MEMBRANE DAMAGE AND RECOVERY ASSOCIATED WITH GROWTH DELAY INDUCED BY NEAR-UV RADIATION IN Escherichia coliK–12

Abstract— The growth delay induced by near-UV radiation has been largely attributed to injured tRNA's and to the stringent response. We report an associated membrane perturbation whose recovery determines substantial modifications in the behavior of log phase Escherichia coli K–12 exposed to sublethal doses of near-UV radiation (366 nm). When incubated at 37°C in plain nutrient broth, cells suffered a growth delay of about 100 min with parallel inhibition of several membrane functions. Conversely, when grown in conditions known to influence membrane activities, these were slightly inhibited and the growth delay lasted about 50 min. All the above conditions triggered the stringent response, characterized by an equivalent post-irradiation burst of intracellular guanosine 5'3' tetra and pentaphosphate and by a similar decay rate of the nucleotides accumulated at time 0 of the growth lag. According to our data the polyphosphates' half decay time in irradiated cells remains practically constant and close to 15 min. But, while cells from unsupplemented broth at 37°C resumed normal growth in around 100 min those with recovered membranes were rescued from growth inhibition in about one half of that time.     

Role of the Quorum Sensing Mechanism in the Response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Lethal and Sublethal UVA Irradiation

The role of quorum sensing (QS) in the response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to UVA radiation was investigated in the PAO1 strain and derivatives defective in the synthesis of the QS signals 3OC12-HSL (lasI strain), C4-HSL (rhlI strain) or both (lasI rhlI strain). Cell viability measurements demonstrated that the double mutant was significantly more sensitive to UVA than single mutants, which in turn showed reduced cell survival with regard to the PAO1 strain. Irradiation under nitrogen atmosphere and chemiluminescence measurements indicated the oxidative nature of the UVA-induced damage. The activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase was assayed in these strains before and after irradiation, and a strong correlation between catalase levels and UVA sensitivity was observed. When a sublethal UVA dose was applied to PAO1, a growth delay was observed and this mechanism depended on the rhl system. Moreover, low doses of UVA irradiation triplicated the level of C4-HSL in log PAO1 cells. It is concluded that QS is fundamental in the defense against the toxic effects of UVA in P. aeruginosa. The induction of the QS system by UVA independently of cell density could function as an adaptative strategy to withstand this hostile environmental condition.     

Industrial case study: Evaluation of a mixed-mode resin for selective capture of a human growth factor recombinantly expressed in E. coli

Mixed-mode chromatography resins are gaining popularity as effective purification tools for challenging feedstocks. This study presents the development of an industrial application to selectively capture recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor (rhVEGF) on Capto MMC from an alkaline feedstock. Capto MMC resin contains a ligand that has the potential to participate in ionic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen boding interactions with proteins and is coupled to a highly cross-linked agarose bead matrix. VEGF is a key growth factor involved in angiogenesis and has therapeutic applications for wound healing. In this process, it is expressed in Escherichia coli as inclusion bodies. Solids are harvested from the cell lysate, and the rhVEGF is solubilized and refolded at pH 9.8 in the presence of urea and redox reagents. The unique mixed-mode characteristics of Capto MMC enabled capture of this basic protein with minimal load conditioning and delivered a concentrated pool for downstream processing with >95% yields while reducing host cell protein content to <1.2%. This study explores the impact of loading conditions and residence time on the dynamic binding capacity as well as the development of elution conditions for optimal purification performance. After evaluating various elution buffers, l-arginine HCl was shown to be an effective eluting agent for rhVEGF desorption from the Capto MMC mixed-mode resin since it successfully disrupted the multiple interactions between the resin and rhVEGF. The lab scale effort produced a robust chromatography step that was successfully implemented at commercial manufacturing scale.     

