Studies on the metabolism of β-carotene and apo-β-carotenoids in rats and chickens

1. (1) The relative abilities of the various cell fractions of rat and chicken liver to oxidize and reduce retinal and 8'- and 12'-apo-β-carotenal were investigated and it has been shown that, while retinal is exclusively oxidized by the soluble fraction, the apocarotenals are mostly oxidized by the particulate fractions of the homogenate. 2. (2) Addition of NAD+ or NADP+ markedly activated the oxidation of the apocarotenals, but not of retinal by the particulate fractions. 3. (3) Considerable amounts of retinal and 8'-, 10'- and 12'-apo-β-carotenal were isolated from the intestine of chickens fed β-carotene and these apocarotenoids were conclusively identified. 4. (4) Significant amounts of 8'-, 10'- and 12'-apo-β-carotenoic acids were isolated from the intestine of rats given 8'-apo-β-carotenal and these apocarotenoic acids were also conclusively identified. 5. (5) In the light of these observations it is suggested that during conversion to vitamin A, the β-carotene molecule is simultaneously attacked by the dioxygenase at several double bonds, the primary attack being at the central double bond and a tentative scheme for the mechanism of conversion is proposed.

Functional studies of purified transmembrane proteases, omptins, of Yersinia pestis and Salmonella enterica.

Surface proteolysis is important in migration of cells through tissue barriers. In the case of prokaryotes, surface proteolysis has been associated with invasiveness of pathogenic bacteria from the primary infection site into circulation and secondary infection sites in the host. This study addressed surface proteases of two important bacterial pathogens, Yersinia pestis which is the causative agent of the lethal systemic zoonosis, plague, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium which is an oral-faecal pathogen that annually causes millions of cases of gastoenteritis that may develop to septicaemia. Both bacterial species express an ortholog of the omptin family of transmembrane β-barrel, outer membrane proteases/adhesins. This thesis work addressed the functions of isolated plasminogen activator Pla of Y. pestis and the PgtE omptin of S. enterica. Pla and PgtE were isolated as His6-fusion proteins in denaturing conditions from recombinant Escherichia coli and activated by adding lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The structural features in LPS that enhance plasminogen activation by His6-Pla were determined, and it was found that the lack of O-specifi c chain, the presence of outer core oligosaccharide, the presence of phosphates in lipid A, as well as a low level of acylation in lipid A influence the enhancement of Pla activity by LPS. A conserved lipid A phosphate binding motif in Pla and PgtE was found important for the enhancement of enzymatic activity by LPS. The results help to explain the biological signifi cance of the genetic loss of the O-specifi c chain biosynthesis in Y. pestis as well as the variations in LPS structure upon entry of Y. pestis into the human host. Expression of Pla in Y. pestis is associated with adhesiveness to lamin of basement membranes. Here, isolated and LPS-activated His6-Pla was coated onto fluorescent microparticles. The coating conferred specifi c adhesiveness of the particles to laminin and reconstituted basement membrane, thus confi rming the intrinsic adhesive characteristics of the Pla protein. The adhesiveness is thought to direct plasmin proteolysis at tissue barriers, thus increasing tissue damage and bacterial spread. Gelatinase activity has not been previously reported in enteric bacteria. Expression of PgtE in S. enterica was associated with cleavage of porcine skin gelatin, denaturated human type I collagen, as well as DQ-gelatin. Purifi ed His6-PgtE also degraded porcine skin gelatin and human type I gelatin but did not react with DQ-gelatin, indicating that minor differences are seen in proteolysis by isolated and cell-bound PgtE. Pla was less effective in gelatin degradation. The novel gelatinase activity in S. enterica is likely to enhance bacterial dissemination during infection.

The Human UDP-Glucuronosyltransferases: Studies on Substrate Binding and Catalytic Mechanism

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Structure-Function Studies of GDNF Family Ligand-RET signalling

