Loss of pH Control in Plasmodium falciparum Parasites Subjected to Oxidative Stress

The intraerythrocytic malaria parasite is susceptible to oxidative stress and this may play a role in the mechanism of action of some antimalarial agents. Here we show that exposure of the intraerythrocytic malaria parasite to the oxidising agent hydrogen peroxide results in a fall in the intracellular ATP level and inhibition of the parasite''s V-type H⁺-ATPase, causing a loss of pH control in both the parasite cytosol and the internal digestive vacuole. In contrast to the V-type H⁺-ATPase, the parasite''s digestive vacuole H⁺-pyrophosphatase is insensitive to hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress. This work provides insights into the effects of oxidative stress on the intraerythrocytic parasite, as well as providing an alternative possible explanation for a previous report that light-induced oxidative stress causes selective lysis of the parasite''s digestive vacuole.     

The digestive food vacuole of the malaria parasite is a dynamic intracellular Ca2+ store

The acidic food vacuole of Plasmodium falciparum has been the subject of intense scientific investigation in the 40 years since its role in the digestion of host hemoglobin was first suggested. This proposed role has important implications for the complex host-parasite inter-relationship and also for the mode of action of several of the most effective antimalarial drugs. In addition, adaptive changes in the physiology of this organelle are implicated in drug resistance. Here we show that in addition to these functions, the digestive food vacuole of the malaria parasite is a dynamic internal store for free Ca2+, a role hitherto unsuspected. With the aid of live-cell laser scanning confocal imaging, spatiotemporal studies revealed that maintenance of elevated free Ca2+ in the digestive food vacuole (relative to cytosolic levels) is achieved by a thapsigargin (and cyclopiazonic acid)-sensitive Ca2+-pump in cooperation with a H+-dependent Ca2+ transporter. Redistribution of free cytosolic and vacuolar Ca2+ during parasite growth also suggests that vacuolar Ca2+ plays an essential role in parasite morphogenesis. These data imply that the digestive food vacuole of the malaria parasite is functionally akin to the vacuole of plants (tonoplast) and the small electron-dense granules of some parasites (acidocalcisomes) whereby H+-coupled Ca2+ transport is involved in ion transport, Ca2+ homeostasis, and signal transduction. These findings have significant implications for parasite development, antimalarial drug action, and mechanisms of drug resistance.     

Vacuolar H(+)-ATPase localized in plasma membranes of malaria parasite cells, Plasmodium falciparum, is involved in regional acidification of parasitized erythrocytes

Recent biochemical studies involving 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5, 6-carboxylfluorescein (BCECF)-labeled saponin-permeabilized and parasitized erythrocytes indicated that malaria parasite cells maintain the resting cytoplasmic pH at about 7.3, and treatment with vacuolar proton-pump inhibitors reduces the resting pH to 6.7, suggesting proton extrusion from the parasite cells via vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (Saliba, K. J., and Kirk, K. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 33213-33219). In the present study, we investigated the localization of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase in Plasmodium falciparum cells infecting erythrocytes. Antibodies against vacuolar H(+)-ATPase subunit A and B specifically immunostained the infecting parasite cells and recognized a single 67- and 55-kDa polypeptide, respectively. Immunoelectron microscopy indicated that the immunological counterpart of V-ATPase subunits A and B is localized at the plasma membrane, small clear vesicles, and food vacuoles, a lower extent being detected at the parasitophorus vacuolar membrane of the parasite cells. We measured the cytoplasmic pH of both infected erythrocytes and invading malaria parasite cells by microfluorimetry using BCECF fluorescence. It was found that a restricted area of the erythrocyte cytoplasm near a parasite cell is slightly acidic, being about pH 6.9. The pH increased to pH 7.3 upon the addition of either concanamycin B or bafilomycin A(1), specific inhibitors of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase. Simultaneously, the cytoplasmic pH of the infecting parasite cell decreased from pH 7.3 to 7.1. Neither vanadate at 0.5 mm, an inhibitor of P-type H(+)-ATPase, nor ethylisopropylamiloride at 0.2 mm, an inhibitor of Na(+)/H(+)-exchanger, affected the cytoplasmic pH of erythrocytes or infecting parasite cells. These results constitute direct evidence that plasma membrane vacuolar H(+)-ATPase is responsible for active extrusion of protons from the parasite cells.     

Acidocalcisomes are functionally linked to the contractile vacuole of Dictyostelium discoideum.

