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1.
Elizabeth Bilsland Andrew Sparkes Kevin Williams Harry J. Moss Michaela de Clare P?nar Pir Jem Rowland Wayne Aubrey Ron Pateman Mike Young Mark Carrington Ross D. King Stephen G. Oliver 《Open biology》2013,3(2)
We have developed a robust, fully automated anti-parasitic drug-screening method that selects compounds specifically targeting parasite enzymes and not their host counterparts, thus allowing the early elimination of compounds with potential side effects. Our yeast system permits multiple parasite targets to be assayed in parallel owing to the strains’ expression of different fluorescent proteins. A strain expressing the human target is included in the multiplexed screen to exclude compounds that do not discriminate between host and parasite enzymes. This form of assay has the advantages of using known targets and not requiring the in vitro culture of parasites. We performed automated screens for inhibitors of parasite dihydrofolate reductases, N-myristoyltransferases and phosphoglycerate kinases, finding specific inhibitors of parasite targets. We found that our ‘hits’ have significant structural similarities to compounds with in vitro anti-parasitic activity, validating our screens and suggesting targets for hits identified in parasite-based assays. Finally, we demonstrate a 60 per cent success rate for our hit compounds in killing or severely inhibiting the growth of Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness. 相似文献
2.
We studied different genetic models and evaluation systems to select against a genetic disease with additive, recessive or polygenic inheritance in genetic conservation schemes. When using optimum contribution selection with a restriction on the rate of inbreeding (ΔF) to select against a disease allele, selection directly on DNA-genotypes is, as expected, the most efficient strategy. Selection for BLUP or segregation analysis breeding value estimates both need 1–2 generations more to halve the frequency of the disease allele, while these methods do not require knowledge of the disease mutation at the DNA level. BLUP and segregation analysis methods were equally efficient when selecting against a disease with single gene or complex polygene inheritance, i.e. knowledge about the mode of inheritance of the disease was not needed for efficient selection against the disease. Smaller schemes or schemes with a more stringent restriction on ΔF needed more generations to halve the frequency of the disease alleles or the fraction of diseased animals. Optimum contribution selection maintained ΔF at its predefined level, even when selection of females was at random. It is argued that in the investigated small conservation schemes with selection against a genetic defect, control of ΔF is very important. 相似文献
3.
Elizabeth Bilsland Daniel M. Bean Eileen Devaney Stephen G. Oliver 《PLoS neglected tropical diseases》2016,10(1)
Background
Lymphatic filariasis is caused by the parasitic worms Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi or B. timori, which are transmitted via the bites from infected mosquitoes. Once in the human body, the parasites develop into adult worms in the lymphatic vessels, causing severe damage and swelling of the affected tissues. According to the World Health Organization, over 1.2 billion people in 58 countries are at risk of contracting lymphatic filariasis. Very few drugs are available to treat patients infected with these parasites, and these have low efficacy against the adult stages of the worms, which can live for 7–15 years in the human body. The requirement for annual treatment increases the risk of drug-resistant worms emerging, making it imperative to develop new drugs against these devastating diseases.Methodology/Principal Findings
We have developed a yeast-based, high-throughput screening system whereby essential yeast genes are replaced with their filarial or human counterparts. These strains are labeled with different fluorescent proteins to allow the simultaneous monitoring of strains with parasite or human genes in competition, and hence the identification of compounds that inhibit the parasite target without affecting its human ortholog. We constructed yeast strains expressing eight different Brugia malayi drug targets (as well as seven of their human counterparts), and performed medium-throughput drug screens for compounds that specifically inhibit the parasite enzymes. Using the Malaria Box collection (400 compounds), we identified nine filarial specific inhibitors and confirmed the antifilarial activity of five of these using in vitro assays against Brugia pahangi.Conclusions/Significance
We were able to functionally complement yeast deletions with eight different Brugia malayi enzymes that represent potential drug targets. We demonstrated that our yeast-based screening platform is efficient in identifying compounds that can discriminate between human and filarial enzymes. Hence, we are confident that we can extend our efforts to the construction of strains with further filarial targets (in particular for those species that cannot be cultivated in the laboratory), and perform high-throughput drug screens to identify specific inhibitors of the parasite enzymes. By establishing synergistic collaborations with researchers working directly on different parasitic worms, we aim to aid antihelmintic drug development for both human and veterinary infections. 相似文献4.
