Dongwook Choi

Hsp31 of Escherichia coli K-12 is glyoxalase III.

Hsp31 encoded by hchA is known as a heat‐inducible molecular chaperone. Although structure studies revealed that Hsp31 has a putative catalytic triad consisting of Asp‐214, His‐186 and Cys‐185, its enzymatic function, besides weak amino‐peptidase activity, is still unknown. We found that Hsp31 displays glyoxalase activity that catalyses the conversion of methylglyoxal (MG) to d‐lactate without an additional cofactor. The glyoxalase activity was completely abolished in the hchA‐deficient strain, confirming the relationship between the hchA gene and its enzymatic activity in vivo. Hsp31 exhibits Michaelis–Menten kinetics for substrates MG with Km and kcat of 1.43 ± 0.12 mM and 156.9 ± 5.5 min−1 respectively. The highest glyoxalase activity was found at 35–40°C and pH of 6.0–8.0, and the activity was significantly inhibited by Cu2+, Fe3+ and Zn2+. Mutagenesis studies based on our evaluation of conserved catalytic residues revealed that the Cys‐185 and Glu‐77 were essential for catalysis, whereas His‐186 was less crucial for enzymatic function, although it participates in the catalytic process. The stationary‐phase Escherichia coli cells became more susceptible to MG when hchA was deleted, which was complemented by an expression of plasmid‐encoded hchA. Furthermore, an accumulation of intracellular MG was observed in hchA‐deficient strains.

Novel glyoxalases from Arabidopsis thaliana

We examined six Arabidopsis thaliana genes from the DJ‐1/PfpI superfamily for similarity to the recently characterized bacterial and animal glyoxalases. Based on their sequence similarities, the six genes were classified into two sub‐groups consisting of homologs of the human DJ‐1 gene and the PH1704 gene of Pyrococcus horikoshii. Unlike the homologs from other species, all the A. thaliana genes have two tandem domains, which may have been created by gene duplication. The six AtDJ‐1 proteins (a–f) were expressed in Escherichia coli for enzymatic assays with glyoxals. The DJ‐1d protein, which belongs to the PH1704 sub‐group, exhibits the highest activity against methylglyoxal and glyoxal, and Km values of 0.10 and 0.27 mm were measured for these two substrates, respectively, while the corresponding kcat values were 1700 and 2200 min−1, respectively. The DJ‐1a and DJ‐1b glyoxalases exhibited higher specificity towards glyoxal. The other three proteins have either no or extremely low activity for glyoxals. For the DJ‐1d enzyme, the residues, Cys120/313 and Glu19/212 at the active site and His121/314 and Glu94/287 at the oligomeric interface were mutated to alanines. As in other enzymes characterized to date, mutation of either the Cys or the Glu residues of the active site completely abolished enzyme activity, whereas mutation of the interface residues produced a variable decrease in activity. DJ‐1d differs from its animal and bacterial homologs with respect to the configuration of its catalytic residues and the oligomeric property of the enzyme. When the wild‐type DJ‐1d enzyme was expressed in E. coli, the bacteria became resistant to glyoxals.

Ablation of Rassf2 induces bone defects and subsequent haematopoietic anomalies in mice

RASSF2 belongs to the Ras‐association domain family (RASSF) of proteins, which may be involved in the Hippo signalling pathway. However, the role of RASSF2 in vivo is unknown. Here, we show that Rassf2 knockout mice manifest a multisystemic phenotype including haematopoietic anomalies and defects in bone remodelling. Bone marrow (BM) transplantation showed that Rassf2−/− BM cells had a normal haematopoietic reconstitution activity, indicating no intrinsic haematopoietic defects. Notably, in vitro differentiation studies revealed that ablation of Rassf2 suppressed osteoblastogenesis but promoted osteoclastogenesis. Co‐culture experiments showed that an intrinsic defect in osteoblast differentiation from Rassf2−/− osteoblast precursors likely leads to both haematopoiesis and osteoclast defects in Rassf2−/− mice. Moreover, Rassf2 deficiency resulted in hyperactivation of nuclear factor (NF)‐κB during both osteoclast and osteoblast differentiation. RASSF2 associated with IκB kinase (IKK) α and β forms, and suppressed IKK activity. Introduction of either RASSF2 or a dominant‐negative form of IKK into Rassf2−/− osteoclast or osteoblast precursors inhibited NF‐κB hyperactivation and normalized osteoclast and osteoblast differentiation. These observations indicate that RASSF2 regulates osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation by inhibiting NF‐κB signalling.