The mass-dense granules of Dictyostelium discoideum were shown to contain large amounts of phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium, as determined by x-ray microanalysis, either in situ or when purified using iodixanol gradient centrifugation. The high phosphorus content was due to the presence of pyrophosphate and polyphosphate, which were also present in the contractile vacuoles. Both organelles also possessed a vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, an H(+)-pyrophosphatase, and a Ca(2+)-ATPase, as determined by biochemical methods or by immunofluorescence microscopy. The H(+)-pyrophosphatase activity of isolated mass-dense granules was stimulated by potassium ions and inhibited by the pyrophosphate analogs aminomethylenediphosphonate and imidodiphosphate and by KF and N-ethylmaleimide in a dose-dependent manner. The mass-dense granules and the contractile vacuole appeared to contact each other when the cells were submitted to hyposmotic stress. Acetazolamide inhibited the carbonic anhydrase activity of the contractile vacuoles and prolonged their contraction cycle in a dose-dependent manner. Similar effects were observed with the anion exchanger inhibitor 4,4' -diisothiocyanatodihydrostilbene-2, 2' -disulfonic acid and the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A(1). Together, these results suggest that the mass-dense granules of D. discoideum are homologous to the acidocalcisomes described in protozoan parasites and are linked to the function of the contractile vacuole.     

H+-coupled pantothenate transport in the intracellular malaria parasite

Pantothenate, the precursor of coenzyme A, is an essential nutrient for the intraerythrocytic stage of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Pantothenate enters the malaria-infected erythrocyte via new permeation pathways induced by the parasite in the host cell membrane (Saliba, K. J., Horner, H. A., and Kirk, K. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 10190-10195). We show here that pantothenate is taken up by the intracellular parasite via a novel H(+)-coupled transporter, quite different from the Na(+)-coupled transporters that mediate pantothenate uptake into mammalian cells. The plasmodial H(+):pantothenate transporter has a low affinity for pantothenate (K(m) approximately 23 mm) and a stoichiometry of 1 H(+):1 pantothenate. It is inhibited by low concentrations of the bioflavonoid phloretin and the thiol-modifying agent p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate. On entering the parasite, pantothenate is phosphorylated (and thereby trapped) by an unusually high affinity pantothenate kinase (K(m) approximately 300 nm). The combination of H(+)-coupled transporter and kinase provides the parasite with an efficient, high affinity pantothenate uptake system, which is distinct from that of the host and is therefore an attractive target for antimalarial chemotherapy.     

Quantitative pH measurements in Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes using pHluorin

The digestive vacuole of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is the site of action of several antimalarial drugs, such as chloroquine, which accumulate in this organelle due to their properties as amphiphilic weak bases that inhibit haem detoxification. It has been suggested that changes in the pH of the digestive vacuole, affecting either drug partitioning or haem solubility and/or biomineralization rates, would correlate with reduced intracellular chloroquine accumulation and, hence, would determine the chloroquine-resistance phenotype. The techniques previously used to quantify digestive vacuolar pH mainly relied on lysed or isolated parasites, with unpredictable consequences on internal pH homeostasis. In this study, we have investigated the baseline steady-state pH of the cytoplasm and digestive vacuole of a chloroquine-sensitive (HB3) and a chloroquine-resistant (Dd2) parasite using a pH-sensitive green fluorescent protein, termed pHluorin. This non-invasive technique allows for in vivo pH measurements in intact P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes under physiological conditions. The data suggest that the pH of the cytoplasm is approximately 7.15 +/- 0.07 and that of the digestive vacuole approximately 5.18 +/- 0.05. No significant differences in baseline pH values were recorded for the chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant parasites.     

Functional expression of Acetabularia acetabulum vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase in a yeast VMA3-deficient strain

The function of the translation product of cDNA for Acetabularia vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase was examined using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae VMA3-deficient strain. The open reading frame of Acetabularia H(+)-pyrophosphatase was revealed to encode 751 amino acids (721 or 751 amino acids in a previous paper). The acidification of the vacuole was observed by fluorescence microscopy when the cDNA was constructed in pYES2. Immunoblot analysis also supported the localization of the translation product in the vacuolar-membrane-enriched fraction.     

Are proton symports in yeast directly linked to H(+)-ATPase acidification?

Transport of amino acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an H(+)-driven secondary active transport. Inhibitors of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase, particularly heavy water, diethylstilbestrol and suloctidil, were shown to affect the H(+)-extruding ATPase activity as well as the ATP-hydrolyzing activity, to a similar degree as they inhibited the transport of amino acids. The inhibitors had virtually no effect on the membrane electric potential or on the delta pH which constitute the thermodynamically relevant source of energy for these transports. Transport of acidic amino acids was affected much more than that of the neutral and especially of the basic ones. The effects were greater with higher amino acid concentrations. All this is taken as evidence that the amino acid carriers respond kinetically to the presence of protons directly at the membrane site where they are extruded by the H(+)-ATPase, rather than to the overall protonmotive force.     

