Cyanobacterial bioactive metabolites—A review of their chemistry and biology

Cyanobacterial blooms occur when algal densities exceed baseline population concentrations. Cyanobacteria can produce a large number of secondary metabolites. Odorous metabolites affect the smell and flavor of aquatic animals, whereas bioactive metabolites cause a range of lethal and sub-lethal effects in plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, including humans. Herein, the bioactivity, chemistry, origin, and biosynthesis of these cyanobacterial secondary metabolites were reviewed. With recent revision of cyanobacterial taxonomy by Anagnostidis and Komárek as part of the Süβwasserflora von Mitteleuropa volumes 19(1–3), names of many cyanobacteria that produce bioactive compounds have changed, thereby confusing readers. The original and new nomenclature are included in this review to clarify the origins of cyanobacterial bioactive compounds.Due to structural similarity, the 157 known bioactive classes produced by cyanobacteria have been condensed to 55 classes. This review will provide a basis for more formal procedures to adopt a logical naming system. This review is needed for efficient management of water resources to understand, identify, and manage cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom impacts.     

Improving phosphorus sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil

Phosphorus (P) use in global food and bioenergy production needs to become more efficient and sustainable to reduce environmental impacts and conserve a finite and critical resource (Carpenter & Bennett, Environmental Research Letters, 2011, 6, 014009; Springmann et al., Nature, 2018, 562, 519). Sugarcane is one crop with a large P footprint because production is centered on P‐fixing soils with low P availability (Roy et al., Nature Plants, 2016, 2, 16043; Withers et al., Scientific Reports, 2018, 8, 2537). As global demand for processed sugar and bioethanol continues to increase, we advocate that improving P efficiency could become a key sustainability goal for the sugarcane industry. Here, we applied the 5R global P stewardship framework (Withers et al., Ambio, 2015, 44, 193) to identify more sustainable options to manage P in Brazilian sugarcane production. We show that current inputs of P fertilizer to the current crop area could be reduced by over 305 Gg, or 63%, over the next three decades by reducing unnecessary P fertilizer use, better utilization of recyclable bioresources and redesigning recommendation systems. Adoption of these 5R options would save the sugarcane industry in Brazil 528 US$ million and help safeguard global food and energy security.     

In vitro behavior and UV response of melanocytes derived from carriers of CDKN2A mutations and MC1R variants

Coinheritance of germline mutation in cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) and loss‐of‐function (LOF) melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) variants is clinically associated with exaggerated risk for melanoma. To understand the combined impact of these mutations, we established and tested primary human melanocyte cultures from different CDKN2A mutation carriers, expressing either wild‐type MC1R or MC1RLOF variant(s). These cultures expressed the CDKN2A product p16 (INK4A) and functional MC1R. Except for 32ins24 mutant melanocytes, the remaining cultures showed no detectable aberrations in proliferation or capacity for replicative senescence. Additionally, the latter cultures responded normally to ultraviolet radiation (UV) by cell cycle arrest, JNK, p38, and p53 activation, hydrogen peroxide generation, and repair of DNA photoproducts. We propose that malignant transformation of melanocytes expressing CDKN2A mutation and MC1RLOF allele(s) requires acquisition of somatic mutations facilitated by MC1R genotype or aberrant microenvironment due to CDKN2A mutation in keratinocytes and fibroblasts.     

Delineation of critical amino acids in activation function 1 of progesterone receptor for recruitment of transcription coregulators

The activation functions AF1 and AF2 of nuclear receptors mediate the recruitment of coregulators in gene regulation. AF1 is mapped to the highly variable and intrinsically unstructured N terminal domain and AF2 lies in the conserved ligand binding domain. The unstructured nature of AF1 offers structural plasticity and hence functional versatility in gene regulation. However, little is known about the key functional residues of AF1 that mediates its interaction with coregulators. This study focuses on the progesterone receptor (PR) and reports the identification of K464, K481 and R492 (KKR) as the key functional residues of PR AF1. The KKR are monomethylated and function cooperatively. The combined mutations of KKR to QQQ render PR isoform B (PRB) hyperactive, whereas KKR to FFF mutations abolishes as much as 80% of PR activity. Furthermore, the hyperactive QQQ mutation rescues the loss of PR activity due to E911A mutation in AF2. The study also finds that the magnitudes of the mutational effect differ in different cell types as a result of differential effects on the functional interaction with coregulators. Furthermore, KKR provides the interface for AF1 to physically interact with p300 and SRC-1, and with AF2 at E911. Intriguingly, the inactive FFF mutant interacts strikingly stronger with both SRC-1 and AF2 than wt PRB. We propose a tripartite model to describe the dynamic interactions between AF1, AF2 and SRC-1 with KKR of AF1 and E911 of AF2 as the interface. An overly stable interaction would hamper the dynamics of disassembly of the receptor complex.     

