Glial-derived lipoparticles facilitate the transport of cholesterol and lipids between cells within the CNS and have been shown to support neuronal growth and synaptogenesis. Partial deafferentation of the hippocampus by unilateral entorhinal cortex lesioning (uECL) induces well-described cytoarchitectural reorganisation and reactive sprouting in the dentate gyrus (DG). Previous studies have demonstrated a dynamic regulation of cholesterol homeostasis in the hippocampus following deafferentation, and suggest that mechanisms facilitating cholesterol transport are important during reinnervation. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that statins, a family of cholesterol-lowering drugs which inhibit the rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCoA-R), may confer neuroprotection following trauma. / The ATP binding cassette transporters (ABC) A1 and G1 assist the generation of lipoparticles by mediating cholesterol and phospholipid efflux to extracellular apolipoprotein E (APOE), the brain's primary lipoprotein. To examine a role for these transporters in the regulation of cholesterol efflux during synaptic remodelling, and the effects of low-dose pravastatin (a potent HMGCoA-R inhibitor) on such intercellular transport mechanisms, we measured the expression of ABCA1, ABCG1, APOE, apoE(LDL)R and HMGCoA-R in the hippocampus of saline and pravastatin treated mice over time following uECL. It is shown here that ABCA1 and not ABCG1 is up-regulated at the level of mRNA and protein expression, along with APOE, in the hippocampus during active regeneration (14DPL) as determined by histochemical analysis of acetylcholinesterase staining density in the DG. While pravastatin treatment was observed to differentially influence the expression of ABCA1 mRNA and protein over time, no effects on APOE or ABCG1 mRNA expression were observed following uECL. Additionally, HMGCoA-R mRNA expression was significantly down-regulated at 21 DPL in the deafferented hippocampus in pravastatin-treated animals. While the low-dose pravastatin treatment applied here was sufficient to inhibit HMGCoA-R activity in the liver, enzymatic activity was unaffected in the cortex. / These findings suggest that ABCA1 and not ABCG1 may be important in the APOE-mediated cholesterol recycling observed during the active phase of neural reinnervation in response to uECL. In addition, the results presented here suggest that the administration of clinically-relevant statin therapy may be sufficient to influence the regulation of cerebral cholesterol homeostasis following trauma in the adult mouse brain.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online through Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Experimental Medicine. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/12/07). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-113).

Thesis (Ph.D. in Toxicology) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-147).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138).

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2010.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 2006. / Embargoed. Vita. Bibliography: 191-192.

