Panagiotis Panopoulos

Hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide are mutually dependent in the regulation of angiogenesis and endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a unique gasotransmitter, with regulatory roles in the cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems. Some of the vascular actions of H2S (stimulation of angiogenesis, relaxation of vascular smooth muscle) resemble those of nitric oxide (NO). Although it was generally assumed that H2S and NO exert their effects via separate pathways, the results of the current study show that H2S and NO are mutually required to elicit angiogenesis and vasodilatation. Exposure of endothelial cells to H2S increases intracellular cyclic guanosine 5′-monophosphate (cGMP) in a NO-dependent manner, and activated protein kinase G (PKG) and its downstream effector, the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP). Inhibition of endothelial isoform of NO synthase (eNOS) or PKG-I abolishes the H2S-stimulated angiogenic response, and attenuated H2S-stimulated vasorelaxation, demonstrating the requirement of NO in vascular H2S signaling. Conversely, silencing of the H2S-producing enzyme cystathionine-γ-lyase abolishes NO-stimulated cGMP accumulation and angiogenesis and attenuates the acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation, indicating a partial requirement of H2S in the vascular activity of NO. The actions of H2S and NO converge at cGMP; though H2S does not directly activate soluble guanylyl cyclase, it maintains a tonic inhibitory effect on PDE5, thereby delaying the degradation of cGMP. H2S also activates PI3K/Akt, and increases eNOS phosphorylation at its activating site S1177. The cooperative action of the two gasotransmitters on increasing and maintaining intracellular cGMP is essential for PKG activation and angiogenesis and vasorelaxation. H2S-induced wound healing and microvessel growth in matrigel plugs is suppressed by pharmacological inhibition or genetic ablation of eNOS. Thus, NO and H2S are mutually required for the physiological control of vascular function.

Selectivity of commonly used pharmacological inhibitors for cystathionine β synthase (CBS) and cystathionine γ lyase (CSE)

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a signalling molecule that belongs to the gasotransmitter family. Two major sources for endogenous enzymatic production of H2S are cystathionine β synthase (CBS) and cystathionine γ lyase (CSE). In the present study, we examined the selectivity of commonly used pharmacological inhibitors of H2S biosynthesis towards CSE and CBS.

Hydrogen sulfide-mediated stimulation of mitochondrial electron transport involves inhibition of the mitochondrial phosphodiesterase 2A, elevation of cAMP and activation of protein kinase A

Although hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is generally known as a mitochondrial poison, recent studies show that lower concentrations of H₂S play a physiological role in the stimulation of mitochondrial electron transport and cellular bioenergetics. This effect involves electron donation at Complex II. Other lines of recent studies demonstrated that one of the biological actions of H₂S involves inhibition of cAMP and cGMP phosphodiesterases (PDEs). Given the emerging functional role of the mitochondrial isoform of cAMP PDE (PDE2A) in the regulation of mitochondrial function the current study investigated whether cAMP-dependent mechanisms participate in the stimulatory effect of NaHS on mitochondrial function. In isolated rat liver mitochondria, partial digestion studies localized PDE2A into the mitochondrial matrix. NaHS exerted a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on recombinant PDE2A enzyme in vitro. Moreover, NaHS induced an elevation of cAMP levels when added to isolated mitochondria and stimulated the mitochondrial electron transport. The latter effect was inhibited by Rp-cAMP, an inhibitor of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). The current findings suggest that the direct electron donating effect of NaHS is amplified by an intramitochondrial cAMP system, which may involve the inhibition of PDE2A and subsequent, cAMP-mediated stimulation of PKA.

A Dispensable Yeast Ribosomal Protein Optimizes Peptidyltransferase Activity and Affects Translocation

Yeast ribosomal protein L41 is dispensable in the yeast. Its absence had no effect on polyphenylalanine synthesis activity, and a limited effect on growth, translational accuracy, or the resistance toward the antibiotic paromomycin. Removal of L41 did not affect the 60:40 S ratio, but it reduced the amount of 80 S, suggesting that L41 is involved in ribosomal subunit association. However, the two most important effects of L41 were on peptidyltransferase activity and translocation. Peptidyltransferase activity was measured as a second-order rate constant (k cat/K s ) corresponding to the rate of peptide bond formation; thisk cat/K s was lowered 3-fold to 1.15 min−1 mm −1 in the L41 mutant compared with 3.46 min−1mm −1 in the wild type. Translocation was also affected by L41. Elongation factor 2 (EF2)-dependent (enzymatic) translocation of Ac-Phe-tRNA from the A- to P-site was more efficient in the absence of L41, because 50% translocation was achieved at only 0.004 μm EF2 compared with 0.02 μm for the wild type. Furthermore, the EF2-dependent translocation was inhibited by 50% at 2.5 μm of the translocation inhibitor cycloheximide in the L41 mutant compared with 1.2 μm in the wild type. Finally, the rate of EF2-independent (spontaneous) translocation was increased in the absence of L41.

Antisense Masking Reveals Contributions of mRNA-rRNA Base Pairing to Translation of Gtx and FGF2 mRNAs

We previously showed that a 9-nucleotide sequence from the 5′ leader of the Gtx homeodomain mRNA facilitates translation initiation by base pairing to 18S rRNA. These earlier studies tested the Gtx element in isolation; we now assess the physiological relevance of this element in the context of two natural mRNAs that contain this sequence in their 5′ leaders, Gtx itself and FGF2 (fibroblast growth factor 2). 2′-O-Methyl-modified RNA oligonucleotides were employed to block mRNA-rRNA base pairing by targeting either the Gtx-binding site in 18S rRNA or Gtx elements in recombinant mRNAs containing the Gtx or FGF2 5′ leaders linked to a reporter cistron. Studies in cell-free lysates and transfected COS-7 cells showed that translation of mRNAs containing the Gtx or FGF2 5′ leaders was decreased by >50% when oligonucleotides targeting either the rRNA or mRNA were used. Specificity was demonstrated by showing that translation of the recombinant mRNAs was unaffected by control oligonucleotides. In addition, the specific oligonucleotides did not affect the translation of recombinant mRNAs in which the Gtx elements were mutated. Experiments performed using constructs containing Gtx and FGF2 5′ leader and coding sequences ruled out possible effects of the reporter cistron. Furthermore, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed that the oligonucleotides used in this study had little overall effect on the proteomes of cells transfected with these oligonucleotides. This study demonstrates that mRNA-rRNA base pairing affects the expression of two cellular mRNAs and describes a new approach for investigating putative mRNA-rRNA base pairing interactions in mammalian cells.