Model-based relationship between physicochemical properties and inhibitory potency of alkylating 2-furylethylenes on yeast glycolysis

Inhibitory effects of 35 2-furylethylenes, non-specific alkylating agents, on glycolysis in a respiratory mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were correlated with their 1-octanol/water partition coefficients and the rate constants for reaction with 2-mercaptoacetic acid using physiologically based models. The simplest model explaining the data satisfactorily consists of two-step drug-receptor interaction involving reversible formation of a structurally non-specific non-covalent complex stabilized later covalently. The concentration of the free drug in the receptor surroundings was related to its initial concentration in external medium via a simple form of a disposition function constructed on the basis of time hierarchy of passive membrane transport, non-covalent binding to cell constituents and metabolic inactivation of the drug.     

Opposite effects of adrenalectomy on eicosanoid release in rat peritoneal macrophages and spleen

The effect of adrenalectomy on the formation of cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase products by activated peritoneal rat macrophages was determined and compared with that of the spleen. After isolation, the cells and tissues were incubated with [1-¹⁴C] arachidonic acid and the Ca-ionophore A23187 and the metabolites isolated by HPLC chromatography. The main components formed in the macrophages of the controls are 6-keto-PGF_1α, TxB₂ and 12-HETE. One peak represents 5, 12 di HETE. Smaller amounts of PGF_2α, PGE₂, PGD₂, LTB₄ and 15-HETE are also present. After adrenalectomy, a considerable increase occurs in the amounts of LTB₄, 15-HETE and 12-HETE. The increase in the PG is smaller. The compounds formed from endogenous arachidonic acid are also determined. In the cells of the controls, the formation of LTB₄ is considerably increased after adrenalectomy. In the spleen, PGD₂ and 12-HETE are decreased after adrenalectomy.The effect of the macrophages is most probably related to a diminished amount or inactivation of lipocortin, a glucocorticosteroid induced peptide with PlA₂ inhibitory activity in adrenalectomized animals. In the decrease in formation in the spleen, the absence of the permissive effect of glucocorticosteroids on the hormone-induced lipolysis may play a role.     

Specific and nonspecific effects of nucleotides on hormone-induced phosphoinositide turnover in permeabilized human pituitary tumour cells (Flow 9000)

Previous studies have shown that agonist-induced inositol phosphate formation in the human embryonic pituitary cell line Flow 9000 is regulated by guanine nucleotides, and it is likely that a guanine nucleotide-binding protein is involved in coupling receptors to phosphoinositidase C (PIC) [(1986) Biochem.Soc.Trans. 14, 1135-1136]. We have now tested the specificity of various nucleotides in regulating PIC activity in the absence or presence of the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK-8) in saponin-permeabilized [3H]inositol-labelled Flow 9000 cells. We found that all nucleotides tested (i.e. CTP, UTP, ITP, TTP, GTP, GppNHp, GTP[S], ATP, AppNHp and ATP[S]) stimulated total [3H]inositol phosphate ([3H]IP) formation in a dose-dependent manner with similar potency and efficacy. However, only guanine nucleotides significantly enhanced CCK-8 stimulation of [3H]IP production. These results indicate a physiological role for guanine nucleotides in regulating hormone-induced phosphoinositide turnover. In addition, the effects of nucleotides on calcium-dependent PIC activity are discussed.     

Combination of fuzzy-AHP and GIS techniques in land suitability assessment for wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivation

Land suitability classification is a useful management practice to ensure planned and sustainable use of agricultural lands according to their potentials. The main purposes of this study were to analyze land suitability for bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivation and generate a land suitability map for wheat by integrating the analytical hierarchy (AHP)-fuzzy algorithm with the Geographical Information System (GIS) in the Tozanlı sub-basin located in the upper part of Yeşilırmak Basin, Turkey. Topographic (elevation, slope, aspect) characteristics of the basin and some of physical and chemical properties of soils (texture, pH, electrical conductivity, lime, organic matter, and soil depth) were used as criteria in determining the suitability classes. Ninety-two disturbed soil samples were collected from 0 to 20 cm depth in October 2017 using random sampling method. Weighted overlay spatial analysis in GIS was used to combine different thematic layers to identify areas suitable for wheat production. The fuzzy-AHP suitability assessment model was adapted to determine the weights for topographic and soil properties. The highest specific weights were obtained for soil depth (0.232) and elevation (0.218), while the lowest weight was calculated for aspect (0.042). Highly, moderately, and marginally suitable lands for wheat cultivation cover 2.63, 9.85 and 32.59% of the study area, respectively. In addition, the results indicated that 54.92% of the total area is permanently unsuitable for wheat cultivation. The results revealed that integration of AHP-fuzzy algorithm and GIS techniques is a useful method for accurate evaluation of land suitability in planning for specific crop production and decreasing the negative environmental impacts of agricultural practices.     

