Total uptake is the percent of radioactivity recovered in the cells divided by total radioactivity added to the growth medium. Percent of acid insoluble (radioactivity found in DNA and RNA) was also calculated [31]. These experiments were done more than three times and

data are given as mean ± SD. To determine the effect of TFT on TK and TS activity, Mpn wild type cells were cultured in 75 cm2 tissue culture flasks containing 50 ml medium, inoculated with 3 ml of stock culture (1 × 109 check details cfu/ml), in the presence of [3H]-dT (1 μCi ml-1) and different concentrations of TFT. After 70 hours at 37°C the cultures were harvested and divided to two aliquots, one was used to determine total uptake/metabolism of radiolabeled dT and total proteins were extracted from the other aliquot and used to measure TK and TS activity using [3H]-dT and [5-3H]-dUMP as substrates [31]. Expression and purification of recombinant Mpn HPRT The Mpn HPRT gene (MPN672) coding sequence was codon

optimized for expression of the recombinant protein in E. coli, by using the Proprietary OptimumGene™ codon optimization technology combined with gene synthesis (GenScript Inc.), and the synthetic cDNA was then cloned into the pEXP5NT vector (Invitrogen), BMS 907351 and expressed as an N-terminal fusion protein with a 6xHis tag and a TEV cleavage site. The plasmid containing the MPN672 gene was then transformed into the BL21 (DE3) pLysS strain and the recombinant protein production was induced by addition of 0.1 mM IPTG at 37°C for 4 h. The cells were harvested by centrifugation at 2000 × g for 25 min at 4°C. The pellets were resuspended in lysis buffer containing 25 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.5, 2 mM MgCl2, and 0.4 M NaCl. The cells were lysed by repeated freezing and thawing, and sonication for 2 min in an ice/water bath. After centrifugation at 25,000 × g for 30 science min at 4°C, the supernatant was used to purify the recombinant protein by metal affinity chromatography on a Ni-Sepharose (GE Healthcare) resin column, and the Mpn HPRT was eluted with 0.4 M imidazole in lysis buffer. The eluted fractions were analyzed by 12% SDS-PAGE

and those containing purified enzyme were pooled and passed through a PD-10 column (GE Healthcare) for desalting and buffer exchange. The final enzyme preparation was in a buffer containing 10 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 1 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), and 20% glycerol, and stored in aliquots at −70°C. Protein concentration was determined by Bio-Rad protein assay using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a standard. Recombinant human TK1, human TK2, Ureaplasma TK, and human HPRT were expressed and purified as previously described [30, 40, 44, 51]. Enzyme assays The HPRT assay was performed by using the DE-81 filter paper assay with tritium labeled hypoxanthine ([3H]-Hx) or guanine ([3H]-Gua) as substrates, essentially as previously described [44]. Briefly, the reaction mixture contained 50 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.