Tetsuhiro Ogawa

Over-expression of Tfam improves the mitochondrial disease phenotypes in a mouse model system

The phenotypes of mitochondrial diseases caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been proposed to be strictly regulated by the proportion of wild-type and pathogenically mutated mtDNAs. More specifically, it is thought that the onset of the disease phenotype occurs when cells cannot maintain the proper mitochondrial function because of an over-abundance of pathological mtDNA. Therapies that cause a decrease in the pathogenic mtDNA population have been proposed as a treatment for mitochondrial diseases, but these therapies are difficult to apply in practice. In this report, we present a novel concept: to improve mitochondrial disease phenotypes via an increase in the absolute copy number of the wild-type mtDNA population in pathogenic cells even when the relative proportion of mtDNA genotypes remains unchanged. We have succeeded in ameliorating the typical symptoms of mitochondrial disease in a model mouse line by the over-expression of the mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) followed by an increase of the mtDNA copy number. This new concept should lead to the development of a novel therapeutic treatment for mitochondrial diseases.

Structural basis for sequence-dependent recognition of colicin E5 tRNase by mimicking the mRNA–tRNA interaction

Colicin E5—a tRNase toxin—specifically cleaves QUN (Q: queuosine) anticodons of the Escherichia coli tRNAs for Tyr, His, Asn and Asp. Here, we report the crystal structure of the C-terminal ribonuclease domain (CRD) of E5 complexed with a substrate analog, namely, dGpdUp, at a resolution of 1.9 Å. Thisstructure is the first to reveal the substrate recognition mechanism of sequence-specific ribonucleases. E5-CRD realized the strict recognition for both the guanine and uracil bases of dGpdUp forming Watson–Crick-type hydrogen bonds and ring stacking interactions, thus mimicking the codons of mRNAs to bind to tRNA anticodons. The docking model of E5-CRD with tRNA also suggests its substrate preference for tRNA over ssRNA. In addition, the structure of E5-CRD/dGpdUp along with the mutational analysis suggests that Arg33 may play an important role in the catalytic activity, and Lys25/Lys60 may also be involved without His in E5-CRD. Finally, the comparison of the structures of E5-CRD/dGpdUp and E5-CRD/ImmE5 (an inhibitor protein) complexes suggests that the binding mode of E5-CRD and ImmE5 mimics that of mRNA and tRNA; this may represent the evolutionary pathway of these proteins from the RNA–RNA interaction through the RNA–protein interaction of tRNA/E5-CRD.

Sequence-specific recognition of colicin E5, a tRNA-targeting ribonuclease

Colicin E5 is a novel Escherichia coli ribonuclease that specifically cleaves the anticodons of tRNATyr, tRNAHis, tRNAAsn and tRNAAsp. Since this activity is confined to its 115 amino acid long C-terminal domain (CRD), the recognition mechanism of E5-CRD is of great interest. The four tRNA substrates share the unique sequence UQU within their anticodon loops, and are cleaved between Q (modified base of G) and 3′ U. Synthetic minihelix RNAs corresponding to the substrate tRNAs were completely susceptible to E5-CRD and were cleaved in the same manner as the authentic tRNAs. The specificity determinant for E5-CRD was YGUN at −1 to +3 of the ‘anticodon’. The YGU is absolutely required and the extent of susceptibility of minihelices depends on N (third letter of the anticodon) in the order A > C > G > U accounting for the order of susceptibility tRNATyr > tRNAAsp > tRNAHis, tRNAAsn. Contrastingly, we showed that GpUp is the minimal substrate strictly retaining specificity to E5-CRD. The effect of contiguous nucleotides is inconsistent between the loop and linear RNAs, suggesting that nucleotide extension on each side of GpUp introduces a structural constraint, which is reduced by a specific loop structure formation that includes a 5′ pyrimidine and 3′ A.

Generation of Enantiomeric Amino Acids during Acid Hydrolysis of Peptides Detected by the Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectroscopy

The number of reports indicating the occurrence of D‐amino acids in various proteins and natural peptides is increasing. For a usual detection of peptidyl D‐amino acids, proteins or peptides are subjected to acid hydrolysis, and the products obtained are analyzed after cancellation of the effect of amino acid racemization during the hydrolysis. However, this method does not seem reliable enough to determine the absence or presence of a small amount of innate D‐amino acids. We introduce a modification of an alternative way to distinguish true innate D‐amino acids from those artificially generated during hydrolysis incubation. When model peptides (L‐Ala)3, D‐Ala‐(L‐Ala)2 are hydrolyzed in deuterated hydrochloric acid (DCl), only newly generated D‐amino acids are deuterated at the α‐H‐atom. Both innate D‐amino acids and artificially generated ones are identified by the combination of high‐performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry equipped with a chiral column. When a peptide containing D‐Phe residues was analyzed by this method, the hydrolysis‐induced conversion to L‐Phe was similarly identified.

Esterification of Eschericia coli tRNAs with D-Histidine and D-Lysine by Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases

It is generally believed that only L-amino acids are acceptable in protein synthesis, though some D-amino acids, including D-tyrosine, D-aspartate, and D-tryptophan are known to be bound enzymatically to tRNAs. In this report, we newly show that D-histidine and D-lysine are also able to be the substrates of respective Escherichia coli aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.

