Immunomodulatory effect of probiotics enriched diets on Uronema marinum infected olive flounder

The effect of five probiotics, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus sakei, Bacillus subtilis, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as individual and mixed enriched diet on the seasonal prevalence, activity and intensity of Uronema marinum infection in olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus is reported. The growth performance, feed efficiency, blood biochemistry, survival rate, and non-specific immune response of U. marinum infected olive flounder on week 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 were quantified. The prevalence and infection intensity reached a peak from June to December and then it declined from December to March. The scuticocidal activity in the serum was significantly higher when fed with L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, and S. cerevisiae diets on weeks 2-8. All enriched diets significantly enhanced the weight gain significantly between week 6 and 8; the feed efficiency registered a significantly increase from week 4 to 8 when compared to infected fish fed with control diet. Infected fish fed with L. plantarum-supplemented diet had higher survival rate than with other enriched diets. The serum aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) and alanine aminotransferase (GPT) levels significantly increased when fed with L. plantarum, L. acidophilus or S. cerevisiae-supplemented diet. Total protein (TP) and glucose (GLU) level significantly increased with any enriched diet from week 4 to 8. The superoxide anion production and serum lysozyme activity registered a significant increase when fed with L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, and S. cerevisiae-supplemented diet from week 4-8. The present study concludes that L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, and S. cerevisiae-supplemented diets act as immunostimulants enhancing the growth, feed efficiency, blood biochemistry, survival rate, and non-specific immune response in U. marinum infected olive flounder.     

Effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms on human N-acetyltransferase 2 structure and dynamics by molecular dynamics simulation

Background

Arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is an important catalytic enzyme that metabolizes the carcinogenic arylamines, hydrazine drugs and chemicals. This enzyme is highly polymorphic in different human populations. Several polymorphisms of NAT2, including the single amino acid substitutions R64Q, I114T, D122N, L137F, Q145P, R197Q, and G286E, are classified as slow acetylators, whereas the wild-type NAT2 is classified as a fast acetylator. The slow acetylators are often associated with drug toxicity and efficacy as well as cancer susceptibility. The biological functions of these 7 mutations have previously been characterized, but the structural basis behind the reduced catalytic activity and reduced protein level is not clear.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We performed multiple molecular dynamics simulations of these mutants as well as NAT2 to investigate the structural and dynamical effects throughout the protein structure, specifically the catalytic triad, cofactor binding site, and the substrate binding pocket. None of these mutations induced unfolding; instead, their effects were confined to the inter-domain, domain 3 and 17-residue insert region, where the flexibility was significantly reduced relative to the wild-type. Structural effects of these mutations propagate through space and cause a change in catalytic triad conformation, cofactor binding site, substrate binding pocket size/shape and electrostatic potential.

Conclusions/Significance

Our results showed that the dynamical properties of all the mutant structures, especially in inter-domain, domain 3 and 17-residue insert region were affected in the same manner. Similarly, the electrostatic potential of all the mutants were altered and also the functionally important regions such as catalytic triad, cofactor binding site, and substrate binding pocket adopted different orientation and/or conformation relative to the wild-type that may affect the functions of the mutants. Overall, our study may provide the structural basis for reduced catalytic activity and protein level, as was experimentally observed for these polymorphisms.     

Genetic variants of TSLP and asthma in an admixed urban population

Background

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), an IL7-like cytokine produced by bronchial epithelial cells is upregulated in asthma and induces dendritic cell maturation supporting a Th2 response. Environmental pollutants, including tobacco smoke and diesel exhaust particles upregulate TSLP suggesting that TSLP may be an interface between environmental pollution and immune responses in asthma. Since asthma is prevalent in urban communities, variants in the TSLP gene may be important in asthma susceptibility in these populations.

Objectives

To determine whether genetic variants in TSLP are associated with asthma in an urban admixed population.

Methodology and Main Results

Ten tag-SNPs in the TSLP gene were analyzed for association with asthma using 387 clinically diagnosed asthmatic cases and 212 healthy controls from an urban admixed population. One SNP (rs1898671) showed nominally significant association with asthma (odds ratio (OR) = 1.50; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.09–2.05, p = 0.01) after adjusting for age, BMI, income, education and population stratification. Association results were consistent using two different approaches to adjust for population stratification. When stratified by smoking status, the same SNP showed a significantly increased risk associated with asthma in ex-smokers (OR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.04–3.83, p = 0.04) but not significant in never-smokers (OR = 1.34; 95% CI: 0.93–1.94, p = 0.11). Haplotype-specific score test indicated that an elevated risk for asthma was associated with a specific haplotype of TSLP involving SNP rs1898671 (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.10–2.27, p = 0.01). Association of this SNP with asthma was confirmed in an independent large population-based cohort consortium study (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.07–1.23, p = 0.0003) and the results stratified by smoking status were also validated (ex-smokers: OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.08–1.34, p = 0.003; never-smokers: OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.94–1.17, p = 0.33).

Conclusions

Genetic variants in TSLP may contribute to asthma susceptibility in admixed urban populations with a gene and environment interaction.     

