Lethal hydroxyl radical production in paraquat-treated plants

Bipyridinium herbicides, including paraquat and diquat, are believed to act by generating highly reactive, oxygen-centered free radicals within chloroplasts when treated plants are exposed to sunlight. This hypothesis has not yet been confirmed by direct chemical measurements of specific free radicals. We studied paraquat-treated plants using a new method able to detect and quantify formation of highly reactive and deleterious hydroxyl radicals (HO^*), in which dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is used as a molecular probe. DMSO is oxidized by HO^* to form the stable, nonradical compound, methane sulfinic acid, which can be easily extracted from plant tissue and measured spectrophotometrically. Initial experiments revealed formation of extraordinary numbers of hydroxyl radicals in light-exposed, paraquat + DMSO-treated plants, equivalent at least to the cumulative number of HO^* radicals per gram of fresh tissue that would be produced by 10,000 rads of gamma irradiation. This appears to be the greatest production of hydroxyl radicals yet observed in a biological system and is quite sufficient to explain the rapid death of top growth in paraquat-treated plants.     

Spermatogenic cells of the prepuberal mouse: isolation and morphological characterization

A procedure is described which permits the isolation from the prepuberal mouse testis of highly purified populations of primitive type A spermatogonia, type A spermatogonia, type B spermatogonia, preleptotene primary spermatocytes, leptotene and zygotene primary spermatocytes, pachytene primary spermatocytes and Sertoli cells. The successful isolation of these prepuberal cell types was accomplished by: (a) defining distinctive morphological characteristics of the cells, (b) determining the temporal appearance of spermatogenic cells during prepuberal development, (c) isolating purified seminiferous cords, after dissociation of the testis with collagenase, (d) separating the trypsin-dispersed seminiferous cells by sedimentation velocity at unit gravity, and (e) assessing the identity and purity of the isolated cell types by microscopy. The seminiferous epithelium from day 6 animals contains only primitive type A spermatogonia and Sertoli cells. Type A and type B spermatogonia are present by day 8. At day 10, meiotic prophase is initiated, with the germ cells reaching the early and late pachytene stages by 14 and 18, respectively. Secondary spermatocytes and haploid spermatids appear throughout this developmental period. The purity and optimum day for the recovery of specific cell types are as follows: day 6, Sertoli cells (purity>99 percent) and primitive type A spermatogonia (90 percent); day 8, type A spermatogonia (91 percent) and type B spermatogonia (76 percent); day 18, preleptotene spermatocytes (93 percent), leptotene/zygotene spermatocytes (52 percent), and pachytene spermatocytes (89 percent), leptotene/zygotene spermatocytes (52 percent), and pachytene spermatocytes (89 percent).     

High nucleotide sequence variation in a region of low recombination in Drosophila simulans is consistent with the background selection model

We surveyed nucleotide sequence variation at glucose dehydrogenase (Gld), in a region of low recombination on chromosome 3R, from a population sample of Drosophila simulans. The levels of nucleotide variation were surprisingly high. There was no departure from the expectation of a neutral model for the level of polymorphism, indicating no evidence of a selective sweep in this region. There was a significant deficiency of singleton polymorphisms according to the Fu and Li test, although Tajima and Hudson, Kreitman, and Aguade (HKA) tests do not provide evidence of a significant elevation of variation due to balancing selection. Genetic map data for the D. simulans third chromosome were used to calculate expected values of pi for Gld under a current model of background selection, varying the values for the parameter sh (selection coefficient against deleterious mutations). We show that the recombinational landscape of D. simulans is sufficiently different from that of D. melanogaster that we expect higher variation under the background selection model, even when effective population sizes are assumed to be equal. The data for Gld were tested against the predictions using computer simulations of the distribution of the number of segregating sites conditioned on pi. Background selection alone can explain our observations as long as sh is larger than 0.005 and species-level effective population size is assumed to be several- fold larger than in D. melanogaster. Alternatively, the deleterious mutation rate may be smaller in D. simulans, or balancing selection may be acting nearby, thereby reducing the effect of background selection.      

The aggregation of mutant p53 produces prion-like properties in cancer

The tumor suppressor protein p53 loses its function in more than 50% of human malignant tumors. Recent studies have suggested that mutant p53 can form aggregates that are related to loss-of-function effects, negative dominance and gain-of-function effects and cancers with a worsened prognosis. In recent years, several degenerative diseases have been shown to have prion-like properties similar to mammalian prion proteins (PrPs). However, whereas prion diseases are rare, the incidence of these neurodegenerative pathologies is high. Malignant tumors involving mutated forms of the tumor suppressor p53 protein seem to have similar substrata. The aggregation of the entire p53 protein and three functional domains of p53 into amyloid oligomers and fibrils has been demonstrated. Amyloid aggregates of mutant p53 have been detected in breast cancer and malignant skin tumors. Most p53 mutations related to cancer development are found in the DNA-binding domain (p53C), which has been experimentally shown to form amyloid oligomers and fibrils. Several computation programs have corroborated the predicted propensity of p53C to form aggregates, and some of these programs suggest that p53C is more likely to form aggregates than the globular domain of PrP. Overall, studies imply that mutant p53 exerts a dominant-negative regulatory effect on wild-type (WT) p53 and exerts gain-of-function effects when co-aggregating with other proteins such as p63, p73 and acetyltransferase p300. We review here the prion-like behavior of oncogenic p53 mutants that provides an explanation for their dominant-negative and gain-of-function properties and for the high metastatic potential of cancers bearing p53 mutations. The inhibition of the aggregation of p53 into oligomeric and fibrillar amyloids appears to be a promising target for therapeutic intervention in malignant tumor diseases.     

