Fas-, caspase 8-, and caspase 3-dependent signaling regulates the activity of the aminophospholipid translocase and phosphatidylserine externalization in human erythrocytes

Apoptosis and erythrocyte senescence share the common feature of exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) in the outer leaflet of the cells. Western analysis showed that mature red cells contain Fas, FasL, Fas-associated death domain (FADD), caspase 8, and caspase 3. Circulating, aged cells showed colocalization of Fas with the raft marker proteins Galpha(s) and CD59; the existence of Fas-associated FasL, FADD and caspase 8; and caspase 8 and caspase 3 activity. Aged red cells had significantly lower aminophospholipid translocase activity and higher levels of PS externalization in comparison with young cells. In support of our contention that caspases play a functional role in the mature red cell, the oxidatively stressed red cell recapitulated apoptotic events, including translocation of Fas into rafts, formation of a Fas-associated complex, and activation of caspases 8 and 3. These events were independent of calpain but dependent on reactive oxygen species (ROS) as evident from the effects of the ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine. Caspase activation was associated with loss of aminophospholipid translocase activity and with PS externalization. ROS was not generated by treatment of cells with t-butyl hydroperoxide at 10 degrees C, and Fas did not translocate into rafts. Concomitantly, neither formation of a Fas-associated signaling complex nor caspase activation could be observed, supporting the view that translocation of Fas into rafts was the trigger for the chain of events leading to caspase 3 activation. Our data demonstrate for the first time the novel involvement of Fas/caspase 8/caspase 3-dependent signaling in an enucleated cell leading to PS externalization, a central feature of erythrophagocytosis and erythrocyte biology.     

Curcumin regulates expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinases 9 and 2 during prevention and healing of indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are suggested to play a critical role in extracellular matrix degradation and remodeling during inflammation and wound healing processes. However, the role of MMPs in indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer and its healing process are not clearly understood. This study is aimed at determining the regulation of MMP-9 and -2 activities in indomethacin-induced acute gastric ulceration and healing. Indomethacin-ulcerated stomach extracts exhibit significant up-regulation of pro-MMP-9 (92 kDa) activity and moderate reduction of MMP-2 activity, which strongly correlate with indomethacin dose and severity of ulcer. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of curcumin, an active component of turmeric, suggest that curcumin may exert antiulcer activity through scavenging reactive oxygen species, by regulating MMP activity, or both. To test these possibilities, the effect of curcumin in indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer is examined by biochemical and histological methods. The results show that curcumin exhibits potent antiulcer activity in acute ulcer in rat model by preventing glutathione depletion, lipid peroxidation, and protein oxidation. Denudation of epithelial cells during damage of gastric lumen is reversed by curcumin through re-epithelialization. Furthermore, both oral and intraperitoneal administration of curcumin blocks gastric ulceration in a dose-dependent manner. It accelerates the healing process and protects gastric ulcer through attenuation of MMP-9 activity and amelioration of MMP-2 activity. Omeprazole, an established antiulcer drug does not inhibit MMP-9 while protecting indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer. We conclude that antiulcer activity of curcumin is primarily attributed to MMP-9 inhibition, one of the major path-ways of ulcer healing.     

Molecular mechanism of domain swapping in proteins: an analysis of slower motions

Domain swapping is a structural phenomenon that plays an important role in the mechanism of oligomerization of some proteins. The monomer units in the oligomeric structure become entangled with each other. Here we investigate the mechanism of domain swapping in diphtheria toxin and the structural criteria required for it to occur by analyzing the slower modes of motion with elastic network models, Gaussian network model and anisotropic network model. We take diphtheria toxin as a representative of this class of domain-swapped proteins and show that the domain, which is being swapped in the dimeric state, rotates and twists, in going from the "open" to the "closed" state, about a hinge axis that passes through the middle of the loop extending between two domains. A combination of the intra- and intermolecular contacts of the dimer is almost equivalent to that of the monomer, which shows that the relative orientations of the residues in both forms are almost identical. This is also reflected in the calculated B-factors when compared with the experimentally determined B-factors in x-ray crystal structures. The slowest modes of both the monomer and dimer show a common hinge centered on residue 387. The differences in distances between the monomer and the dimer also shows the hinge at nearly the same location (residue 381). Finally, the first three dominant modes of anisotropic network model together shows a twisting motion about the hinge centered on residue 387. We further identify the location of hinges for a set of another 12 domain swapped proteins and give the quantitative measures of the motions of the swapped domains toward their "closed" state, i.e., the overlap and correlation between vectors.     

Molecular phylogeny of silk producing insects based on internal transcribed spacer DNA1

Silk moths are the best studied silk secreting insects and belong to the families Bombycidae and Saturniidae. The phylogenetic relationship between eleven silk producing insects was analyzed using the complete DNA sequence of the internal transcribed spacer DNA 1 locus. The PCR amplification and sequence analysis showed variation in length ranging from 138 bp (Antheraea polyphemus) to 911 bp (Hyalopora cecropia). Microsatellite sequences were found and was be used to distinguish Saturniidae and Bombycidae members. The nucleotide sequences were aligned manually and used for construction of phylogenetic trees based on Maximum parsimony and Maximum likelihood methods. The topology in both the approaches yielded a similar tree that supports the ancestral position of the Antheraea assama.     

