<Superscript>125</Superscript>I-labelled iodothyronines: useful tools for studies of effects of an antidepressant drug fluoxetine in the rat

Thyroid hormones (TH) are supposed to control the activity of some neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin), which are hypothetically involved in the pathogenesis of depressive illness. A new group of non-tricyclic antidepressant drugs includes selective serotonine re-uptake inhibitors. The most frequently used representative of this group is fluoxetine (Fluox). We followed in the present paper the effects of Fluox, administered subchronicaly (for 25 days) to Wistar rats by itself, or in combination with 3,3′,5-triiodo-l-thyronine (T₃). In studies of the interaction of Fluox with the metabolism of TH, we applied adapted radiometric enzyme assays for iodothyronine sulfotransferases (ST) and uridine 5′-diphospho-glucuronyltransferase (UDP-GT), as well as our newly developed radiometric assays for iodothyronine deiodinases (IDs) of types 1, 2 and 3 (D1, D2 and D3), using ¹²⁵I-labelled iodothyronines of high specific radioactivity as substrates. We found about two-fold higher UDP-GT enzyme activities in samples of liver microsomes of rats treated with Fluox, in comparison with control rats. In contrast, the radiometric determination of ST activities in liver and kidney cytosolic fractions did not demonstrate any significant effects of the administration of Fluox, alone or together with T₃, on the induction of these enzymes. However, profound changes in enzyme activities were determined in case of IDs, especially in the pituitary and cerebellum of treated rats. The adapted and newly elaborated radiometric enzyme assays proved to be very sensitive and rapid and, at the same time, reliable and robust.     

Titrating apparatus for the detection of soft β-emitting isotopes

The measuring devices reported in the literature allow only radiometric titrations indicated by hard β or γ-radiating isotopes. The authors developed an apparatus also suitable for the detection of soft β-emitting isotopes. In the course of the analysis, the activities are measured in a scintillation system in which the great surface of a mass of anthracene crystals provides excellent contact with the active solution. In studies on the linearity of the scintillation system the sources of error and their elimination were also examined. The sensitivity of the scintillation system was determined with³H,¹⁴C,³⁵S,⁴⁵Ca,³⁶Cl and³²P isotopes, frequently applied in organic chemical practice. The method of adjusting the specific activities of reagent solutions prepared from the various isotopes is discussed. The apparatus makes it possible to extend the applications of radiometric titration in the analysis of organic compounds.     

Radiometric,potentiometric and conductometric measurements of the solubility and solubility product of europium trifluoride

The solubility and solubility product of europium trifluoride were measured by radiometric, potentiometric and conductometric methods. There are significant differences in the values of both solubility and solubility product obtained by the three different techniques. Due to reasons discussed in the text, radiometric values seem to be more acceptable than the others. The thermodynamic functions such as ΔH⁰, ΔG⁰ and ΔS⁰ for the dissolution process were also measured. The positive values of ΔH⁰ and ΔG⁰ and the negative value of ΔS⁰ are indicative of the slight solubility of EuF₃. The dependence of solubility on pH and also on the fluoride concentration has also been studied. It was confirmed that europium forms a monofoluoride complex in aqueous solution. The stability constant of this complex was estimated.     

Protease determination using an optimized alcohol enzyme electrode

A new method for the determination of protease activities is described. In this large family, trypsin is used as a protease model that cleaves the enthyl or methyl ester of artificial substrates producing ethanol or methanol. Alcohol is detected using an alcohol oxidase enzyme electrode. The H₂O₂ production that occurs is measured amperometrically. At 30°C, in a 0.1M phosphate buffer, pH 7.5, the enzyme electrode response for ethanol was calibrated at 3.10^?6–3.10^?3 M and for methanol from 3.10^?7 to 4.10^?4 M in the cell measurement. Trypsin levels as determined by the proposed method and by a conventional spectrophotometric method are in good agreement when using the same measurement conditions. A detection limit of 10 U·L^?1 and a linear calibration curve of 10–100,000 U·L^?1 in the sample were obtained. Measuring time for the required trypsin solution concentration was from 4 min (for the most dilute samples) to 1 min (for the most concentrate samples). In a typical experiment, protease measurements did not inactivate the alcohol oxidase on the probe, nor did a more classical use for alcohol detection. The procedure developed could permit any protease estimation on the condition that they hydrolyze ester bonds from synthetic substrate.     

