Incorporating potency into EU classification for carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity.

Although risk assessment, assessing the potential harm of each particular exposure of a substance, is desirable, it is not feasible in many situations. Risk assessment uses a process of hazard identification, hazard characterisation, and exposure assessment as its components. In the absence of risk assessment, the purpose of classification is to give broad guidance (through the label) on the suitability of a chemical in a range of use situations. Hazard classification in the EU is a process involving identification of the hazards of a substance, followed by comparison of those hazards (including degree of hazard) with defined criteria. Classification should therefore give guidance on degree of hazard as well as hazard identification. Potency is the most important indicator of degree of hazard and should therefore be included in classification. This is done for acute lethality and general toxicity by classifying on dose required to cause the effect. The classification in the EU for carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity does not discriminate across the wide range of potencies seen (6 orders of magnitude) for carcinogenicity and for developmental toxicity and fertility. Therefore potency should be included in the classification process. The methodology in the EU guidelines for classification for deriving specific concentration limits is a rigorous process for assigning substances which cause tumours or developmental toxicity and infertility in experimental animals to high, medium or low degree of hazard categories by incorporating potency. Methods are suggested on how the degree of hazard so derived could be used in the EU classification process to improve hazard communication and in downstream risk management.

Insertion of light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein into the thylakoid topographical studies.

The major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein (Lhcb1,2) of photosystem II is inserted into the thylakoid via the signal recognition particle dependent pathway. However, the mechanism by which the protein enters the membrane is at this time unknown. In order to define some topographical restrictions for this process, we constructed several recombinant derivatives of Lhcb1 carrying hexahistidine tags at either protein terminus or in the stromal loop domain. Additionally, green fluorescent protein (GFP) was fused to either terminus. None of the modifications significantly impair the pigment-binding properties of the protein in the in vitro reconstitution of LHCII. With the exception of the C-terminal GFP fusion, all mutants stably insert into isolated thylakoids in the absence of Ni2+ ions. The addition of low concentrations of Ni2+ ions abolishes the thylakoid insertion of C-terminally His-tagged mutants whereas the other His-tagged proteins fail to insert only at higher Ni2+ concentrations. The C-terminus of Lhcb1 must cross the membrane during protein insertion whereas the other sites of Lhcb1 modification are positioned on the stromal side of LHCII. We conclude that a Ni2+-complexed His tag and fusion to GFP inhibit translocation of the protein C-terminus across the thylakoid. Our observations indicate that the N-terminal and stromal domain of Lhcb1 need not traverse the thylakoid during protein insertion and are consistent with a loop mechanism in which only the C-terminus and the lumenal loop of Lhcb1 are translocated across the thylakoid.

Exchange of pigment-binding amino acids in light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein.

Four amino acids in the major light-harvesting chlorophyll (Chl) a/b complex (LHCII) that are thought to coordinate Chl molecules have been exchanged with amino acids that presumably cannot bind Chl. Amino acids H68, Q131, Q197, and H212 are positioned in helixes B, C, A, and D, respectively, and, according to the LHCII crystal structure [Kühlbrandt, W., et al. (1994) Nature 367, 614-621], coordinate the Chl molecules named a(5), b(6), a(3), and b(3). Moreover, a double mutant was analyzed carrying exchanges at positions E65 and H68, presumably affecting Chls a(4) and a(5). All mutant proteins could be reconstituted in vitro with pigments, although the thermal stability of the resulting mutant versions of recombinant LHCII varied significantly. All complexes reconstituted with the mutant proteins contained fewer chlorophyll molecules per two lutein molecules than complexes reconstituted with the wild-type protein. However, the chlorophyll-binding amino acids could not be unambiguously assigned to binding either chlorophyll a or b, as in most cases more than one chlorophyll molecule was lost due to the mutation. The changes in Chl stoichiometries suggest that in LHCII some chlorophyll positions can be filled with either Chl a or b. Only some of the point mutations in LHCII affected the ability of the apoprotein to assemble into trimeric LHCII upon insertion into isolated thylakoid membranes. Among these were exchanges of H68 with either F or L, suggesting that the stability of the LHCII trimer significantly depends on this amino acid or the Chl molecule named a(5) that is attached to it and is located close to the center of the trimeric complex. The ion pair bridge between E65 and R185 in LHCII does not appear to be essential for the proper folding of the protein.

Complexity and expression of the glutamine synthetase multigene family in the amphidiploid crop Brassica napus.

In the amphidiploid genome of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) the diploid ancestral genomes of B. campestris and B. oleracea have been merged. As a result of this crossing event, all gene loci, gene families, or multigene families of the A and C genome types encoding a certain protein are now combined in one plant genome. In the case of the multigene family for glutamine synthetase, the key enzyme of nitrogen assimilation, six different cDNA sequences were isolated from leaf and root specific libraries. One sequence pair (BnGSL1/BnGSL2) was characterized by the presence of amino-terminal transit peptides, a typical feature of all nuclear encoded chloroplast proteins. Two other cDNA pairs (BnGSR1-1/BnGSR1-2 and BnGSR2-1/BnGSR2-2) with very high homology between each other were found in a root specific cDNA library and represent protein subunits for cytosolic glutamine synthetase isoforms. Comparative PCR amplifications of genomic DNA isolated from B. napus, B. campestris and B. oleracea followed by sequence-specific restriction analyses of the PCR products permitted the assignment of the cDNA sequences to either the A genome type (BnGSL1/BnGSR1-1/BnGSR2-1) or the C genome type (BnGSL2/BnGSR1-2/BnGSR2-2). Consequently, the ancestral GS genes of B. campestris and B. oleracea are expressed simultaneously in oilseed rape. This result was also confirmed by RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis of RT-PCR products. In addition, the different GS genes showed tissue specific expression patterns which are correlated with the state of development of the plant material. Especially for the GS genes encoding the cytosolic GS isoform BnGSR2, a marked increase of expression could be observed after the onset of leaf senescence.

Refolding of Escherichia coli produced membrane protein inclusion bodies immobilised by nickel chelating chromatography.

Two distinctly different membrane proteins, which produced inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli, have been refolded to reconstitute properties appropriate to their native counterparts. The method employed utilises nickel chelating chromatography, where the solubilised inclusion bodies bind, refold and elute. Our aims were to release a large pool of membrane protein for functional, mutational and crystallisation screening studies. It is hoped that the methods described here will have a general application for other membrane proteins which have formed inclusion bodies.