Three-dimensional consensus structure of sst2-selective somatostatin (SRIF) antagonists by NMR

The three-dimensional NMR structures of seven octapeptide analogs of somatostatin (SRIF), based on octreotide, with the basic sequence H-Cpa/Phe2-c[DCys3-Xxx7-DTrp/DAph(Cbm)8-Lys9-Thr10-Cys14]-Yyy-NH2 (the numbering refers to the position in native SRIF), with Xxx7 being Aph(Cbm)/Tyr/Agl(NMe,benzoyl) and Yyy being Nal/DTyr/Thr, are presented here. Most of these analogs exhibit potent and highly selective binding to sst2 receptors, and all of the analogs are antagonists inhibiting receptor signaling. Based on their consensus 3D structure, the pharmacophore of the sst2-selective antagonist has been defined. The pharmacophore involves the side chains of Cpa2, DTrp/DAph(Cbm)8, and Lys9, with the backbone for most of the sst2-selective antagonists comprised a Type-II' beta-turn. Hence, the sst2-selective antagonist pharmacophore is very similar to the sst2-selective agonist pharmacophore previously described.     

Penicillin-binding proteins of protoplast and sporoplast membranes of Streptomyces griseus strains

Membrane-bound penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) of two Streptomyces griseus strains that sporulate well in liquid and solid medium have been investigated during the course of their life-cycle. The PBP patterns were analyzed by sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and fluorography. One strain (No. 45 H) has only a single band (mol wt: 27,000) in early log phase, and two additional PBPs of higher mol wt (69,000 and 80,000) in the late log phase. The other strain (No. 2682) possessed two bands with mol wts 27,000 and 38,000 which did not change during its vegetative phase. In strain No. 2682, a new PBP with a mol wt of 58,000 appeared in spore membranes while one of those (mol wt 38,000) present in mycelial membranes disappeared. Our results suggest that appearance of the new PBP in the spore may be associated with the sporulation process. The major PBP band (mol wt: 27,000) present in all stages of the life cycle of these strains, may be characteristic of S. griseus while the other PBPs reflect certain stages of the life cycle. A new method was developed for the production of spore protoplasts by consecutive enzymatic treatments.Abbreviation PBP penicillin-binding protein     

Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) and Ca2+ mobilization

Many physiological processes are controlled by a great diversity of Ca2+ signals that depend on Ca2+ entry into the cell and/or Ca2+ release from internal Ca2+ stores. Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores is gated by a family of messengers including inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3), cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR), and nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP). There is increasing evidence for a novel intracellular Ca2+ release channel that may be targeted by NAADP and that displays properties distinctly different from the well-characterized InsP3 and ryanodine receptors. These channels appear to localize on a wider range of intracellular organelles, including the acidic Ca2+ stores. Activation of the NAADP-sensitive Ca2+ channels evokes complex changes in cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels by means of channel chatter with other intracellular Ca2+ channels. The recent demonstration of changes in intracellular NAADP levels in response to physiologically relevant extracellular stimuli highlights the significance of NAADP as an important regulator of intracellular Ca2+ signaling.     

Serum level of soluble 70-kD heat shock protein is associated with high mortality in patients with colorectal cancer without distant metastasis

Many findings indicate that measuring the serum concentration of soluble 70-kD heat shock protein (soluble HSP70) may provide important information in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and pregnancy-related diseases; however, only scarce data are available in cancer. Therefore, using a commercial ELISA kit, we measured soluble HSP70 concentration in the sera of 179 patients with colorectal cancer. We investigated the relationship between soluble HSP70 concentration and mortality, during 33.0 (24.4–44.0) months long follow-up. High (>1.65 pg/ml, median concentration) soluble HSP70 level was a significant (hazard ratio: 1.88 (1.20–2.96, p = 0.005) predictor of mortality during the follow-up period. When we compared the soluble HSP70 levels in patients with non-resected primary tumors as compared to those who were recruited into the study 4–6 weeks after the tumor resection they were found to be significantly (p = 0.020) higher in the former group. Since the patients with non-resected primary tumors had also distant metastasis and died early, we limited the further analysis to 142 patients with no distant metastasis at the beginning of the follow-up. This association remained significant even after multiple Cox-regression analysis had been performed to adjust the data for age and sex (p = 0.028); age, sex, and TNM-T stage (p = 0.041); age, sex, and TNM-N stage (p = 0.021); age, sex, and histological grade (p = 0.023); or age, sex, and tumor localization (p = 0.029). Further analysis showed that the significant association between high HSP70 levels and poor survival is in the strongest in the group of <70-year-old female patients (HR: 5.52 (2.02-15.15), p = 0.001), as well as in those who were in a less advanced stage of the disease at baseline. These novel findings indicate that the serum level of soluble HSP70 might prove a useful, stage-independent prognostic marker in colorectal cancer without distant metastasis.     

