Antitumor anthraquinones from an endophytic actinomycete Micromonospora lupini sp. nov

Two novel anthraquinones, lupinacidins A (1) and B (2), have been isolated from the culture broth of a new endophytic actinomycete belonging to the genus Micromonospora. Lupinacidins were found to show significant inhibitory effects on the invasion of murine colon 26-L5 carcinoma cells without inhibiting cell growth.     

Immunohistologic techniques for detecting the glycolipid Gb3 in the mouse kidney and nervous system

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli causes hemolytic uremic syndrome, a constellation of disorders that includes kidney failure and central nervous system dysfunction. Shiga toxin binds the amphipathic, membrane-bound glycolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb(3)) and uses it to enter host cells and ultimately cause cell death. Thus, cell types that express Gb(3) in target tissues should be recognized. The objective of this study was to determine whether immunohistologic detection of Gb(3) was affected by the method of tissue preparation. Tissue preparation included variations in fixation (immersion or perfusion) and processing (paraffin or frozen) steps; paraffin processing employed different dehydration solvents (acetone or ethanol). Perfusion-fixation in combination with frozen sections or acetone-dehydrated tissue for paraffin sections resulted in specific recognition of Gb(3) using immunohistochemical or immunofluorescent methods. In the mouse tissues studied, Gb(3) was associated with tubules in the kidney and neurons in the nervous system. On the other hand, Gb(3) localization to endothelial cells was determined to be an artifact generated due to immersion-fixation or tissue dehydration with ethanol. This finding was corroborated by glycolipid profiles from tissue subjected to dehydration; namely Gb(3) was subject to extraction by ethanol more than acetone during tissue dehydration. The results of this study show that tissue preparation is crucial to the persistence and preservation of the glycolipid Gb(3) in mouse tissue. These methods may serve as a basis for determining the localization of other amphipathic glycolipids in tissue.     

Studies on the Sunlight Flavour of Beer

In order to establish the mechanism of occurrence of sunlight flavour of beer in continuation of the preceding paper, humulone, lupulone, and their analogues and degradation compounds, i.e., cohumulone, adhumulone, 5-acetyl-3-methylfilicinic acid including analogues, tetrahydrohumulone, hexahydrolupulone, humulinic acid and lupuloxinic acid, were tested for the occurrence of sunlight flavour of beer.

As a result, among the above-mentioned compounds, humulone, lupulone, cohumulone, adhumulone, tetrahydrohumulone and hexahydrolupulone were found to cause the sunlight flavour, but the other compounds did not cause typical sunlight flavour. This fact shows that some specific structural components seem requisite for the occurrence of sunlight flavour of beer.

It was also revealed that isomerization caused by boiling accelerates the occurrence of the sunlight flavour of beer. Finally, the result of the experiment conducted by the gas chromatographic procedure showed that any new component is not detected by the exposure of beer to sunlight but, two components somewhat increased.     

Synthesis,antitumor activity,and cytotoxicity of 4-substituted 1-benzyl-5-diphenylstibano-1H-1,2,3-triazoles

Trisubstituted 5-organostibano-1H-1,2,3-triazoles (3a–f) were synthesized by the Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition of various ethynylstibanes (1) with benzylazide (2) in the presence of CuBr (5 mol%) under aerobic conditions. The reaction of 5-stibanotriazoles with HCl afforded C5-unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles (4a–f). The antitumor activity of trisubstituted 5-organostibano-1H-1,2,3-triazoles (3a–f) and their 5-unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles (4a–f) were evaluated in several tumor cell lines. All 5-stibanotriazoles (3a–f) exerted an excellent antitumor activity. On the contrary, 5-unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles (4a–f) without a diphenylantimony group in the molecule exhibited very low antitumor activity compared with 5-stibanotriazoles (3a–f). In compounds of both the series, the substituted 4-butyl group appeared to decrease antitumor activity. However, results suggested that organometal (antimony) in the molecule was required for greater antitumor activity. In addition, all 5-stibanotriazoles (3a–f), but not all 5-unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles (4a–f), exhibited cytotoxicity in normal vascular endothelial cells derived from bovine aorta. Among the compounds (3b–e) that exhibited excellent antitumor activity, those with 4-methylphenyl (3b) and 1-cyclohexenyl (3e) showed relatively low cytotoxicity to vascular endothelial cells. Together, these results suggest that trisubstituted 5-organostibano-1H-1,2,3-triazoles, including compounds 3b and 3e, may serve as potential anticancer therapeutic drugs in the future.     

Identification of novel putative virulence factors, adhesin AIDA and type VI secretion system, in atypical strains of fish pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda by genomic subtractive hybridization

Edwardsiella tarda, which is known to be the causative agent of edwardsiellosis in freshwater and marine fish, has two motility phenotypes. Typical strains exhibiting motility are isolated mainly from freshwater fish and Japanese flounder. Atypical strains exhibiting non-motility are isolated mainly from marine fish, with the exception of Japanese flounder. Subtractive hybridization was performed to identify genomic differences between these two phenotypes. Two fragments which showed homology to potential virulence factors were isolated from atypical strains: the autotransporter adhesin AIDA and a component of T6SS. We analysed DNA sequences of about 5 kbp containing these fragments and identified two partial ORF, and ORF encoding for other components of T6SS. The predicted amino acid sequences showed remarkably low homology to components of T6SS reported in the typical E. tarda strain PPD130/91. Furthermore, the organization of these ORF was different from the gene cluster of the typical E. tarda strain. AIDA and T6SS may therefore be associated with different pathogenicity in typical and atypical E. tarda hosts.     

E6AP ubiquitin ligase mediates ubiquitylation and degradation of hepatitis C virus core protein

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein is a major component of viral nucleocapsid and a multifunctional protein involved in viral pathogenesis and hepatocarcinogenesis. We previously showed that the HCV core protein is degraded through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. However, the molecular machinery for core ubiquitylation is unknown. Using tandem affinity purification, we identified the ubiquitin ligase E6AP as an HCV core-binding protein. E6AP was found to bind to the core protein in vitro and in vivo and promote its degradation in hepatic and nonhepatic cells. Knockdown of endogenous E6AP by RNA interference increased the HCV core protein level. In vitro and in vivo ubiquitylation assays showed that E6AP promotes ubiquitylation of the core protein. Exogenous expression of E6AP decreased intracellular core protein levels and supernatant HCV infectivity titers in the HCV JFH1-infected Huh-7 cells. Furthermore, knockdown of endogenous E6AP by RNA interference increased intracellular core protein levels and supernatant HCV infectivity titers in the HCV JFH1-infected cells. Taken together, our results provide evidence that E6AP mediates ubiquitylation and degradation of HCV core protein. We propose that the E6AP-mediated ubiquitin-proteasome pathway may affect the production of HCV particles through controlling the amounts of viral nucleocapsid protein.