>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is an interface between the brain parenchyma and the circulating system. This barrier plays a vital role in protecting the CNS by restricting free paracellular diffusion of molecules from the systemic circulation. Methamphetamine (MA) is a highly addictive psychostimulant and has demonstrated neurotoxic properties as well as the ability to compromise the BBB. MA exposure is strongly linked with increased oxidative stress which can result in a decrease in the integrity of the BBB.The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro effects of pure and street MA "tik" on DNA proliferation and cell cycles in mouse brain endothelial (bEnd5) cells. Trypan blue was used to determine effects of MA (0.0001M-1mM) on cell viability and % cell growth. The Cell Titer Glo® luminescent assay and nonradioactive analogue, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) was used to detect ATP and DNA levels, respectively. Cell cycles (propidium iodide incorporation) were analysed using flow cytometry. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxin Rank Sum Test in which P<0.05 was denoted as significant. Results of this study showed that: 1. Viability of bEnd5 cells exposed to all selected concentrations of MA were unaffected when compared to controls (P>0.05). 2. % Cell growth was suppressed by MA exposure at 96hrs in comparison to that of controls (P≤0.03). 3. Cells exposed to MA had significant higher ATP concentrations than control cells at 96hrs (P ≤.0.03) 4. DNA synthesis was markedly suppressed in cells exposed to pure MA and street MA sample 4 (P≤0.03), while was similar and higher in cells exposed to street MA sample 1 (P=0.39), and street MA sample 2 and 3 (P≤0.04), respectively at 96hrs. 5. bEnd5 cell were arrested between 72 and 96hrs at the G1-S phase. In conclusion, this study demonstrated pure and illicit samples of MA obtained from forensic police did not affect the viability of bEnd5 cells, however resulted in the significant suppression of their cell numbers. This growth inhibition may be due to MA-induced cell cycle arrest at the G1-S phase. The study also showed that compounds found in the samples of street MA produced results significantly different to that of pure MA.

No description available.

ABCA1 is a key plasma membrane protein required for the efflux of cellular cholesterol to extracellular acceptors, particularly to apoA-I. This process is essential to maintain cholesterol homeostasis in the body. The detailed molecular mechanisms, however, are still insufficiently understood. Also, the molecular identity of ABCA1, i.e. channel, pump or flippase, remains unknown. In this study we analyzed the extracellular ATP levels in the medium of ABCA1-expressing BHK cells and RAW macrophages and compared them to the medium of relevant non-expressing cells. We found that the extracellular ATP concentrations are significantly elevated when cells express ABCA1. Importantly, a dysfunctional ABCA1 mutant (A937V), when expressed similarly as WT-ABCA1, is unable to raise extracellular ATP concentration. This suggests a causal relationship between functional ABCA1 and elevated extracellular ATP. To explore the physiological role of elevated extracellular ATP, we analyzed ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux under the conditions where extracellular ATP levels were modulated. We found that increasing extracellular ATP within the physiological range, i.e. < μM, promotes cholesterol efflux to apoA-I. On the other hand, removing extracellular ATP, either by adding apyrase to the medium or by expressing a plasma membrane bound ecto-nucleotidase CD39, abolishes cholesterol efflux to apoA-I. Based on these results we conclude that, through direct or indirect mechanisms, ABCA1 functions to raise ATP levels in the medium. This elevated extracellular ATP is required for ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux to apoA-I.

No description available.

