In vitro study of two dominant inhibitory GTPase mutants of Escherichia coli translation initiation factor IF2. Direct evidence that GTP hydrolysis is necessary for factor recycling.

We have recently shown that the Escherichia coli initiation factor 2 (IF2) G-domain mutants V400G and H448E do not support cell survival and have a strong negative effect on growth even in the presence of wild-type IF2. We have isolated both mutant proteins and performed an in vitro study of their main functions. The affinity of both mutant proteins for GTP is almost unchanged compared with wild-type IF2. However, the uncoupled GTPase activity of the V400G and H448E mutants is severely impaired, the Vmax values being 11- and 40-fold lower, respectively. Both mutant forms promoted fMet-tRNAfMet binding to 70 S ribosomes with similar efficiencies and were as sensitive to competitive inhibition by GDP as wild-type IF2. Formation of the first peptide bond, as measured by the puromycin reaction, was completely inhibited in the presence of the H448E mutant but still significant in the case of the V400G mutant. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation revealed that, in contrast to wild-type IF2, both mutant proteins stay blocked on the ribosome after formation of the 70 S initiation complex. This probably explains their dominant negative effect in vivo. Our results underline the importance of GTP hydrolysis for the recycling of IF2.

Lys631 residue in the active site of the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. Affinity labeling and site-directed mutagenesis.

A highly selective affinity labeling of T7 RNA polymerase with the o-formylphenyl ester of GMP and [alpha-32P]UTP was carried out. The site of the labeling was located using limited cleavages with hydroxylamine, bromine, N-chlorosuccinimide and cyanogene bromide and was identified as the Lys631 residue. Site-directed mutagenesis using synthetic oligonucleotides was used to substitute Lys631 by a Gly, Leu or Arg residue. Kinetic studies of the purified mutant enzymes showed alterations of their polymerizing activity. For the Lys----Gly mutant enzyme, anomalous template binding was observed.

Inactivation of bacteriophage T7 DNA-dependent RNA polymerase by 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine. Identification of the modification site and the effect of the modification on enzyme action.

Bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase was covalently modified by 5'-[4-fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine (4-FSO2BzAdo). The modified enzyme lacks the ability to catalyze RNA synthesis from the phi 10 promoter of bacteriophage T7; both promoter and GTP binding being markedly decreased. The mild hydrolysis of the ester bond of 4-FSO2BzAdo within the covalent enzyme-inhibitor complex restores the RNA synthesis at a lower rate. Sequence studies show that Lys172 is the target of modification by 4-FSO2BzAdo. This residue, which is situated in the polypeptide region connecting two domains of RNA polymerase, was shown to be the primary site of the limited proteolysis occurring in vivo [Ikeda, R. A. & Richardson, C. C. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 3790-3799]. We propose that Lys172 is located outside the active site. Once this residue has reacted with 4-FSO2BzAdo, the nucleoside moiety of the analog is fixed in the NTP-binding site of the active centre and prevents binding of the substrates. Here, Lys172 per se is not important for the activity but serves as an 'anchor' for binding of the inhibitor.

[Affinity modification of DNA-dependent RNA-polymerase from phage T7 with 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine: the effect of modification on the interaction with substrates]. / Affinnaia modifikatsiia DNK-zavisimoi RNK-polimerazy faga T7 5'-p-ftorsul'fonilbenzoiladenozinom: vliianie modifikatsii na vzaimodeistvie s substratami.

T7 RNA polymerase, covalently modified with 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine, looses the ability of binding the promoter (pGEM-2 plasmid) and poly(dC) template as well as the initiating nucleoside triphosphate (GTP). However the enzyme retains the unspecific binding with DNA fragments of considerable length.

Frog lens beta A1-crystallin: the nucleotide sequence of the cloned cDNA and computer graphics modelling of the three-dimensional structure.

Four recombinant cDNA clones coding for a 23 kDa beta-crystallin polypeptide of the frog (Rana temporaria) were identified in a collection of cloned cDNA and two of them were sequenced. The cDNA present in these clones codes for a polypeptide 198 amino-acid residues in length, which appears to be the frog beta A1-crystallin because of its high homology with the sequences of beta A1-crystallins from other species. Furthermore, the nucleotide sequence coding for the compact folded region of the protein is highly conserved. Virtually no homology was found in the 3' nontranslated regions of the mRNA. The amino-acid sequence of the Rana beta A1-crystallin was used to build a three-dimensional model based on the coordinates of the homologous bovine gamma II. An analysis of the model shows that the surface residues of the beta A1-crystallin (amphibian, mammalian and bird) are more highly conserved than the buried residues. It is suggested that this is related to the oligomeric nature of the lens beta-crystallins.

A novel type of crystallin in the frog eye lens. 35-kDa polypeptide is not homologous to any of the major classes of lens crystallins.

The nucleotide sequence of a cloned DNA coding for the 35-kDa polypeptide of the eye lens of the frog (Rana temporaria) has been determined. The sequence without connectors and poly(A) tract is 889 nucleotides in length and shows no homology with sequences coding for other classes of crystallins: alpha-, beta-, gamma- or delta-crystallins. The sequence contains one reading frame 675 nucleotides in length, an apparently intact 3'-non-translated region with the polyadenylation signal sequence and a poly(A) tract; the 5'-non-translated region is lost along with part of the coding region; this accounts for about 1/4 of the total mRNA length. The secondary structure prediction according to the Ptitsin - Finkelstein method shows the presence of predominantly beta-strands with only a few alpha-helical regions. We conclude that the 35-kDa polypeptide from the frog eye lens belongs to a new class of eye lens crystallins for which we propose the name epsilon-crystallin.

[Purification and properties of glucose-6-phosphate and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenases from Pseudomonas oleovorans]. / Ochistka i svoistva degidrogenaz gliukozo-6-fosfata i 6-fosfogliukonata iz Pseudomonas oleovorans.

The glucose-6-phosphate and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenases i. e. enzymes of dissimilatory hexulose phosphate cycle, were isolated from the cells of the facultative methylotrophic bacterium Pseudomonas oleovorans. The purification procedure included protein fractionation by ammonium sulfate, gel-filtration through Sephacryl S-200 and chromatography on DEAE Bio-Gel A and phosphocellulose, resulting in a 400-fold purification of the enzyme. During analytical disc-electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase preparation produced a single band; 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase was found to contain small contaminations. The molecular weights of the dehydrogenases are 100000 and 110000, respectively. Both enzymes have two subunits. The Km values for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase are 65 mkM for glucose-6-phosphate and 28 mkM for NADP; those for 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase are 152 mkM for 6-phosphogluconate and 55 mkM for NADP. Nucleotides are found to be the most active inhibitors of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase is inhibited by ribose-5-phosphate and fructose-1,6-diphosphate.