Isocratic reverse-phase liquid chromatography assay for amino acid metabolic disorders using eluates of dried blood spots.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of the amino acids methionine, valine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, isoleucine, and leucine extracted from dried blood spots used in neonatal screening is described. The amino acids are eluted from a 3-mm filter paper disc of dried blood with an absolute ethanol:norleucine internal standard solution (1.5:1, v/v), derivatized with o-phthalaldehyde prior to injection, and separated on a C-18 reverse-phase column with subsequent fluorescent detection. The analysis time is under 9 min at the described sample dilution and the assay is linear from 15 to 300 mumols/liter for five of the amino acids and from 15 to 500 mumols/liter for valine. The interrun coefficients of variation are less than 10% (except for tryptophan) and the analytical recoveries exceed 85%. Results from patient samples correlate well with those from a Waters Pico-Tag amino acid analysis system and no apparent interferences were encountered. The rapid analysis time and the specificity of the assay will facilitate the presumptive diagnosis of the inherited amino acidopathies phenylketonuria, maple syrup urine disease, and homocystinuria/methioninemia as well as monitoring blood levels of diagnosed patients.

Molecular genetic diagnosis of sickle cell disease using dried blood specimens on blotters used for newborn screening.

The protein-based technologies used to screen newborns for sickle cell disease require confirmation with a liquid blood specimen. We have developed a strategy for rapid and specific genotypic diagnosis using DNA extracted from a dried blood spot on the filter paper blotter used to screen newborns. DNA could be microextracted from a specimen as small as a 1/8 inch diameter punched disc representing the dried equivalent of approximately 3 microliters of whole blood. We utilized the DNA from a 1/4 inch diameter specimen (12 microliters equivalent) for polymerase chain reaction amplification of the beta-globin region spanning the sickle cell mutation with detection by allele-specific oligonucleotide probes. Molecular confirmation of genotype from the original blotter would reduce the personnel costs associated with obtaining follow-up liquid blood specimens and would provide information to the family in a more timely and less equivocal manner.

An evaluation of a new test kit to screen for galactosemia.

A new galactosemia screening kit has been evaluated. The kit employs the Yoshida modification of the Paigen et al. Escherichia coli bacteriophage assay and is produced by Eiken Co. Ltd. of Japan. The assay estimates galactose and galactose-1-phosphate in dried blood specimens. The kit is sufficiently sensitive to detect possible heterozygotes as well as possible homozygotes.

Method for exchange of the lipid environment of the membrane-bound (Mg2+ + Na+)-ATPase of Acholeplasma laidlawii B.

A method that exchanges the endogenous lipids in the environment of the membrane-bound (Mg2+ + Na+)-ATPase of Acholeplasma laidlawii B with defined exogenous lipids has been devised. Results demonstrate that 99.9% of the original membrane lipids were replaced with phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidic acid. ATPase enzyme activity was maintained throughout the substitution procedure.

A fluorometric micromethod for estimation of carnosinase in dried blood samples.

We describe a microfluorometric method for determination of carnosinase activity in dried blood spots on filter paper. The carnosinase in discs punched from such dried blood specimens is activated with cadmium at 30 degrees C. After incubation with the substrate carnosine at the same temperature, histidine is determined fluorometrically. We compare the results of this method with those of a fluorometric method using liquid blood and assess the stability of the enzyme in dried blood on filter paper. The presence of erythrocytes has no effect on the activity. The method may be useful in early detection of carnosinase deficiency and certain other metabolic disorders.

Microassay for estimation of galactose and galactose-1-phosphate in dried blood specimens.

A fluorometric assay for blood galactose and galactose-1-phosphate has been modified and improved to shorten the analysis time and to increase sensitivity above other published methods. The method may be useful as a quantitative screening or routine clinical test to detect infants suspected of having a defect of galactose metabolism. It can also be used to monitor blood galactose or galactose-1-phosphate levels in children with galactosemia who are on a lactose-free diet.

Simplified procedure for producing Bacillus subtilis spores for the Guthrie phenylketonuria and other microbiological screening tests.

Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051 and ATCC 6633 spores used in bacterial inhibition screening assays for genetic metabolism defects in newborn infants were produced by using liquid synthetic replacement sporulation media. These media allowed a high degree of sporulation, as judged by direct cell counts. Sporulation took place within 23 to 27 h with these media. Also, a more rational procedure for selecting the most sensitive clones of these organisms to the various inhibitors used in the microbiological screening assays is presented.

Adherence of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguis to salivary components bound to glass.

Adherence of radiolabeled Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguis to saliva-treated glass surfaces was studied under conditions which minimized bacteria-glass interactions. Treatment of glass with an alkylsilane solution decreased nonspecific bacterial adherence and enhanced adsorption of radiolabeled salivary components to these surfaces. Addition of Triton X-100 to the bacterial suspensions also reduced nonspecific adherence to siliconized glass, but did not affect adherence to salivary components attached to siliconized glass. Calcium stimulated S. mutans adherence to saliva-free glass, but inhibited adherence to saliva-treated glass. S. sanguis adherence to either saliva-free or saliva-treated glass was inhibited slightly at high calcium ion concentrations. Adherence of streptococci to saliva-treated glass exhibited saturation kinetics, and the numbers of binding sites on the experimental salivary pellicle and the affinity constants for bacteria-saliva attachment were determined. Preincubation of the streptococci with whole saliva decreased their capacity to adhere to saliva-treated glass, but not to saliva-free glass. Bacteria adherent to saliva-treated glass surfaces were readily desorbed by washing with saliva. The addition of homologous antisera, ammonium sulfate-precipitated immunoglobulins, or Fab fragments to the bacterial suspensions inhibited cell adherence to saliva-treated glass.

