Role of hypothalamic orexin neurons in the regulation of arousal according to energy balance

Sleep and Biological Rhythms -     

Heme Orientation of Cavity Mutant Hemoglobins (His F8 → Gly) in Either α or β Subunits: Circular Dichroism, 1H NMR,and Resonance Raman Studies

Native human adult hemoglobin (Hb A) has mostly normal orientation of heme, whereas recombinant Hb A (rHb A) expressed in E. coli contains both normal and reversed orientations of heme. Hb A with the normal heme exhibits positive circular dichroism (CD) bands at both the Soret and 260‐nm regions, while rHb A with the reversed heme shows a negative Soret and decreased 260‐nm CD bands. In order to examine involvement of the proximal histidine (His F8) of either α or β subunits in determining the heme orientation, we prepared two cavity mutant Hbs, rHb(αH87G) and rHb(βH92G), with substitution of glycine for His F8 in the presence of imidazole. CD spectra of both cavity mutant Hbs did not show a negative Soret band, but instead exhibited positive bands with strong intensity at the both Soret and 260‐nm regions, suggesting that the reversed heme scarcely exists in the cavity mutant Hbs. We confirmed by ¹H NMR and resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopies that the cavity mutant Hbs have mainly the normal heme orientation in both the mutated and native subunits. These results indicate that the heme Fe‐His F8 linkage in both α and β subunits influences the heme orientation, and that the heme orientation of one type of subunit is related to the heme orientation of the complementary subunits to be the same. The present study showed that CD and RR spectroscopies also provided powerful tools for the examination of the heme rotational disorder of Hb A, in addition to the usual ¹H NMR technique. Chirality 28:585–592, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Gliclazide inhibits proliferation but stimulates differentiation of white and brown adipocytes

Gliclazide, a second-generation sulfonylurea, has anti-oxidant properties as well as hypoglycemic activities. In the present study, we investigated whether gliclazide affected proliferation and/or differentiation of HW white and HB2 brown adipocyte cell lines. Gliclazide inhibited proliferation of HW and HB2 cells in the medium containing fetal calf serum or epidermal growth factor (EGF). Gliclazide inhibited phosphorylation of EGF receptor and of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 stimulated by EGF. Gliclazide increased lipid accumulation and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) expression in the early stage of differentiation of adipocytes. A K(ATP) channel activator, diazoxide, did not inhibit the increase of lipid accumulation by gliclazide. Furthermore, gliclazide inhibited the DNA-binding activity of PPARgamma in mature adipocytes. On the other hand, glibenclamide, other sulfonylurea, did not show these effects. These results indicate gliclazide inhibits proliferation and stimulates differentiation of adipocytes via down-regulation of the EGFR signalling. Gliclazide may have preventive and therapeutic effects on obesity, as well as on type 2 diabetes.     

Induction of steady-state glomeruloid sphere by self-assembly from human embryonic kidney cells

The glomerulus is a network of capillaries known as a tuft, located at the beginning of a nephron in the kidney. Here we describe a novel method for the induction of a macroscopically visible three-dimensional glomerulus-like sphere (GLS). This procedure did not require any additional cytokines and completed the formation of spheres within 24?h. After the formation was complete, GLS maintained a steady state for at least five days without proliferation and without a decrease in viability. Therefore, this procedure assists various assays for a prolong period of time. Overall, our protocol allows for a very simple mixing of cells from different sources to obtain fine-grained and highly dispersed GLSs. The kidney filtration barrier is a unique structure characterized by a complex three-dimensional framework of podocytes and endothelial cells. GLS exhibited the induction of many podocyte-specific gene profiles similar to those in adult human kidneys, suggesting that the sphere formation process is important for the maturation of podocytes. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is one of the major causes of steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome, and some circulating permeability factors in the patient's serum FSGS have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease. Serum from patients with FSGS induced the collapse of GLS, which imitates the appearance of glomerulosclerosis in patients. In conclusion, the investigation and use of GLS may provide a novel method to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying complicated and unexplained events in glomeruli in a similar condition in adult kidneys.     

