Plasma lipids and lipoprotein patterns in angiographically graded atherosclerosis of the legs and in coronary heart disease.

The prevalence and type of plasma lipoprotein abnormalities were determined in 114 French-Canadian patients with angiographically proven peripheral vascular disease (PVD). The severity of atherosclerosis was positively correlated with plasma triglyceride concentration, especially in the younger patients (r = 0.29, P less than 0.05), and (not significantly) with plasma cholesterol concentration. Of the risk factors believed to predispose individuals to atherosclerosis, cigarette smoking was the most frequently found in the PVD patients (72.8%), especially among the men. Combination of two or more risk factors was the rule. Findings were compared with those in 114 patients who had undergone coronary angiography for suspected coronary heart disease (CHD). The CHD patients were, on average, younger by 10 years. Hyperlipidemia was present in 58.8% of CHD patients, compared with 43.9% of PVD patients. A far higher proportion of CHD patients showed the type II plasma lipoprotein pattern (24.6% v. 7.9%), although the type IV pattern was more common in both groups (31.6% and 28.9%, respectively). A high proportion of all patients (56.1% with PVD and 41.2% with CHD) showed a normal lipoprotein pattern on paper electrophoresis.     

Isolation and characterization of mRNAs differentially expressed during ripening of wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) fruits

Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) is an attactive model system for studying ripening in non-climacteric fruit, because of its small diploid genome, its short reproductive cycle, and its capacity for transformation. We have isolated eight ripening-induced cDNAs from this species after differential screening of a cDNA library. The predicted polypeptides of seven of the clones exhibit similarity to database protein sequences, including acyl carrier protein, caffeoyl- CoA 3-O-methyltransferase, sesquiterpene cyclase, major latex protein, cystathionine -synthase, dehydrin and an auxin- induced gene. A ninth cDNA clone that was constitutively expressed is predicted to encode a metallothionein-like protein. None of these proteins appear to be directly related to events generally associated with ripening such as cell wall metabolism or the accumulation of sugars and pigments, rather, their putative functions are indicative of the wide range of processes upregulated during fruit ripening.     

Purification,properties and partial amino-acid sequence of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidase from apple fruits

The enzyme which converts 1-aminocyclo-propane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) into ethylene, ACC oxidase, has been isolated from apple fruits (Malus x domestica Borkh. cv. Golden Delicious), and for the first time stabilized in vitro by 1,10-phenanthroline and purified 170-fold to homogeneity in a five-step procedure. The sodium dodecyl sulfate-denatured and native proteins have similar molecular weights (approx. 40 kDa) indicating that the enzyme is active in its monomeric form. Antibodies raised against a recombinant ACC oxidase over-produced in Escherichia coli from a tomato cDNA recognise the apple-fruit enzyme with high specificity in both crude extracts and purified form. Glycosylation appears to be absent because of (i) the lack of reactivity towards a mixture of seven different biotinylated lectins and (ii) the absence of N-linked substitution at a potential glycosylation site, in a sequenced peptide. Phenylhydrazine and 2-methyl-1-2-dipyridyl propane do not inhibit activity, indicating that ACC oxidase is not a prosthetic-heme iron protein. The partial amino-acid sequence of the native protein has strong homology to the predicted protein of a tomato fruit cDNA demonstrated to encode ACC oxidase.     

Stored red blood cells: A changing universe waiting for its map(s)

The availability of stored red blood cells (RBCs) for transfusion remains an important aspect of the treatment of polytrauma, acute anemia or major bleedings. RBCs are prepared by blood banks from whole blood donations and stored in the cold in additive solutions for typically six weeks. These far from physiological storage conditions result in the so-called red cell storage lesion that is of importance both to blood bankers and to clinical practitioners. Here we review the current state of knowledge about the red cell storage lesion from a proteomic perspective. In particular, we describe the current models accounting for RBC aging and response to lethal stresses, review the published proteomic studies carried out to uncover the molecular basis of the RBC storage lesion, and conclude by suggesting a few possible proteomic studies that would provide further knowledge of the molecular alterations carried by RBCs stored in the cold for six weeks.     

Productive HIV-1 infection of primary CD4+ T cells induces mitochondrial membrane permeabilization leading to a caspase-independent cell death.

