<p>Diabetes mellitus is one of the most threatening epidemics of modern times with rapidly increasing incidence. Vanadium and peroxovanadium compounds have been shown to exert insulin–like actions and, in contrast to insulin, are orally applicable. However, problems with side–effects and toxicity remain. The exact mechanism(s) by which these compounds act are not yet fully known. Thus, a better understanding of the aqueous chemistry of vanadates and peroxovanadates in the presence of various (bio)ligands is needed.</p><p>The present thesis summarises six papers dealing mainly with aqueous speciation in different vanadate – and peroxovanadate – ligand systems of biological and medical relevance. Altogether, five ligands have been studied, including important blood constituents (lactate, citrate and phosphate), a potential drug candidate (picolinic acid), and a dipeptide (alanyl serine) to model the interaction of (peroxo)vanadate in the active site of enzymes. Since all five ligands have been studied both with vanadates and peroxovanadates, the number of systems described in the present work is eleven, including the vanadate – citrate – lactate mixed ligand system. The pH–independent formation constants have been determined for 33 ternary vanadate – ligand, 41 quaternary peroxovanadate – ligand and two vanadate – mixed ligand species in addition to the p<i>K</i>_a values of all five ligands. These constants have been used to model physiological conditions, and the biomedical relevance of the different species is discussed.</p><p>The studies have been performed at 25 ºC in the physiological medium of 0.150 M Na(Cl), i.e. the ionic strength of human blood. No buffers have been used, and wide pH–ranges have usually been covered. The applied experimental techniques comprise mostly ⁵¹V NMR and potentiometry, but ³¹P, ¹³C, ¹H and ¹⁴N NMR as well as EPR and ESI–MS have also been used to gain additional information. Multimethod data have been treated by the least–squares program LAKE and modelling has been carried out by the software package WinSGW.</p><p>Whenever possible, solution structures of the species have been proposed. In addition, simple biological tests have been carried out to determine the stability of the formed peroxovanadate complexes in the presence of human catalase. A brief comparison is given of the different vanadate – ligand and peroxovanadate – ligand systems with emphasis on observed trends and general features.</p>

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most threatening epidemics of modern times with rapidly increasing incidence. Vanadium and peroxovanadium compounds have been shown to exert insulin–like actions and, in contrast to insulin, are orally applicable. However, problems with side–effects and toxicity remain. The exact mechanism(s) by which these compounds act are not yet fully known. Thus, a better understanding of the aqueous chemistry of vanadates and peroxovanadates in the presence of various (bio)ligands is needed. The present thesis summarises six papers dealing mainly with aqueous speciation in different vanadate – and peroxovanadate – ligand systems of biological and medical relevance. Altogether, five ligands have been studied, including important blood constituents (lactate, citrate and phosphate), a potential drug candidate (picolinic acid), and a dipeptide (alanyl serine) to model the interaction of (peroxo)vanadate in the active site of enzymes. Since all five ligands have been studied both with vanadates and peroxovanadates, the number of systems described in the present work is eleven, including the vanadate – citrate – lactate mixed ligand system. The pH–independent formation constants have been determined for 33 ternary vanadate – ligand, 41 quaternary peroxovanadate – ligand and two vanadate – mixed ligand species in addition to the pKa values of all five ligands. These constants have been used to model physiological conditions, and the biomedical relevance of the different species is discussed. The studies have been performed at 25 ºC in the physiological medium of 0.150 M Na(Cl), i.e. the ionic strength of human blood. No buffers have been used, and wide pH–ranges have usually been covered. The applied experimental techniques comprise mostly 51V NMR and potentiometry, but 31P, 13C, 1H and 14N NMR as well as EPR and ESI–MS have also been used to gain additional information. Multimethod data have been treated by the least–squares program LAKE and modelling has been carried out by the software package WinSGW. Whenever possible, solution structures of the species have been proposed. In addition, simple biological tests have been carried out to determine the stability of the formed peroxovanadate complexes in the presence of human catalase. A brief comparison is given of the different vanadate – ligand and peroxovanadate – ligand systems with emphasis on observed trends and general features.

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:一般研究(B)(2) 課題番号:07457240 研究代表者:宮田 敏男 研究期間:1995-1996年度

