Defective transfer of seminal-fluid materials during matings of semi-fertile fruitless mutants in Drosophila

In context of the semi-sterility exhibited by Drosophila males expressing certain mating-enabling fruitless (fru) mutant genotypes, we examined the transfer of seminal fluid using a transgene that encodes the Sex Peptide (SP) oligopeptide fused to Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). We found that this fusion construct expresses SP-GFP in a valid manner within accessory glands of the male reproductive system in normal and fru-mutant males. Transfer of SP-GFP to live females was readily detectable during and after copulation. With respect to the pertinent combinations of fru mutations, we demonstrated that these abnormal genotypes cause males to transmit mating-related materials in two aberrant ways: one involving whether any seminal-fluid entities are transferred at all during a given mating; the other revealing an intriguing aspect of these fruitless effects, such that the mutations in question cause males to transfer female-affecting materials in a manner that varies among copulations. In this regard, certain mutant males that do not transfer SP nevertheless are able to transfer sperm: a fru-mated female possessing no GFP who was not fecund initially could produce progeny when seminal-fluid proteins were subsequently supplied by mating with a male that was spermless owing to the effects of a tudor mutation.     

8-Nitroguanine formation in oral leukoplakia, a premalignant lesion.

Oral leukoplakia is a premalignant lesion associated with development of oral cancer. To clarify the mechanism of development of oral carcinogenesis from leukoplakia, we examined DNA damage in oral epithelium of biopsy specimens of patients with leukoplakia by immunohistochemical methods. Histological changes, such as epithelial dysplasia and infiltration of inflammatory cells were observed in oral tissues of leukoplakia patients. A double immunofluorescence labeling study demonstrated that the accumulation of mutagenic 8-nitroguanine, an indicator of nitrative DNA damage, and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine, an indicator of oxidative DNA damage, was apparently observed in the oral epithelium of patients with leukoplakia, whereas little or no immunoreactivity was observed in normal oral mucosa. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was also observed in oral epithelium of leukoplakia patients. Immunoreactivity of 3-nitrotyrosine, an indicator of nitrative stress, was observed in oral epithelial cells and colocalized with 8-nitroguanine. Moreover, proliferating cell nuclear antigen and p53 were expressed in 8-nitroguanine-positive epithelial cells in the basal layer. These results suggest that iNOS-mediated nitrative stress contributes to development of oral carcinogenesis from leukoplakia through DNA damage as well as oxidative stress.     

Spread of X-chromosome inactivation into chromosome 15 is associated with Prader–Willi syndrome phenotype in a boy with a t(X;15)(p21.1;q11.2) translocation

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an essential mechanism in females that compensates for the genome imbalance between females and males. It is known that XCI can spread into an autosome of patients with X;autosome translocations. The subject was a 5-year-old boy with Prader?CWilli syndrome (PWS)-like features including hypotonia, hypo-genitalism, hypo-pigmentation, and developmental delay. G-banding, fluorescent in situ hybridization, BrdU-incorporated replication, human androgen receptor gene locus assay, SNP microarrays, ChIP-on-chip assay, bisulfite sequencing, and real-time RT-PCR were performed. Cytogenetic analyses revealed that the karyotype was 46,XY,der(X)t(X;15)(p21.1;q11.2),?15. In the derivative chromosome, the X and half of the chromosome 15 segments showed late replication. The X segment was maternal, and the chromosome 15 region was paternal, indicating its post-zygotic origin. The two chromosome 15s had a biparental origin. The DNA methylation level was relatively high in the region proximal from the breakpoint, and the level decreased toward the middle of the chromosome 15 region; however, scattered areas of hypermethylation were found in the distal region. The promoter regions of the imprinted SNRPN and the non-imprinted OCA2 genes were completely and half methylated, respectively. However, no methylation was found in the adjacent imprinted gene UBE3A, which contained a lower density of LINE1 repeats. Our findings suggest that XCI spread into the paternal chromosome 15 led to the aberrant hypermethylation of SNRPN and OCA2 and their decreased expression, which contributes to the PWS-like features and hypo-pigmentation of the patient. To our knowledge, this is the first chromosome-wide methylation study in which the DNA methylation level is demonstrated in an autosome subject to XCI.     