Physiological role and membrane lipid modulation of the membrane-bound (Mg2+, na+)-adenosine triphosphatase activity in Acholeplasma laidlawii.

The membrane-bound adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity of Acholeplasma laidlawii B differs in many respects from the common (Mg2+, Ca2+)-ATPase activity of higher bacteria, most notably in that it is specifically activated by Mg2+ and strongly and specifically stimulated by Na+ (or Li+). Various inhibitors diminish the ATPase activity with a concentration dependence which suggests that a single enzyme species is responsible for all of the observed ATP hydrolytic activity (both basal and Na+ stimulated). The Km for ATP is influenced by temperature but not by membrane lipid fatty acid composition. Vmax is influenced by both of these factors, showing a break in Arrhenius plots which falls below the lipid phase transition midpoint but well above the lower boundary when a phase transition occurs within the temperature range studied. The apparent energy of activation for Vmax is strongly influenced by lipid fatty acid composition both above and below the break. When whole cells of A. laidlawii B are incubated in KCl or NaCl buffers, they rapidly swell and lyse if deprived of an energy source or treated with ATPase inhibitors at concentrations which significantly inhibit enzyme activity in isolated membranes, whereas in sucrose or MgSO4 buffers of equal osmolarity, the cells are stable under these conditions. These results suggest that the membrane ATPase of A. laidlawii B is intimately associated with the membrane lipids and that it functions as a monovalent cation pump which regulates intracellular osmolarity as the (Na+, K+)-ATPase does in eucaryotes.

Purification of the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase from membranes of Acholeplasma laidlawii.

The ethanol-extracted respiratory chain-linked NADH dehydrogenase of Acholeplasma laidlawii has been purified 25-35-fold. This purification involved delipidation of the ethanol-extracted minute non-sedimentable membrane fragments by detergent treatment and gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-200. Sodium deoxycholate-sucrose density gradient centrifugation was followed by dialysis of the active NADH dehydrogenase fractions which caused flocculation of 60% of the membrane proteins while the NADH dehydrogenase remained suspended. Poylacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified NADH dehydrogenase gave one major and two minor bands after staining with Coomassie Blue. The purified enzyme gave straight line kinetics in Lineweaver-Burk plots and a Km = 0.510 mM and V = 0.236 mumol/min. Fatty acid supplementation of A. laidlawii membranes had negligible effect on the membrane-bound or ethanol-extracted dehydrogenase, but substantiated the values of the Km and V. Purification, however, altered the constants by 2-4-fold, suggesting that alteration of the microenvironment or fragmentation of the dehydrogenase was significant. The purified dehydrogenase was very susceptible to a rapid inhibition was much slower (90 min) and less complete. Consideration of published purification procedures of NADH dehydrogenase strongly suggested that the purified A. laidlawii respiratory chian-linked NADH dehydrogenase was over 90% pure and certainly one of the most purified respiratory chain-linked bacterial NADH dehydrogenases.

The reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide "oxidase" of Acholeplasma laidlawii membranes.

An NADH dehydrogenase possessing a specific activity 3-5 times that of membrane-bound enzyme was obtained by extraction of Acholeplasma laidlawii membranes with 9.0% ethanol at 43 degrees C. This dehydrogenase contained only trace amounts of iron (suggesting an uncoupled respiration), a flavin ratio of 1:2 FAD to FMN and 30-40% lipid. Its resistance to sedimentation is probably due to the high flotation density of the lipids. It efficiently utilized ferricyanide, menadione and dichlorophenol indophenol as electron acceptors, but not O2, ubiquinone Q10 or cytochrome c. Lineweaver-Burk plots of the dehydrogenase were altered to linear functions upon extraction with 9.0% ethanol. A secondary site of ferricyanide reduction could not be explained by the presence of cytochromes, which these membranes lack. In comparison to other respiratory chain-linked NADH dehydrogenases in cytochrome-containing respiratory chains, this dehydrogenase was characterized by similar Km's with ferricyanide, dichlorophenol indophenol, menadione as electron acceptors, but considerably smaller V's with ferricyanide, dichlorophenol indophenol, menadione as electron acceptors, and smaller specific activities. It was not stimulated or reactivated by the addition of FAD, FMN, Mg2+, cysteine or membrane lipids, and was less sensitive to respiratory inhibitors than unextracted enzyme. The ineffectiveness of ADP stimulation on O2 uptake, the insensitivity to oligomycin and the very low iron content of A. laidlawii membranes were considered in relation to conservation of energy by these cells. Some kinetic properties of the dehydrogenation, the uniquely high glycolipid content and apparently uncoupled respiration at Site I were noteworthy characteristics of this NADH dehydrogenase from the truncated respiratory chain of A. laidlawii.