Distinct roles for the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mismatch repair proteins in heteroduplex rejection, mismatch repair and nonhomologous tail removal

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae mismatch repair (MMR) protein MSH6 and the SGS1 helicase were recently shown to play similarly important roles in preventing recombination between divergent DNA sequences in a single-strand annealing (SSA) assay. In contrast, MMR factors such as Mlh1p, Pms1p, and Exo1p were shown to not be required or to play only minimal roles. In this study we tested mutations that disrupt Sgs1p helicase activity, Msh2p-Msh6p mismatch recognition, and ATP binding and hydrolysis activities for their effect on preventing recombination between divergent DNA sequences (heteroduplex rejection) during SSA. The results support a model in which the Msh proteins act with Sgs1p to unwind DNA recombination intermediates containing mismatches. Importantly, msh2 mutants that displayed separation-of-function phenotypes with respect to nonhomologous tail removal during SSA and heteroduplex rejection were characterized. These studies suggest that nonhomologous tail removal is a separate function of Msh proteins that is likely to involve a distinct DNA binding activity. The involvement of Sgs1p in heteroduplex rejection but not nonhomologous tail removal further illustrates that subsets of MMR proteins collaborate with factors in different DNA repair pathways to maintain genome stability.     

Weakened coupling of conserved arginine to the proteorhodopsin chromophore and its counterion implies structural differences from bacteriorhodopsin

In wild-type proteorhodopsin (pR), titration of the chromophore's counterion Asp(97) occurs with a pK(a) of 8.2+/-0.1. R94C mutation reduces this slightly to 7.0+/-0.2, irrespective of treatment with ethylguanidinium. This contrasts with the homologous archaeal protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR), where R82C mutation was previously shown to elevate the pK(a) of Asp(85) by approximately 5 units, while reconstitution with ethylguanidinium restores it nearly to the wild-type value of 2.5. We conclude there is much weaker electrostatic coupling between Arg(94) and Asp(97) in the unphotolyzed state of pR, in comparison to Arg(82) and Asp(85) in bR. Therefore, while fast light-driven H(+) release may depend on these two residues in pR as in bR, no tightly conserved pre-photolysis configuration of them is required.     

Mitochondrial respiration and ATP production are significantly impaired in striatal cells expressing mutant huntingtin

There is significant evidence that energy production impairment and mitochondrial dysfunction play a role in the pathogenesis of Huntington disease. Nonetheless, the specific mitochondrial defects due to the presence of mutant huntingtin have not been fully elucidated. To determine the effects of mutant huntingtin on mitochondrial energy production, a thorough analysis of respiration, ATP production, and functioning of the respiratory complexes was carried out in clonal striatal cells established from Hdh(Q7) (wild-type) and Hdh(Q111) (mutant huntingtin knock-in) mouse embryos. Mitochondrial respiration and ATP production were significantly reduced in the mutant striatal cells compared with the wild-type cells when either glutamate/malate or succinate was used as the substrate. However, mitochondrial respiration was similar in the two cell lines when the artificial electron donor TMPD/ascorbate, which feeds into complex IV, was used as the substrate. The attenuation of mitochondrial respiration and ATP production when either glutamate/malate or succinate was used as the substrate was not due to impairment of the respiratory complexes, because their activities were equivalent in both cell lines. Intriguingly, in the striatum of presymptomatic and pathological grade 1 Huntington disease cases there is also no impairment of mitochondrial complexes I-IV (Guidetti, P., Charles, V., Chen, E. Y., Reddy, P. H., Kordower, J. H., Whetsell, W. O., Jr., Schwarcz, R., and Tagle, D. A. (2001) Exp. Neurol. 169, 340-350). To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive analysis of the effects of physiological levels of mutant huntingtin on mitochondrial respiratory function within an appropriate cellular context. These findings demonstrate that the presence of mutant huntingtin impairs mitochondrial ATP production through one or more mechanisms that do not directly affect the function of the respiration complexes.     

Short term cyclin D1 overexpression induces centrosome amplification, mitotic spindle abnormalities, and aneuploidy

In normal cells, cyclin D1 is induced by growth factors and promotes progression through the G(1) phase of the cell cycle. Cyclin D1 is also an oncogene that is thought to act primarily by bypassing the requirement for mitogens during the G(1) phase. Studies of clinical tumors have found that cyclin D1 overexpression is associated with chromosome abnormalities, although a causal effect has not been established in experimental systems. In this study, we found that transient expression of cyclin D1 in normal hepatocytes in vivo triggered dysplastic mitoses, accumulation of supernumerary centrosomes, abnormalities of the mitotic spindle, and marked chromosome changes within several days. This was associated with up-regulation of checkpoint genes p53 and p21 as well as hepatocyte apoptosis in the liver. Transient transfection of cyclin D1 also induced centrosome and mitotic spindle abnormalities in breast epithelial cells, suggesting that this may be a generalized effect. These results indicate that cyclin D1 can induce deregulation of the mitotic apparatus and aneuploidy, effects that could contribute to the role of this oncogene in malignancy.     

