Evaluation of adriamycin nephropathy by an in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance

A rat model for human minimal change nephropathy was obtained by the intravenous injection of adriamycin (ADR) at 5 mg/kg. By using an in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer operating at 700 MHz, the temporal changes in signal intensities of a nitroxide radical, 4-hydroxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPOL), in the kidneys of rats with ADR nephropathy were investigated. The decay rate of the EPR signal intensity obtained in the kidney is indicative of the renal reducing ability. It was found that the reducing ability in the kidney declined on the 7th day after ADR administration and recovered after the 14th day. Impairment of the reducing ability occurred before the appearance of continuous urinary protein. The in vitro EPR study showed that this impairment of in vivo renal reducing ability is related to impairment of the reducing ability in the mitochondria.     

Distribution of the extrinsic proteins as a potential marker for the evolution of photosynthetic oxygen-evolving photosystem II

Distribution of photosystem II (PSII) extrinsic proteins was examined using antibodies raised against various extrinsic proteins from different sources. The results showed that a glaucophyte (Cyanophora paradoxa) having the most primitive plastids contained the cyanobacterial-type extrinsic proteins (PsbO, PsbV, PsbU), and the primitive red algae (Cyanidium caldarium) contained the red algal-type extrinsic proteins (PsO, PsbQ', PsbV, PsbU), whereas a prasinophyte (Pyraminonas parkeae), which is one of the most primitive green algae, contained the green algal-type ones (PsbO, PsbP, PsbQ). These suggest that the extrinsic proteins had been diverged into cyanobacterial-, red algal- and green algal-types during early phases of evolution after a primary endosymbiosis. This study also showed that a haptophyte, diatoms and brown algae, which resulted from red algal secondary endosymbiosis, contained the red algal-type, whereas Euglena gracilis resulted from green algal secondary endosymbiosis contained the green algal-type extrinsic proteins, suggesting that the red algal- and green algal-type extrinsic proteins have been retained unchanged in the different lines of organisms following the secondary endosymbiosis. Based on these immunological analyses, together with the current genome data, the evolution of photosynthetic oxygen-evolving PSII was discussed from a view of distribution of the extrinsic proteins, and a new model for the evolution of the PSII extrinsic proteins was proposed.     

Caenorhabditis elegans geminin homologue participates in cell cycle regulation and germ line development

Cdt1 is an essential component for the assembly of a pre-replicative complex. Cdt1 activity is inhibited by geminin, which also participates in neural development and embryonic differentiation in many eukaryotes. Although Cdt1 homologues have been identified in organisms ranging from yeast to human, geminin homologues had not been described for Caenorhabditis elegans and fungi. Here, we identify the C. elegans geminin, GMN-1. Biochemical analysis reveals that GMN-1 associates with C. elegans CDT-1, the Hox protein NOB-1, and the Six protein CEH-32. GMN-1 inhibits not only the interaction between mouse Cdt1 and Mcm6 but also licensing activity in Xenopus egg extracts. RNA interference-mediated reduction of GMN-1 is associated with enlarged germ nuclei with aberrant nucleolar morphology, severely impaired gametogenesis, and chromosome bridging in intestinal cells. We conclude that the Cdt1-geminin system is conserved throughout metazoans and that geminin has evolved in these taxa to regulate proliferation and differentiation by directly interacting with Cdt1 and homeobox proteins.     

Coordinate involvement of cysteine protease and nuclease in the executive phase of plant apoptosis

We have developed an oat cell-free apoptosis system to investigate the execution mechanisms of plant apoptosis. Cell extracts derived from oat tissues undergoing toxin (victorin)-induced apoptosis caused nuclear collapse and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in isolated nuclei. Pharmacological studies revealed that cysteine protease, which is E-64-sensitive but insensitive to caspase-specific inhibitors, is a crucial component in the morphological change of isolated nuclei, and that nuclease and the cysteine protease act cooperatively to induce the apoptotic DNA laddering. Interestingly, this finding is contrasted with those in well-studied animal cell-free systems in which an apoptotic endonuclease is solely responsible for the DNA fragmentation.     