The amphibian species Xenopus laevis, along with mouse and chicken is a very important model system, used widely to dissect the molecular intricacies of various aspects of vertebrate development. Study with Xenopus has clear advantages in terms of various technical considerations including the ease of handling early stage of embryos and due to the remarkable documentation of several early molecular events during development. The concept of inductive interactions between various cell types during early development was first revealed by the studies performed in Xenopus, and among the various factors proposed for mesoderm induction, the members of transforming growth factor-β (TGF- β) superfamily have been considered to be the most probable candidates. About forty different members of the TGF-β superfamily have been cloned and characterized from various organisms. The superfamily members like activins and BMPs have been studied extensively with respect to their functional role during development. While BMPs were assigned as candidates for inducing ventral mesoderm, activins oppose the role of BMPs by inducing dorsal mesoderm. Studies that helped in delineating their roles were performed using three approaches that utilized the ligands, receptors or down stream signaling components (Smads). All the three components were studied with respect to their endogenous expression pattern and effects of ectopic expressions of the wild type or dominant negative mutants. These approaches led to the accumulation of evidences supporting the importance of these signaling molecules. All the above mentioned studies were only possible due to the cloning and characterization of cDNAs of the various proteins involved in the signaling pathway including the ligands. TGF-β2 and 5 are the two isoforms of TGF-β cloned from the amphibian system. We have earlier cloned and characterized the promoter for TGF-β5 gene, which suggested possible regulation of this factor by tissue specific transcription factors. Messenger RNA in situ hybridization analysis to study the TGF-β5-expression pattern during Xenopus development, showed spatial and temporal expression pattern. The expression was confined to specific regions that include notochord, somites, and tail bud among others, in the various stages analyzed. This suggested a possible role for TGF-β5 in organogenesis during the amphibian development. To better understand the role of TGF-β in Xenopus development, studies to examine the specific receptor expression pattern for this growth factor is very essential. With the lack of any reports on cloning of TGF-β receptors from this system, the aim of the present study was to isolate and characterize the receptors for TGF-β from Xenopus laevis. PCR cloning using degenerate primers based on the conserved kinase domains of this class of receptors, coupled to library screenings enabled the identification of two novel receptor cDNAs of the TGF-β receptor superfamily. Characterization of the isolated cDNAs suggested that one of them codes for a type II receptor for TGF-β. Further the cDNAs were found to be ubiquitously expressed during development, as judged by RT-PCR analysis. The cloned cDNAs can now be employed as tools, to study the expression pattern by means of mRNA in situ hybridization, on the various developmental stage embryos and to perform studies using antisense and dominant negative mRNA injection experiments in vivo. Such studies will greatly assist in delineating the role of TGF-β ligands and receptors during amphibian development.

Suite au projet de séquençage du génome d’Arabidopsis thaliana, plus de 400 récepteurs de types serine/thréonine kinases (Protein Receptor Kinase ou PRK) ont été prédits. Par contre, seulement sept paires de récepteurs/ligands ont été caractérisées jusqu’à présent par des techniques de biochimie et d’analyse, de mutants. Parmi ceux-ci figurent les PRK : BRI1, CLV1, SRK, SR160, Haesa-IDA et PEPR1 qui jouent un rôle important dans le développement, l’auto-incompatibilité sporophytique et les mécanismes de défense. Le but de mon projet de maîtrise était de développer un bioessai à haut débit qui permettra la découverte de ligands peptidiques. Le bioessai utilisera des PRK chimériques composés du domaine extracellulaire (l’ectodomaine) de la PRK à l’étude fusionnée au domaine intracellulaire d’une PRK qui agira comme rapporteur. Deux stratégies sont présentement développées dans notre laboratoire : la première consiste à fusionner la PRK à l’étude avec le domaine intracellulaire (l’endodomaine) du récepteur tyrosine kinase animal EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor). Suite à l’interaction avec une fraction protéique contenant un ligand correspondant à la PRK étudiée, une transphosphorylation de l’endodomaine (le domaine kinase) serait détectable. La seconde stratégie utilise l’endodomaine du récepteur BRI1, un récepteur répondant aux brassinostéroïdes. Suite à l’interaction avec une fraction protéique contenant un ligand correspondant à la PRK étudiée, cette fois-ci nous devrions être en mesure de mesurer l’activation d’un gène rapporteur répondant normalement à une activation par les brassinostéroïdes. / The complete sequence of the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana was achieved in year 2000 and has resulted in the prediction of more than 400 receptor serine/threonine kinase or Plant Receptor Kinase (PRK). Despite this tremendous work, only seven pairs of ligand/receptor have been characterized through conventional techniques such as mutant analysis and biochemical characterization. These receptors have been found to play an important role in plant defense (SP160), development (BRI1, CLV1) and sporophytic autoincompatibility (SRK). The aim of the project was to develop a high throughput bioassay in order to find new ligands for known receptors. In order to do so, the bioassay will use chimeric protein technology, by fusing the ectodomain of a receptor to a known endodomaine. The latter will play the role of a reporter. Two strategies were developed in our laboratory and are being tested. The first strategy is to fuse the ectodomain of an unknown PRK to the phylogeneticaly unrelated kinase domain of the animal Epidermal Grown Factor Receptor (EGFR). When tested with a crude protein extract containing the specific ligand of the unknown PRK, a transphosphorylation should occur and be detected. The second strategy will use the endodomain of BRI1 as a reporter, a receptor responding to the brassinosteroid phytohormone, which will relay the message to a second construct used as a reporter gene once the ligand has bound the PRK ectodomain fused to the BRI1 endodomain.

