Early Evidence for Northern Salmonid Fisheries Discovered using Novel Mineral Proxies.

Salmonid resources currently foster socioeconomic prosperity in several nations, yet their importance to many ancient circumpolar societies is poorly understood due to insufficient fish bone preservation at archaeological sites. As a result, there are serious gaps in our knowledge concerning the antiquity of northern salmonid fisheries and their impacts on shaping biodiversity, hunter-gatherer adaptations, and human-ecological networks. The interdisciplinary study presented here demonstrates that calcium-magnesium phosphate minerals formed in burned salmonid bones can preserve at ancient northern sites, thus informing on the early utilization of these resources despite the absence of morphologically classifiable bones. The minerals whitlockite and beta magnesium tricalcium phosphate were identified in rare morphologically classifiable Atlantic salmonid bones from three Mid-Holocene sites in Finland. Large amounts of beta magnesium tricalcium phosphate were also experimentally formed by burning modern Atlantic salmonid and brown trout bones. Our results demonstrate the value of these minerals as proxies for ancient northern salmonid fishing. Specifically, the whitlockite mineral was discovered in hearth sediments from the 5,600 year old Yli-Ii Kierikinkangas site on the Iijoki River in northern Finland. Our fine sieving and mineralogical analyses of these sediments, along with zooarchaeological identification of recovered bone fragments, have confirmed for the first time that the people living at this village did incorporate salmonids into their economies, thus providing new evidence for early estuary/riverine fisheries in northern Finland.

Proposal for molecular mechanism of thionins deduced from physico-chemical studies of plant toxins.

We propose a molecular model for phospholipid membrane lysis by the ubiquitous plant toxins called thionins. Membrane lysis constitutes the first major effect exerted by these toxins that initiates a cascade of cytoplasmic events leading to cell death. X-ray crystallography, solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, small angle X-ray scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy provide evidence for the mechanism of membrane lysis. In the crystal structures of two thionins in the family, alpha(1)- and beta-purothionins (MW: approximately 4.8 kDa), a phosphate ion and a glycerol molecule are modeled bound to the protein. (31)P NMR experiments on the desalted toxins confirm phosphate-ion binding in solution. Evidence also comes from phospholipid partition experiments with radiolabeled toxins and with fluorescent phospholipids. This data permit a model of the phospholipid-protein complex to be built. Further, NMR experiments, one-dimensional (1D)- and two-dimensional (2D)-total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY), carried out on the model compounds glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) and short chain phospholipids, supported the predicted mode of phospholipid binding. The toxins' high positive charge, which renders them extremely soluble (>300 mg/mL), and the phospholipid-binding specificity suggest the toxin-membrane interaction is mediated by binding to patches of negatively charged phospholipids [phosphatidic acid (PA) or phosphatidyl serine (PS)] and their subsequent withdrawal. The formation of proteolipid complexes causes solubilization of the membrane and its lysis. The model suggests that the oligomerization may play a role in toxin's activation process and provides insight into the structural principles of protein-membrane interactions.

Thermal and structural changes of photosynthetic reaction centers characterized by photoacoustic detection with a broad frequency band hydrophone.

Photoacoustic measurements using a broad frequency band hydrophone were carried out in photosynthetic reaction centers (RC) isolated from Rhodobacter sphaeroides R-26 purple bacteria. Data were extracted on enthalpy and volume changes accompanying the primary steps after excitation in the range of 0-500 microseconds aimed at further characterizing the thermodynamic properties of the RC. Quinone titration showed that the volume contraction accompanying the electron transport is sensitive to the molecular species occupying the secondary quinone site. delta VM = 14.4, 7.7 and 4.3 cm3 molar volume contractions were calculated from the measured parameters for 1, 2 and 0.07 quinone/RC after light excitation. Comparing the enthalpy changes (delta H) to the Gibbs free energy data in the literature, a rather large (26%) entropic contribution to the free energy changes (delta G) is estimated for the P*QAQB-->P+QA-QB electron transport (where QA and QB represent primary and secondary quinones, respectively). This is in contrast to previous estimations that delta G = delta H in these processes. On the other hand, only a small (4%) entropic contribution to the delta G of the P*QAQB-->P+QAQB- process is estimated, in agreement with the literature data. Our results are in good agreement with the data obtained earlier (Edens et al. [2000] J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122, 1479-1485).