Quantitation of the hydroxyl radical by reaction with dimethyl sulfoxide

This investigation was conducted to validate the use of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a quantitative molecular probe for the generation of hydroxyl radicals (HO.) in aqueous systems. Reaction of HO. with DMSO produces methane sulfinic acid as a primary product, which can be detected by a simple colorimetric assay. To evaluate this method for estimating total HO. production, we studied three model systems, including the Fenton reaction, gamma irradiation of water, and ultraviolet photolysis of hydrogen peroxide, for which the theoretical maximum yield of HO. could be calculated and compared to measured DMSO oxidation. The results confirm that 0.05 to 1 M DMSO may be used to capture nearly all of the expected HO. radicals formed. Thus, methane sulfinic acid production from DMSO holds promise as an easily measured marker for HO. formation in aqueous systems pretreated with DMSO.     

Deorphanization of a G protein-coupled receptor for oleoylethanolamide and its use in the discovery of small-molecule hypophagic agents

The endogenous lipid signaling agent oleoylethanolamide (OEA) has recently been described as a peripherally acting agent that reduces food intake and body weight gain in rat feeding models. This paper presents evidence that OEA is an endogenous ligand of the orphan receptor GPR119, a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) expressed predominantly in the human and rodent pancreas and gastrointestinal tract and also in rodent brain, suggesting that the reported effects of OEA on food intake may be mediated, at least in part, via the GPR119 receptor. Furthermore, we have used the recombinant receptor to discover novel selective small-molecule GPR119 agonists, typified by PSN632408, which suppress food intake in rats and reduce body weight gain and white adipose tissue deposition upon subchronic oral administration to high-fat-fed rats. GPR119 therefore represents a novel and attractive potential target for the therapy of obesity and related metabolic disorders.     

Colorimetric assay for methanesulfinic acid in biological samples

We describe a simple colorimetric method to measure 30 to 300 microM concentrations of sulfinic acids in biologic samples. The procedure employs the coupling reaction of an aromatic diazonium salt (Ar--N = N+) with the sulfinic acids (RSOOH) to produce a colored diazosulfone derivative (Ar-N = N-SOOR), which can be selectively extracted into an organic solvent. Linearity as well as noninterference by liver homogenate, phenols, amines, and thousandfold or greater excesses of sulfate, thiol, and dimethyl sulfoxide is demonstrated. Sensitivity of the method is about 10 nmol per sample. Because methanesulfinic acid is the principal product of the action of hydroxyl radicals upon dimethyl sulfoxide, and because intact animals can tolerate dimethyl sulfoxide in millimolar concentrations, the method may prove widely useful for detecting the involvement of hydroxyl radicals in pathologic processes in vivo.     

MAP2 IHC detection: a marker of antigenicity in CNS tissues

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used to detect antibody-specific antigens in tissues; the results depend on the ability of the primary antibodies to bind to their antigens. Therefore, results depend on the quality of preservation of the specimen. Many investigators have overcome the deleterious effects of over-fixation on the binding of primary antibodies to specimen antigens using IHC, but if the specimen is under-fixed or fixation is delayed, false negative results could be obtained despite certified laboratory practices. Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) is an abundant microtubule-associate protein that participates in the outgrowth of neuronal processes and synaptic plasticity; it is localized primarily in cell bodies and dendrites of neurons. MAP2 immunolabeling has been reported to be absent in areas of the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of Alzheimer’s disease brains that were co-localized with the dense-core type of amyloid plaques. It was hypothesized that the lack of MAP2 immunolabeling in these structures was due to the degradation of the MAP2 antigen by the neuronal proteases that were released as the neurons lysed leading to the formation of these plaques. Because MAP2 is sensitive to proteolysis, we hypothesized that changes in MAP2 immunolabeling may be correlated with the degree of fixation of central nervous system (CNS) tissues. We detected normal MAP2 immunolabeling in fixed rat brain tissues, but MAP2 immunolabeling was decreased or lost in unfixed and delayed-fixed rat brain tissues. By contrast, two ubiquitous CNS-specific markers, myelin basic protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein, were unaffected by the degree of fixation in the same tissues. Our observations suggest that preservation of various CNS-specific antigens differs with the degree of fixation and that the lack of MAP2 immunolabeling in the rat brain may indicate inadequate tissue fixation. We recommend applying MAP2 IHC for all CNS tissues as a pre-screen to assess the quality of the tissue preservation and to avoid potentially false negative IHC results.     

鼻咽上皮细胞的调节性容积回缩能力及机制

用图像分析系统和通道阻断法研究了原代人胎儿鼻咽上皮细胞的调节性容积回缩(regulatoryvolumedecrease,RVD)能力及其机制。结果发现,低渗刺激可诱发鼻咽上皮细胞产生RVD,在160-240mOsmol/L范围内,RVD强弱与渗透压呈“S”形负相关(r=-0.99,P<0.05),与细胞肿胀程度呈“S”形正相关(=0.99,P<0.05)。Cl~-通道阻断剂tamoxifen(20μmol/L),ATP(10mmol/L)或NPPB(100μmol/L)对RVD阻抑率分别为100%(P<0.01),76.3%(P<0.01)和62.7%(P<0.01)。本研究表明,鼻咽上皮细胞受到低渗刺激时可产生RVD,Cl~-通道开放是其RVD的关键机制。