Evidence for multiple modes of neutrophil serine protease recognition by the EAP family of Staphylococcal innate immune evasion proteins

Neutrophils contain high levels of chymotrypsin‐like serine proteases (NSPs) within their azurophilic granules that have a multitude of functions within the immune system. In response, the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus has evolved three potent inhibitors (Eap, EapH1, and EapH2) that protect the bacterium as well as several of its secreted virulence factors from the degradative action of NSPs. We previously showed that these so‐called EAP domain proteins represent a novel class of NSP inhibitors characterized by a non‐covalent inhibitory mechanism and a distinct target specificity profile. Based upon high levels of structural homology amongst the EAP proteins and the NSPs, as well as supporting biochemical data, we predicted that the inhibited complex would be similar for all EAP/NSP pairs. However, we present here evidence that EapH1 and EapH2 bind the canonical NSP, Neutrophil Elastase (NE), in distinct orientations. We discovered that alteration of EapH1 residues at the EapH1/NE interface caused a dramatic loss of affinity and inhibition of NE, while mutation of equivalent positions in EapH2 had no effect on NE binding or inhibition. Surprisingly, mutation of residues in an altogether different region of EapH2 severely impacted both the NE binding and inhibitory properties of EapH2. Even though EapH1 and EapH2 bind and inhibit NE and a second NSP, Cathepsin G, equally well, neither of these proteins interacts with the structurally related, but non‐proteolytic granule protein, azurocidin. These studies expand our understanding of EAP/NSP interactions and suggest that members of this immune evasion protein family are capable of diverse target recognition modes.     

A specific acid alpha-glucosidase in lamellar bodies of the human lung

In the present investigation, we have demonstrated that three lysosomal-type hydrolases, alpha-glucosidase, alpha-mannosidase and a phosphatase, are present in lamellar bodies isolated from adult human lung. The hydrolase activities that were studied, all showed an acidic pH optimum, which is characteristic for lysosomal enzymes. The properties of acid alpha-glucosidase in the lamellar body fraction and that in the lysosome-enriched fraction were compared. Using specific antibodies against lysosomal alpha-glucosidase from human placenta, two alpha-glucosidases could be distinguished in the lamellar body fraction: one with a high affinity to the antibodies as found in the lysosome-enriched fraction and another with a much lower affinity. Both forms showed an acidic pH optimum. The same heterogeneity of alpha-glucosidase in the lamellar body fraction could be observed using immobilized concanavalin A. The lectin was able to precipitate nearly all alpha-glucosidase activity of the lysosome-enriched fraction. In contrast, 30% of the alpha-glucosidase activity in the lamellar body fraction was not precipitable. Furthermore, the lamellar body alpha-glucosidase with the low antibody affinity could not be bound to concanavalin A. The results suggest that lamellar bodies contain at least two acid alpha-glucosidases: one similar to the lung lysosomal alpha-glucosidase, and another lamellar body-specific isoenzyme with a different immunoreactivity and lectin affinity. The lamellar body-specific alpha-glucosidase should prove useful as a lamellar body-specific marker enzyme.     

Quantitative proteomic identification of host factors involved in the Salmonella typhimurium infection cycle

To identify host factors involved in Salmonella replication, SILAC-based quantitative proteomics was used to investigate the interactions of Salmonella typhimurium with the secretory pathway in human epithelial cells. Protein profiles of Golgi-enriched fractions isolated from S. typhimurium-infected cells were compared with those of mock-infected cells, revealing significant depletion or enrichment of 105 proteins. Proteins annotated to play a role in membrane traffic were overrepresented among the depleted proteins whereas proteins annotated to the cytoskeleton showed a diverse behavior with some proteins being enriched, others being depleted from the Golgi fraction upon Salmonella infection. To study the functional relevance of identified proteins in the Salmonella infection cycle, small interfering RNA (siRNA) experiments were performed. siRNA-mediated depletion of a selection of affected proteins identified five host factors involved in Salmonella infection. Depletion of peroxiredoxin-6 (PRDX6), isoform β-4c of integrin β-4 (ITGB4), isoform 1 of protein lap2 (erbin interacting protein; ERBB2IP), stomatin (STOM) or TBC domain containing protein 10b (TBC1D10B) resulted in increased Salmonella replication. Surprisingly, in addition to the effect on Salmonella replication, depletion of STOM or ITGB4 resulted in a dispersal of intracellular Salmonella microcolonies. It can be concluded that by using SILAC-based quantitative proteomics we were able to identify novel host cell proteins involved in the complex interplay between Salmonella and epithelial cells.     

Phosphofructokinase in alveolar type II cells isolated from fetal and adult rat lung

The glycolytic enzyme 6-phosphofructokinase (EC 2.7.1.11) was studied in adult and fetal type II pneumocytes which had been isolated from rat lung at different days of development. In addition, the activities of the enzymes hexokinase (EC 2.7.1.1), enolase (EC 4.2.1.11) and pyruvate kinase (EC 2.7.1.40) were assayed. The specific activities of the latter enzymes decrease during perinatal development and reach about adult values shortly after birth. In contrast, 6-phosphofructokinase activity increases slightly until 2 days before birth, and drops sharply afterwards. The 6-phosphofructokinase subunit composition was determined in fetal and adult type II cells. The ratio of the three subunits of 6-phosphofructokinase in type II cells isolated on fetal days 19 and 21 (term is at day 22) and in adult type II cells was identical: the three subunits were present in a ratio of 68: 14: 18 for types L, M and C, respectively. In addition, we investigated some regulatory properties of 6-phosphofructokinase from alveolar type II cells. 6-Phosphofructokinase from alveolar type II cells is strongly inhibited by increasing MgATP concentrations. This inhibition is reflected by an increase in the S0.5 for fructose 6-phosphate. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate stimulates alveolar type II 6-phosphofructokinase. Half-maximal stimulation occurs at 1.6 and 2.0 microM fructose 2,6-bisphosphate for fetal and adult type II cells, respectively. The level of the most potent positive effector of 6-phosphofructokinase, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, was also determined. The level of the hexose bisphosphate decreases during prenatal development; however, the level in the adult type II cells is considerably lower. The concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate appears to be sufficient to fully activate 6-phosphofructokinase both in fetal and adult type II cells.     

Modeling,simulation, and embryology

Summary A delightful book to get the whole picture of simulation applications in developmental biology and easily readable for those who would like to overlook the field in one quick sweep. If you would like to get a more detailed perspective, a great number of literature references provides this opportunity.