Ordering of ceramide formation and caspase-9 activation in CD95L-induced Jurkat leukemia T cell apoptosis

Ceramide, a biologically active sphingolipid in cell death signaling, accumulates upon CD95L treatment, concomitantly to apoptosis induction in Jurkat leukemia T cells. Herein, we show that ceramide did not increase in caspase-8 and -10-doubly deficient Jurkat cells in response to CD95L, indicating that apical caspases are essential for CD95L-triggered ceramide formation. Jurkat cells are typically defined as type 2 cells, which require the activation of the mitochondrial pathway for efficient apoptosis induction in response to CD95L. Caspase-9-deficient Jurkat cells significantly resisted CD95L-induced apoptosis, despite ceramide accumulation. Knock-down of sphingomyelin synthase 1, which metabolizes ceramide to sphingomyelin, enhanced (i) CD95L-triggered ceramide production, (ii) cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and (iii) caspase-9 activation. Exogenous ceramide-induced caspase-3 activation and apoptosis were impaired in caspase-9-deficient Jurkat cells. Conversely, caspase-9 re-expression in caspase-9-deficient Jurkat cells restored caspase-3 activation and apoptosis upon exogenous ceramide treatment. Collectively, our data provide genetic evidence that CD95L-triggered endogenous ceramide increase in Jurkat leukemia T cells (i) is not a mere consequence of cell death and occurs mainly in a caspase-9-independent manner, (ii) is likely involved in the pro-apoptotic mitochondrial pathway leading to caspase-9 activation.     

Role of the Actin Ala-108–Pro-112 Loop in Actin Polymerization and ATPase Activities

Actin plays fundamental roles in a variety of cell functions in eukaryotic cells. The polymerization-depolymerization cycle, between monomeric G-actin and fibrous F-actin, drives essential cell processes. Recently, we proposed the atomic model for the F-actin structure and found that actin was in the twisted form in the monomer and in the untwisted form in the filament. To understand how the polymerization process is regulated (Caspar, D. L. (1991) Curr. Biol. 1, 30–32), we need to know further details about the transition from the twisted to the untwisted form. For this purpose, we focused our attention on the Ala-108–Pro-112 loop, which must play crucial roles in the transition, and analyzed the consequences of the amino acid replacements on the polymerization process. As compared with the wild type, the polymerization of P109A was accelerated in both the nucleation and the elongation steps, and this was attributed to an increase in the frequency factor of the Arrhenius equation. The multiple conformations allowed by the substitution presumably resulted in the effective formation of the collision complex, thus accelerating polymerization. On the other hand, the A108G mutation reduced the rates of both nucleation and elongation due to an increase in the activation energy. In the cases of polymerization acceleration and deceleration, each functional aberration is attributed to a distinct elementary process. The rigidity of the loop, which mediates neither too strong nor too weak interactions between subdomains 1 and 3, might play crucial roles in actin polymerization.     

Ectopic expression of a maize calreticulin mitigates calcium deficiency-like disorders in sCAX1-expressing tobacco and tomato

Deregulated expression of an Arabidopsis H⁺/Ca²⁺ antiporter (sCAX1) in agricultural crops increases total calcium (Ca²⁺) but may result in yield losses due to Ca²⁺ deficiency-like symptoms. Here we demonstrate that co-expression of a maize calreticulin (CRT, a Ca²⁺ binding protein located at endoplasmic reticulum) in sCAX1-expressing tobacco and tomato plants mitigated these adverse effects while maintaining enhanced Ca²⁺ content. Co-expression of CRT and sCAX1 could alleviate the hypersensitivity to ion imbalance in tobacco plants. Furthermore, blossom-end rot (BER) in tomato may be linked to changes in CAX activity and enhanced CRT expression mitigated BER in sCAX1 expressing lines. These findings suggest that co-expressing Ca²⁺ transporters and binding proteins at different intracellular compartments can alter the content and distribution of Ca²⁺ within the plant matrix.     

