An improved tripod amphiphile for membrane protein solubilization

Intrinsic membrane proteins represent a large fraction of the proteins produced by living organisms and perform many crucial functions. Structural and functional characterization of membrane proteins generally requires that they be extracted from the native lipid bilayer and solubilized with a small synthetic amphiphile, for example, a detergent. We describe the development of a small molecule with a distinctive amphiphilic architecture, a "tripod amphiphile," that solubilizes both bacteriorhodopsin (BR) and bovine rhodopsin (Rho). The polar portion of this amphiphile contains an amide and an amine-oxide; small variations in this polar segment are found to have profound effects on protein solubilization properties. The optimal tripod amphiphile extracts both BR and Rho from the native membrane environments and maintains each protein in a monomeric native-like form for several weeks after delipidation. Tripod amphiphiles are designed to display greater conformational rigidity than conventional detergents, with the long-range goal of promoting membrane protein crystallization. The results reported here represent an important step toward that ultimate goal.     

Clomiphene, an ovulation-inducing agent, mobilizes intracellular Ca2+ and causes extracellular Ca2+ influx in bladder female transitional carcinoma cells

BACKGROUND/METHODS: The effect of clomiphene, an ovulation-inducing agent, on cytosolic free Ca2+ levels ([Ca2+]i) in populations of BFTC human bladder cancer cells was explored by using fura-2 as a Ca2+ indicator. RESULTS: Clomiphene at concentrations between 10 and 75 microM increased [Ca2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner and the signal saturated at 50 microM. The [Ca2+]i signal was biphasic with an initial rise and a slow decay. Ca2+ removal inhibited the Ca2+ signal by about 40-50% in maximum [Ca2+]i. Adding 3 mM Ca2+ increased [Ca2+]i in cells pretreated with 50 microM clomiphene in Ca2+-free medium, suggesting that clomiphene induced capacitative Ca2+ entry. In Ca2+-free medium, pretreatment with 50 microM brefeldin A (to disrupt the Golgi complex Ca2+ store), 1 microM thapsigargin (to inhibit the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump), and CCCP (to uncouple mitochondria) inhibited 85% of clomiphene-induced intracellular Ca2+ release. Conversely, pretreatment with 50 microM clomiphene in Ca2+-free medium abolished the [Ca2+]i increase induced by brefeldin, thapsigargin or CCCP. The intracellular Ca2+ release was unaltered by inhibiting formation of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) with 2 mM 1-(6-((17beta-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-yl)amino)hexyl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U73122; a phospholipase C inhibitor). CONCLUSION: The [Ca2+]i increase induced by 50 microM clomiphene was not affected by 10 microM of nifedipine, verapamil or diltiazem. Collectively, the results suggest that clomiphene releases intracellular Ca2+ in an IP3-independent manner and also activates extracellular Ca2+ influx.     

外源p21~(WAF1)转染对人成纤维细胞凋亡的影响

构建了有义和反义ｐ２１ＷＡＦ１ 逆转录病毒表达载体, 分别经脂质体包裹后转染人胚肺二倍体成纤维细胞（２ＢＳ）。Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ 印迹杂交证实转染细胞中外源ｐ２１ ＷＡＦ１ｃＤＮＡ 已整合入基因组中。与空载体转染细胞相比, 有义转染细胞的ｐ２１ＷＡＦ１ ｍ ＲＮＡ 表达上升; 细胞增殖速度明显减慢; 对丁酸钠诱导凋亡的敏感性降低, 表现在细胞存活率升高, 核ＤＮＡ 梯状断裂片段出现的时间滞后, 断裂片段浓度下降, 流式细胞计检测的凋亡峰面积缩小。而反义转染细胞的ｐ２１ＷＡＦ１ ｍ ＲＮＡ表达下降; 细胞增殖速度较快; 对丁酸钠诱导凋亡的敏感性上升, 有关表现与有义转染细胞相反。说明２ＢＳ细胞内ｐ２１ＷＡＦ１ 的表达量与其被丁酸钠诱导凋亡的能力呈负相关。     

Preparation of Acetylated Grapefruit Peel Polysaccharide

Grapefruit peel polysaccharide has antioxidant, antitumor, hypoglycemic and other biological activities, and chemical modification can further improve the properties of the polysaccharide. Acetylation modification of polysaccharides has the advantages of simple operation, low cost and little pollution, and is widely used at present. Different degrees of acetylation modification have different effects on the properties of polysaccharides, so it is necessary to optimize the preparation technology of acetylated grapefruit peel polysaccharides. In this article, acetylated grapefruit peel polysaccharide was prepared by acetic anhydride method. With the degree of acetyl substitution as the evaluation index, combined with the analysis of sugar content and protein content in the polysaccharide before and after modification, the effects of three feeding ratios of 1:0.6, 1 : 1.2 and 1 : 1.8 (polysaccharide: acetic anhydride, mass/volume) on acetylation modification were explored through single factor experiments. The results showed that the optimum ratio of material to liquid for acetylation modification of grapefruit peel polysaccharide was 1:0.6. Under these conditions, the degree of substitution of acetylated grapefruit peel polysaccharide was 0.323, the sugar content was 59.50 % and the protein content was 1.038 %. The results provide some reference for the study of acetylated grapefruit peel polysaccharide.     

