The isolation and antimycobacterial activity of several naphthoquinones from Euclea natalensis were previously reported and initiated this study into the occurrence, chemistry and biological activity of this class of compounds. The structure activity relationship of the isolated naphthoquinones, and commercially available derivatives were also studied. Several plant species were investigated to establish a possible link between their traditional use for chest related symptoms (including tuberculosis infection) and the occurrence of 7-methyljuglone in these plants. The plants were extracted and tested qualitatively with the use of three analytical tools for the presence of 7-methyljuglone or related naphthoquinones. Due to its commercial unavailability, the chemical synthesis of two of these naphthoquinones, 7-methyljuglone and diospyrin, was attempted with varying degrees of success. The Friedel-Crafts acylation method was used to synthesise 7-methyljuglone from m-cresol and maleic anhydride as starting material. The optimisation of the synthesis was also investigated. Through a two-step pathway of epoxidation and steam distillation, diospyrin was successfully synthesised albeit in small quantities. During the attempts to synthesise diospyrin, two other related compounds were also synthesised. These compounds, neodiospyrin and mamegakinone, are structural isomers of diospyrin. The stability of some of the naphthoquinones was tested in various carriers in an attempt to explain the influence this will have on the obtained antituberculosis and toxicity data. The BACTEC vial solution, which is widely used to determine potency against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was analysed with HPLC to determine the stability of these compounds in it. In addition the stability in organic solvents especially DMSO, was also tested as this is the solvent of choice for hydrophobic compounds in almost all bioassays. The antituberculosis activity and/or toxicity of 7-methyljuglone was investigated with three bioassays, to broaden our knowledge on the mechanism of action of naphthoquinones. Vero cells were employed to determine the inhibitory concentration (IC50) of most of the naphthoquinones. Mice experiments were carried out to determine the toxicity of 7-methyljuglone and diospyrin in vivo. In addition the lead compound, 7-methyljuglone, was tested on Musca domestica (house fly) to establish its toxicity on this organism. In order to find the pharmacophore of this class of compounds, a preliminary structure-activity relationship was conducted. During this study the active site in the compounds which confers potency and toxicity was partly established. The mode of action of some of the naphthoquinones was investigated and it was established that the compounds might interfere with the mycobacterial electron transport chain. A fluorinated 7-methyljuglone stops the production of menaquinone which transports electrons from the NADH dehydrogenase complex to the cytochrome bc complex and effectively kills the mycobacterium. / Thesis (PhD (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Plant Science / unrestricted

The cardiac toxicity of doxorubicin (DOX), a potent anticancer anthracycline antibiotic, is believed to be mediated through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cardiomyocytes. This study aims to determine the function of cellular glutathione peroxidase (Gpx1), which is located in both mitochondria and cytosol, in defense against DOX-induced cardiomyopathy using a line of transgenic mice with cardiac overexpression of Gpx1. The Gpx1-overexpressing hearts were markedly more resistant than nontransgenic hearts to DOX-induced acute functional derangements, including impaired contractility and diastolic properties, decreased coronary flow rate, and reduced heart rate. In addition, DOX treatment impairs mitochondrial function of nontransgenic hearts as evident in a decreased rate of NAD-linked State 3 respiration, presumably a result of inactivation of complex I activity. This is associated with increases in the rates of NAD- and FAD-linked State 4 respiration and declines in P/O ratio, suggesting that the electron transfer and oxidative phosphorylation are uncoupled in these mitochondrial samples. These functional deficits of mitochondria could be largely prevented by Gpx1 overexpression. Taken together, these studies provide new evidence to further support the role of ROS, particularly H2O2 and/or fatty acid hydroperoxides, in causing contractile and mitochondrial dysfunction in mouse hearts acutely exposed to DOX.