Wilkie N Wingrove PB Bilsland JG Young L Harper SJ Hefti F Ellis S Pollack SJ 《Journal of neurochemistry》2001,78(5):1135-1145
Neurotrophin binding to the extracellular surface of the Trk family of tyrosine kinase receptors leads to the activation of multiple signalling cascades, culminating in neuroregenerative effects, including neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth. Since neurotrophins themselves are not ideal drug candidates due to their poor pharmacokinetic behaviour and bioavailability, small molecule neurotrophin mimetics may be beneficial in treating a number of neurodegenerative disorders. The present study demonstrates that L-783,281, a non-peptidyl fungal metabolite, is capable of stimulating TrkA, B and C phosphorylation to various extents in CHO cells stably expressing human Trk receptors. L-783,281 also stimulated Trk phosphorylation in a number of rat and human primary neuronal cultures, whereas the highly similar compound, L-767,827, was without effect. Mechanistic studies utilizing transiently transfected PDGF/TrkA and TrkA/PDGF chimeras, demonstrated that L-783,281 is likely to interact with the intracellular domain of the TrkA receptor. Further investigations suggested that L-783,281 was nevertheless able to instigate receptor dimerization by binding in a non-covalent manner. Although the cytotoxicity of the compound was shown to preclude its effects in neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth assays, it is a prototype for a small molecule neurotrophin mimetic that activates Trk by interacting at a site different from the neurotrophin-binding site. 相似文献
5.
Bilsland E Pir P Gutteridge A Johns A King RD Oliver SG 《PLoS neglected tropical diseases》2011,5(10):e1320
Background
The exacting nutritional requirements and complicated life cycles of parasites mean that they are not always amenable to high-throughput drug screening using automated procedures. Therefore, we have engineered the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to act as a surrogate for expressing anti-parasitic targets from a range of biomedically important pathogens, to facilitate the rapid identification of new therapeutic agents.Methodology/Principal Findings
Using pyrimethamine/dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) as a model parasite drug/drug target system, we explore the potential of engineered yeast strains (expressing DHFR enzymes from Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, Homo sapiens, Schistosoma mansoni, Leishmania major, Trypanosoma brucei and T. cruzi) to exhibit appropriate differential sensitivity to pyrimethamine. Here, we demonstrate that yeast strains (lacking the major drug efflux pump, Pdr5p) expressing yeast (ScDFR1), human (HsDHFR), Schistosoma (SmDHFR), and Trypanosoma (TbDHFR and TcDHFR) DHFRs are insensitive to pyrimethamine treatment, whereas yeast strains producing Plasmodium (PfDHFR and PvDHFR) DHFRs are hypersensitive. Reassuringly, yeast strains expressing field-verified, drug-resistant mutants of P. falciparum DHFR (Pfdhfr 51I,59R,108N) are completely insensitive to pyrimethamine, further validating our approach to drug screening. We further show the versatility of the approach by replacing yeast essential genes with other potential drug targets, namely phosphoglycerate kinases (PGKs) and N-myristoyl transferases (NMTs).Conclusions/Significance
We have generated a number of yeast strains that can be successfully harnessed for the rapid and selective identification of urgently needed anti-parasitic agents. 相似文献6.
A comparative description of mitochondrial DNA differentiation in selected avian and other vertebrate genera 总被引:13,自引:1,他引:13
Levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence divergence between species
within each of several avian (Anas, Aythya, Dendroica, Melospiza, and
Zonotrichia) and nonavian (Lepomis and Hyla) vertebrate genera were
compared. An analysis of digestion profiles generated by 13-18 restriction
endonucleases indicates little overlap in magnitude of mtDNA divergence for
the avian versus nonavian taxa examined. In 55 interspecific comparisons
among the avian congeners, the fraction of identical fragment lengths (F)
ranged from 0.26 to 0.96 (F = 0.46), and, given certain assumptions, these
translate into estimates of nucleotide sequence divergence (p) ranging from
0.007 to 0.088; in 46 comparisons among the fish and amphibian congeners, F
values ranged from 0.00 to 0.36 (F = 0.09), yielding estimates of P greater
than 0.070. The small mtDNA distances among avian congeners are associated
with protein-electrophoretic distances (D values) less than approximately
0.2, while the mtDNA distances among assayed fish and amphibian congeners
are associated with D values usually greater than 0.4. Since the
conservative pattern of protein differentiation previously reported for
many avian versus nonavian taxa now appears to be paralleled by a
conservative pattern of mtDNA divergence, it seems increasingly likely that
many avian species have shared more recent common ancestors than have their
nonavian taxonomic counterparts. However, estimates of avian divergence
times derived from mtDNA- and protein-calibrated clocks cannot readily be
reconciled with some published dates based on limited fossil remains. If
the earlier paleontological interpretations are valid, then protein and
mtDNA evolution must be somewhat decelerated in birds. The empirical and
conceptual issues raised by these findings are highly analogous to those in
the long-standing debate about rates of molecular evolution and times of
separation of ancestral hominids from African apes.
相似文献
7.
