Protein-disulfide isomerase- and protein thiol-dependent dehydroascorbate reduction and ascorbate accumulation in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum

The transport and intraluminal reduction of dehydroascorbate was investigated in microsomal vesicles from various tissues. The highest rates of transport and intraluminal isotope accumulation (using radiolabeled compound and a rapid filtration technique) were found in hepatic microsomes. These microsomes contain the highest amount of protein-disulfide isomerase, which is known to have a dehydroascorbate reductase activity. The steady-state level of intraluminal isotope accumulation was more than 2-fold higher in hepatic microsomes prepared from spontaneously diabetic BioBreeding/Worcester rats and was very low in fetal hepatic microsomes although the initial rate of transport was not changed. In these microsomes, the amount of protein-disulfide isomerase was similar, but the availability of protein thiols was different and correlated with dehydroascorbate uptake. The increased isotope accumulation was accompanied by a higher rate of dehydroascorbate reduction and increased protein thiol oxidation in microsomes from diabetic animals. The results suggest that both the activity of protein-disulfide isomerase and the availability of protein thiols as reducing equivalents can play a crucial role in the accumulation of ascorbate in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. These findings also support the fact that dehydroascorbate can act as an oxidant in the protein-disulfide isomerase-catalyzed protein disulfide formation.     

Capsid protein C of tick-borne encephalitis virus tolerates large internal deletions and is a favorable target for attenuation of virulence

Deletions ranging in size from 4 to 21 amino acid residues were introduced into the capsid protein of the flavivirus tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus. These deletions incrementally affected a hydrophobic domain which is present at the center of all flavivirus capsid protein sequences and part of which may form an amphipathic alpha-helix. In the context of the full-length TBE genome, the deletions did not measurably affect protein expression and up to a deletion length of 16 amino acid residues, corresponding to almost 17% of mature protein C, viable virus was recovered. This virus was strongly attenuated but highly immunogenic in adult mice, revealing capsid protein C as a new and attractive target for the directed attenuation of flaviviruses. Apparently, the larger deletions interfered with the correct assembly of infectious virus particles, and this disturbance of virion assembly is likely to be the molecular basis of attenuation. However, all of the mutants carrying large deletions produced substantial amounts of subviral particles, which as judged from density gradient analyses were identical to recombinant subviral particles as obtained by the expression of the surface proteins prM and E alone. The structural and functional flexibility of protein C revealed in this study and its predicted largely alpha-helical conformation are reminiscent of capsid proteins of other enveloped viruses, such as alphaviruses (N-terminal domain of the capsid protein), retroviruses, and hepadnaviruses and suggest that all of these may belong to a common structural class, which is fundamentally distinct from the classical beta-barrel structures of many icosahedral viral capsids. The possibility of attenuating flaviviruses by disturbing virus assembly and favoring the production of noninfectious but highly immunogenic subviral particles opens up a promising new avenue for the development of live flavivirus vaccines.     

Ryanodine receptor channel-dependent glutathione transport in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle

We found that glutathione transport across endo/sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes correlates with the abundance of ryanodine receptor type 1 (RyR1). The transport was the fastest in muscle terminal cisternae, fast in muscle microsomes and slow in liver, heart, and brain microsomes. Glutathione influx could be inhibited by RyR1 blockers and the inhibitory effect was counteracted by RyR1 agonists. The effect of blockers was specific to glutathione, as the transport of other small molecules was not hindered. Therefore, the glutathione transport activity seems to be associated with RyR1 in sarcoplasmic reticulum.     

Use of the respiration activity ofThiobacillus ferrooxidans for the specific determination of iron(II,III)

A method is described for the determination of Fe2+ and Fe3+ after its reduction to Fe2+ on the basis of oxygen uptake rate as a function of Fe2+ concentration. By using substrate-specific Thiobacillus ferrooxidans in combination with the standard addition method a specific determination of iron(II, III) is possible with the determination limit of 3 mumol/L.     

Contribution of subsurface peat to CO2 and CH4 fluxes in a neotropical peatland

Tropical peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycling but little is known about factors regulating carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) fluxes from these ecosystems. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) CO₂ and CH₄ are produced mainly from surface peat and (ii) that the contribution of subsurface peat to net C emissions is governed by substrate availability. To achieve this, in situ and ex situ CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes were determined throughout the peat profiles under three vegetation types along a nutrient gradient in a tropical ombrotrophic peatland in Panama. The peat was also characterized with respect to its organic composition using ¹³C solid state cross‐polarization magic‐angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Deep peat contributed substantially to CO₂ effluxes both with respect to actual in situ and potential ex situ fluxes. CH₄ was produced throughout the peat profile with distinct subsurface peaks, but net emission was limited by oxidation in the surface layers. CO₂ and CH₄ production were strongly substrate‐limited and a large proportion of the variance in their production (30% and 63%, respectively) was related to the quantity of carbohydrates in the peat. Furthermore, CO₂ and CH₄ production differed between vegetation types, suggesting that the quality of plant‐derived carbon inputs is an important driver of trace gas production throughout the peat profile. We conclude that the production of both CO₂ and CH₄ from subsurface peat is a substantial component of the net efflux of these gases, but that gas production through the peat profile is regulated in part by the degree of decomposition of the peat.     

