Steroid analysis and doping control 1960-1980: Scientific developments and personal anecdotes

Definitive proof of anabolic steroid abuse in sports was not possible prior to the introduction of combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).This is a report of the early history (1960-1980) of GC/MS and radioimmunoassay, and how these techniques were utilized in the first years of steroid doping control in athletics. There were several key individuals and research groups involved in the early technical developments, and their essential contributions have been acknowledged. Our laboratory was the first IAAF (International Association of Athletic Federations) sanctioned site to do steroid GC/MS steroid analysis resulting in athletes being disqualified from competition. We had notable successes, including the only East German female competitor ever suspended during the tenure of the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). This paper not only covers scientific advances and milestones in the incorporation of steroid testing into international athletics, but also includes personal anecdotes of these early years before doping control became justifiably regimented. By the early 1980s, in anticipation of the Los Angeles Olympic games, dedicated year-round sports testing facilities had been established and part-time amateurs could step aside.     

p8/nupr1 regulates DNA‐repair activity after double‐strand gamma irradiation‐induced DNA damage

The stress protein p8 is a small, highly basic, unfolded, and multifunctional protein. We have previously shown that most of its functions are exerted through interactions with other proteins, whose activities are thereby enhanced or repressed. In this work we describe another example of such mechanism, by which p8 binds and negatively regulates MSL1, a histone acetyl transferase (HAT)‐associated protein, which in turn binds the DNA‐damage‐associated 53BP1 protein to facilitate DNA repair following DNA γ‐irradiation. Contrary to the HAT‐associated activity, MSL1‐dependent DNA‐repair activity is almost completely dependent on 53BP1 expression. The picture that has emerged from our findings is that 53BP1 could be a scaffold that gets the HAT MSL1‐dependent DNA‐repair activity to the sites of DNA damage. Finally, we also found that, although p8 expression is transiently activated after γ‐irradiation, it is eventually submitted to sustained down‐regulation, presumably to allow development of MSL1‐associated DNA‐repair activity. We conclude that interaction of MSL1 with 53BP1 brings MSL1‐dependent HAT activity to the vicinity of damaged DNA. MSL1‐dependent HAT activity, which is negatively regulated by the stress protein p8, induces chromatin remodeling and relaxation allowing access to DNA of the repair machinery. J. Cell. Physiol. 221: 594–602, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A LC–tandem MS assay for the simultaneous measurement of new antiretroviral agents: Raltegravir,maraviroc, darunavir,and etravirine

Raltegravir (RAL), maraviroc (MVC), darunavir (DRV), and etravirine (ETV) are new antiretroviral agents with significant potential for drug interactions. This work describes a sensitive and accurate liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method for the determination of plasma drug levels. Single-step extraction of RAL, MVC, DRV, ETV and RTV from plasma (100 μl) is performed by protein precipitation using 600 μl of acetonitrile, after the addition of 100 μl darunavir-d₉ (DRV-d₉) at 1000 ng/ml in MeOH/H₂O 50/50 as internal standard (I.S.). The mixture is vortexed, sonicated for 10 min, vortex-mixed again and centrifuged. An aliquot of supernatant (150 μl) is diluted 1:1 with a mixture of 20 mM ammonium acetate/MeOH 40/60 and 10 μl is injected onto a 2.1 × 50 mm Waters Atlantis?-dC18 3 μm analytical column. Chromatographic separations are performed using a gradient program with 2 mM ammonium acetate containing 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile with 0.1% formic acid. Analytes quantification is performed by electrospray ionisation-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry using the selected reaction monitoring detection in the positive mode. The method has been validated over the clinically relevant concentrations ranging from 12.5 to 5000 ng/ml, 2.5 to 1000 ng/ml, 25 to 10,000 ng/ml, 10 to 4000 ng/ml, and 5 to 2000 ng/ml for RAL, MRV, DRV, ETV and RTV, respectively. The extraction recovery for all antiretroviral drugs is always above 91%. The method is precise, with mean inter-day CV% within 5.1–9.8%, and accurate (range of inter-day deviation from nominal values ?3.3 to +5.1%). In addition our method enables the simultaneous assessment of raltegravir–glucuronide. This is the first analytical method allowing the simultaneous assay of antiretroviral agents targeted to four different steps of HIV replication. The proposed method is suitable for the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Service of these new regimen combinations administered as salvage therapy to patients having experienced treatment failure, and for whom exposure, tolerance and adherence assessments are critical.     

