Argiopine,argiopinines, and pseudoargiopinines as glutamate receptor blockers in hippocampal neurons

A homologous set of low-molecular weight compounds selectively blocking ionic currents were purified from venom from the spiderArgiope lobata with a selective blocking action on ionic currents activated by applying glutamate and its agonist kainic acid (KA) to the membrane of neurons isolated from the rat hippocampus. Three groups of these compounds — argiopine, argiopinines, and pseudoargiopinines, produced voltage-dependent glutamate- and KA-activated ionic currents at concentrations of 10^–6-10^–4 M, interacting primarily with agonist-activated ionic channels without affecting K_d values of the agonist. The blocking action could be partially reversed by argiopine application but only slightly when argiopinines and pseudoargiopinines were used. Kinetics of toxin effects on Ka-activated ionic currents showed at least two exponential components with different time constants. Simple and reversed rate constants of interaction between toxins and ionic channels were estimated from the plot of the kinetics of ionic current blockade and recovery against toxin concentration. Argiopine, argiopinines, and pseudoargiopinines lend themselves to further research into glutamate receptors of the mammalian CNS employing electrophysiological and biochemical techniques.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev, M. M. Shemyakin Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 748–756, November–December, 1989.     

Alterations in the creatine kinase system in the myocardium of cardiomyopathic hamsters

Immunochemical and biochemical methods were used to assess quantitatively the changes in the heart creatine kinase system in the myopathic Syrian hamsters, line CHF I46. Cardiomyopathy in I75-200 day old animals was characterized by decreased content of mitochondria and lower total creatine kinase activity. In isolated mitochondria only the creatine kinase activity was decreased while cytochromes aa3 content and respiration rate were unchanged. The share of mitochondrial creatine kinase in the total tissue enzyme activity was decreased from 33% to I8% and that of BB form was elevated from 5% in control to 20%, at unchanged relative level of MM. Immunoassay showed decreased amount of the mitochondrial creatine kinase in the tissue and its decreased ratio to cytochromes aa3. The results show altered expression of creatine kinase isoenzymes in cardiomyopathy.     

Fast kinetics of fe oxidation in packed-bed reactors

Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was used in fixed-film bioreactors to oxidize ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate. Glass beads, ion-exchange resin, and activated-carbon particles were tested as support matrix materials. Activated carbon was tested in both a packed-bed bioreactor and a fluidized-bed bioreactor; the other matrix materials were used in packed-bed reactors. Activated carbon displayed the most suitable characteristics for use as a support matrix of T. ferrooxidans fixed-film formation. The reactors were operated within a pH range of 1.35 to 1.5, which effectively reduced the amount of ferric iron precipitation and eliminated diffusion control of mass transfer due to precipitation. The activated-carbon packed-bed reactor displayed the most favorable biomass holdup and kinetic performance related to ferrous sulfate oxidation. The fastest kinetic performance achieved with the activated-carbon packed-bed bioreactor was 78 g of Fe oxidized per liter per h (1,400 mmol of Fe oxidized per liter per h) at a true dilution rate of 40/h, which represents a hydraulic retention time of 1.5 min.     

Isolation and properties of the alpha-latrotoxin receptor.

The receptor protein of alpha-latrotoxin (alpha LTx, a neurotoxin with 'pure' presynaptic action isolated from black widow spider venom), was solubilized by Triton X-100 from bovine brain membranes and purified by affinity chromatography on alpha LTx-Sepharose. The purified receptor preparation contained four major polypeptides of molecular masses 200 (alpha), 160 (alpha'), 79 (beta) and 43 (gamma) kd according to SDS electrophoresis with molecular ratio alpha 1 alpha' 1 beta 2 gamma 2. The alpha- and alpha'-subunits are glycoproteins binding to wheat germ lectin and can be separated under non-denaturing conditions by anion exchange chromatography. Purified to homogeneity, both of them, though differing in the carbohydrate composition, retain the alpha LTx-binding activity and give closely related peptide maps. Anti-alpha antibodies recognize the alpha'-subunit as well. These results suggest that alpha LTx receptor is present in purified preparations in two very close forms containing the alpha- or alpha'-subunit. Beta and gamma proteins do not specifically bind alpha LTx and their physiological role is unclear. They form a complex with solubilized alpha- and alpha'-subunits independently of alpha LTx presence. The receptor proteins were purified to homogeneity by high performance gel filtration in the presence of SDS, their amino acid composition was determined.     

