Oral treatment with vanadium of Zucker fatty rats activates muscle glycogen synthesis and insulin-stimulated protein phosphatase-1 activity

Since the glucose-lowering effects of vanadium could be related to increased muscle glycogen synthesis, we examined the in vivo effects of vanadium and insulin treatment on glycogen synthase (GS) activation in Zucker fatty rats. The GS fractional activity (GSFA), protein phosphatase-1 (PP1), and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) activity were determined in fatty and lean rats following treatment with bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV) (BMOV) for 3 weeks (0.2 mmol/kg/day) administered in drinking water. Skeletal muscle was freeze-clamped before or following an insulin injection (5 U/kg i.v.). In both lean and fatty rats, muscle GSFA was significantly increased at 15 min following insulin stimulation. Vanadium treatment resulted in decreased insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity in the fatty rats. Interestingly, this treatment stimulated muscle GSFA by 2-fold (p < 0.05) and increased insulin-stimulated PP1 activity by 77% (p < 0.05) in the fatty rats as compared to untreated rats. Insulin resistance, vanadium and insulin in vivo treatment did not affect muscle GSK-3 activity in either fatty or lean rats. Therefore, an impaired insulin sensitivity in the Zucker fatty rats was improved following vanadium treatment, resulting in an enhanced muscle glucose metabolism through increased GS and insulin-stimulated PP1 activity.     

Kinetic and structural characterization of manganese(II)-loaded methionyl aminopeptidases

Manganese(II) activation of the methionyl aminopeptidases from Escherichia coli (EcMetAP-I) and the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus (PfMetAP-II) was investigated. Maximum catalytic activity for both enzymes was obtained with 1 equiv of Mn(II), and the dissociation constants (K(d)) for the first metal binding site were found to be 6 +/- 0.5 and 1 +/- 0.5 microM for EcMetAP-I and PfMetAP-II, respectively. These K(d) values were verified by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and found to be 3.0 +/- 0.2 and 1.4 +/- 0.2 microM for EcMetAP-I and PfMetAP-II, respectively. The hydrolysis of MGMM was measured in triplicate between 25 and 85 degrees C at eight substrate concentrations ranging from 2 to 20 mM for PfMetAP-II. Both specific activity and K(m) values increased with increasing temperature. An Arrhenius plot was constructed from the kcat values and was found to be linear over the temperature range 25-85 degrees C. The activation energy for the Mn(II)-loaded PfMetAP-II hydrolysis of MGMM was found to be 25.7 kJ/mol while the remaining thermodynamic parameters calculated at 25 degrees C are DeltaG+ = 50.1 kJ/mol, DeltaH+ = 23.2 kJ/mol, and DeltaS++ = -90.2 J x mol(-1) x K(-1).     

Pleurotus and Agrocybe hemolysins,new proteins hypothetically involved in fungal fruiting

Novel hemolytic proteins, ostreolysin and aegerolysin, were purified from the fruiting bodies of the edible mushrooms Pleurotus ostreatus and Agrocybe aegerita. Both ostreolysin and aegerolysin have a molecular weight of about 16 kDa, have low isoelectric points of 5.0 and 4.85, are thermolabile, and hemolytic to bovine erythrocytes at nanomolar concentrations. Their activity is impaired by micromolar Hg(2+) but not by membrane lipids and serum low-density lipoproteins (LDL). The sequence of respectively 50 and 10 N-terminal amino acid residues of ostreolysin and aegerolysin has been determined and found to be highly identical with a cDNA-derived amino acid sequence of putative Aa-Pri1 protein from the mushroom A. aegerita, Asp-hemolysin from Aspergillus fumigatus, and two bacterial hemolysin-like proteins expressed during sporulation. We found that ostreolysin is expressed during formation of primordia and fruiting bodies, which is in accord with previous finding that the Aa-Pri1 gene is specifically expressed during fruiting initiation. It is suggestive that the isolated hemolysins play an important role in initial phase of fungal fruiting.     

The interaction of anthocyanins with bilitranslocase

Bilitranslocase (TC 2.A.65.1.1) is an organic anion membrane carrier expressed at the sinusoidal domain of the liver plasma membrane and in epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa. Its substrates are sulfobromophthalein, bilirubin, and nicotinic acid. This work reports on the identification of a new class of bilitranslocase substrates, i.e., anthocyanins. Seventeen out thes 20 compounds tested behaved as competitive inhibitors of bilitranslocase transport activity (K(I)=1.4-22 microM). Their structure-activity relationship reveals that mono- and di-glucosyl anthocyanins, the anthocyanin species occurring in food, are better ligands than the corresponding aglycones. Moreover, the first interaction of anthocyanins with the carrier occurs through hydrophilic moieties, such as the 3-glucosyl moiety and the B ring for the monoglucosides, through the 5-glucosyl moiety and the A ring for the diglucosides, and through either the B or the A ring for the aglycones. These findings suggest that bilitranslocase could play a role in the bioavailability of anthocyanins.     

