Structure and function of phosphatidylserine-specific phospholipase A1

Phospholipase A1 (PLA1) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes the sn-1 fatty acids from phospholipids and produces 2-acyl-lysophospholipids. Although PLA1 activities are detected in many tissues and cell lines, a limited number of PLA1s have been purified and cloned so far. These include phosphatidylserine (PS)-specific PLA1 (PS-PLA1) from rat platelets, PLA1 from vespid venom, and phosphatidic acid (PA)-preferential PLA1 (PA-PLA1). Structurally, the former two PLA1s belong to the lipase family, where they form a subfamily among the lipase family. An alignment of the PLA1s with other members of the lipase family revealed two molecular characteristics of PLA1: the presence of extremely short lids and deleted beta9 loops. The two surface loops have been implicated in the ligand recognition in human pancreatic lipase (PL) and guinea pig PL-related protein 2. Under physiological conditions, accessibility of PS-PLA1 to its substrate is limited as it is a secreted enzyme and PS is normally located in the inner leaflet of the lipid bilayer. However, PS-PLA1 efficiently hydrolyzes PS exposed on the surface of cells such as apoptotic cells and activated platelets, and produces 2-acyl-lysophosphatidylserine (lysoPS), which is a lipid mediator for mast cells, T cells and neural cells. Identification of PS-PLA1 reveals the presence of PLA1 subfamily within the lipase family and suggests that PLA1 has a role in the production of lysophospholipid mediators.     

Ammonia production from amino acids and urea in the caecal contents of the chicken

1. Ammonia production from urea and amino acids in the caecal contents of the chicken was evaluated using 15N-labeled nitrogenous compounds. 2. About 43% of each of urea nitrogen and glutamine amide nitrogen was converted to ammonia nitrogen, but only 25% of epsilon-nitrogen of the added arginine, a precursor of urea, was found in ammonia. 3. Amino nitrogen of the separately added glutamic acid and glycine to be converted to ammonia was 19-20% of their added amounts, whereas that of alpha-alanine was 11%. 4. It is concluded that dietary and urinary amino acids and urea which find their ways into the caeca are useful nitrogen sources for ammonia production by microflora in the caeca of the chicken.     

Genetic Polymorphisms of Dihydropyrimidinase in a Japanese Patient with Capecitabine-Induced Toxicity

Dihydropyrimidinase (DHP) is the second enzyme in the catabolic pathway of uracil, thymine, and chemotherapeutic fluoropyrimidine agents such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Thus, DHP deficiency might be associated with 5-FU toxicity during fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy. We performed genetic analyses of the family of a patient with advanced colon cancer who underwent radical colectomy followed by treatment with 5-FU prodrug capecitabine and developed severe toxicity attributable to a lack of DHP. We measured urinary uracil and dihydrouracil, and genotyped DPYS in the patient and her family. We also measured the allele frequency of DPYS polymorphisms in 391 unrelated Japanese subjects. The patient had compound heterozygous missense and nonsense polymorphisms comprising c.1001A>G (p.Gln334Arg) in exon 6 and c.1393C>T (p.Arg465Ter) in exon 8, which are known to result in a DHP enzyme with little or no activity. The urinary dihydrouracil/uracil ratio in the patient was 17.08, while the mean ± SD urinary dihydrouracil/uracil ratio in family members who were heterozygous or homozygous for wild-type DPYS was 0.25 ± 0.06. In unrelated subjects, 8 of 391 individuals were heterozygous for the c.1001A>G mutation, while the c.1393C>T mutation was not identified. This is the first report of a DHP-deficient patient with DPYS compound heterozygous polymorphisms who was treated with a fluoropyrimidine, and our findings suggest that polymorphisms in the DPYS gene are pharmacogenomic markers associated with severe 5-FU toxicity in Japanese patients.     

Properties and Anti-HIV Activity of Nicked Dumbbell Oligonucleotides

Abstract

We have designed a new type of oligodeoxyribonucleotide. These oligodeoxyribonucleotides form two hairpin loop structures with base pairs (sense and antisense) in the double helical stem at the 3′ and 5′-ends (nicked dumbbell oligonucleotides). The nicked dumbbell oligonucleotides are molecules with free ends that are more resistant to exonuclease attack. Furthermore, the nicked dumbbell oligonucleotide containing phosphorothioate (P=S) bonds in the hairpin loops has increased nuclease resistance, as compared to the unmodified nicked oligonucleotide. The binding of the nicked dumbbell oligonucleotide to RNA is lower than that of a single-stranded DNA. We also describe the anti-HIV activity of nicked dumbbell oligonucleotides.

