Purification and physicochemical properties of polygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger MTCC 3323

Polygalacturonases are the pectinolytic enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of the polygalacturonic acid chain. In the present study, polygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger (MTCC 3323) was purified. The enzyme precipitated with 60% ethanol resulted in 1.68-fold purification. The enzyme was purified to 6.52-fold by Sephacryl S-200 gel-filtration chromatography. On SDS–PAGE analysis, enzyme was found to be a heterodimer of 34 and 69 kDa subunit. Homogeneity of the enzyme was checked by NATIVE-PAGE and its molecular weight was found to be 106 kDa. The purified enzyme showed maximum activity in the presence of polygalacturonic acid at temperature of 45 °C, pH of 4.8, reaction time of 15 min. The enzyme was stable within the pH range of 4.0–5.5 for 1 h. At 4 °C it retained 50% activity after 108 h but at room temperature it lost its 50% activity after 3 h. The addition of Mn²⁺, K⁺, Zn²⁺, Ca²⁺ and Al³⁺ inhibited the enzyme activity; it increased in the presence of Mg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions. Enzyme activity was increased on increasing the substrate concentration from 0.1% to 0.5%. The K_m and V_max values of the enzyme were found to be 0.083 mg/ml and 18.21 μmol/ml/min. The enzyme was used for guava juice extraction and clarification. The recovery of juice of enzymatically treated pulp increased from 6% to 23%. Addition of purified enzyme increased the %T₆₅₀ from 2.5 to 20.4 and °Brix from 1.9 to 4.8. The pH of the enzyme treated juice decreased from 4.5 to 3.02.     

Intercellular signaling between ameloblastoma and osteoblasts

Ameloblastoma is an odontogenic tumor located in the bone jaw with clinical characteristics of extensive bone resorption. It is a locally invasive tumor with a high recurrence rate despite adequate surgical removal. In bone disease, tumors and other cells including osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes in the bone microenvironment contribute to the pathogenesis of tumor growth. However, the effect of osteoblasts on ameloblastoma cells is not well-understood, and there has been limited research on interactions between them.This study investigated interactions between ameloblastoma cells and osteoblasts using a human ameloblastoma cell line (AM-3 ameloblastoma cells) and a murine pre-osteoblast cell line (MC3T3-E1 cells). We treated each cell type with the conditioned medium by the other cell type. We analyzed the effect on cytokine production by MC3T3-E1 cells and the production of MMPs by AM-3 cells. Treatment with AM-3-conditioned medium induced inflammatory cytokine production of IL-6, MCP-1, and RANTES from MC3T3-E1 cells. The use of an IL-1 receptor antagonist suppressed the production of these inflammatory cytokines by MC3T3-E1 cells stimulated with AM-3-conditioned medium. The MC3T3-E1-conditioned medium triggered the expression of MMP-2 from AM-3 cells. Furthermore, we have shown that the proliferation and migration activity of AM-3 cells were accelerated by MC3T3-E1 conditioned media.In conclusion, these intercellular signalings between ameloblastoma cells and osteoblasts may play multiple roles in the pathogenesis of ameloblastoma.     

Fission yeast Rhp51 is required for the maintenance of telomere structure in the absence of the Ku heterodimer

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe Ku70–Ku80 heterodimer is required for telomere length regulation. Lack of pku70⁺ results in telomere shortening and striking rearrangements of telomere-associated sequences. We found that the rearrangements of telomere-associated sequences in pku80⁺ mutants are Rhp51 dependent, but not Rad50 dependent. Rhp51 bound to telomere ends when the Ku heterodimer was not present at telomere ends. We also found that the single-stranded G-rich tails increased in S phase in wild-type strains, while deletion of pku70⁺ increased the single-stranded overhang in both G₂ and S phase. Based on these observations, we propose that Rhp51 binds to the G-rich overhang and promotes homologous pairing between two different telomere ends in the absence of Ku heterodimer. Moreover, pku80 rhp51 double mutants showed a significantly reduced telomere hybridization signal. Our results suggest that, although Ku heterodimer sequesters Rhp51 from telomere ends to inhibit homologous recombination activity, Rhp51 plays important roles for the maintenance of telomere ends in the absence of the Ku heterodimer.     

IFN-gamma-inducible protein 10 (CXCL10) contributes to airway hyperreactivity and airway inflammation in a mouse model of asthma

Allergic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic inflammation and airway hyper-reactivity. Cytokines and chemokines specific for Th2-type inflammation predominate in asthma and in animal models of this disease. The role of Th1-type inflammatory mediators in asthma remains controversial. IFN-gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10; CXCL10) is an IFN-gamma-inducible chemokine that preferentially attracts activated Th1 lymphocytes. IP-10 is up-regulated in the airways of asthmatics, but its function in asthma is unclear. To investigate the role of IP-10 in allergic airway disease, we examined the expression of IP-10 in a murine model of asthma and the effects of overexpression and deletion of IP-10 in this model using IP-10-transgenic and IP-10-deficient mice. Our experiments demonstrate that IP-10 is up-regulated in the lung after allergen challenge. Mice that overexpress IP-10 in the lung exhibited significantly increased airway hyperreactivity, eosinophilia, IL-4 levels, and CD8(+) lymphocyte recruitment compared with wild-type controls. In addition, there was an increase in the percentage of IL-4-secreting T lymphocytes in the lungs of IP-10-transgenic mice. In contrast, mice deficient in IP-10 demonstrated the opposite results compared with wild-type controls, with a significant reduction in these measures of Th2-type allergic airway inflammation. Our results demonstrate that IP-10, a Th1-type chemokine, is up-regulated in allergic pulmonary inflammation and that this contributes to the airway hyperreactivity and Th2-type inflammation seen in this model of asthma.     

