Polymerization of Bacteriophage T4 Tail Sheath Protein Mutants Truncated at the C-Termini

Gene 18 of bacteriophage T4 encodes the contractile protein of the tail sheath. Previous work has shown that the full-length recombinant gene product (gp) 18 of 658 amino acid residues assembles in Escherichia coli cells into a long polysheath structure. However, the gp18 mutants truncated at the N-termini form insoluble aggregates similar to inclusion bodies. In this study, six plasmid vectors expressing the recombinant gp18 proteins truncated at the C-termini have been constructed. The CDelta58, CDelta129, CDelta152, C[g1]72, CDelta248, and CDelta287 proteins contain 600, 529, 506, 486, 410, and 371 residues of the full-length gp18 molecule, respectively. All the recombinant proteins were soluble and, except for the CDelta287 mutant, were assembled into polysheath-related structures. Electron microscopy of negatively stained purified proteins was performed and the resulting images were analyzed by computing their Fourier transforms. The CDelta58 and CDelta129 mutants, in addition to forming common contracted-type polysheath structures, assembled into thinner filaments that we called "noncontracted polysheaths" (NCP). The CDelta152, CDelta172, and CDelta248 proteins assembled into the NCP type only. Image processing showed that the NCP filaments significantly differ from both extended sheaths of T4 particle and polysheaths. The structure of the NCP filaments might correspond to the transitional helices postulated by Moody (J. Mol. Biol., 1973, 80, 613-636) that appeared during the process of tail contraction. Our results suggest that a short region at the C-terminus of the CDelta129 protein determines the contractile properties of the gp18 molecule. The shortest, the CDelta287 protein, does not assemble into regular structures, thus indicating that a sequence's stretch at the C-end of the CDelta248 mutant might be responsible for polymerization of gp18.     

CD95-tyrosine nitration inhibits hyperosmotic and CD95 ligand-induced CD95 activation in rat hepatocytes

Epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent CD95-tyrosine phosphorylation was recently identified as an early step in apoptosis induction via the CD95 system (Reinehr, R., Schliess, F., and H?ussinger, D. (2003) FASEB J. 17, 731-733). The effect of peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) on modulation of the hyperosmotic and CD95 ligand (CD95L)-induced CD95 activation process was studied. Pretreatment of hepatocytes with ONOO(-) inhibited CD95L- and hyperosmolarity-induced CD95 membrane trafficking and formation of the death-inducing signaling complex, but not epidermal growth factor receptor activation and its association with CD95. Under these conditions, however, no tyrosine phosphorylation of CD95 occurred; instead, CD95 was tyrosine-nitrated. When ONOO(-) was added after induction of CD95-tyrosine phosphorylation by CD95L or hyperosmolarity, tyrosine nitration of CD95 was largely prevented and death-inducing signaling complex formation occurred. CD95-tyrosine nitration abolished the hyperosmotic sensitization of hepatocytes toward CD95L-induced apoptosis. Additionally, in CD95-yellow fluorescent protein-transfected Huh7-hepatoma cells, ONOO(-) induced CD95 Tyr nitration and prevented CD95L-induced Tyr phosphorylation and apoptosis. Tyrosine-nitrated CD95 was also found in rat livers derived from an in vivo model of endotoxinemia. The data suggest that CD95-tyrosine nitration prevents CD95 activation by inhibiting CD95-tyrosine phosphorylation. Apparently, CD95-tyrosine phosphorylation and nitration are mutually exclusive. The data identify critical tyrosine residues of CD95 as another target of the anti-apoptotic action of NO.     

Ouabain treatment is associated with upregulation of phosphatase inhibitor-1 and Na+/Ca(2+)-exchanger and beta-adrenergic sensitization in rat hearts

