Search

We studied the mutation effect of one of the putative loop residues Thr792 in human DNA topoisomerase II alpha (TOP2 alpha). Thr792 mutants were expressed from high or low copy plasmids in a temperature sensitive yeast strain deficient in TOP2 (top2-1). When expressed from a high copy plasmid, mutants with small side chains complemented the yeast defect; however, from a low copy plasmid, only wild-type, Ser, and Cys substitution mutants complemented the yeast defect. Interestingly, at the permissive temperature other mutants (e.g., Val, Gly, and Glu substitutions) showed the dominant negative effect to the top2-1 allele, which was not observed by the control alpha 4-helix mutants. T792E mutant was 10-fold less active than wild-type and the T792P had no decatenation activity in vitro. These results suggest that Thr792 in human TOP2 alpha is involved in enzyme catalysis.

A case of Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is presented where the height SD score was -2.0 and the bone age was 7.0yr when the chronological age was 11.0yr. The patienthad a normal response to a GH stimulation test, but his mean GH secretion during sleep, the first morning-voided urinary GH and the plasma somatomedin-C (Sm-C) levels were abnormally low. It is likely that the patient's short stature resulted from GH neurosecretory dysfunction (GHND).

The naphthoquinone moiety was proven to be essential to the biological activities of sakyomicin A using various naphthoquinone derivatives. Among the naphthoquinones tested, juglone (5-hydroxy-1, 4-naphthoquinone) which resembles the partial structure of sakyomicin A was the most active in cytotoxicity against murine lymphosarcoma L5178Y cells, electron acceptor function in the oxidation of NADH by Clostridium kluyveri diaphorase or rat liver mitochondria and inhibition against avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase. The significantly lower cytotoxicity of sakyomicin A as compared with juglone was attributable to its poor membrane transport. The inhibition of reverse transcriptase activity may result from the interaction between a sulfhydryl group in the active center of the enzyme and quinone groups of the naphthoquinones and sakyomicin A.