A fluorescent biosensor based on acetylcholinesterase and 5-oxazolone derivative immobilized in polyvinylchloride (PVC) matrix

A new 2-phenyl-4-[4-(1,4,7,10-tetraoxa-13-azacyclopentadecyl)benzylidene]-5-oxazolone (CPO) derivative was utilized to develop an optical acetylcholinesterase (AChE) biosensor in which the azlactone derivative was embedded in plasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC) matrix. The sensor system was calibrated for the detection of acetylcholine (ACh) and donepezil which is a competitive cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitor. Two different biosensing systems were developed by using AChE enzyme in solution and immobilized together with the fluorescent derivative (CPO) doped in transparent PVC membrane. The enzymatic hydrolysis of ACh was monitored by following changes in the pH induced fluorescence intensity. When AChE enzyme was immobilized in PVC matrix together with CPO, the sensitivity of the measuring system has increased approximately three times for ACh, in comparison to the sensing system where AChE enzyme was in solution phase.

The photophysical parameters of CPO were also examined in solvents of tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetonitrile (ACN) and dichloromethane (DCM) and in solid matrix of PVC. The azlactone derivative exhibits excellent photostability in PVC matrix.     

免标记荧光适体传感器的研究进展

核酸适体在治疗、诊断和生物传感等领域都引起了强烈的关注和广泛的应用。与传统的识别元素-- 抗体相比较,适体展现 出很多的优点：尺寸小,化学性质稳定,容易制备和修饰。更重要的是适体在生物传感的设计上更为灵活,因此,产生了很多高选 择性、高灵敏度的新型适体传感器。目前,很多的检测手段都被应用到适体传感器中,其中荧光的检测手段占有重要的地位。虽然 荧光适体传感器已经取得了重大的进展,但是荧光标记给传感器的设计带来很多的不便,因此,免标记的荧光适体传感器备受关 注。在本文中,我们将对免标记的荧光适体传感器的研究进展进行综述,为分析工作者发展更加灵敏、更加简单、更加应用广泛的 免标记荧光适体传感器提供依据。     

A Limited 4 ? Radial Displacement of the S4-S5 Linker Is Sufficient for Internal Gate Closing in Kv Channels

Voltage-gated ion channels are responsible for the generation of action potentials in our nervous system. Conformational rearrangements in their voltage sensor domains in response to changes of the membrane potential control pore opening and thus ion conduction. Crystal structures of the open channel in combination with a wealth of biophysical data and molecular dynamics simulations led to a consensus on the voltage sensor movement. However, the coupling between voltage sensor movement and pore opening, the electromechanical coupling, occurs at the cytosolic face of the channel, from where no structural information is available yet. In particular, the question how far the cytosolic pore gate has to close to prevent ion conduction remains controversial. In cells, spectroscopic methods are hindered because labeling of internal sites remains difficult, whereas liposomes or detergent solutions containing purified ion channels lack voltage control. Here, to overcome these problems, we controlled the state of the channel by varying the lipid environment. This way, we directly measured the position of the S4-S5 linker in both the open and the closed state of a prokaryotic Kv channel (KvAP) in a lipid environment using Lanthanide-based resonance energy transfer. We were able to reconstruct the movement of the covalent link between the voltage sensor and the pore domain and used this information as restraints for molecular dynamics simulations of the closed state structure. We found that a small decrease of the pore radius of about 3–4 Å is sufficient to prevent ion permeation through the pore.     

Systems Analysis of Cancer Cell Heterogeneity in Caspase-dependent Apoptosis Subsequent to Mitochondrial Outer Membrane Permeabilization

Deregulation of apoptosis is a hallmark of carcinogenesis. We here combine live cell imaging and systems modeling to investigate caspase-dependent apoptosis execution subsequent to mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) in several cancer cell lines. We demonstrate that, although most cell lines that underwent MOMP also showed robust and fast activation of executioner caspases and apoptosis, the colorectal cancer cell lines LoVo and HCT-116 Smac^−/−, similar to X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP)-overexpressing HeLa (HeLa XIAP^Adv) cells, only showed delayed and often no caspase activation, suggesting apoptosis impairment subsequent to MOMP. Employing APOPTO-CELL, a recently established model of apoptosis subsequent to MOMP, this impairment could be understood by studying the systemic interaction of five proteins that are present in the apoptosis pathway subsequent to MOMP. Using APOPTO-CELL as a tool to study detailed molecular mechanisms during apoptosis execution in individual cell lines, we demonstrate that caspase-9 was the most important regulator in DLD-1, HCT-116, and HeLa cells and identified additional cell line-specific co-regulators. Developing and applying a computational workflow for parameter screening, systems modeling identified that apoptosis execution kinetics are more robust against changes in reaction kinetics in HCT-116 and HeLa than in DLD-1 cells. Our systems modeling study is the first to draw attention to the variability in cell specific protein levels and reaction rates and to the emergent effects of such variability on the efficiency of apoptosis execution and on apoptosis impairment subsequent to MOMP.     