Spatial distribution of viruses associated with planktonic and attached microbial communities in hydrothermal environments

Viruses play important roles in marine surface ecosystems, but little is known about viral ecology and virus-mediated processes in deep-sea hydrothermal microbial communities. In this study, we examined virus-like particle (VLP) abundances in planktonic and attached microbial communities, which occur in physical and chemical gradients in both deep and shallow submarine hydrothermal environments (mixing waters between hydrothermal fluids and ambient seawater and dense microbial communities attached to chimney surface areas or macrofaunal bodies and colonies). We found that viruses were widely distributed in a variety of hydrothermal microbial habitats, with the exception of the interior parts of hydrothermal chimney structures. The VLP abundance and VLP-to-prokaryote ratio (VPR) in the planktonic habitats increased as the ratio of hydrothermal fluid to mixing water increased. On the other hand, the VLP abundance in attached microbial communities was significantly and positively correlated with the whole prokaryotic abundance; however, the VPRs were always much lower than those for the surrounding hydrothermal waters. This is the first report to show VLP abundance in the attached microbial communities of submarine hydrothermal environments, which presented VPR values significantly lower than those in planktonic microbial communities reported before. These results suggested that viral lifestyles (e.g., lysogenic prevalence) and virus interactions with prokaryotes are significantly different among the planktonic and attached microbial communities that are developing in the submarine hydrothermal environments.     

Substrate-like water soluble lipase inhibitors from Filipendula kamtschatica

Filipendula kamtschatica is a plant utilized as a traditional medicine by Ainu people in Japan, but its chemical constituents are not much studied. Pancreatic lipase inhibitors are a promising tool for the treatment of obesity. We searched for natural lipase inhibitors from F. kamtschatica and two new compounds were isolated along with the known flavonoid glycoside. The structure elucidation of new compounds revealed these two to be 2-O-caffeoyl-4-O-galloyl-l-threonic acid and 3-O-caffeoyl-4-O-galloyl-l-threonic acid, which can be recognized as a pancreatic lipase’s substrate-like structure. The isolated compounds all showed an inhibitory activity against porcine pancreatic lipase and one of the isomer, 3-O-caffeoyl-4-O-galloyl-l-threonic acid, possessed the most potent activity with IC₅₀ value showing an order lower value compared to others. The substrate-like structure of the new compounds seemed to be important for their activity.     

Functional evolution of duplicated odorant-binding protein genes, Obp57d and Obp57e, in Drosophila

Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are extracellular proteins found in insect chemosensilla, where they participate in the sensing of odors, tastes, and pheromones. Although a large number of OBP genes have been identified in insect genomes, their molecular functions and biological roles have been clarified in limited cases. Two OBP genes, Obp57d and Obp57e, were involved in the evolution of host-plant preference in Drosophila sechellia. Comparative analyses of the Obp57d/e genomic sequences from 27 closely related species suggested that the two genes arose by tandem gene duplication and functionally diverged from each other. In this study, the functional evolution of Obp57d and Obp57e was examined by in vitro binding assays using recombinant proteins synthesized in a bacterial system. Compared to the ancestral Dpse\OBP57de, Dmel\OBP57d was more specialized to tridecanoic acid while Dmel\OBP57e was generalized regarding their binding affinity, suggesting that the two OBP genes underwent subfunctionalization and neofunctionalization. A behavioral analysis using knockout flies supported that the biological role is different between OBP57d and OBP57e in vivo. Site-directed mutagenesis of the evolutionarily conserved amino acids revealed that these residues play an important role in protein folding. These findings provide a clue to understanding how the repertoire of OBP genes is maintained in a genome under natural selection.