Morphogenic Regulation of Pathotoxin Synthesis in Cochliobolus carbonum

The fungus Cochliobolus carbonum causes leaf spot disease of maize. Highly virulent isolates of the pathogen produce a host-selective, peptide toxin that is active against susceptible genotypes of maize. Prior to infection, spores must germinate and differentiate appressoria, structures specialized for leaf penetration. Analysis of spore germination fluids by plasma desorption mass spectrometry, which allowed detection of as little as 0.5 ng toxin, revealed that spores induced to form appressoria in vitro synthesized and released the toxin at a time coincident with maturation of appressoria. Spores incubated under conditions that did not induce appressorium formation failed to produce toxin. These observations indicate that synthesis of the host-selective toxin, which is essential for successful pathogenesis of maize by C. carbonum, is regulated by infection-related morphogenesis.     

Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-9 secretion by dimethyl sulfoxide and cyclic adenosine monophosphate in human monocytes

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs),including MMP-9,are an integral part of the immune response and are upregulated in response to a variety of stimuli.New details continue to emerge concerning the mechanistic and regulatory pathways that mediate MMP-9 secretion.There is significant evidence for regulation of inflammation by dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO)and 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate(cAMP),thus investigation of how these two molecules may regulate both MMP-9 and tumor necrosis factorα(TNFα)secretion by human monocytes was of high interest.The hypothesis tested in this study was that DMSO and cAMP regulate MMP-9 and TNFαsecretion by distinct mechanisms.AIM To investigate the regulation of lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-stimulated MMP-9 and tumor necrosis factorαsecretion in THP-1 human monocytes by dimethyl sulfoxide and cAMP.METHODS The paper describes a basic research study using THP-1 human monocyte cells.All experiments were conducted at the University of Missouri-St.Louis in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.Human monocyte cells were grown,cultured,and prepared for experiments in the University of Missouri-St.Louis Cell Culture Facility as per accepted guidelines.Cells were treated with LPS for selected exposure times and the conditioned medium was collected for analysis of MMP-9 and TNFαproduction.Inhibitors including DMSO,cAMP regulators,and anti-TNFαantibody were added to the cells prior to LPS treatment.MMP-9 secretion was analyzed by gel electrophoresis/western blot and quantitated by ImageJ software.TNFαsecretion was analyzed by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay.All data is presented as the average and standard error for at least 3 trials.Statistical analysis was done using a two-tailed paired Student t-test.P values less than 0.05 were considered significant and designated as such in the Figures.LPS and cAMP regulators were from Sigma-Aldrich,MMP-9 standard and antibody and TNFαantibodies were from R&D Systems,and amyloid-βpeptide was from rPeptide.RESULTS In our investigation of MMP-9 secretion from THP-1 human monocytes,we made the following findings.Inclusion of DMSO in the cell treatment inhibited LPSinduced MMP-9,but not TNFα,secretion.Inclusion of DMSO in the cell treatment at different concentrations inhibited LPS-induced MMP-9 secretion in a dosedependent fashion.A cell-permeable cAMP analog,dibutyryl cAMP,inhibited both LPS-induced MMP-9 and TNFαsecretion.Pretreatment of the cells with the adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin inhibited LPS-induced MMP-9 and TNFαsecretion.Pretreatment of the cells with the general cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor IBMX reduced LPS-induced MMP-9 and TNFαin a dose-dependent fashion.Pre-treatment of monocytes with an anti-TNFαantibody blocked LPSinduced MMP-9 and TNFαsecretion.Amyloid-βpeptide induced MMP-9 secretion,which occurred much later than TNFαsecretion.The latter two findings strongly suggested an upstream role for TNFαin mediating LPS-stimulate MMP-9 secretion.CONCLUSION The cumulative data indicated that MMP-9 secretion was a distinct process from TNFαsecretion and occurred downstream.First,DMSO inhibited MMP-9,but not TNFα,suggesting that the MMP-9 secretion process was selectively altered.Second,cAMP inhibited both MMP-9 and TNFαwith a similar potency,but at different monocyte cell exposure time points.The pattern of cAMP inhibition for these two molecules suggested that MMP-9 secretion lies downstream of TNFαand that TNFαmay a key component of the pathway leading to MMP-9 secretion.This temporal relationship fit a model whereby early TNFαsecretion directly led to later MMP-9 secretion.Lastly,antibody-blocking of TNFαdiminished MMP-9 secretion,suggesting a direct link between TNFαsecretion and MMP-9 secretion.     

Pulmonary oncocytoma. Report of a case with cytologic, histologic and electron microscopic study

The cytology of a pulmonary oncocytoma diagnosed by bronchial brushings is described along with the light and electron microscopic findings. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells showed mitochondrial hyperplasia and an absence of neurosecretory granules. The possible histogenesis of pulmonary oncocytomas is discussed.