Mutation analysis of p31 comet gene, a negative regulator of Mad2, in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Failure of mitotic checkpoint machinery leads to the chromosomal missegregation and nuclear endoreduplication, thereby driving the emergence of aneuploidy and tetraploidy population. Although abnormal nuclear ploidy and the resulting impairment of mitotic checkpoint function are typical physiological event leading to human hepatocellular carcinoma, any mutational change of mitotic checkpoint regulators has not yet been discovered. Therefore, we investigated the mutation of p31comet, a recently identified mitotic checkpoint regulator, in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Of 51 human hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and 6 cell lines tested, five samples exhibited nucleotide sequence variations dispersed on four sites within the entire coding sequence. Among these sites with sequence substitutions, three were found to be missense mutation accompanied with amino acid change but one was a silent mutation. Of these sequence substitutions, two were present in both tumor and non-tumor liver tissues, suggesting the possibility of polymorphism. The present findings indicate that p31comet does not have an impact on the formation of aneuploidy and tetraploidy found in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Stereospecific mechanism of DJ-1 glyoxalases inferred from their hemithioacetal-containing crystal structures.

DJ‐1 family proteins have recently been characterized as novel glyoxalases, although their cofactor‐free catalytic mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we obtained crystals of Arabidopsis thaliana DJ‐1d (atDJ‐1d) and Homo sapiens DJ‐1 (hDJ‐1) covalently bound to glyoxylate, an analog of methylglyoxal, forming a hemithioacetal that presumably mimics an intermediate structure in catalysis of methylglyoxal to lactate. The deuteration level of lactate supported the proton transfer mechanism in the enzyme reaction. Differences in the enantiomeric specificity of d/l‐lactacte formation observed for the DJ‐1 superfamily proteins are explained by the presence of a His residue in the active site with essential Cys and Glu residues. The model for the stereospecificity was further evaluated by a molecular modeling simulation with methylglyoxal hemithioacetal superimposed on the glyoxylate hemithioacetal. The mechanism of DJ‐1 glyoxalase provides a basis for understanding the His residue‐based stereospecificity.

Structural alteration of Escherichia coli Hsp31 by thermal unfolding increases chaperone activity.

Escherichia coli Hsp31, encoded by hchA, is a heat-inducible molecular chaperone. We found that Hsp31 undergoes a conformational change via temperature-induced unfolding, generating a high molecular weight (HMW) form with enhanced chaperone activity. Although it has previously been reported that some subunits of the Hsp31 crystal structure show structural heterogeneity with increased hydrophobic surfaces, Hsp31 basically forms a dimer. We found that a C-terminal deletion (CΔ19) of Hsp31 exhibited structurally and functionally similar characteristics to that of the HMW form. Both the CΔ19 and HMW forms achieved a structure with considerably more β-sheets and less α-helices than the native dimeric form, exposing a portion of its hydrophobic surfaces. The structural alterations were determined from its spectral changes in circular dichroism, intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan residues, and fluorescence of bis-ANS binding to a hydrophobic surface. Interestingly, during thermal transition, the dimeric Hsp31 undergoes a conformational change to the HMW species via the CΔ19 structure, as monitored with near-UV CD spectrum, implying that the CΔ19 resembles an intermediate state between the dimer and the HMW form. From these results, we propose that Hsp31 transforms itself into a fully functional chaperone by altering its tertiary and quaternary structures.

