Keizo Inoue

Plasma platelet activating factor-acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH).

The platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) is an enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetyl ester at the sn-2 position of PAF. The family of PAF-AHs consists of two intracellular isoforms (Ib and II), and one secreted isoform (plasma). These PAF-AHs show different biochemical characteristics and molecular structures. Plasma PAF-AH and intracellular isoform, II degrade not only PAF but also oxidatively fragmented phospholipids with potent biological activities. Among these PAF-AHs, plasma PAF-AH has been the target of many clinical studies in inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, sepsis, and vascular diseases, because the plasma PAF-AH activity in the patients with these diseases is altered when compared with normal individuals. Finding a genetic deficiency in the plasma PAF-AH opened the gate in elucidating the protecting role of this enzyme in inflammatory diseases. The most common loss-of-function mutation, V279F, is found in more than 30% of Japanese subjects (4% homozygous, 27% heterozygous). This single nucleotide polymorphism in plasma PAF-AH and the resulting enzymatic deficiency is thought to be a genetic risk factor in various inflammatory diseases in Japanese subjects. Administration of recombinant plasma PAF-AH or transfer of the plasma PAF-AH gene improves pathology in animal models. Therefore, substitution of plasma PAF-AH would be an effective in the treatment of the patients with the inflammatory diseases and a novel clinical approach. In addition, the detection of polymorphisms in the plasma PAF-AH gene and abnormalities in enzyme activity would be beneficial in the diagnosis of the inflammatory diseases.

pH-dependent translocation of α-tocopherol transfer protein (α-TTP) between hepatic cytosol and late endosomes

Background:u2002 α‐Tocopherol transfer protein (α‐TTP), a member of the Sec14 protein family, plays an important role in transporting α‐tocopherol, a major lipid‐soluble anti‐oxidant, in the cytosolic compartment of hepatocytes and is known as a product of the causative gene for familial isolated vitamin E deficiency. It has been shown that the secretion of hepatocyte α‐tocopherol taken up with plasma lipoproteins is facilitated by α‐TTP. To explore the mechanism of α‐TTP mediated α‐tocopherol secretion, we investigated drugs which may affect this secretion.

Very-long-chain fatty acid-containing phospholipids accumulate in fatty acid synthase temperature-sensitive mutant strains of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe fas2/lsd1.

Fission yeast lsd1 strains show aberrant mitosis with a lsd phenotype, large and small daughter nuclei, and a very thick septum, the phenotypic expression being temperature-sensitive. The lsd1(+) gene is the homologue of the budding yeast FAS2 gene encoding the fatty acid synthase alpha-subunit as reported previously (S. Saitoh, K. Takahashi, K. Nabeshima, Y. Yamashita, Y. Nakaseko, A. Hirata, M. Yanagida, J. Cell Biol. 134 (1996) 949--961). In this paper, lsd1 is considered to represent fas2. Here, three fas2 strains were investigated and found to have missense point mutations at different sites in the gene encoding the alpha-subunit of fatty acid synthase. The mutation affected only slightly the enzymatic activities monitored in vitro. Unexpectedly, abnormal phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, both of which contain a very-long-chain fatty acyl residue (1-melissoyl-2-oleolyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-melissoyl-2-oleolyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine), accumulated in fas2 strains in a temperature-sensitive manner. Rescue of the fas2 strains by addition of palmitate to the medium at restrictive temperature was accompanied by disappearance of these abnormal phospholipids. Accumulation of these lipids in membranes may cause alteration of various cellular functions.

