Sunil K. Podder

PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THREE TOXINS AND TWO AGGLUTININS FROM ABRUS PRECATORIUS SEED BY USING LACTAMYL-SEPHAROSE AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY

Three toxins, abrin-I, -II, and -III, and two agglutinins, APA-I and -II, were purified from the seeds of Abrus precatorius by lactamyl-Sepharose affinity chromatography followed by gel filtration and DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography. Abrin-I did not bind on DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography and the bound abrin-II, abrin-III, APA-I, and APA-II were eluted with a sodium acetate gradient. The identity of each protein was established by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. The relative molecular weights are abrin-I, 64,000; abrin-II and abrin-III, 63,000 each: APA-I, 130,000; and APA-II, 128,000. Isoelectric focusing revealed microheterogeneity due to the presence of isoforms in each protein. Toxicity and binding studies further confirmed the differences among the lectins. The time course of inhibition of protein synthesis in thymocytes by the toxins showed lag times of 78, 61, and 72 min with Kis of 0.55, 0.99, and 0.74 ms-1 at a 0.63 nM concentration of each of abrin-I, -II, and -III, respectively. A Scatchard plot obtained from the equilibrium measurement for the lectins binding to lactamyl-Sepharose beads showed nonlinearity, indicating a cooperative mode of binding which was not observed for APA-I binding to Sepharose 4B beads. Further, by the criterion of the isoelectric focusing profile, it was shown that the least toxic abrin-I and the highly toxic abrin-II isolated by lactamyl-Sepharose chromatography were not retained on a low-affinity Sepharose 4B matrix, which signifies the necessity of using a high-affinity matrix for the purification of the lectins.

The interaction of riboflavin with a protein isolated from hen's egg white: A spectrofluorimetric study

The interaction of riboflavin with a protein isolated from egg white has been studied spectrofluorimetrically at different pH values. In 0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 7.0; 1:1 complex formation occurs with the association constant Ka = 7.7-10(7) M-1. In the presence of 0.033% sodium dodecyl sulphate, the complex dissociated with a rate constant of 4-10(-2) sec-1 at 29 degrees C. The binding was sensitive to pH and to the antibodies produced against the protein. On lowering the pH from 7 to 4 the binding affinity decreased approximately 100-fold and below pH 4, the binding could not be detected at all. These data, together with those obtained by measuring the fluorescence intensities of riboflavin in presence of N-bromosuccinimide oxidized- and disulphide reduced apoprotein, suggest that carboxyl functions, 1-2 tryptophan residues and 2-3 disulphide bridges are essential for binding. The emission spectra of the protein under different conditions upon excitation at 280 and 295 nm were analyzed to calculate the quantum yield (Q) and the efficiency of energy transfer (e) from tyrosine to tryptophan residues. From these data it was concluded that the energy transfer did not occur with equal efficiency under all conditions and that the tryptophan residues responsible for the riboflavin binding are more accessible to N-bromosuccinimide oxidation than others.

Mode of action of antitumour antibiotics: Spectrophotometric studies on the interaction of chromomycin A3 with DNA and chromatin of normal and neoplastic tissue

The binding of chromomycin A3, an antitumour antibiotic, to various DNA and chromatin isolated from mouse and rat liver, mouse fibrosarcoma and Yoshida ascites sarcoma cells was studied spectrophotometrically at 29 degrees C in 10-2 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0, containing small amounts of MgCl2 (4.5-10-5--25-10-5 M). An isobestic point at 415 nm was observed when chromomycin A3 was gradually titrated with DNA/chromatin and its spectrum shifted towards higher wavelength. The rates and extent of these spectral changes were found to be dependent on the concentration of Mg2+. The change in absorbance at 440 nm was used to calculate apparent binding constant (Kap M-1) and sites per nucleotide (n) from Scatchard plots for various DNA and chromatins. As expected, values of n for chromatin (0.06-0.10) were found to be lower than found for corresponding DNA (0.10-0.15). Apparently no such correlation exists between binding constants (Kap M-1)-10-4) of DNA (6.4--11.2) and of chromatin (3.1--8.3), but Kap M-1 of chromatin isolated from mouse fibrosarcoma and Yoshida ascites sarcoma are 1.5--3 times higher than that found for mouse and rat liver chromatin. These differences may be taken to indicate structural difference in nucleoprotein complexes caused by neoplasia. The relevance of this finding to tumour suppressive action of chromomycin A3 is discussed.

Specificity in protein—nucleic acid interaction: Solubility study on amino acid—nucleoside interaction

The chemical basis of the specificity of proteinnucleic acid interaction, as seen in many biochemical phenomena such as the organization of nucleoprotein complexes (~hro~atin. ribosomes) and gene expression and its regulation, IS not yet understood.A knowledge of such specific interactions is also essential for tracing the chemical evolution of life based an the coupling between protein and nucleic acid and the origin of genetic code [I ,I?].

Calorimetric studies on the stability of the ribosome-inactivating protein abrin II: effects of pH and ligand binding

The effects of pH and ligand binding on the stability of abrin II, a heterodimeric ribosome-inactivating protein, and its subunits have been studied using high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry. At pH7.2, the calorimetric scan consists of two transitions, which correspond to the B-subunit [transition temperature (Tm) 319.2K] and the A-subunit (Tm 324.6K) of abrin II, as also confirmed by studies on the isolated A-subunit. The calorimetric enthalpy of the isolated A-subunit of abrin II is similar to that of the higher-temperature transition. However, its Tm is 2.4K lower than that of the higher-temperature peak of intact abrin II. This indicates that there is some interaction between the two subunits. Abrin II displays increased stability as the pH is decreased to 4.5. Lactose increases the Tm values as well as the enthalpies of both transitions. This effect is more pronounced at pH7.2 than at pH4.5. This suggests that ligand binding stabilizes the native conformation of abrin II. Analysis of the B-subunit transition temperature as a function of lactose concentration suggests that two lactose molecules bind to one molecule of abrin II at pH7.2. The presence of two binding sites for lactose on the abrin II molecule is also indicated by isothermal titration calorimetry. Plotting DeltaHm (the molar transition enthalpy at Tm) against Tm yielded values for DeltaCp (change in excess heat capacity) of 27+/-2 kJ.mol-1.K-1 for the B-subunit and 20+/-1 kJ.mol-1.K-1 for the A-subunit. These values have been used to calculate the thermal stability of abrin II and to surmise the mechanism of its transmembrane translocation.

