Disruption of Sept6, a fusion partner gene of MLL, does not affect ontogeny, leukemogenesis induced by MLL-SEPT6, or phenotype induced by the loss of Sept4

Septins are evolutionarily conserved GTP-binding proteins that can heteropolymerize into filaments. Recent studies have revealed that septins are involved in not only diverse normal cellular processes but also the pathogenesis of various diseases, including cancer. SEPT6 is ubiquitously expressed in tissues and one of the fusion partner genes of MLL in the 11q23 translocations implicated in acute leukemia. However, the roles of this septin in vivo remain elusive. We have developed Sept6-deficient mice that exhibited neither gross abnormalities, changes in cytokinesis, nor spontaneous malignancy. Sept6 deficiency did not cause any quantitative changes in any of the septins evaluated in this study, nor did it cause any additional changes in the Sept4-deficient mice. Even the depletion of Sept11, a close homolog of Sept6, did not affect the Sept6-null cells in vitro, thus implying a high degree of redundancy in the septin system. Furthermore, a loss of Sept6 did not alter the phenotype of myeloproliferative disease induced by MLL-SEPT6, thus suggesting that Sept6 does not function as a tumor suppressor. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that a disruption of the translocation partner gene of MLL in 11q23 translocation does not contribute to leukemogenesis by the MLL fusion gene.     

Mammalian PIG-X and yeast Pbn1p are the essential components of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-mannosyltransferase I

Within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mannoses and glucoses, donated from dolichol-phosphate-mannose and -glucose, are transferred to N-glycan and GPI-anchor precursors, and serine/threonine residues in many proteins. Glycosyltransferases that mediate these reactions are ER-resident multitransmembrane proteins with common characteristics, forming a superfamily of >10 enzymes. Here, we report an essential component of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-mannosyltransferase I (GPI-MT-I), which transfers the first of the four mannoses in the GPI-anchor precursors. We isolated a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutant defective in GPI-MT-I but not its catalytic component PIG-M. The mutant gene, termed phosphatidylinositolglycan-class X (PIG-X), encoded a 252-amino acid ER-resident type I transmembrane protein with a large lumenal domain. PIG-X and PIG-M formed a complex, and PIG-M expression was <10% in the absence of PIG-X, indicating that PIG-X stabilizes PIG-M. We found that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pbn1p/YCL052Cp, which was previously reported to be involved in autoprocessing of proproteinase B, is the functional homologue of PIG-X; Pbn1p is critical for Gpi14p/YJR013Wp function, the yeast homologue of PIG-M. This is the first report of an essential subcomponent of glycosyltransferases using dolichol-phosphate-monosaccharide.     

Angiotensin-converting enzyme is a GPI-anchored protein releasing factor crucial for fertilization

The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is a key regulator of blood pressure. It is known to cleave small peptides, such as angiotensin I and bradykinin and changes their biological activities, leading to upregulation of blood pressure. Here we describe a new activity for ACE: a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein releasing activity (GPIase activity). Unlike its peptidase activity, GPIase activity is weakly inhibited by the tightly binding ACE inhibitor and not inactivated by substitutions of core amino acid residues for the peptidase activity, suggesting that the active site elements for GPIase differ from those for peptidase activity. ACE shed various GPI-anchored proteins from the cell surface, and the process was accelerated by the lipid raft disruptor filipin. The released products carried portions of the GPI anchor, indicating cleavage within the GPI moiety. Further analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry predicted the cleavage site at the mannose-mannose linkage. GPI-anchored proteins such as TESP5 and PH-20 were released from the sperm membrane of wild-type mice but not in Ace knockout sperm in vivo. Moreover, peptidase-inactivated E414D mutant ACE and also PI-PLC rescued the egg-binding deficiency of Ace knockout sperms, implying that ACE plays a crucial role in fertilization through this activity.     

Beta2-microglobulin required for cell surface expression of blastocyst MHC

Blastocyst MHC is a mouse MHC class Ib gene that is selectively expressed in blastocysts and placenta like human HLA-G, which protect fetal trophoblasts and some tumor cells from NK cell attack, and in TAP-dependent expression on the cell surface. We expressed blastocyst MHC cDNA in beta2-deficient EL-4 S3 or beta2m-transfected EL-4 S3 cells. In parental EL-4 S3 cells, only 47-kDa blastocyst MHC protein was expressed and retained in the cytoplasm. However, additional 51-kDa blastocyst MHC protein was expressed on the surface of beta2m-transfected EL-4 S3 cells. The 51-kDa protein was resistant to Endo-H, whereas the 47-kDa protein was sensitive for Endo-H. The results suggested that beta2m as well as TAP was necessary for the transportation of blastocyst MHC from endoplasmic reticulum to cell surfaces through the Golgi apparatus, similar to other MHC class I molecules.     

ICOS costimulates invariant NKT cell activation

It has been reported that costimulatory molecules, CD80/86-CD28 and CD154-CD40, critically contribute to activation of CD1d-restricted invariant NKT (iNKT) cells. Here we have demonstrated that ICOS, a new member of the CD28 family, plays a substantial role in iNKT cell activation. iNKT cells constitutively expressed ICOS as well as CD28 independently, and ICOS expression was further up-regulated 2-3 days after alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) treatment. Blockade of ICOS-mediated costimulation by administration of anti-ICOS ligand (B7RP-1) mAb or by ICOS gene knockout substantially inhibited alpha-GalCer-induced IFN-gamma and IL-4 production, cytotoxic activity, and anti-metastatic effect. Moreover, blockade of both B7RP-1-ICOS and CD80/86-CD28 interactions mostly abolished the alpha-GalCer-induced immune responses. These findings indicate that iNKT cell activation is regulated by CD28 and IOCS independently.     

