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GCN5L1, also known as BLOC1S1 and BLOS1, is a small intracellular protein involved in many key biological processes. Over the last decade, GCN5L1 has been implicated in the regulation of protein lysine acetylation, energy metabolism, endo-lysosomal function, and cellular immune pathways. An increasing number of published papers have used commercially-available reagents to interrogate GCN5L1 function. However, in many cases these reagents have not been rigorously validated, leading to potentially misleading results. In this report we tested several commercially-available antibodies for GCN5L1, and found that two-thirds of those available did not unambiguously detect the protein by western blot in cultured mouse cells or ex vivo liver tissue. These data suggest that previously published studies which used these unverified antibodies to measure GCN5L1 protein abundance, in the absence of other independent methods of corroboration, should be interpreted with appropriate caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L-Ascorbate catabolism involves reversible oxidation to DHA (dehydroascorbic acid), then irreversible oxidation or hydrolysis. The precursor-product relationships and the identity of several major DHA breakdown products remained unclear. In the presence of added H2O2, DHA underwent little hydrolysis to DKG (2,3-dioxo-L-gulonate). Instead, it yielded OxT (oxalyl L-threonate), cOxT (cyclic oxalyl L-threonate) and free oxalate (~6:1:1), essentially simultaneously, suggesting that all three product classes independently arose from one reactive intermediate, proposed to be cyclic-2,3-O-oxalyl-L-threonolactone. Only with plant apoplastic esterases present were the esters significant precursors of free oxalate. Without added H2O2, DHA was slowly hydrolysed to DKG. Downstream of DKG was a singly ionized dicarboxy compound (suggested to be 2-carboxy-L-xylonolactone plus 2-carboxy-L-lyxonolactone), which reversibly de-lactonized to a dianionic carboxypentonate. Formation of these lactones and acid was minimized by the presence of residual unreacted ascorbate. In vivo, the putative 2-carboxy-L-pentonolactones were relatively stable. We propose that DHA is a branch-point in ascorbate catabolism, being either oxidized to oxalate and its esters or hydrolysed to DKG and downstream carboxypentonates. The oxidation/hydrolysis ratio is governed by reactive oxygen species status. In vivo, oxalyl esters are enzymatically hydrolysed, but the carboxypentonates are stable. The biological roles of these ascorbate metabolites invite future exploration.

The glycosylation of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) obtained from the Bowes melanoma cell line was re-examined using methods of serial lectin affinity chromatography coupled with Bio-Gel P-4 gel filtration chromatography and exoglycosidase sequencing. This study clarified an earlier discrepancy in the literature and confirmed that the major complex N-linked glycans on Bowes t-PA that carry sialic acid as their sole charged group are bi-antennary, core fucosylated, with terminal N-acetylgalactosamine residues. We also report the characterization of a series of related and previously unidentified sialylated glycans. Further we show that Bowes t-PA expresses glucuronic acid/sulphate containing N-linked glycans and is recognized by anti-carbohydrate L2/HNK-1 monoclonal antibodies. The presence on Bowes t-PA of glycans associated primarily with the nervous system is consistent with its expression in a cell line of neuroectodermal origin.

The hydrolysis of Whatman no. 1 filter paper by purified cellulolytic components from Trichoderma reesei and the synergistic action of binary combinations of these enzymes on the same substrate were investigated. At 20 milligrams filter paper, enzyme concentrations needed to obtain half-maximal hydrolysis rates (KE values) were in the 3-4 microM range for the cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) and 0.05-0.10 microM for the endoglucanases (EGs). Catalytic-core proteins of CBH I and EG III, lacking the cellulose-binding domain, exhibit KE values 2.3 and 5.1 times higher than those of the intact enzymes. In synergistic combinations of two cellulases, the KE value of at least one enzyme was 3-10-fold reduced. CBH I/CBH II and CBH I/EG III combinations showed the most powerful synergism, and optimal ratios were a function of the total protein concentration. Results obtained in activity and adsorption assays using filter paper pretreated with one component, followed by inactivation and subsequent hydrolysis with the same or another cellulase component, point to a sequential enzymic attack of the cellulose and seems consistent with the mathematical model presented.

A purification procedure based on (NH4)2SO4 precipitation, and chromatography on Affi-Gel Blue, DEAE-cellulose, hydroxyapatite and Bio-Gel P-60 yields a stable 6400-fold-purified active monomeric phenol (tyrosine) sulphotransferase of 26 kDa from W10BSmL, an aplastidic mutant of Euglena gracilis var. bacillaris. The apparent Km for adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phosphosulphate (PAPS) is 15 microM (60 microM tyrosine as substrate); adenosine 5'-phosphosulphate is inactive. L-Tyrosine gave the lowest apparent Km (33 microM) (with PAPS at 30 microM), but tyrosine esters, tyrosinamide, L-p-hydroxyphenylglycine and a number of tyrosine dipeptides were also active, with higher Km values. Nitrophenols (m- and p-) and chlorophenols (o-, m- and p-) were active, with higher Km values than for tyrosine. D-Tyrosine was inactive as a substrate, as was D-p-hydroxyphenylglycine and a number of other tyrosine derivatives lacking the carboxy carbonyl or the amino group, or having extra ring substituents or the hydroxy group in the wrong position. Adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate and tyrosine O4-sulphate, products of the enzyme reaction with PAPS and tyrosine as substrates, showed competitive (Ki = 20 microM) and uncompetitive (Ki = 500 microM) inhibition kinetics respectively. This appears to be the first phenol sulphotransferase to accept tyrosine as substrate. This membrane-bound enzyme may be involved in tyrosine transport as well as detoxification.