Chambers SM Qi Y Mica Y Lee G Zhang XJ Niu L Bilsland J Cao L Stevens E Whiting P Shi SH Studer L 《Nature biotechnology》2012,30(7):715-720
Considerable progress has been made in identifying signaling pathways that direct the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into specialized cell types, including neurons. However, differentiation of hPSCs with extrinsic factors is a slow, step-wise process, mimicking the protracted timing of human development. Using a small-molecule screen, we identified a combination of five small-molecule pathway inhibitors that yield hPSC-derived neurons at >75% efficiency within 10 d of differentiation. The resulting neurons express canonical markers and functional properties of human nociceptors, including tetrodotoxin (TTX)-resistant, SCN10A-dependent sodium currents and response to nociceptive stimuli such as ATP and capsaicin. Neuronal fate acquisition occurs about threefold faster than during in vivo development, suggesting that use of small-molecule pathway inhibitors could become a general strategy for accelerating developmental timing in vitro. The quick and high-efficiency derivation of nociceptors offers unprecedented access to this medically relevant cell type for studies of human pain. 相似文献
8.
Comparisons of the molecular evolutionary process at rbcL and ndhF in the grass family (Poaceae) 总被引:2,自引:1,他引:1
We examine rate heterogeneity among evolutionary lineages of the grass
family at two plasmid loci, ndhF and rbcL, and we introduce a method to
determine whether patterns of rate heterogeneity are correlated between
loci. We show both that rates of synonymous evolution are heterogeneous
among grass lineages and that are heterogeneity is correlated between loci
at synonymous sites. At nonsynonymous sites, the pattern of rate
heterogeneity is not correlated between loci, primarily due to an aberrant
pattern of rate heterogeneity at nonsynonymous sites of rbcL. We compare
patterns of synonymous rate heterogeneity to predictors based on the
generation time effect and the speciation rate hypotheses. Although there
is some evidence for generation time effects, neither generation time
effects nor speciation rates appear to be sufficient to explain patterns of
rate heterogeneity in the grass plastid sequences.
相似文献
9.
Job B Bernheim A Beau-Faller M Camilleri-Broët S Girard P Hofman P Mazières J Toujani S Lacroix L Laffaire J Dessen P Fouret P;LG Investigators 《PloS one》2010,5(12):e15145
Background
Lung cancer in never smokers would rank as the seventh most common cause of cancer death worldwide.Methods and Findings
We performed high-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization analysis of lung adenocarcinoma in sixty never smokers and identified fourteen new minimal common regions (MCR) of gain or loss, of which five contained a single gene (MOCS2, NSUN3, KHDRBS2, SNTG1 and ST18). One larger MCR of gain contained NSD1. One focal amplification and nine gains contained FUS. NSD1 and FUS are oncogenes hitherto not known to be associated with lung cancer. FISH showed that the amplicon containing FUS was joined to the next telomeric amplicon at 16p11.2. FUS was over-expressed in 10 tumors with gain of 16p11.2 compared to 30 tumors without that gain. Other cancer genes present in aberrations included ARNT, BCL9, CDK4, CDKN2B, EGFR, ERBB2, MDM2, MDM4, MET, MYC and KRAS. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering with adjustment for false-discovery rate revealed clusters differing by the level and pattern of aberrations and displaying particular tumor characteristics. One cluster was strongly associated with gain of MYC. Another cluster was characterized by extensive losses containing tumor suppressor genes of which RB1 and WRN. Tumors in that cluster frequently harbored a central scar-like fibrosis. A third cluster was associated with gains on 7p and 7q, containing ETV1 and BRAF, and displayed the highest rate of EGFR mutations. SNP array analysis validated copy-number aberrations and revealed that RB1 and WRN were altered by recurrent copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity.Conclusions
The present study has uncovered new aberrations containing cancer genes. The oncogene FUS is a candidate gene in the 16p region that is frequently gained in never smokers. Multiple genetic pathways defined by gains of MYC, deletions of RB1 and WRN or gains on 7p and 7q are involved in lung adenocarcinoma in never smokers. 相似文献10.
Bilsland LG Nirmalananthan N Yip J Greensmith L Duchen MR 《Journal of neurochemistry》2008,107(5):1271-1283
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motoneuron degeneration resulting in paralysis and eventual death. ALS is regarded as a motoneuron-specific disorder but increasing evidence indicates non-neuronal cells play a significant role in disease pathogenesis. Although the precise aetiology of ALS remains unclear, mutations in the superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene are known to account for approximately 20% of familial ALS. We examined the influence of SOD1(G93A) expression in astrocytes on mitochondrial homeostasis in motoneurons in a primary astrocyte : motoneuron co-culture model. SOD1(G93A) expression in astrocytes induced changes in mitochondrial function of both SOD1(G93A) and wild-type motoneurons. In the presence of SOD1(G93A) astrocytes, mitochondrial redox state of both wild-type and SOD1(G93A) motoneurons was more reduced and mitochondrial membrane potential decreased. While intra-mitochondrial calcium levels [Ca(2+)](m) were elevated in SOD1(G93A) motoneurons, changes in mitochondrial function did not correlate with [Ca(2+)](m). Thus, expression of SOD1(G93A) in astrocytes directly alters mitochondrial function even in embryonic motoneurons, irrespective of genotype. These early deficits in mitochondrial function induced by surrounding astrocytes may increase the vulnerability of motoneurons to other neurotoxic mechanisms involved in ALS pathogenesis. 相似文献