abstract: This study aims to address the deficiencies of the Marcus model of electron transfer (ET) and then provide modifications to the model. A confirmation of the inverted energy gap law, which is the cleanest verification so far, is presented for donor-acceptor complexes. In addition to the macroscopic properties of the solvent, the physical properties of the solvent are incorporated in the model via the microscopic solvation model. For the molecules studied in this dissertation, the rate constant first increases with cooling, in contrast to the prediction of the Arrhenius law, and then decreases at lower temperatures. Additionally, the polarizability of solute, which was not considered in the original Marcus theory, is included by the Q-model of ET. Through accounting for the polarizability of the reactants, the Q-model offers an important design principle for achieving high performance solar energy conversion materials. By means of the analytical Q-model of ET, it is shown that including molecular polarizability of C60 affects the reorganization energy and the activation barrier of ET reaction. The theory and Electrochemistry of Ferredoxin and Cytochrome c are also investigated. By providing a new formulation for reaction reorganization energy, a long-standing disconnect between the results of atomistic simulations and cyclic voltametery experiments is resolved. The significant role of polarizability of enzymes in reducing the activation energy of ET is discussed. The binding/unbinding of waters to the active site of Ferredoxin leads to non-Gaussian statistics of energy gap and result in a smaller activation energy of ET. Furthermore, the dielectric constant of water at the interface of neutral and charged C60 is studied. The dielectric constant is found to be in the range of 10 to 22 which is remarkably smaller compared to bulk water( 80). Moreover, the interfacial structural crossover and hydration thermodynamic of charged C60 in water is studied. Increasing the charge of the C60 molecule result in a dramatic structural transition in the hydration shell, which lead to increase in the population of dangling O-H bonds at the interface. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Chemistry 2019

La bactérie Salmonella enterica sérovar Typhi est l’agent responsable de la fièvre typhoïde qui cause 20 millions de cas et plus de 200 000 morts annuellement. Elle possède plusieurs facteurs de virulence y compris 14 fimbriae, des structures protéiques que l’on retrouve à la surface de certaines bactéries. Plusieurs facteurs impliqués dans la chaîne de transport d'électrons (CTE) influencent l’expression du fimbriae fim, tel que Ndh, une NADH déshydrogénase (NADH-2), qui accepte et transmet les électrons du complexe I au pool de quinones entre le complexe II et III, et est un facteur majeur de la respiration aérobie chez les bactéries qui régit l'équilibre entrele NADH et NAD, et YqiC, une protéine multifactorielle et un facteur accessoire des ubiquinones, ont été identifiés comme activateur du fimbriae Fim. Notre hypothèse est que la CTE est impliquée dans la régulation du fimbriae fim. Nous voulions déterminer si la CTE régule l’expression du fimbriae fim de façon directe ou indirecte. Pour ce faire, nous avons déterminé le rôle du complexe I ; l’effet du stress oxydatif; et le rôle de l’accepteur final d’électron. Plusieurs mutants ont été créés par échange allélique et l’expression de fim chez ces mutants est quantifiée à l’aide d’un gène rapporteur, soit une fusion du promoteur fim avec le gène rapporteur lacZ. Pour déterminer le rôle du complexe I de la CTE, nous avons testé le mutant NDH-1 et NDH-2, qui s’avère à jouer un rôle important essentiel pour la régulation de fim. Pour évaluer l’effet du stress oxydatif, nous avons testé les mutants OxyR, SodB, la catalase KatG et les 3 peroxydases (Tpx, AhpC et TsaA) qui détoxifient les espèces réactives d’oxygènes (ROS) produites lors de la respiration. L’absence combinée de la catalase KatG et de la peroxydase AhpC empêche totalement l’expression de fim. Le rôle de l’accepteur final d’électron a été évalué par la présence ou absence d’oxygène, avec ou sans ajout de nitrate, nous suggérant un rôle important de YqiC pour la synthèse des transporteurs d’électrons, la génération d’ATP et le maintien du métabolisme bactérien en cas de stress oxydatif. Cette étude a permis d’identifier Ndh (NDH-2) comme une cible thérapeutique potentielle puisqu’elle ne se retrouve pas dans la chaîne d’électron de la mitochondrie chez les mammifères, donc chez les humains. Aussi, cette étude a permis de cibler les gènes détoxifiant essentiels à la régulation de fim, devenant eux aussi des cibles thérapeutiques potentielles. / The bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi is the causative agent of typhoid fever, which causes 20 million cases and more than 200,000 deaths annually. It has several virulence factors including 14 fimbriae, protein structures found on the bacterial surface. Several factors involved in the electron transport chain (ETC) influence expression of the fim fimbriae, such as Ndh, an NADH dehydrogenase (NDH-2), which accepts and transports electrons from complex I to the quinone pool between the complex II and III, and is a major factor in aerobic respiration in bacteria that governs the balance between NADH