The Efficiency of Selenocysteine Incorporation Is Regulated by Translation Initiation Factors

Selenocysteine (Sec) incorporation is an essential process required for the production of at least 25 human selenoproteins. This unique amino acid is co-translationally incorporated at specific UGA codons that normally serve as termination signals. Recoding from stop to Sec involves a cis-acting Sec insertion sequence element in the 3′ untranslated region of selenoprotein mRNAs as well as Sec insertion sequence binding protein 2, Sec-tRNA^Sec, and the Sec-specific elongation factor, eEFSec. The interplay between recoding and termination at Sec codons has served as a focal point in researching the mechanism of Sec insertion, but the role of translation initiation has not been addressed. In this report, we show that the cricket paralysis virus intergenic internal ribosome entry site is able to support Sec incorporation, thus providing evidence that the canonical functions of translation initiation factors are not required. Additionally, we show that neither a 5′ cap nor a 3′ poly(A) tail enhances Sec incorporation. Interestingly, however, the presence of the internal ribosome entry site significantly decreases Sec incorporation efficiency, suggesting a role for translation initiation in regulating the efficiency of UGA recoding.     

Quality prediction of cell substrate using gene expression profiling

Changes in cell culture conditions influence the metabolism of cells, which consequently affects the quality of the products that they produce, such as viral vectors, recombinant proteins, or vaccines. Currently there is no effective technique available to monitor global quality of cells in cell culture. Here we describe a new method using gene expression profiling by microarray to predict the quality of cell substrates. Human embryonic kidney 293 cells are a commonly used cell substrate in the production of biological products. We demonstrate that the yield of adenoviral vectors was lower in over-confluent 293 cells, compared to 40 or 90% confluent cells. Total RNA derived from these cells of different confluence states was reverse transcribed, labeled, and used to hybridize 10K cDNA arrays to determine biomarkers for confluence states. Phenotype scatter-plot analysis and cluster analysis were used for class discovery. Based on this approach, we identified genes that were either up-regulated or down-modulated in response to different cell confluence states. By multivariate predictive models we identified a set of 37 genes that were either down-regulated or up-regulated compared to 90% confluent cells as a predictor of cell confluence and quality of 293 cell cultures. The predictive accuracy of these models was assessed by the leave-one-out cross-validation method. The expression of selected gene predictors was validated by quantitative PCR analysis. Our results demonstrate that gene expression profiling can assess the quality of cell substrates prior to large-scale production of a biological product.     

Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes global induction of antiapoptosis in human neutrophils

Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Ap), the agent of the tick-borne disease human granulocytic anaplasmosis, is an obligate intracellular pathogen unique in its ability to target and replicate within neutrophils. It profoundly inhibits neutrophil apoptosis, prolonging neutrophil survival from hours to days. To determine the basis of antiapoptosis, we compared gene expression in Ap-infected vs mock-infected human neutrophils. Antiapoptosis genes were consistently and significantly up-regulated (2- to 15-fold) within 1-3 h. These genes synergistically inhibit apoptosis through several interconnected pathways, including p38MAPK (MAP2K3), ERK (IER3), PI3K (PRKCD), and NF-kappaB (BCL2A1, NFKB1, NFKBIA, GADD45B). Both extrinsic death receptor (TNFAIP3, CFLAR, SOD2) and intrinsic mitochondrial (BCL2A1, PIM2, BIRC3) pathways were affected as confirmed by reductions in both caspase 3 and caspase 8 activities. Several important antiapoptotic genes noted to be up-regulated in Ap-infected neutrophils were not up-regulated during Ap infection of HL-60 cells (which is not antiapoptotic). In conclusion, just as apoptosis may be triggered through multiple molecular pathways, effective antiapoptosis of neutrophils is achieved rapidly and redundantly by this intracellular pathogen dependent on cell survival.     

TLR activation of Langerhans cell-like dendritic cells triggers an antiviral immune response

Langerhans cells (LC) are a unique subset of dendritic cells (DC), present in the epidermis and serving as the first line of defense against pathogens invading the skin. To investigate the role of human LCs in innate immune responses, we examined TLR expression and function of LC-like DCs derived from CD34+ progenitor cells and compared them to DCs derived from peripheral blood monocytes (monocyte-derived DC; Mo-DC). LC-like DCs and Mo-DCs expressed TLR1-10 mRNAs at comparable levels. Although many of the TLR-induced cytokine patterns were similar between the two cell types, stimulation with the TLR3 agonist poly(I:C) triggered significantly higher amounts of the IFN-inducible chemokines CXCL9 (monokine induced by IFN-gamma) and CXCL11 (IFN-gamma-inducible T cell alpha chemoattractant) in LC-like DCs as compared with Mo-DCs. Supernatants from TLR3-activated LC-like DCs reduced intracellular replication of vesicular stomatitis virus in a type I IFN-dependent manner. Finally, CXCL9 colocalized with LCs in skin biopsy specimens from viral infections. Together, our data suggest that LCs exhibit a direct antiviral activity that is dependent on type I IFN as part of the innate immune system.     

