Metal-Enhanced Photosensitization of Singlet Oxygen (ME1O2) from Brominated Carbon Nanodots on Silver Nanoparticle Substrates

The deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including singlet oxygen (¹O₂), on biological systems have cultivated widespread interest in fields ranging from therapeutic techniques to sterilization materials. Researchers have, for example, sought to capitalize on the oxidative damage from singlet oxygen to treat tumors as well as to kill antibiotic resistant bacteria. To generate ¹O₂ in a controllable manner, photosensitizers are optimized to generate ¹O₂ from ground state oxygen (³O₂) when excited by light. When considering applications of photosensitization, favorable properties include high ¹O₂ yield, low synthetic complexity, and minimal cost. Previously, studies have shown that plasmonic nanoparticles are able to amplify the photosensitization of ¹O₂ from small molecule photosensitizers in a mechanism similar to metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF), thereby improving yield. A recent study from our lab has demonstrated that brominated carbon nanodots, which are an inexpensive and simple-to-collect as a hydrocarbon combustion byproduct, generate reactive oxygen species that can be used for antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation of bacteria. Herein we investigate the combination of these advantageous properties. Using the turn-on fluorescent probe Singlet Oxygen Sensor Green™ to detect ¹O₂, we report the metal-enhanced photosensitization of ¹O₂ by brominated dots in silvered Quanta Plate™ wells. These results provide a promising direction for the potential optimization of carbon nanodot-based agents in light-activated antimicrobial materials.

     

Single nucleotide polymorphism haplotypes in the cholesteryl-ester transfer protein (CETP) gene and lipid phenotypes

We studied the association between high (HDL) and low-density (LDL) cholesterol concentrations and family-derived haplotypes based on six common SNPs in the cholesteryl-ester transfer protein (CETP) gene. We based our analysis on 201 founders from families recruited throughout Germany. The analysis revealed one subhaplotype block with complete, pairwise, linkage disequilibrium between 5 SNPs located in the promoter and intron 1. The sixth SNP was the well known 1405V polymorphism in exon 14, close to the 3' end of the gene. Four haplotypes accounted for 86% of the entire sample. We found that haplotype associations with HDL, LDL, and the LDL/HDL ratio were more robust than associations with individual SNPs. Moreover, the associations were robust for men, but not for women. Our data suggest an interaction between gender and genetic variation within the CETP gene.     

The effect of ICAD-S on the formation and intracellular distribution of a nucleolytically active caspase-activated DNase

We show here that co-expression of murine CAD with either ICAD-L or ICAD-S in Escherichia coli as well as mammalian cells leads to a functional DFF complex, which after caspase-3 activation releases a nucleolytically active DNase. The chaperone activity of ICAD-S is between one and two orders of magnitude less effective than that of ICAD-L, as deduced from cleavage experiments with different activated recombinant DFF complexes produced in E.coli. With nucleolytically active EGFP fusion proteins of CAD it is demonstrated that co-expression of ICAD-S, which lacks the C-terminal domain of ICAD-L, including the NLS, leads to a homogeneous intracellular distribution of the DNase in transfected cells, whereas co-expression of human or murine ICAD-L variants lacking the NLS leads to exclusion of EGFP–CAD from the nuclei in ~50% of cells. These results attribute a particular importance of the NLS in the long isoform of the inhibitor of CAD for nuclear accumulation of the DFF complex in living cells. It is concluded that ICAD-L and ICAD-S in vivo might function as tissue-specific modulators in the regulation of apoptotic DNA degradation by controlling not only the enzymatic activity but also the amount of CAD available in the nuclei of mammalian cells.     

Hydroperoxide-induced chemiluminescence in rabbit lungs: role of arachidonic acid enzymes

Low-level chemiluminescence (C) is thought to be an index of oxidant stress. We measured the relationship between low-level C, pulmonary arterial pressure, and perfusate concentration of thromboxane B2 (TxB2) in isolated perfused rabbit lungs during challenge with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-bu-OOH). We also measured glutathione release as another index of oxidant stress. We found that C was correlated with each variable, suggesting that oxidant stress measured by C and by glutathione release stimulated TxB2 production and pulmonary vasoconstriction. We also investigated the contribution of active O2 metabolites produced by prostaglandin (PG) peroxidase to oxidant stress by studying the effects of t-bu-OOH before and after the use of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase inhibitors. We found that C was augmented after inhibition, perhaps due to metabolism of t-bu-OOH by peroxidases of both arachidonic acid (AA) metabolic pathways in the absence of their normal substrates. We studied phenylbutazone, thought to inhibit peroxidases, and AA. C during t-bu-OOH administration was not augmented after phenylbutazone and was markedly inhibited after AA administration perhaps because AA competes with t-bu-OOH. To further study the role of peroxidases we pretreated the lungs with the antioxidant dithiothreitol, which inhibits peroxidases involved in both the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways. Dithiothreitol nearly abolished C produced by t-bu-OOH and also prevented the increased light caused by eicosatetrynoic acid. We directly tested the hypothesis that C occurred as a result of the interaction of t-bu-OOH and the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase enzymes; we measured C when t-bu-OOH was added to purified PGH2 synthase or soybean lipoxygenase. The combination of t-bu-OOH with PGH2 synthase or lipoxygenase led to C that was inhibited by dithiothreitol and by the antioxidant phenol. These results suggest that enzymes involved in AA metabolism can interact with t-bu-OOH and that the action of these enzymes on t-bu-OOH leads to C. The results may mean that lipid peroxides can indirectly contribute to tissue oxidant stress due to production of active O2 metabolites as by-products of their metabolism by AA peroxidases.     

Maize Brittle Stalk2-Like3, encoding a COBRA protein,functions in cell wall formation and carbohydrate partitioning

Carbohydrate partitioning from leaves to sink tissues is essential for plant growth and development. The maize (Zea mays) recessive carbohydrate partitioning defective28 (cpd28) and cpd47 mutants exhibit leaf chlorosis and accumulation of starch and soluble sugars. Transport studies with ¹⁴C-sucrose (Suc) found drastically decreased export from mature leaves in cpd28 and cpd47 mutants relative to wild-type siblings. Consistent with decreased Suc export, cpd28 mutants exhibited decreased phloem pressure in mature leaves, and altered phloem cell wall ultrastructure in immature and mature leaves. We identified the causative mutations in the Brittle Stalk2-Like3 (Bk2L3) gene, a member of the COBRA family, which is involved in cell wall development across angiosperms. None of the previously characterized COBRA genes are reported to affect carbohydrate export. Consistent with other characterized COBRA members, the BK2L3 protein localized to the plasma membrane, and the mutants condition a dwarf phenotype in dark-grown shoots and primary roots, as well as the loss of anisotropic cell elongation in the root elongation zone. Likewise, both mutants exhibit a significant cellulose deficiency in mature leaves. Therefore, Bk2L3 functions in tissue growth and cell wall development, and this work elucidates a unique connection between cellulose deposition in the phloem and whole-plant carbohydrate partitioning.

Mutations in Bk2L3 result in dwarfed plants with decreased anisotropic cell growth, cellulose deposition, phloem pressure, sucrose export, and carbohydrate hyperaccumulation in mature maize leaves.     

GFP tagging of sieve element occlusion (SEO) proteins results in green fluorescent forisomes

Forisomes are Ca(2+)-driven, ATP-independent contractile protein bodies that reversibly occlude sieve elements in faboid legumes. They apparently consist of at least three proteins; potential candidates have been described previously as 'FOR' proteins. We isolated three genes from Medicago truncatula that correspond to the putative forisome proteins and expressed their green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion products in Vicia faba and Glycine max using the composite plant methodology. In both species, expression of any of the constructs resulted in homogenously fluorescent forisomes that formed sieve tube plugs upon stimulation; no GFP fluorescence occurred elsewhere. Isolated fluorescent forisomes reacted to Ca(2+) and chelators by contraction and expansion, respectively, and did not lose fluorescence in the process. Wild-type forisomes showed no affinity for free GFP in vitro. The three proteins shared numerous conserved motifs between themselves and with hypothetical proteins derived from the genomes of M. truncatula, Vitis vinifera and Arabidopsis thaliana. However, they showed neither significant similarities to proteins of known function nor canonical metal-binding motifs. We conclude that 'FOR'-like proteins are components of forisomes that are encoded by a well-defined gene family with relatives in taxa that lack forisomes. Since the mnemonic FOR is already registered and in use for unrelated genes, we suggest the acronym SEO (sieve element occlusion) for this family. The absence of binding sites for divalent cations suggests that the Ca(2+) binding responsible for forisome contraction is achieved either by as yet unidentified additional proteins, or by SEO proteins through a novel, uncharacterized mechanism.     

Sieve elements caught in the act

Phloem is a puzzling plant tissue owing to the unique natural defence responses of the sieve elements to any kind of mechanical manipulation. Recent non-invasive studies have enabled real-time observation of events in intact sieve tubes, including mass transport, sieve-pore sealing and conformational changes of structural proteins. These studies further highlighted the importance of the symplasmic setting for development and functioning of the sieve elements. Exchange of macromolecules between companion cells and sieve elements is indispensable for the survival of the sieve element, but also seems to be involved in long-distance communication. How the branched plasmodesmata between sieve element and companion cell function as corridors for the passage of macromolecules is an intriguing but unresolved story.