Rare Codons Regulate KRas Oncogenesis

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Highlights? Mammalian KRAS is enriched in rare codons that limit its expression ? Changing rare to common codons increases ectopic and endogenous KRAS expression ? KRAS oncogenicity is limited by rare codons ? Other gene pairs exhibit high sequence identity but opposing codon bias     

ATP synthase complex of Plasmodium falciparum: dimeric assembly in mitochondrial membranes and resistance to genetic disruption

The rotary nanomotor ATP synthase is a central player in the bioenergetics of most organisms. Yet the role of ATP synthase in malaria parasites has remained unclear, as blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum appear to derive ATP largely through glycolysis. Also, genes for essential subunits of the F(O) sector of the complex could not be detected in the parasite genomes. Here, we have used molecular genetic and immunological tools to investigate the localization, complex formation, and functional significance of predicted ATP synthase subunits in P. falciparum. We generated transgenic P. falciparum lines expressing seven epitope-tagged canonical ATP synthase subunits, revealing localization of all but one of the subunits to the mitochondrion. Blue native gel electrophoresis of P. falciparum mitochondrial membranes suggested the molecular mass of the ATP synthase complex to be greater than 1 million daltons. This size is consistent with the complex being assembled as a dimer in a manner similar to the complexes observed in other eukaryotic organisms. This observation also suggests the presence of previously unknown subunits in addition to the canonical subunits in P. falciparum ATP synthase complex. Our attempts to disrupt genes encoding β and γ subunits were unsuccessful, suggesting an essential role played by the ATP synthase complex in blood stages of P. falciparum. These studies suggest that, despite some unconventional features and its minimal contribution to ATP synthesis, P. falciparum ATP synthase is localized to the parasite mitochondrion, assembled as a large dimeric complex, and is likely essential for parasite survival.     

Adverse effects of tempol on hidrosaline balance in rats with acute sodium overload

We studied the effects of tempol, an oxygen radical scavenger, on hydrosaline balance in rats with acute sodium overload. Male rats with free access to water were injected with isotonic (control group) or hypertonic saline solution (0.80 mol/l NaCl) either alone (Na group) or with tempol (Na-T group). Hydrosaline balance was determined during a 90 min experimental period. Protein expressions of aquaporin 1 (AQP1), aquaporin 2 (AQP2), angiotensin II (Ang II) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were measured in renal tissue. Water intake, creatinine clearance, diuresis and natriuresis increased in the Na group. Under conditions of sodium overload, tempol increased plasma sodium and protein levels and increased diuresis, natriuresis and sodium excretion. Tempol also decreased water intake without affecting creatinine clearance. AQP1 and eNOS were increased and Ang II decreased in the renal cortex of the Na group, whereas AQP2 was increased in the renal medulla. Nonglycosylated AQP1 and eNOS were increased further in the renal cortex of the Na-T group, whereas AQP2 was decreased in the renal medulla and was localized mainly in the cell membrane. Moreover, p47-phox immunostaining was increased in the hypothalamus of Na group, and this increase was prevented by tempol. Our findings suggest that tempol causes hypernatremia after acute sodium overload by inhibiting the thirst mechanism and facilitating diuresis, despite increasing renal eNOS expression and natriuresis.     

The crystal structure,mutagenesis, and activity studies reveal that patatin is a lipid acyl hydrolase with a Ser-Asp catalytic dyad

Patatin is a nonspecific lipid acyl hydrolase that accounts for approximately 40% of the total soluble protein in mature potato tubers, and it has potent insecticidal activity against the corn rootworm. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of a His-tagged variant of an isozyme of patatin, Pat17, to 2.2 A resolution, employing SeMet multiwavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) phasing methods. The patatin crystal structure has three molecules in the asymmetric unit, an R-factor of 22.0%, and an R(free) of 27.2% (for 10% of the data not included in the refinement) and includes 498 water molecules. The structure notably revealed that patatin has a Ser-Asp catalytic dyad and an active site like that of human cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)) [Dessen, A., et al. (1999) Cell 97, 349-360]. In addition, patatin has a folding topology related to that of the catalytic domain of cPLA(2) and unlike the canonical alpha/beta-hydrolase fold. The structure confirms our site-directed mutagenesis and bioactivity data that initially suggested patatin possessed a Ser-Asp catalytic dyad. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis revealed that Ser77 and Asp215 were critical for both esterase and bioactivity, consistent with prior work implicating a Ser residue [Strickland, J. H., et al. (1995) Plant Physiol. 109, 667-674] and a Ser-Asp dyad [Hirschberg, H. J. H. B., et al. (2001) Eur. J. Biochem. 268, 5037-5044] in patatin's catalytic activity. The crystal structure aids the understanding of other structure-function relationships in patatin. Patatin does not display interfacial activation, a hallmark feature of lipases, and this is likely due to the fact that it lacks a flexible lid that can shield the active site.     

Comparison of Assays for the Determination of Entomogenous Nematode Infectivity

Injection, contact, and soil assays were used to compare infectivity of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora strain HP88 and Steinernema carpocapsae strain All to final instar Galleria mellonella larvae. Under comparable assay conditions, H. bacteriophora produced less Galleria mortality and showed greater within-assay variability in infectivity than S. carpocapsae. Injection of individual S. carpocapsae or H. bacteriophora infective juveniles into Galleria indicated that a comparatively greater percentage of S. carpocapsae was capable of initiating infection. In addition to nematode species, other major components of variability in assay estimations of nematode infectivity were number of nematodes used in the assay, assay type, date of the assay, and possibly, Galleria age.     

Evaluating trophic cascades as drivers of regime shifts in different ocean ecosystems

In ecosystems that are strongly structured by predation, reducing top predator abundance can alter several lower trophic levels—a process known as a trophic cascade. A persistent trophic cascade also fits the definition of a regime shift. Such ‘trophic cascade regime shifts'' have been reported in a few pelagic marine systems—notably the Black Sea, Baltic Sea and eastern Scotian Shelf—raising the question of how common this phenomenon is in the marine environment. We provide a general methodology for distinguishing top-down and bottom-up effects and apply this methodology to time series from these three ecosystems. We found evidence for top-down forcing in the Black Sea due primarily to gelatinous zooplankton. Changes in the Baltic Sea are primarily bottom-up, strongly structured by salinity, but top-down forcing related to changes in cod abundance also shapes the ecosystem. Changes in the eastern Scotian Shelf that were originally attributed to declines in groundfish are better explained by changes in stratification. Our review suggests that trophic cascade regime shifts are rare in open ocean ecosystems and that their likelihood increases as the residence time of water in the system increases. Our work challenges the assumption that negative correlation between consecutive trophic levels implies top-down forcing.