Evaluating the fitness of PA/I38T-substituted influenza A viruses with reduced baloxavir susceptibility in a competitive mixtures ferret model

Baloxavir is approved in several countries for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza in otherwise-healthy and high-risk patients. Treatment-emergent viruses with reduced susceptibility to baloxavir have been detected in clinical trials, but the likelihood of widespread occurrence depends on replication capacity and onward transmission. We evaluated the fitness of A/H3N2 and A/H1N1pdm09 viruses with the polymerase acidic (PA) I38T-variant conferring reduced susceptibility to baloxavir relative to wild-type (WT) viruses, using a competitive mixture ferret model, recombinant viruses and patient-derived virus isolates. The A/H3N2 PA/I38T virus showed a reduction in within-host fitness but comparable between-host fitness to the WT virus, while the A/H1N1pdm09 PA/I38T virus had broadly similar within-host fitness but substantially lower between-host fitness. Although PA/I38T viruses replicate and transmit between ferrets, our data suggest that viruses with this amino acid substitution have lower fitness relative to WT and this relative fitness cost was greater in A/H1N1pdm09 viruses than in A/H3N2 viruses.     

Docosahexaenoic acid: one molecule diverse functions

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6, ω-3) is a highly polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acid. It is concentrated in neuronal brain membranes, for which reason it is also referred to as a “brain food”. DHA is essential for brain development and function. It plays an important role in improving antioxidant and cognitive activities of the brain. DHA deficiency occurs during aging and dementia, impairs memory and learning, and promotes age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). For about two decades, we have reported that oral administration of DHA increases spatial memory acquisition, stimulates neurogenesis, and protects against and reverses memory impairment in amyloid β peptide-infused AD rat models by decreasing amyloidogenesis and protects against age-related cognitive decline in the elderly. These results demonstrate a robust link between DHA and cognitive health. Rodents that were fed a diet low in ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly those that were DHA-deficient, frequently suffered from anxiety, depression and memory impairment. Although the exact mechanisms of action of DHA in brain functions are still elusive, a host of mechanisms have been proposed. For example, DHA, which inherently has a characteristic three-dimensional structure, increases membrane fluidity, strengthens antioxidant activity and enhances the expression of several proteins that act as substrates for improving memory functions. It reduces the brain amyloid burden and inhibits in vitro fibrillation and amyloid-induced neurotoxicity in cell-culture model. In this review, we discuss how DHA acts as a molecule with diverse functions.     

The effect of serotonin agonist 1-(trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine on corticotropin releasing factor and arginine vasopressin in rat hypothalamic nuclei

Effects of 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine, a serotonin agonist, were examined on rat plasma levels of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), and on hypothalamic contents of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and AVP, to investigate the role of brain serotonin in ACTH regulation. Both plasma ACTH and AVP levels increased markedly 30 min after injection of the compound and were still elevated at 80 min. CRF and AVP contents in the median eminence decreased 30 min after injection but returned to the basal levels by 80 min. The AVP content in the supraoptic nucleus was elevated 80 min after injection. The CRF and aVP content did not significantly change in the paraventricular, suprachiasmatic and arcuate nuclei. Serotonin or 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine did not stimulate the release of ACTH in pituitary cell cultures. These results suggest that both CRF and AVP were secreted into the portal vessels by 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine to release ACTH from the anterior pituitary and that both the ACTH and AVP release were stimulated via the brain serotonergic mechanism.     

Cloning and characterization of an amidase gene from Rhodococcus species N-774 and its expression in Escherichia coli

For investigation of an unknown open reading frame which is present upstream of the nitrile hydratase (NHase) gene from Rhodococcus sp. N-774, a longer DNA fragment covering the entire gene was cloned in Escherichia coli. Nucleotide sequencing and detailed subcloning experiments predicted a single open reading frame consisting of 521 amino acid residues of Mr 54,671. The amino acid sequence, especially its NH2-terminal portion, showed significant homology with those of indoleacetamide hydrolases from Pseudomonas savastanoi and Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and acetamidase from Aspergillus nidulans. The 521-amino acid coding region was therefore expressed by use of the E. coli lac promoter in E. coli, and was found to direct a considerable amidase activity. This amidase hydrolyzed propionamide efficiently, and also hydrolyzed, at a lower efficiency, acetamide, acrylamide and indoleacetamide. These data clearly show that the unknown open reading frame present upstream of the NHase coding region encodes an amidase. Because the TAG translational stop codon of the amidase is located only 75 base pairs apart from the ATG start codon of the alpha-subunit of NHase, these genes are probably translated in a polycistronic manner.     