Three-dimensional structure of ectatomin from Ectatomma tuberculatum ant venom

Summary Two-dimensional ¹H NMR techniques were used to determine the spatial structure of ectatomin, a toxin from the venom of the ant Ectatomma tuberculatum. Nearly complete proton resonance assignments for two chains of ectatomin (37 and 34 amino acid residues, respectively) were obtained using 2D TOCSY, DQF-COSY and NOESY experiments. The cross-peak volumes in NOESY spectra were used to define the local structure of the protein and generate accurate proton-proton distance constraints employing the MARDIGRAS program. Disulfide bonds were located by analyzing the global fold of ectatomin, calculated with the distance geometry program DIANA. These data, combined with data on the rate of exchange of amide protons with deuterium, were used to obtain a final set of 20 structures by DIANA. These structures were refined by unrestrained energy minimization using the CHARMm program. The resulting rms deviations over 20 structures (excluding the mobile N- and C-termini of each chain) are 0.75 ? for backbone heavy atoms, and 1.25 ? for all heavy atoms. The conformations of the two chains are similar. Each chain consists of two α-helices and a hinge region of four residues; this forms a hairpin structure which is stabilized by disulfide bridges. The hinge regions of the two chains are connected together by a third disulfide bridge. Thus, ectatomin forms a four-α-helical bundle structure.     

Protein-Protein Interactions in the β-Oxidation Part of the Phenylacetate Utilization Pathway: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF THE PaaF-PaaG HYDRATASE-ISOMERASE COMPLEX*

Microbial anaerobic and so-called hybrid pathways for degradation of aromatic compounds contain β-oxidation-like steps. These reactions convert the product of the opening of the aromatic ring to common metabolites. The hybrid phenylacetate degradation pathway is encoded in Escherichia coli by the paa operon containing genes for 10 enzymes. Previously, we have analyzed protein-protein interactions among the enzymes catalyzing the initial oxidation steps in the paa pathway (Grishin, A. M., Ajamian, E., Tao, L., Zhang, L., Menard, R., and Cygler, M. (2011) J. Biol. Chem. 286, 10735–10743). Here we report characterization of interactions between the remaining enzymes of this pathway and show another stable complex, PaaFG, an enoyl-CoA hydratase and enoyl-Coa isomerase, both belonging to the crotonase superfamily. These steps are biochemically similar to the well studied fatty acid β-oxidation, which can be catalyzed by individual monofunctional enzymes, multifunctional enzymes comprising several domains, or enzymatic complexes such as the bacterial fatty acid β-oxidation complex. We have determined the structure of the PaaFG complex and determined that although individually PaaF and PaaG are similar to enzymes from the fatty acid β-oxidation pathway, the structure of the complex is dissimilar from bacterial fatty acid β-oxidation complexes. The PaaFG complex has a four-layered structure composed of homotrimeric discs of PaaF and PaaG. The active sites of PaaF and PaaG are adapted to accept the intermediary components of the Paa pathway, different from those of the fatty acid β-oxidation. The association of PaaF and PaaG into a stable complex might serve to speed up the steps of the pathway following the conversion of phenylacetyl-CoA to a toxic and unstable epoxide-CoA by PaaABCE monooxygenase.     

An ERG channel inhibitor from the scorpion Buthus eupeus

The isolation of the peptide inhibitor of M-type K(+) current, BeKm-1, from the venom of the Central Asian scorpion Buthus eupeus has been described previously (Fillipov A. K., Kozlov, S. A., Pluzhnikov, K. A., Grishin, E. V., and Brown, D. A. (1996) FEBS Lett. 384, 277-280). Here we report the cloning, expression, and selectivity of BeKm-1. A full-length cDNA of 365 nucleotides encoding the precursor of BeKm-1 was isolated using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends polymerase chain reaction technique from mRNA obtained from scorpion telsons. Sequence analysis of the cDNA revealed that the precursor contains a signal peptide of 21 amino acid residues. The mature toxin consists of 36 amino acid residues. BeKm-1 belongs to the family of scorpion venom potassium channel blockers and represents a new subgroup of these toxins. The recombinant BeKm-1 was produced as a Protein A fusion product in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. After cleavage and high performance liquid chromatography purification, recombinant BeKm-1 displayed the same properties as the native toxin. Three BeKm-1 mutants (R27K, F32K, and R27K/F32K) were generated, purified, and characterized. Recombinant wild-type BeKm-1 and the three mutants partly inhibited the native M-like current in NG108-15 at 100 nm. The effect of the recombinant BeKm-1 on different K(+) channels was also studied. BeKm-1 inhibited hERG1 channels with an IC(50) of 3.3 nm, but had no effect at 100 nm on hEAG, hSK1, rSK2, hIK, hBK, KCNQ1/KCNE1, KCNQ2/KCNQ3, KCNQ4 channels, and minimal effect on rELK1. Thus, BeKm-1 was shown to be a novel specific blocker of hERG1 potassium channels.     

