Hemin with Peroxidase Activity Can Inhibit the Oxidative Damage Induced by Ultraviolet A

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), a highly reactive substance that contains oxygen, induced by ultraviolet A (UVA) cause oxidative damage to skin. We confirmed that hemin can catalyze the reaction of tyrosine (Tyr) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Catalysis was found to effectively reduce or eliminate oxidative damage to cells induced by H₂O₂ or UVA. The scavenging effects of hemin for other free-radical ROS were also evaluated through pyrogallol autoxidation, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH·)-scavenging assays, and phenanthroline–Fe²⁺ assays. The results show that a mixture of hemin and tyrosine exhibits strong scavenging activities for H₂O₂, superoxide anion (O₂⁻·), DPPH·, and the hydroxyl radical (·OH). Furthermore, the inhibition of oxidative damage to human skin keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells induced by H₂O₂ or UVA was evaluated. The results show that catalysis can significantly reduce the ratio of cell apoptosis and death and inhibit the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), as well as accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). Furthermore, the resistance to apoptosis was found to be enhanced. These results show that the mixture of hemin and tyrosine has a significantly protective effect against oxidative damage to HaCaT cells caused by UVA, suggesting it as a protective agent for combating UVA damage.     

Use of galactosyltransferase to assess the biological function of O-linked N-acetyl-d-glucosamine: a potential role for O-GlcNAc during cell division

Many cytosolic and nuclear proteins are modified by monomeric O-linked N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc). The biological functions of this form of glycosylation are unclear but evidence suggests that it heightens regulation of protein function. To assess the biological function of O-GlcNAc addition, we examined the biological effects of galactosyltransferase (GalT) microinjected into the cytoplasm of Xenopus ovarian oocytes. GalT, which catalyzes beta1-4-galactose addition to O-GlcNAc, should inhibit deglycosylation and lectin-like interactions requiring unmodified O-GlcNAc residues. Although GalT injection into diplotene-arrested oocytes has no detectable effects on cell viability, it is toxic to oocytes entering meiosis. Cell-cycle-specific toxicity is recapitulated in vitro as GalT inhibits formation of nuclei and microtubule asters from cell-free extracts of ovulated frog eggs. These observations suggest that regulation of O-GlcNAc is important for cell cycle progression and may be important in diseases in which O-GlcNAc metabolism is abnormal. The methods described here outline a viable experimental scheme for ascribing a biological function to this form of glycosylation.     

Lipidomic changes during different growth stages of Nitzschia closterium f. minutissima

Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray ionization-Quadrupole-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF–MS) is a powerful lipidomic tool. In this study, we developed a UPLC/Q-TOF–MS based method to investigate the lipid metabolomic changes in different growth phases of Nitzschia closterium f. minutissima. The data classification and biomarker selection were carried out by using multivariate statistical analysis, including principal components analysis (PCA), projection to latent structures with discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and orthogonal projection to latent structures with discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). We discovered that the intercellular lipid metabolites were significantly different among exponential, early stationary and late stationary phases. Thirty-one lipid molecules were selected and identified as putative biomarkers, including free fatty acid, Harderoporphyrin, phosphatidylglycerol, 1,2-diacyglycerl-3-O-4′-(N,N-trimethy)-homoserine, triacylglycerol, cholesterol, sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol, lyso-sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, digalactosyldiacylglycerol and lyso-digalactosyldiacylglycerol. These lipids have been shown previously to function in energy storage, membrane stability and photosynthesis efficiency during the growth of diatoms. Further analysis on the putative biomarkers demonstrated that nitrate starvation played critical role in the transition from exponential phase to stationary phase in N. closterium. This study is the first one to explore the lipidomic changes of microalgae in different growth phases, which promotes better understanding of their physiology and ecology.     