Tesis presentada a la Universidad de Chile para optar al grado de Doctor en Bioquímica / La microcina E492 es un antibiótico peptídico de 7,9 kDa producido por Klebsiella pneumoniae RYC492 que mediante la formación de canales iónicos produce la despolarización de la membrana citoplasmática de bacterias gram negativo como E. coli, Salmonella, Citrobacter, Enterobacter y Klebsiella. Mediante estudios de clonamiento y expresión en E. coli se estableció que los determinantes genéticos implicados en la producción de microcina activa están contenidos en un segmento de 13 Kpb ubicado en el cromosoma de Klebsiella pneumoniae RYC492. La microcina E492 es exportada por un sistema de transporte de tipo I constituido por un transportador ABC (MceG), una proteína accesoria (MceH) y una proteína de membrana externa (TolC). El sistema de exportación de microcina E492 y el sistema de exportación de colicina V comparten alrededor de un 90% de similitud entre ellos. Estudios preliminares indicaron que el sistema de exportación de colicina V no reemplaza la función del sistema de exportación de microcina E492, y que la especificidad del transporte estaba relacionada con la presencia del gen mceF. El objetivo central de esta tesis consistió en estudiar los mecanismos de especificidad del sistema I de exportación para lo cual se usará como modelo los exportadores que permiten la secreción de colicina V y microcina E492. Mediante estudios de mutagénesis se determinó que MceF es prescindible en la exportación de microcina E492, y que más bien este producto génico participaría en la regulación de esta bacteriocina. Así, se determinó que MceF regula negativamente la expresión de la inmunidad de la microcina E492 y, posiblemente a través de este mecanismo, la expresión de la microcina E492. Para estudiar los determinantes de la especificidad de la exportación se clonaron los sistemas de exportación de microcina E492 (mceHG) y colicina V (cvaAB). Se determinó que el sistema de exportación de colicina no complementa la exportación de microcina E492. Mediante la construcción de sistemas de exportación híbridos entre las proteínas ABC y accesoria de los sistemas de microcina E492 y colicina V se estableció que el transportador de colicina V (CvaB) no permite la exportación de microcina E492. La construcción de transportadores quimeras entre los dominios del transportador de colicina V y microcina E492 permitió establecer que el dominio ABC del sistema de exportación de colicina V determina la exportación específica de su bacteriocina. Para entender los mecanismos moleculares de los determinantes de especificidad se generaron modelos 3D del transportador de microcina E492. Este modelo ayudó a predecir la importancia del residuo D121 en el procesamiento del péptido líder de la microcina E492, lo cual se comprobó experimentalmente. El modelo de MceG también permitió establecer que las diferencias entre los dominios ABC de los transportadores de microcina E492 y colicina V se localizan en una región específica. El modelo 3D también permitió entender la importancia de los cuatro últimos aminoácidos del transportador en el proceso de exportación, lo cual fue verificado experimentalmente. Esta región interactúa directamente con el nucleótido, elemento indispensable para energizar el sistema. Finalmente, se estudió mediante western blot de extractos celulares totales y extractos extracelulares de mutantes en los dominios peptidasa y ABC, el acoplamiento que existe entre el procesamiento de la bacteriocina y su exportación. Estos estudios indicaron que el procesamiento ocurre concomitante con la exportación y que el dominio ABC es necesario para activar a la peptidasa / Microcin E492 is peptide antibiotic of 7,9 kDa produced by Klebsiella pneumoniae RYC492 that through the formation of ion channels produces depolarization of cytoplasmatic membrane of gram-negative strains such as E. coli, Salmonella, Citrobacter, Enterobacter and Klebsiella. Through the cloning and expression in E. coli has been established that the genetic determinants involved in microcin E492 production are encoded in a 13 Kpb DNA segment from the chromosome of K. pneumoniae RYC492. Microcin E492 is secreted by a type I exporter system. This system is formed by an ABC transporter (MceG), an accessory protein (MceH), and the outer membrane protein TolC. The microcin E492 exporter system has more than 90% of similarity with the colicin V system. Preliminary studies showed that colicin V system is unable to replace the function of microcin E492 exporter, and this specificity was related to the mceF gene. The