Quantitative phosphoproteomics of early elicitor signaling in Arabidopsis

Perception of general elicitors by plant cells initiates signal transduction cascades that are regulated by protein phosphorylation. The earliest signaling events occur within minutes and include ion fluxes across the plasma membrane, activation of MAPKs, and the formation of reactive oxygen species. The phosphorylation events that regulate these signaling cascades are largely unknown. Here we present a mass spectrometry-based quantitative phosphoproteomics approach that identified differentially phosphorylated sites in signaling and response proteins from Arabidopsis cells treated with either flg22 or xylanase. Our approach was sensitive enough to quantitate phosphorylation on low abundance signaling proteins such as calcium-dependent protein kinases and receptor-like kinase family members. With this approach we identified one or more differentially phosphorylated sites in 76 membrane-associated proteins including a number of defense-related proteins. Our data on phosphorylation indicate a high degree of complexity at the level of post-translational modification as exemplified by the complex modification patterns of respiratory burst oxidase protein D. Furthermore the data also suggest that protein translocation and vesicle traffic are important aspects of early signaling and defense in response to general elicitors. Our study presents the largest quantitative Arabidopsis phosphoproteomics data set to date and provides a new resource that can be used to gain novel insight into plant defense signal transduction and early defense response.     

Retrovirus-polymer complexes: study of the factors affecting the dose response of transduction

We have previously shown that complexes of Polybrene (PB), chondroitin sulfate C (CSC), and retrovirus transduce cells more efficiently than uncomplexed virus because the complexes are large and sediment, reaching the cells more rapidly than by diffusion. Transduction reaches a peak at equal weight concentrations of CSC and PB and declines when the dose of PB is higher or lower than CSC. We hypothesized that the nonlinear dose response of transduction was a complex function of the molecular characteristics of the polymers, cell viability, and the number of viruses incorporated into the complexes. To test this hypothesis, we formed complexes using an amphotropic retrovirus and several pairs of oppositely charged polymers and used them to transduce murine fibroblasts. We examined the effect of the type and concentration of polymers used on cell viability, the size and charge of the complexes, the number of viruses incorporated into the complexes, and virus binding and transduction. Transduction was enhanced (2.5- to 5.5-fold) regardless of which polymers were used and was maximized when the number of positive charge groups was in slight excess (15-28%) of the number of negative charge groups. Higher doses of cationic polymer were cytotoxic, whereas complexes formed with lower doses were smaller, contained fewer viruses, and sedimented more slowly. These results show that the dose response of transduction by virus-polymer complexes is nonlinear because excess cationic polymer is cytotoxic, whereas excess anionic polymer reduces the number of active viruses that are delivered to the cells.     

Specificity and genetic polymorphism in the Vfm quorum sensing system of plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Dickeya

The Vfm quorum sensing (QS) system is preponderant for the virulence of different species of the bacterial genus Dickeya. The vfm gene cluster encodes 26 genes involved in the production, sensing or transduction of the QS signal. To date, the Vfm QS signal has escaped detection by analytical chemistry methods. However, we report here a strain-specific polymorphism in the biosynthesis genes vfmO and vfmP, which is predicted to be related to the production of different analogues of the QS signal. Consequently, the Vfm communication could be impossible between strains possessing different variants of the genes vfmO/P. We constructed three Vfm QS biosensor strains possessing different vfmO/P variants and compared these biosensors for their responses to samples prepared from 34 Dickeya strains possessing different vfmO/P variants. A pattern of specificity was demonstrated, providing evidence that the polymorphism in the genes vfmO/P determines the biosynthesis of different analogues of the QS signal. Unexpectedly, this vfmO/P-dependent pattern of specificity is linked to a polymorphism in the ABC transporter gene vfmG, suggesting an adaptation of the putative permease VfmG to specifically bind different analogues of the QS signal. Accordingly, we discuss the possible involvement of VfmG as co-sensor of the Vfm two-component regulatory system.     

La 12′-hydroxyisostrychnobiline: Nouvel alcaloïde du Strychnos variabilis

The structure of a new bisindole alkaloid, 12′-hydroxyisostrychnobiline, has been proposed from the analysis of its 300 MHz ¹H NMR spectrum and comparison of the spectroscopic data with those of various monomeric and dimeric alkaloids, previously isolated from the same Strychnos species     

Light pulses do not induce c-fos or per1 in the SCN of hamsters that fail to reentrain to the photocycle