Substrate Specificity of Streptococcal Unsaturated Glucuronyl Hydrolases for Sulfated Glycosaminoglycan

Unsaturated glucuronyl hydrolase (UGL) categorized into the glycoside hydrolase family 88 catalyzes the hydrolytic release of an unsaturated glucuronic acid from glycosaminoglycan disaccharides, which are produced from mammalian extracellular matrices through the β-elimination reaction of polysaccharide lyases. Here, we show enzyme characteristics of pathogenic streptococcal UGLs and structural determinants for the enzyme substrate specificity. The putative genes for UGL and phosphotransferase system for amino sugar, a component of glycosaminoglycans, are assembled into a cluster in the genome of pyogenic and hemolytic streptococci such as Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes, which produce extracellular hyaluronate lyase as a virulent factor. The UGLs of these three streptococci were overexpressed in Escherichia coli cells, purified, and characterized. Streptococcal UGLs degraded unsaturated hyaluronate and chondroitin disaccharides most efficiently at approximately pH 5.5 and 37 °C. Distinct from Bacillus sp. GL1 UGL, streptococcal UGLs preferred sulfated substrates. DNA microarray and Western blotting indicated that the enzyme was constitutively expressed in S. agalactiae cells, although the expression level increased in the presence of glycosaminoglycan. The crystal structure of S. agalactiae UGL (SagUGL) was determined at 1.75 Å resolution by x-ray crystallography. SagUGL adopts α₆/α₆-barrel structure as a basic scaffold similar to Bacillus UGL, but the arrangement of amino acid residues in the active site differs between the two. SagUGL Arg-236 was found to be one of the residues involved in its activity for the sulfated substrate through structural comparison and site-directed mutagenesis. This is the first report on the structure and function of streptococcal UGLs.Cell surface polysaccharides play an important role in linking neighboring cells and protecting cells against physicochemical stress such as osmotic pressure or invasion by pathogens. Glycosaminoglycans such as chondroitin, hyaluronan, and heparin are highly negatively charged polysaccharides with a repeating disaccharide unit consisting of an uronic acid residue (glucuronic or iduronic acid) and an amino sugar residue (glucosamine or galactosamine) (1), and they are widely present in mammalian cells as an extracellular matrix responsible for cell-to-cell association, cell signaling, and cell growth and differentiation (2). For example, in humans, glycosaminoglycans exist in tissues such as the eye, brain, liver, skin, and blood (3). Except for hyaluronan, glycosaminoglycans such as chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, keratan sulfate, heparin sulfate, and heparan sulfate are often sulfated. Chondroitin consists of d-glucuronic acid (GlcA)² and N-acetyl-d-galactosamine (GalNAc) with a sulfate group(s) at position 4 or 6 or both (4). Hyaluronan, is composed of GlcA and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) (5).The adhesion of pathogenic bacteria to mammalian cells is regarded as a primary mechanism of bacterial infection, followed by secondary effects of the infectious process. Polysaccharides, including the glycosaminoglycans that form part of the cell surface matrix, are typical targets for microbial pathogens that invade host cells, and many specific interactions between pathogens and these polysaccharides have been described (6). Glycosaminoglycans in the extracellular matrix are also degraded enzymatically by hydrolases and lyases (1). Generally, hydrolases cleave the glycoside bonds between the glycosyl oxygen and the anomeric carbon atom through the addition of water and play an important role in glycosaminoglycan metabolism in mammals (7). On the other hand, bacterial pathogens invading host cells degrade glycosaminoglycans through the action of lyases. Bacterial polysaccharide lyases recognize the uronic acid residue in polysaccharides, cleave the glycoside bonds through the β-elimination reaction without water addition, and produce unsaturated saccharides with the unsaturated uronic acid residue having a CC double bond at the nonreducing terminus (8).Streptococci such as group B Streptococcus agalactiae, group nonassigned Streptococcus pneumoniae, and group A Streptococcus pyogenes are typical pyogenic and hemolytic pathogens causing severe infections (e.g. pneumonia, bacteremia, sinusitis, or meningitis) (9–11). In S. pneumoniae, hyaluronate lyase, neuraminidases, autolysin, choline-binding protein A, and pneumococcal surface protein A are suggested to function as cell surface virulent factors (12). Hyaluronate lyase degrades the extracellular matrix component hyaluronan in mammalian cells through the β-elimination reaction and releases unsaturated disaccharide, indicating that the enzyme produced by pathogenic bacteria functions as a spreading factor (13). Because hyaluronate lyase is commonly produced by the three pyogenic and hemolytic streptococci (14–16), the structure and function of their enzymes have been intensively studied (17, 18). Groups A, B, C, and G streptococci also produce hyaluronate lyase (19), suggesting that the enzyme is ubiquitously present in pathogenic streptococci. Streptococcal hyaluronate lyase can also act on sulfated and nonsulfated chondroitin (20). The metabolism of the resultant unsaturated disaccharides in streptococci, however, remains to be clarified.Unsaturated glucuronyl hydrolase (UGL), a member of the glycoside hydrolase family 88 in the CAZY data base (21), acts on unsaturated oligosaccharides having an unsaturated GlcA (ΔGlcA) with β-glycoside bond, such as ΔGlcA-GalNAc produced by chondroitin lyase and ΔGlcA-GlcNAc produced by hyaluronate lyase (22) (Fig. 1A). We have first identified the UGL-coding gene in Bacillus sp. GL1 (23) and clarified the structure and function of the enzyme by x-ray crystallography (24–27). The enzyme reaction generates ΔGlcA and the leaving saccharide. ΔGlcA is spontaneously converted to 4-deoxy-1-threo-5-hexosulose-uronate (Fig. 1A) because the ringed form of ΔGlcA has not been obtained because of keto-enole equilibrium (23, 28). In contrast with general glycoside hydrolases with retention or inversion catalytic mechanism of an anomeric configuration, UGL uniquely triggers hydrolysis of vinyl ether groups in unsaturated saccharides but not of the glycoside bond (26) (Fig. 1B). This article deals with the characteristics of streptococcal UGLs by using recombinant enzymes, gene expression in S. agalactiae cells by DNA microarray, and structural determinants of S. agalactiae UGL for substrate specificity by x-ray crystallography and site-directed mutagenesis.Open in a separate windowFIGURE 1.UGL reaction. A, degradation scheme of Δ6S by UGL. B, catalytic reaction mechanism of UGL. C, structures of unsaturated oligosaccharides. ΔGellan, unsaturated gellan tetrasaccharide; ΔHA, unsaturated hyaluronan disaccharide; Δ0S, unsaturated chondroitin disaccharide; Δ2′S, unsaturated chondroitin disaccharide sulfated at C-2 position of ΔGlcA residue; Δ2′S4S, unsaturated chondroitin disaccharide sulfated at C-2 position of ΔGlcA residue and C-4 position of GalNAc residue; Δ2′S6S, unsaturated chondroitin disaccharide sulfated at C-2 position of ΔGlcA residue and C-6 position of GalNAc residue; Δ4S6S, unsaturated chondroitin disaccharide sulfated at C-4 and C-6 positions of GalNAc residue; Δ2′S4S6S, unsaturated chondroitin disaccharide sulfated at C-2 position of ΔGlcA residue and C-4 and C-6 positions of GalNAc residue.     