Spectroscopic studies of inhibited alcohol dehydrogenase from Thermoanaerobacter brockii: proposed structure for the catalytic intermediate state.

Thermoanaerobacter brockii alcohol dehydrogenase (TbADH) catalyzes the reversible oxidation of secondary alcohols to the corresponding ketones using NADP(+) as the cofactor. The active site of the enzyme contains a zinc ion that is tetrahedrally coordinated by four protein residues. The enzymatic reaction leads to the formation of a ternary enzyme-cofactor-substrate complex; and catalytic hydride ion transfer is believed to take place directly between the substrate and cofactor at the ternary complex. Although crystallographic data of TbADH and other alcohol dehydrogenases as well as their complexes are available, their mode of action remains to be determined. It is firmly established that the zinc ion is essential for catalysis. However, there is no clear agreement about the coordination environment of the metal ion and the competent reaction intermediates during catalysis. We used a combination of X-ray absorption, circular dichroism (CD), and fluorescence spectroscopy, together with structural analysis and modeling studies, to investigate the ternary complexes of TbADH that are bound to a transition-state analogue inhibitor. Our structural and spectroscopic studies indicated that the coordination sphere of the catalytic zinc site in TbADH undergoes conformational changes when it binds the inhibitor and forms a pentacoordinated complex at the zinc ion. These studies provide the first active site structure of bacterial ADH bound to a substrate analogue. Here, we suggest the active site structure of the central intermediate complex and, more specifically, propose the substrate-binding site in TbADH.

Serine conjugates of chlorophyll and bacteriochlorophyll: photocytotoxicity in vitro and tissue distribution in mice bearing melanoma tumors.

Chlorophyll (Chl) and bacteriochlorophyll (Bchl) have been made water soluble by transesterification with serine (Ser) at the propionyl residue and tested as potential reagents for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Photocytotoxicity of the conjugates Chl-Ser and Bchl-Ser in M2R mouse melanoma was tested in cell cultures. Tissue uptake and clearance of the photosensitizers in CD1 nude and C57B1 mice implanted with M2R tumors are described. Photocytotoxicity in cell cultures was determined microscopically and by [3H]thymidine incorporation. The LD50 values in vitro were 0.05-0.1 microM for both sensitizers while that of the commercially available hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD, Photosan) was over 100 times higher for the same light intensity (45 mW/cm2). Pigment concentrations were determined fluorometrically in acetone extracts of the tissues of interest at different times after intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg pigment/kg body weight. The distribution pattern of Chl-Ser in the different tissues resembled that reported for Photofrin, chlorin and bacteriochlorin derivatives. Clearance from normal tissues was essentially completed within 16 h for Bchl-Ser and 72 h for Chl-Ser with mean half-lives (t 1/2) of about 2 and 7 h, respectively. In contrast, the clearance rates of these pigments and their metabolites from melanoma tumor tissue were significantly longer: t 1/2 = 20 h for Chl-Ser and 15 h for Bchl-Ser and metabolites. The clearance rates showed biphasic or single exponential decay patterns in normal tissues and in tumors, respectively. Cumulatively the high phototoxicity, simple mode of delivery and fast tissue clearance rates reported here suggest that polar conjugates of Chl and Bchl promise to be highly effective PDT reagents.

Studies on fibronectin and its domains. II. Secondary structure and spatial configuration of fibronectin and of its domains.