Partial exchange of the Li, Na and K alkaline cations in the HNi(PO4)·H2O layered compound

The exchange of the Li⁺(1), Na⁺(2) and K⁺(3) alkaline cations in the layered HNi(PO₄)·H₂O was carried out starting from a methanolic solution containing the Li(OH)·H₂O hydroxide for (1) and the M(OH) (M=Na and K) hydroxides together with the (C₆H₁₃NH₂)_0.75HNiPO₄·H₂O phases for (2) and (3). The compounds are stable until, approximately, 280 °C for (1) and 400 °C for phases (2) and (3), respectively. The IR spectra show the bands belonging to the water molecule and the (PO₄)³⁻ oxoanion. The diffuse reflectance spectra indicate the existence of Ni(II), d⁸, cations in slightly distorted octahedral geometry. The calculated Dq and Racah (B and C) parameters have a mean value of Dq=765, B=905 and , respectively, in accordance with the values obtained habitually for this octahedral Ni(II) cation. The study of the exchange process performed by X-ray powder diffraction indicates that the exchange of the Li⁺ cation in the lamellar HNi(PO₄)·H₂O phase is the minor rapid reaction, whereas the exchange of the Na⁺ and K⁺ cations needs the presence of the intermediate (C₆H₁₃NH₂)_0.75HNiPO₄·H₂O intercalate in order to obtain the required product with the sodium and potassium ions. The Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) images show a mean size of particle of 5 μm. The Li⁺ exchanged compound exhibits small ionic conductivity (Ω cm⁻¹ is in the 10⁻⁸-10⁻⁹ range) probably restrained by the methanol solvent. Magnetic measurements carried out from 5 K to room temperature indicate antiferromagnetic coupling as the major interaction in the three phases. Notwithstanding the Li and K phases show a weak ferromagnetism at low temperatures.     

Pseudomonas aeruginosa UV-A-induced lethal effect: influence of salts, nutritional stress and pyocyanine.

The presence of NaCl in plating media shows an important protection against the Pseudomonas aeruginosa UV-A-induced lethal effect, contrasting with the known sensitizing action of salts on UV-A-irradiated Escherichia coli cells. MgSO4 exhibits a similar protection, but lower concentrations than for NaCl are needed to achieve the same effect. NaCl protection from lethal effects involves an osmotic mechanism, while MgSO4 could act by a different process. On the other hand, when cells grown in a complete medium are then incubated for 20 min in a synthetic medium and irradiated with UV-A, a very marked protection is obtained. This protection is dependent on protein synthesis, since treatment with tetracycline, during the nutritional stress, blocks its induction. These results offer a new example of cross-protection among different stressing agents. In our experimental conditions, natural phenazines of P. aeruginosa are not present in the cells, ruling out the possibility that these pigments act as photosensitizers. Conversely, pyocyanine (the major phenazine produced by this microorganism) prevents the UV-A killing effect in a concentration-dependent way when present in the irradiation media. Finally, UV-A irradiation induces, as in E. coli, the accumulation of guanosine tetraphosphate and guanosine pentaphosphate, although the physiological meaning of this finding has yet to be determined.     

Solvent and Media Effects on the Photophysics of Naphthoxazole Derivatives

The photophysical properties of 2‐phenyl‐naphtho[1,2‐d][1,3]oxazole, 2(4‐N,N‐dimethylaminophenyl)naphtho[1,2‐d][1,3]oxazole and 2(4‐N,N‐diphenylaminophenyl) naphtho[1,2‐d][1,3]oxazole were studied in a series of solvents. UV–Vis absorption spectra are insensitive to solvent polarity whereas the fluorescence spectra in the same solvent set show an important solvatochromic effect leading to large Stokes shifts. Linear solvation energy relationships were employed to correlate the position of fluorescence spectra maxima with microscopic empirical solvent parameters. This study indicates that important intramolecular charge transfer takes place during the excitation process. In addition, an analysis of the solvatochromic behavior of the UV–Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra in terms of the Lippert–Mataga equation shows a large increase in the excited‐state dipole moment, which is also compatible with the formation of an intramolecular charge‐transfer excited state. We propose both naphthoxazole derivatives as suitable fluorescent probes to determine physicochemical microproperties in several systems and as dyes in dye lasers; consequence of their high fluorescence quantum yields in most solvents, their large molar absorption coefficients, with fluorescence lifetimes in the range 1–3 ns as well as their high photostability.     

New mass spectrometric approaches to structural analysis in mixtures

Structural analysis of minor components in mixtures is a vital requirement in the development of any pharmaceutical compound. Mass spectrometry is uniquely able to give this kind of information on the trace amounts of material present as minor impurities in a drug substance. In this study we show that a combination of mass spectrometric analysers with different characteristics is an even more powerful approach with a higher chance of establishing a potential structure. In particular the advent of analysers capable of accurate mass measurement on small amounts of material has enabled structures to be proposed in situations where previously no real conclusions could be made. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.