Presence of a dinucleotide fold in cholera toxin: Possible approach to chemoprophylaxis?

1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 879-886
Author(s):  
D. Thambi Dorai

The ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of the A1. subunit of cholera toxin is specifically inhibited by the dye cibacron blue 3GA. The presence of a ‘dinucleotide fold’ in the A1 subunit is thus established for the first time. This specific inhibition observed in vitro is successfully exploited in vivo for the inhibition of the diarrheal response brought out by the pure toxin in the rabbit ileal-loop test.

2008 ◽  
Vol 415 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Tavares ◽  
Ali Ouaissi ◽  
Nuno Santarém ◽  
Denis Sereno ◽  
Baptiste Vergnes ◽  
...  

Proteins of the SIR2 (Silent Information Regulator 2) family are characterized by a conserved catalytic domain that exerts unique NAD+-dependent deacetylase activity on histones and various other cellular substrates. Previous reports from us have identified a Leishmania infantum gene encoding a cytosolic protein termed LiSIR2RP1 (Leishmania infantum SIR2-related protein 1) that belongs to the SIR2 family. Targeted disruption of one LiSIR2RP1 gene allele led to decreased amastigote virulence, in vitro as well as in vivo. In the present study, attempts were made for the first time to explore and characterize the enzymatic functions of LiSIR2RP1. The LiSIR2RP1 exhibited robust NAD+-dependent deacetylase and ADP-ribosyltransferase activities. Moreover, LiSIR2RP1 is capable of deacetylating tubulin, either in dimers or, when present, in taxol-stabilized microtubules or in promastigote and amastigote extracts. Furthermore, the immunostaining of parasites revealed a partial co-localization of α-tubulin and LiSIR2RP1 with punctate labelling, seen on the periphery of both promastigote and amastigote stages. Isolated parasite cytoskeleton reacted with antibodies showed that part of LiSIR2RP1 is associated to the cytoskeleton network of both promastigote and amastigote forms. Moreover, the Western blot analysis of the soluble and insoluble fractions of the detergent of promastigote and amastigote forms revealed the presence of α-tubulin in the insoluble fraction, and the LiSIR2RP1 distributed in both soluble and insoluble fractions of promastigotes as well as amastigotes. Collectively, the results of the present study demonstrate that LiSIR2RP1 is an NAD+-dependent deacetylase that also exerts an ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. The fact that tubulin could be among the targets of LiSIR2RP1 may have significant implications during the remodelling of the morphology of the parasite and its interaction with the host cell.


1998 ◽  
Vol 187 (7) ◽  
pp. 1123-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzia Monica Giuliani ◽  
Giuseppe Del Giudice ◽  
Valentina Giannelli ◽  
Gordon Dougan ◽  
Gill Douce ◽  
...  

Heat-labile Escherichia coli enterotoxin (LT) has the innate property of being a strong mucosal immunogen and adjuvant. In the attempt to reduce toxicity and maintain the useful immunological properties, several LT mutants have been produced. Some of these are promising mucosal adjuvants. However, so far, only those that were still toxic maintained full adjuvanticity. In this paper we describe a novel LT mutant with greatly reduced toxicity that maintains most of the adjuvanticity. The new mutant (LTR72), that contains a substitution Ala → Arg in position 72 of the A subunit, showed only 0.6% of the LT enzymatic activity, was 100,000-fold less toxic than wild-type LT in Y1 cells in vitro, and was at least 20 times less effective than wild-type LT in the rabbit ileal loop assay in vivo. At a dose of 1 μg, LTR72 exhibited a mucosal adjuvanticity, similar to that observed with wild-type LT, better than that induced by the nontoxic, enzymatically inactive LTK63 mutant, and much greater than that of the recombinant B subunit. This trend was consistent for both the amounts and kinetics of the antibody induced, and priming of antigen-specific T lymphocytes. The data suggest that the innate high adjuvanticity of LT derives from the independent contribution of the nontoxic AB complex and the enzymatic activity. LTR72 optimizes the use of both properties: the enzymatic activity for which traces are enough, and the nontoxic AB complex, the effect of which is dose dependent. In fact, in dose–response experiments in mice, 20 μg of LTR72 were a stronger mucosal adjuvant than wild-type LT. This suggests that LTR72 may be an excellent candidate to be tested in clinical trials.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 4373-4380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pallashri Saha ◽  
Bornita Das ◽  
Keya Chaudhuri

