Kinetic characterization of the Ca2+-pumping ATPase of cardia sarcolemma in four states of activation

The Ca2+ dependence of the Ca2+-pumping ATPase of bovine cardiac sarcolemma was studied for four states of activation: (a) unactivated, (b) cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAMP protein kinase C-subunit)-activated, (c) calmodulin (CAM)-activated, and (d) CAM plus cAMP protein kinase C-subunit-activated. Analysis of the Ca2+ dependence of active transport gave the following Vmax (nanomoles Ca2+/(mg x min], Km (nM) for Ca2+, and Hill coefficient values for the four states at pH 7.4, 37 degrees C: (a) 1.7 +/- 0.3, 1800 +/- 100, 1.6 +/- 0.1; (b) 3.1 +/- 0.5, 1100 +/- 100, 1.7 +/- 0.1; (c) 15.0 +/- 2.5, 64 +/- 1.4, 3.7 +/- 0.2; and (d) 36.0 +/- 6.5, 63 +/- 1.7, 3.7 +/- 0.1. CAM has the most dramatic effect, increasing the apparent Ca2+ affinity by a factor of 28, increasing the Hill coefficient 2.0 units to a value approaching 4 and increasing the Vmax by a factor of 9 or 12. The effective Ca2+ concentration (EC50) for the Ca2+-induced activation of the enzyme in the presence of 5 microM calmodulin is close to the Km for Ca2+ for the CAM-activated state (64 nM). Activation by cAMP protein kinase C-subunit had only minor effects on the Km and Hill coefficient, but increased the Vmax of both the unactivated and the CAM-activated forms of the pump by factor of 1.8 and 2.4, respectively. Analysis suggests that CAM activation is the result of direct binding of Ca2-CAM or high complexes, conferring higher Ca2+ affinity to the enzyme. Analysis suggests that regulatory phosphorylation (cAMP protein kinase C-subunit) increases the rates of processes subsequent to or distinct from Ca2+ binding. The CAM-activated form of the pump was further characterized. Unexpectedly, this form of the enzyme is stimulated a factor of 1.9 by ADP, with half-maximal stimulation between 0.4 and 0.7 mM. Analysis of the progress curves for uptake show that the CAM-activated enzyme is highly resistant to inhibition by transported Ca2+, with an IC50 of 32 mM. The implications of these findings for the pump mechanism and for its role in the regulation of cardiac contractility are discussed.     

Serine/arginine-rich splicing factors belong to a class of intrinsically disordered proteins

Serine/arginine-rich (SR) splicing factors play an important role in constitutive and alternative splicing as well as during several steps of RNA metabolism. Despite the wealth of functional information about SR proteins accumulated to-date, structural knowledge about the members of this family is very limited. To gain a better insight into structure-function relationships of SR proteins, we performed extensive sequence analysis of SR protein family members and combined it with ordered/disordered structure predictions. We found that SR proteins have properties characteristic of intrinsically disordered (ID) proteins. The amino acid composition and sequence complexity of SR proteins were very similar to those of the disordered protein regions. More detailed analysis showed that the SR proteins, and their RS domains in particular, are enriched in the disorder-promoting residues and are depleted in the order-promoting residues as compared to the entire human proteome. Moreover, disorder predictions indicated that RS domains of SR proteins were completely unstructured. Two different classification methods, the charge-hydropathy measure and the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the disorder scores, were in agreement with each other, and they both strongly predicted members of the SR protein family to be disordered. This study emphasizes the importance of the disordered structure for several functions of SR proteins, such as for spliceosome assembly and for interaction with multiple partners. In addition, it demonstrates the usefulness of order/disorder predictions for inferring protein structure from sequence.     