Engineered xyloglucan specificity in a carbohydrate-binding module

The field of plant cell wall biology is constantly growing and consequently so is the need for more sensitive and specific probes for individual wall components. Xyloglucan is a key polysaccharide widely distributed in the plant kingdom in both structural and storage tissues that exist in both fucosylated and non-fucosylated variants. Presently, the only xyloglucan marker available is the monoclonal antibody CCRC-M1 that is specific to terminal alpha-1,2-linked fucosyl residues on xyloglucan oligo- and polysaccharides. As a viable alternative to searches for natural binding proteins or creation of new monoclonal antibodies, an approach to select xyloglucan-specific binding proteins from a combinatorial library of the carbohydrate-binding module, CBM4-2, from xylanase Xyn10A of Rhodothermus marinus is described. Using phage display technology in combination with a chemoenzymatic method to anchor xyloglucan to solid supports, the selection of xyloglucan-binding modules with no detectable residual wild-type xylan and beta-glucan-binding ability was achieved.     

BlastR--fast and accurate database searches for non-coding RNAs

We present and validate BlastR, a method for efficiently and accurately searching non-coding RNAs. Our approach relies on the comparison of di-nucleotides using BlosumR, a new log-odd substitution matrix. In order to use BlosumR for comparison, we recoded RNA sequences into protein-like sequences. We then showed that BlosumR can be used along with the BlastP algorithm in order to search non-coding RNA sequences. Using Rfam as a gold standard, we benchmarked this approach and show BlastR to be more sensitive than BlastN. We also show that BlastR is both faster and more sensitive than BlastP used with a single nucleotide log-odd substitution matrix. BlastR, when used in combination with WU-BlastP, is about 5% more accurate than WU-BlastN and about 50 times slower. The approach shown here is equally effective when combined with the NCBI-Blast package. The software is an open source freeware available from www.tcoffee.org/blastr.html.     

Oleuropein and derivatives from olives as Tau aggregation inhibitors

Tau isoforms constitute a family of microtubule-associated proteins that are mainly expressed in neurons of the central nervous system. They promote the assembly of tubulin monomers into microtubules and modulate their stability, thus playing a key structural role in the distal portion of axons. In Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies, Tau aggregation into fibrillary tangles contributes to intraneuronal and glial lesions. We report herein the ability of three natural phenolic derivatives obtained from olives and derived food products to prevent such Tau fibrillization in vitro, namely hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, and oleuropein aglycone. The latter was found to be more active than the reference Tau aggregation inhibitor methylene blue on both wild-type and P301L Tau proteins, inhibiting fibrillization at low micromolar concentrations. These findings might provide further experimental support for the beneficial nutritional properties of olives and olive oil as well as a chemical scaffold for the development of new drugs aiming at neurodegenerative tauopathies.     

Waixenicin A inhibits cell proliferation through magnesium-dependent block of transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) channels

Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) channels represent the major magnesium-uptake mechanism in mammalian cells and are key regulators of cell growth and proliferation. They are expressed abundantly in a variety of human carcinoma cells controlling survival, growth, and migration. These characteristics are the basis for recent interest in the channel as a target for cancer therapeutics. We screened a chemical library of marine organism-derived extracts and identified waixenicin A from the soft coral Sarcothelia edmondsoni as a strong inhibitor of overexpressed and native TRPM7. Waixenicin A activity was cytosolic and potentiated by intracellular free magnesium (Mg(2+)) concentration. Mutating a Mg(2+) binding site on the TRPM7 kinase domain reduced the potency of the compound, whereas kinase deletion enhanced its efficacy independent of Mg(2+). Waixenicin A failed to inhibit the closely homologous TRPM6 channel and did not significantly affect TRPM2, TRPM4, and Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) current channels. Therefore, waixenicin A represents the first potent and relatively specific inhibitor of TRPM7 ion channels. Consistent with TRPM7 inhibition, the compound blocked cell proliferation in human Jurkat T-cells and rat basophilic leukemia cells. Based on the ability of the compound to inhibit cell proliferation through Mg(2+)-dependent block of TRPM7, waixenicin A, or structural analogs may have cancer-specific therapeutic potential, particularly because certain cancers accumulate cytosolic Mg(2+).