瞬时受体电位香草酸亚型1激活通过抑制线粒体通透性转换孔开放保护急性心肌梗死小鼠的心肌细胞抗凋亡

瞬时受体电位香草酸亚型1（TRPV1）在心肌缺血激活后可传导心绞痛信号,释放神经肽,减轻心肌梗死后的心肌细胞凋亡。目前,TRPV1激活抑制心肌梗死后细胞凋亡的具体机制尚不清楚。线粒体通透性转换孔（MPTP）的开放与心肌细胞缺血再灌注损伤密切相关,抑制其开放可保护心肌缺血后的心肌细胞抗凋亡。本研究证明,TRPV1激活通过抑制MPTP开放而减少心肌细胞凋亡。首先,本研究利用左冠状动脉前降支结扎术建立了TRPV1基因敲除（TRPV1-/-）和野生型（WT）小鼠心肌梗死模型,辅以环孢素A（CSA）预处理抑制 MPTP开放,比较观察TRPV1、MPTP在心肌梗死中的作用。心肌组织切片氯化三苯基四氮唑（TTC）染色显示,心肌缺血24 h,TRPV1-/-小鼠的心肌梗死面积明显大于WT型小鼠。而经CSA预处理的TRPV1-/-小鼠比TRPV1-/-小鼠梗死面积明显减小。TUNEL检测心肌细胞凋亡指数（AI）揭示,WT型心肌梗死小鼠的AI明显低于TRPV1-/- 心肌梗死小鼠,而CSA预处理明显降低TRPV1-/-小鼠心肌细胞的AI。Western印迹检测胱天蛋白酶3、胱天蛋白酶9、Bcl-2、Bax、p53和细胞色素C（Cyt-C）水平。结果证明,TRPV1的激活可抑制MPTP的开放,减少线粒体Cyt-C的外溢,降低胱天蛋白酶9和胱天蛋白酶3的表达。GENMEN光度法检测MPTP开放实验显示,激活的TRPV1明显抑制了MPTP的开放。本研究证实,急性心肌梗死后的TRPV1激活可能通过抑制MPTP开放而抵抗心肌细胞凋亡,对心肌起保护作用。     

Drug repositioning as an effective therapy for protease-activated receptor 2 inhibition

Proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2) is a G protein–coupled receptor activated by both trypsin and a specific agonist peptide, SLIGKV-NH2. It has been linked to various pathologies, including pain and inflammation. Several peptide and peptidomimetic agonizts for PAR-2 have been developed exhibiting high potency and efficacy. However, the number of PAR-2 antagonists is smaller. We screened the Food and Drug Administration library of approved compounds to retrieve novel antagonists for repositioning in the PAR-2 structure. The most efficacious compound bicalutamide bound to the PAR-2 binding groove near the extracellular domain as observed in the in silico studies. Further, it showed reduced Ca²⁺ release in trypsin activated cells in a dose-dependent manner. Hence, bicalutamide is a novel and potent PAR-2 antagonist which could be therapeutically useful in blocking multiple pathways diverging from PAR-2 signaling. Further, the novel scaffold of bicalutamide represents a new molecular structure for PAR-2 antagonism and can serve as a basis for further drug development.     

High-Fat Diet Exposure Increases Dopamine D2 Receptor and Decreases Dopamine Transporter Receptor Binding Density in the Nucleus Accumbens and Caudate Putamen of Mice

This experiment examined dopamine D2 receptor and its transporter (DAT) density in mice fed a high-fat or low-fat diet for twenty days as well as fed twenty days of high-fat diet then changed to low-fat diet for one and seven days. Quantitative autoradiography revealed that twenty days of high-fat diet consumption significantly increased D2 receptor and decreased DAT density in the dorsal and ventral parts of the caudal caudate putamen (D2: 32% and 35% respectively, DAT: 33.3% and 28.8% respectively) compared with low-fat diet. High-fat feeding also increased D2 binding in the nucleus accumbens shell (36%). D2 receptor and DAT density remained unchanged following reversal of the diets from high-fat to low-fat diet. The high-fat diet induced increase of D2 receptor and decrease of DAT binding may have occurred due to defensive control over dopaminergic activity in response to a positive energy balance.     