We have explored in vitro the mechanism by which human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) induces cell death of primary CD4+ T cells in conditions of productive infection. Although HIV-1 infection primed phytohemagglutinin-activated CD4+ T cells for death induced by anti-CD95 antibody, T cell death was not prevented by a CD95-Fc decoy receptor, nor by decoy receptors of other members of the TNFR family (TNFR1/R2, TRAILR1/R2/OPG, TRAMP) or by various blocking antibodies, suggesting that triggering of death receptors by their cognate ligands is not involved in HIV-induced CD4 T cell death. HIV-1 induced CD4 T cell shrinkage, cell surface exposure of phosphatidylserine, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim), and mitochondrial release of cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor. A typical apoptotic phenotype (nuclear chromatin condensation and fragmentation) only occurred in around half of the dying cells. Treatment with benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone, a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor, prevented nuclear chromatin condensation and fragmentation in HIV-infected CD4+ T cells and in a cell-free system (in which nuclei were incubated with cytoplasmic extracts from the HIV-infected CD4+ T cells). Nevertheless, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone did not prevent mitochondrial membrane potential loss and cell death, suggesting that caspases are dispensable for HIV-mediated cell death. Our findings suggest a major role of the mitochondria in the process of CD4 T cell death induced by HIV, in which targeting of Bax to the mitochondria may be involved.     

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), cardiotrophin-1, and oncostatin M share structural binding determinants in the immunoglobulin-like domain of LIF receptor

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), and oncostatin M (OSM) are four helix bundle cytokines acting through a common heterodimeric receptor composed of gp130 and LIF receptor (LIFR). Binding to LIFR occurs through a binding site characterized by an FXXK motif located at the N terminus of helix D (site III). The immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domain of LIFR was modeled, and the physico-chemical properties of its Connolly surface were analyzed. This analysis revealed an area displaying properties complementary to those of the LIF site III. Two residues of the Ig-like domain of LIFR, Asp214 and Phe284, formed a mirror image of the FXXK motif. Engineered LIFR mutants in which either or both of these two residues were mutated to alanine were transfected in Ba/F3 cells already containing gp130. The F284A mutation impaired the biological response induced by LIF and CT-1, whereas the response to OSM remained unchanged. The Asp214 mutation did not alter the functional responses. The D214A/F284A double mutation, however, totally impaired cellular proliferation to LIF and CT-1 and partially impaired OSM-induced proliferation with a 20-fold increase in EC50. These results were corroborated by the analysis of STAT3 phosphorylation and Scatchard analysis of cytokine binding to Ba/F3 cells. Molecular modeling of the complex of LIF with the Ig-like domain of LIFR provides a clue for the superadditivity of the D214A/F284A double mutation. Our results indicate that LIF, CT-1, and OSM share an overlapping binding site located in the Ig-like domain of LIFR. The different behaviors of LIF and CT-1, on one side, and of OSM, on the other side, can be related to the different affinity of their site III for LIFR.     

Caspase-dependent and -independent T-cell death pathways in pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus infection: relationship to disease progression

Studies of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and nonhuman primate models of pathogenic and nonpathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections have suggested that enhanced ex vivo CD4 T-cell death is a feature of pathogenic infection in vivo. However, the relative contributions of the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways to programmed T-cell death in SIV infection have not been studied. We report here that the spontaneous death rate of CD4+ T cells from pathogenic SIVmac251-infected rhesus macaques ex vivo is correlated with CD4 T-cell depletion and plasma viral load in vivo. CD4+ T cells from SIVmac251-infected macaques showed upregulation of the death ligand (CD95L) and of the proapoptotic proteins Bim and Bak, but not of Bax. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from SIVmac251-infected macaques underwent caspase-dependent death following CD95 ligation. The spontaneous death of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was not prevented by a decoy CD95 receptor or by a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor (zVAD-fmk), suggesting that this form of cell death is independent of CD95/CD95L interaction and caspase activation. IL-2 and IL-15 prevented the spontaneous death of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, whereas IL-10 prevented only CD8 T-cell death and IL-7 had no effect on T-cell death. Our results indicate that caspase-dependent and caspase-independent pathways are involved in the death of T cells in pathogenic SIVmac251-infected primates.