Overoxidation of peroxiredoxins as an immediate and sensitive marker of oxidative stress in HepG2 cells and its application to the redox effects induced by ischemia/reperfusion in human liver

Oxidative stress is a major pathogenetic event occurring in several liver disorders and is a major cause of liver damage due to Ischemia/Reperfusion (I/R) during liver transplantation. While several markers of chronic oxidative stress are well known, early protein targets of oxidative injury are not well defined. In order to identify these proteins, we used a differential proteomics approach to HepG2 human liver cells treated for 10 min with 500 microM H(2)O(2). This dose was sufficient to induce a slight decrease of total GSH and total protein thiol content without affecting cell viability. By performing Differential Proteomic analysis, by means of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, we identified four proteins which resulted sensitive to H(2)O(2) treatment. The main changes were due to post-translational modifications of native polypeptides. Three of these proteins belong to the Peroxiredoxin family of hydroperoxide scavengers, namely PrxI, PrxII and PrxVI, that showed changes in their pI as result of overoxidation. Mass mapping experiments demonstrated the specific modification of peroxiredoxins active site thiol into sulphinic and/or sulphonic acid, thus explaining the increase in negative charge measured for these proteins. The oxidation kinetic of all peroxiredoxins was extremely rapid and sensitive, occurring at H(2)O(2) doses unable to affect the common markers of cellular oxidative stress. Recovery experiments demonstrated a quite different behaviour between 1-Cys and 2-Cys containing Prxs as their retroreduction features is concerned, thus suggesting a functional difference between different class of Prxs. The in vivo relevance of our study is demonstrated by the finding that overoxidation of PrxI occurs during I/R upon liver transplantation and is dependent on the time of warm ischemia. Our present data could be of relevance in setting up more standardized procedures to preserve organs for transplantations.     

Regulatory properties of rabbit red blood cell hexokinase at conditions close to physiological

The true level of hexokinase in rabbit erythrocytes was determined by three different methods, including the spectrophotometric glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase coupled assay and a new radioisotopic assay. The value found at 37°C (pH 7.2) was 10.23±1.90 μmol/h per ml red blood cells, which is lower than previously reported values. More than 40 cellular components of the rabbit erythrocytes were tested for their effects on the enzyme. Their intracellular concentrations were also determined. Several of these compounds were found to be competitive inhibitors of the enzyme with respect to Mg·ATP^2?. Furthermore, reduced glutathione at a concentration of 1 mM was able to maintain hexokinase in the reduced state with full catalytic activity. The ability of orthophosphate to remove the inhibition of some phosphorylated compounds was examined under conditions similar to cellular (pH 7.2 and 50 μM of orthophosphate) and found to be of no practical interest. In contrast, the binding of ATP^4? and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate to the rabbit hemoglobin significantly modifies their intracellular concentrations and the formation of the respective Mg complexes. The pH-dependence of the reaction velocity and of the kinetic properties of the enzyme in different buffer systems were also considered. This information was computerized, and the rate of glucose phosphorylation in the presence of the mentioned compounds was determined. The value obtained, 1.94±0.02 μmol/h per ml red blood cells, is practically identical to the measured rate of glucose utilization by intact rabbit erythrocytes (1.92±0.3 μmol/h per ml red blood cells). These results provide further evidence for the central role of hexokinase in the regulation of red blood cell glycolysis.     

Analysis of the activation process of porcine procarboxypeptidase B and determination of the sequence of its activation segment

The molecular events which lead to the proteolytic transformation of porcine procarboxypeptidase B (PCPB) in carboxypeptidase B (CPB) have been determined. Among pancreatic and other tested proteinases, trypsin is the only one capable of generating carboxypeptidase B activity from the zymogen, in vitro. In the first step of this process, trypsin produces cleavage at the boundary between the activation region and the CPB region. Subsequently, a definite sequence of cleavages occurs at the C-terminal end of the released activation segment of 95 residues, giving rise to characteristic intermediates and to a proteolytically resistant activation fragment of 81 residues. In this process, the newly formed CPB participates in the quick-trimming of the released activation peptides. Only a single CPB species is formed in the activation process. This fact and the inability of the released activation peptides to inhibit CPB--and, therefore, their inability to slow down the kinetics of appearance of CPB activity--are two important characteristics differentiating between the activation processes of procarboxypeptidases A and B. The sequence of the 95 residues (MW = 12,835) of the activation region of porcine PCPB has also been deduced, largely from the information obtained by Edman degradation of its fragments and in part by considerations of homology with the rat precursor. The porcine PCPB activation region contains a high percentage of acidic residues, lacks cysteines, methionines, and side-chain posttranslational modifications, and presents a low but significant homology (31%) with the corresponding sequence of porcine procarboxypeptidase A.     

