Topologie und Regulation der Manduca sexta V-ATPase Die V-ATPase im Mitteldarm der Tabakschwärmerraupen von Manduca sexta besteht aus zwölf Untereinheiten, von denen vier den membranständigen Vo- und acht den cytosolischen V1-Komplex bilden. Das Enzym energetisiert unter ATP-Verbrauch eine Protonentranslokation über die Gobletzellapikalmembran, wobei eine Potentialdifferenz von etwa 250 mV aufgebaut wird. Durch diese Spannung wird ein elektrogener K+/2H+-Antiport getrieben und indirekt ein K+/Aminosäure-Symport, wodurch die Nährstoffversorgung der Raupen gesichert wird. Da die V-ATPase sehr viel ATP verbraucht, erscheint es ökonomisch, diese in Hungerperioden durch die Dissoziation des Enzyms in den cytosolische V1- und den Vo-Komplex, abzuschalten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde untersucht, ob auch die Biosynthese der V-ATPase Untereinheiten in Hungerperioden reduziert wird und was eventuellen Änderungen von Transkriptionsraten zugrunde liegt. Mit Ausnahme der Untereinheit D waren die Transkriptmengen aller V-ATPase Untereinheiten in Hungerperioden erniedrigt. Am stärksten betraf dies die Untereinheit G, was auch für den Anstieg der Transkriptmengen nach erneuter Futterzufuhr galt. Da Hungerperioden auch in der Entwicklung von Raupen während der Häutungen vorkommen, wurde exemplarisch die Biosynthese von drei, die verschiedenen Bereiche der V-ATPase (V1-Kopf: Untereinheit B, V1-Stiel: Untereinheit G, Vo-Komplex: Untereinheit d) repräsentierenden Untereinheiten, untersucht. In allen drei Fällen konnte eine Reduktion der Transkriptmengen in der Mitte der Häutungsphase festgestellt werden, welche zu ihrem Ende hin wieder aufgehoben wurde. Der Abfall und Anstieg der mRNA-Mengen korrelierte mit den Titern der beiden Häutungshormone der Insekten: negativ mit dem Titer des Ecdysons und positiv mit dem des Juvenilhormons. Die Injektion von 20-Hydroxyecdyson in fressende Raupen hatte die Reduktion der Transkriptmengen zur Folge, während Juvenilhormon III fast keinen Einfluss ausübte. Darüberhinaus war zu beobachten, dass sich nach Injektion von 20-Hydroxyecdyson die V1-Komplexe von den apikalen Gobletzellmembranen ablösten. Um auch den Einfluss der Häutungshormone auf die Promotoraktivität zu untersuchen, und dadurch auf Unterschiede in der RNA-Stabilität zu schließen, wurden ca. 1 kb lange 5`-Bereiche stromaufwärts vom Startcodon der drei verwendeten Gene mvB, mvG und mvd in Reportergenassays getestet. Hierbei wurde als Reportergen eine Luciferase verwendet, die unter der Kontrolle der jeweiligen 5`-Region der V-ATPase Untereinheit stand. Nach Transfektion von Sf21-Zellen konnte wie auch in den vorangegangenen Experimenten gezeigt werden, dass 20-Hydroxyecdyson die Promotoraktivität aller drei V-ATPase-Gene nach einem kurzzeitigen Anstieg bei den Genen mvB und mvG über einen längeren Zeitraum negativ beeinflusst und nach 48 h zu einer Reduktion auf 30-50% gegenüber der Kontrolle führt.Im Gegensatz dazu führte die Anwesenheit von Juvenilhormon III zur Aktivitätssteigerung von mvG um den Faktor 3, während die Aktivität der anderen 5`-Bereiche nicht signifikant verändert wurde.Zusammen mit den Daten der Transkriptmengen unter Juvenilhormon III Einfluss könnte dies der erste Hinweis auf eine reduzierte Stabilität der mRNA der Untereinheit G sein. Des Weiteren wurde in der vorliegenden Arbeit die Nukleotidsequenz der bei der Insekten V-ATPase lange Zeit nicht nachweisbaren Untereinheit a des Vo-Komplexes aufgeklärt. Neben einer ubiquitär vorkommenden Isoform konnte auch eine Teilsequenz einer Malpighigefäß spezifischen Isoform nachgewiesen werden. Antikörper gegen den in dieser Arbeit exprimierten cytoplasmatischen N-Terminus wurden eingesetzt, um die Untereinheit in der Immunhistochemie sowie in den gebildeten Komplexen der Vernetzungsexperimente nachzuweisen. Die durch Kupfer(II)-chlorid induzierte Vernetzung von Cysteinresten der Untereinheiten des V1Vo-Holoenzyms führte zu der Identifizierung von drei Banden, wobei diese wahrscheinlich aus verschiedenen Subkomplexen der Untereinheiten a, A, B, C, E und G aufgebaut waren. Durch diese Ergebnisse und den Daten aus dem Verdau des V1Vo-Holoenzyms mit Trypsin konnte ein neues Modell der V-ATPase erstellt werden, dass sich erheblich von den bisherigen Modellen unterscheidet, insbesondere in der Lokalisation der Untereinheiten des Stators.

