The measurement of subnanosecond fluorescence decay of flavins using time-correlated photon counting and a mode-locked Ar ion laser.

A system is described consisting of a mode-locked Ar ion laser and time-resolved photon-counting electronics. The system is capable of measuring fluorescence lifetimes in the subnanosecond time domain. The Ar ion laser is suitable for the excitation of flavins, since the available laser wavelengths encompass the first absorption band of the yellow chromophore. Due to the high radiation density and the short pulse, both the time and wavelength resolution of the fluorescence of very weakly emitting compounds can be measured. Experiments have been described for flavin models exhibiting single and multiple modes of decay. In these examples lifetimes were determined both from deconvolved decay curves and from direct analysis of the tail of the curve, where no interference of the exciting pulse is encountered. Both determinations showed very good agreement. Due to the highly polarized laser light the decay of the emission anisotropy could be measured directly after the exciting pulse. In principle, fast rotational motions might be detected. An anisotropy measurement conducted with a flavoprotein with a noncovalently attached FAD is presented.     

Stimulation of σ1-receptor restores abnormal mitochondrial Ca mobilization and ATP production following cardiac hypertrophy

Background

We previously reported that the σ₁-receptor (σ₁R) is down-regulated following cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in transverse aortic constriction (TAC) mice. Here we address how σ₁R stimulation with the selective σ₁R agonist SA4503 restores hypertrophy-induced cardiac dysfunction through σ₁R localized in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR).

Methods

We first confirmed anti-hypertrophic effects of SA4503 (0.1–1 μM) in cultured cardiomyocytes exposed to angiotensin II (Ang II). Then, to confirm the ameliorative effects of σ₁R stimulation in vivo, we administered SA4503 (1.0 mg/kg) and the σ₁R antagonist NE-100 (1.0 mg/kg) orally to TAC mice for 4 weeks (once daily).

Results

σ₁R stimulation with SA4503 significantly inhibited Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Ang II exposure for 72 h impaired phenylephrine (PE)-induced Ca^2 + mobilization from the SR into both the cytosol and mitochondria. Treatment of cardiomyocytes with SA4503 largely restored PE-induced Ca^2 + mobilization into mitochondria. Exposure of cardiomyocytes to Ang II for 72 h decreased basal ATP content and PE-induced ATP production concomitant with reduced mitochondrial size, while SA4503 treatment completely restored ATP production and mitochondrial size. Pretreatment with NE-100 or siRNA abolished these effects. Chronic SA4503 administration also significantly attenuated myocardial hypertrophy and restored ATP production in TAC mice. SA4503 administration also decreased hypertrophy-induced impairments in LV contractile function.

Conclusions

σ₁R stimulation with the specific agonist SA4503 ameliorates cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction by restoring both mitochondrial Ca^2 + mobilization and ATP production via σ₁R stimulation.

General significance

Our observations suggest that σ₁R stimulation represents a new therapeutic strategy to rescue the heart from hypertrophic dysfunction.     

Galectin-1 attenuates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through splice-variant specific modulation of CaV1.2 calcium channel

Pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy occurs in response to chronic blood pressure increase, and dysfunction of Ca_V1.2 calcium channel involves in cardiac hypertrophic processes by perturbing intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]_i) and calcium-dependent signaling. As a carbohydrate-binding protein, galectin-1 (Gal-1) is found to bind with Ca_V1.2 channel, which regulates vascular Ca_V1.2 channel functions and blood pressure. However, the potential roles of Gal-1 in cardiac Ca_V1.2 channel (Ca_V1.2_CM) and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy remain elusive. By whole-cell patch clamp, we find Gal-1 decreases the I_Ca,L with or without isoproterenol (ISO) application by reducing the channel membrane expression in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs). Moreover, Gal-1 could inhibit the current densities of Ca_V1.2_CM by an alternative exon 9*-dependent manner in heterologously expressed HEK293 cells. Of significance, overexpression of Gal-1 diminishes ISO or KCl-induced [Ca²⁺]_i elevation and attenuates ISO-induced hypertrophy in NRVMs. Mechanistically, Gal-1 decreases the ISO or Bay K8644-induced phosphorylation of intracellular calcium-dependent signaling proteins δCaMKII and HDAC4, and inhibits ISO-triggered translocation of HDAC4 in NRVMs. Pathologically, we observe that the expressions of Gal-1 and Ca_V1.2_E9* channels are synchronously increased in rat hypertrophic cardiomyocytes and hearts. Taken together, our study indicates that Gal-1 reduces the channel membrane expression to inhibit the currents of Ca_V1.2_CM in a splice-variant specific manner, which diminishes [Ca²⁺]_i elevation, and attenuates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by inhibiting the phosphorylation of δCaMKII and HDAC4. Furthermore, our work suggests that dysregulated Gal-1 and Ca_V1.2 alternative exon 9* might be attributed to the pathological processes of cardiac hypertrophy, and provides a potential anti-hypertrophic target in the heart.     