Five New Guaiane Sesquiterpenes from the Endophytic Fungus Xylaria sp. YM 311647 of Azadirachta indica

Five new guaiane sesquiterpenes, 1 – 5 , were isolated from the culture broth of the endophytic fungus Xylaria sp. YM 311647, isolated from Azadirachta indica A. Juss . The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, and their inhibitory activities against five pathogenic fungi were evaluated. All guaiane sesquiterpenes showed moderate or weak antifungal activities in a broth microdilution assay.     

外源基因表达造成的群体感应细菌生存压力的建模分析

外源基因的表达及其对细菌种群的影响对于群体感应系统和合成生物学产业的研究具有重要意义。然而,人们对于表达外源蛋白的细菌本身的行为模式仍然知之甚少。为了研究菌落生长和外源基因表达的过程究竟受到哪些因素的影响,文中测量了受Lux类受体调控的外源基因在N-酰基高丝氨酸内酯 (N-acyl homoserine lactone,N-AHL) 信号分子诱导下的表达,并模拟了其对细菌种群动态的影响。文中建立了一个假设性的数学模型,对信号分子诱导表达下细菌种群生长受影响的现象进行了分析。先前的研究通常将细菌种群生长受群体感应系统影响的现象归咎于合成群体感应信号分子的消耗与N-AHL信号分子的毒性,文中提供了对于这种生存压力的另一种可能的解释。     

Spindlin1, a novel nuclear protein with a role in the transformation of NIH3T3 cells

spindlin1, a novel human gene recently isolated by our laboratory, is highly homologous to mouse spindlin gene. In this study, we cloned cDNA full-length of this novel gene and send it to GenBank database as spindlin1 (Homo sapiens spindlin1) with Accession No. AF317228. In order to investigate the function of spindlin1, we studied further the subcellular localization of Spindlin1 protein and the effects of spindlin1 overexpression in NIH3T3 cells. The results showed that the fusion protein pEGFP-N1-spindlin1 was located in the nucleus and the C-terminal is correlated with nuclear localization of Spindlin1 protein. NIH3T3 cells which could stably express spindlin1 as a result of RT-PCR analysis compared with the control cells displayed a complete morphological change; made cell growth faster; and increased the percentage of cells in G2/M and S phase. Furthermore, overexpressed spindlin1 cells formed colonies in soft agar in vitro and formed tumors in nude mice. Our findings provide direct evidence that spindlin1 gene may contribute to tumorigenesis.     

The molecular basis of spinocerebellar ataxia type 48 caused by a de novo mutation in the ubiquitin ligase CHIP

The spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a class of incurable diseases characterized by degeneration of the cerebellum that results in movement disorder. Recently, a new heritable form of SCA, spinocerebellar ataxia type 48 (SCA48), was attributed to dominant mutations in STIP1 homology and U box-containing 1 (STUB1); however, little is known about how these mutations cause SCA48. STUB1 encodes for the protein C terminus of Hsc70 interacting protein (CHIP), an E3 ubiquitin ligase. CHIP is known to regulate proteostasis by recruiting chaperones via a N-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat domain and recruiting E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes via a C-terminal U-box domain. These interactions allow CHIP to mediate the ubiquitination of chaperone-bound, misfolded proteins to promote their degradation via the proteasome. Here we have identified a novel, de novo mutation in STUB1 in a patient with SCA48 encoding for an A52G point mutation in the tetratricopeptide repeat domain of CHIP. Utilizing an array of biophysical, biochemical, and cellular assays, we demonstrate that the CHIP^A52G point mutant retains E3-ligase activity but has decreased affinity for chaperones. We further show that this mutant decreases cellular fitness in response to certain cellular stressors and induces neurodegeneration in a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans model of SCA48. Together, our data identify the A52G mutant as a cause of SCA48 and provide molecular insight into how mutations in STUB1 cause SCA48.     

Targeting UPR branches,a potential strategy for enhancing efficacy of cancer chemotherapy

Cancer cells are often exposed to cell intrinsic stresses and environmental perturbations that may lead to accumulation of unfolded and/or misfolded proteins in...