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Detergent extraction of human blood platelets pre-treated with Taxol to stabilize microtubules allows isolation of marginal band (MB) cytoskeletons. We studied MB cytoskeleton structure using dark-field light microscopy and negative stain electron microscopy (EM). Dark-field illumination clearly demonstrated the "hoop" shape of MB cytoskeletons in unfixed suspensions where the microtubule coils had a mean diameter of 2.87 microns (+/- 0.18 micron, SD). Microtubules were uncoiled by brief exposure to trypsin (2 ng/micrograms protein) or by NaCl (154-600 mM) but not by DNase I, which removed approximately 40% of total actin, but had no effect on dark-field images of microtubule coils. As microtubules uncoiled, a single fiber emerged from the hoop and gradually lengthened as the brightness of the hoop diminished; these fibers correspond to the single microtubules seen by EM. Polypeptides of coiled and uncoiled MB cytoskeletons were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. When microtubules became uncoiled, no changes in the major components (alpha- and beta-tubulin, IEF-51K, or actin) were found. However, a number (greater than 10) of minor polypeptides, each less than 5% of total cytoskeletal protein and with an Mr ranging from 80,000- greater than 260,000, were decreased in "uncoiled" MB cytoskeletons. These results implicate one or more of these minor polypeptides in maintenance of hoop integrity. Dark-field light microscopy thus provides an approach toward investigating the mechanism(s) involved in maintaining the microtubule coil of the platelet marginal band.

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Glycerol:oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) 2-oxidoreductase (EC 1.1.1.6), an inducible enzyme for anaerobic glycerol catabolism in Klebsiella aerogenes, was purified and found to have a molecular weight of 79,000 by gel electrophoresis. The protein seemed to be enzymatically active either as a dimer of a 40,000-dalton peptide at pH 8.6 or as a tetramer of 160,000 molecular weight at pH 7.0. The enzyme activity was present at high levels in cells growing anaerobically on glycerol, but disappeared with a half-life of about 45 min if molecular oxygen was introduced to the culture. In contrast, no such phenomenon occurred with dihydroxyacetone kinase activity, the second enzyme in the pathway. Immunochemical analysis showed that the inactivation of the oxidoreductase did not involve degradation of the protein. Furthermore, subunits of the active and inactive forms of the enzyme were indistinguishable in size on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and had similar isoelectric points (pH 4.7). Inactivation did, however, alter the gel filtration properties of the enzyme protein and, more importantly, reduced its affinity for the dye Cibacron F3GA and the coenzyme NAD+.

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Pacaud and Uriel described an enzyme from Escherichia coli ("protease I") that hydrolyzes acetyl phenylalanine naphthyl ester (APNE). We examined the possible involvement of this enzyme in intracellular protein degradation, its subcellular distribution, and its proteolytic activity. Although the APNE-hydrolyzing activity is localized primarily in the periplasm, proteolytic activity against casein was found in the periplasm, membrane, and cytoplasm with similar specific activities. The APNE-hydrolyzing enzyme did not appear to contribute to the proteolytic activity of the periplasm. A mutant deficient in APNE-hydrolyzing activity lacked all activity in the periplasm but showed a slight percentage of residual activity in the cytoplasm. Extracts of such cells were normal in their ability to hydrolyze casein. The mutant was indistinguishable from wild-type cells in its rate of protein degradation during growth or glucose starvation and in the ability to rapidly degrade puromycin-containing polypeptides. Nitrogen starvation, which increased protein breakdown severalfold, affected neither the total amount nor the distribution of APNE-hydrolyzing activity. The mutant showed no defect in its ability to cleave small phenylalanine-containing peptides released during protein degradation. The mutant and wild-type cells are equally able to hydrolyze exogenously supplied phenylalanyl peptides. These experiments suggest that the APNE-hydrolyzing enzyme is not required for protein degradation and that "protease I" is probably not a protease.

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Amebae of Naegleria gruberi differentiate into flagellates when transferred from growth medium to non-nutrient buffer. This differentiation, which requires 48 min at 28 degrees C, is dependent on transcription and translation. Tubulin of the flagellar outer doublets comprises about 0.15% of the protein of flagellate, and only about 1-2% of the total tubulin. An antiserum to flagellar (outer-doublet) tubulin contains antibodies that react selectively with flagellar tubulin. Measurements using this antiserum have shown that 97-98% of the flagellar tubulin antigen appears during differentiation. The appearance of tubulin antigen is sensitive to actinomycin D and cycloheximide. Isotope dilution experiments using [35S]methione demonstrated that at least 70% of the flagellar tubulin is synthesized from amino acids during differentiation. Experiments using both the specific antiserum and isotopes have shown that flagellar tubulin synthesis begins about one-third of the way through differentiation, before any morphological change has occurred. These experiments demonstrate that most, if not all, of the flagellar tubulin is synthesized de novo during differentiation, and that cells selectively use a specific subpopulation of tubulin in assembling the outer doub)lets. The results bring into focus major unsolved questions about the synthesis and assembly of flagellar tubulin.

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Amebae of Naegleria gruberi differentiate into flagellates when transferred from growth medium to nonnutrient buffer. Experiments were performed to determine whether the tubulin that forms the flagellar microtubules pre-exists in amebae or is synthesized during differentiation. Amebae prelabeled uniformly with [(35)S]methionine were allowed to differentiate in the presence and in the absence of exogenous unlabeled methionine. In the presence of unlabeled methionine the flagellar tubulin contained only 30% as much [(35)S]methionine as in its absence. Thus at least 70% of the tubulin was synthesized de novo. Isotope dilution and pulse experiments showed that flagellar tubulin synthesis began one-third of the way through differentiation, before any morphological change had occurred. Flagellar tubulin antigen, as measured using a specific antiserum, also began to increase one-third of the way through differentiation and increased 35- to 55-fold during the course of differentiation. These experiments demonstrate that most if not all of the flagellar tubulin is synthesized de novo during differentiation.

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