Activity-dependent release of phosphorylated human tau from Drosophila neurons in primary culture

Neuronal activity can enhance tau release and thus accelerate tauopathies. This activity-dependent tau release can be used to study the progression of tau pathology in Alzheimer''s disease (AD), as hyperphosphorylated tau is implicated in AD pathogenesis and related tauopathies. However, our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate activity-dependent tau release from neurons and the role that tau phosphorylation plays in modulating activity-dependent tau release is still rudimentary. In this study, Drosophila neurons in primary culture expressing human tau (hTau) were used to study activity-dependent tau release. We found that hTau release was markedly increased by 50 mM KCl treatment for 1 h. A similar level of release was observed using optogenetic techniques, where genetically targeted neurons were stimulated for 30 min using blue light (470 nm). Our results showed that activity-dependent release of phosphoresistant hTau^S11A was reduced when compared with wildtype hTau. In contrast, release of phosphomimetic hTau^E14 was increased upon activation. We found that released hTau was phosphorylated in its proline-rich and C-terminal domains using phosphorylation site-specific tau antibodies (e.g., AT8). Fold changes in detectable levels of total or phosphorylated hTau in cell lysates or following immunopurification from conditioned media were consistent with preferential release of phosphorylated hTau after light stimulation. This study establishes an excellent model to investigate the mechanism of activity-dependent hTau release and to better understand the role of phosphorylated tau release in the pathogenesis of AD since it relates to alterations in the early stage of neurodegeneration associated with increased neuronal activity.     

Intramembrane client recognition potentiates the chaperone functions of calnexin

One‐third of the human proteome is comprised of membrane proteins, which are particularly vulnerable to misfolding and often require folding assistance by molecular chaperones. Calnexin (CNX), which engages client proteins via its sugar‐binding lectin domain, is one of the most abundant ER chaperones, and plays an important role in membrane protein biogenesis. Based on mass spectrometric analyses, we here show that calnexin interacts with a large number of nonglycosylated membrane proteins, indicative of additional nonlectin binding modes. We find that calnexin preferentially bind misfolded membrane proteins and that it uses its single transmembrane domain (TMD) for client recognition. Combining experimental and computational approaches, we systematically dissect signatures for intramembrane client recognition by calnexin, and identify sequence motifs within the calnexin TMD region that mediate client binding. Building on this, we show that intramembrane client binding potentiates the chaperone functions of calnexin. Together, these data reveal a widespread role of calnexin client recognition in the lipid bilayer, which synergizes with its established lectin‐based substrate binding. Molecular chaperones thus can combine different interaction modes to support the biogenesis of the diverse eukaryotic membrane proteome.     

Hydration effects on the duplex stability of phosphoramidate DNA-RNA oligomers.

Recent studies on uniformly modified oligonucleotides containing 3'-NHP(O)(O-)O-5'internucleoside linkages (3'amidate) and alternatively modified oligonucleotides containing 3'-O(O-)(O)PNH-5'internucleoside linkages (5'amidate) have shown that 3'amidate duplexes, formed with DNA or RNA complementary strands, are more stable in water than those of the corresponding phosphodiesters. In contrast, 5'amidates do not form duplexes at all. There is no steric reason that the 5'amidate duplex should not form. We demonstrate that these differences arise from differential solvation of the sugar-phosphate backbones. By molecular dynamics calculations on models of 10mer single-stranded DNA and double-stranded DNA-RNA molecules, both with and without the phosphoramidate backbone modifications, we show that the single-stranded 3'amidate and 5'amidate backbones are equally well solvated, but the 5'amidate backbone is not adequately solvated in an A-form duplex. These results are supported by quantum chemical free energy of solvation calculations which show that the 3'amidate backbone is favored relative to the 5'amidate backbone.     