ABSTRACTVibrio choleraeis one of the major bacterial pathogens responsible for the devastating diarrheal disease called cholera. Chemotherapy is often used againstV. choleraeinfections; however, the emergence ofV. choleraewith multidrug resistance (MDR) toward the chemotherapeutic agents is a serious clinical problem. This scenario has provided us with the impetus to look into herbal remediation, especially toward blocking the action of cholera toxin (CT). Our studies were undertaken to determine the antidiarrheal potential of 6-gingerol (6G) on the basis of its effect on CT, the virulence factor secreted byV. cholerae. We report here that 6G binds to CT, hindering its interaction with the GM1 receptor present on the intestinal epithelial cells. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) was determined to be 10 μg/ml. The detailed mechanistic study was conducted by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), fluorescence spectroscopy, and isoelectric focusing. These results were validated within vitrostudies performed with the CHO, HeLa, and HT-29 cell lines, whereas a rabbit ileal loop assay was done to estimate thein vivoaction, which confirms the efficacy of 6G in remediation of the choleragenic effects of CT. Thus, 6G can be an effective adjunctive therapy with oral rehydration solution for severe CT-mediated diarrhea.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 819
Author(s):  
Nicolai Rügen ◽  
Timothy P. Jenkins ◽  
Natalie Wielsch ◽  
Heiko Vogel ◽  
Benjamin-Florian Hempel ◽  
...  

Assassin bug venoms are potent and exert diverse biological functions, making them potential biomedical goldmines. Besides feeding functions on arthropods, assassin bugs also use their venom for defense purposes causing localized and systemic reactions in vertebrates. However, assassin bug venoms remain poorly characterized. We collected the venom from the assassin bug Rhynocoris iracundus and investigated its composition and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo. It caused lysis of murine neuroblastoma, hepatoma cells, and healthy murine myoblasts. We demonstrated, for the first time, that assassin bug venom induces neurolysis and suggest that it counteracts paralysis locally via the destruction of neural networks, contributing to tissue digestion. Furthermore, the venom caused paralysis and melanization of Galleria mellonella larvae and pupae, whilst also possessing specific antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, but not Listeria grayi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A combinatorial proteo-transcriptomic approach was performed to identify potential toxins responsible for the observed effects. We identified neurotoxic Ptu1, an inhibitory cystin knot (ICK) toxin homologous to ω-conotoxins from cone snails, cytolytic redulysins homologous to trialysins from hematophagous kissing bugs, and pore-forming hemolysins. Additionally, chitinases and kininogens were found and may be responsible for insecticidal and cytolytic activities. We demonstrate the multifunctionality and complexity of assassin bug venom, which renders its molecular components interesting for potential biomedical applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan Liu ◽  
Shengting Zhang ◽  
Xiaodan Zheng ◽  
Hongmei Li ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
...  

Fusobacterium nucleatum has been employed for the first time to synthesize fluorescent carbon dots which could be applied for the determination of Fe3+ ions in living cells and bioimaging in vitro and in vivo with excellent biocompatibility.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong Chen ◽  
Qiang Chu ◽  
Mengyang Li ◽  
Gaorong Han ◽  
Xiang Li