Cardiac glycosides are widely used in the treatment of congestive heart failure. While the mechanism of the positive inotropic effect after acute application of cardiac glycosides is explained by blockade of the Na+/K+-pump, little is known about consequences of a prolonged therapy. Here male Wistar rats were treated for 4 days with continuous infusions of ouabain (6.5 mg/kg/day) or 0.9% NaCl (control) via osmotic minipumps. Electrically driven (1 Hz, 35 degrees C) papillary muscles from ouabain-treated rats exhibited shorter relaxation time (-15%) and a twofold increase in the sensitivity for the positive inotropic effect of isoprenaline. The density and affinity of beta1- and beta2-adrenoceptors as well as mRNA and protein levels of stimulatory (G(s)alpha) and inhibitory (G(i)alpha-2, G(i)alpha-3) G-proteins were unaffected by ouabain. Similarly, SR-Ca2+-ATPase 2A, phospholamban, ryanodine-receptor expression as well as the oxalate-stimulated 45Ca-uptake of membrane vesicles remained unchanged. However, mRNA abundance of the protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 (I-1) and the Na+/Ca2+-exchanger (NCX) were increased by 52% and 26%, respectively. I-1 plays an amplifier role in cardiac signaling. Downregulation of I-1 in human heart failure is associated with desensitization of the beta-adrenergic signaling pathway. The present data suggest that the ouabain-induced increase in I-1 expression might be at least partly responsible for the increased isoprenaline sensitivity and increased expression of NCX for the accelerated relaxation after chronic ouabain in this model.     

Specific xyloglucanases as a new class of polysaccharide-degrading enzymes

Three specific xyloglucanases (XGs) were isolated from Aspergillus japonicus (32 kDa, pI 2.8), Chrysosporium lucknowense (78 kDa, pI 3.8) and Trichoderma reesei (75-105 kDa, pI 4.1-4.3). The characteristic feature of these enzymes was their high specific activity toward tamarind xyloglucan, whereas the activity against carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and barley beta-glucan was absent or very low. Peptide mass fingerprinting using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry showed that the T. reesei XG represents Cel74A, whose gene has been discovered recently (GenBank accession no. AY281371 ), but the enzyme has not been characterized and described elsewhere. Tryptic peptides from A. japonicus and C. lucknowense xyloglucanases did not show any identity to those from known glycoside hydrolases. All enzymes produced XXXG, XXLG/XLXG and XLLG oligosaccharides as the end products of xyloglucan hydrolysis. A. japonicus XG displayed an endo-type of attack on the polymeric substrate, while the mode of action of two other xyloglucanases was similar to the exo-type, when oligosaccharides containing four glucose residues in the main chain were split off the ends of xyloglucan molecules. These results together with growing literature data allow concluding that specific xyloglucanases may represent a new class of glycoside hydrolases, which are different from regular endo-1,4-beta-glucanases.     

A method for studying insoluble immune complexes

Two variants of a method for determining the average composition of insoluble immune complex particles (IICP) are described. The first variant is based on measuring the specific turbidity (the turbidity per unit mass concentration of the dispersed substance) and the average size of IICP determined from dynamic light scattering (DLS). In the second variant, the slope of the logarithmic turbidity spectrum (wavelength exponent) is used instead of DLS particle size. Both variants allow the average biopolymer volume fraction to be determined in terms of the average refractive index of IICP. The method is exemplified by two experimental antigen+antibody systems: (i) lipopolysaccharide-protein complex (LPPC) of Azospirillum brasilense Sp245+rabbit anti-LPPC; and (ii) human IgG (hIgG)+sheep anti-hIgG. We have found that IICP can be modeled by incompact porous particles that contain about 30% of biopolymer substance and 70% of buffer.     

"Wages of fear": transient threefold decrease in intracellular ATP level imposes apoptosis

In HeLa cells, complete inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation by oligomycin, myxothiazol or FCCP combined with partial inhibition of glycolysis by DOG resulted in a steady threefold decrease in the intracellular ATP level. The ATP level recovers when the DOG-containing medium was replaced by that with high glucose. In 48 h after a transient (3 h) [ATP] lowering followed by recovery of the ATP level, the majority of the cells commits suicide by means of apoptosis. The cell death does not occur if DOG or an oxidative phosphorylation inhibitor was added separately, treatments resulting in 10-35% lowering of [ATP]. Apoptosis is accompanied by Bax translocation to mitochondria, cytochrome c release into cytosol, caspase activation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and reorganization and decomposition of chromatin. Apoptosis appears to be sensitive to oncoprotein Bcl-2 and a pancaspase inhibitor zVADfmk. In the latter case, necrosis is shown to develop instead of apoptosis. The cell suicide is resistant to cyclosporine A, a phospholipase inhibitor trifluoroperazine, the JNK and p38 kinase inhibitors, oligomycin, N-acetyl cysteine and mitoQ, differing in these respects from the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- and H(2)O(2)-induced apoptoses. It is suggested that the ATP concentration in the cell is monitored by intracellular "ATP-meter(s)" generating a cell suicide signal when ATP decreases, even temporarily, below some critical level (around 1 mM).     