Combined effects of oleoyl-estrone and a beta3-adrenergic agonist (CL316,243) on lipid stores of diet-induced overweight male Wistar rats

Oleoyl-estrone (OE) decreases appetite, induces adipose tissue wasting and resets the ponderostat setting, sparing glucose and protein. The beta3-adrenergic agonists increase energy expenditure and lipolysis. We studied the combination of both treatments to enhance fat mobilization. Overweight male rats received oral OE for 10 days; they were compared with controls and rats receiving a beta3-adrenergic agonist, CL316,243 (B3A); another group received both OE and B3A. Serum 3-hydroxybutyrate, NEFA, triacylglycerols and glucose showed only slight changes in all groups vs. controls; OE-treated rats showed lower cholesterol. OE decreased food intake and B3A increased energy expenditure. OE rats lost about 15%, B3A 24%, and those receiving both compounds lost 39% of their initial total body energy. In all cases, most of this energy imbalance was accounted for by the loss of body lipid. The combined treatment of OE and B3A reduced food intake, nevertheless maintaining a high energy expenditure. The combination of a beta3-adrenergic agonist with OE may help compensate the short-lived effects of the agonist and enhance the lipid mobilization action of OE. The eventual combination of both compounds should be explored as a way to obtain faster and more effective ways to treat obesity.     

Proton magnetic resonance study of lysine-binding to the kringle 4 domain of human plasminogen. The structure of the binding site

The binding of L-Lys, D-Lys and epsilon-aminocaproic acid (epsilon ACA) to the kringle 4 domain of human plasminogen has been investigated via one and two-dimensional 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 300 and 600 MHz. Ligand-kringle association constants (Ka) were determined assuming single site binding. At 295 K, pH 7.2, D-Lys binds to kringle 4 much more weakly (Ka = 1.2 mM-1) than does L-Lys (Ka = 24.4 mM-1). L-Lys binding to kringle 4 causes the appearance of ring current-shifted high-field resonances within the -1 approximately less than delta approximately less than 0 parts per million range. The ligand origin of these signals has been confirmed by examining the spectra of kringle 4 titrated with deuterated L-Lys. A systematic analysis of ligand-induced shifts on the aromatic resonances of kringle 4 has been carried out on the basis of 300 MHz two-dimensional chemical shift correlated (COSY) and double quantum correlated spectroscopies. Significant differences in the effect of L-Lys and D-Lys binding to kringle 4 have been observed in the aromatic COSY spectrum. In particular, the His31 H4 and Trp72 H2 singlets and the Phe64 multiplets appear to be the most sensitive to the particular enantiomers, indicating that these residues are in proximity to the ligand C alpha center. In contrast, the rest of the indole spectrum of Trp72 and the aromatic resonances of Trp62 and Tyr74, which are affected by ligand presence, are insensitive to the optical nature of the ligand isomer. These results, together with two-dimensional proton Overhauser studies and ligand-kringle saturation transfer experiments reported previously, enabled us to generate a model of the kringle 4 ligand-binding site from the crystallographic co-ordinates of the prothrombin kringle 1. The latter, although lacking recognizable lysine-binding capability, is otherwise structurally homologous to the plasminogen kringles.     

Heparin binding to the urokinase kringle domain.

The binding of urokinase to immobilized heparin and dextran sulfate was studied using activity assays of the bound urokinase. The markedly higher binding observed with high M(r) urokinase compared to low M(r) urokinase indicated a role for the amino-terminal fragment (ATF). This was confirmed by the use of inactive truncated urokinase and monoclonal antibodies specific for the ATF in competition assays of urokinase binding. Antibody competition assays suggested a site in the kringle domain, and a synthetic decapeptide Arg-52-Trp-62 from the kringle sequence (kringle numbering convention) was competitive in assays of urokinase binding to dextran sulfate and heparin. Heparin binding to the urokinase kringle was unambiguously demonstrated via 1H NMR spectroscopy at 500 MHz. Effective equilibrium association constants (K(a)*) were determined for the interaction of isolated kringle fragment and low M(r) heparin at pH 7.2. The binding was strong in salt-free 2H2O (K(a)* approximately 57 mM-1) and remained significant in 0.15 M NaCl (K(a)* approximately 12 mM-1), supporting a potential physiological role for the interaction. This is the first demonstration of a function for the kringle domain of urokinase, and it suggests that while the classical kringle structure has specificity for lysine binding, there may also exist a class of kringles with affinity for polyanion binding.     

The role of humans in the diversification of a threatened island raptor

Background  

Anthropogenic habitat modifications have led to the extinction of many species and have favoured the expansion of others. Nonetheless, the possible role of humans as a diversifying force in vertebrate evolution has rarely been considered, especially for species with long generation times. We examine the influence that humans have had on the colonization and phenotypic and genetic differentiation of an insular population of a long-lived raptor species, the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).