Long-term intermittent feeding, but not caloric restriction, leads to redox imbalance, insulin receptor nitration, and glucose intolerance

Calorie restriction is a dietary intervention known to improve redox state, glucose tolerance, and animal life span. Other interventions have been adopted as study models for caloric restriction, including nonsupplemented food restriction and intermittent, every-other-day feedings. We compared the short- and long-term effects of these interventions to ad libitum protocols and found that, although all restricted diets decrease body weight, intermittent feeding did not decrease intra-abdominal adiposity. Short-term calorie restriction and intermittent feeding presented similar results relative to glucose tolerance. Surprisingly, long-term intermittent feeding promoted glucose intolerance, without a loss in insulin receptor phosphorylation. Intermittent feeding substantially increased insulin receptor nitration in both intra-abdominal adipose tissue and muscle, a modification associated with receptor inactivation. All restricted diets enhanced nitric oxide synthase levels in the insulin-responsive adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. However, whereas calorie restriction improved tissue redox state, food restriction and intermittent feedings did not. In fact, long-term intermittent feeding resulted in largely enhanced tissue release of oxidants. Overall, our results show that restricted diets are significantly different in their effects on glucose tolerance and redox state when adopted long-term. Furthermore, we show that intermittent feeding can lead to oxidative insulin receptor inactivation and glucose intolerance.     

Expression and localization of bacterial luciferase determined by immunogold labeling

Using a polyclonal antibody raised against purified luciferase of Vibrio harveyi and immunogold labeling on thin sections, the amounts and cellular localization of luciferase were examined during the growth of the bacteria. Cells harvested at different times during cultivation in liquid medium at 22°C were fixed, either chemically or by fast freeze fixation followed by freeze substitution, and embedded in LR White. Concomitant measures of bioluminescence, both in vitro and in vivo,showed the classical curve of autoinduction. The number of gold particles per cell area showed a similar pattern. Their localization was always cytoplasmic, with no indication of special periplasmic or membrane associations.     

FASTKD2 nonsense mutation in an infantile mitochondrial encephalomyopathy associated with cytochrome c oxidase deficiency

In two siblings we found a mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, characterized by developmental delay, hemiplegia, convulsions, asymmetrical brain atrophy, and low cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity in skeletal muscle. The disease locus was identified on chromosome 2 by homozygosity mapping; candidate genes were prioritized for their known or predicted mitochondrial localization and then sequenced in probands and controls. A homozygous nonsense mutation in the KIAA0971 gene segregated with the disease in the proband family. The corresponding protein is known as fas activated serine-threonine kinase domain 2, FASTKD2. Confocal immunofluorescence colocalized a tagged recombinant FASTKD2 protein with mitochondrial markers, and membrane-potential-dependent in vitro mitochondrial import was demonstrated in isolated mitochondria. In staurosporine-induced-apoptosis experiments, decreased nuclear fragmentation was detected in treated mutant versus control fibroblasts. In conclusion, we found a loss-of-function mutation in a gene segregating with a peculiar mitochondrial encephalomyopathy associated with COX deficiency in skeletal muscle. The corresponding protein is localized in the mitochondrial inner compartment. Preliminary data indicate that FASTKD2 plays a role in mitochondrial apoptosis.     

A novel enhancer of the Apaf1 apoptosome involved in cytochrome c-dependent caspase activation and apoptosis

Apaf1/CED4 family members play central roles in apoptosis regulation as activators of caspase family cell death proteases. These proteins contain a nucleotide-binding (NB) self-oligomerization domain and a caspase recruitment domain (CARD). A novel human protein was identified, NAC, that contains an NB domain and CARD. The CARD of NAC interacts selectively with the CARD domain of Apaf1, a caspase-activating protein that couples mitochondria-released cytochrome c (cyt-c) to activation of cytosolic caspases. Cyt-c-mediated activation of caspases in cytosolic extracts and in cells is enhanced by overexpressing NAC and inhibited by reducing NAC using antisense/DNAzymes. Furthermore, association of NAC with Apaf1 is cyt c-inducible, resulting in a mega-complex (>1 MDa) containing both NAC and Apaf1 and correlating with enhanced recruitment and proteolytic processing of pro-caspase-9. NAC also collaborates with Apaf1 in inducing caspase activation and apoptosis in intact cells, whereas fragments of NAC representing only the CARD or NB domain suppress Apaf1-dependent apoptosis induction. NAC expression in vivo is associated with terminal differentiation of short lived cells in epithelia and some other tissues. The ability of NAC to enhance Apaf1-apoptosome function reveals a novel paradigm for apoptosis regulation.