Molecular basis of the complex formation between the two calcium-binding proteins S100A8 (MRP8) and S100A9 (MRP14)

2005 ◽  
Vol 386 (5) ◽  
pp. 429-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Leukert ◽  
Clemens Sorg ◽  
Johannes Roth

Abstract S100 proteins form characteristic homo- and/or heterodimers that play a role in calcium-mediated signaling. We characterized the formation of the human S100A8/S100A9 heterodimer using the yeast two-hybrid system. Employing site-directed mutagenesis we found that distinct hydrophobic amino acids of helix I/I′ are located at a crucial site of the S100A8/S100A9 dimer interface, whereas conserved residues within helix IV/IV′ are not important for heterodimerization. Furthermore, amino acids Y16 and F68 prevent homodimerization of human S100A8. These data demonstrate for the first time the functional relevance of distinct hydrophobic amino acids for human S100A8/S100A9 complex formation in vivo.

2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (14) ◽  
pp. 3801-3808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Plé ◽  
Viviana Job ◽  
Andréa Dessen ◽  
Ina Attree

ABSTRACT Type III secretion (T3S) systems allow the export and translocation of bacterial effectors into the host cell cytoplasm. Secretion is accomplished by an 80-nm-long needle-like structure composed, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, of the polymerized form of a 7-kDa protein, PscF. Two proteins, PscG and PscE, stabilize PscF within the bacterial cell before its export and polymerization. In this work we screened the 1,320-Å2 interface between the two chaperones, PscE and PscG, by site-directed mutagenesis and determined hot spot regions that are important for T3S function in vivo and complex formation in vitro. Three amino acids in PscE and five amino acids in PscG, found to be relevant for complex formation, map to the central part of the interacting surface. Stability assays on selected mutants performed both in vitro on purified PscE-PscG complexes and in vivo on P. aeruginosa revealed that PscE is a cochaperone that is essential for the stability of the main chaperone, PscG. Notably, when overexpressed from a bicistronic construct, PscG and PscF compensate for the absence of PscE in cytotoxic P. aeruginosa. These results show that all of the information needed for needle protein stabilization and folding, its presentation to the T3 secreton, and its export is present within the sequence of the PscG chaperone.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Lettow ◽  
Hans-Joachim Schüller

Abstract Under non-inducing conditions (absence of galactose), yeast structural genes of the GAL regulon are repressed by Gal80, preventing interaction of Gal4 bound to UASGAL promoter motifs with general factors of the transcriptional machinery. In this work we show that Gal80 is also able to interact with histone deacetylase-recruiting corepressor proteins Cyc8 and Tup1, indicating an additional mechanism of gene repression. This is supported by our demonstration that a lexA-Gal80 fusion efficiently mediates repression of a reporter gene with an upstream lexA operator sequence. Corepressor interaction and in vivo gene repression could be mapped to a Gal80 minimal domain of 65 amino acids (aa 81-145). Site-directed mutagenesis of selected residues within this domain showed that a cluster of aromatic-hydrophobic amino acids (YLFV, aa 118-121) is important, although not solely responsible, for gene repression. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, Cyc8 and Tup1 were shown to be present at the GAL1 promoter in a wild-type strain but not in a gal80 mig1 mutant under non-inducing (derepressing) growth conditions. Expression of a GAL1-lacZ fusion was elevated in a tup1 mutant (but not in a cyc8 mutant) grown in derepressing medium, indicating that Tup1 may be mainly responsible for this second mechanism of Gal80-dependent gene repression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Lettow ◽  
Rasha Aref ◽  
Hans-Joachim Schüller

AbstractUnder non-inducing conditions (absence of galactose), yeast structural genes of the GAL regulon are repressed by Gal80, preventing interaction of Gal4 bound to UASGAL promoter motifs with general factors of the transcriptional machinery. In this work, we show that Gal80 is also able to interact with histone deacetylase-recruiting corepressor proteins Cyc8 and Tup1, indicating an additional mechanism of gene repression. This is supported by our demonstration that a lexA–Gal80 fusion efficiently mediates repression of a reporter gene with an upstream lexA operator sequence. Corepressor interaction and in vivo gene repression could be mapped to a Gal80 minimal domain of 65 amino acids (aa 81-145). Site-directed mutagenesis of selected residues within this domain showed that a cluster of aromatic-hydrophobic amino acids (YLFV, aa 118-121) is important, although not solely responsible, for gene repression. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, Cyc8 and Tup1 were shown to be present at the GAL1 promoter in a wild-type strain but not in a gal80 mutant strain under non-inducing (derepressing) growth conditions. Expression of a GAL1–lacZ fusion was elevated in a tup1 mutant (but not in a cyc8 mutant) grown in derepressing medium, indicating that Tup1 may be mainly responsible for this second mechanism of Gal80-dependent gene repression.


Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 481
Author(s):  
Gemma G. Martínez-García ◽  
Raúl F. Pérez ◽  
Álvaro F. Fernández ◽  
Sylvere Durand ◽  
Guido Kroemer ◽  
...  

Autophagy is an essential protective mechanism that allows mammalian cells to cope with a variety of stressors and contributes to maintaining cellular and tissue homeostasis. Due to these crucial roles and also to the fact that autophagy malfunction has been described in a wide range of pathologies, an increasing number of in vivo studies involving animal models targeting autophagy genes have been developed. In mammals, total autophagy inactivation is lethal, and constitutive knockout models lacking effectors of this route are not viable, which has hindered so far the analysis of the consequences of a systemic autophagy decline. Here, we take advantage of atg4b−/− mice, an autophagy-deficient model with only partial disruption of the process, to assess the effects of systemic reduction of autophagy on the metabolome. We describe for the first time the metabolic footprint of systemic autophagy decline, showing that impaired autophagy results in highly tissue-dependent alterations that are more accentuated in the skeletal muscle and plasma. These changes, which include changes in the levels of amino-acids, lipids, or nucleosides, sometimes resemble those that are frequently described in conditions like aging, obesity, or cardiac damage. We also discuss different hypotheses on how impaired autophagy may affect the metabolism of several tissues in mammals.


1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiesheng Kang ◽  
John Caprio

Kang, Jiesheng and John Caprio. In vivo response of single olfactory receptor neurons of channel catfish to binary mixtures of amino acids. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 1–8, 1997. For the first time in any vertebrate, in vivo responses of single olfactory receptor neurons to odorant mixtures were studied quantitatively. Extracellular electrophysiological response of 54 single olfactory receptor neurons from 23 channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, to binary mixtures of amino acids and to their components were recorded simultaneously with the electroolfactogram (EOG). For 57% (73 of 128) of the tests, no significant change (N) from spontaneous activity occurred. Responses to the remaining 55 tests of binary mixtures were excitatory (E; 13%) or suppressive (S; 30%). No response type was associated with any specific mixture across the neurons sampled. Eighty-six percent of the responses of catfish olfactory receptor neurons to binary mixtures were classifed similar to at least one of the component responses, a percentage comparable (i.e., 89%) with that observed for single olfactory bulb neurons in the same species to equivalent binary mixtures. The responses of single olfactory receptor neurons to component-similar binary mixtures (i.e., component responses were both E, both S, and both N, respectively) were generally (80% of 59 tests) classified similar to the responses to the components. For E+N and S+N binary mixtures, the N component often (66% of 58 tests) reduced or concealed (i.e., “masked”) the excitatory and suppressive responses, respectively. For the majority (6 of 11 tests) of E+S binary mixtures, null activity resulted. Responses to the remaining five tests were either excitatory ( n = 3) or suppressive ( n = 2).


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery Tuckis ◽  
Sherin Smallwood ◽  
Joyce A. Feller ◽  
Sue A. Moyer

ABSTRACT The Sendai virus P-L polymerase complex binds the NP-encapsidated nucleocapsid (NC) template through a P-NP interaction. To identify P amino acids responsible for binding we performed site-directed mutagenesis on the C-terminal 88 amino acids in the NC binding domain. The mutant P proteins expressed from plasmids were assayed for viral RNA synthesis and for various protein-protein interactions. All the mutants formed P oligomers and bound to L protein. While two mutants, JT3 and JT8, retained all P functions at or near the levels of wild-type (wt) P, three others—JT4, JT6, and JT9—were completely defective for both transcription and genome replication in vitro. Each of the inactive mutants retained significant NC binding but had a different spectrum of other binding interactions and activities, suggesting that the NC binding domain also affects the catalytic function of the polymerase. NC binding was inhibited by combinations of the inactive mutations. The remaining P mutants were active in transcription but defective in various aspects of genome replication. Some P mutants were defective in NP0 binding and abolished the reconstitution of replication from separate P-L and NP0-P complexes. In some of these cases the coexpression of the wt polymerase with the mutant NP0-P complex could rescue the defect in replication, suggesting an interaction between these complexes. For some P mutants replication occurred in vivo, but not in vitro, suggesting that the intact cell is providing an unknown function that cannot be reproduced in extracts of cells. Thus, the C-terminal region of P is complex and possesses multiple functions besides NC binding that can be separated by mutation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 2845-2850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina D. Ciornei ◽  
Thorgerdur Sigurdardóttir ◽  
Artur Schmidtchen ◽  
Mikael Bodelsson