How the Visual Cortex Handles Stimulus Noise: Insights from Amblyopia

Adding noise to a visual image makes object recognition more effortful and has a widespread effect on human electrophysiological responses. However, visual cortical processes directly involved in handling the stimulus noise have yet to be identified and dissociated from the modulation of the neural responses due to the deteriorated structural information and increased stimulus uncertainty in the case of noisy images. Here we show that the impairment of face gender categorization performance in the case of noisy images in amblyopic patients correlates with amblyopic deficits measured in the noise-induced modulation of the P1/P2 components of single-trial event-related potentials (ERP). On the other hand, the N170 ERP component is similarly affected by the presence of noise in the two eyes and its modulation does not predict the behavioral deficit. These results have revealed that the efficient processing of noisy images depends on the engagement of additional processing resources both at the early, feature-specific as well as later, object-level stages of visual cortical processing reflected in the P1 and P2 ERP components, respectively. Our findings also suggest that noise-induced modulation of the N170 component might reflect diminished face-selective neuronal responses to face images with deteriorated structural information.     

Sphingobacterium pedocola sp. nov. a novel halotolerant bacterium isolated from agricultural soil

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - A Gram-reaction-negative halotolerant bacterial strain, designated Ka21T, was isolated from agricultural soil and characterised using a polyphasic approach to determine...     

Manganese porphyrin reduces renal injury and mitochondrial damage during ischemia/reperfusion

Renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury often occurs as a result of vascular surgery, organ procurement, or transplantation. We previously showed that renal I/R results in ATP depletion, oxidant production, and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) inactivation. There have been several reports that overexpression of MnSOD protects tissues/organs from I/R-related damage, thus a loss of MnSOD activity during I/R likely contributes to tissue injury. The present study examined the therapeutic benefit of a catalytic antioxidant, Mn(III) meso-tetrakis(N-n-hexylpyridinium-2-yl)porphyrin (MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+)), using the rat renal I/R model. This was the first study to examine the effects of MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+) in an animal model of oxidative stress injury. Our results showed that porphyrin pretreatment of rats for 24 h protected against ATP depletion, MnSOD inactivation, nitrotyrosine formation, and renal dysfunction. The dose (50 microg/kg) used in this study is lower than doses of various types of antioxidants commonly used in animal models of oxidative stress injuries. In addition, using novel proteomic techniques, we identified the ATP synthase-beta subunit as a key protein induced by MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+) treatment alone and complex V (ATP synthase) as a target of injury during renal I/R. These results showed that MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+) protected against renal I/R injury via induction of key mitochondrial proteins that may be capable of blunting oxidative injury.     

Optimization of novel monobactams with activity against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae – Identification of LYS228

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs), such as New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1) have spread world-wide and present a serious threat. Expression of MBLs confers resistance in Gram-negative bacteria to all classes of β-lactam antibiotics, with the exception of monobactams, which are intrinsically stable to MBLs. However, existing first generation monobactam drugs like aztreonam have limited clinical utility against MBL-expressing strains because they are impacted by serine β-lactamases (SBLs), which are often co-expressed in clinical isolates. Here, we optimized novel monobactams for stability against SBLs, which led to the identification of LYS228 (compound 31). LYS228 is potent in the presence of all classes of β-lactamases and shows potent activity against carbapenem-resistant isolates of Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).     

Myosin phosphatase accelerates cutaneous wound healing by regulating migration and differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes via Akt signaling pathway in human and murine skin

Wound healing is a complex sequence of cellular and molecular processes such as inflammation, cell migration, proliferation and differentiation. ROCK is a widely investigated Ser/Thr kinase with important roles in rearranging the actomyosin cytoskeleton. ROCK inhibitors have already been approved to improve corneal endothelial wound healing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the functions of myosin phosphatase (MP or PPP1CB), a type-1 phospho-Ser/Thr-specific protein phosphatase (PP1), one of the counter enzymes of ROCK, in skin homeostasis and wound healing. To confirm our hypotheses, we applied tautomycin (TM), a selective PP1 inhibitor, on murine skin that caused the arrest of wound closure. TM suppressed scratch closure of HaCaT human keratinocytes without having influence on the survival of the cells. Silencing of, the regulatory subunit of MP (MYPT1 or PPP1R12A), had a negative impact on the migration of keratinocytes and it influenced the cell-cell adhesion properties by decreasing the impedance of HaCaT cells. We assume that MP differentially activates migration and differentiation of keratinocytes and plays a key role in the downregulation of transglutaminase-1 in lower layers of skin where no differentiation is required. MAPK Proteome Profiler analysis on human ex vivo biopsies with MYPT1-silencing indicated that MP contributes to the mediation of wound healing by regulating the Akt signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that MP plays a role in the maintenance of normal homeostasis of skin and the process of wound healing.