Resistance to arsenic compounds in microorganisms

Abstract: Arsenic ions, frequently present as environmental pollutants, are very toxic for most microorganisms. Some microbial strains possess genetic determinants that confer resistance. In bacteria, these determinants are often found on plasmids, which has facilitated their study at the molecular level. Bacterial plasmids conferring arsenic resistance encode specific efflux pumps able to extrude arsenic from the cell cytoplasm thus lowering the intracellular concentration of the toxic ions. In Gram-negative bacteria, the efflux pump consists of a two-component ATPase complex. ArsA is the ATPase subunit and is associated with an integral membrane subunit, ArsB. Arsenate is enzymatically reduced to arsenite (the substrate of ArsB and the activator of ArsA) by the small cytoplasmic ArsC polypeptide. In Gram-positive bacteria, comparable arsB and arsC genes (and proteins) are found, but arsA is missing. In addition to the wide spread plasmid arsenic resistance determinant, a few bacteria confer resistance to arsenite with a separate determinant for enzymatic oxidation of more-toxic arsenite to less-toxic arsenate. In contrast to the detailed information on the mechanisms of arsenic resistance in bacteria, little work has been reported on this subject in algae and fungi.     

Suboptimal in vitro culture conditions: an epigenetic origin of long-term health effects

The foetal origins of adult diseases or Barker hypothesis suggests that there can be adverse in uterus effects on the foetus that can lead to certain diseases in adults. Extending this hypothesis to the early stages of embryo development, in particular, to preimplantation stages, it was recently demonstrated that, long-term programming of postnatal development, growth and physiology can be irreversibly affected during this period of embryo development by suboptimal in vitro culture (IVC). As an example, it was found in two recent studies that, mice derived from embryos cultured in suboptimal conditions can suffer from obesity, increased anxiety, and deficiencies on their implicit memory system. In addition, it was observed that suboptimal IVC can cause disease in mature animals by promoting alterations in their genetic imprinting during preimplantation development. Imprinting and other epigenetic mechanisms control the establishment and maintenance of gene expression patterns in the embryo, placenta and foetus. The previously described observations, suggest that the loss of epigenetic regulation during preimplantation development may lead to severe long-term effects. Although mostly tested in rodents, the hypothesis that underlies these studies can also fit assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures in other species, including humans. The lack of information on how epigenetic controls are lost during IVC, and on the long-term consequences of ART, underscore the necessity for sustained epigenetic analysis of embryos produced in vitro and long-term tracking of the health of the human beings conceived using these procedures.     

Effective use of course management systems to enhance student learning: Experimental Biology 2007

Course management systems are software packages that support teaching and learning by providing web-based tools, services, and resources. Electronic course management can facilitate course organization, teaching delivery, communication, collaboration, and assessment. This article reports on a symposium on the use of course management systems, presented by the Teaching of Physiology Section of the American Physiological Society, at the Experimental Biology Meeting of 2007.     

SPARC mediates early extracellular matrix remodeling following myocardial infarction

Secreted protein, acidic, and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is a matricellular protein that functions in the extracellular processing of newly synthesized collagen. Collagen deposition to form a scar is a key event following a myocardial infarction (MI). Because the roles of SPARC in the early post-MI setting have not been defined, we examined age-matched wild-type (WT; n=22) and SPARC-deficient (null; n=25) mice at day 3 post-MI. Day 0 WT (n=28) and null (n=20) mice served as controls. Infarct size was 52 ± 2% for WT and 47 ± 2% for SPARC null (P=NS), indicating that the MI injury was comparable in the two groups. By echocardiography, WT mice increased end-diastolic volumes from 45 ± 2 to 83 ± 5 μl (P < 0.05). SPARC null mice also increased end-diastolic volumes but to a lesser extent than WT (39 ± 3 to 63 ± 5 μl; P < 0.05 vs. day 0 controls and vs. WT day 3 MI). Ejection fraction fell post-MI in WT mice from 57 ± 2 to 19 ± 1%. The decrease in ejection fraction was attenuated in the absence of SPARC (65 ± 2 to 28 ± 2%). Fibroblasts isolated from SPARC null left ventricle (LV) showed differences in the expression of 22 genes encoding extracellular matrix and adhesion molecule genes, including fibronectin, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF; CCN2), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2). The change in fibroblast gene expression levels was mirrored in tissue protein extracts for fibronectin, CTGF, and MMP-3 but not TIMP-2. Combined, the results of this study indicate that SPARC deletion preserves LV function at day 3 post-MI but may be detrimental for the long-term response due to impaired fibroblast activation.     

Phase transition characteristics of diphosphatidylglycerol (cardiolipin) and stereoisomeric phosphatidyldiacylglycerol bilayers: Mono- and divalent metal ion effects

Synthesis and phase transition characteristics of aqueous dispersions of the homologous (12 : 0, 14 : 0, 16 : 0) diphosphatidylglycerols (cardiolipins) and phosphatidyldiacylglycerols are reported. Electron microscopy of the negatively stained aqueous dispersions reveals a characteristic lamellar structure suggesting that these phospholipid molecules are organized as bilayers in the aqueous dispersions. The phase transition temperature ($\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$) and the enthalpy of transition ($\text{ΔH}$) increase monotonically with chain length in the cardiolipin and phosphatidyldiacylglycerol series; $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ for phosphatidyldiacylglycerol is higher than that for cardiolipin of the same chain-length. The transition temperatures for the enantiomeric $\text{sn-3,3-}\text{and}\text{sn-1,1-}\text{phosphatidyldiacylglycerol}$ and for the diastereomeric, $\text{meso}\text{-sn-1,3-}\text{phosphatidyldiacylglycerol}$ are approximately the same. The molar enthalpy for the transition of cardiolipin-NH₄⁺ bilayers is approximately twice the value for the phosphatidylcholines of the same chain length, i.e., the molar enthalpy per acyl chain is approximately the same in the two systems. The transition temperatures for metal ion salts of C_{1 6}-cardiolipin exhibit a biphasic dependence upon the unhydrated ionic radii, i.e. the highest $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ is observed for Ca²⁺- cardiolipin and decreases for the salts of ions with smaller and larger ionic radii than that of Ca²⁺. The lowest $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ is observed for Rb⁺-cardiolipin. Monovalent metal salts of cardiolipin exhibit two phase transitions. This effect may result from different conformational packing of the four acyl chains due to differences in metal-phosphate binding.