Random coil chemical shifts in acidic 8 M urea: Implementation of random coil shift data in NMRView

Studies of proteins unfolded in acid or chemical denaturant can help in unraveling events during the earliest phases of protein folding. In order for meaningful comparisons to be made of residual structure in unfolded states, it is necessary to use random coil chemical shifts that are valid for the experimental system under study. We present a set of random coil chemical shifts obtained for model peptides under experimental conditions used in studies of denatured proteins. This new set, together with previously published data sets, has been incorporated into a software interface for NMRView, allowing selection of the random coil data set that fits the experimental conditions best.     

Association of neuregulin 1 with schizophrenia confirmed in a Scottish population

Recently, we identified neuregulin 1 (NRG1) as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia in the Icelandic population, by a combined linkage and association approach. Here, we report the first study evaluating the relevance of NRG1 to schizophrenia in a population outside Iceland. Markers representing a core at-risk haplotype found in Icelanders at the 5' end of the NRG1 gene were genotyped in 609 unrelated Scottish patients and 618 unrelated Scottish control individuals. This haplotype consisted of five SNP markers and two microsatellites, which all appear to be in strong linkage disequilibrium. For the Scottish patients and control subjects, haplotype frequencies were estimated by maximum likelihood, using the expectation-maximization algorithm. The frequency of the seven-marker haplotype among the Scottish patients was significantly greater than that among the control subjects (10.2% vs. 5.9%, P=.00031). The estimated risk ratio was 1.8, which is in keeping with our report of unrelated Icelandic patients (2.1). Three of the seven markers in the haplotype gave single-point P values ranging from .000064 to .0021 for the allele contributing to the at-risk haplotype. This direct replication of haplotype association in a second population further implicates NRG1 as a factor that contributes to the etiology of schizophrenia.     

Changes in structure and dynamics of the Fv fragment of a catalytic antibody upon binding of inhibitor

Binding of the product inhibitor p-nitrophenol to the monoclonal esterolytic antibody NPN43C9 has been investigated by performing NMR spectroscopy of the heterodimeric variable-domain fragment (Fv) of the antibody in the presence and absence of inhibitor. Structural information from changes in chemical shift upon binding has been related to the changes in local dynamics in the active site of the catalytic antibody using NMR relaxation measurements. Significant changes in the chemical shifts of the backbone resonances upon binding extend beyond the immediate vicinity of the antigen binding site into the interface between the two associated polypeptides that form the Fv heterodimer, a possible indication that the binding of ligand causes a change in the relative orientations of the component light (V(L)) and heavy (V(H)) chain polypeptides. Significant differences in backbone dynamics were observed between the free Fv and the complex with p-nitrophenol. A number of resonances, including almost all of the third hypervariable loop of the light chain (L3), were greatly broadened in the free form of the protein. Other residues in the antigen-binding site showed less broadening of resonances, but still required exchange terms (R(ex)) in the model-free dynamics analysis, consistent with motion on a slow timescale in the active site region of the free Fv. Binding of p-nitrophenol caused these resonances to sharpen, but some R(ex) terms are still required in the analysis of the backbone dynamics. We conclude that the slow timescale motions in the antigen-binding site are very different in the bound and free forms of the Fv, presumably due to the damping of large-amplitude motions by the bound inhibitor.     

Cyclooxygenase-2 contributes to elevated renin in the early postnatal period in rats

We asked whether cyclooxygenase (COX) activity controls the renin-angiotensin system in the postnatal period. During kidney development, renin peaked at postnatal days 0-1 at the mRNA, tissue protein [renal renin concentration (RRC)], and plasma renin concentration (PRC) levels and was widely expressed along preglomerular vessels. PRC and renin mRNA expression was elevated until weaning in the 4th postnatal week compared with adult rats. Renocortical COX-2 was restricted to Tamm-Horsfall protein-positive cells in the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop, and cortical COX-2 mRNA and protein expression were elevated along with PRC in the 2nd and 3rd postnatal weeks. In contrast, cortical COX-1 expression was constant, but medullary COX-1 expression increased eightfold from the 1st to 4th postnatal week. A COX-2-selective blocker, parecoxib, and a nonselective blocker, indomethacin, given in a period with COX-2 induction from postnatal day 6 to day 12, markedly decreased PRC, but not renin mRNA or RRC. Inhibition of angiotensin AT(1) receptors by candesartan from postnatal day 1 to day 5 increased COX-2 mRNA (2.5-fold), protein, and distribution, renin mRNA (7-fold) and PRC (20- to 70-fold), but had no influence on COX-1 mRNA. Thus, due to very low levels of expression, COX-2 is unlikely to be responsible for the birth peak of renin, but COX-2 activity supports renin secretion later in the suckling period. ANG II negatively feeds back on renocortical COX-2 expression in the 1st postnatal days with high activity of the renin system. We suggest that suckling in the rat is correlated to an enhanced, COX-2-mediated, secretory activity of renin-producing juxtaglomerular cells.     

