Amino acids involved in polyphosphate synthesis and its mobilization are distinct in polyphosphate kinase-1 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Background

In bacteria polyphosphates (poly-P) are involved in cellular metabolism and development especially during stress. The enzyme, principally involved in polyphosphate biosynthesis and its mobilization leading to generation of NTPs, is known as polyphosphate kinase (PPK).

Principal Findings

Among two genes of polyphosphate kinases present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we cloned and expressed PPK1 in Escherichia coli as histidine-tagged protein. This ∼86 kDa protein is capable of autophosphorylation and synthesis of poly-P as well as NTP. Among 22 conserved histidine residues, we found only His-491 is autophosphorylated and crucial for any enzymatic activity. Substitution of His-510 caused mPPK1 protein deficient but not defective in autophosphorylation, thereby contrary to earlier reports negating any role of this residue in the process. However, mutation of His-510 with either Ala or Gln affected ATP or poly-P synthesis depending on the substitution; while such effects were severe with H510A but mild with H510Q. Furthermore, mPPK1 also renders auxiliary nucleotide diphosphate kinase function by synthesizing virtually all NTPs/dNTPs from their cognate NDPs/dNDPs by utilizing poly-P as the phosphate donor albeit with varied efficiency. To assess the influence of other catalytic domain residues of mPPK1 towards its functionality, we designed mutations based on E. coli PPK1 crystal structure since it owes 68% amino acid sequence similarity with mPPK1. Interestingly, our results revealed that mutations in mPPK1 affecting poly-P synthesis always affected its ATP synthesizing ability; however, the reverse may not be true.

Conclusions/Significance

We conclude that amino acid residues involved in poly-P and ATP synthesizing activities of mPPK1 are distinct. Considering conserved nature of PPK1, it seems our observations have broader implications and not solely restricted to M. tuberculosis only.     

Osteoinduction and survival of osteoblasts and bone-marrow stromal cells in 3D biphasic calcium phosphate scaffolds under static and dynamic culture conditions

In many tissue engineering approaches, the basic difference between in vitro and in vivo conditions for cells within three‐dimensional (3D) constructs is the nutrition flow dynamics. To achieve comparable results in vitro, bioreactors are advised for improved cell survival, as they are able to provide a controlled flow through the scaffold. We hypothesize that a bioreactor would enhance long‐term differentiation conditions of osteogenic cells in 3D scaffolds. To achieve this either primary rat osteoblasts or bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) were implanted on uniform‐sized biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) scaffolds produced by a 3D printing method. Three types of culture conditions were applied: static culture without osteoinduction (Group A); static culture with osteoinduction (Group B); dynamic culture with osteoinduction (Group C). After 3 and 6 weeks, the scaffolds were analysed by alkaline phosphatase (ALP), dsDNA amount, SEM, fluorescent labelled live‐dead assay, and real‐time RT‐PCR in addition to weekly alamarBlue assays. With osteoinduction, increased ALP values and calcium deposition are observed; however, under static conditions, a significant decrease in the cell number on the biomaterial is observed. Interestingly, the bioreactor system not only reversed the decreased cell numbers but also increased their differentiation potential. We conclude from this study that a continuous flow bioreactor not only preserves the number of osteogenic cells but also keeps their differentiation ability in balance providing a suitable cell‐seeded scaffold product for applications in regenerative medicine.     

Effects of ultrasound and ultrasound contrast agent on vascular tissue

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Ultrasound (US) imaging can be enhanced using gas-filled microbubble contrast agents. Strong echo signals are induced at the tissue-gas interface following microbubble collapse. Applications include assessment of ventricular function and virtual histology. Aim: While ultrasound and US contrast agents are widely used, their impact on the physiological response of vascular tissue to vasoactive agents has not been investigated in detail. Methods and results: In the present study, rat dorsal aortas were treated with US via a clinical imaging transducer in the presence or absence of the US contrast agent, Optison. Aortas treated with both US and Optison were unable to contract in response to phenylephrine or to relax in the presence of acetylcholine. Histology of the arteries was unremarkable. When the treated aortas were stained for endothelial markers, a distinct loss of endothelium was observed. Importantly, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) staining of treated aortas demonstrated incipient apoptosis in the endothelium. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these ex vivo results suggest that the combination of US and Optison may alter arterial integrity and promote vascular injury; however, the in vivo interaction of Optison and ultrasound remains an open question.     

Optimization of acetonitrile co-solvent and copper stoichiometry for pseudo-ligandless click chemistry with nucleic acids

The copper(I) catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition 'click' reaction yields a specific product under mild conditions and in some of the most chemically complex environments. This reaction has been used extensively to tag DNA, proteins, glycans and only recently RNA. Click reactions in aqueous buffer typically include a ligand for Cu(I), however we find that acetonitrile as a minor co-solvent can serve this role. Here we investigate the click labeling of RNA and DNA in aqueous buffer to determine the relationship between the stoichoimetry of Cu(I) and the acetonitrile co-solvent that affects nucleic acid stability. We find that very low concentrations of acetonitrile perform equally well and obviate the need for any additional Cu(I) stabilizing ligand. These pseudo-ligandless reaction conditions are optimal for nucleic acids click conjugations.     

Prophenoloxidase activating enzyme-III from giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii: characterization, expression and specific enzyme activity

The prophenoloxidase activating system is an important innate immune response against microbial infections in invertebrates. The major enzyme, phenoloxidase, is synthesized as an inactive precursor and its activation to an active enzyme is mediated by a cascade of clip domain serine proteinases. In this study, a cDNA encoding a prophenoloxidase activating enzyme-III from the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, designated as MrProAE-III, was identified and characterized. The full-length cDNA contains an open reading frame of 1110 base pair (bp) encoding a predicted protein of 370 amino acids including an 22 amino acid signal peptide. The MrProAE-III protein exhibits a characteristic sequence structure of a long serine proteases-trypsin domain and an N- and C-terminal serine proteases-trypsin family histidine active sites, respectively, which together are the characteristics of the clip-serin proteases. Sequence analysis showed that MrProAE-III exhibited the highest amino acid sequence similarity (63%) to a ProAE-III from Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. MrProAE-III mRNA and enzyme activity of MrProAE-III were detectable in all examined tissues, including hepatopancreas, hemocytes, pleopods, walking legs, eye stalk, gill, stomach, intestine, brain and muscle with the highest level of both in hepatopancreas. This is regulated after systemic infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus infection supporting that it is an immune-responsive gene. These results indicate that MrProAE-III functions in the proPO system and is an important component in the prawn immune system.     

Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) of phthalazine derivatives as phosphodiesterase IV inhibitors

A comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) of phthalazine class of phosphodiesterase IV (PDE IV) inhibitors has been performed to correlate their chemical structures with their observed biological activity. A statistically valid model with good correlative and predictive power is reported. The leave one out cross-validation study gave cross-validation r(2)(cv) of value 0.507 at six optimum components and conventional r(2) of value 0.98. The predictive ability of the model was tested by predicting the seven molecules belonging to the test set giving predictive correlation coefficient of 0.59. This model is potentially helpful in the design of novel and more potent PDE IV inhibitors.