Nonenzymatic glycation of DNA nucleosides with reducing sugars

Reducing sugars can react with the free amino groups of proteins to form a heterogeneous group of compounds known as advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) or Maillard reaction products. The objective of this investigation was to monitor the nonenzymatic glycation of DNA nucleosides and to characterize the formation of nucleoside AGEs using capillary electrophoresis (CE), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV fluorescence spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. Deoxyguanosine, deoxyadenosine, deoxythymidine, and deoxycytidine were used as the model nucleosides and were incubated over time with glucose, galactose, or glyceraldehyde. Under increasing concentrations and time, deoxyguanosine exhibited the highest rate of glycation with glyceraldehyde. Deoxyadenosine and deoxycytidine exhibited comparable reactivity with glyceraldehyde and no appreciable reactivity with galactose or glucose. No reactivity was observed between deoxythymidine and the sugars. A combination of CE, HPLC, UV fluorescence spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry provided a convenient method for characterizing nucleoside AGEs and for monitoring the physical factors that influence the formation of sugar adducts of DNA nucleosides.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of collagen in aging and diabetes

Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of nonenzymatic glycation of collagen, and the relationship between glycation of collagen and changes in connective tissue associated with aging and diabetes. Recent studies surveyed in this review suggest the following conclusions: 1. Collagen content of early glycation products does not appear to increase throughout the life span in normal human subjects, although small increases may occur that are linked to glycemic changes. These products are increased, relative to age-matched controls, in experimental diabetes and in diabetes mellitus in collagen from virtually all tissues analyzed. 2. Collagen content of browning products increases with aging and appears to be higher in diabetic subjects than in age-matched controls. Rates of accumulation may be accelerated in subpopulations of diabetic subjects at high risk for developing complications. 3. Increases in early glycation products do not appear to be associated with alterations in collagen solubility, thermal rupture time, or mechanical strength, nor is there an association with most diabetic complications. Alterations in these products may, however, affect conformation, ligand binding, lysyl oxidase-mediated cross-linking, and interactions between collagen and other macromolecules in the extracellular matrix. 4. Increased content of browning products is associated with many physicochemical changes in collagen as well as with long-term complications in diabetes mellitus. 5. Regulatory mechanisms have been identified in vivo that may serve to control or limit the formation of glycation products. 7. Pharmacologic agents have been identified that may be able to reduce collagen content of late glycation products. Despite the progress that has been made in this field, many areas of uncertainty and controversy exist. For example, there is not yet a consensus that the browning products associated with collagen exclusively comprise advanced Maillard products derived from nonenzymatically glycated residues. There is evidence that oxidative reactions involving lipids also play a role in generating fluorophores and chromophores that may alter properties of collagen. Thus, in the extracellular matrix collagen may be continuously modified by at least three very different processes: Maillard reactions, interactions with oxidizing lipids, and enzymatically mediated cross-linking. The interrelationships between these and possibly other posttranslational modifications remain a poorly understood area of great complexity.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of cartilage proteoglycans: an in vivo and in vitro study

In this study we have investigated whether proteoglycans (aggrecan) are modified by nonenzymatic glycation as in collagen. Purified human aggrecan from osteoarthritic and normal human knee articular cartilage was assayed for pentosidine, a cross-link formed by nonenzymatic glycation, using reverse-phase HPLC. In addition, an in vitro study was done by incubation of purified bovine nasal cartilage aggrecan with ribose. Pentosidine was found in all the purified human aggrecan samples. 2-3% of the total articular cartilage pentosidine was found in aggrecan. Purified link protein also contained penosidine. The in vitro study led to pentosidine formation, but did not appear to increase the molecular size of the aggrecan suggesting that pentosidine was creating intramolecular cross-links. Similar amounts of glycation were found in osteoarthritic and normal cartilage. Like collagen, aggrecan and link proteins are crosslinked by nonenzymatic glycation in normal and osteoarthritic cartilage. Crosslinking could be reproduced, in vitro, by incubating aggrecan with ribose. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of histones in vitro and in vivo