Structural Analysis ofArabidopsis thaliana Chromosome 5. VI. Sequence Features of the Regions of 1,367,185 bp Covered by 19 Physically Assigned P1 and TAC Clones

Nineteen Pl and TAC clones, which have been mapped on the finephysical map of the Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5, weresequenced according to the shotgun-based strategy, and theirstructural features were analysed. The total length of the regionssequenced in this study was 1,367,185 bp. Combining this withthe regions covered by 90 P1 and TAC clones proviously reported,the total length of chromosome 5 sequenced to date becomes 8,058,855bp. On the basis of similarity search against protein and ESTdatabases and gene modeling with computer programs, a totalof 330 potential protein-coding regions were identified, bringingan average density of the genes to approximately one gene per4.1 kb. Introns were identified in 81.0% of the potential proteingenes for which the entire gene structure was predicted, withan average number per gene of 4.2 and an average length of theintrons of 180 bp. The RNA-coding genes identified were 9 tRNAgenes corresponding to 8 amino acid species and 2 genes forU2 nuclear RNA. These sequence features are essentially identicalto those in the previously reported sequences. The sequencedata and gene information are available on the World Wide Webdatabase KAOS (Kazusa Arabidopsis data Opening Site) at http://www.kazusa.or.jp/arabi/.     

Proteomic identification of a two-component regulatory system in Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125

The capability of microorganisms to utilize different carbohydrates as energy source reflects the availability of these substrates in their habitat. Investigation of the proteins involved in carbohydrate usage, in parallel with analysis of their expression, is then likely to provide information on the interaction between microorganisms and their ecosystem. We analysed the growth behaviour of the marine Antarctic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125 in the presence and in the absence of different carbon source. A marked increase in the optical density was detected when l-malate was added to the growth medium. Bacterial proteins differently expressed in the presence of l-malate were identified by proteomic profiling experiments. On the basis of their relative increase, six proteins were selected for further analyses. Among these, the expression of a putative outer membrane porin was demonstrated to be heavily induced by l-malate. The presence of a functionally active two-component regulatory system very likely controlled by l-malate was found in the upstream region of the porin gene. A non functional genomic porin mutant was then constructed showing a direct involvement of the protein in the uptake of l-malate. To the best of our knowledge, the occurrence of such a regulatory system has never been reported in Pseudoalteromonads so far and might constitute a key step in the development of an effective inducible cold expression system.     

Construction and characterization of the transformation-competent artificial chromosome (TAC) libraries of Leymus multicaulis

Transformation-competent artificial chromosome system is able to clone and transfer genes efficiently in plants.In order to clone genes highly tolerant to barley yellow dwarf virus(BYDV),Aphids,drought and salt from Leymus multicaulis,the two TAC genomic libraries I and II were constructed in vector pYLTAC17 and pYLTAC747H/sacB,which contain about 165000 and 236000 recombinant clones sepa-rately.The genome coverage of the two libraries was totally estimated to be about 3―5 haploid genome equivalents,as size selection of genomic DNA fragments was approximately from 9 to 300 kb.Clones of the genomic libraries were collected as bulked pools each containing 500 clones or so,stored in twelve 96-deep-well plates and then were gridding in triplicate onto a high-density colony hybridization filter with a 3×3 pattern using a GeneTAC?G3 arraying robot after being transferred manually into three 384-well plates.Meanwhile 2501 and 2890 clones of Library in pYLTAC17 and in pYLTAC747H/sacB were stored individually in fourteen 384-well plates and then were automatically gridding in duplicate onto a high-density colony hybridization filter with a 6×6 pattern after a replication of plates.Nineteen positive clones were detected by using the probe glutahione reductase gene of L.multicaulis.TAC libraries constructed here can be used to isolate genomic clones containing target genes,and to carry out genome walking for positional cloning.Once the target TAC clones were isolated,they could be immediately transferred into plant genomes with the Agrobacterium system.     