Fibronectin (FN) from human plasma, as well as recombinant proteins derived from two of its major domains, the N-terminal fibrin-binding domain (FBD) and the cell-binding domain (CBD), were studied by circular dichroism (CD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and fluorescence spectroscopies. Secondary structure estimations derived from both FTIR spectra and far uv CD indicate significant differences between FBD and CBD proteins. Thus, the CBD 33-kDa protein contains 80% beta-sheet and 20% beta-turns, whereas the three refolded FBD recombinant proteins studied, the 12-, 18.5-, and r31-kDa proteins, as well as the plasma-derived p31-kDa protein, all contain some percentage of aperiodic structure, ranging from 14 to 23% for both 31-kDa proteins, and between 33 and 46% for the smaller 12- and 18.5-kDa proteins. The amount of aperiodic structure increases drastically (from 23 to 67%) in a misfolded recombinant 31 kDa, the scrambled 31 kDa. Both native FN and a chimeric 45-kDa protein, consisting of both the FBD 12-kDa and the CBD 33-kDa proteins, were found to resemble the CBD 33-kDa protein itself, i.e., consisting only of beta-sheet and beta-turns and being free of aperiodic structure. These differences between two types of conformation are corroborated by the differences in the environment and spatial configuration of the aromatic amino acids of these proteins, as evidenced from near uv CD and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopies. Thus, in the near uv CD the typical CBD proteins, i.e., the 33- and 45-kDa proteins display a maximum at 294 nm, whereas the FBD proteins, except for the scrambled 31-kDa protein, all have a characteristic strong negative peak at 300 nm. Similarly, the lambda max of the emission spectra of the whole FN and the 33- and 45-kDa proteins are characteristically blue-shifted (317-326 nm) and with high normalized intensity, when compared with the relatively red-shifted lambda max (338-340 nm) and low intensities of the folded FBD proteins. The scrambled 31-kDa protein again takes exception, having a relatively high normalized intensity due to misfolding. The two major conclusions from this work, attained by a combination of four spectroscopic methods, are: (a) functionally different FN domains, i.e., the FBD and CBD adopt totally different conformations, with the CBD having an almost exclusive beta structure; (b) the functional specificity of the various domains of FN may depend on subtle differences in the flexibility in their protein backbones, with the FBD being more flexible than the CBD.

Divalent cation-induced changes in conformation of protein kinase C.

Using physical techniques, circular dichroism and intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence, the binding of divalent cations to soluble protein kinase C and their effects on protein conformation were analyzed. The enzyme copurifies with a significant concentration of endogenous Ca2+ as measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, however, this Ca2+ was insufficient to support enzyme activity. Intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence quenching occurred upon addition to the soluble enzyme of the divalent cations, Zn2+, Mg2+, Ca2+ or Mn2+, which was irreversible and unaffected by monovalent cations (0.5 M NaCl). Far ultraviolet (200-250 nm) circular dichroism spectra provided estimations of secondary structure and demonstrated that the purified enzyme is rich in alpha-helices (42%) suggesting a rather rigid structure. At Ca2+ or Mg2+ concentrations similar to those used for fluorescence quenching, the enzyme undergoes a conformational transition (42-24% alpha-helix, 31-54% random structures) with no significant change in beta-sheet structures (22-26%). Maximal effects on 1 microM enzyme were obtained at 200 microM Ca2+ or 100 microM Mg2+, the divalent cation binding having a higher affinity for Mg2+ than for Ca2+. The Ca2(+)-induced transition was time-dependent, while Mg2+ effects were immediate. In addition, there was no observed energy transfer for protein kinase C with the fluorescent Ca2(+)-binding site probe, terbium(III). This study suggests that divalent cation-induced changes in soluble protein kinase C structure may be an important step in in vitro analyses that has not yet been detected by standard biochemical enzymatic assays.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of aqueous dispersions of phosphatidylserine-cholesterol mixtures.

The effect of cholesterol on vibrational spectra in the non polar and in the polar region of dimyristoyl phosphatidylserine (DMPS) and of phosphatidylserine from bovine spinal cord (PS) has been investigated. The small shifts in the methylene CH stretching frequencies after taking into account the contribution of the cholesterol spectrum were interpreted as a combined effect of cholesterol on the conformation of the chains and of the lesser contributions of the cholesterol methyl groups. Cholesterol also influences the ratio of the trans (1465 cm-1) to the lower wavelength (1457 cm-1) CH2 bending bands. No significant direct effect of cholesterol on the vibration of the polar residues was discerned. The small shift of the carboxylate band observed below the phase transition is probably due to the change in the intermolecular zwitterions when the average distance between the neighboring polar groups increases due to incorporation of cholesterol molecules.

Ligand-induced conformational changes in cytosolic protein kinase C.

