Inhibition of Acid Phosphatase Isoforms Purified from Mature Soybean (Glyczne MAX) Seeds

The four soybean seed acid phosphatase isoforms AP1, AP2, AP3A and AP3B were competitively inhibited by phosphate, vanadate, fluoride and molybdate, using p-nitrophenylphos-phate as substrate. The four isoforms were not significantly affected by compounds that can interact with SH residues or by pyridoxal phosphate. These results indicated that cysteine and lysine residues are not present in the active site of the four soybean seed acid phosphatase isoforms. The inhibition constant values for phosphate, vanadate, fluoride and molybdate at pH 5.0 were respectively: API (250, 12.8, 1.7, 0.05 μM), AP2 (800,10, 500, 0.025 μM), AP3A (250, 24.2,250, 0.032 μM), AP3B (2400, 36.9,750, 0.05 μM).     

Prothoracicotropic Hormone Acts as a Neuroendocrine Switch between Pupal Diapause and Adult Development

Diapause is a programmed developmental arrest that has evolved in a wide variety of organisms and allows them survive unfavorable seasons. This developmental state is particularly common in insects. Based on circumstantial evidence, pupal diapause has been hypothesized to result from a cessation of prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) secretion from the brain. Here, we provide direct evidence for this classical hypothesis by determining both the PTTH titer in the hemolymph and the PTTH content in the brain of diapause pupae in the cabbage army moth Mamestra brassicae. For this purpose, we cloned the PTTH gene, produced PTTH-specific antibodies, and developed a highly sensitive immunoassay for PTTH. While the hemolymph PTTH titer in non-diapause pupae was maintained at high levels after pupation, the titer in diapause pupae dropped to an undetectable level. In contrast, the PTTH content of the post-pupation brain was higher in diapause animals than in non-diapause animals. These results clearly demonstrate that diapause pupae have sufficient PTTH in their brain, but they do not release it into the hemolymph. Injecting PTTH into diapause pupae immediately after pupation induced adult development, showing that a lack of PTTH is a necessary and sufficient condition for inducing pupal diapause. Most interestingly, in diapause-destined larvae, lower hemolymph titers of PTTH and reduced PTTH gene expression were observed for 4 and 2 days, respectively, prior to pupation. This discovery demonstrates that the diapause program is already manifested in the PTTH neurons as early as the mid final instar stage.     

Hepatocyte Growth Factor Activator Inhibitor-1 Is Induced by Bone Morphogenetic Proteins and Regulates Proliferation and Cell Fate of Neural Progenitor Cells

Background

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in the developing neuroepithelium are regulated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. There is evidence that NPCs form a self-supporting niche for cell maintenance and proliferation. However, molecular interactions and cell-cell contacts and the microenvironment within the neuroepithelium are largely unknown. We hypothesized that cellular proteases especially those associated with the cell surface of NPCs play a role in regulation of progenitor cells in the brain.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In this work, we show that NPCs, isolated from striatal anlage of developing rat brain, express hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor-1 and -2 (HAI-1 and HAI-2) that are cell surface-linked serine protease inhibitors. In addition, radial glia cells derived from mouse embryonic stem cells also express HAI-1 and HAI-2. To study the functional significance of HAI-1 and HAI-2 in progenitor cells, we modulated their levels using expression plasmids or silencing RNA (siRNA) transfected into the NPCs. Data showed that overexpression of HAI-1 or HAI-2 decreased cell proliferation of cultured NPCs, whilst their siRNAs had opposite effects. HAI-1 also influenced NPC differentiation by increasing the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expressing cells in the culture. Expression of HAI-1 in vivo decreased cell proliferation in developing neuroepithelium in E15 old animals and promoted astrocyte cell differentiation in neonatal animals. Studying the regulation of HAI-1, we observed that Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and BMP-4 increased HAI-1 levels in the NPCs. Experiments using HAI-1-siRNA showed that these BMPs act on the NPCs partly in a HAI-1-dependent manner.

Conclusions

This study shows that the cell-surface serine protease inhibitors, HAI-1 and HAI-2 influence proliferation and cell fate of NPCs and their expression levels are linked to BMP signaling. Modulation of the levels and actions of HAI-1 in NPCs may be of a potential value in stem cell therapies in various brain diseases.     

Structural Basis of α-Catenin Recognition by EspB from Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli Based on Hybrid Strategy Using Low-Resolution Structural and Protein Dissection

Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) induces actin reorganization of host cells by injecting various effectors into host cytosol through type III secretion systems. EspB is the natively partially folded EHEC effector which binds to host α-catenin to promote the actin bundling. However, its structural basis is poorly understood. Here, we characterize the overall structural properties of EspB based on low-resolution structural data in conjunction with protein dissection strategy. EspB showed a unique thermal response involving cold denaturation in the presence of denaturant according to far-UV circular dichroism (CD). Small angle X-ray scattering revealed the formation of a highly extended structure of EspB comparable to the ideal random coil. Various disorder predictions as well as CD spectra of EspB fragments identified the presence of α-helical structures around G41 to Q70. The fragment corresponding to this region indicated the thermal response similar to EspB. Moreover, this fragment showed a high affinity to C-terminal vinculin homology domain of α-catenin. The results clarified the importance of preformed α-helix of EspB for recognition of α-catenin.     

Inspection of frass ejection could decrease the risk of white-spotted longicorn beetle Anoplophora malasiaca (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) infestation of Japanese pine bonsais to negligible levels

Applied Entomology and Zoology - To evaluate the infection risk of Anoplophora malasiaca (Thomson) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in two species of Japanese pine bonsais (Japanese black pine and...