An ageing effect in inhibited esterases: Elimination of phenol from DPClP-inhibited chymotrypsin and trypsin

Résumé Les solutions de chymotrypsine et de trypsine inhibitées par le diphényle phosphorochloridate éliminent le phénol par un processus stoichiométrique, selon une réaction secondaire qui se produit spontanément dans la région du pH 6–8. Les auteurs émettent une proposition quant aux modalités de ce processus qu'ils appliquent au vieillissement du D.F.P.-pseudocholinestérase.     

A transmission and scanning electron microscopic study of cytoplasmic threads of dividing neuroepithelial cells in early chick embryos

Summary Cytoplasmic threads found on the luminal surface of the developing chick neuroepithelium contain a remnant of the spindle complex and an electron-dense midbody. Most threads become long and thin and eventually split at the midbody. This finding suggests that the midbody plays a role in the final separation of daughter cells.This study was supported in part by grants from the Research Council and the Charles and Johanna Busch Memorial Fund of Rutgers University.     

Cell-specific mitotic defect and dyserythropoiesis associated with erythroid band 3 deficiency

Most eukaryotic cell types use a common program to regulate the process of cell division. During mitosis, successful partitioning of the genetic material depends on spatially coordinated chromosome movement and cell cleavage. Here we characterize a zebrafish mutant, retsina (ret), that exhibits an erythroid-specific defect in cell division with marked dyserythropoiesis similar to human congenital dyserythropoietic anemia. Erythroblasts from ret fish show binuclearity and undergo apoptosis due to a failure in the completion of chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. Through positional cloning, we show that the ret mutation is in a gene (slc4a1) encoding the anion exchanger 1 (also called band 3 and AE1), an erythroid-specific cytoskeletal protein. We further show an association between deficiency in Slc4a1 and mitotic defects in the mouse. Rescue experiments in ret zebrafish embryos expressing transgenic slc4a1 with a variety of mutations show that the requirement for band 3 in normal erythroid mitosis is mediated through its protein 4.1R-binding domains. Our report establishes an evolutionarily conserved role for band 3 in erythroid-specific cell division and illustrates the concept of cell-specific adaptation for mitosis.     

A structural state of the myosin V motor without bound nucleotide

The myosin superfamily of molecular motors use ATP hydrolysis and actin-activated product release to produce directed movement and force. Although this is generally thought to involve movement of a mechanical lever arm attached to a motor core, the structural details of the rearrangement in myosin that drive the lever arm motion on actin attachment are unknown. Motivated by kinetic evidence that the processive unconventional myosin, myosin V, populates a unique state in the absence of nucleotide and actin, we obtained a 2.0 A structure of a myosin V fragment. Here we reveal a conformation of myosin without bound nucleotide. The nucleotide-binding site has adopted new conformations of the nucleotide-binding elements that reduce the affinity for the nucleotide. The major cleft in the molecule has closed, and the lever arm has assumed a position consistent with that in an actomyosin rigor complex. These changes have been accomplished by relative movements of the subdomains of the molecule, and reveal elements of the structural communication between the actin-binding interface and nucleotide-binding site of myosin that underlie the mechanism of chemo-mechanical transduction.