Troponin T isoforms modulate calcium dependence of the kinetics of the cross-bridge cycle: studies using a transgenic mouse line

Alternative splicing of troponin T (TnT) in striated muscle during development results in expression of different isoforms, with the splicing of a 5(') exon of TnT resulting in the expression of low-molecular-weight basic adult TnT isoforms and high-molecular-weight acidic embryonic TnT isoforms. Although other differences exist, the main differences between cardiac TnT (cTnT) and fast skeletal muscle TnT (fTnT) are in the NH(2) terminus, with fTnT being less acidic than cTnT. A transgenic mouse line expressing chicken fTnT in the heart was used to investigate the functional significance of TnT NH(2)-terminal charge differences on cardiac muscle contractility. The rates of force redevelopment (k(tr)) at four levels of Ca(2+) activation were recorded for skinned left ventricular trabeculae from control and transgenic mice. The k(tr) vs Ca(2+) relationship was different in control mice and transgenic mice, suggesting that the structure of TnT, and possibly the NH(2)-terminal region, is involved in determining the kinetics of cross-bridge cycle. These results suggest that isoform shifts in TnT may be an important molecular mechanism for determining the Ca(2+) dependence of cardiac muscle contractility.     

有机溶剂中青霉素酰化酶催化的动力学与热力学

用电泳纯巨大芽孢杆菌胞外青霉素酸化酶,研究其在乙醇、正丙醇、异丙醇、正丁醇、丙酮、二氧六环、四氢呋喃等有机溶剂存在下的动力学和热力学特性,并与相应的溶液酶作比较,探讨溶剂酶（有机溶剂存在下的酶）和溶液酶在催化活性及分于构象方面的特性。     

Importance of direct determination of amino acid co- and counter-transport stoichiometries

Summary. The stoichiometry of amino acid transport with co- or counter-substrates of a given system has been found to vary with the amino acid species. This phenomenon has been studied directly in only a few cases, however, by measuring the fluxes of the substrates simultaneously. More frequently, the apparent transport stoichiometries of single amino acid species with co- or counter-substrates are estimated indirectly by thermodynamic criteria or cooperative kinetic effects. Unfortunately the latter indirect mea-sures of apparent stoichiometry often yield different results than direct measurement of simultaneous fluxes. These differences often cannot be explained by uncoupled transport of one of the co- or counter-substrates or by other characteristics of the transport process that would make the direct measurement of stoichiometry inaccurate. For these reasons, investigators are encouraged to measure the stoichiometry of transport directly by measuring simultaneous fluxes of co- and counter-substrates. Indirect measures of apparent stoichiometry may, however, reflect important details of a transport mechanism even if they are inconsistent with the actual stoichiometry of transport. Received February 20, 2000 Accepted May 18, 2000     

The Rates of Ca2+ Dissociation and Cross-bridge Detachment from Ventricular Myofibrils as Reported by a Fluorescent Cardiac Troponin C

The rate-limiting step of cardiac muscle relaxation has been proposed to reside in the myofilament. Both the rates of cross-bridge detachment and Ca(2+) dissociation from troponin C (TnC) have been hypothesized to rate-limit myofilament inactivation. In this study we used a fluorescent TnC to measure both the rate of Ca(2+) dissociation from TnC and the rate of cross-bridge detachment from several different species of ventricular myofibrils. The fluorescently labeled TnC was sensitive to both Ca(2+) dissociation and cross-bridge detachment at low Ca(2+) (presence of EGTA), allowing for a direct comparison between the two proposed rates of myofilament inactivation. Unlike Ca(2+) dissociation from TnC, cross-bridge detachment varied in myofibrils from different species and was rate-limited by ADP release. At subphysiological temperatures (<20 °C), the rate of Ca(2+) dissociation from TnC was faster than the rate of cross-bridge detachment in the presence of ADP. These results support the hypothesis that cross-bridge detachment rate-limits relaxation. However, Ca(2+) dissociation from TnC was not as temperature-sensitive as cross-bridge detachment. At a near physiological temperature (35 °C) and ADP, the rate of cross-bridge detachment may actually be faster than the rate of Ca(2+) dissociation. This provides evidence that there may not be a simple, single rate-limiting step of myofilament inactivation.     