Disruption of a mitochondrial protease machinery in Plasmodium falciparum is an intrinsic signal for parasite cell death

The ATP-dependent ClpQY protease system in Plasmodium falciparum is a prokaryotic machinery in the parasite. In the present study, we have identified the complete ClpQY system in P. falciparum and elucidated its functional importance in survival and growth of asexual stage parasites. We characterized the interaction of P. falciparum ClpQ protease (PfClpQ) and PfClpY ATPase components, and showed that a short stretch of residues at the C terminus of PfClpY has an important role in this interaction; a synthetic peptide corresponding to this region antagonizes this interaction and interferes with the functioning of this machinery in the parasite. Disruption of ClpQY function by this peptide caused hindrance in the parasite growth and maturation of asexual stages of parasites. Detailed analyses of cellular effects in these parasites showed features of apoptosis-like cell death. The peptide-treated parasites showed mitochondrial dysfunction and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Dysfunctioning of mitochondria initiated a cascade of reactions in parasites, including activation of VAD–FMK-binding proteases and nucleases, which resulted in apoptosis-like cell death. These results show functional importance of mitochondrial proteases in the parasite and involvement of mitochondria in programmed cell death in the malaria parasites.     

A Highly Conserved Cysteine of Neuronal Calcium-sensing Proteins Controls Cooperative Binding of Ca2+ to Recoverin

Recoverin, a 23-kDa Ca²⁺-binding protein of the neuronal calcium sensing (NCS) family, inhibits rhodopsin kinase, a Ser/Thr kinase responsible for termination of photoactivated rhodopsin in rod photoreceptor cells. Recoverin has two functional EF hands and a myristoylated N terminus. The myristoyl chain imparts cooperativity to the Ca²⁺-binding sites through an allosteric mechanism involving a conformational equilibrium between R and T states of the protein. Ca²⁺ binds preferentially to the R state; the myristoyl chain binds preferentially to the T state. In the absence of myristoylation, the R state predominates, and consequently, binding of Ca²⁺ to the non-myristoylated protein is not cooperative. We show here that a mutation, C39A, of a highly conserved Cys residue among NCS proteins, increases the apparent cooperativity for binding of Ca²⁺ to non-myristoylated recoverin. The binding data can be explained by an effect on the T/R equilibrium to favor the T state without affecting the intrinsic binding constants for the two Ca²⁺ sites.     

Fouling deterrent chemical defence in three muricid gastropod egg masses from the Southeast coast of India

Abstract

The egg masses of the marine muricid gastropod molluscs Chicoreus virgineus, Chicoreus ramosus and Rapana rapiformis were studied for antifouling activities. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of crude extracts for the inhibition of byssal production and attachment of the brown mussel Perna indica were 650 μg ml^?1, 1150 μg ml^?1 and 925 μg ml^?1 from the three muricid gastropods, respectively. Higher LC₅₀ values than EC₅₀ values and 100% recovery of the mussels in the toxicity assay indicated the non-toxic nature of the extracts. The gradient partitioning of the egg mass extracts and subsequent antimicrofouling screening against 40 biofilm bacteria showed wide-spectrum antibacterial activity of the medium polar fraction from C. virgineus; the non-polar fraction from R. rapiformis and both non-polar and medium polar fractions from C. ramosus. The antimicrofouling activity from extracts of the three egg masses was found to be more prominent than antimacrofouling activity. This may be attributed to the targeting of a defence strategy against microbes in order to protect the developing mollusc embryos.     

Electronic structure simulations of 2,6-dimethyl-2,5-heptadien-4-one by FTIR,FT-Raman,NMR, UV–vis,NBO and density functional theory

Density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP and B3PW91) calculations have been carried out for 2,6-dimethyl-2,5-heptadien-4-one (DMHD4O) using 6–311++ G** basis set. Complete vibrational assignment and analysis of the fundamental modes of the compound were carried out from the FTIR and FT-Raman spectral data. The theoretical electronic absorption has been calculated by using time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) methods and compared with the experimental spectra. The theoretically computed Frontier energy gaps and TD-DFT calculations are in good agreement with the experimental UV–vis spectral absorption. The chemical hardness measured from the Frontier molecular orbital energies of DMHD4O is 0.0693 eV. Electronic stability of the compound arising from hyperconjugative interactions and charge delocalisation were also investigated based on the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. Effective stabilisation energy E ⁽²⁾ associated with the interactions of the π and the lone pair of electrons was determined by the NBO analysis. ¹³C and ¹H NMR chemical shifts of the compound have been calculated by means of Gauge-Invariant Atomic Orbital using B3LYP/6–311++ G** method. The partial ionic character of the carbonyl group due to resonance render a partially positive charge to the carbonyl carbon, and thus C4 chemical shift lie in the very downfield 191.6 ppm. Comparison between the experimental and the theoretical results indicates that B3LYP method is able to provide satisfactory results for predicting vibrational, electronic and NMR properties.     

Immunophenotype and differentiation capacity of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells from CBA/Ca,ICR and Balb/c mice

AIM:To assess the capacity to isolate and expand mesenchymal stem cells(MSC)from bone marrow of CBA/Ca,ICR and Balb/c mice. METHODS:Bone marrow of tibia and femur were flushed,cultured and maintained in supplemented Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium.MSC immunophenotype of cultures were tracked along increasing passages for positivity to CD106,Sca-1 and CD44 and negativity to CD45,CD11b and MHC classⅡ.Differentiation capacity of MSC towards osteogenic and adipo-genic lineages were also assessed. RESULTS:MSC were successfully cultured from bone marrow of all 3 strains,albeit differences in the temporal expression of certain surface antigens.Their differentiation into osteocytes and adipocytes were also observed. MSC from all 3 mouse strains demonstrated a shift from a haematopoietic phenotype(CD106-CD45+CD11b+Sca-1low)to typical MSC phenotype(CD106+CD45-CD11b-Sca-1high)with increasing passages. CONCLUSION:Information garnered assists us in the decision of selecting a mouse strain to generate MSC from for downstream experimentation.