Arsenate reductase encoded by Staphylococcus aureus arsenic-resistance plasmid pI258 was overproduced in Escherichia coli and purified. The purified enzyme reduced radioactive arsenate to arsenite when coupled to thioredoxin, thioredoxin reductase, and NADPH. NADPH oxidation coupled to arsenate reduction also required thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase. Glutaredoxin and reduced glutathione did not stimulate arsenate reduction. NADPH oxidation showed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a Km of 1 microM AsO4(3-) and an apparent Vmax of 200 nmol/min per mg of protein. At high substrate concentration (above 1 mM AsO4(3-), a secondary rise in the reaction rate was observed, with a Km of 2 mM and an apparent Vmax of 450 nmol/min per mg of protein. This secondary rise also occurred upon addition of phosphate or nitrate (which were not substrates for the enzyme). Arsenite (the product of the enzyme), tellurite, and antimonite [Sb(III)] were inhibitors. Selenate (but not selenite or sulfate) was a substrate for reductase-dependent NADPH oxidation, with an apparent Km of 13 mM SeO4(2-). Arsenate reductase was purified as a monomer of 14.5 kDa, consistent with the DNA sequence. Electrospray mass spectrometry showed two molecular masses of 14,810.5 and 14,436.0 Da, suggesting that 70% of the purified protein lacked the N-terminal three amino acids; HPLC coupled to electrospray mass spectroscopy of protease digest products confirmed this conclusion and verified the entire amino acid sequence.

Recent cases of adulteration with melamine have led to the need for rapid and reliable screening methods. To meet this need, commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kits for the detection of triazines were evaluated. The recently released Melamine Plate kit (Abraxis, Warminster, Pa.) displayed a limit of detection of 9 ng/ml for melamine in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and approximately 1 microg/ml for melamine added to dog food. An atrazine ELISA test kit produced by Abraxis required 0.2 mg/ml to generate a response more than four times the standard deviation from background. In contrast, with the EnviroGard Triazine Plate kit (Strategic Diagnostics, Inc., Newark, Del.), 1.5 mg/ml melamine in PBS generated a signal only one standard deviation from background, which was insufficient to define a limit of detection. Extraction based on dilution with 105 mM sodium phosphate/75 mM NaCl/2.5% nonfat milk/0.05% Tween 20 (UD) enabled detection of fivefold less melamine in dog food than did use of the procedure recommended by the manufacturer, which entailed extraction into 60% methanol, sonication, centrifugation, filtration, and further dilution into 10% methanol/PBS. Using the Abraxis Melamine ELISA, both extraction protocols yielded identical results with a dog food sample adulterated with melamine. The recovery of melamine spiked into gravy from dog food using UD was 74% +/- 4%. In conclusion, the recently released Abraxis ELISA for melamine proved to be a useful alternative to more cumbersome methods.

The tyrosine-67 to phenylalanine mutated rat cytochrome c is similar to the unmutated protein in its spectral, reduction potential, and enzymic electron-transfer properties. However, the loss of the 695-nm band, characteristic of the ferric form of the normal low-spin physiologically active configuration, occurs 1.2 pH units higher on the alkaline side and 0.7 pH unit lower on the acid side. Similarly, the heme ironmethionine-80 sulfur bond is more stable to temperature, with the midpoint ofthe transition being 300C higher, corresponding to an increase in AH of 5 kcal/mol (1 cal = 4.184 J), partially mitigated by an increase of 11 entropy units in AS. Urea has only slightly different effects on the two proteins. These phenomena are best explained by considering that the loss of one of the three hydrogen-bonding side chains, tyrosine-67, asparagine-52, and threonine-78, which hold an internal water molecule on the "left, lower front" side of the protein [Takano, Biol. 153,, is sufficient to prevent its inclusion in the mutant protein, leading to a more stable structure, and, as indicated by preliminary proton NMR two-dimensional phase-sensitive nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy analyses, a reorganization of this area. This hypothesis predicts that elimination ofthe hydrogenbonding ability of residue 52 or 78 would also result in cytochromes c having similar properties. It is not obvious why the space-filling structure involving the internalized water molecule that leads to a destabilization energy of about 3 kcal/mol should be subject to extreme evolutionary conservation, when a more stable and apparently fully functional structure is readily available.

A novel competitive ELISA was developed utilizing the G12, R5, 2D4, MIoBS, and Skerritt antibody-HRP conjugates employed in nine commercial ELISA test kits that are routinely used for gluten detection. This novel multiplex competitive ELISA simultaneously measures gliadin-, deamidated gliadin-, and glutenin-specific epitopes. The assay was used to evaluate 20 wheat beers, 20 barley beers, 6 barley beers processed to reduce gluten, 15 soy sauces, 6 teriyaki sauces, 6 Worcestershire sauces, 6 vinegars, and 8 sourdough breads. For wheat beers, the apparent gluten concentration values obtained by the G12 and Skerritt antibodies were typically higher than those obtained using the R5 antibodies. The sourdough bread samples resulted in higher apparent gluten concentration values with the Skerritt antibody, while the values generated by the G12 and R5 antibodies were comparable. Although the soy-based sauces showed non-specific inhibition with the multiple R5 and G12 antibodies, their overall profile was distinguishable from the other categories of fermented foods. Cluster analysis of the apparent gluten concentration values obtained by the multiplex competitive ELISA, as well as the relative response of the nine gluten-specific antibodies used in the assay to different gluten proteins/peptides, distinguishes among the different categories of fermented-hydrolyzed foods by recognizing the differences in the protein/peptide profiles characteristic of each product. This novel gluten-based multiplex competitive ELISA provides insight into the extent of proteolysis resulting from various fermentation processes, which is essential for accurate gluten quantification in fermented-hydrolyzed foods. Graphical abstract A novel multiplex competitive ELISA for the detection and characterization of gluten in fermented-hydrolyzed foods.