Effects of gastric bypass surgery on insulin resistance and insulin secretion in nondiabetic obese patients

Roux-en-Y-Gastric-Bypass (RYGB) reduces overall and diabetes-specific mortality by 40% and over 90%. This study aims to gain insight into the underlying mechanisms of this effect. We evaluated time-courses of glucose, insulin, C-peptide, and the incretin glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) following an oral glucose load. Insulin-sensitivity was measured by a hyperinsulinemic-isoglycemic-clamp-test; glucose-turnover was determined using D-[6,6-(2)H(2)] glucose. Examinations were performed in six nondiabetic patients with excess weight before (PRE: BMI: 49.3 ± 3.2 kg/m(2)) and 7 months after RYGB (POST: BMI: 36.7 ± 2.9 kg/m(2)), in a lean (CON: BMI: 22.6 ± 0.6 kg/m(2)) and an obese control group (CONob) without history of gastrointestinal surgery (BMI: 34.7 ± 1.2 kg/m(2)). RYGB reduced fasting plasma concentrations of insulin and C-peptide (P < 0.01, respectively) whereas fasting glucose concentrations remained unchanged. After RYGB increase of C-peptide concentration following glucose ingestion was significantly higher compared to all other groups (dynamic-area under the curve (Dyn-AUC): 0-90 min: POST: 984 ± 115 ng·min/ml, PRE: 590 ± 67 ng·min/ml, CONob: 440 ± 44 ng·min/ml, CON: 279 ± 22 ng·min/ml, P < 0.01 respectively). Early postprandial increase of glucose concentration was however not affected. GLP-1 concentrations following glucose ingestion were sixfold higher after RYBG than before (P = 0.01). Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake tended to increase postoperatively (M-value: PRE: 1.8 ± 0.5, POST: 3.0 ± 0.3, not significant (n.s.)). Endogenous glucose production (EGP) was unaffected by RYGB. Hepatic insulin resistance index improved after RYGB and was then comparable to both control groups (PRE: 29.2 ± 4.3, POST: 12.6 ± 1.1, P < 0.01). RYGB results in hyper-secretion of insulin and C-peptide, whereas improvements of insulin resistance are minor and seem to occur rather in the liver and the adipose tissue than in the skeletal muscle.     

Impaired structural motor connectome in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neurodegenerative disease selectively affecting upper and lower motor neurons. Patients with ALS suffer from progressive paralysis and eventually die on average after three years. The underlying neurobiology of upper motor neuron degeneration and its effects on the complex network of the brain are, however, largely unknown. Here, we examined the effects of ALS on the structural brain network topology in 35 patients with ALS and 19 healthy controls. Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the brain network was reconstructed for each individual participant. The connectivity of this reconstructed brain network was compared between patients and controls using complexity theory without - a priori selected - regions of interest. Patients with ALS showed an impaired sub-network of regions with reduced white matter connectivity (p = 0.0108, permutation testing). This impaired sub-network was strongly centered around primary motor regions (bilateral precentral gyrus and right paracentral lobule), including secondary motor regions (bilateral caudal middle frontal gyrus and pallidum) as well as high-order hub regions (right posterior cingulate and precuneus). In addition, we found a significant reduction in overall efficiency (p = 0.0095) and clustering (p = 0.0415). From our findings, we conclude that upper motor neuron degeneration in ALS affects both primary motor connections as well as secondary motor connections, together composing an impaired sub-network. The degenerative process in ALS was found to be widespread, but interlinked and targeted to the motor connectome.     

Early Detection of Poor Adherers to Statins: Applying Individualized Surveillance to Pay for Performance

Background

Medication nonadherence costs $300 billion annually in the US. Medicare Advantage plans have a financial incentive to increase medication adherence among members because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now awards substantive bonus payments to such plans, based in part on population adherence to chronic medications. We sought to build an individualized surveillance model that detects early which beneficiaries will fall below the CMS adherence threshold.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of over 210,000 beneficiaries initiating statins, in a database of private insurance claims, from 2008-2011. A logistic regression model was constructed to use statin adherence from initiation to day 90 to predict beneficiaries who would not meet the CMS measure of proportion of days covered 0.8 or above, from day 91 to 365. The model controlled for 15 additional characteristics. In a sensitivity analysis, we varied the number of days of adherence data used for prediction.

Results

Lower adherence in the first 90 days was the strongest predictor of one-year nonadherence, with an odds ratio of 25.0 (95% confidence interval 23.7-26.5) for poor adherence at one year. The model had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.80. Sensitivity analysis revealed that predictions of comparable accuracy could be made only 40 days after statin initiation. When members with 30-day supplies for their first statin fill had predictions made at 40 days, and members with 90-day supplies for their first fill had predictions made at 100 days, poor adherence could be predicted with 86% positive predictive value.

Conclusions

To preserve their Medicare Star ratings, plan managers should identify or develop effective programs to improve adherence. An individualized surveillance approach can be used to target members who would most benefit, recognizing the tradeoff between improved model performance over time and the advantage of earlier detection.