Action of trypsin on a nucleoprotein from sturgeon gonads

A nucleoprotein has been isolated from the gonads of the Caspian sturgeon and its composition has been determined. It has been shown that it contains 55% of DNA, 2% of RNA, 36% of protamines, and about 7% of nonprotamine proteins of nonbasic nature. The nucleoprotein has been hydrolyzed with trypsin, and the amino acid compositions of some hydrolysis products have been studied. On the basis of the results obtained, the hypothesis has been put forward of a possible linkage of the DNA with the basic proteins. It has been shown that protamines react with the DNA through the basic amino acid residues located at various regions of their molecules.     

Automation of the optimization of the separation of protamines by high-performance liquid chromatography

An automatic system for optimizing the conditions for the chromatographic separation of protamines has been developed using Nelder and Mead's modified simplex method. It is proposed to use penalty functions in order to take into account nonrigid constraints on the parameters to be optimized. The optimum conditions for the separation of the protamines from sturgeon gonads have been determined. It has been established that the greatest influence on the separation of the protamines is exerted by the concentration of the ion-pair reagent — trifluoroacetic acid. The system described permits the optimization of any chromatographic separations and the determinations to be performed thanks to the application of penalty functions to the optimization parameter.Moscow Institute of Applied Biotechnology. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 663–669, September–October, 1990.     

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of protamines

The protamines from the gonads of the sturgeonAcipenser stellatus have been separated by high-performance liquid chromatography. The proteins were eluted with mixtures of water and ethanol having a gradient of ethanol concentrations in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). The influence of the concentration of TFA and the temperature of the column on separation was studied. The quantitative (95–98%) isolation of the protamines from the column was achieved at a temperature of 30°C and a 0.15% concentration of TFA.Moscow Technological Institute of the Meat and Dairy Industry. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 744–748, November–December, 1986.     

A comparative study of the histones of some varieties of cotton plant

Tetraploid varieties of the cotton plant belonging to the medium- and thin-fibered types have been studied with respect to their histone/DNA ratio, their content of histone fractions, and the amino acid composition of the total histones. It has been shown that these varieties differ with respect to their contents of the lysine-rich histone fraction Hl, and also by the amounts of certain amino acids in the total histone.V. I. Nikitin Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the TadzhSSR, Dushanbe. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 99–102, January–February, 1985.     

Amino acid sequences of sturin A and of nudiventrin A

Nudiventrin and sturin have been fractionated and it has been shown that each of them consists of two components, A and B, their ratio in sturin being 10:1. The amino acid sequences of these proteins have been determined and it has been shown that they have the same primary structure.M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 76–82, January–February, 1980.     

Fractional and amino acid compositions of micromycete proteins

A comparative study has been made of the fractional and amino acid compositions of the proteins of the biomasses ofTrichoderma harzianum, Fusarium moniliforme, and the hybrid culture FT-2. It has been established that the micromycete strains investigated are high-protein cultures containing from 36.0to 49.7% of protein. A study of the amino acid compositions of the micromycetes showed that the hybrid culture FT-2 possessed the largest amount of amino acids among the water-soluble proteins of the biomass (61.3 g/100g of biomass protein).Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (3712) 41 71 29. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 428–431, May–June, 1997.     

Physicochemical analysis of a protein with nerve growth activity from the muscle tissue of Rana ridibunda

A protein nerve growth factor has been isolated in the pure form from the muscles of the lake frogRana ridibunda. The individuality of the substance obtained has been shown, its molecular mass (106.0–110.0 kDa) and pI value (9.2–9.4) have been determined, and lysine and valine have been found as the N- and C-terminal amino acid residues of its polypeptide chain. In view of the detection of the presence of sugars (about 1%), the substance has been identified as a glycoprotein. Its absorption spectra in the UV region has been obtained and the amino acid composition of the isolated protein has been determined. Information on the amino acid composition of various proteins with nerve growth activity has been subjected to comparative analysis with the aid of computer programs, and on this base their phylogenetic tree has been constructed.Institute of Biochemistry, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 251–257, March–April, 1992.     