Seasonal Diet and Prey Preference of the African Lion in a Waterhole-Driven Semi-Arid Savanna

Large carnivores inhabiting ecosystems with heterogeneously distributed environmental resources with strong seasonal variations frequently employ opportunistic foraging strategies, often typified by seasonal switches in diet. In semi-arid ecosystems, herbivore distribution is generally more homogeneous in the wet season, when surface water is abundant, than in the dry season when only permanent sources remain. Here, we investigate the seasonal contribution of the different herbivore species, prey preference and distribution of kills (i.e. feeding locations) of African lions in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, a semi-arid African savanna structured by artificial waterholes. We used data from 245 kills and 74 faecal samples. Buffalo consistently emerged as the most frequently utilised prey in all seasons by both male (56%) and female (33%) lions, contributing the most to lion dietary biomass. Jacobs’ index also revealed that buffalo was the most intensively selected species throughout the year. For female lions, kudu and to a lesser extent the group “medium Bovidae” are the most important secondary prey. This study revealed seasonal patterns in secondary prey consumption by female lions partly based on prey ecology with browsers, such as giraffe and kudu, mainly consumed in the early dry season, and grazers, such as zebra and suids, contributing more to female diet in the late dry season. Further, it revealed the opportunistic hunting behaviour of lions for prey as diverse as elephants and mice, with elephants taken mostly as juveniles at the end of the dry season during droughts. Jacobs’ index finally revealed a very strong preference for kills within 2 km from a waterhole for all prey species, except small antelopes, in all seasons. This suggested that surface-water resources form passive traps and contribute to the structuring of lion foraging behaviour.     

Prostasomes from four different species are able to produce extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Background

Prostasomes are extracellular vesicles. Intracellularly they are enclosed by another larger vesicle, a so called “storage vesicle” equivalent to a multivesicular body of late endosomal origin. Prostasomes in their extracellular context are thought to play a crucial role in fertilization.

Methods

Prostasomes were purified according to a well worked-out schedule from seminal plasmas obtained from human, canine, equine and bovine species. The various prostasomes were subjected to SDS-PAGE separation and protein banding patterns were compared. To gain knowledge of the prostasomal protein systems pertaining to prostasomes of four different species proteins were analyzed using a proteomic approach. An in vitro assay was employed to demonstrate ATP formation by prostasomes of different species.

Results

The SDS-PAGE banding pattern of prostasomes from the four species revealed a richly faceted picture with most protein bands within the molecular weight range of 10–150 kDa. Some protein bands seemed to be concordant among species although differently expressed and the number of protein bands of dog prostasomes seemed to be distinctly fewer. Special emphasis was put on proteins involved in energy metabolic turnover. Prostasomes from all four species were able to form extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP formation was balanced by ATPase activity linked to the four types of prostasomes.

Conclusion

These potencies of a possession of functional ATP-forming enzymes by different prostasome types should be regarded against the knowledge of ATP having a profound effect on cell responses and now explicitly on the success of the sperm cell to fertilize the ovum.

General significance

This study unravels energy metabolic relationships of prostasomes from four different species.     

Quantifying Missing Heritability at Known GWAS Loci

Recent work has shown that much of the missing heritability of complex traits can be resolved by estimates of heritability explained by all genotyped SNPs. However, it is currently unknown how much heritability is missing due to poor tagging or additional causal variants at known GWAS loci. Here, we use variance components to quantify the heritability explained by all SNPs at known GWAS loci in nine diseases from WTCCC1 and WTCCC2. After accounting for expectation, we observed all SNPs at known GWAS loci to explain more heritability than GWAS-associated SNPs on average (). For some diseases, this increase was individually significant: for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) () and for Crohn''s Disease (CD) (); all analyses of autoimmune diseases excluded the well-studied MHC region. Additionally, we found that GWAS loci from other related traits also explained significant heritability. The union of all autoimmune disease loci explained more MS heritability than known MS SNPs () and more CD heritability than known CD SNPs (), with an analogous increase for all autoimmune diseases analyzed. We also observed significant increases in an analysis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) samples typed on ImmunoChip, with more heritability from all SNPs at GWAS loci () and more heritability from all autoimmune disease loci () compared to known RA SNPs (including those identified in this cohort). Our methods adjust for LD between SNPs, which can bias standard estimates of heritability from SNPs even if all causal variants are typed. By comparing adjusted estimates, we hypothesize that the genome-wide distribution of causal variants is enriched for low-frequency alleles, but that causal variants at known GWAS loci are skewed towards common alleles. These findings have important ramifications for fine-mapping study design and our understanding of complex disease architecture.     

Steroid control of gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion: associated changes in pro-opiomelanocortin and preproenkephalin messenger RNA expression in the ovine hypothalamus

The endogenous opioid peptides have been implicated in mediating the actions of estrogen and progesterone on GnRH release. We used in situ hybridization histochemistry to determine whether steroid-induced changes in GnRH/LH release in the female sheep are associated with changes in the cellular mRNA content of the precursors for beta-endorphin (pro-opiomelanocortin; POMC) and met-enkephalin (pre-proenkephalin; PENK). Two specific hypotheses were tested. First, that the inhibitory actions of progesterone are associated with an increase in opioid gene expression in specific hypothalamic nuclei. Our data support this hypothesis. Thus, an increase in progesterone was associated with increased POMC gene expression in the arcuate nucleus and PENK in the paraventricular nucleus. Further, the increase in POMC was restricted to regions of the arcuate nucleus that contain steroid sensitive beta-endorphin neurons. Our second hypothesis, that gene expression for the two opioid precursors would decrease prior to the start of the estradiol-stimulated GnRH surge, was not supported. Rather, POMC (but not PENK) gene expression in the arcuate nucleus was significantly higher in estradiol-treated animals than controls at the peak of the GnRH surge. These data suggest that beta-endorphin neurons in subdivisions of the arcuate nucleus and enkephalin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus are part of the neural network by which progesterone inhibits LH release. While enkephalin neurons may not play a role in estrogen positive feedback, increases in POMC mRNA in the arcuate nucleus at the time of the GnRH peak may be important for replenishing beta-endorphin stores and terminating estrous behavior.