抗黄矮病小麦-中间偃麦草易位系基因组可转化人工染色体文库的构建及初步筛选

利用抗黄矮病小麦 -中间偃麦草易位系HW6 4 2的细胞核DNA构建了一个可转化人工染色体 (transformation competentartificialchromosome,TAC)文库 ,文库由 2 .3× 10 6 克隆构成 ,重组率为 90 .4 8% ,平均插入片段大小为 2 2kb左右 ,约覆盖普通小麦单倍体基因组 2 .5倍 ,在该文库中分离得到单拷贝DNA序列的几率约是 95 .77%。文库保存在 2 4块 96孔板中 ,每个孔中约含有 10 0 0个不同的重组克隆 ,可以采用PooledPCR的方法对文库进行筛选。用来源于小麦的简单重复序列 (simplesequencerepeat,SSR)引物wms37扩增中间偃麦草、抗病易位系及感病材料 ,得到一条与抗性共分离的特异条带 ,约 4 5 0bp。将此特异标记条带转化为SCAR(sequencecharacterizedamplifiedregion)标记 ,用于筛选HW6 4 2基因组TAC文库 ,得到 12个阳性克隆。对阳性克隆进行了PCR Southern验证 ,以中间偃麦草基因组总DNA为探针与限制酶HindⅢ消化后的阳性克隆杂交 ,其中 10个阳性克隆分别有 1～ 6条杂交带 ,结果表明 ,这 10个阳性克隆可作为抗黄矮病相关基因筛选的候选克隆     

Structural analysis of a Lotus japonicus genome. II. Sequence features and mapping of sixty-five TAC clones which cover the 6.5-mb regions of the genome.

Sixty-five TAC (transformation-competent artificial chromosomes) clones were selected from a genomic library of Lotus japonicus accession MG-20 based on the sequence information of expressed sequences tags (ESTs), cDNA and gene information, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. The average insert size of the TAC clone was approximately 100 kb, and the total length of the sequenced regions in this study is 6,556,100 bp. Together with the nucleotide sequences of 56 TAC clones previously reported, the regions sequenced so far total 12,029,295 bp. By comparison with the sequences in protein and EST databases and by analysis with computer programs for gene modeling, a total of 711 potential protein-encoding genes with known or predicted functions, 239 gene segments and 90 pseudogenes were identified in the newly sequenced regions. The average gene density assigned so far was 1 gene/9140 bp. The average length of the assigned genes was 2.6 kb, which is considerably larger than that assigned in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome (1.9 kb for 6451 genes). Introns were identified in approximately 73% of the potential genes, and the average number and length of the introns per gene were 3.4 and 377 bp, respectively. Simple sequence repeat length polymorphism (SSLP) or derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (dCAPS) markers were generated based on the nucleotide sequences of the genomic clones obtained, and each clone was mapped onto the linkage map using the F2 mapping population derived from a cross of two accessions of L. japonicus, Gifu B-129 and Miyakojima MG-20. The sequence data, gene information and mapping information are available through the World Wide Web at http://www.kazusa.or.jp/lotus/.     

Monoamine oxidases (MAO) in the pathogenesis of heart failure and ischemia/reperfusion injury

Recent evidence highlights monoamine oxidases (MAO) as another prominent source of oxidative stress. MAO are a class of enzymes located in the outer mitochondrial membrane, deputed to the oxidative breakdown of key neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine, and in the process generate H₂O₂. All these monoamines are endowed with potent modulatory effects on myocardial function. Thus, when the heart is subjected to chronic neuro-hormonal and/or peripheral hemodynamic stress, the abundance of circulating/tissue monoamines can make MAO-derived H₂O₂ production particularly prominent. This is the case of acute cardiac damage due to ischemia/reperfusion injury or, on a more chronic stand, of the transition from compensated hypertrophy to overt ventricular dilation/pump failure. Here, we will first briefly discuss mitochondrial status and contribution to acute and chronic cardiac disorders. We will illustrate possible mechanisms by which MAO activity affects cardiac biology and function, along with a discussion as to their role as a prominent source of reactive oxygen species. Finally, we will speculate on why MAO inhibition might have a therapeutic value for treating cardiac affections of ischemic and non-ischemic origin. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Mitochondria and Cardioprotection.