ABSTRACT Antimicrobial peptides have been evaluated in vitro and in vivo as alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Apart from being antimicrobial, the native human cathelicidin-derived peptide LL-37 (amino acids [aa] 104 to 140 of the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide) also binds and neutralizes bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and might therefore have beneficial effects in the treatment of septic shock. However, clinical trials have been hampered by indications of toxic effects of LL-37 on mammalian cells and evidence that its antimicrobial effects are inhibited by serum. For the present study, LL-37 was compared to two less hydrophobic fragments obtained by N-terminal truncation, named 106 (aa 106 to 140) and 110 (aa 110 to 140), and to a previously described more hydrophobic variant, the 18-mer LLKKK, concerning antimicrobial properties, lipopolysaccharide neutralization, toxicity against human erythrocytes and cultured vascular smooth muscle cells, chemotactic activity, and inhibition by serum. LL-37, fragments 106 and 110, and the 18-mer LLKKK inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans in a radial diffusion assay, inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced vascular nitric oxide production, and attracted neutrophil granulocytes similarly. While fragments 106 and 110 caused less hemolysis and DNA fragmentation in cultured cells than did LL-37, the 18-mer LLKKK induced severe hemolysis. The antibacterial effect of fragments 106 and 110 was not affected by serum, while the effect of LL-37 was reduced. We concluded that the removal of N-terminal hydrophobic amino acids from LL-37 decreases its cytotoxicity as well as its inhibition by serum without negatively affecting its antimicrobial or LPS-neutralizing action. Such LL-37-derived peptides may thus be beneficial for the treatment of patients with sepsis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf Marzouk El Tantawi

Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), synthesis is regulated by JNK signaling , by three glucocorticoids isoforms, and by the three interferons isoforms, also depending on avaliablities of LPS & on long fatty acids chains with Arg and proline availabilities For performing and running the mitochondrial oxidative processes for producing fatty-acyl-CoA-synthetase followed by fatty-acyl-CoA-synthase followed by fatty-acyl-CoA-phospholipase productions for linear TLR4 active beta-subunits which will be transformed into TLR4-alpha upon phospholipase effects , which will follow phosphorylation process (alpha-oxidations) for generate Guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase (GTP-Chase) subunits which supposed to contain specific hydrophobic amino acids including Arg, Tyr, leu, proline…. Etc, which is the rate-limiting enzyme for tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) synthesis, which is essential for inducible iNOS from fatty-acyl-CoA-synthase upon the nitric oxidesynthase (NO-S) regulations effects. Proline can accelerate anabolic oxidative processes by OPA1 enzymes and provides site-specific flexibility for collagen synthesis in vivo, and also plays an necessary important roles in TLR4 and TGF-gamma/beta/& alpha synthesis and activities, where the presence of proline in IFN-gamma, in TLR4 genes and in IFN-beta will accelerate oxidative OPA1 anabolic processes and direct the flow of biological processes to proliferations of plasma-membranes , collagen synthesis and blood platelets biosynthesis. Vitamin E & K-dependent protein C are the key components of anticoagulant serine protease, And therefore vit E and vit k are providing specific advantages to TLR4 synthesis and modulated first in vivo as proper fatty-acyl-CoAsynthetase subunits (gamma-subunits) then modified fatty-acyl-CoA-synthase subunits upon synthase effects on gamma-subunits for producing IL-beta upon which will promote linear TLR4 upon both synthase and phospholipase effects for starting proliferation stepes started by catalyzing Arg for producing GTP-Chase and citrulline which the main basis for Erythropoietin productions , for Plasma membrane synthesis… etc. Both IFN-beta and glucocorticoid-beta are designed anti-inflammatory subunits are depending on each others and on the activities of OPA1-synthase enzyme for producing the long fatty acyl-CoA-synthase (Beta-subunit) with specific compositions and sequences from amino acids which can determine their advantages in immunity functions eg their containment of tyr, proline, Arg, gly.. etc, where, Both glucocorticoid-beta and IFN-beta are able to recover each others in their different tissues.