The changes in intrinsic spectral properties of protein kinase C were monitored upon association with its divalent cation and lipid activators in a model membrane system. The enzyme demonstrated changes in both its intrinsic fluorescence and far ultraviolet circular dichroism spectra upon association with lipid vesicles in the absence of calcium. The acidic phospholipid, phosphatidylserine, significantly quenched the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence and was also the most potent lipid support for the phosphorylating activity of the enzyme. The enzyme was fully activated by a number of Ca2(+)-lipid combinations which correlated with maximal fluorescence quenching (40-50%) of available tryptophan residues in hydrophobic domains. The circular dichroism structure of the associated active-protein Ca2(+)-lipid complexes suggested different active enzyme secondary structures. However, the Ca2(+)-dependent changes in fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra were observed only after the enzyme associated with the lipid vesicles. These data suggest that protein kinase C has the properties of a complex multidomain protein and provides an additional perspective into the mechanism of protein kinase C activation.

Lipid dependence of surface conformations of protein kinase C.

The change of conformation of protein kinase C interacting with the surface of a mercury electrode directly from a solution or through a lipid monolayer was inferred from the number of cystine residues exposed and reduced on the electrode and from their reduction potentials. Soluble protein kinase C was estimated to have 5-6 disulfide bonds which could potentially react with the mercury electrode. Two major reduction peaks of cystine at different microenvironments within the protein molecule adsorbed to a mercury surface. They were observed in a.c. polarograms and cyclic voltamograms at two distinct potentials. The potential of these peaks became more negative as the pH of the solution increased, which was consistent with relaxation or decrease in alpha-helicity (ordered structure) of the protein as determined by circular dichroism (CD) estimations of secondary structure. The peak at the more positive potentials (-0.46 V relative to NAg/AgCl electrode at pH 7.4) tended to vanish upon cyclic reduction and reoxidation of the cystine, while the more negative peak (-0.62 V at pH 7.4) was enhanced. Addition of Mg2+ or Ca2+ had no significant effect on the potential but there was a reduction in their amplitude which appeared to affect the disappearance of these peaks upon pH adjustment. This suggests that the tertiary structure of the molecule is stabilized by Ca2+ and Mg2+, as substantiated by CD spectral analysis of secondary structures. Protein kinase C penetrated lipid monolayers to some extent. Addition of diacylglycerol or phorbol ester to the lipid monolayers facilitated this penetration. These compounds stabilized the protein surface conformation by destabilizing the monolayer at more positive potentials, resulting in an enhanced reduction peak at -0.42 V. This phenomenon was not significantly affected by Mg2+ or by Ca2+. The region of the protein kinase C (PKC) sequence which penetrated the monolayer contains cysteines and a primary amine(s), and may have homology to a region of phospholipase A2 which has been proposed as a phospholipid binding site for the two enzymes. Additionally, these polarographic studies suggest that PKC associates with and penetrates monolayers in a divalent cation-independent manner in agreement with our previous physical analyses of PKC interactions with lipid bilayers.

Electric field dependence of alamethicin channels.

Circular dichroism (CD) of alamethicin embedded in vesicular membranes from outside, and its change, upon imposing Donnan potentials across the membrane, was measured. The changes in CD suggested a decrease in a helicity and increase in beta structure with the membrane potential positive inside and vice versa when the potential was positive on the outer side of the vesicles from where the alamethicin was inserted into the membrane. The Donnan potential was created by entrapping the polyacrylate (PA-) in the vesicles and changing the salt concentration outside or by adding different concentrations of PA- or polyethyleneimide (PEI+) at the outside of vesicles with 2 x 10(-5) M salt inside. The effect of the potential on the CD spectra and thus the alamethicin conformation is independent on the type of the polyelectrolyte employed for the Donnan potential generation.

Structural distinction between soluble and particulate protein kinase C species.