A novel method to quantify H+-ATPase-dependent Na+ transport across plasma membrane vesicles

To prevent sodium toxicity in plants, Na(+) is excluded from the cytosol to the apoplast or the vacuole by Na(+)/H(+) antiporters. The secondary active transport of Na(+) to apoplast against its electrochemical gradient is driven by plasma membrane H(+)-ATPases that hydrolyze ATP and pump H(+) across the plasma membrane. Current methods to determine Na(+) flux rely either on the use of Na-isotopes ((22)Na) which require special working permission or sophisticated equipment or on indirect methods estimating changes in the H(+) gradient due to H(+)-ATPase in the presence or absence of Na(+) by pH-sensitive probes. To date, there are no methods that can directly quantify H(+)-ATPase-dependent Na(+) transport in plasma membrane vesicles. We developed a method to measure bidirectional H(+)-ATPase-dependent Na(+) transport in isolated membrane vesicle systems using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The experiments were performed using plasma membrane-enriched vesicles isolated by aqueous two-phase partitioning from leaves of Populus tomentosa. Since most of the plasma membrane vesicles have a sealed right-side-out orientation after repeated aqueous two-phase partitioning, the ATP-binding sites of H(+)-ATPases are exposed towards inner side. Leaky vesicles were preloaded with Na(+) sealed for the study of H(+)-ATPase-dependent Na(+) transport. Our data implicate that Na(+) movement across vesicle membranes is highly dependent on H(+)-ATPase activity requiring ATP and Mg(2+) and displays optimum rates of 2.50 microM Na(+) mg(-1) membrane protein min(-1) at pH 6.5 and 25 degrees C. In this study, for the first time, we establish new protocols for the preparation of sealed preloaded right-side-out vesicles for the study of H(+)-ATPase-dependent Na(+) transport. The results demonstrate that the Na(+) content of various types of plasma membrane vesicle can be directly quantified by AAS, and the results measured using AAS method were consistent with those determined by the previous established fluorescence probe method. The method is a convenient system for the study of bidirectional H(+)-ATPase-dependent Na(+) transport with membrane vesicles.     

Monoclonal antibody HK4001 completely inhibits K(+)-dependent ATP hydrolysis and H+ transport of hog gastric H+,K(+)-ATPase

A monoclonal antibody (designated as HK4001) was prepared against hog gastric H+,K(+)-ATPase. It dose-dependently inhibited the H+,K(+)-ATPase activity, formation of the K(+)-sensitive phosphoenzyme, and proton uptake into gastric vesicles. The H+,K(+)-ATPase activity was completely inhibited by addition of the antibody at a molar ratio of 1:2 (antibody/catalytic subunit) at pH 7.8. The maximal inhibition decreased with decrease in pH of the medium (7.8 greater than 7.4 greater than 6.2). The Fab fragment obtained by digestion of the antibody with papain was also inhibitory. The antibody did not inhibit the K(+)-dependent p-nitrophenylphosphatase or the labeling of the enzyme with fluorescein isothiocyanate. It inhibited gastric H+,K(+)-ATPase from rabbits and rats, but did not cross-react with related cation-transport ATPases (Na+,K(+)-ATPase or Ca2(+)-ATPase) or H(+)-ATPase in the multivesicular body. From these and related findings, the antibody was suggested to recognize a highly specific site on the cytosolic surface of H+,K(+)-ATPase. The conformation of the epitope was conserved after treatment with Triton X-100, but not sodium dodecyl sulfate. In addition, judging from the stoichiometry of inactivation of H+,K(+)-ATPase by this antibody, the functional unit of H+,K(+)-ATPase was suggested to be a dimer or a tetramer (not a trimer) of the catalytic unit.     