main goal of this thesis was to study the mechanisms of specificity in type I protein export system using as models colicin V and microcin E492 exporter systems. The use of mutants in MceF allowed to establish that MceF was not necessary to export microcin E492, and that this protein would participate in the regulation of microcin E492 expression. Thus, it was established that microcin E492 immunity is negatively regulated by MceF, and probably through this mechanism the expression of microcin E492 could be controlled. To study the elements that are involved in the specificity of export, the microcin E492 (mceHG) and colicin V (cvaAB) exporter systems were cloned. The colicin V exporter system was unable to complement the export of microcin E492. Through the construction of a hybrid between the accessory and exporter proteins of microcin E492 and colicin V exporter systems it was established that CvaB was unable to export microcin E492. The construction of chimeric proteins between the domains of microcin E492 and colicin V exporters showed that the ABC domain of colicin V exporter confers the specificity in the exportation of this bacteriocin. To understand the molecular mechanism of the specificity, 3D models of microcin E492 exporter were generated. These models helped to determine the importance of D121 residue in the processing of microcin E492 leader peptide. The 3D model of MceG allowed locate the region where the differences between the ABC domain of colicin V and microcin E492 exporters reside. The 3D model also permitted to assess the importance of MceG Cterminal region in the processing and export of microcin E492. This region also interacts directly with the nucleotide, a key step to energize the system. Finally, the coupling between microcin E492 processing and export was analyzed through western blot using intracellular and extracellular extracts of mutants in the ABC or peptidase domains. These studies showed that ABC domain is necessary to activate the peptidase

京都大学 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(医学) / 乙第13401号 / 論医博第2225号 / 新制||医||1051(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 長船 健二, 教授 渡邊 直樹, 教授 江藤 浩之 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Bioquímica área de Especialización en Proteínas Recombinantes y Biotecnología y Memoria para optar al Título de Bioquímico / Las proteínas son los polímeros más complejos sintetizados en la naturaleza, estas deben plegarse y adoptar complicadas estructuras tridimensionales para cumplir su función. Más aún, algunas proteínas requieren enhebrar su cadena principal formando un nudo para llegar a su estructura final. Entender como estos nudos (o topologías anudadas) afectan las propiedades y función de las proteínas ha sido un tema de gran interés en biofísica. Así como una cuerda obtiene una nueva función o comportamiento con un nudo, las proteínas anudadas podrían tener propiedades únicas, muy distintas a su contraparte desanudada. Simulaciones moleculares realizadas con polímeros con similar grado de compactación de las proteínas, indican que si el plegamiento de una proteína fuera un proceso al azar la probabilidad de que estas formen un nudo puede llegar a ser de un 90%. Sin embargo sólo un 0,5% de las estructuras de proteínas conocidas poseen un nudo. En consecuencia, se ha propuesto que las proteínas con topologías anudadas han sido seleccionadas negativamente durante la evolución. La presente tesis tiene como objetivo dilucidar si las topologías anudadas en proteínas dificultan procesos biológicos asociados a la translocación de proteínas. Los procesos de translocación de proteínas son fundamentales para la viabilidad celular, ya que permiten la correcta localización celular de proteínas así como también su degradación selectiva. Experimentos in silico muestran que los nudos podrían obstruir el paso de las proteínas que los contienen obstruyendo su translocación a través de canales o poros estrechos. Para poner a prueba esta hipótesis se utilizó la proteasa ATP dependiente ClpXP de Escherichia coli como un modelo para ensayar la translocación y degradación de proteínas anudadas tipo 31. Esta proteasa se encarga de degradar selectivamente sustratos proteicos, desplegándolos mecánicamente para luego translocarlos a través de su estrecho poro central. Si las topologías anudadas dificultan estos procesos se podría explicar su baja representación en la naturaleza. Se encontró que la proteína anudada MJ0366, de Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, se degrada fácilmente por ClpXP cuando su degradación comienza desde su