A membrane-bound vertebrate globin

The family of vertebrate globins includes hemoglobin, myoglobin, and other O(2)-binding proteins of yet unclear functions. Among these, globin X is restricted to fish and amphibians. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) globin X is expressed at low levels in neurons of the central nervous system and appears to be associated with the sensory system. The protein harbors a unique N-terminal extension with putative N-myristoylation and S-palmitoylation sites, suggesting membrane-association. Intracellular localization and transport of globin X was studied in 3T3 cells employing green fluorescence protein fusion constructs. Both myristoylation and palmitoylation sites are required for correct targeting and membrane localization of globin X. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a vertebrate globin has been identified as component of the cell membrane. Globin X has a hexacoordinate binding scheme and displays cooperative O(2) binding with a variable affinity (P(50)～1.3-12.5 torr), depending on buffer conditions. A respiratory function of globin X is unlikely, but analogous to some prokaryotic membrane-globins it may either protect the lipids in cell membrane from oxidation or may act as a redox-sensing or signaling protein.     

Microbial hyaluronic acid production

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a commercially valuable medical biopolymer increasingly produced through microbial fermentation. Viscosity limits product yield and the focus of research and development has been on improving the key quality parameters, purity and molecular weight. Traditional strain and process optimisation has yielded significant improvements, but appears to have reached a limit. Metabolic engineering is providing new opportunities and HA produced in a heterologous host is about to enter the market. In order to realise the full potential of metabolic engineering, however, greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying chain termination is required.     

Rehydration of the lichen Ramalina lacera results in production of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide and a decrease in antioxidants

Lichens are slow-growing associations of fungi and unicellular green algae or cyanobacteria. They are poikilohydric organisms whose lifestyle in many cases consists of alternating periods of desiccation, with low metabolic activity, and hydration, which induces increase in their metabolism. Lichens have apparently adapted to such extreme transitions between desiccation and rehydration, but the mechanisms that govern these adaptations are still poorly understood. In this study, the effect of rehydration on the production of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide as well as low-molecular-weight antioxidants was investigated with the lichen Ramalina lacera. Rehydration of R. lacera resulted in the initiation of and a rapid increase in photosynthetic activity. Recovery of photosynthesis was accompanied by bursts of intracellular production of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide. Laser-scanning confocal microscopy using dichlorofluorescein fluorescence revealed that formation of reactive oxygen species following rehydration was associated with both symbiotic partners of the lichen. The rate and extent of reactive oxygen species production were similar in the light and in the dark, suggesting a minor contribution of photosynthesis. Diaminofluorescein fluorescence, indicating nitric oxide formation, was detected only in fungal hyphae. Activities associated with rehydration did not have a deleterious effect on membrane integrity as assessed by measurement of electrolyte leakage, but water-soluble low-molecular-weight antioxidants decreased significantly.     

Quantitative multiphoton spectral imaging and its use for measuring resonance energy transfer

Protein labeling with green fluorescent protein derivatives has become an invaluable tool in cell biology. Protein quantification, however, is difficult when cells express constructs with overlapping fluorescent emissions. Under these conditions, signal separation using emission filters is inherently inefficient. Spectral imaging solves this problem by recording emission spectra directly. Unfortunately, linear unmixing, the algorithm used for quantifying individual fluorophores from emission spectra, fails when resonance energy transfer (RET) is present. We therefore sought to develop an unmixing algorithm that incorporates RET. An equation for spectral emission incorporating RET was derived and an assay based on this formalism, spectral RET (sRET), was developed. Standards with defined RET efficiencies and with known Cerulean/Venus ratios were constructed and used to test sRET. We demonstrate that sRET analysis is a comprehensive, photon-efficient method for imaging RET efficiencies and accurately determines donor and acceptor concentrations in living cells.     

A new yeast poly(A) polymerase complex involved in RNA quality control

Eukaryotic cells contain several unconventional poly(A) polymerases in addition to the canonical enzymes responsible for the synthesis of poly(A) tails of nuclear messenger RNA precursors. The yeast protein Trf4p has been implicated in a quality control pathway that leads to the polyadenylation and subsequent exosome-mediated degradation of hypomethylated initiator tRNA^Met (tRNA_i^Met). Here we show that Trf4p is the catalytic subunit of a new poly(A) polymerase complex that contains Air1p or Air2p as potential RNA-binding subunits, as well as the putative RNA helicase Mtr4p. Comparison of native tRNA_i^Met with its in vitro transcribed unmodified counterpart revealed that the unmodified RNA was preferentially polyadenylated by affinity-purified Trf4 complex from yeast, as well as by complexes reconstituted from recombinant components. These results and additional experiments with other tRNA substrates suggested that the Trf4 complex can discriminate between native tRNAs and molecules that are incorrectly folded. Moreover, the polyadenylation activity of the Trf4 complex stimulated the degradation of unmodified tRNA_i^Met by nuclear exosome fractions in vitro. Degradation was most efficient when coupled to the polyadenylation activity of the Trf4 complex, indicating that the poly(A) tails serve as signals for the recruitment of the exosome. This polyadenylation-mediated RNA surveillance resembles the role of polyadenylation in bacterial RNA turnover.     

