Enzo Gallori

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: inhibition of the tumor-associated isozyme IX with aromatic and heterocyclic sulfonamides

The inhibition of the tumor-associated transmembrane carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) isozyme has been investigated with a series of aromatic and heterocyclic sulfonamides, including the six clinically used derivatives acetazolamide, methazolamide, ethoxzolamide, dichlorophenamide, dorzolamide and brinzolamide. Inhibition data for the physiologically relevant isozymes I and II (cytosolic forms) and IV (membrane-bound) were also provided for comparison. A very interesting and unusual inhibition profile against CA IX with these sulfonamides has been observed. Several nanomolar (K(I)-s in the range of 14-50 nM) CA IX inhibitors have been detected, both among the aromatic (such as orthanilamide, homosulfonilamide, 4-carboxy-benzenesulfonamide, 1-naphthalenesulfonamide and 1,3-benzenedisulfonamide derivatives) as well as the heterocylic (such as 1,3,4-thiadizole-2-sulfonamide, etc.) sulfonamides examined. Because CA IX is a highly active isozyme predominantly expressed in tumor tissues with poor prognosis of disease progression, this finding is very promising for the potential design of CA IX-specific inhibitors with applications as anti-tumor agents.

Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors. Inhibition of Mitochondrial Isozyme V with Aromatic and Heterocyclic Sulfonamides

The first inhibition study of the mitochondrial isozyme carbonic anhydrase (CA) V (of murine origin) with a series of aromatic and heterocyclic sulfonamides is reported. Inhibition data of the cytosolic isozymes CA I and CA II and the membrane-bound isozyme CA IV with these inhibitors are also provided for comparison. Several low nanomolar CA V inhibitors were detected (KI values in the range of 4-15 nM), most of them belonging to the acylated sulfanilamide, ureido-benzenesulfonamide, 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-sulfonamide, and aminobenzolamide type of compounds. The clinically used inhibitors acetazolamide, methazolamide, ethoxzolamide, dorzolamide, brinzolamide, and topiramate on the other hand were less effective CA V inhibitors, showing inhibition constants in the range of 47-63 nM. Some of the investigated sulfonamides, such as the ureido-benzenesulfonamides and the acylated sulfanilamides showed higher affinity for CA V than for the other isozymes, CA II included, which is a remarkable result, since most compounds investigated up to now inhibited the cytosolic isozyme CA II better. These results prompt us to hypothesize that the selective inhibition of CA V, or the dual inhibition of CA II and CA V, may lead to the development of novel pharmacological applications for such sulfonamides, for example in the treatment or prevention of obesity, by inhibiting CA-mediated lipogenetic processes.

Clay-nucleic acid complexes: characteristics and implications for the preservation of genetic material in primeval habitats.

The equilibrium adsorption of three nucleic acids: chromosomal DNA, supercoiled plasmid DNA, and 25S rRNA, on the clay minerals, montmorillonite (M) and kaolinite (K), were studied. Adsorption of the nucleic acid on the clays was rapid and maximal after 90 min of contact time. Chromosomal DNA was adsorbed to a greater extent than plasmid DNA and RNA, and the adsorption was also greater on M than on K. Adsorption isotherms were of the L type, and a plateau was reached with all the complexes, with the exception of chromosomal DNA adsorbed on M. To determine where nucleic acids are adsorbed on clay minerals and the nature of the interaction, complexes were studied by X-ray diffraction (X-RD), electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. X-RD showed that nucleic acids did not penetrate the clay, indicating that the adsorption occurred primarily on the external surfaces of clay particles, as also suggested by electron microscopy observations. FT-IR spectra of clay-tightly bound nucleic acid complexes showed absorption bands that indicate a variation of the nucleic acids status as a consequence of their adsorption on clay. Data obtained suggested that the formation of clay-nucleic acid complex could have an important role in the preservation of genetic material in primeval habitats.

Use of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) for generating specific DNA probes for microorganisms

We report the rapid generation of DNA probes for several Azospirillum strains. This method does not require any knowledge of the genetics and/or the molecular biology of the organism (genome) to be investigated. The procedure is based on the generation of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints using primers with an embedded restriction site. The amplification product(s) peculiar to one strain or common to two or more strains can be purified, cloned, sequenced and used as molecular probes in hybridization experiments for the detection and identification of microorganisms. We have tested this methodology in the nitrogen‐fixing bacterium Azospirillum by amplyfing the total DNA extracted from several Azospirillum strains. We have used amplification bands with different specificity as molecular probes in hybridization experiments performed on amplified DNA. Results obtained have demonstrated the usefulness of this methodology for Azospirillum. Its use in microbial ecology studies as a general strategy to generate specific DNA probes is also discussed.

