Biomaterial Database

Radiolabeling of Treponema pallidum (Nichols virulent strain) in vitro with precursors for protein and RNA biosynthesis. 1978

P L Sandok, and H M Jenkin

We observed uptake of [U-14C]serine, U-14C-labeled amino acid hydrolysates, and [2-14C]uracil by virulent Treponema pallidum in vitro for at least 96 h. No uptake of [2-14C]thymine, [1-14C]pyruvate, [U-14C]pyruvate, and [2-14C]uridine was detected. Treponemal protein and RNA biosynthetic activity was identified by erythromycin inhibition of amino acid and uracil uptake. Radioactivity due to uptake of radiolabeled amino acids by residual testicular cells in the cultures remained at background levels regardless of the presence or absence of cycloheximide. Accumulation of the radiolabeled substrates by T. pallidum proceeded at a linear rate for 48 to 96 h during incubation in vitro. The longevity of substrate uptake using the system of incubation described will facilitate future studies on the metabolism of the microorganism to help determine essential growth factors and environmental conditions for multiplication of T. pallidum in vitro.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007700	Kinetics	The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.
D011773	Pyruvates	Derivatives of PYRUVIC ACID, including its salts and esters.
D003513	Cycloheximide	Antibiotic substance isolated from streptomycin-producing strains of Streptomyces griseus. It acts by inhibiting elongation during protein synthesis.	Actidione,Cicloheximide
D004917	Erythromycin	A bacteriostatic antibiotic macrolide produced by Streptomyces erythreus. Erythromycin A is considered its major active component. In sensitive organisms, it inhibits protein synthesis by binding to 50S ribosomal subunits. This binding process inhibits peptidyl transferase activity and interferes with translocation of amino acids during translation and assembly of proteins.	Erycette,Erymax,Erythromycin A,Erythromycin C,Erythromycin Lactate,Erythromycin Phosphate,Ilotycin,T-Stat,Lactate, Erythromycin,Phosphate, Erythromycin,T Stat,TStat
D000596	Amino Acids	Organic compounds that generally contain an amino (-NH2) and a carboxyl (-COOH) group. Twenty alpha-amino acids are the subunits which are polymerized to form proteins.	Amino Acid,Acid, Amino,Acids, Amino
D001426	Bacterial Proteins	Proteins found in any species of bacterium.	Bacterial Gene Products,Bacterial Gene Proteins,Gene Products, Bacterial,Bacterial Gene Product,Bacterial Gene Protein,Bacterial Protein,Gene Product, Bacterial,Gene Protein, Bacterial,Gene Proteins, Bacterial,Protein, Bacterial,Proteins, Bacterial
D012694	Serine	A non-essential amino acid occurring in natural form as the L-isomer. It is synthesized from GLYCINE or THREONINE. It is involved in the biosynthesis of PURINES; PYRIMIDINES; and other amino acids.	L-Serine,L Serine
D013941	Thymine	One of four constituent bases of DNA.	5-Methyluracil,5 Methyluracil
D014210	Treponema pallidum	The causative agent of venereal and non-venereal syphilis as well as yaws.
D014498	Uracil	One of four nucleotide bases in the nucleic acid RNA.