Determination of <Superscript>90</Superscript>Sr in contaminated environmental samples by tuneable bandpass dynamic reaction cell ICP–MS

A rapid method for the extraction and determination of ⁹⁰Sr in natural water, plant and sediment samples was developed using extraction chromatography and dynamic reaction cell ICP–MS, with O₂ as a reaction gas. While isobaric interference from the stable isotope ⁹⁰Zr was efficiently removed by this method, interferences produced from in-cell reactions with Fe⁺ and Ni⁺ required suppression by tuneable bandpass, and in sediments, additional chromatographic separation. Method detection limits were 0.1 pg g⁻¹ (0.5 Bq g⁻¹), 0.04 pg g⁻¹(0.2 Bq g⁻¹), and 3 pg L⁻¹ (5 Bq L⁻¹) for sediments, plant and water samples, respectively, and ⁹⁰Sr concentrations determined by ICP–MS were in good agreement with activities determined by Cerenkov counting and with certified reference values. While mass spectrometric determination does not rival detection limits achievable by radiometric counting, radiometric determination of ⁹⁰Sr, a pure beta-emitter, is hindered by long analysis times (several weeks); the comparatively fast analysis achieved via ICP–MS enables same-day preparation and analysis of samples, making this an important technique for the environmental monitoring of areas contaminated by radioactivity.     

Detection of proteases using an immunochemical method with haptenylated–gelatin as a solid-phase substrate

A simplified method for the measurement of proteases utilising solid-phase substrates incorporating an ELISA end-point detection step is described. Gelatin–hapten conjugates adsorbed onto polystyrene surfaces were found to be efficient substrates for proteases. Digestion of the solid-phase protein–hapten complexes resulted in proportional desorption of the attached conjugates and decrease in the detectable hapten species. Gelatin–cholic acid conjugates, affinity-purified sheep anti-cholic acid antibody–HRP and a chromogenic substrate were incorporated into a convenient and highly sensitive solid-phase immunochemical method. The detectable signal is inversely proportional to enzyme activity. Bacterial proteases (alpha-chymotrypsin Type II, Type IX from Bacillus polymyxa, Type XIV from Streptomyces griseus, Type XXIV from Bacillus licheniformens) were assayed. Dose–response curves for enzyme activities were measured within ranges of 0–550 μunits mL⁻¹ for chymotrypsin, 0–12 μunits mL⁻¹ for type IX, 0–35 μunits mL⁻¹ for type XIV and 0–100 μunits mL⁻¹ for type XXIV. The detection limits of the proteases studied were 89 μunits mL⁻¹ for chymotrypsin, 0.26 μunits mL⁻¹ for type IX, 5.8 μunits mL⁻¹ for type XIV and 6.5 μunits mL⁻¹ for type XXIV. It was demonstrated that the two-step immunochemical method combines the simplicity and sensitivity of solid-phase enzyme immunoassays, the broad specificity of gelatin as a protease substrate and the flexibility of the solid-phase format.     

Behavior of angiotensin-converting enzyme containing 67Zn

Magnetic nuclei of isotope ⁶⁷Zn (S ?5/2) were introduced into the active center of an angiotensin-converting enzyme instead of the zinc of usual isotope composition in order to consider their possible influence on the enzyme activity toward peptide substrates. No changes were observed in vitro, that gives us a possibility to study the influence of the zinc magnetic isotope on lymphocytes in various blood cell lines in vitro and ex vivo, neglecting contribution of this enzyme.     

Radioiodine tracers as useful tools in studies of thyrotoxic effects of exogenous bromide and perchlorate ions

With the use of ¹²⁵I and ¹³¹I radionuclides, we followed the effects of exogenous bromide and perchlorate ions on the metabolism of iodine and of thyroid hormone in the rat. The presumed thyrotoxic effects of bromide and perchlorate have been confirmed and quantified. Correct assay conditions for the radiometric determination of the enzyme activity of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) have been established. The use of the adapted radiometric assay revealed a divergent influence of bromide and perchlorate ions on the TPO activity in the rat thyroids. Excessive bromide exerted a biphasic effect, depending on the extent of bromide intake in the animals. In contrast, in all the rats that were administered with high amounts of perchlorate were found elevated TPO activities.     

Characterization of a monoclonal antibody that specifically inhibits pullulanase activity ofbacillus circulans amylase-pullulanase enzyme

A monoclonal antibody (MAb) against amylase-pullulanase enzyme fromBacillus circulons, which hydrolyzes not only theα-1,6-glycosidic linkage but also theα-1,4-glycosidic linkage to the same extent, has been produced by the fusion of BALB/c mouse spleen cells immunized with the native enzyme and P3x63Ag8U1 myeloma cells, and examined for inhibition of pullulanase activity in order to characterize the catalytic site of the pullulanase. The MAb recognizes active enzyme, but not the SDS-denatured or heat-inactivated protein, indicating that the antibody is highly conformational-dependent, specific for active enzyme. The antibody inhibited the pullulanase activity, but not amylase activity. The monoclonal antibody immunoblotted the enzyme and immunoprecipitated the enzyme. The immunoprecipitation was inhibited in the presence of substrate, pullulan, and the MAb competitively inhibited the binding of pullulan to the enzyme. The MAb, therefore, recognizes the pullulanbinding site of the enzyme. Kinetic analysis showed that the MAb inhibited pullulanase activity with inhibition constant (K _i ,) of 0.77Μg/mL, providing evidence that the antibody decreases the catalytic rate of enzyme activity and has an effect on substrate binding. These results strongly confirm the previous observations that APE may have two different active sites responsible for the expression of amylase and pullulanase activities (Kim, C. H. and Kim, Y. S.Eur. J. Biochem. 1995,227, 687–693).     

Highly efficient proteinase assay with chromogenic substrates and its application in a study of enzyme inhibitors

A simple and rapid method for the determination of enzyme activities with chromogenic substrates is described. Trypsin and papain were used as model proteinases and N-benzoyl-dl-arginine p-nitroanilide (BAPNA) was applied as substrate. The enzyme assay was performed on a multi-scale using 96-well microtitration plates and product release was detected with the aid of an automatic plate reader, widely used in ELISA tests. The procedure was used for electrophoretic studies of trypsin and a crude papain preparation. It was also applied for the investigation of N-peptidyl-O-acylhydroxylamine proteinase inhibitors. In comparison with commonly used procedures with chromogenic substrates, the proposed approach consumes markedly reduced amounts of all reagents. It allows an almost unlimited number of samples to be assayed in a short time and should be applicable to the detection and determination of any enzyme activitiy where chromogenic substrates are applicable.     

High-yield bacillus subtilis protease production by solid-state fermentation

A Bacillus subtilis isolate was shown to be able to produce extracellular protease in solid-state fermentations (SSF) using soy cake as culture medium. A significant effect of inoculum concentration and physiological age on protease production was observed. Maximum activities were obtained for inocula consisting of exponentially growing cells at inoculum concentrations in the range of 0.7–2.0 mg g⁻¹. A comparative study on the influence of cultivation temperature and initial medium pH on protease production in SSF and in submerged fermentation (SF) revealed that in SSF a broader pH range (5–10), but the same optimum temperature (37°C), is obtained when compared to SF. A kinetic study showed that enzyme production is associated with bacterial growth and that enzyme inactivation begins before biomass reaches a maximum level for both SF and SSF. Maximum protease activity and productivity were 960 U g⁻¹ and 15.4 U g⁻¹ h⁻¹ for SSF, and 12 U mL⁻¹ and 1.3 U mL⁻¹ h⁻¹ for SF. When SSF protease activity was expressed by volume of enzyme extract, the enzyme level was 10-fold higher and the enzyme productivity 45% higher than in SF. These results indicate that this bacterial strain shows a high biotechnological potential for protease production in solid-state fermentation.     

A comparison of three methods for cholinesterase analysis

Three methods of cholinesterase analysis in blood are compared: the ΔpH (modified Michel method), pH Stat, and radiometric methods. The ΔpH method was determined to be the best choice for routine laboratory screeening for organophosphate exposure. The methods all agree within experimental variation. The radiometric method uses a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) separation of acetate (¹⁴C) activity from acetylcholine (¹⁴C) activity with direct β counting or scintillation counting to determine the concentration of acetate activity. The methods were compared on freeze-dried human blood and on experimentally carbamate-inhibited mouse blood. The radiometric analysis may be performed using as little as 5 μl of blood. The radiometric method may enhance the ability to detect sublethal exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors. It should be of particular use where sampling size is of greatest importance.     

Synthesis and behaviour of hybrid polymer-silica membranes made by sol gel process with adsorbed carbonic anhydrase enzyme,in the capture of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Thin nylon-SiO₂ membranes made by sol–gel SiO₂ coating of a nylon weaving were impregnated in a second step with an aqueous carbonic anhydrase solution. The biocatalytic hybrid membranes obtained were applied to the capture of CO₂ from a N₂–CO₂ gas mixture containing 10% CO₂, under a total pressure ≈ 1 atm. The CO₂ permeance of these membranes was at least similar to those previously reported for liquid membranes. When impregnated with a 0.2 mg mL⁻¹ enzyme solution in a pH ≈ 8 NaHCO₃ buffer, the permeance of a nylon-SiO₂ membrane was multiplied by a factor ≈ 3 when the buffer molarity was increased from 0.1 to 1 M. By comparison, this permeance only increased by a factor ≈ 1.3 without any enzyme in the same buffers. The permeance was also higher with the enzyme than without it: respectively ≈3.7 10⁻⁸ and ≈4.7 10⁻⁹ mol \textm_{\textmembrane} ^{- 2} {\text{m}}_{\text{membrane}}^{{^{ - 2} }} s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ with and without enzyme, in a 1 M NaHCO₃ buffer. A maximum permeance was observed for an enzyme concentration of ≈0.2 mg mL⁻¹, possibly due to a competition between the H⁺ ions produced from CO_2,aq by the enzyme and the H⁺ captured by the buffer. Besides, when the SiO₂–CO₂ contact was enhanced by the membrane architecture, SiO₂ improved the CO₂ permeance. The influence of an in situ CaCO₃ deposit was also investigated and it improved the CO₂ permeance when no enzyme was added.     

Production of Thermophilic Endo-β-1,4-xylanases by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus fumigatus</Emphasis> FBSPE-05 Using Agro-industrial By-products

In the present paper, endo-β-1,4-xylanase production by Aspergillus fumigatus was evaluated in solid-state fermentation using low-cost substrates such as sugarcane bagasse (SCB), brewer’s spent grain (BSG), and wheat bran (WB). The partial characterization of the crude enzyme was also performed. In the experimental conditions, the highest levels of endo-β-1,4-xylanase production by A. fumigatus FBSPE-05 occurred within 8 days incubation when using SCB/liquid medium at 1:2 ratio (219.5 U g⁻¹) and 4 days incubation when using WB/liquid medium at 1:1 ratio (215.6 U g⁻¹). Crude enzyme from this last condition was used to enzyme characterization, showing best enzyme activity at 60 °C and pH 6.0, which suggests a thermophilic endoxylanase. The crude enzyme retained 73% of its activity after 1 h at 60 °C, and zymogram has shown three bands of endo-β-1,4-xylanase activity, with different molecular masses. A. fumigatus FBSPE-05 was able to grow and produce good levels of endo-β-1,4-xylanase using agro-industrial by-products, making this strain worthy for further investigation. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the use of SCB and/or BSG as sole substrates for endoxylanase production by solid-state fermentation using A. fumigatus.     

Reversibly sealed multilayer microfluidic device for integrated cell perfusion and on-line chemical analysis of cultured adipocyte secretions

A three-layer microfluidic device was developed that combined perfusion of cultured cells with on-line chemical analysis for near real-time monitoring of cellular secretions. Two layers were reversibly sealed to form a cell chamber that allowed cells grown on coverslips to be loaded directly into the chip. The outlet of the chamber was in fluidic contact with a third layer that was permanently bonded. Perfusate from the cell chamber flowed into this third layer where a fluorescence enzyme assay for non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) was performed on-line. The device was used to monitor efflux of NEFAs from ∼6,200 cultured adipocytes with 83 s temporal resolution. Perfusion of murine 3T3-L1 cultured adipocytes resulted in an average basal concentration of 24.2 ± 2.4 μM NEFA (SEM, n = 6) detected in the effluent corresponding to 3.31 × 10⁻⁵ nmol cell⁻¹ min⁻¹. Upon pharmacological treatment with a β-adrenergic agonist to stimulate lipolysis, a 6.9 ± 0.7-fold (SEM, n = 6) sustained increase in NEFA secretion was observed. This multilayer device provides a versatile platform that could be adapted for use with other cell types to study corresponding cellular secretions in near real-time.     

A Superoxide Dismutase Purified from the Rhizome of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Curcuma aeruginosa</Emphasis> Roxb. as Inhibitor of Nitric Oxide Production in the Macrophage-like RAW 264.7 Cell Line

Superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) is a metalloenzyme or antioxidant enzyme that catalyzes the disproportionation of the harmful superoxide anionic radical to hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen. Due to its antioxidative effects, SOD has long been applied in medicinal treatment, cosmetic, and other chemical industries. Fifteen Zingiberaceae plants were tested for SOD activity in their rhizome extracts. The crude homogenate and ammonium sulfate cut fraction of Curcuma aeruginosa were found to contain a significant level of SOD activity. The SOD enzyme was enriched 16.7-fold by sequential ammonium sulfate precipitation, diethylaminoethyl cellulose ion exchange, and Superdex 75 gel filtration column chromatography. An overall SOD yield of 2.51 % with a specific activity of 812.20 U/mg was obtained. The enriched SOD had an apparent MW of 31.5 kDa, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and a pH and temperature optima of 4.0 and 50 °C. With nitroblue tetrazolium and riboflavin as substrates, the K _m values were 57.31 ± 0.012 and 1.51 ± 0.014 M, respectively, with corresponding V _max values of 333.7 ± 0.034 and 254.1 ± 0.022 μmol min⁻¹ mg protein⁻¹. This SOD likely belongs to the Fe- or Mn-SOD category due to the fact that it was insensitive to potassium cyanide or hydrogen peroxide inhibition, but was potentially weakly stimulated by hydrogen peroxide, and stimulated by Mn²⁺and Fe²⁺ ions. Moreover, this purified SOD also exhibited inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in cultured mouse macrophage cell RAW 264.7 in a dose-dependent manner (IC₅₀ = 14.36 ± 0.15 μg protein/ml).     

