study of the phospholipids of various organs of Crambe amabilis according to the vegetation periods

Summary The changes in the fatty-acid and fractional compositions of the phospholipid complexes of various organs ofCrambe amabilis have been studied according to the vegetation periods.It has been established that throughout the vegetation period phospholipids are present in all organs, and at the stage of complete ripeness of the seeds they are almost wholly localized in the seeds. In the process of the development of the plant considerable qualitative and quantitative changes take place in the fractional and fatty-acid compositions of the phospholipids obtained from various organs of the plant.Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 53–57, January–February, 1978.     

Movement of fluorescence pattern after photobleaching: an accelerated procedure for DNA electrophoretic mobility analysis.

A new approach which is compatible with many of the existing procedures for the analysis of DNA species in gel electrophoresis is being demonstrated. It takes advantage of fluorescence photobleaching in order to create a sharp boundary between the stained and the (partially) photobleached DNA. By arbitrarily creating a stained DNA band of narrower width, the sensitivity to detect (averaged) DNA band movements has been increased. This feature permits measurements of time-dependent electrophoretic mobility over very short time periods. The approach can be used to shorten the running time of gel electrophoresis experiment and to increase the resolution because of the sharper boundary and narrower band width. With faster running time, diffusion of both DNA and dye in the gel also becomes less serious. Movement of fluorescence pattern after photobleaching also permits measurements of localized motions when the gel pores are small in comparison with DNA sizes. Experiments demonstrating some aspects of the proposed technique, as well as the anticipated limitations, are presented and discussed.