Site directed immobilization of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase via thiol-disulfide interchange: influence on catalytic activity of cysteines introduced at different positions.

This study shows the effect of site-directed enzyme immobilization upon the enzyme activity of covalently bound glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides. Immobilization points were introduced at sterically accessible sites in order to control the protein's orientation and twice as much activity was recovered in comparison to conventionally immobilized enzyme. Immobilization of G6PDH via genetically engineered cysteine provided a simple, but effective method to control the immobilization process. G6PDH variants with cysteine close to the active center (L218C), close to the dimer interface (D205C) as well as far from the active center (D453C) showed changes in activity and the efficacy of immobilization.

Metalloregulation of FRE1 and FRE2 homologs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The high affinity uptake systems for iron and copper ions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involve metal-specific permeases and two known cell surface Cu(II) and Fe(III) metalloreductases, Fre1 and Fre2. Five novel genes found in the S. cerevisiae genome exhibit marked sequence similarity to Fre1 and Fre2, suggesting that the homologs are part of a family of proteins related to Fre1 and Fre2. The homologs are expressed genes in S. cerevisiae, and their expression is metalloregulated as is true with FRE1 and FRE2. Four of the homologs (FRE3-FRE6) are specifically iron-regulated through the Aft1 transcription factor. These genes are expressed either in cells limited for iron ion uptake by treatment with a chelator or in cells lacking the high affinity iron uptake system. Expression of FRE3-FRE6 is elevated in AFT1-1 cells and attenuated in aft1 null cells, showing that iron modulation occurs through the Aft1 transcriptional activator. The fifth homolog FRE7 is specifically copper-metalloregulated. FRE7 is expressed in cells limited in copper ion uptake by a Cu(I)-specific chelator or in cells lacking the high affinity Cu(I) permeases. The constitutive expression of FRE7 in MAC1 cells and the lack of expression in mac1-1 cells are consistent with Mac1 being the critical transcriptional activator of FRE7 expression. The 5' promoter sequence of FRE7 contains three copper-responsive promoter elements. Two elements are critical for Mac1-dependent FRE7 expression. Combinations of either the distal and central elements or the central and proximal elements result in copper-regulated FRE7 expression. Spacing between Mac1-responsive sites is important as shown by the attenuated expression of FRE7 and CTR1 when two elements are separated by over 100 base pairs. From the three Mac1-responsive elements in FRE7, a new consensus sequence for Mac1 binding can be established as TTTGC(T/G)C(A/G).

A left-right comparison of UVB phototherapy and topical photochemotherapy in bilateral chronic hand dermatitis after 6 weeks' treatment.

We have compared the efficacy of local UVB phototherapy with topical (bath) photochemotherapy in 13 patients with bilateral chronic hand dermatitis. In each patient, one hand was treated with UVB phototherapy and the other hand with topical (bath) photochemotherapy. Both treatments moderately improved the chronic hand dermatitis after 6 weeks' treatment. We observed no significant differences in improvement between the modalities, but side-effects occurred more often on the photochemotherapy-treated side. Considering the similar responses and relative incidence of side-effects, we would advise starting treatment with UVB phototherapy and only using topical photochemotherapy if this fails.