The vacuolar H+ -ATPase mediates intracellular acidification required for neurodegeneration in C. elegans

Numerous studies implicate necrotic cell death in devastating human pathologies such as stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. Investigations in both nematodes and mammals converge to implicate specific calpain and aspartyl proteases in the execution of necrotic cell death. It is believed that these proteases become activated under conditions that inflict necrotic cell death. However, the factors that modulate necrosis and govern the erroneous activation of these otherwise benign enzymes are largely unknown. Here we show that the function of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, a pump that acidifies lysosomes and other intracellular organelles, is essential for necrotic cell death in C. elegans. Cytoplasmic pH drops in dying cells. Intracellular acidification requires the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, whereas alkalization of endosomal and lysosomal compartments by weak bases protects against necrosis. In addition, we show that vacuolar H(+)-ATPase activity is required downstream of cytoplasmic calcium overload during necrosis. Thus, intracellular pH is an important modulator of necrosis in C. elegans. We propose that vacuolar H(+)-ATPase activity is required to establish necrosis-promoting, acidic intracellular conditions that augment the function of executioner aspartyl proteases in dying cells. Similar mechanisms may contribute to necrotic cell death that follows extreme acidosis-for example, during stroke-in humans.     

Changes in the level and activation state of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase during aging of red beet slices.

The effect of aging on the plasma membrane (PM) H(+)-ATPase of red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) parenchyma discs was analyzed in PM purified by aqueous two-phase partitioning. Aging increased both the activity in the amount of immunodetectable H(+)-ATPase in the PM. The activity assayed at slightly alkaline pH values increased earlier and more strongly than that assayed at acidic pH values, so that the pH curve of the enzyme from aged beet discs was shifted toward more alkaline values. Aging decreased the stimulation of the PM H(+)-ATPase activity by controlled trypsin treatments or by lysophosphatidylcholine. After trypsin treatment the pH dependence of H(+)-ATPase from dormant or aged beet discs became equal. These results indicate that aging not only increases the level of H(+)-ATPase in the PM, but also determines its activation, most likely by modifying the interaction between the autoinhibitory carboxyl-terminal domain and the catalytic site. When the PM H(+)-ATPase activity was assayed at a slightly alkaline pH, the tyrosine modifier N-acetylimidazole inhibited the H(+)-ATPase in the PM from dormant beet discs much less than in the PM from aged discs, suggesting that modification of a tyrosine residue may be involved in the activation of the PM H(+)-ATPase induced by aging. The results are discussed with regard to aging-induced development of transmembrane transport activities.     

Identification and partial purification of a cytosolic activator of vacuolar H(+)-ATPases from mammalian kidney.

A factor that activates affinity-purified vacuolar H(+)-ATPase from bovine kidney microsomes was identified and partially purified from bovine kidney cytosol. The activator is a heat-stable, trypsin-sensitive acidic protein with a Mr by gel filtration of approximately 35,000. The activator increased the activity of renal microsomal and brush border H(+)-ATPase by over 60% but stimulated lysosomal H(+)-ATPase activity by only 28%; it had little or no activity against the remaining N-ethylmaleimide-insensitive ATPase in kidney microsomes and other transport ATPases. Stimulation of ATPase activity appeared to result from binding of the activator to the H(+)-ATPase. Activation was saturable, with a Hill coefficient of 1 at low protein concentrations. Both activator binding and stimulation of H(+)-ATPase activity were enhanced at pH values less than or equal to 6.5. The activator has selective effects on different H(+)-ATPases and is poised to activate the enzyme at low physiologic values of cytosolic pH; this newly identified cytosolic proteins may participate in the physiologic regulation of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase.     

Degradation of pyrene by indigenous fungi from a former gasworks site

Salt tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a complex trait, involving regulation of membrane polarization, Na(+) efflux and sequestration of Na(+) in the vacuole. Since transmembrane transport energized by H(+)-adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) is common to all of these tolerance mechanisms, the objective of this study was to characterize the responses of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase, vacuolar H(+)-ATPase and mitochondrial F(1)F(0)-ATPase to NaCl stress. We hypothesized that since the vacuolar ATPase is responsible for generating the proton motive force required for import of cations (such as Na(+)) into the vacuole, strains lacking this activity should be hypersensitive to NaCl. We found that strains lacking vacuolar ATPase activity were in fact hypersensitive to NaCl, while strains lacking ATP synthase were not. This effect was specific to the ionic component of NaCl stress, since the mutant strains were indistinguishable from wild-type and complemented strains in the presence of sorbitol.     