Blood ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (21) ◽  
pp. 4233-4233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Østergaard ◽  
Lene Hansen ◽  
Hermann Pelzer ◽  
Henrik Agersø ◽  
Anette A. Pedersen ◽  
...  

Abstract The short half-life of coagulation factor VIIa (FVIIa) in circulation is the result of elimination through multiple pathways of which inactivation by the plasma inhibitor antithrombin (AT) accounts for as much as 65% of the total clearance in humans. Remarkably, the rate of inhibition in vivo is about 30 times greater than the uncatalyzed rate of inhibition in vitro suggesting the presence of rate enhancing components in vivo (Agersø et al. (2011) J Thromb Haemost, 9:333-338). Prime candidates include endogenous heparin-like glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) potentiating the reactivity of antithrombin, or tissue factor (TF) which upon binding to FVIIa increases its susceptibility to inhibition. In the present study site-directed mutagenesis of FVIIa was undertaken to identify variants with altered AT reactivity in order to explore the relationship between the reactivity of FVIIa with AT in vitro and in vivo as well as the nature of endogenous rate enhancing components. The pharmacokinetic properties of FVIIa variants were determined in Sprague Dawley rats as this model recapitulates the aspects of AT-mediated FVIIa clearance observed in humans and allows for interaction of human FVIIa with endogenous rat TF. Similar to the human situation, inactivation of wild-type FVIIa in rat is evident as an accumulation of circulating FVIIa-AT complexes and a progressive divergence of the pharmacokinetic profiles representing FVIIa clot activity and total FVIIa antigen. Initially, the ability to modulate the in vivo complex formation with AT was investigated using two FVIIa variants exhibiting enhanced (>200%) or reduced (<10%) in vitro reactivity with AT, respectively, regardless of the type of cofactor present. Reflecting the in vitro reactivity, clot activity and antigen PK profiles in rats were found to coincide for the AT resistant variant along with essentially no detectable AT complex formation, whereas exacerbated AT complex formation and clot activity:antigen discrepancy was observed for the variant exhibiting enhanced in vitro reactivity. Interestingly, among the generated FVIIa variants with altered AT reactivity, two subsets were identified that displayed differential in vitro reactivity with AT depending on the type cofactor present. Accordingly, one group exhibited a greater susceptibility to inhibition relative to wild-type FVIIa in the presence of heparin but not in the presence of TF, while the other group demonstrated the opposite behavior. Endowed with the ability to report on the cofactor identity from the rate of inhibition relative to wild-type FVIIa, variants from each group were tested for their tendency to accumulate as complexes with AT following intravenous administration to rats. Supporting a contribution from endogenous GAGs to the in vivo inactivation of FVIIa, the measured in vivo peak levels of accumulated FVIIa-AT complexes were found to directly correlate with the in vitro rate constants determined for the variants in the presence of heparin, but not when the cofactor was TF or the combination of TF and heparin. Altogether, these results 1) demonstrate a direct relationship between the in vitro reactivity of FVIIa with AT in the presence of heparin and the clearance of FVIIa through this pathway in vivo, and 2) identify heparin-like GAGs as the likely rate enhancing component of FVIIa inhibition in vivo. Disclosures Østergaard: Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Hansen:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Pelzer:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Agersø:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Pedersen:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Glue:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Johnsen:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Andersen:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Bjelke:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Breinholt:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Stennicke:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Gandhi:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Olsen:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment. Hermit:Novo Nordisk A/S: Employment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P Bridges ◽  
Caterina Safina ◽  
Bernard Picard ◽  
Kari Brown ◽  
Alyssa Filuta ◽  
...  

The mechanistic details of the tethered agonist mode of activation for adhesion GPCRs has not been completely deciphered. We set out to investigate the physiologic importance of autocatalytic cleavage upstream of the agonistic peptide sequence, an event necessary for NTF displacement and subsequent receptor activation. To examine this hypothesis, we characterized tethered agonist-mediated activation of GPR116 in vitro and in vivo. A knock-in mouse expressing a non-cleavable GPR116 mutant phenocopies the pulmonary phenotype of GPR116 knock-out mice, demonstrating that tethered agonist-mediated receptor activation is indispensable for function in vivo. Using site-directed mutagenesis and species swapping approaches we identified key conserved amino acids for GPR116 activation in the tethered agonist sequence and in extracellular loops 2/3 (ECL2/3). We further highlight residues in transmembrane7 (TM7) that mediate stronger signaling in mouse versus human GPR116 and recapitulate these findings in a model supporting tethered agonist:ECL2 interactions for GPR116 activation.


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