Effect of molecular characteristics of DNA on its adsorption and binding on homoionic montmorillonite and kaolinite

Abstract. Adsorption or binding of DNA by montmorillonite or kaolinite, homoionic to Ca2+, was not affected by base composition, blunt or cohesive ends. Fitting data to both Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms showed that the amount of lower molecular mass DNA adsorbed and bound by both clay minerals was higher than that of the higher molecular mass DNA. The relevance of phosphate groups for the adsorption of DNA by clay minerals was investigated by adding sodium metaphosphate before and after the addition of DNA to clay minerals: DNA was partially not adsorbed even at low concentrations of sodium metaphosphate. The fact that the observed DNA was partially desorbed by washing with double-distilled H2O indicated that bonds with different degrees of strength were formed between DNA molecules and clay minerals. The higher molecular mass DNA could interact with a larger number of binding sites on the external surface of clay mineral than the lower molecular mass DNA. The number of external surface binding sites was higher on kaolinite than on montmorillonite.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. inhibition of cytosolic isozymes I and II and transmembrane, cancer-associated isozyme IX with anions.

Except for sulfonamides, metal complexing anions represent the second class of inhibitors of the zinc enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1). The first inhibition study of the transmembrane, tumor-associated isozyme CA IX with anions is reported here. Inhibition data of the cytosolic isozymes CA I and CA II with a large number of anionic species such as halides, pseudohalides, bicarbonate, nitrate, hydrosulfide, arsenate, etc., are also provided for comparison. Isozyme IX has an inhibition profile by anions different in some aspects from those of CA I and CA II, that may have interesting physiological consequences.

Isolation and Characterization of Glutamate Synthase Mutants of Azospirillum brasilense

Six mutants of Azospirillum brasilense Sp6 unable to fix nitrogen have been isolated and characterized. Analysis of the enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism has shown that the mutants are deficient in glutamate synthase activity (asm). They also have a low activity of glutamine synthetase and no or very low nitrogenase activity (assayed by acetylene reduction). In addition, the mutants were unable to grow on various sources of combined nitrogen such as nitrate, nitrite, alanine, histidine, adenine and xanthine.

Effects of air-drying and wetting cycles on the transforming ability of DNA bound on clay minerals

Abstract Chromosomal DNA from Bacillus subtilis and plasmid pHV14 bound on montmorillonite (M) and kaolinite (K) homoionic to Ca were subjected to repeated cycles of air-drying and wetting. After each cycle the ability of the bound DNA to transform competent cells was evaluated. Chromosomal DNA bound on clay retained its transforming efficiency after three to four air-drying and wetting cycles, whereas plasmid DNA lost the transforming ability after one to two cycles. This loss was neither due to the desorption of DNA from the complexes nor to the negative effects on DNA bound on clay of the acidic pH, that develops in the water film surrounding the clay surface during the air-drying. The clay—DNA complexes required 6 h of wetting to regain their transforming ability. Free DNA retained its transforming ability for longer than bound DNA and did not require 6 h of wetting to regain its transforming ability. These results indicate that the different behaviour of DNA—clay complexes after air-drying is related to the molecular form of the DNA and to a conformational change in the DNA molecule bound on clay.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: Inhibition of human and murine mitochondrial isozymes V with anions

In addition to sulfonamides, metal complexing anions represent the second class of inhibitors of the zinc enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1). The first inhibition study of the mitochondrial isozyme CA V (of murine and human origin) with anions is reported here. Inhibition data of the cytosolic isozymes CA I and CA II as well as the membrane-bound isozyme CA IV with a large number of anionic species such as halides, pseudohalides, bicarbonate, nitrate, hydrosulfide, arsenate, sulfamate, and sulfamidate and so on, are also provided for comparison. Isozyme V has an inhibition profile by anions completely different to those of CA I and IV, but similar to that of hCA II, which may have interesting physiological consequences. Similarly to hCA II, the mitochondrial isozymes show micro-nanomolar affinity for sulfonamides such as sulfanilamide and acetazolamide.

The Origin of Life: Chemical Evolution of a Metabolic System in a Mineral Honeycomb?

For the RNA-world hypothesis to be ecologically feasible, selection mechanisms acting on replicator communities need to be invoked and the corresponding scenarios of molecular evolution specified. Complementing our previous models of chemical evolution on mineral surfaces, in which selection was the consequence of the limited mobility of macromolecules attached to the surface, here we offer an alternative realization of prebiotic group-level selection: the physical encapsulation of local replicator communities into the pores of the mineral substrate. Based on cellular automaton simulations we argue that the effect of group selection in a mineral honeycomb could have been efficient enough to keep prebiotic ribozymes of different specificities and replication rates coexistent, and their metabolic cooperation protected from extensive molecular parasitism. We suggest that mutants of the mild parasites persistent in the metabolic system can acquire useful functions such as replicase activity or the production of membrane components, thus opening the way for the evolution of the first autonomous protocells on Earth.