Purified histones in solution, purified nuclei, or whole endothelial cells in cell culture were used to study the reactivity of histones with various sugars. The sugar incubation of purified histones produced nonenzymatic glycation and formation of histone cross-links showing disappearance of individual histone molecules and appearance of dimers and polymers in SDS-PAGE. In solution, core histones react considerably faster with sugars as compared to H1 histones. In sugar-incubated nuclei where histones are nucleosomally organized, H1 histones, which are located at the periphery of the nucleosome, and H2A-H2B dimers, which are associated with the central H3(2)-H4(2) tetramer, are more reactive as compared to H3 and H4 histones, which are most protected from the glycation reaction. Our in vivo experiments using endothelial cells show that high concentrations of ribose are able to generate protein cross-links paralleled by apoptotic cell death. High concentrations of glucose or fructose do not increase histone glycation or cell death, even after 60 days of incubation of endothelial cells. In long-time glucose- or fructose-treated cells, under nondenaturing and nonreducing SDS-PAGE conditions part of the H3 histones shifted away from their normal location. Because it is known that the mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) increases after hyperglycaemia, we hypothesize that ROS could be responsible for the formation of a disulphide bridge between the side chain of the cysteine residues of H3 molecules.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of type I collagen. The effects of aging on preferential glycation sites.

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of aging on preferential sites of glucose adduct formation on type I collagen chains. Two CNBr peptides, one from each type of chain in the type I tropocollagen molecule, were investigated in detail: alpha 1(I)CB3 and alpha 2CB3-5. Together these peptides comprise approximately 25% of the total tropocollagen molecule. The CNBr peptides were purified from rat tail tendon, obtained from animals aged 6, 18, and 36 months, by ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Sugar adducts were radiolabeled by reduction with NaB3H4. Glycated tryptic peptides were prepared from tryptic digests of alpha 2CB3-5 and alpha 1(I)CB3 by boronate affinity chromatography and HPLC. Peptides were identified by sequencing and by compositional analysis. Preferential sites of glycation were observed in both CB3 and alpha 2CB3-5. Of the 5 lysine residues in CB3, Lys-434 was the favored glycation site. Of the 18 lysine residues and 1 hydroxylysine residue in alpha 2CB3-5, 3 residues (Lys-453, Lys-479, and Lys-924) contained more than 80% of the glucose adducts on the peptide. Preferential glycation sites were highly conserved with aging. In collagen that had been glycated in vitro, the relative distribution of glucose adducts in old animals differed from that of young animals. In vitro experiments suggest that primary structure is the major determinant of preferential glycation sites but that higher order structure may influence the relative distribution of glucose adducts among these preferred sites.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of guanosine 5'-triphosphate by glyceraldehyde: an in vitro study of AGE formation

Guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) plays a significant role in the bioenergetics, metabolism, and signaling of cells; consequently, any modifications to the structure of the molecule can have profound effects on a cell's survival and function. Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that like proteins, purines, and pyrimidines can nonenzymatically react with sugars to generate advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and that these AGEs can form in vitro under physiological conditions. The objective of this investigation was twofold. First, it was to evaluate the susceptibility of ATP, GTP, CTP, and TTP to nonenzymatic modification by D-glucose and DL-glyceraldehyde, and second to assess the effect of various factors such as temperature, pH and incubation time, and sugar concentration on the rate and extent of nucleotide triphosphate AGE formation. Of the four nucleotide triphosphates that were studied, only GTP was significantly reactive forming a heterogeneous group of compounds with DL-glyceraldehyde. D-Glucose exhibited no significant reactivity with any of the nucleotide triphosphates, a finding that was supported by UV and fluorescence spectroscopy. Capillary electrophoresis, high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry allowed for a thorough analysis of the glycated GTP products and demonstrated that the modification of GTP by dl-glyceraldehyde occurred via the classical Amadori pathway.     