Orthotopic allotransplantation and autotransplantation of the baboon heart following 24-hr storage by a portable hypothermic perfusion system

A nonpulsatile perfusion apparatus, based on the air-lift pump principle, has been developed. Circulation of the perfusate, as well as oxygenation and maintenance of acid-base balance, is provided by the flow of a mixture of 97% oxygen and 3% carbon dioxide. The system is easily and entirely portable. Eleven baboons underwent orthotopic allotransplantation with donor hearts stored by continuous hypothermic (4-10 degrees C) perfusion for periods of up to 24 hr. Three were electively killed after 2 to 3 days; the remaining eight, immunosuppressed with methylprednisolone and either azathioprine or cyclosporin A, survived to rejection at between 10 and 49 days. Cardiac catheterization performed in six animals 7-14 days after allotransplantation showed virtually normal hemodynamic data. Three more baboons underwent heart excision and storage by hypothermic perfusion for 24 hr, and subsequent othotopic autotransplantation, the circulation of the baboon being maintained in the interim by an allograft. One animal survives 8 months later with hemodynamic data at cardiac catheterization differing little from that obtained before autotransplantation. This perfusion system has subsequently been used to store four human donor hearts prior to heterotopic transplantation.     

Transgenic Mouse α- and β-Cardiac Myosins Containing the R403Q Mutation Show Isoform-dependent Transient Kinetic Differences

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) is a major cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. The discovery in 1990 that a point mutation at residue 403 (R403Q) in the β-myosin heavy chain (MHC) caused a severe form of FHC was the first of many demonstrations linking FHC to mutations in muscle proteins. A mouse model for FHC has been widely used to study the mechanochemical properties of mutated cardiac myosin, but mouse hearts express α-MHC, whereas the ventricles of larger mammals express predominantly β-MHC. To address the role of the isoform backbone on function, we generated a transgenic mouse in which the endogenous α-MHC was partially replaced with transgenically encoded β-MHC or α-MHC. A His₆ tag was cloned at the N terminus, along with R403Q, to facilitate isolation of myosin subfragment 1 (S1). Stopped flow kinetics were used to measure the equilibrium constants and rates of nucleotide binding and release for the mouse S1 isoforms bound to actin. For the wild-type isoforms, we found that the affinity of MgADP for α-S1 (100 μm) is ∼ 4-fold weaker than for β-S1 (25 μm). Correspondingly, the MgADP release rate for α-S1 (350 s⁻¹) is ∼3-fold greater than for β-S1 (120 s⁻¹). Introducing the R403Q mutation caused only a minor reduction in kinetics for β-S1, but R403Q in α-S1 caused the ADP release rate to increase by 20% (430 s⁻¹). These transient kinetic studies on mouse cardiac myosins provide strong evidence that the functional impact of an FHC mutation on myosin depends on the isoform backbone.     

Efficient long-term and high-yielded production of a recombinant proteoglycan in eukaryotic HEK293 cells using a membrane-based bioreactor

Standard culture systems of eukaryotic cells generally failed to deliver sufficient amounts of recombinant proteins without increasing the costs of production. We here showed that membrane-based bioreactors, initially developed for the production of monoclonal antibodies, can be very useful for the production using engineered HEK293 cells, of a recombinant proteoglycan called endocan, with achievement of high level expression and efficient long-term production. When compared to standard procedures, the growth in suspension and at high density of these cells in one bioreactor promoted a 60-fold increase of the concentration of the soluble recombinant endocan. These culture conditions did not affect cell viability, stable expression, recognition by specific monoclonal antibodies or electrophoretic profile of the recombinant endocan. Such an easy to scale up system to produce recombinant protein should open soon new opportunities to study structure and functions of endocan or any other glycosylated cell products newly investigated.     