Study of the total histone of the cotton plant of variety 108-F

From two-day etiolated shoots of the cotton plant of variety 108-F we have isolated the total histone and purified it on a column of CM-cellulose. It has been shown by gel electrophoresis and amino acid analysis that the total histone of the cotton plant, like the total histone of wheat, consists of five main fractions, the amount of the lysine-rich fraction A₁ being greater in the cotton plant than in wheat (23% and 19%, respectively), and the amount of arginine-rich fraction A₄ being less (19.2 and 24.3%, respectively). The total histone of the cotton plant is less basic (ratio of basic amino acids to acidic amino acids in the cotton-plant histone 1.24, in wheat histone 1.9, and in calf thymus histone 1.78) but richer in lysine as compared with arginine than the histones of wheat and calf thymus.V. I. Nikitin Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Tadzhik SSR, Dushanbe. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 109–112, January–February 1980.     

Seed proteins of Ricinus communis. III. Isolation and characterization of the two-component polypeptide chains of acid resins

It has been shown that the acid form of ricin — ricin T — consists of two nonidentical subunits: isoleucine and alanine subunits with molecular weights of 30 and 28 kDa, respectively. The isoelectric points, N- and C-terminal amino acids, and partial amino acid sequences of these subunits have been determined. The two subunits of ricin T have been found to exhibit differences from and similarities to ricins D and E.Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Uzbek Academy of Sciences, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 887–892, November–December, 1987.     

An investigation of complexes of some model tripeptides containing phenylalanine and tyrosine residues with DNA by Fourier1H NMR spectroscopy

Complexes of native and denatured DNA with model tripeptides containing phenylalanine or tyrosine residues flanked by lysine or arginine residues, respectively have been investigated by pulsed Fourier¹H NMR spectroscopy. The existence of shifts into the strong-field region of the signals of aromatic protons of the model tripeptides in the complexes both with native and with denatured DNA has been shown. Results have been obtained that indicate the possibility of the intercalation of the side chains of aromatic amino acid residues into the DNA double helix.All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of the Genetics and Breeding of Industrial Microorganisms, Moscow. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 751–755, November–December, 1986.     

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.     

Structural analogues of bradykinin and other vasoactive peptides in the venom of the wasp Polistes gallicus

Six vasoactive peptides have been isolated in the homogeneous state from the venom of the waspPolistes gallicus. Their full amino acid sequences have been determined. It has been shown that four of them are structural analogues of bradykinin with additional N- and C-terminal sequences and intramolecular substitutions of amino acids. Some structure-function relationships in bradykinin analogues are discussed.A. S. Sadykov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 389–393, May–June, 1990.     

Comparative investigation of the molecular structures of the species-specific proteins of the seeds ofGossypium hirsutum andG. barbadense

The N-terminal amino acids and the amino acid compositions of four species-specific proteins of two species of the cotton plant —Gossypium hirsutum andG. barbadense — have been determined. Peptide maps of tryptic hydrolysates of these proteins have been obtained and compared. Individual tryptic peptides have been isolated and purified. The N-ends, amino acid compositions, and amino acid sequences of individual peptides have been determined. The N-terminal sections of the proteins ofG. hirsutum andG. barbadense as far as the 16th amino acid residue have been sequenced. A comparative analysis has been made of the peptides and proteins of these cottonplant species.Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (3712) 40 64 75. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 858–864, November–December, 1997.     

Investigation of complexes of DNA with synthetic peptide fragments of the N-end of histone H2B

The nature of the interaction of high- and low-molecular-weight DNAs (6×10⁶ and 3×10⁵ daltons) with synthetic oligopeptides of the N-end of histone H2B having the sequences 1–21, 1–10, 1–13, 11–21, and 14–21, differing in molecular weight and amino acid composition, as a function of the amount of peptide component in the complex and the ionic strength of the solution has been studied by the methods of UV and CD spectroscopy and the spectrophotometric analysis of melting curves. It has been shown that of all the peptides studied only the 1–21 peptide possesses the capacity of condensing DNA. This capacity depends on the amount of peptide component in the complex, the molecular weight of the DNA, and the ionic strength of the solution. The interaction with peptides under all the conditions studied, without changing the conformational parameters of the DNA, stabilizes its secondary structure in relation to the action of the temperature, which depends on the number of lysine residues in the peptides.N. I. Nikitin Institute of Chemistry of the TadzhSSR Academy of Sciences, Dushanbe. Institute of Cytology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Leningrad. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 708–713, September–October, 1987.     

