Isolation and properties of transferrin messenger RNA from rat liver

Highly purified transferrin mRNA characterized by electrophoretic and sedimentational homogeneity has been obtained from rat liver, with a sedimentation coefficient of 20S and a molecular weight of 0.86 MD. In a system consisting of a lysate of rabbit reticulocytes the Tf-mRNA programs the synthesis of an immunoreactive precursor of transferrin with a molecular weight of 82 kD. More than 50% of the nucleotide sequence of Tf-mRNA is present in the paired state.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 765–771, November–December, 1984.     

Isolation and quantification of messenger RNA from tissue models by using a double-barrel carbon probe

In this study, we introduce the double-barrel carbon probe (DBCP)—a simple, affordable microring electrode—which enables the collection and analysis of single cells independent of cellular positioning. The target cells were punctured by utilizing an electric pulse between the two electrodes in DBCP, and the cellular lysates were collected by manual aspiration using the DBCP. The mRNA in the collected lysate was evaluated quantitatively using real-time PCR. The histograms of single-cell relative gene expression normalized to GAPDH were fit to a theoretical lognormal distribution. In the tissue culture model, we focused on angiogenesis to prove that multiple gene expression analysis was available. Finally, we applied DBCP for the embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived cardiomyocytes to substantiate the capability of the probe to collect cells, even from high-volume samples such as spheroids. This method achieves high sensitivity for mRNA at the single-cell level and is applicable in the analysis of various biological samples independent of cellular positioning.

Some physicochemical parameters of transferrin isolated from rat blood serum

Chromatography on ion-exchange resins has yielded a homogeneous iron-containing glycoprotein — transferrin. The amino acid composition of the protein has been shown, it has been established that the N-terminal amino acid of the protein is threonine, and the sedimentation coefficient has been calculated, being 5.8 S.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 89–92, January–February, 1980.     

High-performance affinity chromatography of messenger RNA.

A 50-mer of thymidylic acid, (dT)50, was coupled to silica inside prepacked columns using the N-hydroxysuccinimide chemistry. The resulting (dT)50-silica columns were used to resolve oligomers of adenylic acid, (dA)19-24, and to separate poly(A) mRNA (messenger RNA) from Saccharomyces. Oligomers which differed in length by a single nucleotide base were readily resolved. Using either (dT)50- or (dT)18-silica, poly(A) mRNA could be purified in as little as 8 min. The poly(A) mRNA isolated appeared to be full length and could be used directly for T4 RNA ligase and RNAse A and T1 enzymatic reactions. The (dT)50-silica column was used to fractionate total poly(A) mRNA by tail length. While the separation was primarily due to poly(A) tail length, most fractions appeared to contain multiple tail lengths. Whether this represents an intrinsic feature of the RNA or a limitation of the method is discussed. These studies show that polynucleotides in the kilobase size range can be separated rapidly and with good resolution on DNA-silica.     

Purification and some properties of squalene-2,3-epoxide: lanosterol cyclase from rat liver

Squalene-2,3-epoxide: lanosterol cyclase was purified from rat liver in five steps as a soluble and homogeneous protein. The purified enzyme showed a single band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a molecular weight of 75 kD. In its native state it behaved as a homo-dimer. The isoelectric point of 5.5 and the apparent Km value for (3S)-squalene-epoxide of 55 microM were estimated for the cyclase.     

Isolation and characterization of a novel membrane glycoprotein of 85,000 molecular weight from rat liver lysosomes.

We have purified and characterized a novel glycoprotein (r-lamp-3) with an apparent molecular weight (Mr) of 85,000 from membranes of triton-filled lysosomes (tritosomes) by the use of immunoaffinity chromatography on a column of monoclonal antibody-Sepharose 4B. r-lamp-3 accounted for approximately 4% of the total proteins in tritosomal membranes. The isoelectric point (pI) of r-lamp-3 was 4.5 and it was shifted to 6.5 after neuraminidase treatment with its molecular weight decreased by about 7000. Pulse-chase experiments in cultured rat hepatocytes using [35S]methionine showed that r-lamp-3 was initially synthesized as a 77,000 polypeptide and processed to a mature protein with an Mr of 85,000. Upon treatment with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H (Endo H), the precursor and mature forms were converted to 55,000 and 73,000 polypeptides, respectively. From the Mr reduction of the precursor form, we estimated the presence of 10--12 N-linked oligosaccharides/r-lamp-3 polypeptide. The data on enzymatic deglycosylation suggested that the mature form of r-lamp-3 contained the same numbers of high mannose-type and complex-type N-linked oligosaccharide chains.     

Tryptic peptides of rat serum transferrin

Limited hydrolysis has given two peptide fractions bearing iron-binding centers. A partial characterization of them is presented.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 768–772, November–December, 1983.     

Spectra properties of rat liver mitochondrial choline dehydrogenase

Choline dehydrogenase contains the prosthetic group FAD, non-haem iron and acid labile sulfur. However, the absorption spectra of the purified enzyme do not change after adding substrate. The reduced absorption spectra of choline dehydrogenase can only be determined after the addition of dithionite. Those choline dehydrogenases situated in the mitochondrial inner membrane can be reduced by substrate and exist in the reduced state. When cholate was used to solubilize the substrate-reduced choline dehydrogenase, the reduced spectra will gradually disappear. However, if solubilization is carried out under anaerobic conditions, the reduced spectra can be retained, suggesting that the solubilized choline dehydrogenase can use oxygen as an acceptor.     

Isolation of a metastasizing cancer cell line from an aflatoxin B1-induced rat liver tumor.

An attempt was made to isolate cancer cell lines from liver tumors that had been induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in rats. A clonal cell line named AFB-1 was isolated from a liver tumor that was histologically diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma. When AFB-1 cells were inoculated into the subcutaneous tissue at the dorsal region of syngenic animals, they metastasized from the site of inoculation into the abdominal cavity to form many tumor nodules throughout the serous membrane and metastatic foci in the kidney and pancreas. They also metastasized into the thoracic cavity to form metastatic foci in the lung. This is the first instance where a metastasizing AFB1-induced cancer cell line has been isolated.     

Isolation from rat urine and human liver microsomes and identification by electrospray and nanospray tandem mass spectrometry of new malagashanine metabolites

Malagashanine has been isolated from indigenous madagascan Strychnos myrtoides alkaloids used traditionally to treat malaria. This alkaloid was found to enhance the action of chloroquine against chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum when combined with classical antimalarial drugs (chloroquine, quinine). The present study was carried out in order to investigate by electrospray mass and tandem mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy the structure of two new metabolites isolated from rat urine and human liver microsomes. We were able to demonstrate the presence of two new metabolites of malagashanine corresponding to a malagashanine N-demethylated metabolite and to the oxidation of malagashanine in the alpha-position of the N-methyl group to produce a carbinolamine function. The latter metabolite may be subject to ring and open-chain tautomerism effects and dimeric species were detected in the electrospray mass spectrum.