Expression of Panza, an alpha2-macroglobulin, in a restricted dorsal domain of the primitive gut in Xenopus laevis

Alpha2-macroglobulin is a major serum protein with diverse functions, including inhibition of protease activity and binding of growth factors, cytokines, and disease factors. We have cloned and characterized Panza, a new Xenopus laevis alpha2-macroglobulin. Panza has 56-60% amino acid similarity with previously identified Xenopus, mouse, rat and human alpha2-macroglobulins, indicating that Panza is a new member of the alpha2-macroglobulin family. Panza mRNA is first detected at the beginning of neurulation in the dorsal endoderm lining the primitive gut (archenteron roof). At the completion of neurulation and continuing through the late tadpole stage, Panza is restricted to a dorsal domain of the gut endoderm adjacent to the notochord and extending along the entire anterior-posterior axis. With outgrowth of the tailbud, Panza expression persists in the chordaneural hinge at the posterior end of the differentiating notochord and extends into the floor plate of the posterior neural tube. As gut coiling commences, Panza expression is initiated in the liver, and the dorsal domain of Panza expression becomes limited to the midgut and hindgut. With further gut coiling, strong Panza expression persists in the liver, but is lost from other regions of the gut. The expression of Panza in endodermal cells adjacent to the notochord points to a potential role for Panza in signal modulation and/or morphogenesis of the primitive gut.     

Common features in the functional surface of scorpion beta-toxins and elements that confer specificity for insect and mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels

Scorpion beta-toxins that affect the activation of mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) have been studied extensively, but little is known about their functional surface and mode of interaction with the channel receptor. To enable a molecular approach to this question, we have established a successful expression system for the anti-mammalian scorpion beta-toxin, Css4, whose effects on rat brain Navs have been well characterized. A recombinant toxin, His-Css4, was obtained when fused to a His tag and a thrombin cleavage site and had similar binding affinity for and effect on Na currents of rat brain sodium channels as those of the native toxin isolated from the scorpion venom. Molecular dissection of His-Css4 elucidated a functional surface of 1245 A2 composed of the following: 1) a cluster of residues associated with the alpha-helix, which includes a putative "hot spot" (this cluster is conserved among scorpion beta-toxins and contains their "pharmacophore"); 2) a hydrophobic cluster associated mainly with the beta2 and beta3 strands, which is likely to confer the specificity for mammalian Navs; 3) a single bioactive residue (Trp-58) in the C-tail; and 4) a negatively charged residue (Glu-15) involved in voltage sensor trapping as inferred from our ability to uncouple toxin binding from activity upon its substitution. This study expands our understanding about the mode of action of scorpion beta-toxins and illuminates differences in the functional surfaces that may dictate their specificities for mammalian versus insect sodium channels.     

Homeobox-clock protein interaction in zebrafish. A shared mechanism for pineal-specific and circadian gene expression

In non-mammalian vertebrates, the pineal gland is photoreceptive and contains an intrinsic circadian oscillator that drives rhythmic production and secretion of melatonin. These features require an accurate spatiotemporal expression of an array of specific genes in the pineal gland. Among these is the arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, a key enzyme in the melatonin production pathway. In zebrafish, pineal specificity of zfaanat2 is determined by a region designated the pineal-restrictive downstream module (PRDM), which contains three photoreceptor conserved elements (PCEs) and an E-box, elements that are generally associated with photoreceptor-specific and rhythmic expression, respectively. Here, by using in vivo and in vitro approaches, it was found that the PCEs and E-box of the PRDM mediate a synergistic effect of the photoreceptor-specific homeobox OTX5 and rhythmically expressed clock protein heterodimer, BMAL/CLOCK, on zfaanat2 expression. Furthermore, the distance between the PCEs and the E-box was found to be critical for PRDM function, suggesting a possible physical feature of this synergistic interaction. OTX5-BMAL/CLOCK may act through this mechanism to simultaneously control pineal-specific and rhythmic expression of zfaanat2 and possibly also other pineal and retinal genes.     

Aberrant glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan causes defective binding of laminin in the muscle of chicken muscular dystrophy

Dystroglycan is a central component of dystrophin-glycoprotein complex that links extracellular matrix and cytoskeleton in skeletal muscle. Although dystrophic chicken is well established as an animal model of human muscular dystrophy, the pathomechanism leading to muscular degeneration remains unknown. We show here that glycosylation and laminin-binding activity of alpha-dystroglycan (alpha-DG) are defective in dystrophic chicken. Extensive glycan structural analysis reveals that Galbeta1-3GalNAc and GalNAc residues are increased while Siaalpha2-3Gal structure is reduced in alpha-DG of dystrophic chicken. These results implicate aberrant glycosylation of alpha-DG in the pathogenesis of muscular degeneration in this model animal of muscular dystrophy.