     

Human hepatocyte growth factor promotes functional recovery in primates after spinal cord injury

Many therapeutic interventions for spinal cord injury (SCI) using neurotrophic factors have focused on reducing the area damaged by secondary, post-injury degeneration, to promote functional recovery. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which is a potent mitogen for mature hepatocytes and a mediator of the inflammatory responses to tissue injury, was recently highlighted as a potent neurotrophic factor in the central nervous system. We previously reported that introducing exogenous HGF into the injured rodent spinal cord using a herpes simplex virus-1 vector significantly reduces the area of damaged tissue and promotes functional recovery. However, that study did not examine the therapeutic effects of administering HGF after injury, which is the most critical issue for clinical application. To translate this strategy to human treatment, we induced a contusive cervical SCI in the common marmoset, a primate, and then administered recombinant human HGF (rhHGF) intrathecally. Motor function was assessed using an original open field scoring system focusing on manual function, including reach-and-grasp performance and hand placement in walking. The intrathecal rhHGF preserved the corticospinal fibers and myelinated areas, thereby promoting functional recovery. In vivo magnetic resonance imaging showed significant preservation of the intact spinal cord parenchyma. rhHGF-treatment did not give rise to an abnormal outgrowth of calcitonin gene related peptide positive fibers compared to the control group, indicating that this treatment did not induce or exacerbate allodynia. This is the first study to report the efficacy of rhHGF for treating SCI in non-human primates. In addition, this is the first presentation of a novel scale for assessing neurological motor performance in non-human primates after contusive cervical SCI.     

Gene-Gene Combination Effect and Interactions among ABCA1, APOA1, SR-B1, and CETP Polymorphisms for Serum High-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol in the Japanese Population

Background/Objective

Gene-gene interactions in the reverse cholesterol transport system for high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) are poorly understood. The present study observed gene-gene combination effect and interactions between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ABCA1, APOA1, SR-B1, and CETP in serum HDL-C from a cross-sectional study in the Japanese population.

Methods

The study population comprised 1,535 men and 1,515 women aged 35–69 years who were enrolled in the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) Study. We selected 13 SNPs in the ABCA1, APOA1, CETP, and SR-B1 genes in the reverse cholesterol transport system. The effects of genetic and environmental factors were assessed using general linear and logistic regression models after adjusting for age, sex, and region.

Principal Findings

Alcohol consumption and daily activity were positively associated with HDL-C levels, whereas smoking had a negative relationship. The T allele of CETP, rs3764261, was correlated with higher HDL-C levels and had the highest coefficient (2.93 mg/dL/allele) among the 13 SNPs, which was statistically significant after applying the Bonferroni correction (p<0.001). Gene-gene combination analysis revealed that CETP rs3764261 was associated with high HDL-C levels with any combination of SNPs from ABCA1, APOA1, and SR-B1, although no gene-gene interaction was apparent. An increasing trend for serum HDL-C was also observed with an increasing number of alleles (p<0.001).

Conclusions

The present study identified a multiplier effect from a polymorphism in CETP with ABCA1, APOA1, and SR-B1, as well as a dose-dependence according to the number of alleles present.     

Stereoselectivity of the Enzymatic Reduction of Aldehydic and Ketonic Carbonyl Groups in Planar Chiral Organomanganese Complexes

(±)-Tricarbonyl(η⁵-1-formyl-2-methylcyclopentadienyl)manganese (1) was optically resolved with horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) and two species of yeasts, Saccharomyces sp. H-1 and Rhodotorula rubra IFO 889. Usually, (1R)-1 was preferentially reduced to give (?)-alcohol 2 of ≥ 97% e.e. ? 84% e.e. Ketone analogue (±)-tricarbonyl(η⁵-1-acetyl-2-methylcyclopentadienyl)-manganese (4) was reduced by the yeasts. The major product by S. sp. H-1 was the (1S,2R,1′S)-(+)-alcohol (5) (≥ 98% e.e.) and the minor product, the (1R,2S,1′S)-(?)-alcohol (6) (86% e.e.). R. rubra gave only the latter alcohol (≥ 99 % e.e.). The Stereodifferentiation mechanism for these bioreductions is discussed in terms of the Prelog rule. The mechanism for HLADH reduction was examined with computer graphics.     

Structure–activity relationship studies of Niemann-Pick type C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) ligands identified by screening assay monitoring pharmacological chaperone effect

A number of hereditary diseases are caused by defective protein trafficking due to a folding defect resulting from point mutations in proteins. Ligands that bind to the folding intermediates of such mutant proteins and rescue their trafficking defects, known as pharmacological chaperones, have promise for the treatment of certain genetic diseases, including Fabry disease, cystic fibrosis, and Niemann-Pick disease type C. Here we show that this pharmacological chaperone effect can be used for ligand screening, that is, binding of candidate ligands can be detected by monitoring the ligand-mediated correction of a localization defect caused by artificially introduced point mutations of the protein of interest. Using this method, we discovered novel steroidal ligands of Niemann-Pick type C1-like 1 (NPC1L1), an intestinal cholesterol transporter that is the target of the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe, and conducted structure–activity relationship studies. We also present data indicating that the binding site of the new ligands is distinct from both the N-terminal sterol-binding domain and the ezetimibe-binding site.