Properties of the nucleotide binding site of the Ca²⁺-ATPase of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum have been investigated. The study centred around interaction of the high affinity ATP analog, 2'-3'-0-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)adenosine 5'-triphosphate, (TNP-ATP), with the Ca²⁺-ATPase. Defined fractions of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), corresponding to the terminal cisternae (TC) and light SR (LSR), were isolated. The TC were shown to have distinctive morphological characteristics that differ from the LSR. The TC vesicles contained electron dense intravesicular material representative of Ca²⁺ binding proteins, and visible membranous "feet" structures, which are reported to interconnect with the transverse tubule. Functional characterisation of the isolated fractions provided evidence for the predominant localisation of Ca²⁺ release channels in TC, and concentration of Ca²⁺-ATPase molecules in LSR. These conclusions were based on the following observations: (a) decreased Ca²⁺ transport of TC versus LSR; ruthenium red, a Ca²⁺ channel blocker, enhanced Ca²⁺ transport and pumping efficiency in TC, (b) higher Ca²⁺-ATPase activity for LSR in the presence and absence of ionophore, (c) rapid Ca²⁺ efflux from TC which is inhibited by ruthenium red. Of special interest was the characterisation of the TC and LSR with respect to turnover-dependent TNP-ATP fluorescence. Fluorescence observed for TC was approximately 65% of that for LSR. This phenomenon may be attributable to either the decreased Ca²⁺ ATPase content of the TC vesicles or open Ca²⁺ release channels. Hence the TNP-ATP fluorescence characteristics appear to reflect the morphological and functional subspecialisation of the defined SR fractions.

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No description available.

Na+,K+-ATPase (NKA) is a membrane protein which assists in maintaining the electrochemical potential across the cell membrane. It has been suggested that the oligomerization of NKA may play a role in intracellular regulation of NKA activity. Monte Carlo simulations of NKA on a picket-fence membrane model were performed to examine if clustering has an effect on NKA efficiency. The results show that for a simple model of NKA interaction, oligomerization may drastically reduce the efficiency as measured in ATP turnover rate. Introducing a rate limit shows a clear separation between monomers and higher levels of oligomerization.