Water relations, activities of antioxidants, ethylene evolution and membrane integrity of pigeonpea roots as affected by soil moisture

The plants of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) cv. H77-216 were subjected to moderate [soil moisture content (SMC) = 7.3 ± 0.5 %] and severe (SMC = 4.3 ± 0.5 %) drought by withholding the irrigation at vegetative stage (45 d after sowing). The control plants were maintained at SMC of 11.0 ± 0.5 %. Half of the stressed plants were re-irrigated and their recovery was studied after 2 d. Leaf water potential, osmotic potential, and relative water content of leaf and root decreased significantly while a sharp rise in proline and total soluble sugars contents were noticed. Drought induced a significant increase in 1-aminocyclopropane 1-carboxylic acid (ACC) content and ACC oxidase activity which caused a considerable increase in ethylene evolution. Malondialdehyde content and relative stress injury were increased under drought whereas reverse was true for ascorbic acid content. The membrane integrity of roots decreased during stress and recovered on rehydration. The specific activity of total superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione transferase decreased to 37 – 78 %, 17 – 62 %, 29 – 36 % and 57 – 79 % at moderate and severe drought, respectively. The increase in activity of catalase and peroxidase could not overcome the accumulation of H₂O₂ content in the roots.     

Role of phenylalanine B10 in plant nonsymbiotic hemoglobins

All plants contain an unusual class of hemoglobins that display bis-histidyl coordination yet are able to bind exogenous ligands such as oxygen. Structurally homologous hexacoordinate hemoglobins (hxHbs) are also found in animals (neuroglobin and cytoglobin) and some cyanobacteria, where they are thought to play a role in free radical scavenging or ligand sensing. The plant hxHbs can be distinguished from the others because they are only weakly hexcacoordinate in the ferrous state, yet no structural mechanism for regulating hexacoordination has been articulated to account for this behavior. Plant hxHbs contain a conserved Phe at position B10 (Phe(B10)), which is near the reversibly coordinated distal His(E7). We have investigated the effects of Phe(B10) mutation on kinetic and equilibrium constants for hexacoordination and exogenous ligand binding in the ferrous and ferric oxidation states. Kinetic and equilibrium constants for hexacoordination and ligand binding along with CO-FTIR spectroscopy, midpoint reduction potentials, and the crystal structures of two key mutant proteins (F40W and F40L) reveal that Phe(B10) is an important regulatory element in hexacoordination. We show that Phe at this position is the only amino acid that facilitates stable oxygen binding to the ferrous Hb and the only one that promotes ligand binding in the ferric oxidation states. This work presents a structural mechanism for regulating reversible intramolecular coordination in plant hxHbs.     

Molecular Identification of Tropical Tasar Silkworm (Antheraea mylitta) Ecoraces with RAPD and SCAR Markers

The tropical tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta, has several ecoraces, 10 of which are commercially exploited for the production of tasar silk. These ecoraces are identified by morphological markers that are greatly influenced by photoperiod, humidity, altitude, and host plants. The DNA markers, random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) are identified to complement the existing morphological markers. Seven RAPD bands are selected that identify 8 of the 10 ecoraces. These identified RAPD fragments are sequenced and primers are designed for SCAR markers. Of the seven sets of primers, a single primer pair produced polymorphic SCAR bands that diagnose 5 of the 10 ecoraces. All 10 ecoraces are identified by the use of RAPD and SCAR markers together.     

Hyperthermophilic asparaginase mutants with enhanced substrate affinity and antineoplastic activity: structural insights on their mechanism of action

Thermophilic l-asparaginases display high stability and activity at elevated temperatures. However, they are of limited use in leukemia therapy because of their low substrate affinity and reduced activity under physiological conditions. In an attempt to combine stability with activity at physiological conditions, 3 active-site mutants of Pyrococcus furiosus l-asparaginase (PfA) were developed. The mutants, specifically K274E, showed improved enzymatic properties at physiological conditions as compared to the wild type. All variants were thermodynamically stable and resistant to proteolytic digestion. None of the enzymes displayed glutaminase activity, a highly desirable therapeutic property. All variants showed higher and significant killing of human cell lines HL60, MCF7, and K562 as compared to the Escherichia coli l-asparaginase. Our study revealed that increased substrate accessibility through the active site loop plays a major role in determining activity. A new mechanistic insight has been proposed based on molecular dynamics simulated structures, where dynamic flipping of a critical Tyr residue is responsible for the activity of thermophilic l-asparaginases. Our study not only resulted in development of PfA mutants with combination of desirable properties but also gave a mechanistic insight about their activity.