Dynamics of carbohydrate—lectin interaction The interaction p-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactose with a lectin from Ricinius communis

L&in-induced agglutination is a complex process determined by several factprs such as the nature of lectin (valency, binding constant) the properties of cell membrane (fluidity, distribution of lectin receptor sites) and the metabolic state of the cell (microvilli, microtubules, microfilament) [l-3] . In order to assess quantitatively the effect of each of these factors, one has to obtain the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the interaction of various lectins with simple sugars, glycolipids and glycoproteins. We have been trying to estimate these parameters, particularly from the kinetic analysis of the precipitin reaction of the glycoprotein-lectin and glycolipidlectin systems in aqueous and lipid phases [4,5]. Here we wish to report our T-jump relaxation kinetic study on the binding of p-nitrophenyl-P-D-galactose (NPG) to RCAl, a galactose specific lectin isolated from Ricinius communis beans and the turbidimetric data on the binding of galactomanan to RCA1 . It is also shown that the presence of a small amount of galactose or its derivatives decreases the initial rate of the precipitin reaction. The relevance of this finding to lectin receptor binding assay is also disscussed.

Unusual structural stability and ligand induced alterations in oligomerization of a galectin

Abstract L‐14, a 14‐kDa S‐type lectin shows the jelly roll tertiary structural fold akin to legume lectins yet, unlike them, it does not dissociate on thermal unfolding. In the absence of ligand L‐14 displays denaturation transitions corresponding to tetrameric and octameric entities. The presence of complementary ligand reduces the association of L‐14, which is in stark contrast with legume lectins where no alterations in quaternary structures are brought about by saccharides. From the magnitude of the increase in denaturation temperature induced by disaccharides the binding constants calculated from differential scanning calorimetry are comparable with those extrapolated from titration calorimetry indicating that L‐14 interacts with ligands essentially in the folded state.

Reactivity of glycoconjugates in membranes. I. Determination of transbilayer distribution of gangliosides in lipid vesicles by chemical methods

Two simple chemical methods are described for the determination of the transbilayer distribution of gangliosides GD1a and GM1 in phosphatidylcholine vesicles. The data presented here show an increase in the percentage of GD1a exposed on the outer surface of vesicles with increasing mole fraction of GD1a. The percentage of GD1a exposed on 1:50 and 1:5 GD1a-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles were found to be 67% and 83%, respectively. The same trend is seen for vesicles with dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine and distearoylphosphatidylcholine. Extrapolation of the data to infinite dilution gives 65% of GD1a exposed on the surface of GD1a-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles. The results indicate that composition-dependent changes in transbilayer distribution of GD1a can only partly account for the observed increase in the reactivity of GD1a in vesicles towards neuraminidase from clostridium perfringens as the ratio of GD1a to phosphatidylcholine increases.

Comparative studies on kinetics of inhibition of protein synthesis in intact cells by ricin and a conjugate of ricin B-chain with momordin.

Ribosome inactivating proteins from plants have been widely used for the preparation of immunotoxins and hormonotoxins, which have potential application in the therapy of diseases such as cancer. However, these hybrid toxins have been found to be less cytotoxic than native ribosome inactivating proteins. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that control the intrinsic toxicity of RIPs and the hybrid toxins prepared using them. Here, a hybrid toxin has been prepared by coupling ricin B-chain to momordin and the cytotoxicity of this hybrid toxin has been compared to that observed in case of native ricin. In the two cell types used here, thymocytes and macrophages, the conjugate was found to be about 40 fold less toxic than native ricin. Kinetics of inhibition of protein synthesis showed that prior to onset of inhibition the conjugate exhibits a longer lag phase than native ricin. The rates of inhibition of protein synthesis by the conjugate were also found to be slower than ricin. Analysis of the results suggests that in addition to cell surface binding, the B-chain of ricin facilitates another step in the transmembrane translocation of ricin A-chain to the cytosol.

Ribosome-inactivating proteins and agglutinins from callus and suspension cultures of Ricinus communis L. and Abrus precatorius L.

Abstract Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) or toxins, as well as agglutinins, were isolated from callus and cell suspension cultures that were established from seed explants of Ricinus communis L. and Abrus precatorius L. The toxins viz. ricin from R. communis and abrin from A. precatorius as well as agglutinins viz., Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA) and Abrus precatorius agglutinin (APA) were synthesized in these cultures and were secreted into the medium. The lectins (RIPs and agglutinins) were synthesized through several passages of cultured cells at levels which make them attractive as an alternate source of lectins. Biosynthesis of these carbohydrate-binding proteins was regulated by specific exogenous hormones and was positively correlated with the growth of the cultures indicating that toxins and agglutins may have a role to play during cell division. The toxins and agglutinins were secreted into the medium providing a clue that they probably serve as defence molecules. Secretion of lectins into the medium facilitated easy isolation of the lectins. The synthesized lectins were purified from cultures and were partially characterized. They were biologically active, and were found to be comparable with lectins from seeds, in terms of their electrophoretic mobilities.