Evidence for siderophore-dependent iron acquisition in group B streptococcus

Mutagenesis of group B streptococcus (GBS) with TnphoZ, a transposon designed to identify secreted protein genes, identified the gene homologues fhuD and fhuG. The encoded proteins participate in siderophore (hydroxamate)-dependent iron(III) transport in other bacterial species. Sequence analysis of the genome determined that fhuD and fhuG are members of a polycistronic operon comprised of four genes, fhuCDBG, that encode a putative ATPase, cell surface receptor and two transmembrane proteins respectively. We hypothesized that FhuD was a siderophore receptor. Western analysis of cell extracts localized FhuD to the bacterial cell membrane. Fluorescence quenching experiments determined that purified FhuD bound hydroxamate-type siderophores. FhuD displayed highest affinity for iron(III)-desferroxamine, with a K(D) (microM) = 0.05, identical to that described for FhuD2 from Staphylococcus aureus. The role of Fhu in siderophore-iron transport was also characterized. A fhu mutant, ACFhu1, was equally sensitive to the iron-dependent antibiotic streptonigrin as the wild-type strain, suggesting that ACFhu1 was not reduced for intracellular iron concentrations in the absence of exogenous siderophore. However, ACFhu1 transported significantly less siderophore-bound iron in (55)Fe accumulation assays. These data provide the first evidence of siderophore-mediated iron acquisition by GBS.     

Two distinct mutations in gyrA lead to ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid resistance in Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni isolated from chickens and beef cattle

AIMS: The aim of this study was to identify point mutations in the gyrA quinolone resistance determining region (QRDR) of Campylobacter coli (n = 27) and Campylobacter jejuni (n = 26) that confer nalidixic acid (NAL) resistance without conferring resistance to ciprofloxacin (CIP). METHODS AND RESULTS: Point mutations in the QRDR of gyrA from C. coli and C. jejuni isolates were identified by direct sequencing. All isolates (n = 14) with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) >or=4 microg ml(-1) for CIP and >or=32 microg ml(-1) for NAL possessed a missense mutation leading to substitution of Ile for Thr at codon 86. Three isolates with a missense mutation leading to a Thr86Ala substitution had MICs <4 mug ml(-1) for CIP and >or=32 microg ml(-1) for NAL. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm previous findings that Thr86Ile mutations confer resistance to both CIP and NAL. However, resistance to NAL alone was conferred by a single Thr86Ala mutation. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Resistance to NAL alone arises independently from CIP resistance. In addition, the role of other previously described point mutations in quinolone resistance is discussed.     

Wapl controls the dynamic association of cohesin with chromatin

Cohesin establishes sister-chromatid cohesion from S phase until mitosis or meiosis. To allow chromosome segregation, cohesion has to be dissolved. In vertebrate cells, this process is mediated in part by the protease separase, which destroys a small amount of cohesin, but most cohesin is removed from chromosomes without proteolysis. How this is achieved is poorly understood. Here, we show that the interaction between cohesin and chromatin is controlled by Wapl, a protein implicated in heterochromatin formation and tumorigenesis. Wapl is associated with cohesin throughout the cell cycle, and its depletion blocks cohesin dissociation from chromosomes during the early stages of mitosis and prevents the resolution of sister chromatids until anaphase, which occurs after a delay. Wapl depletion also increases the residence time of cohesin on chromatin in interphase. Our data indicate that Wapl is required to unlock cohesin from a particular state in which it is stably bound to chromatin.     

The cbiS gene of the archaeon Methanopyrus kandleri AV19 encodes a bifunctional enzyme with adenosylcobinamide amidohydrolase and alpha-ribazole-phosphate phosphatase activities

Here we report the initial biochemical characterization of the bifunctional alpha-ribazole-P (alpha-RP) phosphatase, adenosylcobinamide (AdoCbi) amidohydrolase CbiS enzyme from the hyperthermophilic methanogenic archaeon Methanopyrus kandleri AV19. The cbiS gene encodes a 39-kDa protein with two distinct segments, one of which is homologous to the AdoCbi amidohydrolase (CbiZ, EC 3.5.1.90) enzyme and the other of which is homologous to the recently discovered archaeal alpha-RP phosphatase (CobZ, EC 3.1.3.73) enzyme. CbiS function restored AdoCbi salvaging and alpha-RP phosphatase activity in strains of the bacterium Salmonella enterica where either step was blocked. The two halves of the cbiS genes retained their function in vivo when they were cloned separately. The CbiS enzyme was overproduced in Escherichia coli and was isolated to >95% homogeneity. High-performance liquid chromatography, UV-visible spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy established alpha-ribazole and cobyric acid as the products of the phosphatase and amidohydrolase reactions, respectively. Reasons why the CbiZ and CobZ enzymes are fused in some archaea are discussed.