急性呼吸窘迫综合征临床治疗观察及预后影响因素分析

目的:观察急性呼吸窘迫综合征临床治疗效果,并对预后影响因素进行分析。方法:回顾性分析2006年3月~2011年10月在我院接受治疗的56例急性呼吸窘迫综合征患者的临床资料,使用SPSS12.0进行统计分析,并进行多因素Logistic回归分析。结果:采用以PEEP为主的综合治疗,并联合使用血必净注射液和乌司他丁,治疗ARDS病死率为26.8%;预后影响因素中ARDS并发MODS、APACHEⅡ评分和发病至接受治疗时间具有显著意义。结论:该治疗方法病死率较低,效果良好;ARDS并发并发MODS、APACHEⅡ评分和发病至接受治疗时间是影响ARDS患者的病死预后主要因素。     

The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Myosin Mutation R453C Alters ATP Binding and Hydrolysis of Human Cardiac β-Myosin

The human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutation R453C results in one of the more severe forms of the myopathy. Arg-453 is found in a conserved surface loop of the upper 50-kDa domain of the myosin motor domain and lies between the nucleotide binding pocket and the actin binding site. It connects to the cardiomyopathy loop via a long α-helix, helix O, and to Switch-2 via the fifth strand of the central β-sheet. The mutation is, therefore, in a position to perturb a wide range of myosin molecular activities. We report here the first detailed biochemical kinetic analysis of the motor domain of the human β-cardiac myosin carrying the R453C mutation. A recent report of the same mutation (Sommese, R. F., Sung, J., Nag, S., Sutton, S., Deacon, J. C., Choe, E., Leinwand, L. A., Ruppel, K., and Spudich, J. A. (2013) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 12607–12612) found reduced ATPase and in vitro motility but increased force production using an optical trap. Surprisingly, our results show that the mutation alters few biochemical kinetic parameters significantly. The exceptions are the rate constants for ATP binding to the motor domain (reduced by 35%) and the ATP hydrolysis step/recovery stroke (slowed 3-fold), which could be the rate-limiting step for the ATPase cycle. Effects of the mutation on the recovery stroke are consistent with a perturbation of Switch-2 closure, which is required for the recovery stroke and the subsequent ATP hydrolysis.     

Quantitative proteomic analysis by iTRAQ for identification of candidate biomarkers in plasma from acute respiratory distress syndrome patients

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critical patients. Proteomic analysis of plasma from individuals with ARDS could elucidate new biomarkers for diagnosis and pathophysiology and identify potential ARDS treatment targets. In this study, we recruited 26 patients (15 controls, 11 ARDS). The ARDS group was subdivided into two groups depending on the type of injury: (1) direct lung injury (AD) and (2) indirect lung injury (AI). Using iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) analysis, we identified 2429 peptides representing 132 plasma proteins. Among these, 16 were differentially expressed in ARDS patients, including 11 overlapping proteins between the AI and AD group and 5 AI-specific proteins. Protein annotation revealed that lipid transport and complement activation were significantly enriched in the biological process category, and lipid transporter, transporter, and serine-type peptidase activities were significantly enriched in the molecular function category. IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) signaling pathways revealed that the overlapping proteins were involved in a variety of signaling pathways, including those underlying acute phase response; liver X receptor/retinoid X receptor (LXR/RXR) and farnesoid X (FXR)/RXR activation; clathrin-mediated endocytosis; atherosclerosis; interleukin (IL)-12; complement system; and cytokine, nitric oxide, and reactive oxygen species production in macrophages. We present the first proteomic analysis of ARDS plasma using the iTRAQ approach. Our data provide new biomarker candidates and shed light on potential pathological mechanisms underlying ARDS.     

Kinetic Mechanism and the Rate-limiting Step of Plasmodium vivax Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes a hydroxymethyl group transfer from l-serine to tetrahydrofolate (H₄folate) to yield glycine and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (CH₂-H₄folate). SHMT is crucial for deoxythymidylate biosynthesis and a target for antimalarial drug development. Our previous studies indicate that PvSHMT catalyzes the reaction via a ternary complex mechanism. To define the kinetic mechanism of this catalysis, we explored the PvSHMT reaction by employing various methodologies including ligand binding, transient, and steady-state kinetics as well as product analysis by rapid-quench and HPLC/MS techniques. The results indicate that PvSHMT can bind first to either l-serine or H₄folate. The dissociation constants for the enzyme·l-serine and enzyme·H₄folate complexes were determined as 0.18 ± 0.08 and 0.35 ± 0.06 mm, respectively. The amounts of glycine formed after single turnovers of different preformed binary complexes were similar, indicating that the reaction proceeds via a random-order binding mechanism. In addition, the rate constant of glycine formation measured by rapid-quench and HPLC/MS analysis is similar to the k_cat value (1.09 ± 0.05 s⁻¹) obtained from the steady-state kinetics, indicating that glycine formation is the rate-limiting step of SHMT catalysis. This information will serve as a basis for future investigation on species-specific inhibition of SHMT for antimalarial drug development.     

