CD27 and CD40 inhibit p53-independent mitochondrial pathways in apoptosis of B cells induced by B cell receptor ligation

B cells in the germinal center are known to undergo apoptosis after B cell receptor (BCR) ligation, a process relevant to immunological tolerance. Human CD27 is a B cell co-stimulatory molecule. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of CD27 and CD40 signals on BCR-mediated apoptosis of B cells. BCR ligation activated mitochondrial apoptotic pathways including down-regulation of Bcl-X(L), dissipation of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c, and activation of caspase-9. Each of these effects was significantly inhibited by CD27 and CD40. Bik expression was weakly but significantly down-regulated by CD27 but up-regulated by CD40. BCR ligation resulted in p53 activation including its phosphorylation at Ser(15), nuclear translocation, and target gene p53AIP1 induction. CD27 and CD40 clearly suppressed these processes. Analyses that used dominant-negative p53 variants revealed a low but still substantial level of BCR-mediated apoptosis and intact mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway. These pathways were further inhibited by CD27 and CD40, although the cells showed no p53 phosphorylation or p53AIP1 expression. Our results suggested that, at the mitochondrial level, CD27 and CD40 co-stimulatory signals regulated the p53-amplified apoptotic pathway in B cells through the inhibition of p53-independent apoptotic pathway primarily induced by BCR ligation.     

Phylogenetic analyses of Zostera species based on rbcL and matK nucleotide sequences: implications for the origin and diversification of seagrasses in Japanese waters

Seagrasses are composed of four families belonging to angiosperms and they are thought to become adaptive to aquatic life independently. Zosteraceae is one such family and because of the relatively high species diversity around Japan and Korea coast areas, the family might have arisen therefrom. To elucidate the origin and evolution of Zosteraceae which consists of three genera, Phyllospadix, Zostera, and Heterozostera, 2.8 kb nucleotide sequences of rbcL and matK genes in the chloroplast genome were examined for various species, including cosmopolitan Z. marina and endemic Z. caulescens. The phylogenetic analysis reveals the following three features. First, based on the synonymous nucleotide substitution rate of the rice chloroplast genome, we estimated the divergence times between Zosteraceae and its closest relative, Potamogetonaceae, and between different genera, Zostera and Phyllospadix, as approximately 100 million years (myr) and 36 myr, respectively, suggesting that Zosteraceae emerged somewhere in the period from 36 myr ago to 100 myr ago. Second, two subgenera of Zostera, Zostera and Zosterella, exhibit their reciprocal monophyly and appear to have differentiated from each other approximately 33 myr ago. However, the third genus Heterozostera branched off only 5 myr ago from the stem lineage leading to Zosterella and this seems too recent in comparison with the ancient divergence of the two subgenera. Third, we estimated the most recent common ancestor of subgenus Zostera as 6 myr. In Z. marina four haplotypes were found in the sample and have diversified in the past 1.5 myr. One haplotype is shared by both sides of the Japan Archipelago and its closely related haplotypes occur also in eastern Pacific Ocean. Based on these phylogeographic analyses, we propose a provisional age related classification of Zosteraceae to argue the origin and evolution.     

Estrogen enhances depolarization-induced glutamate release through activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase in cultured hippocampal neurons

Changes in synaptic efficacy are considered necessary for learning and memory. Recently, it has been suggested that estrogen controls synaptic function in the central nervous system. However, it is unclear how estrogen regulates synaptic function in central nervous system neurons. We found that estrogen potentiated presynaptic function in cultured hippocampal neurons. Chronic treatment with estradiol (1 or 10 nm) for 24 h significantly increased a high potassium-induced glutamate release. The estrogen-potentiated glutamate release required the activation of both phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and MAPK.The high potassium-evoked release with or without estradiol pretreatment was blocked by tetanus neurotoxin, which is an inhibitor of exocytosis. In addition, the reduction in intensity of FM1-43 fluorescence, which labeled presynaptic vesicles, was enhanced by estradiol, suggesting that estradiol potentiated the exocytotic mechanism. Furthermore, protein levels of synaptophysin, syntaxin, and synaptotagmin (synaptic proteins, respectively) were up-regulated by estradiol. We confirmed that the up-regulation of synaptophysin was blocked by the MAPK pathway inhibitor, U0126. These results suggested that estrogen enhanced presynaptic function through the up-regulated exocytotic system. In this study, we propose that estrogen reinforced excitatory synaptic transmission via potentiated-glutamate release from presynaptic sites.     