Symmetric cell division in gram-negative bacteria is essential for generating two equal-sized daughter cells, each containing cellular material crucial for growth and future replication. The Min system, comprised of proteins MinC, MinD and MinE, is particularly important for this process since its deletion leads to minicells incapable of further replication. This thesis focuses on the interactions involving MinE that are important for allowing cell division at the mid-cell and for directing the dynamic localization of MinD that is observed in vivo. Previous experiments have shown that the MinE protein contains an N-terminal region that is required to stimulate MinD-catalyzed ATP hydrolysis in the Min protein interaction cycle. However, MinD-binding residues in MinE identified by in vitro MinD ATPase assays were subsequently found to be buried in the hydrophobic dimeric interface in the MinE structure, raising the possibility that these residues are not directly involved in the interaction. To address this issue, the ability of N-terminal MinE peptides to stimulate MinD activity was studied to determine the role of these residues in MinD activation. Our results implied that MinE likely undergoes a change in conformation or oligomerization state before binding MinD. In addition we performed circular dichroism spectroscopy of MinE. The data suggest that direct interactions between MinE and the lipid membrane can lead to conformational changes in MinE. Using NMR spectroscopy in an attempt to observe this structure change, different membrane-mimetic environments were tested. However the results strongly suggest that structural studies on the membrane-bound state of MinE will pose significant challenges. Taken together, the results in this thesis open the door for further exploration of the interactions involving MinE in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamic localization patterns formed by these proteins in vivo.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae teve seu seqüenciamento genômico finalizado em 1996, sendo composto de cerca de 6600 ORF\'s ( \"open reading frames\", quadros abertos de leitura) das quais aproximadamente 20% estão anotadas como não caracterizadas e de função molecular desconhecida. Com o objetivo de caracterizar algumas dessas ORF\'s relacionadas aos processos antioxidantes, escolhemos a proteína Yjl077cp. Através de nossos experimentos foi possível relacionar a proteína Yjl077cp com a resposta antioxidante, pois a linhagem mutante para o gene YJL077C apresentou letalidade quando exposta por 24 horas a uma concentração de 3mM de peróxido de hidrogênio (H2O2) . Testes de tolerância ao cobre, demonstraram que esse metal na concentração de 10mM, adicionado diretamente ao meio de cultura YPD, após um período de 4 horas de incubação afeta a cinética de crescimento, e após 24 horas de incubação, essa concentração é letal para a linhagem mutante. Observamos que a adição de CuSO4, causa modificação de pH do meio de cultura YPD, foram realizados experimentos para que verificássemos o efeito da acidificação do meio de cultura na viabilidade de Δics3, através de experimentos de tolerância em meio YPD ácido (pH 4.0) e com pH corrigido com adição de CuSO4. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, o efeito da letalidade de 10 mM de CuSO4 observado sem correção de pH, não ocorre quando em meio de cultura com o pH corrigido (pH6.0), demonstrando que, a letalidade da linhagem Δics3 é causada pelo acréscimo do metal e a mudança de pH (ácido, pH4.0). Testes de ICP-AES detectaram uma maior absorção intracelular de cobre na linhagem mutante Δics3, em condições de pH 4.0, quando comparada a absorção desse mesmo metal em condições de pH 6.0, demonstrando que grandes quantidades de cobre, estão sendo incorporadas para o meio intracelular, devido a acidificação do meio, sugerindo o envolvimento de Δics3, às ações das VATP-ases. Em conjunto esses resultados demonstram que o gene ICS3 é importante para a manutenção da viabilidade celular de S. cerevisiae crescida em meio de cultura com pH ácido e em condições de altas concentrações de CuSO4. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi entender a relação de ICS3 na resposta antioxidante e sensibilidade ao cobre através de experimentos de tolerância e em meio YPD ácido (pH 4.5) e com pH corrigido após adição de CuSO4. / Saccharomyces cerevisiae had its genome sequencing completed in 1996, consisting of about 6600 ORF\'s (\"open reading frames\" open reading frames) of which approximately 20% are annotated as uncharacterized and unknown molecular function. In order to characterize some of these ORF\'s related to antioxidants processes, we chose Yjl077cp protein . Through our experiments it was possible to relate the Yjl077cp protein with the antioxidant response, because the mutant strain to YJL077C gene showed lethality when exposed for 24 hours at a concentration of 3 mM hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Copper tolerance tests demonstrated that this metal at concentration 10mM added directly to the medium YPD culture after a 4-hour period of incubation affects the growth kinetics, and after 24 hours of incubation, these concentration is lethal to mutant strain. We found that the addition of CuSO4, causes pH modification in the YPD culture medium, experiments were conducted to we check the effect of acidification of the culture medium on the viability of Δics3 through experiments of acid tolerance in YPD medium (pH 4.0) and pH adjusted with addition of CuSO4. According to the results, the effect of mortality of 10 mM CuSO4 observed without pH correction, does not occur when the culture medium with the Ph adjusted (pH6.0), demonstrating that the lethality of the strain Δics3 is caused by adding the metal and the change of pH (acid, pH4.0). ICP-OES tests detected greater intracellular uptake of copper in the mutant strain l1ics3 under conditions of pH 4.0 when compared to absorption of the same metal under conditions of pH 6.0, demonstrating that large amounts of copper, are being incorporated into the intracellular medium due to acidification of the medium, suggesting the involvement of Δics3 to the actions of the VATP-ases. Together, these results demonstrate that ICS3 gene is important for maintaining cell viability of S. cerevisiae grown in culture medium at acidic pH, and under conditions of high concentrations of CuSO4. The objective of this study was to understand the relationship ICS3 in antioxidant response and sensitivity to copper through experiments tolerance and YPD medium acid (pH 4.5) and fixed pH after addition of CuSO4.