Orientador: Paulo Mazzafera / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Insituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T18:35:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andreazza_NathaliaLuiza_M.pdf: 3988387 bytes, checksum: 14f12a095b5cbb5989b090f57b961f01 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: A pilocarpina é um alcalóide imidazólico, que possui como única fonte natural spécies do gênero Pilocarpus. Este alcalóide é utilizado no tratamento de glaucoma e xerostomia. O elevado custo de folhas de Pilocarpus microphyllus no mercado internacional e conseqüente extrativismo predatório resultaram na sua inclusão na lista de espécies em extinção do IBAMA. Na busca de fontes alternativas do alcalóide conseguiu-se demonstrar que suspensões celulares desta espécie podem ser um modelo para produção e estudo da biossíntese e do transporte de pilocarpina, uma vez que produz os mesmos alcalóides encontrados nas folhas. A extração de pilocarpina a partir do meio de cultura poderá minimizar a quantidade de solventes altamente poluentes utilizados na extração deste alcalóide a partir das células, assim como, reduzir a contaminação por outros constituintes celulares. Neste contexto o presente trabalho teve como objetivo inicial determinar o local e limite de acúmulo intracelular de pilocarpina e verificar se o fornecimento externo de altas doses do alcalóide causaria toxidez às células produtoras e não produtoras de pilocarpina. Em seguida, caracterizar a absorção do alcalóide pelas células submetidas a diferentes valores de pH do meio de cultura e também identificar o mecanismo de transporte do alcalóide nas suspensões procurando definir qual é a proteína de membrana responsável pelo transporte de pilocarpina entre células e meio de cultura através do uso de inibidores de transportadores da família das ATPases e ATP-binding cassete proteins (ABC). Os testes histoquímicos e o ensaio de fracionamento celular, apesar de não conclusivos, indicaram o acúmulo de pilocarpina no vacúolo, ainda que a fração correspondente a essa organela venha misturada com o conteúdo do citoplasma. As informações sobre a localização subcelular em adição aos dados de toxicidade mostraram que pilocarpina apresenta forte citotoxicidade a cultura de plantas que não apresentam sua via de biossíntese. Culturas de P. microphyllus produtoras de pilocarpina apresentaram uma clara tolerância às altas doses do alcalóide (crescimento semelhante ao controle), mesmo que não produzindo o alcalóide em altas quantidades. Isto sugere a existência de um mecanismo de detoxificação espécifico-específico nas células aqui estudadas, que evitam a toxicidade de seus alcalóides (pilocarpina e pilosina) armazenando-os no vacúolo. Nos ensaios de absorção do alcalóide em diferentes valores de pH, observou-se que quanto maior o pH, menor a absorção do alcalóide. Nos ensaios com os inibidores de proteínas transportadoras de membrana verificou-se que as menores taxas de inibição na absorção e liberação provocadas por inibidores específicos de ATPases, a bafilomicina e pelo NH4Cl, não descartam a participação destas proteínas, mas podem indicam uma menor participação, visto que a inibição provocada pela azida sódica, também um inibidor de ATPases, foi muito intensa. Contudo, os resultados de absorção e liberação de pilocarpina mostraram intensa inibição na presença dos inibidores de ABCs o que aponta para um transporte de pilocarpina mediado por esta família de proteínas, tanto para fora como para dentro da célula. Por fim, os ensaios de cinética apontam para uma inibição do tipo competitiva gerada pelos dois inibidores utilizados, sendo que os menores valores da Constante de Inibição (Ki), encontrados para a nifedipina indicam que este composto possue uma ação inibitória mais intensa que o vanadato de sódio. / Abstract: Leaves of species from Pilocarpus genus are the only known source of pilocarpine, an imidazole alkaloid, which has been used for the treatment of glaucoma and xerostomy. Because the leaves of jaborandi are collected from plants living in the wild and the high price of pilocarpine in the international market, jaborandi was included in the endangered species list of IBAMA. Looking for alternative sources of this alkaloid, it has been shown that cell suspension cultures of Pilocarpus microphyllus can be a model to study the production of pilocarpine as well as a model to study its biosynthesis and metabolism, as it produces the same alkaloids that are found in leaves. Previous studies showed that high concentrations of nitrogen and the medium pH resulted in higher production and release of pilocarpine to the medium culture. Therefore, the objective of this study was to define the cell intracellular accumulation of pilocarpine and verify if exogenous by supplied pilocarpine to jaborandi cell suspensions is toxic to the cells. Moreover, the absorption of pilocarpine by cells treated with exogenous by supplied pilocarpine at different medium pH, as well as, the alkaloid transport mechanism through the cell membrane, using inhibitors of the protein families ATPases and ATP-Binding Cassette, were studied. The histochemical tests and the cell fractionation assays showed the accumulation of pilocarpine in the vacuole. This, together with the results of experiments that showed that pilocarpine was not toxic to jaborandi cells, suggests that vacuolar transport may be one of the mechanisms for the detoxification of pilocarpine in this species. In the absorption assays with different medium pH, the higher the pH, the lower absorption of pilocarpine by the cells. Bafilomicin and NH4Cl, which are ATPase inhibitors, were the least effective inhibitors among all the inhibitors tested for absorption and release of pilocarpine. This result does not discard the participation of these proteins in the process but indicate that they are less important, in view of the fact that inhibition by sodium azide which affects both ABC and ATPases, was very effective. The results on absorption and release of pilocarpine by the jaborandi cells showed strong inhibition by specific ABC inhibitors, which indicates an important participation of this protein family in the transport of the alkaloid through the cell membranes. Kinetics assays showed that inhibition was a reversible competitive type in the presence of nifedipine and sodium vanadate. The lowest Inhibition Constant (Ki) was observed for nifepidine. / Mestrado / Mestre em Biologia Vegetal

Lignin is a key component of plant secondary cell walls, providing strength to the plant and allowing water transport. Lignin is a polymer of monolignols that are synthesized in the cell and transported into the cellulose rich cell wall. The primary goal of this thesis is to understand the mechanism(s) of monolignol deposition during xylogenesis. The currently accepted theory is that monolignols are exported by Golgi-mediated vesicle delivery to the secondary cell wall. When this theory was re-examined using cryofixed developing pine, quantitative autoradiography showed that monolignols did not accumulate in Golgi but were rapidly translocated from cytosol to cell wall. This suggests alternative mechanisms, such as membrane transporters, work in monolignol export. ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters were chosen because they transport other secondary metabolites and some ABC transporter encoding genes are highly expressed in lignifying cells. Four candidate ABC transporters were selected in Arabidopsis (ABCB11, ABCB14, ABCB15 from the ABCB/MDR subfamily and ABCG33 from the ABCG/PDR subfamily) and shown to have overlapping, high vasculature expression patterns. Mutants with T-DNA insertions in single ABC transporter genes had no change in lignification of inflorescence stems. However, a reduced polar auxin transport phenotype was detected in mutants of ABCB11, ABCB14 and ABCB15. An additional approach was the use of inhibitors of ABC transporters. A new assay, which was developed to quantify lignification in primary xylem of Arabidopsis roots, demonstrated that ABC inhibitors did not change lignin deposition. Monolignols are exported and polymerized in the polysaccharide matrix of the cell wall, which includes hemicelluloses that may organize monolignols during polymerization. Since diverse lignified cell types are enriched in either G- or S-lignin, I hypothesized that this pattern could reflect different hemicellulose distributions, which was examined using antibody labeling of xylans or mannans in hybrid poplar xylem. While xylans were generally distributed in all secondary cell walls, mannans were enriched in fibers but not in the ray and vessel walls. In summary, during secondary cell wall deposition, monolignols are exported by unknown transporter(s) rather than Golgi vesicles. In developing poplar wood, the monolignols are deposited into diverse hemicellulose domains in different cell types. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Graduate