Interactions of ion transporters and channels with cancer cell metabolism and the tumour microenvironment

Major changes in intra- and extracellular pH homoeostasis are shared features of most solid tumours. These changes stem in large part from the metabolic shift of most cancer cells towards glycolytic metabolism and other processes associated with net acid production. In combination with oncogenic signalling and impact from factors in the tumour microenvironment, this upregulates acid-extruding plasma membrane transport proteins which maintain intracellular pH normal or even more alkaline compared with that of normal cells, while in turn acidifying the external microenvironment. Mounting evidence strongly indicates that this contributes significantly to cancer development by favouring e.g. cancer cell migration, invasion and chemotherapy resistance. Finally, while still under-explored, it seems likely that non-cancer cells in the tumour microenvironment also exhibit altered pH regulation and that this may contribute to their malignant properties. Thus, the physical tumour microenvironment and the cancer and stromal cells within it undergo important reciprocal interactions which modulate the tumour pH profile, in turn severely impacting on the course of cancer progression. Here, we summarize recent knowledge of tumour metabolism and the tumour microenvironment, placing it in the context of tumour pH regulation, and discuss how interfering with these properties may be exploited clinically.     

TRAIP is a PCNA-binding ubiquitin ligase that protects genome stability after replication stress

Cellular genomes are highly vulnerable to perturbations to chromosomal DNA replication. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), the processivity factor for DNA replication, plays a central role as a platform for recruitment of genome surveillance and DNA repair factors to replication forks, allowing cells to mitigate the threats to genome stability posed by replication stress. We identify the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRAIP as a new factor at active and stressed replication forks that directly interacts with PCNA via a conserved PCNA-interacting peptide (PIP) box motif. We show that TRAIP promotes ATR-dependent checkpoint signaling in human cells by facilitating the generation of RPA-bound single-stranded DNA regions upon replication stress in a manner that critically requires its E3 ligase activity and is potentiated by the PIP box. Consequently, loss of TRAIP function leads to enhanced chromosomal instability and decreased cell survival after replication stress. These findings establish TRAIP as a PCNA-binding ubiquitin ligase with an important role in protecting genome integrity after obstacles to DNA replication.     

Modification of anomalous swelling in multilamellar vesicles induced by alkali halide salts

By use of small-angle X-ray scattering it is shown that addition of alkali halide salts in small amounts (0-200 mM) shifts the repeat spacing in multilamellar DC13PC vesicles and alters the anomalous swelling behaviour close to the main transition. Both effects follow the Hofmeister series of the ions. We suggest that the shift of repeat spacing can be explained by ion effects on the van der Waals attractive forces between the membranes and on the decay length of the repulsive hydration force. The anomalous swelling is explained in terms of a critical unbinding of the membranes. The proximity of the critical temperature of the unbinding to the main transition temperature can be tuned by varying the concentration and type of salt in the sample.     

The nanometer-scale structure of amyloid-Β visualized by atomic force microscopy

Amyloid-Β (AΒ) is the major protein component of neuritic plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Evidence suggests that the physical aggregation state of AΒ directly influences neurotoxicity and specific cellular biochemical events. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to investigate the three-dimensional structure of aggregated AΒ and characterize aggregate/fibril size, structure, and distribution. Aggregates are characterized by fibril length and packing densities. The packing densities correspond to the differential thickness of fiber aggregates along az axis (fiber height above thex-y imaging surface). Densely packed aggregates (≥100 nm thick) were observed. At the edges of these densely packed regions and in dispersed regions, three types of AΒ fibrils were observed. These were classified by fibril thickness into three size ranges: 2–3 nm thick, 4–6 nm thick, and 8–12 nm thick. Some of the two thicker classes of fibrils exhibited pronounced axial periodicity. Substructural features observed included fibril branching or annealing and a height periodicity which varied with fibril thickness. When identical samples were visualized with AFM and electron microscopy (EM) the thicker fibrils (4–6 nm and 8–12 nm thick) had similar morphology. In comparison, the densely packed regions of ～≥100 nm thickness observed by AFM were difficult to resolve by EM. The small, 2- to 3-nm-thick, fibrils were not observed by EM even though they were routinely imaged by AFM. These studies demonstrate that AFM imaging of AΒ fibrils can, for the first time, resolve nanometer-scale,z-axis, surface-height (thickness) fibril features. Concurrentx-y surface scans of fibrils reveal the surface submicrometer structure and organization of aggregated AΒ. Thus, when AFM imaging of AΒ is combined with, and correlated to, careful studies of cellular AΒ toxicity it may be possible to relate certain AΒ structural features to cellular neurotoxicity.