Insulin-like Growth Factor Signaling Pathway Involved in Regulating Longevity of Rotifers

Rotifers have been used to study the mechanisms of ageing for more than a century, but the underlying molecular basis of ageing in rotifers is largely unknown. The insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) signaling pathway has been found to regulate the lifespan of evolutionarily distinct eukaryotes from yeast to mammals. We therefore assume that the insulin/IGF-1 pathway is a candidate for regulating the rotifer’s lifespan. Accordingly, we examined the action of an inhibitor to PI3-kinase involved in the pathway for the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis O. F. Müller. This kinase was first discovered as age-1 to regulate the longevity of Caenorhabditis elegans. As expected, the inhibitor treatment resulted in the extension of lifespan by 30% compared to the reference group without the treatment, whereas reproductive characters were not apparently changed. These results were consistent with those observed in C. elegans, suggesting that the lifespan of B. plicatilis is likely to be regulated by the signaling pathway involving PI3-kinase.     

Dynamic simulation of red blood cell metabolism and its application to the analysis of a pathological condition

Background  

Cell simulation, which aims to predict the complex and dynamic behavior of living cells, is becoming a valuable tool. In silico models of human red blood cell (RBC) metabolism have been developed by several laboratories. An RBC model using the E-Cell simulation system has been developed. This prototype model consists of three major metabolic pathways, namely, the glycolytic pathway, the pentose phosphate pathway and the nucleotide metabolic pathway. Like the previous model by Joshi and Palsson, it also models physical effects such as osmotic balance. This model was used here to reconstruct the pathology arising from hereditary glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, which is the most common deficiency in human RBC.     

ASC-mediated NF-kappaB activation leading to interleukin-8 production requires caspase-8 and is inhibited by CLARP

ASC is an adaptor molecule that mediates apoptotic and inflammatory signals from several Apaf-1-like molecules, including CARD12/Ipaf, cryopyrin/PYPAF1, PYPAF5, PYPAF7, and NALP1. To characterize the signaling pathway mediated by ASC, we established cell lines in which muramyl dipeptide, the bacterial component recognized by another Apaf-1-like molecule, Nod2, induced an interaction between a CARD12-Nod2 chimeric protein and ASC, and elicited cell autonomous NF-kappaB activation. This response required caspase-8, and was suppressed by CLARP/FLIP, an inhibitor of caspase-8. The catalytic activity of caspase-8 was required for the ASC-mediated NF-kappaB activation when caspase-8 was expressed at an endogenous level, although it was not essential when caspase-8 was overexpressed. In contrast, FADD, the adaptor protein linking Fas and caspase-8, was not required for this response. Consistently, ASC recruited caspase-8 and CLARP but not FADD and Nod2 to its speck-like aggregates in cells. Finally, muramyl dipeptide induced interleukin-8 production in MAIL8 cells. These results are the first to indicate that caspase-8 plays an important role in the ASC-mediated NF-kappaB activation, and that the ASC-mediated NF-kappaB activation actually induces physiologically relevant gene expression.     

Sterically locked synthetic bilin derivatives and phytochrome Agp1 from Agrobacterium tumefaciens form photoinsensitive Pr- and Pfr-like adducts

Phytochrome photoreceptors undergo reversible photoconversion between the red-absorbing form, Pr, and the far-red-absorbing form, Pfr. The first step in the conversion from Pr to Pfr is a Z to E isomerization around the C15=C16 double bond of the bilin chromophore. We prepared four synthetic biliverdin (BV) derivatives in which rings C and D are sterically locked by cyclizing with an additional carbon chain. In these chromophores, which are termed 15Za, 15Zs, 15Ea, and 15Es, the C15=C16 double bond is in either the Z or E configuration and the C14-C15 single bond in either the syn or anti conformation. The chromophores were assembled with Agrobacterium phytochrome Agp1, which incorporates BV as natural chromophore. All locked BV derivatives bound covalently to the protein and formed adducts with characteristic spectral properties. The 15Za adduct was spectrally similar to the Pr form and the 15Ea adduct similar to the Pfr form of the BV adduct. Thus, the chromophore of Agp1 adopts a C15=C16 Z configuration and a C14-C15 anti conformation in the Pr form and a C15=C16 E configuration and a C14-C15 anti conformation in the Pfr form. Both the 15Zs and the 15Es adducts absorbed only in the blue region of the visible spectra. All chromophore adducts were analyzed by size exclusion chromatography and histidine kinase activity to probe for protein conformation. In either case, the 15Za adduct behaved like the Pr and the 15Ea adduct like the Pfr form of Agp1. Replacing the natural chromophore by a locked 15Ea derivative can thus bring phytochrome holoprotein in the Pfr form in darkness. In this way, physiological action of Pfr can be studied in vivo and separated from Pr/Pfr cycling and other light effects.