Nonenzymatic glycation at the N terminus of pathogenic prion protein in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are transmissible neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the accumulation of an abnormally folded prion protein, termed PrPSc, and the development of pathological features of astrogliosis, vacuolation, neuronal cell loss, and in some cases amyloid plaques. Although considerable structural characterization of prion protein has been reported, neither the method of conversion of cellular prion protein, PrPC, into the pathogenic isoform nor the post-translational modification processes involved is known. We report that in animal and human TSEs, one or more lysines at residues 23, 24, and 27 of PrPSc are covalently modified with advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs), which may be carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), one of the structural varieties of AGEs. The arginine residue at position 37 may also be modified with AGE, but not the arginine residue at position 25. This result suggests that nonenzymatic glycation is one of the post-translational modifications of PrP(Sc). Furthermore, immunostaining studies indicate that, at least in clinically affected hamsters, astrocytes are the first site of this glycation process.     

Sepsis leads to thyroid impairment and dysfunction in rat model

Sepsis was a systemic response to a local infection. Apoptosis was observed in the experimental sepsis. In this study, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis was established in rats. We found that sepsis decreased thyroid hormone levels, including triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free T3 (fT3), and free T4 (fT4). Besides, we detected the increasing expression level of Caspase-3 and increasing ratio of TUNEL positive cells in the thyroid after sepsis. Furthermore, a series of pathological ultrastructural changes were observed in thyroid follicular epithelial cells by CLP-induced sepsis. This study established a sepsis animal model and provided the cellular and molecular basis for decoding the pathological mechanism in thyroid with the occurrence of sepsis.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of Na,K-ATPase. Effects on ATP hydrolysis and K+ occlusion

Glycation of the Na,K-ATPase in vitro (formation of Schiff base with glucose followed by reduction with NaCNBH3) shows the presence of three classes of reactive amino groups that differentially affect catalysis and cation binding. Reaction in the absence of ATP results in irreversible inhibition of enzyme activity with a t1/2 of 53 min. This is due to modification of one class of amino groups that affect the catalytic domain of the enzyme. In the presence of ATP, glycation first results in a shift in the steady state kinetics of ATP hydrolysis from substrate activation to Michaelis-Menten kinetics accompanied by an increase in the apparent affinity for K+ in the p-nitrophenylphosphatase reaction. This change in kinetic properties occurs with a t1/2 of 9 min and results in the complete loss of K+ occlusion. Incorporation of glucose is into the catalytic subunit, remote from the N-terminal end. Apparent total inhibition of K+ occlusion occurs with a stoichiometry 0.8 mol of glucose incorporated per mol of enzyme. Therefore, there is a rapidly reacting amino group that affects the cation binding domain of the Na,K-ATPase. More slowly, with a t1/2 of 9 h, the ATP hydrolysis kinetics change from Michaelis-Menten to substrate inhibition without recovery of K+ occlusion, showing that, in the E1 conformation, there is a third, slower reacting class of amino groups in the Na,K-ATPase that affects low affinity nucleotide interaction with the catalytic subunit.     

BRCA2 deficiency in mice leads to meiotic impairment and infertility

The role of Brca2 in gametogenesis has been obscure because of embryonic lethality of the knockout mice. We generated Brca2-null mice carrying a human BAC with the BRCA2 gene. This construct rescues embryonic lethality and the mice develop normally. However, there is poor expression of the transgene in the gonads and the mice are infertile, allowing examination of the function of BRCA2 in gametogenesis. BRCA2-deficient spermatocytes fail to progress beyond the early prophase I stage of meiosis. Observations on localization of recombination-related and spermatogenic-related proteins suggest that the spermatocytes undergo early steps of recombination (DNA double strand break formation), but fail to complete recombination or initiate spermiogenic development. In contrast to the early meiotic prophase arrest of spermatocytes, some mutant oocytes can progress through meiotic prophase I, albeit with a high frequency of nuclear abnormalities, and can be fertilized and produce embryos. Nonetheless, there is marked depletion of germ cells in adult females. These studies provide evidence for key roles of the BRCA2 protein in mammalian gametogenesis and meiotic success.     

