Local protein-DNA interactions may determine nucleosome positions on yeast plasmids

The structure of the nucleosome core particle, the basic structural subunit of chromatin, is well known. Although nucleosomes often appear to be positioned randomly with respect to DNA sequences, in some cases they seem to occupy precisely defined positions on the DNA. The yeast plasmid TRP1ARS1 contains three precisely positioned, stable nucleosomes, I, II and III, which are flanked by nuclease-sensitive regions. Our aim in the present study was to determine whether the positions of these three nucleosomes relate to (1) protein-DNA interactions; (2) the limited space between nuclease-sensitive regions, which is just long enough to accommodate three yeast nucleosomes (that is, boundary conditions); or (3) proximity to the putative origin of replication in one of the nuclease-sensitive regions. We have tested these alternatives by analysing the positions of nucleosomes after insertion of various lengths of DNA into this region and assembly of chromatin in vivo. Our results suggest that specific protein-DNA interactions are the most likely determinants of these nucleosome positions.     

Association of rheumatoid arthritis and primary osteoarthritis with changes in the glycosylation pattern of total serum IgG

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a widely prevalent (1-3%) chronic systemic disease thought to have an autoimmune component; both humoral and cellular mechanisms have been implicated. Primary osteoarthritis (OA) is considered to be distinct from rheumatoid arthritis, and here damage is thought to be secondary to cartilage degeneration. In rheumatoid arthritis, immune complexes are present that consist exclusively of immunoglobulin, implying that this is both the 'antibody' (rheumatoid factor [RF]) and the 'antigen' (most commonly IgG). Autoantigenic reactivity has been localized to the constant-region (C gamma 2) domains of IgG. There is no evidence for a polypeptide determinant but carbohydrate changes have been reported. We have therefore conducted a study, simultaneously in Oxford and Tokyo, to compare in detail the N-glycosylation pattern of serum IgG (Fig. 1) isolated from normal individuals and from patients with either primary osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The results, which required an evaluation of the primary sequences of approximately 1,400 oligosaccharides from 46 IgG samples, indicate that: (1) IgG isolated from normal individuals, patients with RA and patients with OA contains different distributions of asparagine-linked bi-antennary complex-type oligosaccharide structures, (2) in neither disease is the IgG associated with novel oligosaccharide structures, but the observed differences are due to changes in the relative extent of galactosylation compared with normal individuals. This change results in a 'shift' in the population of IgG molecules towards those carrying complex oligosaccharides, one or both of whose arms terminate in N-acetylglucosamine. These two arthritides may therefore be glycosylation diseases, reflecting changes in the intracellular processing, or post-secretory degradation of N-linked oligosaccharides.     

Isolation and characterization of hemagglutinins from the sponge Dysidea herbacea

The sponge Dysidea herbacea (Keller) was found to possess hemagglutinins. The major component, DHA-I, is a protein with a mol. wt of 26,000, which dissociates into subunits of equal size (14,000). It contains large amounts of glutamic acid and aspartic acid residues, but no half-cystine, methionine or histidine residues. DHA-I reacted with rabbit and human AB0 erythrocytes. D-galactose and lactose were effective inhibitors of DHA-I. The sponge also contained a minor component(s) which reacted preferentially with rabbit erythrocytes but not with human AB0 erythrocytes.     

Genes for the major protein antigens of the leprosy parasite Mycobacterium leprae

Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease afflicting between 10 and 15 million people, is caused by the obligate intracellular parasite Mycobacterium leprae. Although M. leprae was the first identified bacterial pathogen of man, basic biochemical, immunological, diagnostic and therapeutic investigations have been severely limited because it remains one of the few human pathogens that have not been cultured in vitro. An M. leprae recombinant DNA expression library was constructed to provide a source of genes encoding proteins relevant for such studies. Monoclonal antibodies directed against M. leprae specific antigens have been used to isolate the genes encoding the five most immunogenic protein antigens of the leprosy bacillus. We report here that M. leprae specific epitopes recognized by all of 13 monoclonal antibodies tested were produced by recombinant phage in Escherichia coli.     

Regional distribution of thiamin pyrophosphokinase in rat brain

Summary The highest specific activity of thiamin pyrophosphokinase was found in the cerebellum, and lower activity in cerebral cortex and midbrain. The regional difference in the enzyme activity was similar to that in thiamin content and the influx rate in rat brain, suggesting that the enzyme is involved in the thiamin transport.     

A highly polymorphic DNA marker linked to adult polycystic kidney disease on chromosome 16

Adult polycystic kidney disease (APCKD) is a common and often lethal multi-organ disease with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance; approximately 1 in 1,000 people carry the mutant gene. The major pathological abnormality is the development and progressive enlargement of cysts in several organs including the liver, pancreas and spleen as well as the kidneys. The basic biochemical defect which leads to the formation of cysts remains unknown. Cyst development, which is not retarded by any known therapy, leads to irreversible renal failure and death at a mean age of 51 unless dialysis or transplantation are used. Patients with the disease account for 9% of chronic dialysis requirement. The first symptoms tend to occur in the fourth decade, after most patients have reproduced. Presymptomatic diagnosis depends on the ultrasonographic detection of cysts, but exclusion cannot be achieved by this means; 34% of at-risk patients in the second decade and 14% in the third will go on to develop cysts after negative diagnosis. The low sensitivity of diagnostic techniques in this critical age-range imposes severe limitations on genetic counselling and the condition cannot be identified prenatally. Hence we have searched for a linkage marker for APCKD; we show here that the APCKD locus is closely linked to the alpha-globin locus on the short arm of chromosome 16 (zeta = 25.85, theta = 0.05).     

Bromocriptine-induced removal of endoplasmic membranes from prolactinoma cells

Adenomatous prolactin cells lose 39% of their cytoplasm volume within 7 days after the beginning of bromocriptine treatment. A simultaneous reduction of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus occurs. Their membranes are removed by rapid transport along the secretory pathway to the cell surface and to lysosomal destruction.