Circadian activity rhythms of most Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus sungorus) fail to reentrain to a 5-h phase shift of the light-dark (LD) cycle. Instead, their rhythms free-run at periods close to 25 h despite the continued presence of the LD cycle. This lack of behavioral reentrainment necessarily means that molecular oscillators in the master circadian pacemaker, the SCN, were unable to reentrain as well. The authors tested the hypothesis that a phase shift of the LD cycle rendered the SCN incapable of responding to photic input. Animals were exposed to a 5-h phase delay of the photocycle, and activity rhythms were monitored until a lack of reentrainment was confirmed. Hamsters were then housed in constant darkness for 24 h and administered a 30-min light pulse 2 circadian hours after activity onset. Brains were then removed, and tissue sections containing the SCN were processed for in situ hybridization. Sections were probed with Siberian hamster c-fos and per1 mRNA probes because light rapidly induces these 2 genes in the SCN during subjective night but not at other circadian phases. Light pulses induced robust expression of both genes in all animals that reentrained to the LD cycle, but no expression was observed in any animal that failed to reentrain. None of the animals exhibited an intermediate response. This finding is the first report of acute shift in a photocycle eliminating photosensitivity in the SCN and suggests that a specific pattern of light exposure may desensitize the SCN to subsequent photic input.     

Myristic acid increases delta6-desaturase activity in cultured rat hepatocytes

In order to study the effects of saturated fatty acids on delta6-desaturase activity, rat hepatocytes in primary culture were incubated with lauric (C12:0), myristic (C14:0) or palmitic (C16:0) acids. After optimization, the standard in vitro conditions for the measurement of delta6-desaturase activity were as follows: 60 micromol x L(-1) alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3), reaction time of 20 min and protein content of 0.4 mg. Data showed that cell treatment with 0.5 mmol x L(-1) myristic acid during 43 h specifically increased delta6-desaturase activity. This improvement, reproducible for three substrates of delta6-desaturase, i.e. oleic acid (C18:1n-9), linoleic acid (C18:2n-6) and alpha-linoleic acid (C18:3n-3) was dose-dependent in the range 0.1-0.5 mmol x L(-1) myristic acid concentration.     

IL-10 inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell activation in vitro and in vivo

The anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 inhibits intimal hyperplasia after stent implantation via a powerful inactivation of monocytes. We tested the hypothesis that IL-10 may also inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) activation via the inhibition of the NF-kappaB/I-kappaB system. The IL-10 receptor was detected in rat SMCs in vitro and in vivo. In LPS-stimulated rat SMCs, 1 ng/ml recombinant murine IL-10 (mIL-10) reduced I-kappaBalpha and I-kappaBbeta degradation, NF-kappaB activation, as well as the expression of the NF-kappaB-dependent gene IL-6 by 32%, 31%, 75%, and 19%, respectively (P < 0.05 for all). Similar results were obtained in vivo 6 h and 4 days after balloon abrasion of the rat aorta, a model in which intimal hyperplasia results essentially from SMC activation. Moreover, mIL-10 reduced SMC proliferation and migration in vitro (by 60% for both, P < 0.0001), resulting in reduced SMC proliferation and intimal growth 14 days after balloon abrasion of the rat aorta (by 76% and 75%, respectively; P < 0.005). In conclusion, mIL-10 has a direct inhibitory effect on SMCs in vitro and in vivo. This effect is mediated in part by NF-kappaB inactivation and may participate in the overall protective effect of IL-10 on postangioplasty restenosis.     

Living recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae secreting proteins or peptides as a new drug delivery system in the gut

New strategies to prevent or treat diseases have been focusing on innovative approaches, such as the oral administration of living recombinant micro-organisms delivering active compounds in the digestive environment. The survival rate and the ability of two recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (WppV(5)H(6) and WppGSTV(5)H(6)) to initiate the synthesis and secrete either a model peptide (peptide-V(5)H(6), MW: 5.6 kDa) or a model protein (glutathione-S-transferase-V(5)H(6), MW: 31.5 kDa) were studied in a gastric-small intestinal system simulating human digestive conditions. The WppV(5)H(6) and WppGSTV(5)H(6) strains respectively showed 83.1%+/-9.6 (n=3) and 95.3%+/-22.7 (n=4) survival rates in the model upper digestive tract after 270 min of digestion. The secretion products were detected as early as 90 min after the yeast intake/gene induction in each compartment of the in vitro system, but mostly in the jejunum and ileum. The GST-V(5)H(6) concentrations in the digestive medium reached 15 ng ml(-1), close to values measured in batch cultures. These results open up new opportunities for the set up of drug delivery systems based on engineered yeasts secreting compounds directly in the digestive tract. The main potential medical applications include the development of oral vaccines, the correction of metabolic disorders and the in situ production of biological mediators.     

Are men and women really so different?

Distinct differences in the behaviour and preferences of men and women have conventionally been attributed to Trivers' powerful insights regarding the impact of parental investment on sexual selection and mating systems. This has spawned a huge literature about the evolutionary significance of human sex differences. But are men and women really so different? An elegant new study shows that men and women are strikingly similar in their mate preferences. Have conventional models blinded us to the obvious, and precluded the posing of far more interesting questions?