Isolation and partial characterization of CD36 from skim milk.

CD36, a common milk fat globule membrane glycoprotein, was isolated from skim milk by methods similar to those previously utilized for the isolation of sulfhydryl oxidase. Two separate methods that were employed, gave similar purity as observed by electrophoresis. The first was based on differential centrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography, whereas the second combined ultrafiltration and affinity chromatography. After significant purification, the protein was identified by Western blotting and sequence analysis. Deglycosylation decreased the apparent molecular mass from approximately 85 to 57 kDa. These results suggested tissue-specific glycosylation. The purified fractions also exhibited low levels of sulfhydryl oxidase activity, the significance of which will require further study.

Binding of Lactobacillus reuteri to fibronectin immobilized on glass beads.

Human fibronectin was immobilized on glass beads. The beads were used to evaluate binding of Lactobacillus reuteri to fibronectin. Organisms bound to the glass beads were detected using fluorescence microscopy after treatment with acridine orange. This binding was confirmed and quantified with the use of [3H]-labelled organisms. Three strains of Lactobacillus reuteri, three strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus and one strain of Lactobacillus fermentum were tested for binding capacity. L. reuteri strain 1063 exhibited a strong binding to the immobilized fibronectin, and L. acidophilus 1754 showed a slight binding. The binding of L. reuteri to the fibronectin was mediated by a protein as judged by the absence of binding after treatment of the bacteria with proteolytic enzymes. Treatment of the bacteria with urea, SDS and heat (80 degrees C) also reduced binding. Treatment of the bacterial cells prior to the assay with fibronectin interfered with binding. Albumin did not show this interaction.

Confirmation of a blocked amino terminus of sulfhydryl oxidase.

The isolation of sulfhydryl oxidase from bovine milk in a suitably pure form for sequencing was carried out by transient covalent affinity chromatography of diafiltered whey using cysteinylsuccinamidopropyl-glass as matrix. The glutathione-eluted proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE. By radiolabeling the affinity chromatography-purified enzyme with [14C]iodoacetate before subjecting to SDS-PAGE, the sulfhydryl oxidase band was identified, because sulfhydryl oxidase is known to be inactivated by alkylation of one sulfhydryl group per mole. The results confirmed that sulfhydryl oxidase corresponds to the 85 (+/- 5)-k-Daband observed on SDS-PAGE. The protein band corresponding to radiolabeled sulfhydryl oxidase was recovered from SDS-PAGE gels by electrophoretic elution and by electroblotting on polyvinylidene difluoride membrane and polyvinylidene difluoride membrane and subjected to gas phase sequencing. Precautions were taken during electrophoretic elution to prevent reactions that result in N-terminal blocking. Both methods of protein recovery yielded negative results when subjected to sequence analysis indicating that the N-terminus of sulfhydryl oxidase is blocked.

Sulfhydryl oxidase-catalyzed formation of disulfide bonds in reduced ribonuclease.

Sulfhydryl oxidase isolated from bovine skim milk membrane vesicles catalyzes de novo formation of disulfide bonds with the substrates cysteine, cysteine-containing peptides, and reduced proteins using molecular oxygen as the electron acceptor. Initial rates for sulfhydryl oxidase-catalyzed oxidation of reduced ribonuclease exhibited typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics at low substrate concentrations. Substrate inhibition of the oxidative activity was observed at ribonuclease concentrations greater than 40 microM, similar to that observed with reduced glutathione or other small thiol substrates. The inhibition was more pronounced when ribonuclease activity was used to monitor the rates, presumably due to concentration-dependent formation of nonnative disulfide bonds. Thus, a maximum in the rate of regain of ribonuclease activity was observed at a 40 microM concentration, while optimum recovery was observed at 30 microM. The Michaelis constant obtained with reduced ribonuclease is 17.4 microM which corresponds to a sulfhydryl concentration of 0.14 mM, a value that compares favorably with the best small thiol substrate, reduced glutathione. Disulfide-containing intermediates in the oxidation pathway, as determined by ion-exchange chromatography of alkylated reaction mixtures, appeared to be similar for air oxidation and enzyme-catalyzed oxidation of the protein. The pH optimum, tissue location, and kinetic characteristics of sulfhydryl oxidase are compatible with a suggested physiological function of direct catalysis of disulfide bond formation in secretory proteins or indirect participation through provision of oxidized glutathione for protein disulfide-isomerase-catalyzed thiol/disulfide interchange.

Renaturation of soluble and immobilized ribonuclease: are the polypeptide folding pathways for structure formation the same for soluble proteins and for proteins associated with a surface?

