No abstract

We have immunolocalized phenol sulfotransferase (PST)G, an isoform of PST in sustentacular cells which reside in the dorso‐medial portion of the nasal cavity of the mouse. The same topographical pattern of gene expression has been reported for some olfactory neuron‐specific genes. When several established (phenol‐containing) odorants were used as substrates, mouse nasal tissue cytosol showed a significant level of PST activity, as does mouse liver cytosol. This study is the first to demonstrate that gene expression in the olfactory sustentacular cells is also organized zonally, and indicates the involvement of sulfo‐conjugation in olfactory perireceptor processes, such as odorant clearance and xenobiotic detoxification.

Zeolites adsorb biopolymers on their surface and may be suitable as a new type of chromatographic carrier material for proteins, nucleic acids, and their conjugates. We report here various parameters that influence the adsorption of biopolymers on synthesized zeolites with regard to the Si/Al2 ratio and three-dimensional structure. There are three physicochemical principles that may underly the adsorption: 1) below the isoelectric point (pI), mainly Coulombic attraction similar to ion-exchange chromatography; 2) at pI, hydrophobic interactions (a kind of van der Waals attraction) plus the three-dimensional mesopore structure; and 3) above pI, the sum of the Coulombic repulsion and attraction forces, such as the hydrophobic interaction, and also substitution reaction of water on the Al molecule with a protein amino-base. At high Si/Al2 ratio in the presence of a small amount of Al and with mesopores between the zeolite particles, maximal adsorption was seen at pI and was suggested to be dependent on the number of hydrophobic interaction points on the mesopores, and their morphology. The application of zeolites to biochemistry and biotechnology is also discussed.

Two infrared local vibrational mode (LVM) absorption lines occurring at 715 and 845 cm−1 shift to 679 and 802 cm−1 in gallium arsenide doped with 18O, proving that the lines arise from the vibrations of oxygen impurities. The 715 cm−1 line exhibits a triplet 69,71Ga isotope fine structure consistent with that expected from a quasi-substitional VAs-O center. The 845 cm−1 line appears as a closely spaced doublet expected for a bonded interstitial oxygen atom.