Production and purification of Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin using a protein-hyperproducing strain, Bacillus brevis 47

Abstract Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin was produced in a protein-hyperproducing strain, Bacillus brevis 47, by cloning the gene into the constructed expression-secretion vector which has the multiple promoters and the signal peptide coding region of an outer cell wall protein gene. The amount of alpha-toxin produced by the B. brevis 47 transformant carrying the gene was approximately 10 times greater than that produced by a B. subtilis transformant carrying the toxin gene. Biological activities and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the toxin secreted by the B. brevis 47 transformant were identical to those of wild-type alpha-toxin.     

Photoreduction and reoxidation of the three iron-sulfur clusters of reaction centers of green sulfur bacteria

Iron-sulfur clusters are the terminal electron acceptors of the photosynthetic reaction centers of green sulfur bacteria and photosystem I. We have studied electron-transfer reactions involving these clusters in the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum, using flash-absorption spectroscopic measurements. We show for the first time that three different clusters, named F(X), F(1), and F(2), can be photoreduced at room temperature during a series of consecutive flashes. The rates of electron escape to exogenous acceptors depend strongly upon the number of reduced clusters. When two or three clusters are reduced, the escape is biphasic, with the fastest phase being 12-14-fold faster than the slowest phase, which is similar to that observed after single reduction. This is explained by assuming that escape involves mostly the second reducible cluster. Evidence is thus provided for a functional asymmetry between the two terminal acceptors F(1) and F(2). From multiple-flash experiments, it was possible to derive the intrinsic recombination rates between P840(+) and reduced iron-sulfur clusters: values of 7, 14, and 59 s(-1) were found after one, two and three electron reduction of the clusters, respectively. The implications of our results for the relative redox potentials of the three clusters are discussed.     

Totally synthetic polymer with lectin-like function: induction of killer cells by the copolymer of 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid with N,N-dimethylacrylamide

Lectin-like function was demonstrated in this study for a novel water-soluble polymer with phenylboronic acid residues (poly (AAPBA-DMAm)), which induced appreciable proliferation of murine spleen lymphocytes with an increased expression of interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor on their surface. Consequently, boosted proliferation of lymphocytes with cytotoxic action to YAC-1 cells was achieved by concurrent addition of IL-2 with poly(AAPBA-DMAm) in the medium, indicating this boronate-containing polymer to be worked as an effective immuno-adjuvant for the induction of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. Flow-cytofluorimetry study revealed that poly(AAPBA-DMAm) competitively inhibited the cellular binding of N-acetylneuraminic acid-specific lectin (Limax Flavus Agglutinin) in a concentration-dependent manner, suggesting that phenylboronate moiety in the polymer may recognize N-acetylneur- aminic acid (sialic acid) residues existing on the plasma-membrane surface of lymphocytes to induce their proliferation.     

Thermostabilization of a chimeric enzyme by residue substitutions: four amino acid residues in loop regions are responsible for the thermostability of Thermus thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase

A chimeric 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, named 2T2M6T, made of parts from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus, and a mesophile, Bacillus subtilis, was found to be considerably more labile than the T. thermophilus wild-type isopropylmalate dehydrogenase. In order to identify the molecular basis of the thermal stability of the T. thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, 11 amino acid residues in the mesophilic portion of the chimera were substituted by the corresponding residues of the T. thermophilus enzyme, and the effects of the side chain substitutions were analyzed by comparing the reaction rate of irreversible heat denaturation and catalytic parameters of the mutant chimeras with those of the original chimera, 2T2M6T. Four single-site mutants were successfully stabilized without any loss of the catalytic function. All these four sites are located in loop regions of the enzyme. Our results strongly suggest the importance of these loop structures to the extreme stability of the T. thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase.