Lazarus1, a DUF300 Protein,Contributes to Programmed Cell Death Associated with Arabidopsis acd11 and the Hypersensitive Response

Background

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a necessary part of the life of multi-cellular organisms. A type of plant PCD is the defensive hypersensitive response (HR) elicited via recognition of a pathogen by host resistance (R) proteins. The lethal, recessive accelerated cell death 11 (acd11) mutant exhibits HR-like accelerated cell death, and cell death execution in acd11 shares genetic requirements for HR execution triggered by one subclass of R proteins.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To identify genes required for this PCD pathway, we conducted a genetic screen for suppressors of acd11, here called lazarus (laz) mutants. In addition to known suppressors of R protein-mediated HR, we isolated 13 novel complementation groups of dominant and recessive laz mutants. Here we describe laz1, which encodes a protein with a domain of unknown function (DUF300), and demonstrate that LAZ1 contributes to HR PCD conditioned by the Toll/interleukin-1 (TIR)-type R protein RPS4 and by the coiled-coil (CC)-type R protein RPM1. Using a yeast-based topology assay, we also provide evidence that LAZ1 is a six transmembrane protein with structural similarities to the human tumor suppressor TMEM34. Finally, we demonstrate by transient expression of reporter fusions in protoplasts that localization of LAZ1 is distributed between the cytosol, the plasma membrane and FM4–64 stained vesicles.

Conclusions/Significance

Our findings indicate that LAZ1 functions as a regulator or effector of plant PCD associated with the HR, in addition to its role in acd11-related death. Furthermore, the similar topology of a plant and human DUF300 proteins suggests similar functions in PCD across the eukaryotic kingdoms, although a direct role for TMEM34 in cell death control remains to be established. Finally, the subcellular localization pattern of LAZ1 suggests that it may have transport functions for yet unknown, death-related signaling molecules at the plasma membrane and/or endosomal compartments. In summary, our results validate the utility of the large-scale suppressor screen to identify novel components with functions in plant PCD, which may also have implications for deciphering cell death mechanisms in other organisms.     

Quantitative determination of nuclear pore complexes in cycling cells with differing DNA content

The number of pore complexes per nucleus was determined for a wide variety of cultured cells selected for their variable DNA content over a range of 1-5,6000. The pore number was compared to DNA content, nuclear surface area, and nuclear volume. Values for pore frequency (pores/square micrometer) were relatively constant in the species studied. When the pore to DNA ratio was plotted against the DNA content, there was a remarkable correlation which decreased exponentially for the cells of vertebrae origin. Exceptions were the heteroploid mammalian cells which had the same ratio as the diploid mammalian cells despite higher DNA content. The results are interpreted to mean that neither the nuclear surface, the nuclear volume, nor the DNA content alone determines the pore number of the nucleus, but rather an as yet undetermined combination of different factors. The surface and volume of vertebrate nuclei do not decrease with decreasing DNA content below a given value. The following speculation is suggested to account for the anomalous size changes of the nucleus relative to DNA content in vertebrates. Species with small DNA complements have a relatively large proportion of active chromatin which determines the limits of the physical parameters of the nucleus. The amount of active chromatin maybe the same for at least the vertebrates with low DNA content, At high DNA content, the nuclear parameters may be determined by the relatively high proportion of inactive condensed chromatin which increases the nuclear surface and volume.     

Metabolism of 125I-labeled lipoproteins by the isolated rat lung

The capacity of the isolated perfused rat lung to metabolize the protein moieties of serum lipoproteins was assessed using homologous (rat) and heterologous (human) plasma lipoproteins. The protein and lipid moieties of the plasma lipoproteins were labeled in vivo with Na[125I]. In selected cases the lipoprotein peptides were labeled in vivo with 14C- or 3H-labeled amino acids. Uptake of lipoprotein label during perfusion was monitored by measure of losses in perfusate label and by rises in pulmonary tissue labeling as shown by radioassay and by light and electron microscope radioautography. Lipoprotein degradation was assessed by fractionation of perfusate and lung tissue radioactive material into trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-isoluble, TCA-soluble, and ether-ethanol-soluble fractions. When heparin was included in the perfusion medium, there was selective degradation of the protein portion of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) in the perfusate and concomitant uptake of radioactive label by the lungs. Low density lipoprotein (LDL)) was neither taken up nor catabolized by the isolated rat lung in the absence or presence of heparin. By light and electron microscopy, the label was localized over the interalveolar septa, predominantly the capillary endothelium. Disappearance of TCA-insoluble radioactivity from the perfusate was associated with the generation of both TCA-soluble iodide and noniodide radioactivity. Greater than 50% of the radioactive label taken up by the lungs was found in the delipidated TCA-insoluble fraction. This study provides in vitro evidence for pulmonary catabolism of VLDL apolipoproteins and uptake of peptide catabolic products of VLDL by the lung.     