Cloning and structure of gene encoded alpha-latrocrustoxin from the Black widow spider venom

The primary structure of the crusta gene encoding alpha-latrocrustoxin (alpha-LCT), a high molecular mass neurotoxin specific to crustaceans, was determined in the black widow spider Latrodectus mactans tredicimguttatus genome. The total length of the sequenced DNA was 4693 bp. The structural part of the black widow spider chromosome gene encoding alpha-LCT does not contain introns. The sequenced DNA contains a single extended open reading frame (4185 bp) and encodes a protein precursor of alpha-LCT, comprising 1395 aa. We assume the Met residue at position -10 relative to the N-terminal residue of Glu1 of the mature toxin to be the first one in the protein precursor. The calculated molecular mass of the precursor (156147 Da) exceeds that of the mature toxin by approximately 30 kDa. These data are in agreement with the notion that over the course of maturation the protein precursor undergoes double processing--cleavage of a decapeptide from the N-terminal part and of a approximately 200-aa fragment from the C-terminal part. alpha-LCT displayed a number of imperfect ankyrin-like repeats and areas of structural homology with earlier studied latrotoxins; the highest homology degree (62%) was revealed with alpha-latroinsectotoxin (alpha-LIT).     

Combining evolutionary and structural information for local protein structure prediction

We study the effects of various factors in representing and combining evolutionary and structural information for local protein structural prediction based on fragment selection. We prepare databases of fragments from a set of non-redundant protein domains. For each fragment, evolutionary information is derived from homologous sequences and represented as estimated effective counts and frequencies of amino acids (evolutionary frequencies) at each position. Position-specific amino acid preferences called structural frequencies are derived from statistical analysis of discrete local structural environments in database structures. Our method for local structure prediction is based on ranking and selecting database fragments that are most similar to a target fragment. Using secondary structure type as a local structural property, we test our method in a number of settings. The major findings are: (1) the COMPASS-type scoring function for fragment similarity comparison gives better prediction accuracy than three other tested scoring functions for profile-profile comparison. We show that the COMPASS-type scoring function can be derived both in the probabilistic framework and in the framework of statistical potentials. (2) Using the evolutionary frequencies of database fragments gives better prediction accuracy than using structural frequencies. (3) Finer definition of local environments, such as including more side-chain solvent accessibility classes and considering the backbone conformations of neighboring residues, gives increasingly better prediction accuracy using structural frequencies. (4) Combining evolutionary and structural frequencies of database fragments, either in a linear fashion or using a pseudocount mixture formula, results in improvement of prediction accuracy. Combination at the log-odds score level is not as effective as combination at the frequency level. This suggests that there might be better ways of combining sequence and structural information than the commonly used linear combination of log-odds scores. Our method of fragment selection and frequency combination gives reasonable results of secondary structure prediction tested on 56 CASP5 targets (average SOV score 0.77), suggesting that it is a valid method for local protein structure prediction. Mixture of predicted structural frequencies and evolutionary frequencies improve the quality of local profile-to-profile alignment by COMPASS.     

Photobiological properties of 13,15-N-(carboxymethyl)- and 13,15-N-(2-carboxyethyl)cycloimide derivatives of chlorin p6

Lipophilic derivatives of chlorin p6, 13,15-N-(carboxymethyl)cycloimide methyl ester (CIC1) and 13,15-N-(2-carboxyethyl)cycloimide methyl ester (CIC2), were shown to absorb light in 710 nm region and to be efficient IR photosensitizers. They exhibit similar phototoxicities on the cells of A549 human lung adenocarcinoma, which are 40- and 100-fold higher than those of chlorin p6 and the clinically used Photogem, respectively, and are not toxic in the absence of light irradiation. The confocal spectral imaging technique allowed us to demonstrate that the high phototoxicity of CIC1 and CIC2 is due to their ability to readily penetrate to cells and to be bound to the cell membranes and lipid-containing structures in the monomeric photoactive form. Under the irradiation, the membrane-bound CIC1 and CIC2 are characterized by high quantum yields of singlet oxygen generation (0.6 and 0.65, respectively) and the inability to produce hydroxyl radicals. A 1.5-microM content of CIC1 and CIC2 in the incubation medium provides for their average cytoplasmic concentrations of 21 and 16.5 microM, respectively. The incubation times to achieve 50% level of maximum accumulation for CIC1 and CIC2 in A549 cells are 30 +/- 6 and 24 +/- 12 min, and the times for 50% release of the dyes from the cells are 17 +/- 4 and 50 +/- 10 min, respectively. A diffuse distribution with the predominant accumulation in the membranes of the Golgi apparatus and mitochondria is characteristic of both CIC2 and CIC1, whereas, in addition, CIC1 is considerably accumulated in lipid droplets (cellular organelles responsible for the storage and metabolism of neutral lipids and steryl esters). Our results demonstrate that changes in the structure of the imide substituent could affect the intracellular localization and the rate of release of chlorin p6 cycloimide derivatives from cells while preserving their high photodynamic activity.