In several cell types, apoptosis is associated with intracellular acidification and activation of a pH-dependent endonuclease. We have examined the effect of acidic pH on the DNA of permeabilized human fibroblasts, and observed cleavage of DNA into high-molecular-mass fragments. This pH-dependent DNA breakage was modulated by temperature, the presence of histones and diethyl pyrocarbonate. Supe...

Objective(s) Phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (PAP) catalyzes the dephosphorylation of phosphatidic acid to yield Pi and  diacylglycerol. Two different forms of PAP in rat hepatocyte have been reported. PAP1 is located in cytosolic and microsomal fractions and participates in the synthesis of triacylglycerols, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine, whereas the other form of phosphati...

Profiles of polyribosomes were obtained from etiolated stem segments of Pisum sativum L. var. Alaska isolated in various buffers. Tissue homogenized in a medium containing 0.2 M tris-HCI, pH 8.5, 0.2 M sucrose, 30 mM MgCL, and 60 mM KCI yielded polyribosomes exhibiting far less degradation than tissue homogenized in conventional media containing tris-HCl at lower ionic strength and pH. A furthe...

A study was conducted to assess efficacy of a new repellent brand TRIG (15% N-N Diethyl Benzamide) when compared to DEET (20% N-N Methyl Toluamide). The repellents were tested in laboratory and field. In the laboratory, the repellence was tested on human volunteers, by exposing their repellent-treated arms on starved mosquitoes in cages for 3 minutes at hourly intervals, while counting the land...

The ACCO gene from Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) has been cloned into the expression vector PT7-7. The highly expressed protein was recovered in the form of inclusion bodies. ACCO is inactivated by diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC) with a second-order rate constant of 170 M min. The pH-inactivation rate data imply the involvement of an amino acid residue with a pK value of 6.05. The difference UV...

The alkynyl phosphate ester, 1-hexynyl diethyl phosphate (I), is a mechanism-based inhibitor of phosphotriesterase. It has been previously determined that a histidine residue in the wild-type phosphotriesterase is covalently modified by this compound. In order to identify which of the seven histidine residues in the native enzyme are required for inactivation, the kinetic properties of phosphot...