Functional analysis of isoforms of NADPH: protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR), PORB and PORC, in Arabidopsis thaliana

NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) catalyzes the light-dependent reduction of protochlorophyllide. To elucidate the physiological function of three differentially regulated POR isoforms (PORA, PORB and PORC) in Arabidopsis thaliana, we isolated T-DNA tagged null mutants of porB and porC. The mature seedlings of the mutants had normal photosynthetic competencies, showing that PORB and PORC are interchangeable and functionally redundant in developed plants. In etiolated seedlings, only porB showed a reduction in the photoactive protochlorophyllide and the size of prolamellar bodies (PLBs), indicating that PORB, as well as PORA, functioned in PLB assembly and photoactive protochlorophyllide formation in etiolated seedlings. When illuminated, the etiolated porB seedling was able to green to a similar extent as the wild type, whereas the greening was significantly reduced under low light conditions. During greening, high light irradiation increased the level of PORC protein, and the greening of porC was repressed under high light conditions. The porB, but not porC, etiolated seedling was more sensitive to the far-red block of greening than the wild type, which is caused by depletion of endogenous POR proteins resulting in photo-oxidative damage. These results suggest that, at the onset of greening, PLBs are important for efficient capture of light energy for photoconversion under various light conditions, and PORC, which is induced by high light irradiation, contributes to photoprotection during greening of the etiolated seedlings.     

Isolation and characterization of a sulfur-oxidizing chemolithotroph growing on crude oil under anaerobic conditions

Molecular approaches have shown that a group of bacteria (called cluster 1 bacteria) affiliated with the epsilon subclass of the class Proteobacteria constituted major populations in underground crude-oil storage cavities. In order to unveil their physiology and ecological niche, this study isolated bacterial strains (exemplified by strain YK-1) affiliated with the cluster 1 bacteria from an oil storage cavity at Kuji in Iwate, Japan. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that its closest relative was Thiomicrospira denitrificans (90% identity). Growth experiments under anaerobic conditions showed that strain YK-1 was a sulfur-oxidizing obligate chemolithotroph utilizing sulfide, elemental sulfur, thiosulfate, and hydrogen as electron donors and nitrate as an electron acceptor. Oxygen also supported its growth only under microaerobic conditions. Strain YK-1 could not grow on nitrite, and nitrite was the final product of nitrate reduction. Neither sugars, organic acids (including acetate), nor hydrocarbons could serve as carbon and energy sources. A typical stoichiometry of its energy metabolism followed an equation: S(2-) + 4NO(3)(-) --> SO(4)(2-) + 4NO(2)(-) (Delta G(0) = -534 kJ mol(-1)). In a difference from other anaerobic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, this bacterium was sensitive to NaCl; growth in medium containing more than 1% NaCl was negligible. When YK-1 was grown anaerobically in a sulfur-depleted inorganic medium overlaid with crude oil, sulfate was produced, corresponding to its growth. On the contrary, YK-1 could not utilize crude oil as a carbon source. These results suggest that the cluster 1 bacteria yielded energy for growth in oil storage cavities by oxidizing petroleum sulfur compounds. Based on its physiology, ecological interactions with other members of the groundwater community are discussed.     

Synthesis and characterization of chimeric silkworm silk

A synthetic gene encoding a chimeric silklike protein was constructed that combined a polyalanine encoding region (Ala)(18), a sequence slightly longer than the (Ala)(12-13) found in the silk fibroin from the wild silkworm Samia cynthia ricini, and a sequence encoding GVGAGYGAGAGYGVGAGYGAGVGYGAGAGY, found in the silk fibroin from the silkworm Bombyx mori. A tetramer of the chimeric repeat sequence encoding a approximately 29 kDa protein was expressed as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli. In comparison to S. c. ricini silk, the chimeric protein demonstrated improved solubility because it could be dissolved in 8 M urea. The purified protein assumed an alpha-helical structure based on solid-state (13)C CP/MAS NMR and was less prone to conformational transition to a beta-sheet, unlike native silk proteins from S. c. ricini. Model peptides representing the crystalline region of S. c. ricini silk fibroin, (Ala)(12) and (Ala)(18), formed beta-sheet structures. Therefore, the solubility and structural transitions of the chimeric protein were significantly altered through the formation of this chimeric silk. This experimental strategy to the study of silk structure and function can be used to develop an improved understanding of the contributions of protein domains in repetitive silkworm and spider silk sequences to structure development and structural transitions.     

Block to DNA replication in meiotic maturation: a unified view for a robust arrest of cell cycle in oocytes and somatic cells

Under certain conditions, the cell cycle can be arrested for a long period of time. Vertebrate oocytes are arrested at G(2) phase, while somatic cells arrest at G(0) phase. In both cells, nuclei have lost the ability to initiate DNA synthesis. In a pair of recently published papers,[1,2] Méchali and colleagues and Coué and colleagues have clarified how frog oocytes prevent untimely DNA synthesis during the long G(2) arrest. Intriguingly, they found only Cdc6 is responsible for the inability of immature oocytes to replicate DNA. Cdc6 is a key component for replication licensing, and for G(0) cells to re-enter the proliferative stage. Strikingly similar strategies for preventing the untimely replication in both cells suggest that the suppression of replication licensing is a universal mechanism for securing the prolonged arrest of the cell cycle.