In the accompanying paper (Altman, E., Bankaitis, V.A., and Emr, S.D. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 18148-18153) a putative SecB binding site was identified in the mature LamB protein. The export of wild-type LamB was unperturbed when this region was removed, however, suggesting the presence of a second site of interaction between SecB and LamB. In this paper we show that the interference caused by export-defective LamB proteins is influenced by the amount of signal sequence that is present. If a large portion of the signal sequence is deleted then the interference levels are significantly reduced. This result suggests that a region of the signal sequence contributes to the interaction of SecB with the LamB protein. Using anti-SecB affinity chromatography, we demonstrated directly that the association of SecB protein with precursor LamB is dependent on the presence of both the LamB signal sequence and the interfering region which maps to amino acids 320-380 of mature LamB. Although the interfering region is not necessary for the export of wild-type LamB under normal conditions, when the signal sequence is mutationally altered the interfering region is required to promote the efficient export of LamB protein. Also, deletion of the interfering region eliminates the ability of wild-type LamB precursor to be maintained in an export competent conformation in vivo. Collectively, our results indicate that efficient export of the LamB protein is achieved by an interaction with SecB that involves both the LamB signal sequence and the interfering region in mature LamB.
The gene products of the lethal lysis genes S and E of the bacteriophages lambda and phiX174, respectively, were shown to be associated primarily with inner membrane material by isopycnic sucrose gradient centrifugation of lysates of infected cells. A small amount of each polypeptide appeared to be in the outer membrane fraction.
Polysaccharides isolated from Panax quinquefolius roots are widely used as nutraceuticals due to their immunomodulatory properties. Despite their popularity, several challenges exist in isolating ginseng root polysaccharides such as batch-to-batch structural inconsistencies and bacterial endotoxin contamination. A plant tissue culture-based platform offers a potential solution to isolate natural polysaccharide fractions with consistent chemical characteristics and reduced endotoxin content. In this study, an acidic polysaccharide fraction (AGC3) with immunomodulatory properties was isolated from Panax quinquefolius suspension cultures. The heterogeneous fraction (molecular weight: 4.81 and 32.14 kDa), purified by anion exchange chromatography, was predominantly composed of galactose (>60%) along with the presence of rhamnose, arabinose, glucose, glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid. The major glycosidic linkages were found to be t-Galp (47.7%), 4-Galp (15.6%), 2,4-Rhap (8.1%), 6-Galp (8.1%) and 4-GalAp (6.8%). Structural analyses indicated the presence of a pectic rhamnogalacturonan I polysaccharide in AGC3. AGC3 significantly (p < 0.05) stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells and primary murine splenocytes by enhancing the production of several immunomodulatory mediators such as IL-6, TNF-α, GM-CSF and MCP-1. The results also indicated the putative roles of NF-κB (p65/RelA) and MAPK (p38) signaling pathways in the immunostimulatory response. Additionally, AGC3 induced murine splenocyte proliferation, another major indicator of immunostimulation. Overall, AGC3 has the potential to be used as an immunostimulatory nutraceutical.