When different preparations of Zymolyase were included in the pretreatment protocol of a panfungal PCR assay using a primer system for the 18S rRNA gene, an amplification product occurred in negative controls. The amplified fragment showed 100.0% sequence identity to the Saccharomyces sensu stricto complex and Kluyveromyces lodderae. Lyticase, lysing enzymes, and proteinase K appeared to be fre...

A method for detecting Borna disease virus (BDV) RNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded brain tissue sections was established. By digestion with proteinase K and subsequent extraction with guanidinium thiocyanate, phenol, and chloroform, we were able to efficiently release RNA from the fixed tissues. By reverse transcription of the RNA and nested PCR a 212-bp product was generated, as expected.

Although the production of proteolytic enzymes by different strains of Aspergillus oryzae has been investigated in submerged culture (5, 15), in static liquid culture (3, 11), and on solid substratum (8-10), there appear to be few reports pertaining to the comparative evaluation of these different methods on the elaboration of proteinases by specific strains of A. oryzae. K. Mogi (13) compared ...

The Na+-Ca2+ exchange activity of purified canine cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles can be strikingly stimulated if the vesicles are pretreated with a serine or thiol proteinase. The Km (Ca2+) for Na+i-dependent Ca2+ influx is reduced from 22.2 +/- 2.3 to 8.1 +/- 0.3 microM while Vmax is increased from 15.1 +/- 3.6 to 18.9 +/- 5.2 nmol Ca2+ . mg protein-1 . s-1. Na+o-dependent Ca2+ efflux is also st...

MtrC and OmcA are cell surface-exposed lipoproteins important for reducing solid metal oxides. Deletions of type II secretion system (T2SS) genes reduced their extracellular release and their accessibility to the proteinase K treatment, demonstrating the direct involvement of T2SS in translocation of MtrC and OmcA to the bacterial cell surface.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting human immunoglobulin G to spotted fever group rickettsiae was developed and tested. The assay uses proteinase K-resistant material, characteristic of the rickettsial lipopolysaccharides shown to be group specific by immunoblots, as the antigen. The results indicate that the assay provides a sensitive, yet specific, alternative method for diagno...

Oligomeric forms of alpha-synuclein are emerging as key mediators of pathogenesis in Parkinson's disease. Our understanding of the exact contribution of alpha-synuclein oligomers to disease is limited by the lack of a technique for their specific detection. We describe a novel method, the alpha-synuclein proximity ligation assay, which specifically recognizes alpha-synuclein oligomers. In a bli...

Virtual screening, a fast, computational approach to identify drug leads [Perola, E.; Xu, K.; Kollmeyer, T. M.; Kaufmann, S. H.; Prendergast, F. G. J. Med. Chem.2000, 43, 401; Miller, M. A. Nat. Rev. Drug Disc.2002, 1 220], is limited by a known challenge in crystallographically determining flexible regions of proteins. This approach has not been able to identify active inhibitors of the severe...

To investigate the membrane pore structure of Cyt2Aa1 toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis, 14 single-cysteine substitutions of the toxin were constructed. Five of these mutants (L172C, V186C, L189C, E214C and L220C) yielded characteristic products when processed by proteinase K; other mutants were degraded by this enzyme. Mutants that yielded characteristic proteolysed products and wild-type toxi...

We describe a simple method for extracting polymerase chain reaction-amplifiable DNA from ancient bones without the use of organic solvents. Bone powders are digested with proteinase K, and the DNA is purified directly using silica-based spin columns (QIAquick3, QIAGEN). The efficiency of this protocol is demonstrated using human bone samples ranging in age from 15 to 5,000 years old.