and NAD, and YqiC, a multifactorial protein and an ubiquinone biosynthesis accessory factor, have been identified as an activator of Fim fimbriae . Our hypothesis is that ETC is involved in the regulation of the fim fimbriae. Our aim was to determine whether ETC regulates the expression of the fim fimbriae directly or indirectly. To do this, we determined the role of complex I; the effect of oxidative stress; and the role of the final electron acceptor. Several mutants were created by allelic exchange and fim expression in these mutants was quantified using a reporter gene, i.e. a fusion of the fim promoter with the lacZ reporter gene. To determine the role of ETC complex I, we tested the NDH-1 and NDH-2 mutants, which appears to play an important role essential for fim regulation. To assess the effect of oxidative stress, we tested mutants of OxyR, SodB, catalase KatG and the 3 peroxidases (Tpx, AhpC and TsaA) which detoxify reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during respiration. When both the catalase KatG and the peroxidase AhpC were mutated, the fim expression was totally turned off. The role of the final electron acceptor was evaluated by the presence or absence of oxygen, with or without addition of nitrate, suggesting an important role of YqiC for electron carrier synthesis, the generation of ATP and the maintain bacterial metabolism in the event of oxidative stress. This study made it possible to identify Ndh (NDH-2) as a potential therapeutic target since it is not found in the electron chain of the mitochondria in mammals, therefore in humans. Also, this study made it possible to target the detoxifying genes essential to fim regulation, also becoming potential therapeutics targets.

Mitochondrial ATP production is achieved using the electron transport chain (ETC), whereby the controlled oxidation of biomolecules is coupled to the activity of ATP synthase. ETC complexes organize into supramolecular structures called supercomplexes (ETC SCs). Protein factors regulating ETC SCs remain largely unknown despite their fundamental implications to mitochondrial respiratory function. Recent knock-out studies have delineated external ETC proteins HIGD1A and HIGD2A as assembly factors of ETC complexes III and IV, and their incorporation into SCs. In order to clarify the primary functions of HIGD1A and HIGD2A, as well as other previously uncharacterized HIG1 protein family members, stable overexpression (OE) models of each HIG1 protein were generated in HEK293t cells to preform comparative studies. We uncover a general dichotomy in the effects observed from HIGD2A vs. HIGD1A/1B/1C OE. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the previously unstudied protein family member HIGD1C is a negative regulator of complex IV SCs. A very limited number of protein factors specifically regulating the I1III2IV1 “respirasome” ETC SC have been identified. We propose a new framework where select complex I accessory subunits regulate respirasome assembly through protein-protein interactions between ETC complexes. Through specific point mutations to one such subunit, we generate a novel cell model with selective disassembly of the respirasome but otherwise functional individual ETC complexes. We demonstrate that respirasome disassembly limits respiration and modifies electron transfer pathways within the ETC. These findings to respirasome assembly and function may represent just a portion of higher order regulation that we are beginning to describe within eukaryotic metabolism.

No description available.

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, still poses a huge global health threat today. During infection, the bacilli are believed to confront with various stresses, including hypoxia. Hypoxia is known to trigger the bacteria to adapt into a nonreplicating dormant state associated with reduced drug susceptibility. In addition to dormancy, mycobacteria, like other bacteria, may switch to sessile biofilm growth that is generally associated with augmented drug and stress tolerance. Bacterial biofilm is physically heterogeneous and may harbor cells displaying distinct metabolic activities. It is therefore likely that some cell populations within an established biofilm are in a nonreplicating dormant state. A better understanding of mycobacterial dormancy establishment and biofilm growth could unveil crucial bacillary survival strategies that will provide insights into a rational design of chemotherapy regimen.The mycobacterial chaperonin 60.1 (Cpn60.1, also known as GroEL1), a probable chaperonin and/or nucleoid associated protein, is necessary for mycobacterial cell wall virulence lipid biosynthesis, which was reported to be enhanced at the early stage of mycobacterial hypoxic adaptation, and for reduced drug susceptibility under aerobic condition. We therefore investigated whether Cpn60.1 was essential for mycobacterial adaptation to hypoxic dormancy using Mycobacterium bovis BCG as the model organism. We found that Cpn60.1, although nonessential for mycobacterial survival, reduced isoniazid (INH) susceptibility under hypoxia. Unexpectedly and interestingly, INH’s bactericidal activity was found to involve electron transport chain perturbation (e.g. enhanced oxygen consumption and increased adenosine triphosphate level) via NADH dehydrogenases, succinate