Male-like sexual behavior of female mouse lacking fucose mutarotase

BackgroundMutarotases are recently characterized family of enzymes that are involved in the anomeric conversions of monosaccharides. The mammalian fucose mutarotase (FucM) was reported in cultured cells to facilitate fucose utilization and incorporation into protein by glycosylation. However, the role of this enzyme in animal has not been elucidated.ResultsWe generated a mutant mouse specifically lacking the fucose mutarotase (FucM) gene. The FucM knockout mice displayed an abnormal sexual receptivity with a drastic reduction in lordosis score, although the animals were fertile due to a rare and forced intromission by a typical male. We examined the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPv) of the preoptic region in brain and found that the mutant females showed a reduction in tyrosine hydoxylase positive neurons compared to that of a normal female. Furthermore, the mutant females exhibited a masculine behavior, such as mounting to a normal female partner as well as showing a preference to female urine. We found a reduction of fucosylated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in a mutant embryo relative to that of a wild-type embryo.ConclusionsThe observation that FucM-/- female mouse exhibits a phenotypic similarity to a wild-type male in terms of its sexual behavior appears to be due to the neurodevelopmental changes in preoptic area of mutant brain resembling a wild-type male. Since the previous studies indicate that AFP plays a role in titrating estradiol that are required to consolidate sexual preference of female mice, we speculate that the reduced level of AFP in FucM-/- mouse, presumably resulting from the reduced fucosylation, is responsible for the male-like sexual behavior observed in the FucM knock-out mouse.

A Study on Rural Landscape Change by Government`s Development Policy

This study is basic research which aims to compare and analyze changes in rural areas in modern times. The main purpose of this study is to comprehend the characteristics of changes in the Korean rural landscape and to suggest the implications for preservation and maintenance of the rural landscape. To help in understanding the rural landscape systematically, it should be divided into six types: housing landscape, cultivation landscape, green landscape, waterside landscape, streetscape and symbolic and religious landscape. According to this step, the contents and the procedures of changes were analyzed generally. Based on the literature review and field survey, the styles of changes were deduced to be formation, alternation, relocation, damage and restoration on landscape elements. Lastly, it was concluded that complex changes of landscape in rural areas from the government`s development policy have been continued from macroscopic changes like overall structure and system of landscape to microscopic changes like shape, material, size and color of each landscape element. Rural villages which have not had the government`s development policy applied to them may not be appropriate for this study. However, this study has significance in that it can suggest the direction for desirable rural planning. Future studies need to consider landscape change through not only the development policy but also economic, social and cultural factors.

Zinc-mediated Reversible Multimerization of Hsp31 Enhances the Activity of Holding Chaperone

Hsp31 protein, belonging to the DJ-1/ThiJ/PfpI superfamily, increases the survival of Escherichia coli under various stresses. While it was reported as a holding chaperone, Hsp31 was also shown to exhibit the glyoxalase III activity in subsequent study. Here, we describe our finding that Hsp31 undergoes a Zn+2-mediated multimerization (HMWZinc), resulting in an enhanced chaperone activity. Furthermore, it was shown that the formation of HMWZinc is reversible such that the oligomer dissociates into the native dimer by EDTA incubation. We attempted to determine the structural change involving the transition between the native dimer and HMWZinc by adding Ni+2, which is Zn+2-mimetic, producing a potential intermediate structure. An analysis of this intermediate revealed a structure with hydrophobic interior exposed, due to an unfolding of the N-terminal loop and the C-terminal β-to-α region. A treatment with hydrogen peroxide accelerated HMWZinc formation, so that the Hsp31C185E mutant rendered the formation of HMWZinc even at 45 °C. However, the presence of Zn+2 in the catalytic site antagonizes the oxidation of C185, implying a negative role. Our results suggest an unprecedented mechanism of the enhancing chaperone activity by Hsp31, in which the reversible formation of HMWZinc occurs in the presence of heat and Zn+2 ion.