extremo C-terminal. Sin embargo, cuando se agregó la proteína fluorescente verde (GFP), que normalmente es degradada por ClpXP, al extremo libre de MJ0366 (extremo N-terminal), la proteasa es incapaz de degradar este sustrato multidominio liberando un producto parcialmente degradado. El peso molecular de este producto corresponde a GFP más 48 aminoácidos, este tamaño sugiere que el nudo de MJ0366 se aprieta contra el dominio plegado de GFP, protegiéndola de la degradación. No obstante, cuando se incrementa la distancia entre GFP y MJ0366, mediante la inserción de un polipéptido desplegado, la protección de GFP disminuye dramáticamente. Estos resultados indican la existencia de dos posibles vías para la degradación de sustratos anudados multidominio: i) el nudo se desliza y aprieta contra GFP deteniendo la degradación, o ii) el nudo es translocado por ClpXP cuando este se aprieta antes de llegar GFP. En este último caso ClpXP puede degradación de todo el sustrato. Para estudiar en mayor detalle el mecanismo de degradación de los sustratos multidominio anudados, se realizaron ensayos de degradación in singulo en pinzas ópticas de alta resolución. Esta metodología permitió estudiar los eventos de desplegamiento y translocación separadamente. Resultados preliminares, muestran que el nudo no afecta la estabilidad mecánica de MJ0366, sino que afecta la eficiencia de translocación de MJ0366 y la capacidad de ClpXP para desplegar GFP. Estos resultados son la primera evidencia experimental de que las topologías anudadas pueden detener procesos asociados a la translocación y describen por primera vez, in vitro, la dinámica del movimiento de un nudo en una cadena polipeptídica / Proteins are the most complex polymers synthesized by the nature, they have to fold and adopt intricate three-dimensional structures to fulfill its functions. Even more, some proteins need to thread its main chain and form a knot to achieve its native state. How these knots (or knotted topologies) affect the properties and functions of proteins is a subject of great interest in biophysics. In the same way that a knot can give new functions or behaviors to a rope, knotted proteins could have unique properties, very different from unknotted ones. Molecular simulations have shown that randomly compacted protein polymers have a high probability to form knots. However, only 0.5% of the protein structures in the protein data bank present a knot in their structures, in consequence it has been proposed that knotted topologies have been negatively selected by evolution. The aim of this thesis is to determine if knotted topologies in proteins hinder biological processes associated with protein translocation. Translocation of proteins is a fundamental process for cell viability; it allows the correct localization of proteins in the cell and the control of protein levels through degradation. Molecular dynamics have shown that knots in proteins can obstruct narrow pores during translocation, but there is no experimental evidence yet. To test this hypothesis, we used the ClpXP ATP dependent protease of Escherichia coli to study the translocation of knotted proteins. To degrade its protein substrates, ClpXP needs to mechanically unfold them and translocate their polypeptide chain through its narrow pore. If knotted topologies can obstruct protein degradation, it could explain why there are so few knotted proteins. It was found that ClpXP easily degrade a knotted protein of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, MJ0366, when a degradation tag is added to its C-Terminal end. However, when the green fluorescent protein (GFP), a normally degradable domain, is added to the N-Terminal end of MJ0366, ClpXP is unable to degrade this multidomain substrate releasing a partially degraded product with an intact GFP domain. The molecular weight of this partially degraded product suggests that the knot tightens against the folded domain of GFP, protecting it from degradation. However, when the distance between MJ0366 and GFP increased, by the insertion of an unfolded polypeptide, the degree of protection of GFP decrease dramatically. This results indicates two possible outcomes for multidomain knotted substrate degradation: i) the knot can slide and tighten against GFP, thus stopping degradation, or ii) the knot is translocated through ClpXP pore when the knot tightening occurs before reaching GFP, leading to complete substrate degradation. To study the mechanism of degradation of the knotted multidomain substrates in detail, in singulo degradation assays where performed in high resolution optical tweezers. This approach allowed the characterization of the impact of the knotted topologies in the unfolding and translocation steps. Preliminary results show that the knot does not affect the mechanically stability of MJ0366, but can generate pauses during translocation and even stalls ClpXP for minutes when trying to unfold GFP. These results are the first experimental evidence of knotted topologies impairing a biological process associated with translocation and describe, in vitro, the dynamic of knot movement on a polypeptide chain / Fondecyt 1151274; CONICYT

