BioMetals
The complexation of Fe(III) with an Amadori compound derived from L-tyrosine was studied. The isolated complex was characterized by elemental analyses, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Analyses indicate that the ligand is coordinated through the amino and carboxylate groups of the tyrosine part of the molecule.
To quantitatively reveal accumulation patterns of environmentally relevant heavy metals in selected saprophagous or phytophagous soil invertebrates, adults of the species Porcellio scaber (Isopoda), Tetrodontophora bielanensis (Collembola), Julus scandinavius (Diplopoda), and Deroceras reticulatum (Gastropoda) were exposed to lead-, cadmium-, or zinc-contaminated food and soil for three weeks. The...
Adult female rats were treated subcutaneously (sc) with zinc chloride (ZnCl, 10 or 20 mg kg body weight, bw) four times during two ovarian cycles. The third injection was accompanied by cadmium chloride (CdCl) administration sc (2.5, 5 and 10 mg kg bw). The fourth zinc (Zn) treatment was followed by mating. ZnCl (20 mg kg) itself impaired fertility by 20%, while CdCl dose-dependently blocked the receptivity...
Based on kinetic evidence, it has been shown for the first time that the mode of binding of aromatic donor molecules is similar in horseradish peroxidase and lactoperoxidase; also that the nature of the heme plays an important role in the reaction with hydrogen peroxide, and has no effect on the reaction of the intermediate compound II with aromatic substrates.
Proferrorosamine A (pFR A) of the plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia rhapontici was shown to inhibit growth of wheat and cress seedlings at the ≥ 10 ppm level. When the seeds were continuously exposed to 100 ppm pFR A, the germination of cress and wheat seeds was inhibited up to 90% and 80%, respectively. The inhibition could be reversed through addition of equimolar amounts of ferrous iron, which...
The uptake kinetics of cisplatin analogs of 1,2-cyclohexanediamine(dach) isomers with various leaving groups, by human erythrocytes in plasma isotonic buffer, were studied. The experimental results showed that the uptake rate constants (k values) decrease with the change of leaving group in the sequence: chloride (Cl) > squaric acid (SA) > oxalate (OX) > demethylcantharic acid (DA), with...
When rat L8 muscle cells were cultured to examine the effects of serum and selenium concentration on selenoprotein W levels and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities, no significant differences (P > 0.05) were found in selenoprotein W levels and GPX activities during differentiation. With three different forms of selenium, selenoprotein W levels and GPX activities were shown to increase in L8...
In a previous paper we reported that an acidic 36 kDa peptide is the most strongly induced peptide among several peptides induced by Fe deficiency in barley roots. In this paper, polyclonal antibodies were raised against the 36 kDa peptide. This peptide appeared in the roots of all the graminaceous species tested (barley, rye, wheat, oat, maize, sorghum and rice) in response to Fe deficiency. More...
Neutrophil influx into tissues occurs in many diverse diseases and can be associated with both beneficial and injurious effects. We hypothesize that the stimulus for certain neutrophilic inflammatory responses can be reduced to a series of competing reactions for iron, with either a labile or reactive coordination site available, between host chelators and chelators not indigenous to that specific...
Vanadium has recently been reported to induce interphase and M-phase (mitotic) programmed cell death via the generation of hydroxyl free radicals (OH*). In this paper, the effects of antioxidants on: (a) vanadyl[IV]-generated OH* free radical levels; and (b) cellular glutathione in vanadyl [IV]-treated Chang liver cells were evaluated. The surface morphology of vanadyl-treated mitotic cells was studied...
Vanadium compounds are shown to have a mitogenic effect on fibroblast cells. The effects of vanadate, vanadyl and pervanadate on the proliferation and morphological changes of Swiss 3T3 cells in culture are compared. Vanadium derivatives induced cell proliferation in a biphasic manner, with a toxic-like effect at doses over 50mM, after 24h of incubation. Vanadyl and vanadate were equally potent at...
Belgrade rats inherit microcytic, hypochromic anemia as an autosomalrecessive trait (gene symbol b). Erythrocytes and tissue are iron deficientin the face of elevated TIBC (total iron binding capacity) and percent ironsaturation; iron injections increased the number of erythrocytes but theirappearance remained abnormal. We have investigated iron supplements toimprove husbandry of b/b rats and to learn...
The ferroxidase activity of ceruloplasmin is often determined according to the method of Johnson et al. (1967), using apotransferrin for trapping ferric ions generated by the enzyme; spectrophotometrically monitoring the Fe–transferrin formation at pH6.0. Reports have shown that ascorbate inhibits this reaction, and it is hypothesized that the effect could be of physiological significance in individuals...
Mercury chloride toxicity was investigated in two strains of Chlorella and in a strain of Scenedesmus isolated from polluted areas in Tuscany (Italy). No Hg resistance was found in the autotrophic microorganisms isolated, but Scenedesmus sp. strain AR-2489, isolated from the Arno river, was able to grow at concentrations of up to 5 mg ml1 of Hg. This concentration was twice that which inhibited growth...
The metabolism-independent metal binding characteristics of Ulva lactuca were investigated using both freeze-dried thalli and cell walls stripped of intracellular material by incubation in Triton-X followed by methanol. Biosorption of Cd, Zn, Cu and Co by freeze-dried thallus was concentration-dependent and followed Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. The Freundlich plot suggested that freeze-dried...
Chemically synthesized dihydroxybenzoyl derivatives of spermidine and cystamide containing two-, three- and four-bidentates with the hydroxyl groups in 2,3 or 3,4 position were examined in cross-feeding tests using Gram-negative siderophore indicator strains carrying different iron-related markers, and two Mycobacterium spp. The catecholates were unable to feed tonB mutants of E. coli and S. typhimurium...
Three non-identical Zn-resistant strains of Neurospora crassa have been isolated. ZNR-1 and ZNR-2 strains were obtained after repeated subculturing of wild type N. crassa on Zn-containing agar media (8mM and 16mM), while ZNR-3 was isolated after mutagenesis with diethyl sulfate, followed by selection on Zn agar plates (16mM). All three ZNR strains showed two- to threefold resistance to Zn in liquid...
The regulatory role of divalent metal cations in the NADP-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.42) from porcine heart was analysed. Saturation curves with respect to the substrate threo-Ds-isocitrate complexed with the metals including manganous, cadmium, cobaltous and zinc ions showed sigmoid relationships characteristic of allosteric enzymes. The Hill's interaction coefficients were 1.90, 1...
Specific binding of Hg to ouabain-sensitive Na-K-ATPase of rat liver plasma membrane was demonstrated with a K of 2.64¥10 and B of 1.6nmole mg protein. The binding of mercury to the enzyme also causes significant inhibition of the enzyme, which is greater than its ouabain sensitivity. In the cytosol Hg binding to reduced glutathione (GSH) is stimulated by GSH-S-transferase (GST), the activity of which...
Growth promotion was tested using M. smegmatis wild type strain, an exochelin-deficient mutant, and M. fortuitum employing a broad variety of xenosiderophores including hydroxamates, catecholates and a-hydroxy carboxylic acids. The experiments revealed that utilization of siderophore-bound iron is substrate specific suggesting high-affinity siderophore receptor and transport systems. Concentration-dependent...