Addition of urea and thiourea to electrophoresis sample buffer improves efficiency of protein extraction from TCA/acetone‐treated smooth muscle tissues for phos‐tag SDS‐PAGE

Phosphorylation analysis by using phos‐tag technique has been reported to be suitable for highly sensitive quantification of smooth muscle myosin regulatory light chain (LC₂₀) phosphorylation. However, there is another factor that will affect the sensitivity of phosphorylation analysis, that is, protein extraction. Here, we optimized the conditions for total protein extraction out of trichloroacetic acid (TCA)‐fixed tissues. Standard SDS sample buffer extracted less LC₂₀, actin and myosin phosphatase targeting subunit 1 (MYPT1) from TCA/acetone treated ciliary muscle strips. On the other hand, sample buffer containing urea and thiourea in addition to lithium dodecyl sulfate (LDS) or SDS extracted those proteins more efficiently, and thus increased the detection sensitivity up to 4–5 fold. Phos‐tag SDS‐PAGE separated dephosphorylated and phosphorylated LC₂₀s extracted in LDS/urea/thiourea sample buffer to the same extent as those in standard SDS buffer. We have concluded that LDS (or SDS) /urea/thiourea sample buffer is suitable for highly sensitive phosphorylation analysis in smooth muscle, especially when it is treated with TCA/acetone.     

Displacement affinity chromatography of protein phosphatase one (PP1) complexes

Background  

Protein phosphatase one (PP1) is a ubiquitously expressed, highly conserved protein phosphatase that dephosphorylates target protein serine and threonine residues. PP1 is localized to its site of action by interacting with targeting or regulatory proteins, a majority of which contains a primary docking site referred to as the RVXF/W motif.     

PP2A in the regulation of cell motility and invasion

Cell motility is a very critical phenomenon that plays an important role in the development of eukaryotic organisms. One of the well studied cell motility phenomena is chemotaxis, which is described as a directional movement of cell in response to changes in external chemotactic gradient. Numerous studies conducted both in unicellular organism and in mammalian cells have demonstrated the importance of phosphatidylionositol-3 kinase (PI3K) in this process. In addition, it is now well established that although PI3K plays an activation role in chemotaxis, the role of phosphatases is also critical to maintain this dynamic cyclical process. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a major serine/threonine phosphatase that is a key player in regulating PI3K signaling. PP2A is abundantly and ubiquitously expressed and has been highly conserved during the evolution of eukaryotes. PP2A is composed of three protein subunits, A, B, and C. Subunit 'A' is a 60-65 kDa structural component, 'C' is a 36-38 kDa catalytic subunit, and 'B' is a 54-130 kDa regulatory subunit. The core complex of PP2A is comprised of the A and C subunits, which are tightly associated and this dimeric core complexes with the regulatory B subunit. The B subunit determines the substrate specificity as well as the spatial and temporal functions of PP2A. PP2A plays an important role in regulating multiple signal transduction pathways, including cell-cycle regulation, cell-growth and development, cytoskeleton dynamics, and cell motility. This review focuses on the role of PP2A in regulating motility of normal and transformed cells.     

Gas permeability and stability of poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne-co-1-phenyl-1-propyne) membranes

A significant reduction in the gas permeability of the poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PMSP) membrane was investigated in terms of the membrane thickness and the storage environment. The effects of physical aging were observed with thinner membranes and under vacuum conditions compared with storage in air. The decrease in the permeability coefficient was dependent on the decrease in the hole saturation constant of Langmuir adsorption (C'_H), which is related to the volume of the microvoids. Physical aging in the PMSP membrane affected not only the glassy domain but also the rubbery one. To stabilize the permeability of the PMSP membrane, a poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne-co-1-phenyl-1-propyne) [poly(TMSP-co-PP)] membrane was prepared. Poly(TMSP-co-PP) has the same unit of poly(1-phenyl-1-propyne), which membrane has stable permeability. The poly(TMSP-co-PP) with less than 20 mol % PP content was estimated to be a random copolymer based on theoretical gas permeation analysis. In the poly(TMSP-co-PP) membrane, the relation between the PP content and C'_H was similar to the relation between the PP content and the gas permeability. The stability of the permeability was dependent on the PP content. The poly(TMSP-co-PP) membrane containing 10 mol % PP had both high permeability and good stability under some of the aging conditions performed in this work. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Activation of protein phosphatase 1 by a small molecule designed to bind to the enzyme's regulatory site