Bacillus subtilis is the model organism for low GC Gram-positive bacteria and is of great biotechnological interest. Protein phosphorylation is an important regulatory mechanism in bacteria and it has not been extensively studied yet. Recent site-specific phosphoproteomic studies identified a large number of novel serine/threonine phosphorylation sites in B. subtilis, including a) two transition phase global gene regulators DegS and AbrB and b) RecA, that plays a major role in double-strand break repair and DNA recombination. .B. subtilis disposes of several putative Ser/Thr kinases like PrkA, YbdM, YabT and a characterizd kinase PrkC, but very few physiological substrates for these have been defined so far. In vitro phosphorylation assays were used to identify which of these kinases were able to phosphorylate DegS, RecA and AbrB. DegS phosphorylation on serine 76 by the kinase YbdM influenced its activity towards DegU both in vitro and in vivo, and expression of DegS S76D( on replacing serine to aspartate) in B. subtilis perturbed cellular processes regulated by the DegS/DegU two component system. This suggests a link between DegS phosphorylation at serine 76 and the level of DegU phosphorylation, establishing this post-translational modification as an additional trigger for this two-component system. At the onset of sporulation, B. subtilis expresses an unusual serine/threonine kinase YabT, which exhibits a septal localization and is activated by non-sequence-specific DNA binding. Activated YabT phosphorylates RecA at the residue serine 2, which in turn promotes the formation of RecA foci at the onset of spore development. On the other hand, non-phosphorylatable RecA or inactivated YabT lead to reduced spore formation in the presence of DNA lesions . This suggests a functional similarity between B. subtilis developmental stage dependent RecA phosphorylation and its eukaryal homologous Rad51 phosphorylation, which leads to its recruitment to the lesion sites. We therefore proposed that RecA phosphorylation serves as an additional signal mechanism that promotes focus formation during spore development. AbrB is phosphorylated by YabT, YbdM and PrkC in vitro and AbrB phosphorylation leads to reduced affinity for its target DNA and abolished binding cooperativity in vitro and in vivo. Expression of the phosphomimetic AbrB-S86D or of the non-phosphorylatable AbrB-S86A mutant protein in B. subtilis disturbed some stationary phase phenomena such as exoprotease production, competence and the onset of sporulation, probably by deregulation of AbrB-target genes and operons. We therefore, proposed that AbrB phosphorylation as an additional regulatory mechanism needed to switch off this ambiactive gene regulator during the transition phase.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Biophysics & Genetics, Program in Molecular Biology) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-98). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2008. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Inhibitors of proteases in tick saliva play an important role during tick feeding. Tick saliva contains a wide range of bioactive components which are able to modulate host imunity. Therefore, ticks are able to feed for a long time and transfer tick-borne diseases pathogens. The risk of transfer can be significantly reduced by deactivation of theese protease inhibitors. In this study I made monoclonal antibodies for detection and quantification of two serine protease inhibitors in tick saliva and other tick-body parts.

A asma ocupacional é a forma mais comum de doença pulmonar relacionada ao trabalho e vários dos casos reportados estão correlacionados à exposição de proteases. A serino protease subtilisina foi bastante utilizada na década de 60 e foi a principal responsável pela alta incidência de asma na indústria de detergente. Este projeto visou a desenvolver um modelo murino de inflamação alérgica pulmonar à subtilisina e caracterizar os mecanismos principais envolvidos nessa resposta. A sensibilização e desafio com subtilisina induziu doença alérgica pulmonar, verificada pela eosinofilia às vias aéreas, produção de muco, IgE total, hiper reatividade brônquica e produção de citocinas tipo II no pulmão. Estas respostas foram dependentes da atividade enzimática da subtilisina, PAR-2, receptor de IL-33 ST2, IL-1R e da sinalização via MyD88. Em conjunto, nossos resultados estabelecem um novo modelo experimental de asma ocupacional induzida por subtilisina e fornece os principais mecanismos moleculares responsáveis pela inflamação alérgica. / Occupational asthma is the most common form of pulmonary disease related to work. Most of occupational asthma cases reported are strictly correlated with proteases exposure. Serine protease subtilisin was widely used in the detergent industry during the 60s, which resulted in increased incidence of occupational asthma. We aimed to develop and characterize a murine model of occupational asthma using subtilisin as allergen. Briefly, sensitization and challenge with subtilisin triggered lung allergic inflammation, as accessed by eosinophilic influx to the airways, mucus production, and increased levels of type II cytokines. Subtilisin induced total IgE and airway hyperactivity. Allergic responses to subtilisin were dependent on its serine protease activity, protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2, IL-33 receptor ST2, IL-1R, and Myd88 signaling. Together, these data establish a new murine model of occupational asthma induced by subtilisin and provide the main molecular mechanisms responsible for allergic inflammation.