Genetic Variants in the Bone Morphogenic Protein Gene Family Modify the Association between Residential Exposure to Traffic and Peripheral Arterial Disease

There is a growing literature indicating that genetic variants modify many of the associations between environmental exposures and clinical outcomes, potentially by increasing susceptibility to these exposures. However, genome-scale investigations of these interactions have been rarely performed particularly in the case of air pollution exposures. We performed race-stratified genome-wide gene-environment interaction association studies on European-American (EA, N = 1623) and African-American (AA, N = 554) cohorts to investigate the joint influence of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and residential exposure to traffic (“traffic exposure”)—a recognized vascular disease risk factor—on peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Traffic exposure was estimated via the distance from the primary residence to the nearest major roadway, defined as the nearest limited access highways or major arterial. The rs755249-traffic exposure interaction was associated with PAD at a genome-wide significant level (P = 2.29x10^-8) in European-Americans. Rs755249 is located in the 3’ untranslated region of BMP8A, a member of the bone morphogenic protein (BMP) gene family. Further investigation revealed several variants in BMP genes associated with PAD via an interaction with traffic exposure in both the EA and AA cohorts; this included interactions with non-synonymous variants in BMP2, which is regulated by air pollution exposure. The BMP family of genes is linked to vascular growth and calcification and is a novel gene family for the study of PAD pathophysiology. Further investigation of BMP8A using the Genotype Tissue Expression Database revealed multiple variants with nominally significant (P < 0.05) interaction P-values in our EA cohort were significant BMP8A eQTLs in tissue types highlight relevant for PAD such as rs755249 (tibial nerve, eQTL P = 3.6x10^-6) and rs1180341 (tibial artery, eQTL P = 5.3x10^-6). Together these results reveal a novel gene, and possibly gene family, associated with PAD via an interaction with traffic air pollution exposure. These results also highlight the potential for interactions studies, particularly at the genome scale, to reveal novel biology linking environmental exposures to clinical outcomes.     

Genetic and biochemical consequences of thymidylate stress

We have examined the genetic and biochemical consequences of thymidylate stress in haploid and diploid strains of the simple eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Bakers' yeast). Previously we reported that inhibition of dTMP biosynthesis causes "thymineless death" and is highly recombinagenic, but apparently not mutagenic, at the nuclear level; however, it is mutagenic for mitochondria. Concurrent provision of dTMP abolishes these effects. Conversely, excess dTMP is highly mutagenic for nuclear genes. It is likely that DNA strand breaks are responsible for the recombinagenic effects of thymidylate deprivation; such breaks could be produced by reiterative uracil incorporation and excision in DNA repair patches. In our experiments, thymidylate stress was produced both by starving dTMP auxotrophs for the required nucleotide and also by blocking de novo synthesis of thymidylate by various antimetabolites. We found that the antifolate methotrexate is a potent inducer of mitotic recombination (both gene conversion and mitotic crossing-over). This suggests that the gene amplification associated with methotrexate resistance in mammalian cells could arise, in part, by unequal sister-chromatid exchange induced by thymidylate stress. In addition, several sulfa drugs, which impede de novo folate biosynthesis, also have considerable recombinagenic activity.     

Developmental exposure to noninherited maternal antigens induces CD4+ T regulatory cells: relevance to mechanism of heart allograft tolerance

We hypothesize that developmental exposure to noninherited maternal Ags (NIMA) results in alloantigen-specific natural and adaptive T regulatory (T(R)) cells. We compared offspring exposed to maternal H-2(d) (NIMA(d)) with nonexposed controls. In vitro assays did not reveal any differences in T cell responses pretransplant. Adoptive transfer assays revealed lower lymphoproliferation and greater cell surface TGF-beta expression on CD4(+) T cells of NIMA(d)-exposed vs control splenocytes. NIMA(d)-exposed splenocytes exhibited bystander suppression of tetanus-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, which was reversed with Abs to TGF-beta and IL-10. Allospecific T effector cells were induced in all mice upon i.v. challenge with B6D2F1 splenocytes or a DBA/2 heart transplant, but were controlled in NIMA(d)-exposed mice by T(R) cells to varying degrees. Some (40%) NIMA(d)-exposed mice accepted a DBA/2 allograft while others (60%) rejected in delayed fashion. Rejector and acceptor NIMA(d)-exposed mice had reduced T effector responses and increased Foxp3(+) T(R) cells (CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T(R)) in spleen and lymph nodes compared with controls. The key features distinguishing NIMA(d)-exposed acceptors from all other mice were: 1) higher frequency of IL-10- and TGF-beta-producing cells primarily in the CD4(+)CD25(+) T cell subset within lymph nodes and allografts, 2) a suppressed delayed-type hypersensitivity response to B6D2F1 Ags, and 3) allografts enriched in LAP(+), Foxp3(+), and CD4(+) T cells, with few CD8(+) T cells. We conclude that the beneficial NIMA effect is due to induction of NIMA-specific T(R) cells during ontogeny. Their persistence in the adult, and the ability of the host to mobilize them to the graft, may determine whether NIMA-specific tolerance is achieved.     

