Intrinsic inhibition of aldose reductase.

The development of aldose reductase inhibitors for the treatment of diabetic complications, such as cataract and retinopathy, has been of intense interest in the pharmaceutical community for the last 20 years. To date, aldose reductase inhibitors have been synthetically developed from leads obtained from in vitro screening studies. Recently, we have observed that mammalian tissues contain intrinsic inhibitors of aldose reductase, which may be used as potential drugs for treating diabetic complications with potentially less side effects than synthetic aldose reductase inhibitors. Intrinsic inhibitor(s) of aldose reductase have been observed in the methanolic extracts from rat and human kidneys and bovine lenses that were subjected to a number of chromatographic techniques, including counter current chromatography, flash chromatography, gel filtration and high pressure liquid chromatography. This inhibition results from a direct interaction between the inhibitor and enzyme. The intrinsic inhibitor, present in the lipophilic fraction of human kidney and bovine lens extracts, can easily penetrate into the lens to inhibit sugar alcohol formation. Intraperitoneal injection of partially purified bovine lens extract inhibited lens polyol formation in young rats fed 50% galactose diet.

Boranophosphates support the RNase H cleavage of polyribonucleotides.

Modification of the phosphodiester linkages in DNA by replacing one of the nonbridging oxygens with borane, BH3, produces an isoelectronic mimic of DNA called boranophosphates. Nonstereoregular oligodeoxyribonucleoside all-boranophosphates are shown here for the first time to elicit the RNase H hydrolysis of polyribonucleotides. We compared the ability of three types of dodecamers (dodecathymidine phosphate, phosphorothioate, and boranophosphate) to mediate the cleavage of poly(A) by Escherichia coli RNase H1. The rates of poly(A) hydrolysis induced by boranophosphates were 76-fold (at 20 degrees C) and 18-fold (at 30 degrees C) greater than the rates induced by dodecathymidine phosphate. In conjunction with the measured melting temperatures for each heteroduplex, carried out under the same conditions as the RNAse H cleavage experiments, the data establish an inverse relationship between the heteroduplex thermostability and the rate of poly(A) hydrolysis. Chromatographic analysis revealed another correlation: the higher the heteroduplex Tm, the higher the pApA:pApApA ratio in the corresponding hydrolysates. The specific content of these final products provides insight into the relative contribution of RNase H1 exonucleolytic/endonucleolytic mechanisms, with a low ratio for the lower melting heteroduplexes reflecting more endonucleolytic-type hydrolysis. In total, our data support the concept that antisense molecules with a weakened hybridization potential enhance the rate of hydrolysis of RNA in RNA-DNA hybrids.

[Procedure for purifying RNA polymerase II from human placenta]. / Protsedura ochistki RNK-polimerazy II iz platsenty cheloveka.

DNA-dependent RNA polymerase IIB having a specific activity of 320 u./mg has been isolated from the term placenta homogenate using extraction performed at 4-6 degrees C in the presence of 75 mM ammonium sulfate and 1.5% nonidet P40, fractionation on DEAE-cellulose DE 23, desalting and heparin-agarose chromatography, resulting in 330-fold purification and a 18% yield. Technical details have been determined which are of crucial importance for reproducibility of affinity chromatography. The possibility of proteolysis of the IIc subunit during enzyme purification has been demonstrated.

[Highly selective affinity labeling of DNA-dependent RNA-polymerase II from human placenta]. / Vysokoselektivnoe affinnoe mechenie DNK-zavisimoi RNK-polimerazy II iz platsenty cheloveka.

RNA polymerase II from human placenta was affinity labelled in crude preparation using two-step technique, which includes treatment of the enzyme with an aldehyde-containing reactive analogue of ATP, ADP or AMP in the presence of poly[d(A-T)] followed (after borohydride reduction) by the elongation of the attached label with [alpha-32P]UTP. A polypeptide of the molecular mass ca. 140 kDa proved to be the labelling target. No labelling was observed in the absence of poly[d(A-T)] or the reagent or in the presence of alpha-amanitin. All the results suggest the attachment of the affinity reagents to the second-largest subunit of the human RNA polymerase II, which therefore takes part in the initiation substrate's binding.

[Specificity of synthetic polyribonucleotides hydrolysis by endoribonuclease from cobra (Naja oxiana) venom]. / Osobennosti gidroliza sinteticheskikh poliribonukleotidov éndoribonukleazoi iz iada kobry Naja oxiana.

An analysis of kinetic differences in homopolyribonucleotides hydrolysis by cobra venom endoribonuclease was carried out. It was concluded that the rate and intensity of hydrolysis as well as the length of the linear parts of the kinetic curves are correlated with the content of the nucleotide units with the C3'-endo conformation in the substrates. The structure factor was shown to predominate in some cases over the temperature factor. Protamine sulfate inhibits the enzyme by blocking its phosphodiether bonds. Study on the effects of divalent metal ions demonstrated the possibility that the enzyme-Me2+ complex is functionally active and that the ion-free polyribonucleotides are true substrates.

[Laboratory and clinical study of biological activity of poly G-poly C complex]. / Laboratornoe i klinicheskoe issledovanie biologicheskoi aktivnosti kompleksa poli(G).poli(Ts).

Poly(G).poly(C) inoculated intravenously to mice in a dose of 100 microgram induced interferon in the blood in amounts comparable to those induced by poly(I).poly (C). In contrast to rapid accumulation (within 2 hours after induction) and rapid disappearance of interferon in response to poly(I).poly(C) inoculation, the interferon induced by poly(G).poly(C) reached the maximum titer by 6 hours and remained at a high level for 24 hours after inoculation. When given to human volunteers intranasally in a dose of 6 mg, the poly(G).poly(C) complex induced interferon in the blood serum in 70% of the subjects in a titer of 85 units/ml within 24 hours.