Consequences of cysteine mutations in calcium-binding epidermal growth factor modules of fibrillin-1

Mutations in fibrillin-1 lead to Marfan syndrome and some related genetic disorders. Many of the more than 600 mutations currently known in fibrillin-1 eliminate or introduce cysteine residues in epidermal growth factor-like modules. Here we report structural and functional consequences of three selected cysteine mutations (R627C, C750G, and C926R) in fibrillin-1. The mutations have been analyzed by means of recombinant polypeptides produced in mammalian expression systems. The mRNA levels for the mutation constructs were similar to wild-type levels. All three mutated polypeptides were secreted by embryonic kidney cells (293) into the culture medium. Purification was readily feasible for mutants R627C and C750G, but not for C926R, which restricted the availability of this mutant polypeptide to selected analyses. The overall folds of the mutant polypeptides were indistinguishable from the wild-type as judged by the ultrastructural shape, CD analysis, and reactivity with a specific antibody sensitive for intact disulfide bonds. Subtle structural changes caused by R627C and C750G, however, were monitored by proteolysis and heat denaturation experiments. These changes occurred in the vicinity of the mutations either as short range effects (R627C) or both short and long range effects (C750G). Enhanced proteolytic susceptibility was observed for R627C and C750G to a variety of proteases. These results expand and further strengthen the concept that proteolytic degradation of mutated fibrillin-1 might be an important potential mechanism in the pathogenesis of Marfan syndrome and other disorders caused by mutations in fibrillin-1.     

Rearrangements of ribosomal DNA clusters in late generation telomerase-deficient<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Arabidopsis</Emphasis>

The ends of eukaryotic chromosomes are capped with special nucleoprotein structures called telomeres. Telomere shortening due to telomerase inactivation may result in fusion of homologous or heterologous chromosomes, leading to their successive breakage during anaphase movement, followed by fusion of broken ends in the next cell cycle, i.e. the breakage-fusion-bridge (BFB) cycle. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with 25S rDNA and specific bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) probes we demonstrate participation of chromosomes 2 and 4 of Arabidopsis thaliana AtTERT null plants in the formation of anaphase bridges. Both homologous and non-homologous chromosomes formed transient anaphase bridges whose breakage and unequal separation led to genome rearrangement, including non-reciprocal translocations and aneuploidy. The 45S rDNA regions located at the ends of chromosomes 2 and 4 were observed in chromosome bridges at a frequency approximately ten times higher than expected in the case of random fusion events. This outcome could result from a functional association of rDNA repeats at nucleoli. We also describe increased variation in the number of nucleoli in some interphase cells with supernumerary rDNA FISH signals. These data indicate that dysfunctional telomeres in Arabidopsis lead to massive genome instability, which is induced by multiple rounds of the BFB mechanism.     

Autophosphorylation of cGMP-dependent protein kinase type II

Cyclic nucleotides are shown to stimulate the autophosphorylation of type II cGMP-dependent protein kinase (cGK) on multiple sites. Mass spectrometric based analyses, using a quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry instrument revealed that cGMP stimulated the in vitro phosphorylation of residues Ser110 and Ser114, and, at a slow rate, of Ser126 and Thr109 or Ser117, all located in the autoinhibitory region. In addition Ser445 was found to be phosphorylated in a cGMP-dependent manner, whereas Ser110 and Ser97 were already prephosphorylated to a large extent in Sf9 cells. cGMP-dependent phosphorylation of cGK II was also demonstrated in intact COS-1 cells and intestinal epithelium. Substitution of most of the potentially autophosphorylated residues for alanines largely abolished the cGMP stimulation of the autophosphorylation. Prolonged autophosphorylation of purified recombinant cGK II in vitro resulted in a 40-50% increase in basal kinase activity, but its maximal cGMP-stimulated activity and the EC50 for cGMP remained unaltered. Mutation of the major phosphorylatable serines 110, 114, and 445 into "phosphorylation-mimicking" glutamates had no effect on the kinetic parameters of cGK II. However, replacing the slowly autophosphorylated residue Ser126 by Glu rendered cGK II constitutively active. These results show that the fast phase of cyclic nucleotide-stimulated autophosphorylation of cGK II has a relatively small feed forward effect on its activity, whereas the secondary phase, presumably involving Ser126 phosphorylation, may generate a constitutively active form of the enzyme.