Preparation of homogeneous protamines by the fractionation of nucleoprotamine

A new method has been developed for obtaining individual protamines which is based on the chromatographic separation of an ultrasonically treated nucleoprotamine solution. The separation of the nucleoprotamine from the gonads of the Caspian sturgeonAcipenser stellatus on CM-Sephadex G-25 led to the isolation of three fractions. Analysis showed that two fractions contained homogeneous protamine — stellins A and B. The third fraction contained nonprotamines and DNA.Moscow Technological Institute of the Meat and Dairy Industry. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 378–381, May–June, 1985.     

An investigation of cottonseed globulins. XXI. The 11S globulins of two varieties of the cotton plant

The 11S globulins of two varieties of the cotton plant — 108-F and Tashkent-1 — have been studied. It has been shown that the 11S globulins do not differ in quaternary structure and each consists of three subunits A, B, and C. It has been found that the subunits of these varieties differ in their amino acid compositions and the peptide maps of tryptic and chymotryptic hydrolysates.Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 680–684, September–October, 1979.     

Investigation of the protein composition of the seeds ofCitrullus vulgaris

The total protein content amounts to 60% of the defatted flour or 14-15% of the weight of watermelon seeds. Water-, salt-, alcohol-, and alkali-soluble fractions of the proteins have been isolated and their percentage amounts in the seeds have been determined. More than half the total protein (53.3 %) consists of globulins - the reserve proteins of the seeds. The seeds contain about 30% of lipids, which form a valuable component of them and may serve as an additional source of nutrient plant oil. Using the method of amino acid scales a comparative analysis has been made of the biological value of the watermelon seed proteins with standard proteins.Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 431–434, May–June, 1995. Original article submitted May 30, 1994.     

Biosynthesis of the alkaloids ofAnabasis aphylla

The dynamics of the accumulation of free amino acids and the main alkaloids have been determined, and 15 free amino acids have been detected and identified, 11 having been determined quantitatively. The amounts of the main alkaloids have also been determined. An interrelationship of the amino acid lysine with the alkaloids has been shown. The interconversion of pachycarpine into aphylline and aphyllidine with the formation of a lactam group has been demonstrated experimentally.V. I. Lenin Tashkent State University. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 56–60, January–February, 1980.     

Does in-source decay occur independent of the ionization process in matrix-assisted laser desorption?

The influence of the acidic and basic characters of constituent amino acid residues on the peptide fragment ions produced by in-source decay under matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) conditions has been studied using positive- and negative-ion experiments. Whereas the in-source decay spectra of peptides containing basic Arg and/or Lys residues near the N-terminus showed so-called c_n- and a_n-series ions in positive-ion mode, a peptide that has an acidic amino acid cluster near the N-terminus and a basic residue near the C-terminus characteristically formed y_n- and z_n-series ions in the positive-ion in-source decay spectrum. These results indicated that fragment ion series produced by in-source decay depend strongly upon the acidic and basic characters of the constituent amino acid residues and the near N- and C-termini. It was suggested that in-source decay processes occur intrinsically at NH–C^α and CO–NH bonds independent of the formation of molecular-related ions, and that the cleavages at the NH–C^α and CO–NH bonds occurred independently and were dependent on the matrix used.     

Influence of the second amino acid residue on the antidepressive activity of melanostatin analogs

It has been shown for melanostatin analogs that the energy of the HOMO, calculated by the CNDO/2 method for side substitutents of the second amino acid residue, is correlated with the antidepressive activity. The excessive electron density that appears in the peptide chain is delocalized on the MO of the substituent to which the AO of the first carbon atom makes the greatest contribution (LUMO).Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 255–259, May–June, 1993.