Characterization of the ligand-binding domain of the ecdysteroid receptor from Drosophila melanogaster

Mutants created by site-directed mutagenesis were used to elucidate the function of amino acids involved in ligand binding to ecdysteroid receptor (EcR) and heterodimer formation with ultraspiracle (USP). The results demonstrate the importance of the C-terminal part of the D-domain and helix 12 of EcR for hormone binding. Some amino acids are involved either in ligand binding to EcR (E476, M504, D572, I617, N626) or ligand-dependent heterodimerization as determined by gel mobility shift assays (A612, L615, T619), while others are involved in both functions (K497, E648). Some amino acids are suboptimal for ligand binding (L615, T619), but mediate ligand-dependent dimerization. We conclude that the enhanced regulatory potential by ligand-dependent modulation of dimerization in the wild type is achieved at the expense of optimal ligand binding. Mutation of amino acids (K497, E648) involved in the salt bridge between helix 4 and 12 impair ligand binding to EcR more severely than hormone binding to the heterodimer, indicating that to some extent heterodimerization compensates for the deleterious effect of certain mutations. Different effects of the same point mutations on ligand binding to EcR and EcR/USP (R511, A612, L615, I617, T619, N626) indicate that the ligand-binding pocket is modified by heterodimerization.     

Chaotropic solutes cause water stress in Pseudomonas putida

Low water availability is the most ubiquitous cause of stress for terrestrial plants, animals and microorganisms, and has a major impact on ecosystem function and agricultural productivity. Studies of water stress have largely focused on conditions that affect cell turgor, i.e. induce osmotic stress. We show that chaotropic solutes that do not affect turgor reduce water activity, perturb macromolecule-water interactions and thereby destabilize cellular macromolecules, inhibit growth, and are powerful mediators of water stress in a typical soil bacterium, Pseudomonas putida. Chaotropic solute-induced water stress resulted mostly in the upregulation of proteins involved in stabilization of biological macromolecules and membrane structure. Many environmental pollutants and agricultural products are chaotropic chemicals and thus constitute a previously unrecognised but common form of biological stress in water bodies and soils.     

Circulating monocytes from healthy individuals and COPD patients

Background

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by incompletely reversible airflow obstruction associated with inflammation in which monocytes/macrophages are the predominant inflammatory cells. The only known genetic factor related to COPD is inherited PiZZ deficiency of α1-antitrypsin (AAT), an inhibitor of serine proteases.

Methods

We investigated the basal and LPS-stimulated release of pro-inflammatory molecules from blood monocytes isolated from age and gender matched healthy (n = 30) and COPD (n = 20) individuals with and without AAT deficiency.

Results

After 18 h of cell culture the basal release of MMP-9 was 2.5-fold, p < 0.02 greater, whereas IL-8 was 1.8-fold (p < 0.01) lower from COPD patient monocytes than from controls. LPS-stimulated release of IL-6 and MCP-1 was greater from COPD patient's monocytes relative to controls, while activation of control cells resulted in enhanced secretion of ICAM-1 and MMP-9 compared to COPD patients. Independent of disease status, monocytes from PiZZ AAT carriers released less TNFα (by 2.3-fold, p < 0.03).

Conclusions

The basal and LPS-stimulated secretion of specific pro-inflammatory molecules from circulating monocytes differs between healthy and COPD subjects. These findings may be valuable for further studies on the mechanisms involved in recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells in COPD.     

Conventional kinesin KIF5B mediates insulin-stimulated GLUT4 movements on microtubules

Insulin stimulates glucose uptake in muscle and adipose cells by mobilizing intracellular membrane vesicles containing GLUT4 glucose transporter proteins to the plasma membrane. Here we show in live cultured adipocytes that intracellular membranes containing GLUT4-yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) move along tubulin-cyan fluorescent protein-labeled microtubules in response to insulin by a mechanism that is insensitive to the phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3)-kinase inhibitor wortmannin. Insulin increased by several fold the observed frequencies, but not velocities, of long-range movements of GLUT4-YFP on microtubules, both away from and towards the perinuclear region. Genomics screens show conventional kinesin KIF5B is highly expressed in adipocytes and this kinesin is partially co-localized with perinuclear GLUT4. Dominant-negative mutants of conventional kinesin light chain blocked outward GLUT4 vesicle movements and translocation of exofacial Myc-tagged GLUT4-green fluorescent protein to the plasma membrane in response to insulin. These data reveal that insulin signaling targets the engagement or initiates the movement of GLUT4-containing membranes on microtubules via conventional kinesin through a PI3-kinase-independent mechanism. This insulin signaling pathway regulating KIF5B function appears to be required for GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane.     

Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Stimulate Phospholipase D via Different Pathways in the Adult and Neonate Rat Hippocampus

In order to characterize the ontogenetic profile of metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors coupled to phospholipase D (PLD) we examined the effects of selected mGlu agents on PLD activity in immature and adult rat hippocampus. The group I mGlu receptor agonist 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine stimulated PLD in immature tissue, but reduced the PLD response evoked by the nonselective mGlu receptor agonist (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate [(1S,3R)-ACPD] in adult hippocampus. (2R,1S,2R,3S)-2-(2-Carboxy-3-phenylcyclopropyl)glycine (PCCG-13), a recently characterized selective antagonist of PLD-coupled mGlu receptors, displayed a much greater activity in reducing the PLD response to (1S,3R)-ACPD in adult than in neonate hippocampus. Our results lend support to the hypothesis that glutamatergic activation of PLD in the rat hippocampus is developmentally regulated.