Changes of DNA methylation level during pre-and postnatal periods in mice

DNA methylation in an adult mammalian body shows tissue-specificity. But when and how the specificity is established in the process of development has not yet been elucidated. Here we have investigated age-dependent changes in the amount of 5-methyldeoxycytidine (5mdC) that DNA of various mouse tissues contains during the late-fetal and postnatal periods, using high-performance liquid chromatography. The tissue-specificity in the 5mdC level was observed in the late-fetal stage, and the level continued to change during the subsequent periods. The most pronounced alterations were observed in brain and liver, where similar biphasic changes were seen, but at different ages. At maturation, the 5mdC levels were high in thymus, spleen and brain, intermediate in lung, and low in liver and sperm. The data demonstrate the importance of the peri- and postnatal periods in establishment of tissue-specificity in 5mdC content.     

Enterobacter kobei sp. nov., a new species of the family Enterobacteriaceae resembling Enterobacter cloacae

The name Enterobacter kobei sp. nov. is proposed for a group of organisms referred to as NIH Group 21 at the National Institute of Health, Tokyo. The members of this species are Gram-negative, motile rods conforming to the definition of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The DNA relatedness of 23 strains of NIH Group 21 to the representative proposed as the type strain of this species averaged 82% at 70°C, whereas the relatedness to other species within the family Enterobacteriaceae was less than 42%. Because the phenotypic resemblance to Enterobacter cloacae is very close and the DNA relatedness (12–42%) is closer to species of the genus Enterobacter than to other species of the family, the members of NIH Group 21 were placed in the genus Enterobacter. Close phenotypic and genetic relationships were also found between NIH Group 21 and a member of a group of organisms referred to as Enteric Group 69 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It is suggested that the latter could be regarded as a subspecific rank of E. kobei, though this is subject to study of further strains. The majority of strains of E. kobei were isolated from clinical specimens. A culture of the type strain (NIH 1485-79) has been deposited in the Japan Collection of Microorganisms as JCM 8580. Received: 22 March 1996 / Accepted: 19 April 1996     

A simplified immunofluorescence technique for antibody to varicella-zoster membrane antigen (FAMA)

Indirect fluorescent antibody to varicella-zoster membrane antigens (FAMA) was measured by a new technique. The procedure gives rapid, sensitive and accurate results and is suitable for use in diagnosis or screening of susceptibility to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection. The test procedure was simplified by using Terasaki tissue culture plates for the reaction and for direct observation by fluorescence microscopy. Preparations of VZV-infected Vero cells stored in liquid nitrogen could be used as antigen in this FAMA-test.     

Discovery of novel aspartyl ketone dipeptides as potent and selective caspase-3 inhibitors

The discovery of a series of potent, selective and reversible dipeptidyl caspase-3 inhibitors are reported. The iterative discovery process of using combinatorial chemistry, parallel synthesis, moleculare modelling and structural biology will be discussed.     

Catalytic activity of caspase-3 is required for its degradation: stabilization of the active complex by synthetic inhibitors

The activation of caspase-3 represents a critical step in the pathways leading to the biochemical and morphological changes that underlie apoptosis. Upon induction of apoptosis, the large (p17) and small (p12) subunits, comprising active caspase-3, are generated via proteolytic processing of a latent proenzyme dimer. Two copies of each individual subunit are generated to form an active heterotetramer. The tetrameric form of caspase-3 cleaves specific protein substrates within the cell, thereby producing the apoptotic phenotype. In contrast to the proenzyme, once activated in HeLa cells, caspase-3 is difficult to detect due to its rapid degradation. Interestingly, however, enzyme stability and therefore detection of active caspase-3 by immunoblot analysis can be restored by treatment of cells with a peptide-based caspase-3 selective inhibitor, suggesting that the active form can be stabilized through protein-inhibitor interaction. The heteromeric active enzyme complex is necessary for its stabilization by inhibitors, as expression of the large subunit alone is not stabilized by the presence of inhibitors. Our results show for the first time, that synthetic caspase inhibitors not only block caspase activity, but may also increase the stability of otherwise rapidly degraded mature caspase complexes. Consistent with these findings, experiments with a catalytically inactive mutant of caspase-3 show that rapid turnover is dependent on the activity of the mature enzyme. Furthermore, turnover of otherwise stable active site mutants of capase-3 is rescued by the presence of the active enzyme suggesting that turnover can be mediated in trans.     

A fundamental role for KChIPs in determining the molecular properties and trafficking of Kv4.2 potassium channels

Kv4 potassium channels regulate action potentials in neurons and cardiac myocytes. Co-expression of EF hand-containing Ca2+-binding proteins termed KChIPs with pore-forming Kv4 alpha subunits causes changes in the gating and amplitude of Kv4 currents (An, W. F., Bowlby, M. R., Betty, M., Cao, J., Ling, H. P., Mendoza, G., Hinson, J. W., Mattsson, K. I., Strassle, B. W., Trimmer, J. S., and Rhodes, K. J. (2000) Nature 403, 553-556). Here we show that KChIPs profoundly affect the intracellular trafficking and molecular properties of Kv4.2 alpha subunits. Co-expression of KChIPs1-3 causes a dramatic redistribution of Kv4.2, releasing intrinsic endoplasmic reticulum retention and allowing for trafficking to the cell surface. KChIP co-expression also causes fundamental changes in Kv4.2 steady-state expression levels, phosphorylation, detergent solubility, and stability that reconstitute the molecular properties of Kv4.2 in native cells. Interestingly, the KChIP4a isoform, which exhibits unique effects on Kv4 channel gating, does not exert these effects on Kv4.2 and negatively influences the impact of other KChIPs. We provide evidence that these KChIP effects occur through the masking of an N-terminal Kv4.2 hydrophobic domain. These studies point to an essential role for KChIPs in determining both the biophysical and molecular characteristics of Kv4 channels and provide a molecular basis for the dramatic phenotype of KChIP knockout mice.     

Biological activity and preclinical efficacy of azetidinyl pyridazines as potent systemically-distributed stearoyl-CoA desaturase inhibitors

Potent and orally bioavailable SCD inhibitors built on an azetidinyl pyridazine scaffold were identified. In a one-month gDIO mouse model of obesity, we demonstrated that there was no therapeutic index even at low doses; efficacy in preventing weight gain tracked closely with skin and eye adverse events. This was attributed to the local SCD inhibition in these tissues as a consequence of the broad tissue distribution observed in mice for this class of compounds. The search for new structural scaffolds which may display a different tissue distribution was initiated. In preparation for an HTS campaign, a radiolabeled azetidinyl pyridazine displaying low non-specific binding in the scintillation proximity assay was prepared.     

High-throughput scintillation proximity assay for stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) catalyzes the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids and has been implicated in a number of disease states, including obesity and diabetes. To find small-molecule inhibitor leads, a high-throughput scintillation proximity assay (SPA) was developed using the hydrophobic binding characteristics of a glass microsphere scintillant bead to capture SCD1 from a crude lysate of recombinant SCD1 in Sf9 lysate coupled with the strong binding characteristics of an azetidine compound ([(3)H]AZE). The SPA assay was stable over 24 h and could detect compounds with micromolar to nanomolar potencies. A robust 1536-well high-throughput screening assay was developed with good signal-to-noise ratio (10:1) and excellent Z' factor (0.8). A screening collection of 1.6 million compounds was screened at 11 μM, and approximately 7700 compounds were identified as initial hits, exhibiting at least 35% inhibition of [(3)H]AZE binding. Further screening and confirmation with an SCD enzyme activity assay led to a number of new structural leads for inhibition of the enzyme. The SPA assay complements the enzyme activity assay for SCD1 as a tool for the discovery of novel leads in drug discovery.     

Matching base-pair number dependence of the kinetics of DNA-DNA hybridization studied by surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy

Two single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides consisting of complementary base-pairs can form double strands. This phenomenon is well studied in solutions, however, in order to clarify the physical mechanism of the hybridization occurring at a solid/solution interface, we studied the kinetics by surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS): one single-stranded oligo-DNA (probe-DNA) was immobilized on the substrate, the other one (target-DNA) labelled with a fluorescent probe was added to the flow cell. After hybridization, the chromophores could be excited by the surface plasmon mode and their fluorescence detected with high sensitivity. The dependence of the k(on) and k(off) rate constants on the length of the hybridizing oligonucleotides was investigated by using a MM0 series (no mismatch) and the kinetics was found to be well described by a Langmuir adsorption model. From these measurements we found that also in the case of surface hybridization the affinity of the duplexes decreases as the number of matching base-pairs decreases from 15 to 10. In order to show that SPFS is the powerful technique with high sensitivity, the hybridization process for mixed target-oligos was measured by SPFS and analyzed by an expanded Langmuir model in which two components of target-oligo can bind to probe-DNA at the sensor surface competitively. Two sets of the k(on) and k(off) obtained from the experiment are successfully consistent with the k(on) and k(off) obtained from experiments for single (pure) target-DNA.     

Conformationally constrained N1-arylsulfonyltryptamine derivatives as 5-HT6 receptor antagonists

Several series of conformationally constrained N1-arylsulfonyltryptamine derivatives were prepared and tested for 5-HT6 receptor binding affinity and ability to modulate cAMP production in a cyclase assay. The 3-piperidin-3-yl-, 3-(1-methylpyrrolidin-2-ylmethyl)-, and 3-pyrrolidin-3-yl-1H-indole arrays (8-13) appear to be able to adopt a conformation that allows high affinity 5-HT6 receptor binding, while the beta-carboline array 14 binds with a significantly weaker (10- to 100-fold) affinity. N1-Benzenesulfonyl-3-piperidin-3-yl-1H-indole 9a is a high affinity full agonist with EC50 = 24 nM. Several of the N1-arylsulfonyl-3-(1-methylpyrrolidin-2-ylmethyl)-1H-indole derivatives behave as very potent antagonists ((S)-11r, (S)-11t; IC50 = 0.8, 1.0 nM).