A number of peripheral membrane proteins functioning as regulatory enzymes are distributed between soluble and particulate fractions upon homogenization and subcellular fractionation. One such enzyme, the Ca2+/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C, was analyzed in order to examine this characteristic of differential localization. The soluble and particulate forms of this enzyme were purified to relative homogeneity, and their biochemical and biophysical properties were analyzed and compared. Based on biochemical activities, the particulate form required lower phospholipid concentrations for maximal activation than for the soluble species. The particulate species had a more hydrophobic structure as demonstrated by a hydrophobic fluorescence probe, and had almost 50% more alpha-helical structures according to secondary structure estimation, determined from far ultra-violet-circular dichroism spectra (200-250 nm). Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific lipid spectra were detected associated with the soluble protein kinase C species. Further analyses with a fluorescent neutral membrane probe suggested that there was more lipid associated with the purified particulate form, which was of a less mobile nature than those associated with the soluble species. These structural differences provide an explanation for the preferential localization of the enzyme and may prove to be the basis for distribution of other membrane-active peripheral membrane regulatory enzymes.

Protein kinase C penetration into lipid bilayers.

Physical characteristics of the association and subsequent penetration of protein kinase C into defined lipid bilayers were analyzed using four different fluorescence probes. The enzyme demonstrated strong hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions with the bilayer as suggested by its ability to increase permeability of carboxyfluorescein-filled unilamellar vesicles. The intensity of interaction was dependent on the concentration of phosphatidylserine. The hydrophilic quencher, N-methylpicolinium perchlorate, was used to show that the tryptophan residues affected by ligand-induced conformational changes were in a hydrophobic region(s) of the enzyme. Using quenching of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, the enzyme was shown to penetrate the lipid bilayer to the C-16 position of labeled fatty acid probes. The association and subsequent penetration of the enzyme into the lipid bilayer was independent of divalent cations in these systems and had no significant effect on activator-independent substrate phosphorylation.

Electric field-induced lateral mobility of photosystem I in the photosynthetic membrane: A study by electrophotoluminescence.

Electrophoretic movement of photosystem I (PS I) along the photosynthetic membrane of hypotonically swollen thylakoid vesicles was studied by analyzing the electric field-stimulated delayed luminescence (electrophotoluminescence) emitted from PS I. The electrophoretic mobility was inferred from the differences in electrophotoluminescence (EPL) of the photosynthetic vesicles in presence and absence of trains of low amplitude (<80 V/cm) prepulses of 1 ms duration at 4 ms spacing. The average apparent electric mobility, determined from the time course of EPL increase on one hemisphere or its decrease on the other one, as function of prepulse length and intensity was of the order of 3 . 10(-5) cm(2)V(-1)s(-1). The assymetric distribution of the PS I reached a steady state when the diffusional, electrostatic, and elastic forces balanced the electrophoretic driving force. A lateral diffusion coefficient of approximately 5 . 10(-9) cm(2)s(-1) was found for the PS I complex from the diffusional relaxation after cessation of the electric field pulse train. Experimental conditions such as concentration, temperature, and viscosity of the aqueous solution were not critical for the effect. Between 23 and 150 electron charges per moving particle were estimated from the measured electrophoretic mobility.

Effect of membrane potential on the conformation of bacteriorhodopsin reconstituted in lipid vesicles.

The effect of applied diffusion potential on circular dichroism (CD) of bacteriorhodopsin, reconstituted in lipid vesicles, was measured. The change in CD indicates that the applied electrical field, irrespective of its direction, decreases the alpha-helical fraction and increases the random fraction of the protein. The results are interpreted by unfolding of edges of the helices, upon their submerging into polar environment when the lipid bilayer is electrostricted or (and) the helices are stretched by the electrical field across the membrane.

Anti-influenza antibody assay by light scattering.

A physical method based on light scattering at 90 degrees was used to make evident the specific interaction between influenza virus and influenza antiserum. Purified virus put in contact with different dilutions of normal chicken serum exhibited a dose-effect dependence, which was significantly different from that corresponding to the virus-antiserum interaction. The maximum dilution of anti-influenza rabbit serum allowing the detection of the specific interaction between serum and infected allantoic fluid was then established. This value was considered to represent the "light scattering titer" of the antiserum.

Characterization of an enzyme immunoassay by means of specific interaction affinities.

Antigen--antibody interactions involved in an enzyme immunoassay are characterized by their specific affinities. The use of a nonlinear least-squares approach of the response versus dose dependence allows the extrapolation of experimental data, as well as qualitative and/or quantitative assumptions about the interactions studied. As a practical test, the present technique has important advantages over common titration methods, by avoiding the fixation of a cut-off limit for positive and negative samples and by determining the affinity of the specific interaction for any dose required.