Colicin E5 Ribonuclease Domain Cleaves Saccharomyces cerevisiae tRNAs Leading to Impairment of the Cell Growth

Colicin E5 is a ribonuclease that specifically cleaves tRNA(Tyr), tRNA(His), tRNA(Asn) and tRNA(Asp) of sensitive Escherichia coli cells by recognizing their anticodon sequences. Since all organisms possess universal anticodons of these tRNAs, colicin E5 was expected to potentially cleave eukaryotic tRNAs. Here, we expressed the active domain of colicin E5 (E5-CRD) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and investigated its effects on growth. E5-CRD impaired growth of host cells by cleaving tRNA(Tyr), tRNA(His), tRNA(Asn) and tRNA(Asp) in S. cerevisiae, which is the same repertoire as that in E. coli. This activity of E5-CRD was inhibited by the co-expression of its cognate inhibitor (ImmE5). Notably, the growth impairment by E5-CRD was reversible; cells restored the colony-forming activity after suppression of the E5-CRD expression. This seems different from the sharp killing effect of E5-CRD on E. coli. These results may provide insights into the role and behaviour of cytosolic tRNAs on cell growth and proliferation.

Transition of serine residues to the d-form during the conversion of ovalbumin into heat stable S-ovalbumin

Ovalbumin, a major protein in chicken egg white, is converted into a more thermostable molecular form, known as S-ovalbumin, during the storage of shell eggs. Our previous X-ray crystallographic study indicated that S-ovalbumin contains three D-Ser residues (S164, S236, and S320), which may account for its thermostability. Here, we confirmed the presence of these D-Ser residues in ovalbumin using a technique combining deuterium labeling of α-protons of amino acids and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Ovalbumin from chicken egg white and recombinant ovalbumin were incubated for approximately 12 days at pH 9.5 and 37°C. They were then hydrolyzed in DCl/D2O vapor, derivatized with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F), and analyzed by LC-MS/MS. A time-dependent increase in the D-Ser contents in native ovalbumin was observed over a period of 7 days, reaching approximately 8%. This corresponds to a value of three serine residues per molecule, and is consistent with the prediction based on our previous crystallographic analysis. Nearly identical results were obtained with recombinant ovalbumin. We then used this technique to investigate whether D-amino acid residues could arise within other proteins under mild alkaline conditions and detected small but significant amounts of D-Ala and/or D-Ser residues that increased in a time-dependent manner in some proteins.

Lon Protease of Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571 Is Required for Suppression of reb Gene Expression

ABSTRACT Bacterial Lon proteases play important roles in a variety of biological processes in addition to housekeeping functions. In this study, we focused on the Lon protease of Azorhizobium caulinodans, which can fix nitrogen both during free-living growth and in stem nodules of the legume Sesbania rostrata. The nitrogen fixation activity of an A. caulinodans lon mutant in the free-living state was not significantly different from that of the wild-type strain. However, the stem nodules formed by the lon mutant showed little or no nitrogen fixation activity. By microscopic analyses, two kinds of host cells were observed in the stem nodules formed by the lon mutant. One type has shrunken host cells containing a high density of bacteria, and the other type has oval or elongated host cells containing a low density or no bacteria. This phenotype is similar to a praR mutant highly expressing the reb genes. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analyses revealed that reb genes were also highly expressed in the lon mutant. Furthermore, a lon reb double mutant formed stem nodules showing higher nitrogen fixation activity than the lon mutant, and shrunken host cells were not observed in these stem nodules. These results suggest that Lon protease is required to suppress the expression of the reb genes and that high expression of reb genes in part causes aberrance in the A. caulinodans-S. rostrata symbiosis. In addition to the suppression of reb genes, it was found that Lon protease was involved in the regulation of exopolysaccharide production and autoagglutination of bacterial cells.

Cellular and transcriptional responses of yeast to the cleavage of cytosolic tRNAs induced by colicin D

Colicin D is a plasmid‐encoded antibacterial protein that specifically cleaves the anticodon loops of four Escherichia coli tRNAArg species. Here, we report that the catalytic domain of colicin D, which is expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, impairs cell growth by cleaving specific tRNAs. DNA microarray analysis revealed that mating‐related genes were upregulated, while genes involved in a range of metabolic processes were downregulated, thereby impairing cell growth. The pheromone‐signalling pathway was activated only in α cells by tRNA cleavage, which was not observed in ‘a’ cells or diploid cells. On the basis of these results and on the recent identification of two killer toxins that cleave specific tRNAs, the relationship between tRNA depletion and the resultant cellular response is discussed. Copyright

tRNA-targeting ribonucleases: molecular mechanisms and insights into their physiological roles

Most bacteria produce antibacterial proteins known as bacteriocins, which aid bacterial defence systems to provide a physiological advantage. To date, many kinds of bacteriocins have been characterized. Colicin has long been known as a plasmidborne bacteriocin that kills other Escherichia coli cells lacking the same plasmid. To defeat other cells, colicins exert specific activities such as ion-channel, DNase, and RNase activity. Colicin E5 and colicin D impair protein synthesis in sensitive E. coli cells; however, their physiological targets have not long been identified. This review describes our finding that colicins E5 and D are novel RNases targeting specific E. coli tRNAs and elucidates their enzymatic properties based on biochemical analyses and X-ray crystal structures. Moreover, tRNA cleavage mediates bacteriostasis, which depends on trans-translation. Based on these results and others, cell growth regulation depending on tRNA cleavage is also discussed. Graphical abstract tRNA-targeting RNases specifically cleave anticodon-loops of tRNAs, which induces bacteriostasis. tRNA cleavage is used as means of cell competition and growth regulation for adaptation to environmental conditions.