Ascorbic acid: much more than just an antioxidant

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid (AA)) is very popular for its antioxidant properties. Consequently, many other important aspects of this multifaceted molecule are often underestimated or even ignored. In the present paper, we have tried to bring to the foreground some of these aspects, including the peculiarities of the AA biosynthetic pathway in different organisms, the remarkable function of AA as a co-substrate of many important dioxygenases, the role of AA-regenerating enzymes and the known pathways of AA catabolism, as well as the intriguing function of AA in gene expression.     

Proteomics for the detection of indirect markers of steroids treatment in bovine muscle

Despite the ban by the European Union, anabolic steroids might still be illicitly employed in bovine meat production. The surveillance of misuse of such potentially harmful molecules is necessary to guarantee consumers’ health. Analytical methods for drug residue control are based on LC‐MS/MS, but their efficacy can be hindered due to undetectable residual concentrations as a result of low‐dosage treatments. Screening methods based on the recognition of indirect biological effects of growth promoters’ administration, such as the alteration of protein expression, can improve the efficacy of surveillance. The present study was aimed at identifying modifications in the muscle protein expression pattern between bulls treated with an ear implant (Revalor‐XS®) containing trenbolone acetate (200 mg) and estradiol (40 mg), and untreated animals. The analysis of skeletal muscle was carried out using a tandem mass tags shotgun proteomics approach. We defined 28 candidate protein markers with a significantly altered expression induced by steroids administration. A subset of 18 candidate markers was validated by SRM and allowed to build a predictive model based on partial least square discriminant analysis. Our findings confirm the effectiveness of the proteomics approach as potential tool to overcome analytical limitations of drug residue monitoring.     

Similar hypotensive responses to resistance exercise with and without blood flow restriction

Low intensity resistance exercise (RE) with blood flow restriction (BFR) has gained attention in the literature due to the beneficial effects on functional and morphological variables, similar to those observed during traditional RE without BFR, while the effects of BFR on post-exercise hypotension remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare the blood pressure (BP) response of trained normotensive individuals to RE with and without BFR. In this cross-over randomized trial, eight male subjects (23.8 ± 4 years, 74 ± 3 kg, 174 ± 4 cm) completed two exercise protocols: traditional RE (3 x 10 repetitions at 70% one-repetition maximum [1-RM]) and low intensity RE (3 x 15 repetitions at 20% 1-RM) with BFR. Blood pressure measurements were performed after 15 min of seated rest (0), immediately after and 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, 50 min and 60 min after the experimental sessions. Similar hypotensive effects for systolic BP (SBP) were observed for both protocols (P < 0.05) after exercise, with no differences between groups (P > 0.05) and no statistically significant difference for diastolic BP (P > 0.05). These results suggest that in normotensive trained individuals, both traditional RE and RE with BFR induce hypotension for SBP, which is important to prevent cardiovascular disturbances.     

Long-term treadmill exercise improves spatial memory of male APPswe/PS1dE9 mice by regulation of BDNF expression and microglia activation

Increasing evidence suggests that physical activity could delay or attenuate the symptoms of Alzheimer''s disease (AD). But the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. To investigate the effect of long-term treadmill exercise on the spatial memory of AD mice and the possible role of β-amyloid, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and microglia in the effect, male APPswe/PS1dE9 AD mice aged 4 months were subjected to treadmill exercise for 5 months with 6 sessions per week and gradually increased load. A Morris water maze was used to evaluate the spatial memory. Expression levels of β-amyloid, BDNF and Iba-1 (a microglia marker) in brain tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry. Sedentary AD mice and wildtype C57BL/6J mice served as controls. The results showed that 5-month treadmill exercise significantly decreased the escape latencies (P < 0.01 on the 4th day) and improved the spatial memory of the AD mice in the water maze test. Meanwhile, treadmill exercise significantly increased the number of BDNF-positive cells and decreased the ratios of activated microglia in both the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus. However, treadmill exercise did not significantly alleviate the accumulation of β-amyloid in either the cerebral cortex or the hippocampus of the AD mice (P > 0.05). The study suggested that long-term treadmill exercise could improve the spatial memory of the male APPswe/PS1dE9 AD mice. The increase in BDNF-positive cells and decrease in activated microglia might underpin the beneficial effect.     

Investigation on PLK2 and PLK3 substrate recognition

Analyses of human phosphoproteome based on primary structure of the aminoacids surrounding the phosphor Ser/Thr suggest that a significant proportion of phosphosites is generated by a restricted number of acidophilic kinases, among which protein kinase CK2 plays a prominent role. Recently, new acidophilic kinases belonging to the Polo like kinase family have been characterized, with special reference to PLK1, PLK2, and PLK3 kinases. While some progress has been made in deciphering the PLK1-dependent phosphoproteome, very little is known about the targets of PLK2 and PLK3 kinases. In this report by using an in vitro approach, consisting of cell lysate phosphorylation, phosphoprotein separation by 2D gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, we describe the identification of new potential substrates of PLK2 and PLK3 kinases. We have identified and validated as in vitro PLK2 and PLK3 substrates HSP90, GRP-94, β-tubulin, calumenin, and 14-3-3 epsilon. The phosphosites generated by PLK3 in these proteins have been identified by mass spectrometry analysis to get new insights about PLKs specificity determinants. These latter have been further corroborated by an in silico analysis of the PLKs substrate binding region.     

Molecular identification of three Arabidopsis thaliana mitochondrial dicarboxylate carrier isoforms: organ distribution, bacterial expression, reconstitution into liposomes and functional characterization

Screening of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome revealed three potential homologues of mammalian and yeast mitochondrial DICs (dicarboxylate carriers) designated as DIC1, DIC2 and DIC3, each belonging to the mitochondrial carrier protein family. DIC1 and DIC2 are broadly expressed at comparable levels in all the tissues investigated. DIC1-DIC3 have been reported previously as uncoupling proteins, but direct transport assays with recombinant and reconstituted DIC proteins clearly demonstrate that their substrate specificity is unique to plants, showing the combined characteristics of the DIC and oxaloacetate carrier in yeast. Indeed, the Arabidopsis DICs transported a wide range of dicarboxylic acids including malate, oxaloacetate and succinate as well as phosphate, sulfate and thiosulfate at high rates, whereas 2-oxoglutarate was revealed to be a very poor substrate. The role of these plant mitochondrial DICs is discussed with respect to other known mitochondrial carrier family members including uncoupling proteins. It is proposed that plant DICs constitute the membrane component of several metabolic processes including the malate-oxaloacetate shuttle, the most important redox connection between the mitochondria and the cytosol.     

Parallel post-source decay for increasing protein identification confidence levels from 2-D gels

Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) has over the years become one of the most commonly used tools for high-throughput analysis and identification of proteins. This method is applicable when relatively simple samples have to be analysed and it is commonly used for analysing proteins previously separated by 2-DE. The most common type of instrument used for this approach is the MALDI-TOF that has proved to be particularly suitable for the PMF analysis because of its characteristics of speed, robustness, sensitivity and automation. We have used a MALDI-TOF equipped with a novel parallel PSD capability (MALDI micro MX), to perform the analysis of two sets of different biological samples isolated by 2-DE. By using a method that integrates the data obtained by PMF analysis with the PSD data obtained in the same experiment, we show that the new multiplexed PSD solution increases the protein identification rate compared to the normal PMF approach. We also investigated the use of a charge-directed fragmentation modification reagent to improve the identification rate and confidence levels.