The activity of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), a serine-threonine phosphatase that participates ubiquitously in cellular signaling, is controlled by a wide variety of regulatory proteins that interact with PP1 at an allosteric regulatory site that recognizes a "loose" consensus sequence (usually designated as RVXF) found in all such regulatory proteins. Peptides containing the regulatory consensus sequence have been found to recapitulate the binding and PP1 activity modulation of the regulatory proteins, suggesting that it might be possible to design small-molecule surrogates that activate PP1 rather than inhibiting it. This prospect constitutes a largely unexplored way of controlling signaling pathways that could be functionally complementary to the much more extensively explored stratagem of kinase inhibition. Based on these principles, we have designed a microcystin analog that activates PP1.     

Purification of Complex of SAV1 with PP1A

SAV1 is a core component involved in the Hippo pathway which can control the organ size via regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis simultaneously. We explored the regulatory mechanism of SAV1. We established the HEK293T cell pool, the cells in which can stably express SAV1 by retroviruses infection and found that SAV1 stable cells reduced the movement of themselves and resulted in multicellular aggregation. We purified SAV1 interacting protein complex using streptavidin resin and subsequently analyzed the digested peptides by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)-MS/MS. Results show that about 150 proteins were identified in the complex of SAV1 with protein. TUBA1A, OTUD4, and ATD were identified as proteins interacting with SAV1. Importantly, PP1A, serine/threonine protein phosphatase PP1-alpha 1 catalytic subunit, was also in the top 10 list. The interaction between PP1A and SAV1 was detected by both co-immunoprecipitation(CO-IP) and immunostaining. Our results indicate that PP1A might be the phosphatase of SAV1 and may take part in the regulation of the Hippo pathway.     

Human Blue-light Photoreceptor hCRY2 Specifically Interacts with Protein Serine/Threonine Phosphatase 5 and Modulates Its Activity

Abstract— Photolyase/blue-light photoreceptor family of proteins includes cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer photolyase, (6-4) photolyase and blue-light photoreceptors that were recently discovered in Arabidopsis thaliana, Sinapis alba and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Recently, we identified two human genes, hCRYl and hCRY2, belonging to this family. The proteins encoded by these genes have no DNA repair activity and therefore were hypothesized to function in human blue-light response reactions. To identify downstream targets for these putative blue-light photoreceptors we searched for interacting proteins by the yeast two-hybrid method. We found that the tetratricopeptide repeat protein 1, Tpr1, and the protein serine/ threonine phosphatase 5 (PP5) that contains the TPR motif specifically interacted with hCRY2. The effect of the hCRY2-PP5 interaction on the protein phosphatase activity was investigated. We found that hCRY2, but not the highly homologous (6-4) photolyase, inhibits the phosphatase activity of PP5. This inhibition may be on the pathway of blue-light signal transduction reaction in humans.     

Regulation of protein phosphatase-1

Reversible protein phosphorylation is a major regulatory mechanism of intracellular signal transduction. Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) is one of four major types of serine-threonine phosphatases mediating signaling pathways, but the means by which its activity is modulated has only recently begun to come into focus.     

超细CaCO_3的粒子尺寸对PP结晶行为的影响

The effects of CaCO3 on the crystallization behavior of polypropylene (PP) were studied by means of DSC and WAXD.The average sizes of the CaCO3 powders used were 0.1μm (UC) and 0.5μm (GC),respectively.The PP/CaCO3 composites at compositions of 1phr and 10 phr were investigated.The results showed that the addition of CaCO3 reduced the supercooling,the rate of nucleation and the overall rate of crystallization (except for the 10phr UC/PP sample).The crystallinity of PP was increased and the size distribution of the crystallites of α-PP was broadened.On the other hand,the crystallization rate of 10phr UC/PP is 1.5 times higher than that of neat PP.It has an overall rate of crystallization 2 times as much as that of the neat PP and has the maximum crystallinity.The sizes of crystallites and the unit cell parameters of α-PP were varied by the addition of CaCO3.β-PP was formed by addition of GC and was not detected by addition of UC.The differences of crystallization behaviors of PP might be attributed to the combined effects of the content and size of CaCO3 filled.     

