N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR) decreases neoplastic properties of human prostate cells: an agent for prevention

The development of prostate cancer through a multistep process of carcinogenesis may have a long latent period of 20-30 years. It is possible that progression to a malignant state could be blocked or reversed during this time. This study focuses on the ability of the synthetic retinoid, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-retinamide (4-HPR), to reverse changes associated with malignant transformation and tumor progression, towards a normal phenotype. To examine the responsiveness of cells at different steps of prostate carcinogenesis, three immortalized, but non-tumorigenic (RWPE-1, WPE1-7 and WPE1-10), and one human prostate carcinoma cell line (DU-145), were used. The effects of 4-HPR on cell proliferation, expression of intermediate filament proteins cytokeratin 18 and vimentin, and tumor suppressor proteins p53 and pRb were examined by immunostaining and compared. Results show that 4-HPR caused inhibition of growth in all cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. 4-HPR induced an increase in staining for cytokeratin 18, a marker of differentiation for prostate epithelial cells. While all cell lines showed strong immunostaining for vimentin, treatment with 4-HPR for 8 days caused a marked decrease in staining for vimentin in all cell lines. In an in vitro assay, 4-HPR also caused inhibition of invasion by DU-145 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, 4-HPR treatment was effective in significantly decreasing the abnormal nuclear staining for the tumor suppressor proteins p53 and pRb. Because 4-HPR decreased invasion-associated vimentin expression, inhibited invasion, and normalized p53 and pRb immunostaining, we propose that 4-HPR may be an effective agent for secondary and tertiary prevention, i.e. promotion and progression stages, respectively, of prostate cancer.     

A vital stain for studying membrane dynamics in bacteria: a novel mechanism controlling septation during Bacillus subtilis sporulation

At the onset of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, two potential division sites are assembled at each pole, one of which will be used to synthesize the asymmetrically positioned sporulation septum. Using the vital stain FM 4-64 to label the plasma membrane of living cells, we examined the fate of these potential division sites in wild-type cells and found that, immediately after the formation of the sporulation septum, a partial septum was frequently synthesized within the mother cell at the second potential division site. Using time-lapse deconvolution microscopy, we were able to watch these partial septa first appear and then disappear during sporulation. Septal dissolution was dependent on sigma E activity and was partially inhibited in mutants lacking the sigma E-controlled proteins SpoIID, SpoIIM and SpoIIP, which may play a role in mediating the degradation of septal peptidoglycan. Our results support a model in which sigma E inhibits division at the second potential division site by two distinct mechanisms: inhibition of septal biogenesis and the degradation of partial septa formed before sigma E activation.     

Ubiquinone binding capacity of the Rhodobacter capsulatus cytochrome bc1 complex: effect of diphenylamine, a weak binding QO site inhibitor

Diphenylamine (DPA), a known inhibitor of polyene and isoprene biosynthesis, is shown to inhibit flash-activatable electron transfer in photosynthetic membranes of Rhodobacter capsulatus. DPA is specific to the QO site of ubihydroquinone:cytochrome c oxidoreductase, where it inhibits not only reduction of the [2Fe-2S]2+ cluster in the FeS subunit and subsequent cytochrome c reduction but also heme bL reduction in the cytochrome b subunit. In both cases, the kinetic inhibition constant (Ki) is 25 +/- 10 microM. A novel aspect of the mode of action of DPA is that complete inhibition is established without disturbing the interaction between the reduced [2Fe-2S]+ cluster and the QO site ubiquinone complement, as observed from the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectral line shape of the reduced [2Fe-2S] cluster, which remained characteristic of two ubiquinones being present. These observations imply that DPA is behaving as a noncompetitive inhibitor of the QO site. Nevertheless, at higher concentrations (>10 mM), DPA can interfere with the QO site ubiquinone occupancy, leading to a [2Fe-2S] cluster EPR spectrum characteristic of the presence of only one ubiquinone in the QO site. Evidently, DPA can displace the more weakly bound of the two ubiquinones in the site, but this is not requisite for its inhibiting action.     

The neuron-specific K-Cl cotransporter, KCC2. Antibody development and initial characterization of the protein

The neuron-specific K-Cl cotransporter (KCC2) is hypothesized to function as an active Cl- extrusion pathway important in postsynaptic inhibition mediated by ligand-gated anion channels, like gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) and glycine receptors. To understand better the functional role of KCC2 in the nervous system, we developed polyclonal antibodies to a KCC2 fusion protein and used these antibodies to characterize and localize KCC2 in the rat cerebellum. The antibodies specifically recognized the KCC2 protein which is an approximately 140-kDa glycoprotein detectable only within the central nervous system. The KCC2 protein displayed a robust and punctate distribution in primary cultured retinal amacrine cells known to form exclusively GABAAergic synapses in culture. In immunolocalization studies, KCC2 was absent from axons and glia but was highly expressed at neuronal somata and dendrites, indicating a specific postsynaptic distribution of the protein. In the granule cell layer, KCC2 exhibited a distinct colocalization with the beta2/beta3-subunits of the GABAA receptor at the plasma membrane of granule cell somata and at cerebellar glomeruli. KCC2 lightly labeled the plasma membrane of Purkinje cell somata. Within the molecular layer, KCC2 exhibited a distinctly punctate distribution along dendrites, indicating it may be highly localized at inhibitory synapses along these processes. The distinct postsynaptic localization of KCC2 and its colocalization with GABAA receptor in the cerebellum are consistent with the putative role of KCC2 in neuronal Cl- extrusion and postsynaptic inhibition.     

Crystal structure of the ascorbate peroxidase-ascorbate complex

Heme peroxidases catalyze the H2O2-dependent oxidation of a variety of substrates, most of which are organic. Mechanistically, these enzymes are well characterized: they share a common catalytic cycle that involves formation of a two-electron, oxidized Compound I intermediate followed by two single-electron reduction steps by substrate. The substrate specificity is more diverse--most peroxidases oxidize small organic substrates, but there are prominent exceptions--and there is a notable absence of structural information for a representative peroxidase-substrate complex. Thus, the features that control substrate specificity remain undefined. We present the structure of the complex of ascorbate peroxidase-ascorbate. The structure defines the ascorbate-binding interaction for the first time and provides new rationalization of the unusual functional features of the related cytochrome c peroxidase enzyme, which has been a benchmark for peroxidase catalysis for more than 20 years. A new mechanism for electron transfer is proposed that challenges existing views of substrate oxidation in other peroxidases.