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its family members neurturin (NRTN), artemin (ARTN) and persephin (PSPN) are growth factors, which are involved in the development, differentiation and maintenance of many neuron types. In addition, they function outside of the nervous system, e.g. in the development of kidney, testis and liver. GDNF family ligand (GFL) signalling happens through a tetrameric receptor complex, which includes two glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored GDNF family receptor (GFRα) molecules and two RET (rearranged during transfection) receptor tyrosine kinases. Each of the ligands binds preferentially one of the four GFRα receptors: GDNF binds to GFRα1, NRTN to GFRα2, ARTN to GFRα3 and PSPN to GFRα4. The signal is then delivered by RET, which cannot bind the GFLs on its own, but can bind the GFL-GFRα complex. Under normal cellular conditions, RET is only phosphorylated on the cell surface after ligand binding. At least the GDNF-GFRα1 complex is believed to recruit RET to lipid rafts, where downstream signalling occurs. In general, GFRαs consist of three cysteine-rich domains, but all GFRα4s except for chicken GFRα4 lack domain 1 (D1). We characterised the biochemical and cell biological properties of mouse PSPN receptor GFRα4 and showed that it has a significantly weaker capacity than GFRα1 to recruit RET to the lipid rafts. In spite of that, it can phosphorylate RET in the presence of PSPN and contribute to neuronal differentiation and survival. Therefore, the recruitment of RET to the lipid rafts does not seem to be crucial for the biological activity of all GFRα receptors. Secondly, we demonstrated that GFRα1 D1 stabilises the GDNF-GFRα1 complex and thus affects the phosphorylation of RET and contributes to the biological activity. This may be important in physiological conditions, where the concentration of the ligand or the soluble GFRα1 receptor is low. Our results also suggest a role for D1 in heparin binding and, consequently, in the biodistribution of released GFRα1 or in the formation of the GFL-GFRα-RET complex. We also presented the crystallographic structure of GDNF in the complex with GFRα1 domains 2 and 3. The structure differs from the previously published ARTN-GFRα3 structure in three significant ways. The biochemical data verify the structure and reveal residues participating in the interactions between GFRα1 and GDNF, and preliminarily also between GFRα1 and RET and heparin. Finally, we showed that, the precursor of the oncogenic MEN 2B (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2) form of RET gets phosphorylated already during its synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We also demonstrated that it associates with Src homology 2 domain-containing protein (SHC) and growth factor receptor-bound protein (GRB2) in the ER, and has the capacity to activate several downstream signalling molecules.

X-ray studies of crystalline complexes involving amino acids. II. The crystal structure of L-arginine L-glutamate

Abstract is not available.

Studies of multiple ionization in the RF spark and vacuum vibrator arc ion sources

Relative abundance distributions of multiply-charged ionic species have been measured for the RF spark and vacuum vibrator are ion sources, for a number of elements. An attempt has been made to explain the observed charge state distribution on the basis of models for the arc and spark plasma. The difficulties in the way of explaining the observed charge state distributions, using the LTE model with Saha distribution as well as the corona model, are pointed out. The distribution can be explained by a diffusion-dominated plasma model with known or calculated values for ionization cross-sections, the single impact model being suitable for the RF spark and the multiple impact model for the vibrator arc.

Mechanistic Studies on Composite-Solid Propellants

Abstract is not available.

Structural and kinetic studies on the activators of succinate dehydrogenase

1. 1. Diverse classes of compounds such as dicarboxylates, pyrophosphates, quinols and nitrophenols are known to activate mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.1). Examples in each class — malonate, pyrophosphate, ubiquinol and 2,4-dinitrophenol — are selected for comparative studies on the kinetic constants and structural relationship. 2. 2. The activated forms of the enzyme obtained on preincubating mitochondria with the effectors exhibited Michaelian kinetics and gave doublereciprocal plots which are nearly parallel to that of the basal form. On activation, Km for the substrate also increased along with V. The effectors activated the enzyme at low concentrations and inhibited, in a competitive fashion, at high concentrations. The binding constant for activation was lower than that for inhibition for each effector. 3. 3. These compounds possess ionizable twin oxygens separated by a distance of Image and having fractional charges in the range of −0.26 to −0.74 e. The common twin-oxygen feature of the substrate and the effectors suggested the presence of corresponding counter charges in the binding domain. The competitive nature of effectors with the substrate for inhibition further indicated the close structural resemblance of the activation and catalytic sites.

Studies in terpenoids. Part XXXI. Synthesis of pyrocurzerenone, a furosesquiterpenoid from Curcuma zedoaria

7-Acetonyloxy-5-methyl--tetralone (Vc) was cyclodehydrated to 7,8-dihydro-1,5-dimethylnaphtho[2,1-b]furan-9(6H)-one (VIa), the structure of which was established by an independent synthesis from methyl 4-(4-acetonyloxy-2-methylphenyl)butyrate (IXd). Similarly, 7-acetonyloxy-2,5-dimethyl--tetralone (Vf), synthesized via 4-(5-isopropyl-4-methoxy-2-methylphenyl)-2-methylbutyric acid (XIIb) and 7-methoxy-2,5-dimethyl--tetralone (Vd), was cyclodehydrated to 7,8-dihydro-1,5,8-trimethylnaphtho[2,1-b]furan-9(6H)-one (VIb), which on reduction and dehydration furnished pyrocurzerenone (6,7-dihydro-1,5,8-trimethylnaphtho[2,1-b]furan)(I). The deisopropylation and cyclodehydration of (XIIb) to (Vd) were effected in one step by treatment with polyphosphoric acid.

Studies in terpenoids. Part XXX. Synthesis of pterosin E, a sesquiter-penoid from bracken

Pterosin E (2,5,7-trimethyl-1-oxoindan-6-ylacetic acid)(Ia), a naturally occurring sesquiterpenoid has been synthesized starting from -bromomesitylene (IIIa). Alkylation of diethyl methylmalonate with (IIIa) gave the diester (IIIb) which was converted into the cyanomethyl diester (IVb). Hydrolysis of (IVb) to the dicarboxylic acid (V) followed by its cyclodehydration gave pterosin E.