ELECTRON-OPAQUE FIBRILS AND GRANULES IN AND BETWEEN THE CELL WALLS OF HIGHER PLANTS

The components of higher-plant cell walls which become electron-opaque after staining with ruthenium-osmium were studied by electron microscopy. A fibrillar material which absorbs this stain is a major wall constituent in the root epidermal cells of carrot and morning glory. In both form and size, these fibrils resemble those found on the surface of suspension-cultured cells of the same species Some cells of woody species show an irregular distribution of electron-opaque material in the cell wall matrix and middle lamella. This material, which has an amorphous appearance with many electron stains, is shown by ruthenium-osmium staining to be an aggregate of discrete granules, 150–220 A in diameter. These observations are not consistent with the concept of the cell wall matrix and middle lamella as an amorphous, uniform gel     

THE SECRETORY PATHWAYS OF RAT SERUM GLYCOPROTEINS AND ALBUMIN : Localization of Newly Formed Proteins within the Endoplasmic Reticulum

These studies compare the secretory pathways of newly formed rat serum glycoproteins and albumin by studying their submicrosomal localization at early times after the beginning of their synthesis and also by determining the submicrosomal site of incorporation of N-acetylglucosamine, mannose, galactose, and leucine into protein. N-acetylglucosamine, mannose, and galactose were only incorporated in vitro into proteins from membrane-attached polysomes and not into proteins from free polysomes. Mannose incorporation occurred in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, was stimulated by puromycin but not by cycloheximide, and 90% of the mannose-labeled protein was bound to the membranes. Galactose incorporation, by contrast, occurred in the smooth microsome fraction and 89% of the radioactive protein was in the cisternae. Albumin was mostly recovered (98%) in the cisternae, with negligible amounts in the membranes. To determine whether the radio-active sugars were being incorporated into serum proteins or into membrane protein, the solubilized in vivo-labeled proteins were treated with specific antisera to rat serum proteins or to albumin. Immunoelectrophoresis of the ¹⁴C-labeled leucine membrane and cisternal proteins showed that the membranes contained radioactive serum glycoprotein but no albumin, while the cisternal fraction contained all of the radioactive albumin and some glycoproteins. The results indicate that newly formed serum glycoproteins remain attached to the membranes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum after they are released from the membrane-attached polysomes, while albumin passes directly into the cisternae.     

Bi-specific monoclonal antibodies: selective binding and complement fixation to cells that express two different surface antigens

A new dimension of immunotherapeutic selectivity might be achieved if antibodies could distinguish cells that co-express two different surface antigens. Bi-specific monoclonal antibodies (BSMAB) with two different antigen combining sites that share a common Fc region theoretically might have such a potential. Two such BSMAB were produced by hybrid-hybridoma clones prepared by fusion of pre-existing hybridomas and were purified by isoelectric focusing. CD3,4 (IgG2a, IgG2b) recognizes the T cell surface antigens CD3 and CD4, and CD3,8 (IgG2a, IgG2a) recognizes CD3 and CD8. These BSMAB promote complement-mediated lysis of target cells that bear both surface antigens 25 to 3125 times more efficiently than those that express only one of the antigens. This selectivity results from the increased avidity of these antibodies for cells with both antigens, as reflected by the increased surface immunoglobulin concentration detected by flow cytometry. It was also demonstrated that there exists a threshold surface immunoglobulin density necessary for antibody-dependent complement-mediated cytotoxicity microtiter assays for the various IgG antibodies tested in both bivalent and monovalent binding. These results support the associative model of IgG-mediated complement fixation.     

Effects of glucose on phenol biodegradation by heterogeneous populations

The effect of the presence of more easily degradable alternative carbon sources on the biodegradation of toxic waste components is of great practical importance. In this work, a mixed phenol/glucose waste was fed to two heterogeneous populations acclimated to different conditions: one was acclimated to phenol as a sole source of carbon and one to a mixed phenol/glucose substrate. Batch substrate utilization experiments were performed under both growth and nonproliferating (no medium nitrogen source) conditions in order to assess substrate removal patterns at the levels of enzyme production and enzyme function. The results indicated that the substrate removal pattern exhibited by the cells was significantly influenced by the acclimation characteristics of the culture. The phenol acclimated cells showed an initial preference for phenol, but the presence of glucose hindered phenol removal rate under both growth and nonproliferating conditions. The cells acclimated to the mixed phenol/glucose waste demonstrated rapid initial glucose removal with a slower concomitant utilization of phenol; acclimation to the mixed waste evidently had a significant impact on the substrate removal pattern for this mixed substrate system.