Cutting edge: Th2 cell trafficking into the allergic lung is dependent on chemoattractant receptor signaling

Th2 cells are recruited to the lung where they mediate the asthma phenotype. Since the molecular mechanisms regulating Th2 cell trafficking remain unknown, we sought to determine whether trafficking of Th2 cells into the lung is mediated by G alpha i-coupled chemoattractant receptors. We show here that in contrast to untreated Th2 cells, pertussis toxin-treated Th2 cells were unable to traffic into the lung, airways, or lymph nodes following Ag challenge and therefore were unable to induce allergic inflammation in vivo. Pertussis toxin-treated Th2 cells were functional cells, however, and when directly instilled into the airways of mice, bypassing their need to traffic to the lung, were able to induce airway eosinophilic inflammation. These studies conclusively demonstrate that trafficking of Th2 cells into the lung is an active process dependent on chemoattractant receptors.     

Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 coordinately regulates apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and cell cycle entry

Bcl-x(L) and Bcl-2 inhibit both apoptosis and proliferation. In investigating the relationship between these two functions of Bcl-x(L) and Bcl-2, an analysis of 24 Bcl-x(L) and Bcl-2 mutant alleles, including substitutions at residue Y28 previously reported to selectively abolish the cell cycle activity, showed that cell cycle delay and anti-apoptosis co-segregated in all cases. In determining whether Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) act in G(0) or G(1), forward scatter and pyronin Y fluorescence measurements indicated that Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) cells arrested more effectively in G(0) than controls, and were delayed in G(0)-G(1) transition. The cell cycle effects of Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) were reversed by Bad, a molecule that counters the survival function of Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L). When control and Bcl-x(L) cells of equivalent size and pyronin Y fluorescence were compared, the kinetics of cell cycle entry were similar, demonstrating that the ability of Bcl-x(L) and Bcl-2 cells to enhance G(0) arrest contributes significantly to cell cycle delay. Our data suggest that cell cycle effects and increased survival both result from intrinsic functions of Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L).     

Predominance of HLA-Restricted Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Responses to Serotype-Cross-Reactive Epitopes on Nonstructural Proteins following Natural Secondary Dengue Virus Infection

We examined the memory cytotoxic T-lymphocytic (CTL) responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from patients in Thailand 12 months after natural symptomatic secondary dengue virus infection. In all four patients analyzed, CTLs were detected in bulk culture PBMC against nonstructural dengue virus proteins. Numerous CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ CTL lines were generated from the bulk cultures of two patients, KPP94-037 and KPP94-024, which were specific for NS1.2a (NS1 and NS2a collectively) and NS3 proteins, respectively. All CTL lines derived from both patients were cross-reactive with other serotypes of dengue virus. The CD8⁺ NS1.2a-specific lines from patient KPP94-037 were HLA B57 restricted, and the CD8⁺ NS3-specific lines from patient KPP94-024 were HLA B7 restricted. The CD4⁺ CTL lines from patient KPP94-037 were HLA DR7 restricted. A majority of the CD8⁺ CTLs isolated from patient KPP94-024 were found to recognize amino acids 221 to 232 on NS3. These results demonstrate that in Thai patients after symptomatic secondary natural dengue infections, CTLs are mainly directed against nonstructural proteins and are broadly cross-reactive.     

Dengue virus infection induces broadly cross-reactive human IgM antibodies that recognize intact virions in humanized BLT-NSG mice

The development of small animal models that elicit human immune responses to dengue virus (DENV) is important since prior immunity is a major risk factor for developing severe dengue disease. This study evaluated anti-DENV human antibody (hAb) responses generated from immortalized B cells after DENV-2 infection in NOD-scid IL2rγ^null mice that were co-transplanted with human fetal thymus and liver tissues (BLT-NSG mice). DENV-specific human antibodies predominantly of the IgM isotype were isolated during acute infection and in convalescence. We found that while a few hAbs recognized the envelope protein produced as a soluble recombinant, a number of hAbs only recognized epitopes on intact virions. The majority of the hAbs isolated during acute infection and in immune mice were serotype-cross-reactive and poorly neutralizing. Viral titers in immune BLT-NSG mice were significantly decreased after challenge with a clinical strain of dengue. DENV-specific hAbs generated in BLT-NSG mice share some of the characteristics of Abs isolated in humans with natural infection. Humanized BLT-NSG mice provide an attractive preclinical platform to assess the immunogenicity of candidate dengue vaccines.     

Soluble factors from IL-1β-stimulated astrocytes activate NR1a/NR2B receptors: implications for HIV-1-induced neurodegeneration

Astrocytes play an important role in astrocyte-neuron homeostasis. In HIV-1-infected brain, interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) activation of astrocytes contributes to neurodegeneration. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying IL-1β-activated-astrocytes-induced neurodegeneration in HIV-1-infected brain are largely unknown. We hypothesize that secretory factors from the activated astrocytes affect N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a major pathway implicated in HIV-1-associated neurodegeneration. To test this hypothesis, we studied effects of IL-1β-stimulated astrocyte conditioned medium (ACM+) for its ability to activate NR1a/NR2B receptors expressed on Xenopus oocytes. Astrocytes treated with IL-1β 20 ng/ml for 24 h induced CXCL8, CCL2, MMP1 and MMP7. Pressure ejection of the ACM(+) produced an inward current in NR1a/NR2B-expressing oocytes. The inward current produced by ACM(+) was blocked by NMDA receptor antagonist, APV but not by non-NMDA receptor antagonist, CNQX. These results suggest that IL-1β stimulated astrocytes activate NR1a/NR2B receptors which may have implications in HIV-1-associated neurodegeneration.