(full paper is archived in the Miller Library)
Title: Stability of Calcium activation of NAD Kinase in S. purpuratus during early embryonic development
Student Author(s): Chung, Kiyon
Faculty Advisor(s): Epel, David
Pages: 17
Location: Final Papers Biology 175H
Date: June 1992
Abstract: The ability of calcium to turn on the calmodulin-activated enzyme NAD kinase was tested at different stages in the development of sea urchin embryos during the first 24 hours after fertilization. It was found that NAD kinase is a stable enzyme and that its calcium-dependency does not change throughout development. Tests on NAD kinase from eggs grown in emetine, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, and actinomycin, an inhibitor of RNA transcription, revealed that the enzyme is neither translated or resynthesized during the first twenty four hours. A calcium sensitivity curve was plotted for the enzyme and correlations between the critical concentrations of free calcium for the activation of NAD kinase and the actual calcium levels in the eggs are discussed.