Relationship between carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridemia and fatty acid synthesis in lean and obese subjects

We previously reported that a eucaloric, low fat, liquid formula diet enriched in simple carbohydrate markedly increased the synthesis of fatty acids in lean volunteers. To examine the diet sensitivity of obese subjects, 7 obese and 12 lean volunteers were given two eucaloric low fat solid food diets enriched in simple sugars for 2 weeks each in a random-order, cross-over design (10% fat, 75% carbohydrate vs. 30% fat, 55% carbohydrate, ratio of sugar to starch 60:40). The fatty acid compositions of both diets were matched to the composition of each subject's adipose tissue and fatty acid synthesis measured by the method of linoleate dilution in plasma VLDL triglyceride. In all subjects, the maximum % de novo synthesized fatty acids in VLDL triglyceride 3;-9 h after the last meal was higher on the 10% versus the 30% fat diet. There was no significant difference between the dietary effects on lean (43+/-13 vs. 12+/-13%) and obese (37+/-15 vs. 6+/-6%) subjects, despite 2-fold elevated levels of insulin and reduced glucagon levels in the obese. Similar results were obtained for de novo palmitate synthesis in VLDL triglyceride measured by mass isotopomer distribution analysis after infusion of [(13)C]acetate. On the 10% fat diet, plasma triglycerides (fasting and 24 h) were increased and correlated with fatty acid synthesis. Triglycerides were higher when fatty acid synthesis was constantly elevated rather than having diurnal variation.Thus, eucaloric, solid food diets which are very low in fat and high in simple sugars markedly stimulate fatty acid synthesis from carbohydrate, and plasma triglycerides increase in proportion to the amount of fatty acid synthesis. However, this dietary effect is not related to body mass index, insulin, or glucagon levels.     

IFN-gamma induces apoptosis in mouse embryonic stem cells, a putative mechanism of its embryotoxicity

It has been reported that interferon (IFN)-gamma should inhibit in vitro mouse embryo growth by direct cell toxicity. However, the mechanism involved has not been clearly established. In the present study, this question was addressed using the embryonic stem (ES) cell model. It was found that IFN-gamma, induces a dose-dependent apoptosis in ES cells, as assessed by trypan-blue staining, by Annexin-V labeling and DNA analysis, Moreover, IFN-gamma treatment cooperates with Fas-mediated apoptosis, a phenomenon that has been recently reported. As Bcl-2 oncoprotein functions as a death repressor molecule in an evolutionarily conserved cell death pathway, its expression was analyzed by flow cytometry. It was demonstrated that Bcl-2 is expressed in ES cells. When compared to untreated ES cells, IFN-gamma-treated, apoptotic cells expressed a lower Bcl-2 level and a normal level of Fas, whereas surviving cells expressed a normal level of Bcl-2 but a lower Fas expression. Altogether, these data suggest that IFN-gamma may influence early mouse embryo development by promoting apoptosis, which may constitute a novel mechanism of IFN-gamma embryotoxicity.     

Recombinant modified vaccinia virus ankara expressing the surface gp120 of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) primes for a rapid neutralizing antibody response to SIV infection in macaques

Neutralizing antibodies were assessed before and after intravenous challenge with pathogenic SIVsmE660 in rhesus macaques that had been immunized with recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara expressing one or more simian immunodeficiency virus gene products (MVA-SIV). Animals received either MVA-gag-pol, MVA-env, MVA-gag-pol-env, or nonrecombinant MVA. Although no animals were completely protected from infection with SIV, animals immunized with recombinant MVA-SIV vaccines had lower virus loads and prolonged survival relative to control animals that received nonrecombinant MVA (I. Ourmanov et al., J. Virol. 74:2740-2751, 2000). Titers of neutralizing antibodies measured with the vaccine strain SIVsmH-4 were low in the MVA-env and MVA-gag-pol-env groups of animals and were undetectable in the MVA-gag-pol and nonrecombinant MVA groups of animals on the day of challenge (4 weeks after final immunization). Titers of SIVsmH-4-neutralizing antibodies remained unchanged 1 week later but increased approximately 100-fold 2 weeks postchallenge in the MVA-env and MVA-gag-pol-env groups while the titers remained low or undetectable in the MVA-gag-pol and nonrecombinant MVA groups. This anamnestic neutralizing antibody response was also detected with T-cell-line-adapted stocks of SIVmac251 and SIV/DeltaB670 but not with SIVmac239, as this latter virus resisted neutralization. Most animals in each group had high titers of SIVsmH-4-neutralizing antibodies 8 weeks postchallenge. Titers of neutralizing antibodies were low or undetectable until about 12 weeks of infection in all groups of animals and showed little or no evidence of an anamnestic response when measured with SIVsmE660. The results indicate that recombinant MVA is a promising vector to use to prime for an anamnestic neutralizing antibody response following infection with primate lentiviruses that cause AIDS. However, the Env component of the present vaccine needs improvement in order to target a broad spectrum of viral variants, including those that resemble primary isolates.