Effects of polyamide 6 on the crystallization and melting behavior of β-nucleated polypropylene

Non-nucleated polypropylene alloy with polyamide 6 (PP/PA6) and β-nucleated polypropylene (β-PP)/PA6 alloy, as well as its compatibilized version with maleic anhydride grafted PP (PP-g-MA) were prepared with an internal mixer. In the all alloys, PP formed a continuous phase with a dispersive PA6. Effects of PA6 on the non-isothermal crystallization behavior, melting characteristics and the β-PP content of alloys were investigated by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The results indicated that the crystallization temperature () of PP shifts to high temperature in the non-nucleated PP/PA6 alloys due to the α-nucleating effect of PA6. However, in the β-nucleated PP/PA6 alloys, PA6 hardly has an effect on the of PP. The β-PP content in the alloys not only depends on the content of the PA6, but also on the melting temperatures. It is proved by etching the alloys with sulfuric acid that the nucleating agent mainly disperses in the PA6 phase and/or the interface between PP and PA6 when blended at high temperature. Addition of PP-g-MA promotes the formation of β-PP in the β-nucleated PP/PA6 alloys. The increase in the PA6 content has a little influence on the of PP and the β-PP content in the compatibilized β-nucleated PP/PA6 alloys. The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of PP in the alloys was evaluated by Mo’s method.     

Structural analysis of the protein phosphatase 1 docking motif: molecular description of binding specificities identifies interacting proteins

The interplay between kinases and phosphatases represents a fundamental regulatory mechanism in biological systems. Being less numerous than kinases, phosphatases increase their diversity by the acquisition of a variety of binding partners, thereby forming a large number of holoenzymes. Proteins interacting with protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) often bind via a so-called docking motif to regulate its enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, and subcellular localization. Here, we systematically determined structural elements that mediate the binding specificity of PP1 interacting proteins, and propose a refined consensus sequence for high-affinity PP1 ligands. Applying this pattern to database searches, we predicted and experimentally confirmed several previously unknown PP1 interactors. Thus, the suggested PP1 docking motif enables a highly specific prediction of PP1 binding partners, thereby facilitating the genome-wide identification of PP1 interactors.     

反应性单体改性PP/PS共混物结晶与熔融行为

制备了三种反应性单体和两种PP接枝物改性的PP／PS共混物,用DSC研究了改性PP／PS共混物的结晶与熔融行为。结果表明：PS的加入提高了PP的结晶温度,两种接枝物的加入进一步提高共混物中PP的结晶温度,少量反应性单体对结晶温度影响不大,但高用量时则明显提高共混物的结晶温度;外加接枝物或者反应性单体对共混物中PP的熔融温度影响不大,但是熔融峰形与结晶温度高低有关。     

Decomposition of meta- and para-phenylphenol during ozonation process

The decomposition of meta-phenylphenol (m-PP) and para-phenylphenol (p-PP) in a heterogeneous gas-liquid system using ozone was investigated. The influence of different reaction parameters such as ozone and PP isomers concentration as well as pH and temperature of the reaction mixture on the PP decay rate was determined. The second-order rate constants for the direct reaction of molecular ozone, determined in a homogeneous system, were (5.85 ± 0.35) × 10² M^?1 s^?1 and (8.90 ± 0.33) × 10² M^?1 s^?1 for m-PP and p-PP, respectively. The rate constants for the reaction of m-PP and p-PP with ozone increased with increasing pH. The reaction rate constants with ozone were found to be (1.75 ± 0.02) × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1 and (1.86 ± 0.02) × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1 for m-PP and p-PP anions, respectively.     

Simultaneous quantitation of buspirone and 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)piperazine in human plasma and urine by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Buspirone and a buspirone metabolite, 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)piperazine (1-PP), are extracted from matrix using C18 extraction columns. The metabolite and its internal standard (d4-1-PP) are derivatized with pentafluorobenzoyl chloride to the corresponding amides. The 1-PP derivatives, buspirone and the buspirone internal standard (5-fluorobuspirone) are co-chromatographed. Chromatography and detection are performed using capillary gas chromatography with a fused-silica column and selected-ion monitoring-mass spectrometry. Linear range of the standard curves in plasma is 0.1-14 ng/ml for buspirone and 0.2-25 ng/ml for 1-PP with lower limits of quantitation of 0.1 and 0.2 ng/ml, respectively. In urine the linear range of the standard curves is 0.2-14 ng/ml for buspirone and 8-500 ng/ml for 1-PP with lower limits of quantitation of 0.2 and 8.0 ng/ml, respectively. Intra-assay accuracies were within 14% for buspirone and 1-PP in plasma and urine. Intra-assay precision was within 12% for both compounds in both matrices.     