During the refolding and oxidation of reductively denatured ribonuclease A in solution, there is a marked lag in appearance of enzymatic activity as compared to the oxidation of sulfhydryl groups, whether such oxidation is spontaneous or is catalyzed by sulfhydryl oxidase. However, if ribonuclease is covalently attached to a derivatized glass surface, a lag period is not observed during the reformation of native structure from the completely reduced, denatured state. These results suggest that, in solution, intermolecular interactions alter the pathway of polypeptide chain folding and disulfide bond formation, leading to nonnative disulfides which do not rapidly interchange to form native pairings. The isolation of refolding polypeptide chains by covalent immobilization prevents such interactions. Presumably, such intermolecular interactions would be similarly prevented by "isolation" of nascent polypeptide chains during protein synthesis on ribosomes.

Analysis and optimization of methods using water-soluble carbodiimide for immobilization of biochemicals to porous glass.

Two methods employing a water-soluble carbodiimide for carboxyl activation were investigated for the immobilization of biochemicals to succinamidopropyl-porous glass beads. Immobilization using the simultaneous method (simultaneous addition of carbodiimide and nucleophilic ligand to the beads) and large excess of carbodiimide and a small nucleophile should result in covalent binding to all accessible carboxyl groups. Results obtained with glycine methyl ester indicated that 40% of the total surface carboxyl groups were sterically accessible. Using these reaction conditions with the protein, chymotrypsinogen, suggests that a surface monolayer is immobilized. although far fewer sites are required assuming single point attachment. For ligands containing carboxyl groups and several nucleophilic groups (e. g., enzymes), however, biological inactivation may occur using the simultaneous method. Consequently, a sequential method (activation of the surface with carbodiimide followed by washing and addition of the biochemical to be immobilized) was optimized. Using optimal conditions (20 min activation time at pH 4.75 and room temperature; 2 min wash at pH 7 and 0 degrees C) and 0.1M carbodiimide, nearly half of the accessible surface sites remained in the O-acylisourea form and reacted with glycine methyl ester upon its addition. The amount of surface loading as a function of activation time was consistent with a model constructed using rate constants for O-acylisourea formation and hydrolysis previously derived from solution studies with acetic acid [Swaisgood and Natake, J. Biochem 74, 77 (1973)]. Measurement of reaction rates with glycine methyl ester following surface activation suggests that the rate of reaction with amino groups is at least eightfold greater than the hydrolysis rate. Either immobilization procedure gave comparable enzyme loading and specific activities for the case of sulfhydryl oxidase.

Dissociation and unfolding of sulfhydryl oxidase in solutions of guanidinium chloride.

Sulfhydryl oxidase was dissociated completely in 5 M guanidinium chloride as indicated by light scattering molecular weight studies giving masses of 80,000 to 90,000 daltons. Concentrations of guanidinium chloride above 2 M resulted in loss of enzymatic activity and caused extensive unfolding of the enzyme as shown by fluorescence measurements. Replacement of the denaturant with physiological buffers restored native fluorescence characteristics, but the enzyme remained partially dissociated, with a molecular weight of 300,000 to 360,000, enzymatic activity was not restored.

Isolation and characterization of sulfhydryl oxidase from bovine milk.

A method is described for purification of sulfhydryl oxidase from bovine milk which consistently yields preparations with greater than 3000-fold purification over skim milk. A concentration-dependent association-dissociation of the enzyme was adapted to the development of an isolation procedure. Purified preparations exhibited two zones, both of which displayed activity, upon polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis, but only one zone following disc gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. Its mobility indicated a subunit weight of 89,000. Several lines of evidence suggest that iron is an integral part of the enzyme. Treatment of the enzyme with EDTA resulted in complete loss of activity which could be subsequently restored by dialysis against 1 muM ferrous sulfate. Furthermore, atomic absorption analysis and neutron activation analysis of separate enzyme preparations each indicated 0.5 atom of iron per subunit. Chemical analyses of sulfhydryl oxidase accounted for 97% of the sample weight, of which 89% could be attributed to amino acid residues and 11% to carbohydrate residues. Five half-cystine residues per subunit were indicated by cysteic acid analysis and by sulfhydryl group determination following reaction with sodium borohydride. Comparison of this value to the total sulfhydryl groups without reduction tentatively suggests the presence of one disulfide bond. Sulfhydryl oxidase was found to catalyze the oxidation of sulfhydryl groups in both small compounds and proteins, using O2 as oxidant and producing, in equimolar quantities, H2O2 and the corresponding disulfide. A Michaelis constant of 90 muM was obtained using reduced glutathione as substrate, under conditions of optimal pH and temperature, viz., pH 7.0 and 35 degrees. Substrate inhibition was apparent at GSH concentrations above 0.8 mM. In the presence of sulfhydryl oxidase, reductively denatured RNase was reoxidized and fully reactivated within 1 hour, whereas in the absence of the oxidase under otherwise identical conditions, full recovery of RNase activity required 24 hours. The presence of reducing agent was not required for this activity, nor was prior reduction of the sulfhydryl oxidase. Based on the observed activity, it appears that the enzyme could be involved in the biosynthesis of disulfide bonds in certain proteins.