Isolation and functional analysis of a 24-residue linear alpha-helical antimicrobial peptide from Korean blackish cicada, Cryptotympana dubia (Homoptera)

A new antimicrobial peptide, cryptonin, was isolated and characterized from the adult Korean blackish cicada, Cryptotympana dubia. It consists of 24 amino acid residues and has a molecular weight of 2,704 Da on mass spectroscopy. The predicted alpha-helical structure analysis and increased helix percent in 40% trifloroethanol of cryptonin suggests that it belongs to the typical linear alpha-helix forming peptide. Binding of the biotin-labeled cryptonin at the surface of E. coli cells and increased influx of propidium iodide in E. coli after cryptonin treatment indicates that it kills microbial cells by binding bacterial cell surfaces and disrupting the cell permeability. Cryptonin showed strong antibacterial (MIC 1.56-25 microg/ml) and antifungal (MIC 3.12-50 microg/ml) activities against tested bacteria and fungi including two antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains; methicilin-resistant S. aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (MIC 25 microg/ml, each).     

Complete nucleotide sequence and organization of the mitogenome of the silk moth Caligula boisduvalii (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) and comparison with other lepidopteran insects

The 15,360-bp long complete mitogenome of Caligula boisduvalii possesses a gene arrangement and content identical to other completely sequenced lepidopteran mitogenomes, but different from the common arrangement found in most insect order, as the result of the movement of tRNA(Met) to a position 5'-upstream of tRNA Ile. The 330-bp A+T-rich region is apparently capable of forming a stem-and-loop structure, which harbors the conserved flanking sequences at both ends. Dissimilar to what has been seen in other sequenced lepidopteran insects, the initiation codon for C. boisduvalii COI appears to be TTG, which is a rare, but apparently possible initiation codon. The ATP8, ATP6, ND4L, and ND6 genes, which neighbor another PCG at their 3' end, all harbored potential sequences for the formation of a hairpin structure. This is suggestive of the importance of such structures for the precise cleavage of the mRNA of mature PCGs. Phylogenetic analyses of available sequenced species of Bombycoidea, Pyraloidea, and Tortricidea supported the morphology-based current hypothesis that Bombycoidea and Pyraloidea are monophyletic (Obtectomera). As previously suggested, Bombycidae (Bombyx mori and B. mandarina) and Saturniidae (Antheraea pernyi and C. boisduvalii) formed a reciprocal monophyletic group.     

Pregnancy Loss Following Coxsackievirus B3 Infection in Mice during Early Gestation Due toHigh Expression of Coxsackievirus-Adenovirus Receptor (CAR) in Uterus and Embryo

Coxsackieviruses are important pathogens in children and the outcomes of neonatal infection can be serious or fatal. However, the outcomes of coxsackievirus infection during early gestation are not well defined. In this study, we examined the possibility of vertical transmission of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) and the effects of CVB3 infection on early pregnancy of ICR mice. We found that the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) was highly expressed not only in embryos but also in the uterus of ICR mice. CVB3 replicated in the uterus 1 to 7 days post-infection (dpi), with the highest titer at 3 dpi. The pregnancy loss rate in mice infected with CVB3 during early gestation was 38.3%, compared to 4.7% and 2.7% in mock-infected and UV-inactivated-CVB3 infected pregnant mice, respectively. These data suggest that the uterus and embryo, which express abundant CAR, are important targets of CVB3 and that the vertical transmission of CVB3 during early gestation induces pregnancy loss.     

Structural and biochemical characterization of the broad substrate specificity of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron commensal sialidase

Sialidases release the terminal sialic acid residue from a wide range of sialic acid-containing polysaccharides. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a symbiotic commensal microbe, resides in and dominates the human intestinal tract. We characterized the recombinant sialidase from B. thetaiotaomicron (BTSA) and demonstrated that it has broad substrate specificity with a relative activity of 97, 100 and 64 for 2,3-, 2,6- and 2,8-linked sialic substrates, respectively. The hydrolysis activity of BTSA was inhibited by a transition state analogue, 2-deoxy-2,3-dehydro-N-acetyl neuraminic acid, by competitive inhibition with a K_i value of 35 μM. The structure of BSTA was determined at a resolution of 2.3 Å. This structure exhibited a unique carbohydrate-binding domain (CBM) at its N-terminus (a.a. 23–190) that is adjacent to the catalytic domain (a.a. 191–535). The catalytic domain has a conserved arginine triad with a wide-open entrance for the substrate that exposes the catalytic residue to the surface. Unlike other pathogenic sialidases, the polysaccharide-binding site in the CBM is near the active site and possibly holds and positions the polysaccharide substrate directly at the active site. The structural feature of a wide substrate-binding groove and closer proximity of the polysaccharide-binding site to the active site could be a unique signature of the commensal sialidase BTSA and provide a molecular basis for its pharmaceutical application.     

Difference in microchip electrophoretic mobility between partially and fully PEGylated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers

The objective of this study was to investigate the difference in electrophoretic mobility between partially and fully poly(ethylene glycol)-conjugated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (part-PEG-PAMAM and full-PEG-PAMAM, respectively) using a microchip capillary gel electrophoresis (MCGE). While MCGE allowed size-based separation of PEG-PAMAMs prepared with monomethoxy PEG-nitrophenyl carbonate, full-PEG-PAMAMs migrated slower than part-PEG-PAMAMs that were similar in size or larger. When the measured molecular weights obtained from MCGE analysis and the calculated molecular weights were plotted, each part-PEG-PAMAM and full-PEG-PAMAM showed correlation coefficients greater than 0.98. This study indicates that MCGE would be useful for characterizing PEG-PAMAMs with different PEGylation degrees.     

Selenite negatively regulates caspase-3 through a redox mechanism

Selenium, an essential biological trace element, exerts its modulatory effects in a variety of cellular events including cell survival and death. In our study we observed that selenite protects HEK293 cells from cell death induced by ultraviolet B radiation (UVB). Exposure of HEK293 cells to UVB radiation resulted in the activation of caspase-3-like protease activity, and pretreatment of the cells with z-DEVD-fmk (N-benzyloxycarbonyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-fluoromethylketone), a caspase-3 inhibitor, prevented UVB-induced cell death. Interestingly, enzymatic activity of caspase-3-like protease in cell lysates of UVB-exposed cells was repressed in vitro by the presence of selenite. Selenite also inhibited the in vitro activity of purified recombinant caspase-3 in cleaving Ac-DEVD-pNA (N-acetyl-Asp-Glu-Asp-p-nitroanilide) or ICAD(L) (inhibitor of a caspase-activated deoxyribonuclease) and in the induction of DNA fragmentation. The inhibitory action of selenite on a recombinant active caspase-3 could be reversed by sulfhydryl reducing agents, such as dithiothreitol and beta-mercaptoethanol. Furthermore, pretreatment of cells with selenite suppressed the stimulation of the caspase-3-like protease activity in UVB-exposed cells, whereas dithiothreitol and beta-mercaptoethanol reversed this suppression of the enzymatic activity. Taken together, our data suggest that selenite inhibits caspase-3-like protease activity through a redox mechanism and that inhibition of caspase-3-like protease activity may be the mechanism by which selenite exerts its protective effect against UVB-induced cell death.