Bbs8, together with the planar cell polarity protein Vangl2, is required to establish left-right asymmetry in zebrafish

Laterality defects such as situs inversus are not uncommonly encountered in humans, either in isolation or as part of another syndrome, but can have devastating developmental consequences. The events that break symmetry during early embryogenesis are highly conserved amongst vertebrates and involve the establishment of unidirectional flow by cilia within an organising centre such as the node in mammals or Kupffer's vesicle (KV) in teleosts. Disruption of this flow can lead to the failure to successfully establish left-right asymmetry. The correct apical-posterior cellular position of each node/KV cilium is critical for its optimal radial movement which serves to sweep fluid (and morphogens) in the same direction as its neighbours. Planar cell polarity (PCP) is an important conserved process that governs ciliary position and posterior tilt; however the underlying mechanism by which this occurs remains unclear. Here we show that Bbs8, a ciliary/basal body protein important for intraciliary/flagellar transport and the core PCP protein Vangl2 interact and are required for establishment and maintenance of left-right asymmetry during early embryogenesis in zebrafish. We discovered that loss of bbs8 and vangl2 results in laterality defects due to cilia disruption at the KV. We showed that perturbation of cell polarity following abrogation of vangl2 causes nuclear mislocalisation, implying defective centrosome/basal body migration and apical docking. Moreover, upon loss of bbs8 and vangl2, we observed defective actin organisation. These data suggest that bbs8 and vangl2 act synergistically on cell polarization to establish and maintain the appropriate length and number of cilia in the KV and thereby facilitate correct LR asymmetry.     

Hydrogen peroxide and endothelin-1 are novel activators of betacellulin ectodomain shedding

The betacellulin precursor (pro-BTC) is a novel substrate for ADAM10-mediated ectodomain shedding. In this report, we investigated the ability of novel physiologically relevant stimuli, including G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) agonists and reactive oxygen species (ROS), to stimulate pro-BTC shedding. We found that in breast adenocarcinoma MCF7 cells overexpressing pro-BTC, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was a powerful stimulator of ectodomain shedding. The stimulation of pro-BTC shedding by H2O2 was blocked by the broad-spectrum metalloprotease inhibitor TAPI-0 but was still functional in ADAM17 (TACE)-deficient stomach epithelial cells indicating the involvement of a distinct metalloprotease. H2O2-induced pro-BTC shedding was blocked by co-culturing cells in the anti-oxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine but was unaffected by culture in calcium-deficient media. By contrast, calcium ionophore, which is a previously characterized activator of pro-BTC shedding, was sensitive to calcium depletion but was unaffected by co-culture with the anti-oxidant, identifying a clear distinction between these stimuli. We found that in vascular smooth muscle cells overexpressing pro-BTC, the GPCR agonist endothelin-1 (ET-1) was a strong inducer of ectodomain shedding. This was blocked by a metalloprotease inhibitor and by overexpression of catalytically inactive E385A ADAM10. However, overexpression of wild-type ADAM10 or ADAM17 led to an increase in ET-1-induced pro-BTC shedding providing evidence for an involvement of both enzymes in this process. This study identifies ROS and ET-1 as two novel inducers of pro-BTC shedding and lends support to the notion of activated shedding occurring under the control of physiologically relevant stimuli.     

N-terminal mutational analysis of the interaction between growth-blocking peptide (GBP) and receptor of insect immune cells

GBP, a small insect cytokine isolated from lepidopterans, has a variety of functions. We constructed a series of mutants focusing on the unstructured N-terminal residues of GBP by acetylation, deletion, and elongation in order to investigate the interaction between GBP and its receptor in plasmatocytes. The 1H NMR spectra showed no significant changes in the tertiary structures of these peptides, which indicated that all the mutants maintained their core beta-sheet structures. The deletion and acetylated mutants, 2-25GBP, Ac2-25GBP, and AcGBP, lost their activity. 2-25GBP was the strongest antagonist, while Ac2-25GBP and AcGBP were moderate. In contrast, the elongated mutants, (-1R)GBP, (-1A)GBP, and (-2G,-1R)GBP maintained their plasmatocyte-spreading activity. These results demonstrate the importance of the GBP N-terminal charged amine and length of N-terminal GBP-peptide backbone for plasmatocyte-spreading activity. Next, we analyzed other mutant peptides, 1-25(N2A)GBP and 2-25(N2A)GBP, focusing on Asn2. Surprisingly, 2-25(N2A)GBP had slight plasmatocyte-spreading activity, whereas 2-25GBP lost its activity. Finally, substituted mutant, F3AGBP, had neither plasmatocyte-spreading activity nor antagonistic activity. These results demonstrate the function of each N-terminal residue in the interaction between GBP and its receptor in plasmatocytes.     

Performance of a shaking vessel with current pole

To improve solid particle suspensions in liquids in a shaking vessel, a pole was installed at the axis of the shaking vessel, which was referred to as the "current pole". The performance of a shaking vessel with current pole at its central axis was examined experimentally with respect to particle dispersion, power consumption, mixing time and solid-liquid mass transfer coefficient. The current pole improved the particle suspension without an increase in power consumption and reduced the critical circulating frequency for complete suspension. The current pole was very effective in eliminating the stagnation point on the vessel bottom and to decrease the mixing time. The mass transfer coefficient with a current pole had the same value as that without a current pole above the critical circulating frequency for complete suspension. As the diameter of the current pole increased, the mixing time decreased. A pole diameter of 5% of the vessel diameter was effective for suspension.