Effects of MA-g-PP and lignocellulosic filler addition on several properties of poly(L-lactic acid)/polypropylene composites

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of maleic anhydride-graft-polypropylene (MA-g-PP) as a compatibilizer and wood fiber as a lignocellulosic filler on technical properties of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA)/polypropylene composites. The obtained composites were characterized through mechanical tests, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning analyzer, and chemical analysis via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The obtained results showed that the mechanical properties of the composites containing MA-g-PP were higher than those of the composites without MA-g-PP. SEM images revealed that the morphological properties of the composites including PP and PLLA were improved. The chemical interactions between PP and PLLA were demonstrated through FTIR results of composites with MA-g-PP.     

Concurrent crystallization in polypropylene/nylon-6 blends using maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene as a compatibilizing agent

This paper describes the nonisothermal crystallization of molten blends of two semicrystalline polymers, polypropylene (PP) and Nylon-6 (N6). A discussion details the effect of the concentration of the compatibilizing agent, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAH-g-PP), on the crystallization behavior. The crystallization thermograms showed one crystallization peak or two crystallization peaks, which were significantly affected by the presence of MAH-g-PP. The crystallization temperature of N6 levels off down as the concentration of MAH-g-PP increases, whereas that of PP stays at a roughly constant temperature. These blends containing the compatibilizing agent exhibited concurrent crystallization at the crystallization temperature of PP. The crystallization behavior are also studied by optical microscopy under crossed polarizers. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

聚丙烯的结晶形态调控与高性能化

聚丙烯作为目前最重要的通用塑料之一,对其进行高质化改性具有重大的现实意义.基于聚丙烯的同质多晶态行为,加入成核剂进行β结晶改性是改善聚丙烯韧性和热稳定性的有效方式.过去的研究主要关注结晶度、β晶含量等对性能的影响.而近年来我们提出通过调控聚丙烯的β结晶形态来实现其高性能化的新思路,并开展了卓有成效的研究工作:(1)利用小分子成核剂的溶解性及自组装影响聚丙烯的结晶行为,获得了如球晶、横晶、花瓣状晶等形态,实现了对β结晶形态的有效调控;(2)特定的结晶形态能够使聚丙烯的韧性显著增加,并且热变形温度进一步提高,证实结晶形态会对宏观性能发挥重要作用;(3)β结晶形态调控有利于获得更佳的成孔均匀性与高的孔隙率,对制备高品质锂电池隔膜有明显的指导意义.结晶形态调控可望成为实现结晶性聚合物高性能化与功能化通行的、高效的策略.     

Mapping of protein phosphatase-6 association with its SAPS domain regulatory subunit using a model of helical repeats

Background  

Helical repeat motifs are common among regulatory subunits for type-1 and type-2A protein Ser/Thr phosphatases. Yeast Sit4 is a distinctive type-2A phosphatase that has dedicated regulatory subunits named Sit4-Associated Proteins (SAPS). These subunits are conserved, and three human SAPS-related proteins are known to associate with PP6 phosphatase, the Sit4 human homologue.     

Improved thermal oxidation stability of polypropylene films in the presence of β-nucleating agent

Thermal oxidation behavior of isotactic polypropylene (PP) films with and without nucleating agent was investigated at 100 °C in air. The crystal form of PP was modified with a specific aryl amide derivative as β-nucleating agent (β-NA). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile tests were performed to determine the extent of chemical degradation and the variations of microstructure of the two kinds of PP films during thermal oxidation. It was found that the mechanism of thermal oxidation of PP films was not changed in the presence of β-NA, but the time to initiation and the rate of oxidation both declined. Moreover, during the thermal oxidation aging, the melting temperature of neat PP significantly decreased while only a slight decrease of the melting temperature occurred for β-PP. Overall, the investigation indicated that the thermal oxidative stability of β-PP was higher than that of neat PP. The underlying mechanism was further analyzed by considering the change in the physical structure, especially the crystalline and the amorphous structure, of PP in the presence of β-NA.