Systemic administration of tripeptidyl peptidase I in a mouse model of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis: effect of glycan modification

Late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (LINCL) is a recessive genetic disease of childhood caused by deficiencies in the lysosomal protease tripeptidyl peptidase I (TPP1). Disease is characterized by progressive and extensive neuronal death. One hurdle towards development of enzyme replacement therapy is delivery of TPP1 to the brain. In this study, we evaluated the effect of modifying N-linked glycans on recombinant human TPP1 on its pharmacokinetic properties after administration via tail vein injection to a mouse model of LINCL. Unmodified TPP1 exhibited a dose-dependent serum half-life of 12 min (0.12 mg) to 45 min (2 mg). Deglycosylation or modification using sodium metaperiodate oxidation and reduction with sodium borohydride increased the circulatory half-life but did not improve targeting to the brain compared to unmodified TPP1. Analysis of liver, brain, spleen, kidney and lung demonstrated that for all preparations, >95% of the recovered activity was in the liver. Interestingly, administration of a single 2 mg dose (80 mg/kg) of unmodified TPP1 resulted in ～10% of wild-type activity in brain. This suggests that systemic administration of unmodified recombinant enzyme merits further exploration as a potential therapy for LINCL.     

Anti-cancer activities of tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate in breast cancer patients under radiotherapy

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that administration of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol present in abundance in widely consumed tea, inhibits cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis in breast cancer patients. EGCG in 400 mg capsules was orally administered three times daily to breast cancer patients undergoing treatment with radiotherapy. Parameters related to cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis were analyzed while blood samples were collected at different time points to determine efficacy of the EGCG treatment. Compared to patients who received radiotherapy alone, those given radiotherapy plus EGCG for an extended time period (two to eight weeks) showed significantly lower serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and reduced activation of metalloproteinase-9 and metalloproteinase-2 (MMP9/MMP2). Addition of sera obtained from patients treated with combination of radiotherapy and EGCG feeding for 2-8 weeks to in vitro cultures of highly-metastatic human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells resulted in the following significant changes: (1) suppression of cell proliferation and invasion; (2) arrest of cell cycles at the G0/G1 phase; (3) reduction of activation of MMP9/MMP2, expressions of Bcl-2/Bax, c-Met receptor, NF-κB, and the phosphorylation of Akt. MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to 5-10 μM EGCG also showed significant augmentation of the apoptosis inducing effects of γ-radiation, concomitant with reduced NF-κB protein level and AKT phosphorylation. These results provide hitherto unreported evidence that EGCG potentiated efficacy of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients, and raise the possibility that this tea polyphenol has potential to be a therapeutic adjuvant against human metastatic breast cancer.     

The probability of a gene tree topology within a phylogenetic network with applications to hybridization detection

Gene tree topologies have proven a powerful data source for various tasks, including species tree inference and species delimitation. Consequently, methods for computing probabilities of gene trees within species trees have been developed and widely used in probabilistic inference frameworks. All these methods assume an underlying multispecies coalescent model. However, when reticulate evolutionary events such as hybridization occur, these methods are inadequate, as they do not account for such events. Methods that account for both hybridization and deep coalescence in computing the probability of a gene tree topology currently exist for very limited cases. However, no such methods exist for general cases, owing primarily to the fact that it is currently unknown how to compute the probability of a gene tree topology within the branches of a phylogenetic network. Here we present a novel method for computing the probability of gene tree topologies on phylogenetic networks and demonstrate its application to the inference of hybridization in the presence of incomplete lineage sorting. We reanalyze a Saccharomyces species data set for which multiple analyses had converged on a species tree candidate. Using our method, though, we show that an evolutionary hypothesis involving hybridization in this group has better support than one of strict divergence. A similar reanalysis on a group of three Drosophila species shows that the data is consistent with hybridization. Further, using extensive simulation studies, we demonstrate the power of gene tree topologies at obtaining accurate estimates of branch lengths and hybridization probabilities of a given phylogenetic network. Finally, we discuss identifiability issues with detecting hybridization, particularly in cases that involve extinction or incomplete sampling of taxa.     

Affinity between TBC1D4 (AS160) phosphotyrosine-binding domain and insulin-regulated aminopeptidase cytoplasmic domain measured by isothermal titration calorimetry

Uptake of circulating glucose into the cells happens via the insulin- mediated signalling pathway, which translocates the glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) vesicles from the intracellular compartment to the plasma membrane. Rab?GTPases are involved in this vesicle trafficking, where Rab?GTPase-activating proteins (RabGAP) enhance the GTP to GDP hydrolysis. TBC1D4 (AS160) and TBC1D1 are functional RabGAPs in the adipocytes and the skeletonal myocytes, respectively. These proteins contain two phosphotyrosine-binding domains (PTBs) at the amino-terminus of the catalytic RabGAP domain. The second PTB has been shown to interact with the cytoplasmic region of the insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) of the GLUT4 vesicle. In this study, we quantitatively measured the ～μM affinity (KD) between TBC1D4 PTB and IRAP using isothermal titration calorimetry, and further showed that IRAP residues 1-49 are the major region mediating this interaction. We also demonstrated that the IRAP residues 1-15 are necessary but not sufficient for the PTB interaction.     

Succession of root-associated fungi in Pisum sativum during a plant growth cycle as examined by 454 pyrosequencing

Purpose

Roots are inhabited by a broad range of fungi, including pathogens and mycorrhizal fungi, with functional traits related to plant health and nutrition. Management of these fungi in agroecosystems requires profound knowledge about their ecology. The main objective of this study was to examine succession patterns of root-associated fungi in pea during a full plant growth cycle.

Methods

Plants were grown in pots with field soil in a growth chamber under controlled conditions. Fungal communities in pea roots were analyzed at different plant growth stages including the vegetative growth, flowering and senescence, using 454 pyrosequencing.

Results

One hundred and twenty one non-singleton operational taxonomic units (OTUs) representing fungal species were detected. Pathogenic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi dominated during the vegetative growth stage, whereas saprotrophic fungi dominated during plant senescence.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the results from the present study demonstrated highly diverse fungal communities in pea roots with clear succession patterns related to fungal traits.