A synthetic heptaphosphopeptide comprising the fully pbosphorylated carboxyl terminal pbosphorylation region of bovine rbodopsin, residues 330-348, was found to induce a conformational change in bovine arrestin. This caused an alteration of the pattern of limited proteolysis of arrestin similar to that induced by binding pbospborylated rbodopsin or heparin. Unlike heparin, the phosphopeptide also induced light-activated binding of arrestin to both unphospborylated rhodopsin in disk membranes as well as to endoproteinase Asp-N-treated rbodopsin (des 330-348). These findings suggest that one function of phosphorylation of rhodopsin is to activate arrestin which can then bind to other regions of the surface of the photoactivated rhodopsin. It has been recognized that phosphorylation of the activated receptor greatly enhances arrestin binding, and that binding is minimal to the unphosphorylated receptor [4,[6][7][8]. In the present work, we show that in the presence of a synthetic phosphorylated peptide from rhodopsin's carboxyl-terminal sequence, arrestin can bind to photoactivated unphosphorylated rhodopsin. We demonstrate that binding of the phosphopeptide to arrestin causes a change in the conformation of arrestin, and that it is this new conformation of arrestin that is capable of binding to photoactivated rhodopsin. Other G-proteinlinked receptors may similarly activate their corresponding arrestins which can then bind to other regions of the surface of the activated receptor.
1. Multiple forms of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGTs) have been demonstrated in the livers of all mammalian species that have been studied. Rat liver possesses at least eight different isozymes and human liver has at least five different forms which have been identified. 2. Endogenous substrates (e.g., steroids) are helpful in distinguishing UDPGTs as they generally react with only a single form, whereas xenobiotic substrates (e.g., 4-methyl-umbelliferone, p-nitrophenol) react with several forms of the enzyme. 3. Human liver UDPGTs differ in physical properties and substrate specificity from these enzymes obtained from laboratory animals. Hence, it is necessary to study human liver UDPGTs to elucidate substrate specificity and to understand drug-endogenous substrate interaction in humans.
Microbiological documentation of peritoneal candidiasis (PC) is hampered by the low numbers of yeasts observable by direct microscopic examination and recoverable by culture methods. The performance of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA Low-Density Microarray System (CLART STIs B) was compared to that of BACTEC FX automated culture method for the detection of Candida spp. in 161 peritoneal fluids (PF) from patients with peritonitis. The clinical utility of (1-3)-β-d-glucan (BDG) antigenemia in the diagnosis of PC was evaluated in 42 of these patients. The overall agreement between the PCR assay and the culture method was good (κ = 0.790), and their sensitivities were 93.5% and 74.19%, respectively. Serum BDG levels in patients with Candida spp. in PFs (median, 200.3 pg/mL; Range, 22.0-523.4 pg/mL) was significantly higher (P = 0.002) than those found in patients without the yeast (median, 25.3 pg/mL; Range, 0-523.4 pg/mL). Our study demonstrates the potential clinical utility of molecular methods and the measurement of serum BDG levels for the diagnosis of PC.
Two generic enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) were developed for detection of anti-hepatitis delta virus antibodies (anti-HD) and compared with a commercially available radioimmunoassay. Both generic assays were configured as blocking assays and used hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg) derived from infected chimpanzee liver (EIA-1) or from Escherichia coli transformed with a plasmid containing an insert from within an open reading frame encoding HDAg (EIA-2). Absolute sensitivity was ascertained by endpoint titration, which demonstrated essentially identical endpoints for EIA-1 and EIA-2. The absolute sensitivities of the EIAs were approximately four times greater than that of the radioimmunoassay. Specificity and sensitivity were ascertained by testing a panel of 176 serum specimens by each assay. The specimens were selected to represent a panel composed of sera from individuals with or without markers of viral hepatitis as follows: (i) serologically confirmed by exclusion as posttransfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis; (ii) acute or chronic hepatitis B virus infection, positive for hepatitis B surface antigen; (iii) resolved hepatitis B virus infection, positive for anti-hepatitis B surface antigen; (iv) acute hepatitis A virus infection, positive for anti-hepatitis A virus immunoglobulin M; and (v) normal human sera. All three assays for anti-HD gave similar specificity and sensitivity values. In conclusion, the recombinant expressed HDAg can replace antigen derived from infected liver tissue as a diagnostic reagent used to configure an EIA for detection of anti-HD. Furthermore, the results suggest that the expressed antigen contains the important immunodominant epitope(s).
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