A new alarm pheromone (2-decen-1-yl-acetate) isolated from the stings ofApis dorsata andApis florea (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Summary From sting extracts ofApis dorsata andA. florea, a substance was isolated which is active in alarm behaviour of both of these species but not ofA. mellifera andA. cerana. The active substance was identified as 2-decen-1-yl-acetate.     

Comparison of bicyclic phosphorous esters with bicuculline and picrotoxin as antagonists of presynaptic inhibition in the rat cuneate nucleus

Summary The effects of 2 of a series of bicyclic phosphorous esters, the ethyl (EPTBO) and isopropyl (IPTBO) compounds, were compared with those of the GABA antagonists, picrotoxin and bicuculline, on presynaptic inhibition in the rat cuneate nucleus. Both EPTBO and IPTBO were found to be effective, reversible antagonists of presynaptic inhibition, with IPTBO approximately 10 times more potent than EPTBO and equipotent with bicuculline, EPTBO equipotent with picrotoxin.The authors are grateful to Dr J. F. Collins, Department of Chemistry, Sir John Cass School of Science and Technology, 31 Jewry Street, London, for the gift of bicyclic phosphorous esters.     

Free energy perturbation calculations on binding and catalysis after mutating Asn 155 in subtilisin

Site-directed mutagenesis is a very powerful approach to altering the biological functions of proteins, the structural stability of proteins and the interactions of proteins with other molecules. Several experimental studies in recent years have been directed at estimating the changes in catalytic properties, (rates of binding and catalysis) in site-directed mutants of enzymes compared to the native enzymes. Simulation approaches to the study of complex molecules have also become more powerful, in no small measure owing to the increase in computer power. These simulations have often allowed results of experiments to be rationalized and understood mechanistically. A new approach called the free-energy pertubation method, which uses statistical mechanics and molecular dynamics can often be used for quantitative calculation of free energy differences. We have applied such a technique to calculate the differential free energy of binding and free energy of activation for catalysis of a tripeptide substrate by native subtilisin and a subtilisin mutant (Asn 155----Ala 155). Our studies lead to a calculated difference in free energy of binding which is relatively small, but a calculated change in free energy of catalysis which is substantial. These energies are very close to those determined experimentally (J. A. Wells and D. A. Estell, personal communication), which were not known to us until the simulations were completed. This demonstrates the predictive power and utility of theoretical simulation methods in studies of the effects of site-specific mutagenesis on both enzyme binding and catalysis.     

Effect of actinomycin D or puromycin on microsomal testosterone hydroxylase activity enhanced by testosterone in female rat liver

Summary The injection of testosterone propionate for 4 successive days into female rats resulted in an increase of the in vitro conversion of the hydroxylated testosterones from testosterone by the hepatic microsomal, fraction, but no change in the content of microsomal cytochrome P-450 occurred. Actinomycin D or puromycin, which was administered for 4 days with injections of testosterone propionate, prevented the enzyme induction.     

Effect of phosphorylation of myosin light chains on interaction of heavy meromyosin with regulated F-actin in ghost fibers

The binding of phosphorylated heavy meromyosin to regulated F-actin in ghost fibers at high Ca2+ concentration increases, and at low Ca2+ concentration decreases, the anisotropy of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of F-actin. The effect is opposite to the effect of the binding of dephosphorylated heavy meromyosin.     

Synthesis and some characteristics of [13C]-specially enriched tetragastrin and the related compound

[13C]-enriched tetragastrin and the related compound were synthesized in solution. Conversion of S-[13C]methylated tetragastrin to the enriched tetragastrin gave 10.5 ppm upfield chemical shift of Cepsilon resonance. The potency of the synthetic tetragastrin to stimulate gastric acid secretion was virtually identical with that of pentagastrin (ICI).     

Amino-terminal fragments of Escherichia coli lac repressor bind to DNA.

The N-terminal fragments (residues 1-51 and 1-59) obtained by selective tryptic cleavage of native lac repressor retain the ability to bind DNA. These fragments (headpieces) are monomeric and form complexes which resemble those of tetrameric repressor with non-operator DNA. But, they do not show the high specificity of repressor for operator sequences. The DNA binding has been demonstrated by filter-binding assay as well as in solution using absorption, circular dichroism, and fluorescence measurements.     

Epstein-Barr virus genome-positive T lymphocytes in a boy with chronic active EBV infection associated with Kawasaki-like disease

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a ubiquitous human herpesvirus and an aetiological agent of infectious mononucleosis, has a unique tropism for B lymphocytes. Clinical and laboratory features of chronic active EBV infections are chronic or persistent infectious mononucleosis-like symptoms and high antibody titre against early antigens (EA). Kawasaki disease (KD), aetiology unknown, is thought to be self-limited immunologically mediated vasculitis. Clinical features of KD are fever, rash, mucositis, lymphadenopathy and coronary artery damage. We report here a child with chronic active EBV infection accompanied by dilatation of coronary arteries. All the EBV-determined nuclear antigen (EBNA)-positive lymphocytes had exclusively CD4 antigen, as revealed by dual staining immunofluorescence analysis. Southern blot hybridization showed that the purified CD4+ cells harboured EBV genome.