Putative Binding Sites,and Pathways to Them,for Amidine and Guanidine Current Inhibitors on Acid‐Sensing Ion Channels (ASIC). A Theoretical Approach with hASIC1a Homology Model

Central inhibition of the acid‐sensing hASIC1a channel, acting upstream of the opiate system, might serve to treat any type of pain, avoiding the unwanted addiction problems of the opioid drugs. To this end, inhibition of hASIC1a channel by PcTx1, a peptide from the Trinidad chevron tarantula, is under development. New inhibitors of the hASIC1a channel are also being sought, in the hope of further modulating the activity, from which antiplasmodial amidine and guanidine phenyl drugs have emerged as promising candidates. However, how such current inhibition takes place remains obscure from the molecular point of view, hindering any further progress in developing drugs. Therefore, the nature of the binding sites, and how they are reached by the amidine‐guanidine drugs, was investigated here via automated docking and molecular dynamics with hASIC1a homology models. This study has revealed that this ion channel is rich in binding sites, and that flexible drugs, such as nafamostat, may penetrate it in a snake‐like elongated conformation. Then, crawling like a snake through temporary holes in the protein, nafamostat either simply flips, or changes to a high‐energy folded conformation to become adapted to the shape of the binding site.     

A two-step model of acute CD4 T-cell mediated cardiac allograft rejection

CD4 T cells are both necessary and sufficient to mediate acute cardiac allograft rejection in mice. This process requires "direct" engagement of donor MHC class II molecules. That is, acute rejection by CD4+ T cells requires target MHC class II expression by the donor and not by the host. However, it is unclear whether CD4+ T cell rejection requires MHC class II expression on donor hemopoietic cells, nonhemopoietic cells, or both. To address this issue, bone marrow transplantation in mice was used to generate chimeric heart donors in which MHC class II was expressed either on somatic or on hemopoietic cells. We report that direct recognition of hemopoietic and nonhemopoietic cells are individually rate limiting for CD4+ T cell-mediated rejection in vivo. Importantly, active immunization with MHC class II(+) APCs triggered acute rejection of hearts expressing MHC class II only on the somatic compartment. Thus, donor somatic cells, including endothelial cells, are not sufficient to initiate acute rejection; but they are necessary as targets of direct alloreactive CD4 T cells. Taken together, results support a two-stage model in which donor passenger leukocytes are required to activate the CD4 response while direct interaction with the somatic compartment is necessary for the efferent phase of acute graft rejection.     

The codon 47 polymorphism in p53 is functionally significant

In addition to a common polymorphism at codon 72, the p53 tumor suppressor gene also contains a rare single nucleotide polymorphism at amino acid 47. Wild type p53 encodes proline at this residue, but in <5% of African Americans, this amino acid is serine. Notably, phosphorylation of the adjacent serine 46 by the proline-directed kinase p38 MAPK is known to greatly enhance the ability of p53 to induce apoptosis. Here we showed that the serine 47 polymorphic variant, which replaces the proline residue necessary for recognition by proline-directed kinases, is a markedly poorer substrate for phosphorylation on serine 46 by p38 MAPK. Consistent with this finding, we showed that the serine 47 variant has up to 5-fold decreased ability to induce apoptosis compared with wild type p53. Mechanistically, we found that this variant has decreased ability to transactivate two p53 target genes, p53AIP1 and PUMA, but not other p53 response genes; this is the first time that phosphorylation of serine 46 has been implicated in transactivation of PUMA by p53. Down-regulation of PUMA in cells with wild type p53 using short interfering RNAs reduced apoptosis in these cells to a level comparable to that in cells containing the serine 47 variant. The combined data indicated that, like the codon 72 polymorphism, the codon 47 polymorphism of p53 is functionally significant and may play a role in cancer risk, progression, and the efficacy of therapy.     

Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate induces apoptosis by a cytochrome c-dependent mechanism

Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) is a synthetic antioxidant molecule, which has been recently proposed as an antitumoral agent on the basis of its capability of inducing apoptosis. We investigated the effect of PDTC on the proliferation and survival of the promyelocitic cell line HL-60. Concentration as low as 10 microM of PDTC induces a significant reduction of the growth rate and the contemporaneous activation of the apoptotic process. Programmed cell death was demonstrated by biochemical analyses, including the activation of procaspase 3 and the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). PDTC-dependent apoptosis was associated with an early release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, while the involvement of pathways due to cell death receptors engagement was ruled out by detailed time-course analyses of caspases 3 and 8 activation. Moreover, no up-regulation of p21(CIP1) level, a pivotal cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, occurred at PDTC concentration able to induce apoptosis. Finally, in vitro incubation of purified mitochondria with PDTC demonstrated that the molecule is directly able to induce cytochrome c release from the intermembrane space, thus confirming that mitochondria are a primary cellular target of the molecule.     

Infectiousness of Sylvatic and Synanthropic Small Rodents Implicates a Multi-host Reservoir of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis

Background

The possibility that a multi-host wildlife reservoir is responsible for maintaining transmission of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis causing human cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is tested by comparative analysis of infection progression and infectiousness to sandflies in rodent host species previously shown to have high natural infection prevalences in both sylvatic or/and peridomestic habitats in close proximity to humans in northeast Brazil.

Methods

The clinical and parasitological outcomes, and infectiousness to sandflies, were observed in 54 colonized animals of three species (18 Necromys lasiurus, 18 Nectomys squamipes and 18 Rattus rattus) experimentally infected with high (5.5×10⁶/ml) or low (2.8×10⁵/ml) dose L. (V.) braziliensis (MBOL/BR/2000/CPqAM95) inoculum. Clinical signs of infection were monitored daily. Whole animal xenodiagnoses were performed 6 months post inoculation using Lutzomyia longipalpis originating from flies caught in Passira, Pernambuco, after this parasite evaluation was performed at necropsy. Heterogeneities in Leishmania parasite loads were measured by quantitative PCR in ear skin, liver and spleen tissues.

Results

All three rodent species proved to establish infection characterized by short-term self-resolving skin lesions, located on ears and tail but not on footpads (one site of inoculation), and variable parasite loads detected in all three tissues with maximum burdens of 8.1×10³ (skin), 2.8×10³ (spleen), and 8.9×10² (liver). All three host species, 18/18 N. lasiurus, 10/18 N. squamipes and 6/18 R. rattus, also proved infectious to sandflies in cross-sectional study. R. rattus supported significantly lower tissue parasite loads compared to those in N. lasiurus and N. squamipes, and N. lasiurus appeared to be more infectious, on average, than either N. squamipes or R. rattus.

Conclusions

A multi-host reservoir of cutaneous leishmaniasis is indicated in this region of Brazil, though with apparent differences in the competence between the rodent species. The results provide preliminary insights into links between sylvatic and peri-domestic transmission cycles associated with overlaps in the rodent species’ ecological niches.     

On the Pathways of Biologically Relevant Diatomic Gases through Proteins. Dioxygen and Heme Oxygenase from the Perspective of Molecular Dynamics

This work deals with dioxygen (O₂) binding sites and pathways through inducible human heme oxygenase (HO‐1). The experimentally known distal binding site 1, and sites 2–3 above it, could be reproduced by means of non‐deterministic random‐acceleration molecular‐dynamics (RAMD) simulations. In addition, RAMD revealed the proximal binding site 5, a deeply‐seated binding site 4, which lies behind heme, as well as a few gates communicating with the external medium. In getting from site 1 to the main gate, which lies on the protein front opposed to site 4, O₂ follows chiefly the shortest direct pathway. Less frequently, O₂ visits intermediate sites 2, 4, or 5 along longer pathways. A similarity between HO‐1, myoglobin, and cytoglobin in using, for diatomic gas delivery, the direct shortest pathway from the heme center to the surrounding medium, is emphasized. Otherwise, comparing other proteins and diatomic gases, each system reveals its peculiarities as to sites, gates, and pathways. Thus, relating these properties to the physiological functions of the proteins remains in general a challenge for future studies.