O envelhecimento é um processo no qual ocorrem alterações estruturais e funcionais da maioria dos órgãos, que podem levar ao aumento da susceptibilidade a várias doenças associadas à idade. Assim, várias estratégias têm sido investigadas a fim de se reduzir os sintomas relacionados à idade e o exercício físico tem demonstrado efeito neuroprotetor em diferentes modelos experimentais. Nesta tese, investigamos os efeitos do exercício físico moderado sobre a memória e sobre parâmetros bioquímicos no hipocampo e no músculo sóleo de ratos Wistar de 3, 6 e 22 meses de idade. Para isso, foram realizados três experimentos distintos que deram origem aos três capítulos apresentados na tese. No primeiro experimento, estudamos o efeito do exercício físico em ratos de 3 e 22 meses de idade. Neste experimento, o exercício preveniu o déficit de aquisição da memória de referência relacionado à idade. Além disso, preveniu o aumento do estresse oxidativo no hipocampo de ratos envelhecidos e também promoveu o aumento da expressão dos fatores neurotróficos BDNF, NT-3 e IGF-1 no hipocampo destes animais. É importante ressaltar que houve uma correlação positiva entre a redução do estresse oxidativo e a latência para encontrar a plataforma no 5º dia de treino na tarefa de memória de referência, ou seja, a redução do conteúdo de espécies reativas e da lipoperoxidação pelo exercício está correlacionada com a melhora do desempenho de memória dos ratos envelhecidos. No segundo experimento, avaliamos o efeito do exercício físico em ratos de 3, 6 e 22 meses de idade. Corroborando com os resultados apresentados no experimento anterior, foi demonstrado que o exercício físico moderado preveniu os déficits de memória espacial de referência e de trabalho relacionados à idade. O treinamento cognitivo no Water maze aumentou a atividade das enzimas Na+,K+- ATPase e AChE no hipocampo de ratos adultos e envelhecidos. O aumento na atividade da Na+,K+-ATPase foi ainda maior nos ratos envelhecidos submetidos ao exercício físico combinado com o treinamento cognitivo. Além disso, foi observada uma correlação positiva entre a atividade da Na+,K+-ATPase no hipocampo dos ratos envelhecidos exercitados e a latência para encontrar a plataforma no 5º dia de treino na tarefa de memória de referência, ou seja, o aumento da atividade da Na+,K+-ATPase está associado com a melhora do desempenho de memória relacionado ao exercício físico. De acordo com esses dados, também foi observada uma correlação negativa entre a atividade da Na+,K+-ATPase e a diferença (delta) entre a média das latências entre os trials 1 e 4 na tarefa de memória de trabalho, o que demonstra que os ratos envelhecidos exercitados apresentaram um melhor desempenho na tarefa de memória de trabalho associado com o aumento na atividade da Na+,K+-ATPase. No terceiro experimento, investigamos o efeito do exercício físico em ratos de 3 e 22 meses de idade. O exercício aumentou o conteúdo de espécies reativas e a lipoperoxidação no músculo sóleo de ratos jovens. Ratos envelhecidos apresentaram um aumento da lipoperoxidação e uma redução na atividade da enzima catalase. O exercício induziu um aumento dos níveis de espécies reativas, uma redução no conteúdo de sulfidrilas e o aumento de proteínas carboniladas; contudo, promoveu o aumento da atividade das enzimas superóxido dismutase e catalase no sóleo dos ratos envelhecidos. Assim, os resultados do primeiro e do segundo experimento demonstram que o exercício físico preveniu o declínio da memória espacial relacionado à idade e que esse efeito pode ser mediado por fatores que incluem a redução do estresse oxidativo, o aumento da expressão de fatores neurotróficos e o aumento da atividade da enzima Na+,K+-ATPase no hipocampo de ratos envelhecidos. Os resultados do músculo demonstram que o sóleo dos ratos jovens, embora susceptível ao aumento das espécies reativas e lipoperoxidação, não apresentou dano às proteínas, sugerindo que outros mecanismos, como o sistema de defesa antioxidante não enzimático, possam estar atuando para compensar os efeitos do exercício. Além disso, o músculo dos ratos envelhecidos parece ser mais sensível que o dos ratos jovens às alterações do estado oxidativo celular induzidas pelo exercício físico, porque apesar dos animais envelhecidos exercitados apresentarem um aumento na atividade das enzimas antioxidantes, não houve