Light/electricity conversion by a self-organized photosynthetic biofilm in a single-chamber reactor

Biological energy-conversion systems are attractive in terms of their self-sustaining and self-organizing nature and are expected to be applied to low-cost and environment-friendly processes. Here we show a biofilm-based light/electricity-conversion system that was self-organized from a natural microbial community. A bioreactor equipped with an air cathode and graphite-felt anode was inoculated with a green hot-spring microbial mat. When the reactor was irradiated with light, electric current was generated between the anode and cathode in accordance with the formation of green biofilm on the anode. Fluorescence microscopy of the green biofilm revealed the presence of chlorophyll-containing microbes of ∼10 μm in size, and these cells were abundant close to the surface of the biofilm. The biofilm community was also analyzed by sequencing of polymerase chain reaction-amplified small-subunit rRNA gene fragments, showing that sequence types affiliated with Chlorophyta, Betaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were abundantly detected. These results suggest that green algae and heterotrophic bacteria cooperatively converted light energy into electricity.     

Potassium channels regulate tone in rat pulmonary veins

Intrapulmonary veins (PVs) contribute to pulmonary vascular resistance, but the mechanisms controlling PV tone are poorly understood. Although smooth muscle cell (SMC) K(+) channels regulate tone in most vascular beds, their role in PV tone is unknown. We show that voltage-gated (K(V)) and inward rectifier (K(ir)) K(+) channels control resting PV tone in the rat. PVs have a coaxial structure, with layers of cardiomyocytes (CMs) arrayed externally around a subendothelial layer of typical SMCs, thus forming spinchterlike structures. PVCMs have both an inward current, inhibited by low-dose Ba(2+), and an outward current, inhibited by 4-aminopyridine. In contrast, PVSMCs lack inward currents, and their outward current is inhibited by tetraethylammonium (5 mM) and 4-aminopyridine. Several K(V), K(ir), and large-conductance Ca(2+)-sensitive K(+) channels are present in PVs. Immunohistochemistry showed that K(ir) channels are present in PVCMs and PV endothelial cells but not in PVSMCs. We conclude that K(+) channels are present and functionally important in rat PVs. PVCMs form sphincters rich in K(ir) channels, which may modulate venous return both physiologically and in disease states including pulmonary edema.     

Variability of the molecular mass of α-subunit in phycocyanins of colonial Microcystis aeruginosa f. aeruginosa in different eutrophic pond and lakes

Electrospray ionization mass spectra of phycocyaninsof eight samples from natural blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa f. aeruginosa collectedat different eutrophic pond and lakes indicated thatthe subunits of phycocyanins in the samespecies have different molecular masses, whereas the subunits have almost constant molecularmasses. A negative linear relationship between themolecular mass of subunit of phycocyanin andthe concentration of chlorophyll of natural andcolonial cyanobacterial samples was found. Aninterannual similarity of the subunitmolecular masses of phycocyanins was observed fromsamples collected at the same sampling site at LakeKasumigaura during 1994 and 1995. A locationalvariability of the subunit molecular massesof phycocyanins was also observed among samplescollected at three eutrophic pond and lakes.