A multimembrane enzyme reactor operating in an electric field

Summary A multimembrane enzyme reactor, operating under an electric field, is described. This reactor is based on the concept of isoelectric traps, by which a pair of membranes, of appropriate pI value, are able to trap the enzyme, the buffering ions (which have to be amphoteric), the substrate and, if needed, cofactors. Charged reaction products can thus leave the enzyme chamber and be recovered in other chambers where they are trapped by the same isoelectric mechanism (if amphoteric). The unique advantages of such reactors are absence of enzyme inhibition by a feed-back mechanism and reaction yields approaching 100%. Examples of a urease and a trypsin/casein reactor are given. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

Studies on complexation of cobalt with bioligand

The present work discusses the complexation behavior of bioligand cysteine with cobalt and the immobilization of this complex (Co–Cys) onto a biocompatible ligand and common drug base, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The complexation behavior has been studied by radiometric method and UV–Vis spectrophotometry. The radiometric method involves dialysis of ⁶⁰Co–Cys–PVP complex against triple distilled water which subsequently gives the dynamic dissociation constant (k _d) of the complex. The half life of ⁶⁰Co–Cys–PVP complex calculated from k _d value is 22.6 h against triple distilled water at pH 8.5. The UV–Vis spectra analysis confirms the complexation of Co with cysteine at this pH and also indicates that the cysteine ligated Co(II) centers easily get oxidised to Co(III) centers (low spin, d⁶) in the presence of air at alkaline pH showing no d–d transitions.     

Application of methyl parathion hydrolase (MPH) as a labeling enzyme

Methyl parathion hydrolase (MPH) is an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of methyl parathion, generating a yellow product with specific absorption at 405 nm. The application of MPH as a new labeling enzyme was illustrated in this study. The key advantages of using MPH as a labeling enzyme are as follows: (1) unlike alkaline phosphatase (AP), horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and glucose oxidase (GOD), MPH is rarely found in animal cells, and it therefore produces less background noise; (2) its active form in solution is the monomer, with a molecular weight of 37 kDa; (3) its turnover number is 114.70 ± 13.19 s⁻¹, which is sufficiently high to yield a significant signal for sensitive detection; and (4) its 3D structure is known and its C-terminal that is exposed to the surface can be easily subjected to the construction of genetic engineering monocloning antibody–enzyme fusion for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). To demonstrate its utility, MPH was ligated to an single-chain variable fragment (scFv), known as A1E, against a white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) with the insertion of a [–(Gly–Ser)₅–] linker peptide. The resulting fusion protein MPH-A1E possessed both the binding specificity of the scFv segment and the catalytic activity of the MPH segment. When MPH-A1E was used as an ELISA reagent, 25 ng purified WSSV was detected; this was similar to the detection sensitivity obtained using A1E scFv and the HRP/Anti-E Tag Conjugate protocol. The fusion protein also recognized the WSSV in 1 μL hemolymph from an infected shrimp and differentiated it from a healthy shrimp. Figure The 3-D structure of MPH. (a) monomer showing C- and N-terminals; (b) the crystal structure of the dimer W. Yang and Y.-F. Zhou contributed equally to this work.     

Preparatively useful transformations of steroids and morphine alkaloids by Mucor piriformis

A versatile fungus isolated in our laboratory and identified asMucor piriformis has been shown to effect novel and preparatively useful transformations in steroids and morphine alkaloids. The organism very effectively carries out hydroxylation of various C₁₉ and C₂₁ steroids at 7 and 14-positions. Although the organism is capable of catalysing hydroxylation at 6β and 1lα-positions, these are not the major activities. The 14α-hydroxylase appears to have a broad substrate specificity. However, steroids with a bulky substitution at C-17 α-position or without the 4-en-3-one group are not accepted as substrates by the 14α-hydroxylase system. Studies have demonstrated how various C₁₉ and C₂₁ steroids can be modified to yield new structures which are either difficult to prepare by traditional methods or hitherto unknown. The organism also very efficiently and selectively carries out the N-dealkylation of thebaine and its N-variants. Interestingly, the nor-compound formed does not get further metabolized. Since thebaine is very often used as a starting material to synthesize various morphine agonists as well as antagonists, and one of the steps involved in their preparation is the N-dealkylation reaction, the microbial process could certainly offer an alternative approach.