Purification, characterization and cloning of tensilin, the collagen-fibril binding and tissue-stiffening factor from Cucumaria frondosa dermis.

The inner dermis of the sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa, is a mutable collagenous tissue characterized by rapid and reversible changes in its mechanical properties regulated by one or more protein effectors that are released from neurosecretory cells. One such effector, tensilin, is a collagen-fibril binding protein, named for its ability to induce dermis stiffening. Tensilin was purified using an affinity column constructed from C. frondosa collagen-fibrils. The protein migrates as a single band on SDS-PAGE (Mr approximately 33 kDa) and has an isoelectric point of 5.8. Equilibrium sedimentation experiments suggest a molecular mass of approximately 28.5-29.4 kDa. Carbohydrate analysis of tensilin revealed no measurable sugar content. The molar amount of tensilin was determined to be 0.38% that of collagen and 47% that of stiparin, a constitutive matrix glycoprotein. A full-length cDNA clone for tensilin was obtained from a C. frondosa inner dermis cDNA expression library. Predicted properties derived from the deduced peptide sequence were in agreement with those of the native protein. A noted feature of tensilin's deduced peptide sequence, particularly in its N-terminal domain, is its homology to tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases. Tensilin's C-terminal tail has no known homology to other proteins but contains a putative collagen-fibril binding site.     

Development of a bacteriophage model system to investigate virus inactivation methods used in the treatment of bone allografts

Bone allografts are commonly used in a variety of surgical procedures, to reconstruct lost bone stock and to provide mechanical support during the healing process. Due to concerns regarding the possibility of disease transmission from donor to recipient, and of contamination of grafts during retrieval and processing procedures, it is common practice to sterilise bone allografts prior to issue for clinical use. It is vital that the sterilisation processes applied to allografts are validated to demonstrate that they achieve the required level of bioburden reduction, and by extension that validated models are used for these studies. Two common sterilisation protocols applied to bone allografts are gamma irradiation and ethylene oxide gas sterilisation, and there are currently no validated models available for measuring the anti-viral efficacy of ethylene oxide treatment with regard to bone allografts or readily useable models for assessing the anti-viral efficiency of gamma irradiation treatment. We have developed and validated models for both these sterilisation processes, using the bacteriophage ϕ×174, and utilised the models to measure the antiviral activity of the standard ethylene oxide and gamma irradiation sterilisation processes applied to bone allografts by the National Blood Service. For the irradiation model, we also utilised bacterial spores (Bacillus pumilus). Our results show that ethylene oxide sterilisation (which can only be applied to lyophilised grafts) inactivated >6.1log₁₀ of the model virus, and gamma irradiation (at 25–40 kGy and applied to frozen allografts) inactivated 3.6–4.0log₁₀ of the model virus and >4log₁₀ of the bacterial spores. Gamma irradiation at this dosage is therefore not in itself a sterilisation process with respect to viruses.     

Conserved and divergent patterns of expression of DAZL,VASA and OCT4 in the germ cells of the human fetal ovary and testis

Background  

Germ cells arise from a small group of cells that express markers of pluripotency including OCT4. In humans formation of gonadal compartments (cords in testis, nests in ovary) takes place during the 1st trimester (6–8 weeks gestation). In the 2nd trimester germ cells can enter meiotic prophase in females whereas in males this does not occur until puberty. We have used qRTPCR, Westerns and immunohistochemical profiling to determine which of the germ cell subtypes in the human fetal gonads express OCT4, DAZL and VASA, as these have been shown to play an essential role in germ cell maturation in mice.     

Role of protein O-mannosyltransferase Pmt4 in the morphogenesis and virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans

Protein O mannosylation is initiated in the endoplasmic reticulum by protein O-mannosyltransferases (Pmt proteins) and plays an important role in the secretion, localization, and function of many proteins, as well as in cell wall integrity and morphogenesis in fungi. Three Pmt proteins, each belonging to one of the three respective Pmt subfamilies, are encoded in the genome of the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Disruption of the C. neoformans PMT4 gene resulted in abnormal growth morphology and defective cell separation. Transmission electron microscopy revealed defective cell wall septum degradation during mother-daughter cell separation in the pmt4 mutant compared to wild-type cells. The pmt4 mutant also demonstrated sensitivity to elevated temperature, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and amphotericin B, suggesting cell wall defects. Further analysis of cell wall protein composition revealed a cell wall proteome defect in the pmt4 mutant, as well as a global decrease in protein mannosylation. Heterologous expression of C. neoformans PMT4 in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae pmt1pmt4 mutant strain functionally complemented the deficient Pmt activity. Furthermore, Pmt4 activity in C. neoformans was required for full virulence in two murine models of disseminated cryptococcal infection. Taken together, these results indicate a central role for Pmt4-mediated protein O mannosylation in growth, cell wall integrity, and virulence of C. neoformans.     

Membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase stimulates cell migration through epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation

Proteolysis of extracellular matrix proteins by membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) plays a pivotal role in tumor and endothelial cell migration. In addition to its proteolytic activity, several studies indicate that the proinvasive properties of MT1-MMP also involve its short cytoplasmic domain, but the specific mechanisms mediating this function have yet to be fully elucidated. Having previously shown that the serum factor sphingosine 1-phosphate stimulates MT1-MMP promigratory function through a process that involves its cytoplasmic domain, we now extend these findings to show that this cooperative interaction is permissive to cellular migration through MT1-MMP-dependent transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). In the presence of sphingosine 1-phosphate, MT1-MMP stimulates EGFR transactivation through a process that is dependent upon the cytoplasmic domain of the enzyme but not its catalytic activity. The MT1-MMP-induced EGFR transactivation also involves G(i) protein signaling and Src activities and leads to enhanced cellular migration through downstream extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation. The present study, thus, elucidates a novel role of MT1-MMP in signaling events mediating EGFR transactivation and provides the first evidence of a crucial role of this receptor activity in MT1-MMP promigratory function. Taken together, our results suggest that the inhibition of EGFR may represent a novel target to inhibit MT1-MMP-dependent processes associated with tumor cell invasion and angiogenesis.     

Proteomic Profiling of Ovarian Cancer Plasma using Immunoaffinity Depleted Plasma and Two-Dimensional PAGE

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate a multiple immunoaffinity protein depletion (multiple affinity removal system, MARS) pre-treatment strategy with subsequent two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE) and peptide mass finger printing analysis for the detection of ovarian cancer-associated plasma proteins.

Materials and Methods

Following immunoaffinity depletion, total plasma protein content was reduced by 84.2?±?1.8% (mean?±?SE, n?=?32). The number of proteins detected in the control and ovarian cancer groups was 349 and 357, respectively. This represented an increase in spot detection of almost twofold when compared to 2D PAGE displays of untreated plasma (174 spots). Of the proteins displayed, post-depletion, 300 (control) and 302 (ovarian cancer, OC) were common within each group. PDQuest analysis indicated that 109 protein spots were statistically different between the two groups and, of these, 59 exhibited greater than or equal to twofold difference in spot density (Student’s t test, p?=?0.01). Thirty-nine of these proteins were successfully identified with reliable confidence.

Results and Discussion

The data obtained in this study demonstrates that immunodepletion of plasma before 2D PAGE profiling have generated identifiable plasma proteins that are differentially expressed in the high-grade ovarian cancer sample set compared to controls. This approach, therefore, may be useful in identifying candidate biomarkers for inclusion in multi-marker tests for ovarian cancer that may exhibit greater sensitivity and specificity than those currently available. It was evident, however, from the predominant identification of host response proteins that immunodepletion did not generate sufficient levels of enrichment of lower abundance tumor-specific proteins to facilitate detection.     

A point mutation in a herpesvirus polymerase determines neuropathogenicity

Infection with equid herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) leads to respiratory disease, abortion, and neurologic disorders in horses. Molecular epidemiology studies have demonstrated that a single nucleotide polymorphism resulting in an amino acid variation of the EHV-1 DNA polymerase (N752/D752) is significantly associated with the neuropathogenic potential of naturally occurring strains. To test the hypothesis that this single amino acid exchange by itself influences neuropathogenicity, we generated recombinant viruses with differing polymerase sequences. Here we show that the N752 mutant virus caused no neurologic signs in the natural host, while the D752 virus was able to cause inflammation of the central nervous system and ataxia. Neurologic disease induced by the D752 virus was concomitant with significantly increased levels of viremia (p = 0.01), but the magnitude of virus shedding from the nasal mucosa was similar between the N752 and D752 viruses. Both viruses replicated with similar kinetics in fibroblasts and epithelial cells, but exhibited differences in leukocyte tropism. Last, we observed a significant increase (p < 0.001) in sensitivity of the N752 mutant to aphidicolin, a drug targeting the viral polymerase. Our results demonstrate that a single amino acid variation in a herpesvirus enzyme can influence neuropathogenic potential without having a major effect on virus shedding from infected animals, which is important for horizontal spread in a population. This observation is very interesting from an evolutionary standpoint and is consistent with data indicating that the N752 DNA pol genotype is predominant in the EHV-1 population, suggesting that decreased viral pathogenicity in the natural host might not be at the expense of less efficient inter-individual transmission.     

Aspidiotus rigidus Reyne (Hemiptera: Diaspididae): a devastating pest of coconut in the Philippines

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