Nonenzymatic glycation of bovine serum albumin by fructose (fructation). Comparison with the Maillard reaction initiated by glucose

Nonenzymatic glycation by glucose (glucation) was compared with glycation by fructose (fructation). The rate and extent of protein-bound fluorescence generation upon fructation was about 10 times that upon glucation. In contrast, nonenzymatically glucated bovine serum albumin (BSA) released about twice as much formaldehyde upon periodate oxidation as did nonenzymatically fructated BSA. However, the rate of blocking of amino groups was similar in both proteins. Periodate oxidation of borohydride-reduced glycated BSA led to regeneration of amino groups with preservation of fluorescence. From the ratio between the decrease in formaldehyde-releasing ability and the regenerated amino groups, formaldehyde molar yields of 0.47 and 0.8 were computed for fructose- and glucose-derived Amadori groups, respectively. This is consistent with participation of both carbon 1 and carbon 3 in the Amadori rearrangement from fructose. The formaldehyde releasing ability of nonenzymatically fructated BSA attains asymptotic maximum values earlier than that of nonenzymatically glucated BSA. Thus, the higher rate of fluorescence generation in nonenzymatically fructated BSA could be explained by a faster conversion of its Amadori groups. Since fluorescence generation through the Maillard reaction has been correlated with long term complications of diabetes mellitus, the participation of nonenzymatic fructation in this pathological state deserves further exploration. This is especially relevant in tissues where fructose levels increase in diabetes as a result of the operation of the sorbitol pathway.     

Inhibition of brain ST8SiaIII sialyltransferase leads to impairment of procedural memory in mice

Several glycoproteins in mammalian brains contain α2,8-linked disialic acid residues. We previously showed a constant expression of disialic acid (DiSia) in the hippocampus, olfactory bulb and cortex, and a gradual decrease of expression in the cerebellum from neonatal to senile mice. Previous publications indicate that neurite extension of neuroblastoma-derived Neuro2A cells is inhibited in the presence of DiSia antibody. Based on this, we treated Neuro2A cell cultures with RNA interference for ST8SiaIII mRNA, the enzyme responsible for DiSia formation. We observed that neurite extension was inhibited by this treatment.     

Activation of mutant protein kinase Cgamma leads to aberrant sequestration and impairment of its cellular function

Mutations in protein kinase Cγ (PKCγ) cause the neurodegenerative disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14). In this study, expression of an extensive panel of known SCA14-associated PKCγ mutations as fusion proteins in cell culture led to the consistent formation of cytoplasmic aggregates in response to purinoceptor stimulation. Aggregates co-stained with antibodies to phosphorylated PKCγ and the early endosome marker EEA1 but failed to redistribute to the cell membrane under conditions of oxidative stress. These studies suggest that Purkinje cell damage in SCA14 may result from a reduction of PKCγ activity due its aberrant sequestration in the early endosome compartment.     

Nonenzymatic reduction of nitro derivative of a heterocyclic amine IQ by NADH and Cu(II) leads to oxidative DNA damage.

Nitro derivative (nitro-IQ) of a carcinogenic heterocyclic amine 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) is known to be a potent mutagen as well as IQ, and nitro-IQ is believed to be activated enzymatically by nitroreductase. We investigated nonenzymatic reduction of nitro-IQ by an endogenous reductant NADH and the ability of inducing DNA damage by nitro-IQ. Nitro-IQ caused DNA damage including 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in the presence of NADH and Cu(II). Catalase and bathocuproine, a Cu(I)-specific chelator, inhibited the DNA damage, suggesting the involvement of H2O2 and Cu(I). Nitro-IQ induced DNA cleavage frequently at thymine and cytosine residues in the presence of NADH and Cu(II). UV-vis spectroscopic study showed that no spectral change of Nitro-IQ and NADH was observed in the absence of Cu(II), while rapid spectral change was observed in the presence of Cu(II), suggesting that Cu(II) mediated redox reaction of nitro-IQ and NADH. These results suggest that nitro-IQ can be reduced nonenzymatically by NADH in the presence of Cu(II), and the redox reaction resulted in oxidative DNA damage due to the copper-oxygen complex, derived from the reaction of Cu(I) with H2O2. We conclude that nonenzymatic reduction of nitro-IQ and resulting in oxidative DNA damage can play a role in carcinogenesis of IQ.     