Competition between Anion Binding and Dimerization Modulates Staphylococcus aureus Phosphatidylinositol-specific Phospholipase C Enzymatic Activity

Staphylococcus aureus phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) is a secreted virulence factor for this pathogenic bacterium. A novel crystal structure shows that this PI-PLC can form a dimer via helix B, a structural feature present in all secreted, bacterial PI-PLCs that is important for membrane binding. Despite the small size of this interface, it is critical for optimal enzyme activity. Kinetic evidence, increased enzyme specific activity with increasing enzyme concentration, supports a mechanism where the PI-PLC dimerization is enhanced in membranes containing phosphatidylcholine (PC). Mutagenesis of key residues confirm that the zwitterionic phospholipid acts not by specific binding to the protein, but rather by reducing anionic lipid interactions with a cationic pocket on the surface of the S. aureus enzyme that stabilizes monomeric protein. Despite its structural and sequence similarity to PI-PLCs from other Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, S. aureus PI-PLC appears to have a unique mechanism where enzyme activity is modulated by competition between binding of soluble anions or anionic lipids to the cationic sensor and transient dimerization on the membrane.     

Novel mutation in spectrin-like repeat 1 of dystrophin central domain causes protein misfolding and mild Becker muscular dystrophy

Mutations in the dystrophin gene without disruption of the reading frame often lead to Becker muscular dystrophy, but a genotype/phenotype correlation is difficult to establish. Amino acid substitutions may disrupt binding capacities of dystrophin and have a major impact on the functionality of this protein. We have identified two brothers (ages 8 and 10 years) with very mild proximal weakness, recurrent abdominal pain, and moderately elevated serum creatine kinase levels. Gene sequencing revealed a novel mutation in exon 11 of the dystrophin gene (c.1280T>C) leading to a L427P amino acid substitution in repeat 1 of the central rod domain. Immunostaining of skeletal muscle showed weak staining of the dystrophin region encoded by exons 7 and 8 corresponding to the end of the actin-binding domain 1 and the N-terminal part of hinge 1. Spectrofluorescence and circular dichroism analysis of the domain repeat 1-2 (R1-2) revealed partial misfolding of the L427P mutated protein as well as a reduced refolding rate after denaturation. Based on computational homology models of the wild-type and mutated R1-2, a molecular dynamics study showed an alteration in the flexibility of the structure, which also strongly affects the conformational space available in the N-terminal region of the fragment. Our results suggest that this missense mutation hinders the dynamic properties of the entire N-terminal region of dystrophin.     

Global profiling of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in biological systems: high-throughput real-time analyses

Herein we describe a high-throughput fluorescence and HPLC-based methodology for global profiling of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) in biological systems. The combined use of HPLC and fluorescence detection is key to successful implementation and validation of this methodology. Included here are methods to specifically detect and quantitate the products formed from interaction between the ROS/RNS species and the fluorogenic probes, as follows: superoxide using hydroethidine, peroxynitrite using boronate-based probes, nitric oxide-derived nitrosating species with 4,5-diaminofluorescein, and hydrogen peroxide and other oxidants using 10-acetyl-3,7-dihydroxyphenoxazine (Amplex® Red) with and without horseradish peroxidase, respectively. In this study, we demonstrate real-time monitoring of ROS/RNS in activated macrophages using high-throughput fluorescence and HPLC methods. This global profiling approach, simultaneous detection of multiple ROS/RNS products of fluorescent probes, developed in this study will be useful in unraveling the complex role of ROS/RNS in redox regulation, cell signaling, and cellular oxidative processes and in high-throughput screening of anti-inflammatory antioxidants.     

Dynamic imaging by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy identifies diverse populations of polyglutamine oligomers formed in vivo

Protein misfolding and aggregation are exacerbated by aging and diseases of protein conformation including neurodegeneration, metabolic diseases, and cancer. In the cellular environment, aggregates can exist as discrete entities, or heterogeneous complexes of diverse solubility and conformational state. In this study, we have examined the in vivo dynamics of aggregation using imaging methods including fluorescence microscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), to monitor the diverse biophysical states of expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) proteins expressed in Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that monomers, oligomers and aggregates co-exist at different concentrations in young and aged animals expressing different polyQ-lengths. During aging, when aggregation and toxicity are exacerbated, FCS-based burst analysis and purified single molecule FCS detected a populational shift toward an increase in the frequency of brighter and larger oligomeric species. Regardless of age or polyQ-length, oligomers were maintained in a heterogeneous distribution that spans multiple orders of magnitude in brightness. We employed genetic suppressors that prevent polyQ aggregation and observed a reduction in visible immobile species with the persistence of heterogeneous oligomers, yet our analysis did not detect the appearance of any discrete oligomeric states associated with toxicity. These studies reveal that the reversible transition from monomers to immobile aggregates is not represented by discrete oligomeric states, but rather suggests that the process of aggregation involves a more complex pattern of molecular interactions of diverse intermediate species that can appear in vivo and contribute to aggregate formation and toxicity.