Mouse mastocytoma cells were cultured in medium containing [3H]GlcN and concentrations of [35S]sulphate varying from 0.01 to 0.5 mM. Intracellular [35S]sulphate incorporation increased severalfold from the lowest concentrations, reaching a maximum at 0.1-0.2 mM, whereas incorporation of [3H]hexosamine remained constant at all sulphate concentrations. Proteo[3H]-chondroitin [35S]sulphate was isolated and incubated with chondroitin ABC lyase, yielding 35S-labelled and/or 3H-labelled delta Di-0S and delta Di-4S disaccharide products. The increasing percentage of delta Di-4S was consistent with the increasing sulphate incorporation at each higher [35S]sulphate concentration. Examination of proteochondroitin [35S]sulphate size by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography indicated a range consistent with various numbers of glycosaminoglycan chains on the protease-resistant serglycin core protein. Alkali-cleaved chondroitin [35S]sulphate products indicated similar size distributions at all sulphate concentrations with no indication of preferential sulphation being related to smaller or larger size. DEAE-cellulose chromatography of [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate glycosaminoglycans indicated a random undersulphation as [35S]sulphate concentration was lowered. Addition of 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-xyloside to the cultures resulted in a 2-2.5-fold stimulation of [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate synthesis with formation of beta-xyloside-[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate which was much smaller, as estimated by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography, than the decreased amount of [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate derived from proteo[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate. Much higher concentrations of sulphate were necessary to produce sulphation of the beta-xyloside-[3H]chondroitin comparable with that of proteo[3H]-chondroitin, as indicated by chondroitin ABC lyase products and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The specific radioactivities of the [3H]GalN in the proteo[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate and beta-xyloside-[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate were calculated from the 3H and 35S c.p.m. of isolated dual-labelled delta Di-4S from each, and indicated that the presence of the beta-xyloside resulted in a dilution of the [3H]GlcN by endogenous GlcN that was 4 times higher than that of cultures lacking the beta-xyloside. The higher sulphate concentrations needed for sulphation of beta-xyloside-chondroitin suggests that the membrane-bound nature of the proteochondroitin acceptor in juxtaposition to a chondroitin sulphate-synthesizing enzyme complex effectively reduces the apparent Km for adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phosphosulphate.

The article titled "Expression of Concern: Protease-activated receptor-2 promotes kidney tubular epithelial inflammation by inhibiting autophagy via the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway" published in the Biochemical Journal raises concerns about the scientific validity of the paper. The Editorial Office has issued an expression of concern due to potential issues surrounding the partial duplication of figures in the paper. A correction has been published to address these concerns. Further investigation is being conducted by the Editorial Office. [Extracted from the article]

Brefeldin A (BFA), a drug that induces redistribution of Golgi-apparatus proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum, was used to determine the role of subcellular compartmentalization in the processing of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides. Baby-hamster kidney cells were pulse-labelled with [3H]mannose for 30-60 min and chased for up to several hours in the presence or in the absence of BFA or labelled continuously for several hours with and without the drug. Cellular glycoproteins were digested to glycopeptides with Pronase and either fractionated into glycan classes by lectin affinity chromatography or digested further by endoglycosidase H and endoglycosidase D. Released oligosaccharides obtained in the latter procedure were then separated from each other and from endoglycosidase-resistant glycopeptides by paper chromatography. The results show that BFA induces a very fast processing of protein-linked Glc3Man9GlcNAc2 oligosaccharide down to man5GlcNAc2 and conversion into complex-type and hybrid-type glycans. The major difference between untreated and BFA-treated cells is a large increase in bi-antennary and hybrid-type glycans in the latter cells. These results indicate that galactosylation of a mono-antennary GlcNAcMan5GlcNAc2 hybrid blocks subsequent action by mannosidase II and N-acetylglucosaminyl transferase II, producing galactosylated hybrid-type glycans. Similarly, galactosylation of the product of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases I and II, i.e. a Man3GlcNAc2 core substituted with GlcNAc beta 1----2 on both alpha 1----3- and alpha 1----6-linked mannose residues, blocks branching N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases IV and V, thereby causing an increase in bi-antennary glycans and a decrease in tri- and tetra-antennary glycans.