uma redução do dano oxidativo. / Aging is a process in which structural and functional changes occur in most organs and may lead to increased susceptibility to various age-related diseases. Several approaches have been investigated with the aim of reducing age-related symptoms and physical exercise is a therapeutic strategy that has presented neuroprotective action in different experimental models. In this context, some studies show that regular physical exercise is related to the improvement of quality of life and to the prevention of age-related cognitive decline. In the present thesis, we investigated the effect of moderate physical exercise on memory and on biochemical parameters in the hippocampus and soleus muscle in 3, 6 and 22 months-old rats. For that, three different experiments were carried out, which gave rise to the three chapters presented in this thesis. In the first experiment, we studied the effect of physical exercise in 3 and 22 months-old rats. In this experiment, the exercise prevented the age-related acquisition deficit of reference memory. In addition, exercise prevented the increased in oxidative stress and also was able to increase the expression of neurotrophic factors BDNF, NT-3 and IGF-1 in the hippocampus of aged rats. It is important to note that there was a positive correlation between the reduction of oxidative stress and latency to find the platform on the 5th day of training in the reference memory task, i.e., reduction of reactive species levels and lipid peroxidation, might be associated with the exercise-related memory improvement. In the second experiment, we evaluated the effect of physical exercise in 3, 6 and 22 months-old rats. Corroborating with the results presented in the previous experiment, it was demonstrated that moderate physical exercise prevented age-related spatial reference and working memory deficits. It has also been shown that the cognitive training in Water maze increased the activity of the Na+,K+-ATPase and AChE enzymes in the hippocampus of adult and aged rats. The increase in Na+,K+-ATPase activity was even further increased in aged rats that were submitted to physical exercise combined with cognitive training. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between the Na+,K+-ATPase activity in the hippocampus of aged exercised rats and the latency to find the platform on the 5th day of training in the reference memory task, i.e., the increase in Na+,K+-ATPase activity is associated with the exercise-related memory improvement in aged rats. Consistently, a negative correlation between the Na+,K+-ATPase activity and the difference (delta) between the mean latencies of trials 1 and 4 in the working memory task was also found, i.e., the exercised aged rats showed better performance in the working memory task associated with the increase in Na+,K+-ATPase activity. In the third experiment, we investigated the effect of physical exercise in 3 and 22 months-old rats. Exercise increased the reactive species content and lipid peroxidation in soleus muscle of young rats. Aged rats showed an increase in lipid peroxidation and a reduction in the catalase activity. Exercise induced an increase in reactive species levels, a reduction in sulfhydryl content and an increase in carbonyl proteins; however, the exercise was able to increase the superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in the soleus of aged rats. Thus, the results of first and second experiments demonstrate that physical exercise prevents the age-related decline of spatial memory and this effect might be related to the reduction of oxidative stress, increased expression of neurotrophic factors and the increase in the Na+,K+-ATPase activity in the hippocampus of aged rats. The muscle results demonstrate that soleus of young rats, although susceptible to the increased in reactive species and lipid peroxidation, showed no damage to proteins, suggesting that other mechanisms, such as the non-enzymatic antioxidant defense system, may be acting to compensate the effects of exercise. In addition, the muscle of the aged rats seems to be more sensitive than the young rats to changes in the cellular oxidative state induced by exercise, since aged exercised animals showed an increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, but there was no reduction of oxidative damage.