A quantitative analysis of secondary RNA structure using domination based parameters on trees

Background  

It has become increasingly apparent that a comprehensive database of RNA motifs is essential in order to achieve new goals in genomic and proteomic research. Secondary RNA structures have frequently been represented by various modeling methods as graph-theoretic trees. Using graph theory as a modeling tool allows the vast resources of graphical invariants to be utilized to numerically identify secondary RNA motifs. The domination number of a graph is a graphical invariant that is sensitive to even a slight change in the structure of a tree. The invariants selected in this study are variations of the domination number of a graph. These graphical invariants are partitioned into two classes, and we define two parameters based on each of these classes. These parameters are calculated for all small order trees and a statistical analysis of the resulting data is conducted to determine if the values of these parameters can be utilized to identify which trees of orders seven and eight are RNA-like in structure.     

Changes in plasma zinc,copper, iron,and hepatic metallothionein in adjuvant-induced arthritis treated with cyclosporin

The early changes in hepatic metallothionein (MT) and plasma zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and iron (Fe) were investigated during the induction of adjuvant (AJ) arthritis in rats in conjunction with cyclosporin (CSA) treatment. Plasma Zn decreased after AJ injection (60% of control values at 8 h), and this was associated with a 4.5-fold increase in hepatic MT at 8 h. Plasma Zn was lowest at 16 h (40% of control), whereas hepatic MT concentrations increased to a maximum of 20-fold at 16 h. Changes in plasma Fe paralleled those of Zn, whereas plasma Cu levels were increased. Plasma metal and hepatic MT concentrations returned toward normal from d 1–7. At d 14, when marked paw swelling was apparent, hepatic MT and plasma Cu were again increased and plasma Zn decreased. Administration of CsA decreased MT induction in rats injected with AJ and also caused a marked recovery in plasma Zn and Fe levels. These changes were small but significant even in the early stages (up to 24 h) after AJ injection and were followed by a sustained improvement in all parameters, corresponding to the nonappearance of clinical arthropathy in CsA-treated rats. TNF-α and IL-6 production by peritoneal macrophages isolated from AJ-injected rats was significantly decreased by CsA treatment at d 7 and 14. The inhibition of hepatic MT induction during acute and chronic inflammation by cyclosporin emphasizes the role of the immune system in altered metal homeostasis in inflammation.     

Ontogeny of microsomal activities of triacylglycerol synthesis in guinea pig liver

Because the onset of triacylglycerol-rich lipoprotein synthesis occurs in guinea pig liver during fetal life, we investigated the microsomal enzyme activities of triacylglycerol synthesis in fetal and postnatal guinea pig liver. Hepatic monoacylglycerol acyltransferase specific and total microsomal activities peaked by the 50th day of gestation and declined rapidly after birth to levels that were virtually unmeasurable in the adult. Peak fetal specific activity was more than 75-fold higher than observed in the adult. The specific activities of fatty acid CoA ligase and lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase increased 2- to 3-fold before birth; lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase increased a further 2.6-fold during the first week of life. Specific activities of phosphatidic acid phosphatase, microsomal glycerophosphate acyltransferase, and diacylglycerol acyltransferase varied minimally over the time course investigated. These data demonstrate that selective changes occur in guinea pig hepatic microsomal activities of triacylglycerol synthesis before birth. Because of an approximate 11-fold increase in hepatic microsomal protein between birth and the adult, however, major increases in total microsomal activity of all the triacylglycerol synthetic activities occurred after birth. The pattern of monoacylglycerol acyltransferase specific and total microsomal activities differs from that of the rat in occurring primarily during the last third of gestation instead of during the suckling period. This pattern provides evidence that hepatic monoacylglycerol acyltransferase activity probably does not function to acylate 2-monoacylglycerols derived from partial hydrolysis of diet-derived triacylglycerol.