Retroviruses pseudotyped with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike protein efficiently infect cells expressing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2

Infection of receptor-bearing cells by coronaviruses is mediated by their spike (S) proteins. The coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infects cells expressing the receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Here we show that codon optimization of the SARS-CoV S-protein gene substantially enhanced S-protein expression. We also found that two retroviruses, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and murine leukemia virus, both expressing green fluorescent protein and pseudotyped with SARS-CoV S protein or S-protein variants, efficiently infected HEK293T cells stably expressing ACE2. Infection mediated by an S-protein variant whose cytoplasmic domain had been truncated and altered to include a fragment of the cytoplasmic tail of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein was, in both cases, substantially more efficient than that mediated by wild-type S protein. Using S-protein-pseudotyped SIV, we found that the enzymatic activity of ACE2 made no contribution to S-protein-mediated infection. Finally, we show that a soluble and catalytically inactive form of ACE2 potently blocked infection by S-protein-pseudotyped retrovirus and by SARS-CoV. These results permit studies of SARS-CoV entry inhibitors without the use of live virus and suggest a candidate therapy for SARS.     

P-O bond destabilization accelerates phosphoenzyme hydrolysis of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ -ATPase

The phosphate group of the ADP-insensitive phosphoenzyme (E2-P) of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ -ATPase (SERCA1a) was studied with infrared spectroscopy to understand the high hydrolysis rate of E2-P. By monitoring an autocatalyzed isotope exchange reaction, three stretching vibrations of the transiently bound phosphate group were selectively observed against a background of 50,000 protein vibrations. They were found at 1194, 1137, and 1115 cm(-1). This information was evaluated using the bond valence model and empirical correlations. Compared with the model compound acetyl phosphate, structure and charge distribution of the E2-P aspartyl phosphate resemble somewhat the transition state in a dissociative phosphate transfer reaction; the aspartyl phosphate of E2-P has 0.02 A shorter terminal P-O bonds and a 0.09 A longer bridging P-O bond that is approximately 20% weaker, the angle between the terminal P-O bonds is wider, and -0.2 formal charges are shifted from the phosphate group to the aspartyl moiety. The weaker bridging P-O bond of E2-P accounts for a 10(11)-10(15)-fold hydrolysis rate enhancement, implying that P-O bond destabilization facilitates phosphoenzyme hydrolysis. P-O bond destabilization is caused by a shift of noncovalent interactions from the phosphate oxygens to the aspartyl oxygens. We suggest that the relative positioning of Mg2+ and Lys684 between phosphate and aspartyl oxygens controls the hydrolysis rate of the ATPase phosphoenzymes and related phosphoproteins.     

Development and applications of surface plasmon resonance-based von Willebrand factor-collagen binding assay

Von Willebrand factor (vWf) functions both as a carrier of factor VIII (fVIII) in plasma and as an adhesive protein providing the primary link between collagen of the extracellular matrix and platelets sequestered from blood flow. The functional activity of vWf correlates with the level of its binding to collagen, which is commonly measured in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We developed an automated collagen-binding assay employing the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon, which allows one to quantitatively measure the binding of purified vWf and vWf-containing therapeutic fVIII concentrates to collagen type III immobilized on a biosensor chip. The results of the SPR-based assay highly correlated (r = 0.987) with collagen-binding ELISA. The advantages of the SPR-based assay are its higher accuracy and reproducibility in comparison with ELISA. We applied the developed assay for monitoring structural changes in the vWf component of plasma-derived fVIII/vWf concentrates during a virus inactivation procedure performed by heat treatment. We determined the critical residual moisture content of 2% that can be present in lyophilized concentrates during heat-treatment procedures without causing deteriorative changes in vWf properties. Our data suggest that the SPR-based assay is a useful tool in the development of industrial virus-inactivation procedures, allowing one to preserve vWf activity and achieve the maximal therapeutic efficacy of fVIII/vWf concentrates.     

An improved rapid method for the preparation of D-rhamnose

A method is developed for the preparation of D-rhamnose from an O-polysaccharide (OPS) isolated by mild acid hydrolysis of Azospirillum brasilense SR75 cell mass. After the OPS hydrolysis, D-rhamnose was recovered by gel-permeation chromatography on Toyopearl TSK HW-40 and was crystallized. The sugar activity was demonstrated immunochemically. The advantages of the method are that it expedites and simplifies the extraction of D-rhamnose and increases its yield.     

Structural diversity of nucleoside phosphonic acids as a key factor in the discovery of potent inhibitors of rat T-cell lymphoma thymidine phosphorylase

Structurally diverse, sugar-modified, thymine-containing nucleoside phosphonic acids were evaluated for their ability to inhibit thymidine phosphorylase (TP, EC 2.4.2.4) purified from spontaneous T-cell lymphomas of an inbred Sprague-Dawley rat strain. From a large set of tested compounds, among them a number of pyrrolidine-based derivatives, 10 nucleotide analogues with IC₅₀ values below 1 μM were selected. Out of them, four compounds strongly inhibited the enzyme with IC₅₀ values lying in a range of 11–45 nM. These most potent compounds might be bi-substrate analogues.     

Stm1p alters the ribosome association of eukaryotic elongation factor 3 and affects translation elongation

Stm1p is a Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein that is primarily associated with cytosolic 80S ribosomes and polysomes. Several lines of evidence suggest that Stm1p plays a role in translation under nutrient stress conditions, although its mechanism of action is not yet known. In this study, we show that yeast lacking Stm1p (stm1Δ) are hypersensitive to the translation inhibitor anisomycin, which affects the peptidyl transferase reaction in translation elongation, but show little hypersensitivity to other translation inhibitors such as paromomycin and hygromycin B, which affect translation fidelity. Ribosomes isolated from stm1Δ yeast have intrinsically elevated levels of eukaryotic elongation factor 3 (eEF3) associated with them. Overexpression of eEF3 in cells lacking Stm1p results in a growth defect phenotype and increased anisomycin sensitivity. In addition, ribosomes with increased levels of Stm1p exhibit decreased association with eEF3. Taken together, our data indicate that Stm1p plays a complementary role to eEF3 in translation.     

Dynamic lipid-protein stoichiometry on E1 and E2 conformations of the Na+/K+ -ATPase

Annular lipid-protein stoichiometry in native pig kidney Na+/K+ -ATPase preparation was studied by [125I]TID-PC/16 labeling. Our data indicate that the transmembrane domain of the Na+/K+ -ATPase in the E1 state is less exposed to the lipids than in E2, i.e., the conformational transitions are accompanied by changes in the number of annular lipids but not in the affinity of these lipids for the protein. The lipid-protein stoichiometry was 23 ± 2 (α subunit) and 5.0 ± 0.4 (β subunit) in the E1 conformation and 32 ± 2 (α subunit) and 7 ± 1 (β subunit) in the E2 conformation.     

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor and early-life stress: Multifaceted interplay

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a key regulator of neural development and plasticity. Long-term changes in the BDNF pathway are associated with childhood adversity and adult depression symptoms. Initially, stress-induced decreases in the BDNF pathway were found in some studies, but subsequent reports indicated the relationship between stress and BDNF to be much more complex, and the concept was significantly revised. In the present mini-review, we focus on the structure and regulation of the Bbnf gene as well as on the stress–BDNF interactions under early-life adverse conditions.