Nonenzymatic turnover of an Erwinia carotovora quorum-sensing signaling molecule.

The production of virulence factors and carbapenem antibiotic in the phytopathogen Erwinia carotovora is under the control of quorum sensing. The quorum-sensing signaling molecule, N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (OHHL), accumulates in log-phase culture supernatants of E. carotovora but diminishes in concentration during the stationary phase. In this study, we show that the diminution in OHHL was not due to sequestration of the ligand by the cells, although some partitioning did occur. Rather, it was caused by degradation of the molecule. The rate of stationary-phase degradation of OHHL was as rapid as the rate of log-phase accumulation of the ligand, but it was nonenzymatic and led to a decrease in the expression of selected genes known to be under the control of quorum sensing. The degradation of OHHL was dependent on the pH of the supernatant, which increased as the growth curve progressed in cultures grown in Luria-Bertani medium from pH 7 to approximately 8.5. OHHL became unstable over a narrow pH range (pH 7 to 8). Instability was increased at high temperatures even at neutral pH but could be prevented at the growth temperature (30 degrees C) by buffering the samples at pH 6.8. These results may provide a rationale for the observation that an early response of plants which are under attack by Erwinia is to activate a proton pump which alkalizes the site of infection to a pH of >8.2.     

C-CAM-mediated adhesion leads to an outside-in dephosphorylation signal.

The rat cell-cell adhesion molecule C-CAM, a member of the carcinoembryonic antigen family, was shown to be expressed in various isoforms, differing in the length of the cytoplasmic domain. The long isoform C-CAML inhibits the growth of different malignant cells. Several studies suggest that it is involved in the mechanism of signal transduction. So far no direct correlation between C-CAM function and C-CAM phosphorylation has been reported. In the present study we addressed the question of whether C-CAM-mediated adhesion is accompanied by changes in phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic domain of C-CAM. It was demonstrated that C-CAML is constitutively phosphorylated in adherent growing cells as well as in cells growing in suspension. In contrast, C-CAML-mediated cell aggregation is accompanied by a 40% reduction in C-CAML phosphorylation compared with nonaggregated cells. The same dephosphorylation was achieved by antibody-induced clustering of C-CAML in the plasma membrane. Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation indicate a C-CAM-mediated outside-in signalling induced by cell-cell adhesion.     

Nonenzymatic decarboxylation of pyruvate

Triton X-100, retinol, retinoic acid, retinal, hexane, dithiothreitol, mercaptoethanol, and some other commercially available chemicals caused nonenzymatic decarboxylation of pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate. "Lipids" obtained from human or pigeon liver homogenates using isopropanol/hexane also had very high nonenzymatic decarboxylating activity on these two alpha-ketoacids; most of this activity could be traced to the hexane (Eastman) used in the extraction. Optimum pH of the reaction with dithiothreitol and mercaptoethanol was 7-8 and with the other chemicals around 10, but considerable activity was present at pH 7-8. Liver homogenates had a scavenger effect on the decarboxylating activity of Triton X-100 and of dithiothreitol. Dithiothreitol and mercaptoethanol at high concentrations (greater than 1 mM) also had a scavenger effect on the decarboxylating activity of the "lipids." Pretreatment of Triton X-100, dithiothreitol, retinol, and the "lipids" with catalase markedly decreased the decarboxylating activity, while treatment with boiled catalase failed to do so. The results suggest that these compounds contain oxidizing contaminants, perhaps peroxide derivatives. Powerful oxidizing impurities have been reported in Triton X-100 from various sources by Y. Ashani and G. N. Catravas (1980, Anal. Biochem 109, 55-62). Such peroxide derivatives may cause nonenzymatic decarboxylation of pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate, presumably by a mechanism similar to the well-known nonenzymatic decarboxylation of alpha-ketoacids by hydrogen peroxide. In the absence of catalase and/or other protective agents against reactive oxygen derivatives, these chemicals would interfere in the assays of pyruvate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex which depend on the release of 14CO2 from alpha[1-14C]ketoacids.