Disorders of ATP synthase, the key enzyme of mitochondrial energy provision belong to the most severe metabolic diseases presenting mostly as early-onset mitochondrial encephalo-cardio-myopathies. Mutations in four nuclear genes can result in isolated deficiency of ATP synthase, all sharing a similar biochemical phenotype - pronounced decrease in the content of fully assembled and functional ATP synthase complex. The thesis summarises studies on two distinct causes of ATP synthase deficiency. First is TMEM70 protein, a novel ancillary factor of ATP synthase, which represents most frequent determinant of severe inborn deficiency of ATP synthase. TMEM70 is a 21 kDa protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane, facilitating the biogenesis of mitochondrial ATP synthase, possibly through TMEM70 protein region exposed to the mitochondrial matrix, but the proper regulatory mechanism remains to be elucidated. In TMEM70-lacking patient fibroblasts the low content of ATP synthase induces compensatory adaptive upregulation of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes III and IV, interestingly by a posttranscriptional mechanisms. The second type of ATP synthase deficiency studied was mtDNA m.9205delTA mutation affecting maturation of MT-ATP8/MT-ATP6/MT-CO3 mRNA and thus biosynthesis of Atp6 (subunit a) and Cox3...

Extracellular adenosin-5'-triphosphate (ATP) is an important signalling molecule. Cells of eukaryotic tissues release ATP and express responding purinergic receptors. Ionotropic P2X receptors are trimeric ion channels permeable for K+, Na+ and Ca2+ ions. Each subunit consists of two transmembrane domains (TM1 and TM2), an extracellular loop and intracellular N- and C- termini. The transmembrane region is formed by six helical domains. According to the known crystal structure of zfP2X4 receptor, TM1 helixes are oriented peripherally and stabilize TM2 helixes which form the ion gate. However, eletrophysiological studies revealed that TM1 might also participate in channel gating and forming of the ion pore in the open state. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of TM1 in the process of desensitization of rat P2X4 receptor using cystein-scanning mutagenesis. Mutation of two residues (in Asn32 and Tyr42) prolonged desensitization of P2X4 receptor. Moreover, experiments with a partial agonist α,β-methylenadenosin-5'-triphosphate (αβ-meATP) proved that conformation change of TM domains in the process of desensitization is independent on conformation change caused by an agonist binding. Conserved residue Tyr42 is located in the proximity of TM2 of neighbouring subunit. It probably interacts with Met336...

Disorders of ATP synthase, the key enzyme of mitochondrial energy provision belong to the most severe metabolic diseases presenting mostly as early-onset mitochondrial encephalo-cardio-myopathies. Mutations in four nuclear genes can result in isolated deficiency of ATP synthase, all sharing a similar biochemical phenotype - pronounced decrease in the content of fully assembled and functional ATP synthase complex. The thesis summarises studies on two distinct causes of ATP synthase deficiency. First is TMEM70 protein, a novel ancillary factor of ATP synthase, which represents most frequent determinant of severe inborn deficiency of ATP synthase. TMEM70 is a 21 kDa protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane, facilitating the biogenesis of mitochondrial ATP synthase, possibly through TMEM70 protein region exposed to the mitochondrial matrix, but the proper regulatory mechanism remains to be elucidated. In TMEM70-lacking patient fibroblasts the low content of ATP synthase induces compensatory adaptive upregulation of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes III and IV, interestingly by a posttranscriptional mechanisms. The second type of ATP synthase deficiency studied was mtDNA m.9205delTA mutation affecting maturation of MT-ATP8/MT-ATP6/MT-CO3 mRNA and thus biosynthesis of Atp6 (subunit a) and Cox3...