Molecular Species of Phospholipids with Very Long Chain Fatty Acids in Skin Fibroblasts of Zellweger Syndrome

The ratio of C26:0/C22:0 fatty acids in patient lipids is widely accepted as a critical clinical criterion of peroxisomal diseases, such as Zellweger syndrome and X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). However, phospholipid molecular species with very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) have not been precisely characterized. In the present study, the structures of such molecules in fibroblasts of Zellweger syndrome and X-ALD were examined using LC–ESI–MS/MS analysis. In fibroblasts from Zellweger patients, a large number of VLCFA-containing molecular species were detected in several phospholipid classes as well as neutral lipids, including triacylglycerol and cholesteryl esters. Among these lipids, phosphatidylcholine showed the most diversity in the structures of VLCFA-containing molecular species. Some VLCFA possessed longer carbon chains and/or larger number of double bonds than C26:0-fatty acid (FA). Similar VLCFA were also found in other phospholipid classes, such as phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine. In addition, VLCFA-containing phospholipid species showed some differences among fibroblasts from Zellweger patients. It appears that phospholipids with VLCFA, with or without double bonds, as well as C26:0-FA might affect cellular functions, thus leading to the pathogenesis of peroxisomal diseases, such as Zellweger syndrome and X-ALD.

Overview of PAF-Degrading Enzymes.

Because the acetyl group of 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PAF) is essential for its biological activity, the degradation of PAF is the most important mechanism that regulates the level of PAF. The enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetyl group at the sn-2 position of PAF was termed PAF-acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH). Subsequent research revealed that the PAF-AH family includes intracellular forms called PAF-AH I and PAF-AH II as well as an extracellular isoform, plasma PAF-AH. PAF-AH I forms a complex consisting of catalytic subunits α1, α2, and β regulatory subunits. PAF-AH I was identified from the brain, and previous studies focused on the role of PAF-AH I in brain development. However, subsequent studies found that PAF-AH I is involved in diverse functions such as spermatogenesis, amyloid-β generation, cancer pathogenesis, and protein trafficking. Another intracellular enzyme, PAF-AH II, has no homology with PAF-AH I, although this enzyme shares sequence similarity to plasma PAF-AH. Because PAF-AH preferentially hydrolyzes oxidatively modulated or truncated phospholipids, it is considered to play a protective role against oxidative stress. Homologs of this enzyme are widely distributed among evolutionarily diverse organisms. For example, studies of Caenorhabditis elegans PAF-AH II demonstrate its contribution to epidermal morphogenesis. Extracellular plasma PAF-AH associates strongly with plasma lipoproteins. Because PAF-AH is mainly associated with LDL particles, it is considered to play an anti-inflammatory role by removing oxidized phospholipids generated in LDLs exposed to oxidative stress. In this overview, we describe the crucial roles of these three PAF-degrading enzymes in cell function and cell pathology.

Expression of Phosphatidylserine-Specific Phospholipase A1 mRNA in Human THP-1-Derived Macrophages

The expression of phosphatidylserine-specific phospholipase A1 (PS-PLA1) is most upregulated in the genes of peripheral blood cells from chronic rejection model rats bearing long-term surviving cardiac allografts. The expression profile of PS-PLA1 in peripheral blood cells responsible for the immune response may indicate a possible biological marker for rejection episodes. In this study, PS-PLA1 mRNA expression was examined in human THP-1-derived macrophages. The effects of several immunosuppressive agents on this expression were also examined in in vitro experiments. A real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed that PS-PLA1 mRNA expression was found in human THP-1-derived macrophages. This expression was enhanced in the cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 ligand. Other TLR ligands (TLR2, 3, 5, 7, and 9) did not show a significant induction of PS-PLA1 mRNA. The time course of the mRNA expression profiles was different between PS-PLA1 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), which showed a maximal expression at 12 and 1 h after LPS stimulation, respectively. Among the observed immunosuppressive agents, corticosteroids, prednisolone, 6α-methylprednisolone, dexamethasone, and beclomethasone inhibited PS-PLA1 expression with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations less than 3.0 nM, while methotrexate, cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, 6-mercaptopurine, and mycophenoic acid showed either a weak or moderate inhibition. These results suggest that the expression of PS-PLA1 mRNA in THP-1-derived macrophages is activated via TLR4 and it is inhibited by corticosteroids, which are used at high dosages to suppress chronic allograft rejection.