dehydrogenases, cytochrome bc1 and F0F1 ATP synthase. Moreover, respiratory reprogramming to cytochrome bd was observed to protect against INH-induced killing.Intriguingly, we found that Cpn60.1 was required for respiratory and energetic downregulation under excess glycerol as well as in response to drugs (such as Q203 inhibiting cytochrome bc1). Cpn60.1 also played a role in lipidomic adaptation under excess glycerol (e.g. enhanced phthiocerol dimycocerosate and glycerol-based lipids synthesis but repressed trehalose-based lipids synthesis). Defective energetic downregulation in the absence of Cpn60.1 compromised the establishment of the Crabtree effect characterized by respiratory downregulation, glycolytic enhancement and secretion of several metabolites (i.e. pyruvate, succinate, acetate and glutamate). The Crabtree effect was necessary for mycobacterial adaptation to excess glycerol and biofilm growth. Due to a compromised Crabtree effect, a Cpn60.1-deficient Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain, i.e. the Δcpn60.1 strain, suffered from methylglyoxal-induced growth stasis under excess glycerol, leading to the biofilm defect under the standard biofilm medium. Given the essentiality for Cpn60.1 in mycobacterial respiratory adaptation under stresses, it is likely that the enhanced INH susceptibility of the Δcpn60.1 strain under hypoxia was due to a problematic respiratory reprogramming.In summary, Mycobacterium bovis BCG Cpn60.1 is not required for bacillary survival under hypoxic dormancy. However, it participates in various adaptations (e.g. respiratory downregulation) necessary for mycobacterial biofilm growth and for escaping INH’s bactericidal mechanism. / Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques (Pharmacie) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE), more commonly known as the Comet assay, is an uncomplicated, affordable and versatile method for investigating DNA damage and repair. Existing comet–assay based methods were modified and applied in this study in order to examine the effects of different perturbations on the DNA repair capacity of different samples. Mitochondrial functioning has a vast effect on overall cell physiology and does not simply involve the production of energy in the form of ATP that sustains common biological processes, but is also associated with important cellular occurrences such as apoptosis and ROS production. It is suggested that a change in mitochondrial function may lead to extensive ROS production which may negatively affect macromolecules, including proteins involved in DNA repair pathways, and impaired energy formation which in turn may hamper the proper occurrence of energy driven processes. Complex I and ?III knock–down systems established in 143B cells are used to investigate the effect that perturbations of the energy metabolism may have on DNA repair capacity. Metallothioneins (MTs) are known to play an imperative role in trace element homeostasis and detoxification of metals and are effective ROS scavengers. The prooxidant environment that heavy metal imbalance causes may result in mutagenesis and transformation through DNA damage. It is suggested that an imbalance in the metal homeostasis caused by MT knock–out may create an environment favourable for DNA damage formation and at the same time impair DNA repair pathways. Because of the multi–functionality and involvement of metallothioneins in such a wide variety of biological processes, it was considered interesting and essential to extend the investigation on the effect of the absence of metallothioneins on DNA repair. A metallothionein I and ?II knock–out mouse model is employed to determine the effect of MT knock–out on DNA repair capacity. It was clear from the results obtained that transfection of cells, as used to investigate a perturbation in the energy metabolism in 143B cells, has an impairing effect on DRC. It was also confirmed that metallothioneins play an important and diverse role in cell biology since the absence thereof inhibits both BER and NER. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE), more commonly known as the Comet assay, is an uncomplicated, affordable and versatile method for investigating DNA damage and repair. Existing comet–assay based methods were modified and applied in this study in order to examine the effects of different perturbations on the DNA repair capacity of different samples. Mitochondrial functioning has a vast effect on overall cell physiology and does not simply involve the production of energy in the form of ATP that sustains common biological processes, but is also associated with important cellular occurrences such as apoptosis and ROS production. It is suggested that a change in mitochondrial function may lead to extensive ROS production which may negatively affect macromolecules, including proteins involved in DNA repair pathways, and impaired energy formation which in turn may hamper the proper occurrence of energy driven processes. Complex I and ?III knock–down systems established in 143B cells are used to investigate the effect that perturbations of the energy metabolism may have on DNA repair capacity. Metallothioneins (MTs) are known to play an imperative role in trace element homeostasis and detoxification of metals and are effective ROS scavengers. The prooxidant