Plasmalemmal vacuolar H+-ATPase is decreased in microvascular endothelial cells from a diabetic model

Angiogenesis requires invasion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins by endothelial cells and occurs in hypoxic and acidic environments that are not conducive for cell growth and survival. We hypothesize that angiogenic cells must exhibit a unique system to regulate their cytosolic pH in order to cope with these harsh conditions. The plasmalemmal vacuolar type H(+)-ATPase (pmV-ATPase) is used by cells exhibiting an invasive phenotype. Because angiogenesis is impaired in diabetes, we hypothesized that pmV-ATPase is decreased in microvascular endothelial cells from diabetic rats. The in vitro angiogenesis assays demonstrated that endothelial cells were unable to form capillary-like structures in diabetes. The proton fluxes were slower in cells from diabetic than normal model, regardless of the presence or absence of Na(+) and HCO(3) (-) and were suppressed by V-H(+)-ATPase inhibitors. Immunocytochemical data revealed that pmV-ATPases were inconspicuous at the plasma membrane of cells from diabetic whereas in normal cells were prominent. The pmV-ATPase activity was lower in cells from diabetic than normal models. Inhibition of V-H(+)-ATPase suppresses invasion/migration of normal cells, but have minor effects in cells from diabetic models. These novel observations suggest that the angiogenic abnormalities in diabetes involve a decrease in pmV-ATPase in microvascular endothelial cells.     

Acylspermidine derivatives isolated from a soft coral,Sinularia sp,inhibit plant vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase

H(+)-pyrophosphatase (H(+)-PPase), which pumps H(+) across membranes coupled with PP(i) hydrolysis, is found in most plants, and some parasitic protists, eubacteria and archaebacteria. We assayed a number of extracts derived from 145 marine invertebrates as to their inhibitory effect on plant vacuolar H(+)-PPase. Acylspermidine derivatives [RCONH(CH(2))(3)N(CH(3))(CH(2))(4)N(CH(3))(2)] from a soft coral (Sinularia sp.) inhibited the PPi-hydrolysis activity of purified H(+)-PPase and the PP(i)-dependent H(+) pump activity (half inhibition concentration, 1 micro M) of vacuolar membranes of mung bean. The apparent K(i) was determined to be 0.9 micro M. Acylspermidines did not affect the activity of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase, mitochondrial ATPase or cytosolic PPase. Acylspermidines inhibited the acidification of vacuoles in protoplasts, as found on monitoring by the acridine orange fluorescent method. These results indicate that acylspermidine derivatives represent new inhibitors of H(+)-PPase with relatively high specificity.     

Computer simulation of cytoplasmic pH regulation mediated by the F-type H+-ATPase

Cytoplasmic pH regulation mediated by the H(+)-ATPase was examined with the aid of computer simulation. The data obtained with our simulation model were consistent with the experimental data and the simulation clarified the following points that may be difficult to be clarified with experimental studies. (1) The change in the enzyme amount controlled by cytoplasmic pH was essential for the pH regulation. (2) No significant change in internal pH was observed in acidic surroundings even if the proton transport activity of the H(+)-ATPase changed greater than sixfold. (3) The cytoplasmic pH homeostasis can be maintained even when the biosynthetic rate of the enzyme decreased by 50%. These results suggested that this regulatory system has an ability to maintain the pH in homeostasis even under harsh conditions that decrease cellular metabolic activities.     

H+ extrusion by an apical vacuolar-type H+-ATPase in rat renal proximal tubules

The activity of Na+/H(+)-exchange and H(+)-ATPase was measured in the absence of CO2/HCO3 by microfluorometry at the single cell level in rat proximal tubules (superficial S1/S2 segments) loaded with BCECF [2'7'-bis(carboxyethyl)5-6-carboxyfluorescein- acetoxymethylester]. Intracellular pH (pHi) was lowered by a NH4Cl-prepulse technique. In the absence of Na+ in the superfusion solutions, pHi recovered from the acid load by a mechanism inhibited by 0.1 microM bafilomycin A1, a specific inhibitor of a vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase. Readdition of Na+ in the presence of bafilomycin A1 produced an immediate recovery of pHi by a mechanism sensitive to the addition of 10 microM EIPA (ethylisopropylamiloride), a specific inhibitor of Na+/H+ exchange. The transport rate of the H(+)-ATPase is about 40% of Na+/H(+)-exchange activity at a similar pHi (0.218 +/- 0.028 vs. 0.507 +/- 0.056 pH unit/min. Pre-exposure of the tubules to 30 mM fructose, 0.5 mM iodoacetate and 1 mM KCN (to deplete intracellular ATP) prevented a pHi recovery in Na(+)-free media; readdition of Na+ led to an immediate pHi recovery. Tubules pre-exposed to Cl(-)-free media for 2 hr also reduced the rate of Na(+)-independent pHi recovery. In free-flow electrophoretic separations of brush border membranes and basolateral membranes, a bafilomycin A1-sensitive ATPase activity was found to be associated with the brush border membrane fraction; half maximal inhibition is at 6 x 10(-10) M bafilomycin A1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)