Studies on transport phenomena during solidification of an aluminum alloy in the presence of linear electromagnetic stirring

Numerical and experimental studies on transport phenomena during solidification of an aluminum alloy in the presence of linear electromagnetic stirring are performed. The alloy is electromagnetically stirred to produce semisolid slurry in a cylindrical graphite mould placed in the annulus of a linear electromagnetic stirrer. The mould is cooled at the bottom, such that solidification progresses from the bottom to the top of the cylindrical mould. A numerical model is developed for simulating the transport phenomena associated with the solidification process using a set of single-phase governing equations of mass. momentum, energy. and species conservation. The viscosity variation of the slurry, used in the model, is determined experimentally using a rotary viscometer. The set of governing equations is solved using a pressure-based finite volume technique, along with an enthalpy based phase change algorithm. The numerical study involves prediction of temperature, velocity, species and solid fraction distribution in the mould. Corresponding solidification experiments are performed, with time-temperature history recorded at key locations. The microstructures at various temperature measurement locations in the solidified billet are analyzed. The numerical predictions of temperature variations are in good agreement with experiments, and the predicted flow field evolution correlates well with the microstructures observed at various locations.

Synthesis and Structure-Activity Correlation Studies of Secondary- and Tertiary-Amine-Based Glutathione Peroxidase Mimics

In this study, a series of seeondary- and tertiary-amino-substituted diaryl diselenides were synthesized and studied for their glutathione peroxidase (GPx) like antioxidant activities with H2O2, cumene hydroperoxide, or tBuOOH as substrates and with PhSH or glutathione (GSH) as thiol cosubstrates. This study reveals that replacement of the tert-amino groups in benzylamine-based diselenides by sec-amino moieties drastically enhances the catalytic activities in both the aromatic thiol (PhSH) and GSH assay systems. Particularly, the N-propyl- and N-isopropylamino-substituted diselenides are 8-18 times more active than the corresponding N,N-dipropyl- and N,N-diisopropylamine-based compounds in all three peroxide systems when GSH is used as the thiol cosubstrate. Although the catalytic mechanism of sec-amino-substituted disclenides is similar to that of the tert-amine-based compounds, differences in the stability and reactivity of some of the key intermediates account for the differences in the GPx-like activities. it is observed that the sec-amino groups are better than the tert-amino moieties for generating the catalytically active selenols. This is due to the absence of any significant thiol-exchange reactions in the selenenyl sulfides derived from sec-amine-based diselenides. Furthermore, the seleninic acids (RSeO2H) derived from the sec-amine-based compounds are more stable toward further reactions with peroxides than their tert-amine-based analogues.

A systematic-ecological approach to Baltic Sea ice studies of algae and protists

The seasonal occurrence of sea ice that annually covers almost half the Baltic Sea area provides a unique habitat for halo- and cold temperature-tolerant extremophiles. Baltic Sea ice biology has more than 100 years of tradition that began with the floristic observation of species by the early pioneers using light microscopic techniques that were the only thing available at the time. Since the discovery of life within sea ice, more technologies have become available for taxonomy. Electron microscopy and genetic evidence have been used to identify sea ice biota revealing increased numbers of taxa. Meanwhile ecologists have used light microscopic cell enumeration in addition to the chemical and physical properties of sea ice in attempts to explain the food web structure of sea ice and its functions. Thus, during the Baltic winter, the sea ice hosts more abundant and diverse microbial communities than the water column beneath it. These communities are typically dominated by autotrophic diatoms together with a diverse assortment of dinoflagellates, auto- and heterotrophic flagellates, ciliates, metazoan rotifers and bacteria, which are mostly responsible for the recycling of nutrients. This thesis comprises ecological and systematic studies. In addition to the results of the previous studies carried out on landfast ice, the data presented here provide new insight into the spatial distribution of pelagial sea ice, which has remained largely unexplored. The studies reveal spatial heterogeneity in the pelagial sea ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. There were mismatches in chlorophyll-a concentrations and in photosynthetic efficiencies of the communities studied. The temporal succession was followed and experimental studies performed investigating the community responses towards increased or decreased light in landfast ice in the Gulf of Finland. The systematic studies carried out with established dinoflagellate cultures revealed a new resting cyst belonging to common sea ice dinoflagellate, Scrippsiella hangoei (Schiller) Larsen 1995. The cyst can be used to explain the overwintering of this species during prolonged periods of darkness. The dissimilarities and similarities in the material isolated from the sea ice called for description of a new subspecies Heterocapsa arctica ssp. frigida. The cells obtained in the cultured material were unlike those of the previously described species, necessitating description of ssp. frigida. As a result of its own unique habitus, the subspecies had been noted by Finnish taxonomists during the past three decades and thus its annual occurrence and geographical distribution in the Baltic Sea. This illustrates how combining ecology and systematics increases our understanding of organisms.