AbstractElectrodynamic therapy (EDT) has recently emerged as a potential external field responsive approach for tumor treatment. While it presents a number of clear superiorities, EDT inherits the intrinsic challenges of current reactive oxygen species (ROS) based therapeutic treatments owing to the complex tumor microenvironment, including glutathione (GSH) overexpression, acidity and others. Herein for the first time, iron oxide nanoparticles are decorated using platinum nanocrystals (Fe3O4@Pt NPs) to integrate the current EDT with chemodynamic phenomenon and GSH depletion. Fe3O4@Pt NPs can effectively induce ROS generation based on the catalytic reaction on the surface of Pt nanoparticles triggered by electric field (E), and meanwhile it may catalyze intracellular H2O2 into ROS via Fenton reaction. In addition, Fe3+ ions released from Fe3O4@Pt NPs under the acidic condition in tumor cells consume GSH in a rapid fashion, inhibiting ROS clearance to enhance its antitumor efficacy. As a result, considerable in vitro and in vivo tumor inhibition phenomena are observed. This study has demonstrated an alternative concept of combinational therapeutic modality with superior efficacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao-Miao Zhao ◽  
Wei-Li Yang ◽  
Fang-Yuan Yang ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Wei-Jin Huang ◽  
...  

AbstractTo discover new drugs to combat COVID-19, an understanding of the molecular basis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is urgently needed. Here, for the first time, we report the crucial role of cathepsin L (CTSL) in patients with COVID-19. The circulating level of CTSL was elevated after SARS-CoV-2 infection and was positively correlated with disease course and severity. Correspondingly, SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection increased CTSL expression in human cells in vitro and human ACE2 transgenic mice in vivo, while CTSL overexpression, in turn, enhanced pseudovirus infection in human cells. CTSL functionally cleaved the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and enhanced virus entry, as evidenced by CTSL overexpression and knockdown in vitro and application of CTSL inhibitor drugs in vivo. Furthermore, amantadine, a licensed anti-influenza drug, significantly inhibited CTSL activity after SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection and prevented infection both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, CTSL is a promising target for new anti-COVID-19 drug development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Weglage ◽  
Friederike Wolters ◽  
Laura Hehr ◽  
Jakob Lichtenberger ◽  
Celina Wulz ◽  
...  

AbstractSchistosomiasis (bilharzia) is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma, with considerable morbidity in parts of the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia, in sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly also in Europe. The WHO describes an increasing global health burden with more than 290 million people threatened by the disease and a potential to spread into regions with temperate climates like Corsica, France. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of S. mansoni infection on colorectal carcinogenic signaling pathways in vivo and in vitro. S. mansoni infection, soluble egg antigens (SEA) and the Interleukin-4-inducing principle from S. mansoni eggs induce Wnt/β-catenin signaling and the protooncogene c-Jun as well as downstream factor Cyclin D1 and markers for DNA-damage, such as Parp1 and γH2a.x in enterocytes. The presence of these characteristic hallmarks of colorectal carcinogenesis was confirmed in colon biopsies from S. mansoni-infected patients demonstrating the clinical relevance of our findings. For the first time it was shown that S. mansoni SEA may be involved in the induction of colorectal carcinoma-associated signaling pathways.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Callizot ◽  
C. Estrella ◽  
S. Burlet ◽  
A. Henriques ◽  
C. Brantis ◽  
...  

AbstractProgranulin (PGRN) is a protein with multiple functions including the regulation of neuroinflammation, neuronal survival, neurite and synapsis growth. Although the mechanisms of action of PGRN are currently unknown, its potential therapeutic application in treating neurodegenerative diseases is huge. Thus, strategies to increase PGRN levels in patients could provide an effective treatment. In the present study, we investigated the effects of AZP2006, a lysotropic molecule now in phase 2a clinical trial in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy patients, for its ability to increase PGRN level and promote neuroprotection. We showed for the first time the in vitro and in vivo neuroprotective effects of AZP2006 in neurons injured with Aβ1–42 and in two different pathological animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and aging. Thus, the chronic treatment with AZP2006 was shown to reduce the loss of central synapses and neurons but also to dramatically decrease the massive neuroinflammation associated with the animal pathology. A deeper investigation showed that the beneficial effects of AZP2006 were associated with PGRN production. Also, AZP2006 binds to PSAP (the cofactor of PGRN) and inhibits TLR9 receptors normally responsible for proinflammation when activated. Altogether, these results showed the high potential of AZP2006 as a new putative treatment for AD and related diseases.


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