干预气道杯状细胞CLCA对ARDS小鼠损伤程度及炎症机制的影响

目的:探讨干预气道杯状细胞CLCA的表达与功能,对ARDS小鼠肺脏损伤程度的影响,并通过体外细胞研究探讨其机制。方法:制备LPS诱导的ARDS小鼠模型(ARDS组),并在此模型上分别进行干预,包括气道雾化吸入CLCA非特异性阻断剂尼氟灭酸(NFA)(NFA+ARDS组)、气道滴注CLCA特异性抗体(ab-CLCA3)(ab-CLCA3+ARDS组)。HE染色观察各组小鼠肺部病理及炎症特征,计算肺损伤评分。运用hCLCA1-siRNA抑制人正常支气管上皮细胞系16HBE中h CLCA1的表达,采用real-time RT-PCR法验证抑制效果后,检测各组细胞合成多种炎症因子m RNA水平的差异。结果:HE染色显示,ARDS组与NFA+ARDS组相比,肺部病理改变及炎症细胞浸润程度无明显差异,肺损伤评分也没有统计学差异(正常组:2.0±0.71;ARDS组:6.8±0.45,NFA+ARDS组7.4±0.89,P0.05)。与ARDS组相比,ab-CLCA3+ARDS组肺部病理损伤及炎症细胞浸润程度明显加重,肺损伤评分也升高(正常组:1.8±0.83;ARDS组:7.6±0.55,ab-mCLCA3+ARDS组9.8±0.83,P0.05)。real-time RT-PCR检测证实成功构建hCLCA1低表达的16HBE细胞系,同时real-time RT-PCR结果显示TNF-α和IL-1β的m RNA表达水平升高(P0.05)。结论:阻断气道CLCA功能区域,可以加重ARDS小鼠肺部病理损伤程度及炎症细胞浸润水平,提示气道杯状细胞CLCA在ARDS小鼠肺部炎症形成过程中发挥抑制性调节作用。     

Intramolecular alpha-helix-beta-structure-random coil transition in polypeptides. II. Dynamic case

The conformational changes of polypeptides which are capable of forming the alpha-helix. beta-structure and random coil (or the unordered) conformations are discussed. The kinetics of this system are studied as the time evolution of the probabilities describing the conformational states of the system. The time behavior of the average numbers of the alpha-helix and the beta-structure reveals the existence of intermediate states which are not found and not stable at equilibrium. These intermediates make the kinetics of this system more complex. Such situations can occur in protein folding and unfolding processes in such a way that a conformation absent in the tertiary structure appears in the intermediate stages and disappears finally, and the time course of the reaction is described by the sum of two or more exponential terms, in other words, the protein folding and unfolding processes display multiphasic kinetics. These intermediates, which are formed by short-range interactions, may usually be destroyed but sometimes can be stabilized by medium- and long-range interactions and remain stable for a fairly long time in the process of renaturation in real proteins.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the axial substitution reactions of (ligand)bis(4,5-dichloro-1,2-benzo semiquinonediiminato)cobalt(III) complexes

Square-pyramidal (Ph₃X)bis(4,5-dichloro-1,2-benzosemiquinonediiminato)cobalt(III) complexes (X = As, Sb or P) have been synthesized. The kinetics of axial substitution for the triphenylantimony complex have been studied for 10 entering ligands (L*). The reaction is of reversible second-order in both directions for all complexes. Labile behavior is indicated by the rate constants in the range from 6.33 × 10³ (for L* = Ph₃P in MeOH) to 5.4 (L* = py in CH₂Cl₂) M⁻¹ s⁻¹. The kinetics is consistent with an I_a mechanism. The log of the second-order rate constant for axial substitution is a linear function of nucleophilic reactivity n_Pt°, which is due to the trans-labilizing effect of the entering ligand in the six-coordinate transition state.