Mapping Local Conformational Landscapes of Proteins in Solution

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苦荞R2R3-MYB转录因子调控原花青素生物合成的研究

基于苦荞花期转录组数据,该研究筛选并克隆获得一个黄酮代谢相关的MYB类转录因子,并命名为FtMYB23。该基因ORF框长879bp,编码292个氨基酸;系统进化树分析显示,FtMYB23与SG5-MYB亚家族成员聚为一簇,属于典型的R2R3-MYB型转录因子。β-半乳糖苷酶滤纸分析表明,其具有转录激活活性。FtMYB23过表达转基因拟南芥株系的表型分析表明,3个阳性株系的种皮颜色均呈现出比野生型更深的褐色,其叶中原花青素含量均极显著增加(P 0.01),分别为野生型的4.68、3.5和2.8倍。qRT-PCR分析表明,转基因拟南芥中黄酮合成相关的AtCHS、AtCHI、AtF3H、AtF3′H、AtFLS、AtDFR和AtBAN等基因的表达量显著升高(P 0.05),而AtTT12的表达量极显著降低(P 0.01)。研究认为,FtMYB23作为典型的Subgroup5-MYB(SG5-MYB)激活型转录因子,通过促进黄酮合成途径早期关键酶基因的表达,从而提高原花青素的合成与积累。     

脑血管内皮细胞Prmt5在脑血管发育过程中的表达及其下游靶分子

目的:研究内皮细胞中蛋白精氨酸甲基转移酶5(PRMT5)在脑血管发育及血脑屏障建成的关键时期的表达变化及其潜在下游靶分子。方法:原位观察PRMT5在小鼠不同发育时期脑血管内皮上的分布;流式分选获得原代脑血管内皮,利用real-time PCR分析Prmt5的表达;体外培养小鼠内皮细胞敲降Prmt5后,利用Western印迹、real-time PCR、ChIP等方法检测其对经典下游分子的影响。结果:PRMT5在胚胎期各时间点的脑血管内皮细胞质均有表达,小鼠出生后主要表达在脑血管内皮细胞核,在胚胎期18.5 d时表达量显著升高;小鼠脑血管内皮细胞体外细胞系中基因敲降Prmt5后,其经典对称甲基化组蛋白产物H4R3me2s及H3R2me2s均明显下降,Bmp4表达显著上调;免疫共沉淀实验提示Bmp4启动子区域组蛋白具有H3R2me2s修饰,Prmt5基因敲降后,该组蛋白修饰显著减少。结论:脑血管发育过程中PRMT5在脑血管内皮细胞中表达的位置和水平均发生变化,脑血管内皮细胞中PRMT5可以调节H4R3和H3R2对称二甲基化水平,Bmp4启动子区域组蛋白具有H3R2me2s修饰,且PRMT5可以抑制Bmp4表达。     

Structural insights into the catalytic mechanism of 5-methylthioribose 1-phosphate isomerase

5-Methylthioribose 1-phosphate isomerase (M1Pi) is a crucial enzyme involved in the universally conserved methionine salvage pathway (MSP) where it is known to catalyze the conversion of 5-methylthioribose 1-phosphate (MTR-1-P) to 5-methylthioribulose 1-phosphate (MTRu-1-P) via a mechanism which remains unspecified till date. Furthermore, although M1Pi has a discrete function, it surprisingly shares high structural similarity with two functionally non-related proteins such as ribose-1,5-bisphosphate isomerase (R15Pi) and the regulatory subunits of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B (eIF2B). To identify the distinct structural features that lead to divergent functional obligations of M1Pi as well as to understand the mechanism of enzyme catalysis, the crystal structure of M1Pi from a hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 was determined. A meticulous structural investigation of the dimeric M1Pi revealed the presence of an N-terminal extension and a hydrophobic patch absent in R15Pi and the regulatory α-subunit of eIF2B. Furthermore, unlike R15Pi in which a kink formation is observed in one of the helices, the domain movement of M1Pi is distinguished by a forward shift in a loop covering the active-site pocket. All these structural attributes contribute towards a hydrophobic microenvironment in the vicinity of the active site of the enzyme making it favorable for the reaction mechanism to commence. Thus, a hydrophobic active-site microenvironment in addition to the availability of optimal amino-acid residues surrounding the catalytic residues in M1Pi led us to propose its probable reaction mechanism via a cis-phosphoenolate intermediate formation.