Chemotherapy and autophagy-mediated cell death in pancreatic cancer cells

Autophagy is an evolutionarily preserved degradation process of cytoplasmic cellular constituents and plays important physiological roles in human health and disease. It has been proposed that autophagy plays an important role both in tumor progression and in promotion of cancer cell death, although the molecular mechanisms responsible for this dual action of autophagy in cancer have not been elucidated. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the most aggressive human malignancies with 2-3% five-year survival rate. Its poor prognosis has been attributed to the lack of specific symptoms and early detection tools, and its relatively refractory to traditional cytotoxic agents and radiotherapy. Experimental evidence pointed at autophagy as a pancreatic cancer cell mechanism to survive under adverse environmental conditions, or as a defective programmed cell death mechanism that favors pancreatic cancer cell resistance to treatment. Here, we consider several phenotypical alterations that have been related to increase or decrease the autophagic process in pancreatic tumor cells. We specially review autophagy as a cell death mechanism in response to chemotherapeutic drugs.     

White spot syndrome virus induces metabolic changes resembling the warburg effect in shrimp hemocytes in the early stage of infection

The Warburg effect is an abnormal glycolysis response that is associated with cancer cells. Here we present evidence that metabolic changes resembling the Warburg effect are induced by a nonmammalian virus. When shrimp were infected with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), changes were induced in several metabolic pathways related to the mitochondria. At the viral genome replication stage (12 h postinfection [hpi]), glucose consumption and plasma lactate concentration were both increased in WSSV-infected shrimp, and the key enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), showed increased activity. We also found that at 12 hpi there was no alteration in the ADP/ATP ratio and that oxidative stress was lower than that in uninfected controls. All of these results are characteristic of the Warburg effect as it is present in mammals. There was also a significant decrease in triglyceride concentration starting at 12 hpi. At the late stage of the infection cycle (24 hpi), hemocytes of WSSV-infected shrimp showed several changes associated with cell death. These included the induction of mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (MMP), increased oxidative stress, decreased glucose consumption, and disrupted energy production. A previous study showed that WSSV infection led to upregulation of the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), which is known to be involved in both the Warburg effect and MMP. Here we show that double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) silencing of the VDAC reduces WSSV-induced mortality and virion copy number. For these results, we hypothesize a model depicting the metabolic changes in host cells at the early and late stages of WSSV infection.     

Spa32 regulates a switch in substrate specificity of the type III secreton of Shigella flexneri from needle components to Ipa proteins

Type III secretion systems (TTSS) are essential virulence determinants of many gram-negative bacteria and serve, upon physical contact with target cells, to translocate bacterial proteins directly across eukaryotic cell membranes. The Shigella TTSS is encoded by the mxi/spa loci located on its virulence plasmid. By electron microscopy secretons are visualized as tripartite with an external needle, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic bulb. In the present study, we generated a Shigella spa32 mutant and studied its phenotype. The spa32 gene shows low sequence homology to Salmonella TTSS1 invJ/spaN and to flagellar fliK. The spa32 mutant, like the wild-type strain, secreted the Ipas and IpgD, which are normally secreted via the TTSS, at low levels into the growth medium. However, unlike the wild-type strain, the spa32 mutant could neither be induced to secrete the Ipas and IpgD instantaneously upon addition of Congo red nor penetrate HeLa cells in vitro. Additionally, the Spa32 protein is secreted in large amounts by the TTSS during exponential growth but not upon Congo red induction. Interestingly, electron microscopy analysis of the spa32 mutant revealed that the needle of its secretons were up to 10 times longer than those of the wild type. In addition, in the absence of induction, the spa32 mutant secreted normal levels of MxiI but a large excess of MxiH. Taken together, our data indicate that the spa32 mutant presents a novel phenotype and that the primary defect of the mutant may be its inability to regulate or control secretion of MxiH.