environment that heavy metal imbalance causes may result in mutagenesis and transformation through DNA damage. It is suggested that an imbalance in the metal homeostasis caused by MT knock–out may create an environment favourable for DNA damage formation and at the same time impair DNA repair pathways. Because of the multi–functionality and involvement of metallothioneins in such a wide variety of biological processes, it was considered interesting and essential to extend the investigation on the effect of the absence of metallothioneins on DNA repair. A metallothionein I and ?II knock–out mouse model is employed to determine the effect of MT knock–out on DNA repair capacity. It was clear from the results obtained that transfection of cells, as used to investigate a perturbation in the energy metabolism in 143B cells, has an impairing effect on DRC. It was also confirmed that metallothioneins play an important and diverse role in cell biology since the absence thereof inhibits both BER and NER. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Mitochondria are essential for the viability of mammalian cells and provide a compartment for specific chemical reactions. Cellular respiration -- the main mitochondrial function -- is tightly connected with ROS production: the mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes I and III are the main ROS sources in mammalian cells. It has been reported that complex I and complex III activities are essential for cell cycle, apoptosis and stem cell differentiation (Spitkovsky et al., 2004; Varum et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2011; Ma et al., 2011; Tormos et al., 2012). In our work, we aimed to investigate the role of mitochondrial electron transport chain activity in the regulation of the differentiation potential and to unravel signaling pathways that could participate in this regulation. As a model, we used the P19 pluripotent stem cell line that can be easily differentiated into trophoblasts, expressing intermediate filaments cytokeratin 8/18, and neurons, which express cytoskeleton protein beta-III-tubulin. We first showed that both trophoblast and neural differentiation of P19 cells were accompanied by activation of cellular respiration. The analysis of respiratory chain complexes and supercomplexes, however, showed that undifferentiated P19 cells, as well as their differentiated derivatives did not differ in their respiratory machinery, including functional respirasomes. While undifferentiated cells did not use respiration as the main energy source, cellular respiration was activated during differentiation, indicating that oxidative metabolism was important for efficient differentiation. To investigate the potential role of mitochondrial electron transport chain activity we monitored the influence of a disrupted electron flow on the differentiation of P19 cells. We found that the activity of complex I and complex III influenced the differentiation potential of the pluripotent P19 cell line: the presence of complex I and complex III inhibitors rotenone, antimycin A, or myxothiazol increased the amount of cytokeratin 8/18+ cells during trophoblast differentiation, but almost completely prevented the formation of neuron-like beta-III-tubulin+ cells during neuron differentiation. Moreover, a low oxygen level (1 % O2 vs 21 % O2 in atmosphere) - the final electron acceptor - had the same effect on differentiation. These data suggest that mitochondrial electron transport chain activity contributes to the regulation of differentiation. The presence of complex I and complex III inhibitors, as well as oxygen scarcity, increase ROS production. We suggested that increased ROS level could explain the observed effects. By visualizing mitochondrial superoxide production with a specific dye – MitoSox - we confirmed that rotenone, antimycin A, myxothiazol, as well as low oxygen conditions, increased the superoxide level. These results suggest that the observed changes of the differentiation potential of P19 cells are associated with ROS production. To prove this idea, we differentiated P19 cells in presence of paraquat – a known ROS inducer. In line with our hypothesis paraquat promoted trophoblast differentiation. The received results suggest that the mitochondrial electron transport chain activity regulates differentiation through the ROS level. ROS are secondary messengers that participate in numerous processes including cell proliferation and differentiation. We aimed to predict the signal pathway that connects ROS level in stem cells and their differentiation potential. For this purpose, we performed a microarray analysis and compared the gene expression profiles of cells grown under hypoxia or in the presence of the complex III inhibitor myxothiazol with untreated control cells. The expression analysis revealed p53 as a transcriptional factor that impacts the differentiation potential in treated cells. p53 is a known redox-sensing molecule (Bigarella et al., 2014) that influences the differentiation potential through cell cycle control (Maimets et al., 2008). This observation is in line with our results and suggests that p53 may regulate the differentiation potential of P19 cells. We are planning to investigate the role of p53 signaling in the regulation of cell cycle and differentiation potential of P19 cell line.