Signaling from beta1- and beta2-adrenergic receptors is defined by differential interactions with PDE4

Beta1- and beta2-adrenergic receptors (betaARs) are highly homologous, yet they play clearly distinct roles in cardiac physiology and pathology. Myocyte contraction, for instance, is readily stimulated by beta1AR but not beta2AR signaling, and chronic stimulation of the two receptors has opposing effects on myocyte apoptosis and cell survival. Differences in the assembly of macromolecular signaling complexes may explain the distinct biological outcomes. Here, we demonstrate that beta1AR forms a signaling complex with a cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) in a manner inherently different from a beta2AR/beta-arrestin/PDE complex reported previously. The beta1AR binds a PDE variant, PDE4D8, in a direct manner, and occupancy of the receptor by an agonist causes dissociation of this complex. Conversely, agonist binding to the beta2AR is a prerequisite for the recruitment of a complex consisting of beta-arrestin and the PDE4D variant, PDE4D5, to the receptor. We propose that the distinct modes of interaction with PDEs result in divergent cAMP signals in the vicinity of the two receptors, thus, providing an additional layer of complexity to enforce the specificity of beta1- and beta2-adrenoceptor signaling.     

Serine/threonine kinase activity in the putative histidine kinase-like ethylene receptor NTHK1 from tobacco

A histidine kinase-based signaling system has been proposed to function in ethylene signal transduction pathway of plants and one ethylene receptor has been found to possess His kinase activity. Here we demonstrate that a His kinase-like ethylene receptor homologue NTHK1 from tobacco has serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) kinase activity, but no His kinase activity. Evidence obtained by analyzing acid/base stability, phosphoamino acid and substrate specificity of the phosphorylated kinase domain, supports this conclusion. In addition, mutation of the presumptive phosphorylation site His (H378) to Gln did not affect the kinase activity whereas deletion of the ATP-binding domain eliminated it, indicating that the conserved His (H378) is not required for the kinase activity and this activity is intrinsic to the NTHK1-KD. Moreover, confocal analysis of NTHK1 expression in insect cells and plant cells suggested the plasma membrane localization of the NTHK1 protein. Thus, NTHK1 may represent a distinct Ser/Thr kinase-type ethylene receptor and function in an alternative mechanism for ethylene signal transduction.     

Autophagy triggered by magnolol derivative negatively regulates angiogenesis

Angiogenesis has a key role in the tumor progression and metastasis; targeting endothelial cell proliferation has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for the prevention of cancer. Previous studies have revealed a complex association between the process of angiogenesis and autophagy and its outcome on tumorigenesis. Autophagy, also known as type-II cell death, has been identified as an alternative way of cell killing in apoptotic-resistant cancer cells. However, its involvement in chemoresistance and tumor promotion is also well known. In this study, we used a derivate of natural product magnolol (Ery5), a potent autophagy inducer, to study the association between the autophagy and angiogenesis in both in vitro and in vivo model system. We found that the robust autophagy triggered by Ery5, inhibited angiogenesis and caused cell death independent of the apoptosis in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells and PC-3 cells. Ery5 induced autophagy effectively inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation. We further demonstrated that Ery5-mediated autophagy and subsequent inhibition of angiogenesis was reversed when autophagy was inhibited through 3-methyl adenine and knocking down of key autophagy proteins ATG7 and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3. While evaluating the negative regulation of autophagy on angiogenesis, it was interesting to find that angiogenic environment produced by the treatment of VEGF and CoCl2 remarkably downregulated the autophagy and autophagic cell death induced by Ery5. These studies, while disclosing the vital role of autophagy in the regulation of angiogenesis, also suggest that the potent modulators of autophagy can lead to the development of effective therapeutics in apoptosis-resistant cancer.     

Phosphoproteome Profiling of the Receptor Tyrosine Kinase MuSK Identifies Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Rab GTPases

Muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) agonist antibodies were developed 2 decades ago to explore the benefits of receptor activation at the neuromuscular junction. Unlike agrin, the endogenous agonist of MuSK, agonist antibodies function independently of its coreceptor low-density lipoprotein receptor–related protein 4 to delay the onset of muscle denervation in mouse models of ALS. Here, we performed dose–response and time-course experiments on myotubes to systematically compare site-specific phosphorylation downstream of each agonist. Remarkably, both agonists elicited similar intracellular responses at known and newly identified MuSK signaling components. Among these was inducible tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple Rab GTPases that was blocked by MuSK inhibition. Importantly, mutation of this site in Rab10 disrupts association with its effector proteins, molecule interacting with CasL 1/3. Together, these data provide in-depth characterization of MuSK signaling, describe two novel MuSK inhibitors, and expose phosphorylation of Rab GTPases downstream of receptor tyrosine kinase activation in myotubes.