Toshimitsu Hoshino

Neurotransmitter Release from Synaptotagmin-Deficient Clonal Variants of PC 12 Cells

Synaptotagmin (p65) is an abundant synaptic vesicle protein of neurons and contains regions similar to the regulatory domain of protein kinase C. These domains are thought to be involved in calcium-dependent interaction with membrane phospholipids during exocytosis. To assess the functional role of synaptotagmin, synaptotagmin-deficient clonal variants of PC12 cells were isolated. All of the variant cells released catecholamine and adenosine triphosphate in response to elevated intracellular concentrations of calcium, which suggests that synaptotagmin is not essential for secretion of catecholamine and adenosine triphosphate from PC12 cells.

Nontoxic Amyloid β Peptide1-42 Suppresses Acetylcholine Synthesis POSSIBLE ROLE IN CHOLINERGIC DYSFUNCTION IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

We show here that amyloid β peptide1-42 (Aβ1-42) may play a key role in the pathogenesis of the cholinergic dysfunction seen in Alzheimers disease (AD), in addition to its putative role in amyloid plaque formation. Aβ1-42 freshly solubilized in water (non-aged Aβ1-42), which was not neurotoxic without preaggregation, suppressed acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis in cholinergic neurons at very low concentrations (10-100 nM), although non-aged Aβ1-40 was ineffective. Non-aged Aβ1-42 impaired pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity by activating mitochondrial τ protein kinase I/glycogen synthase kinase-3β, as we have already shown in hippocampal neurons (Hoshi, M., Takashima, A., Noguchi, K., Murayama, M., Sato, M., Kondo, S., Saitoh, Y., Ishiguro, K., Hoshino, T., and Imahori, K. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 93, 2719-2723). Neither choline acetyltransferase activity nor choline metabolism was affected. Therefore, the major cause of reduced ACh synthesis was considered to be an inadequate supply of acetyl-CoA owing to PDH impairment. Soluble Aβ1-42 increases specifically in AD brain (Kuo, Y.-M., Emmerling, M. R., Vigo-Pelfrey, C., Kasunic, T. C., Kirkpatrick, J. B., Murdoch, G. H., Ball, M. J., and Roher, A. E. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 4077-4081). This increase in soluble Aβ1-42 may disturb cholinergic function, leading to the deterioration of memory and cognitive function that is characteristic of AD.

Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the gene braB coding for the sodium-coupled branched-chain amino acid carrier in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO

SummaryThe gene braB, encoding the Na–-coupled carrier for branched-chain amino acids in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO, was cloned on cosmid pMMB34. The cosmid clones carrying the braB gene were identified as those that restored growth at low leucine concentration and Na–-dependent leucine transport activity to P. aeruginosa PAO3536 defective in the transport of branched-chain amino acids. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the DNA fragment shows that the braB gene comprises 1311 bp and encodes a hydrophobic protein of 437 amino acids with a calculated Mr of 45279. The hydropathy profile suggests that there exist in the carrier protein 12 hydrophobic segments long enough to traverse the membrane. The amino acid sequence shows a high degree of homology with thebrnQ product, a branched-chain amino acid carrier of Salmonella typhimurium, while no homology in the nucleotide sequences is found in the braB and brnQ genes.

Synaptotagmin: a Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome antigen that associates with presynaptic calcium channels.

Plasma from patients with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS), an autoimmune disease of neuromuscular transmission, contains antibodies that immunoprecipitate 125I-omega-conotoxin GVIA labeled-calcium channels solubilized from rat brain. These antibodies label a 58-kDa protein in Western blots of partially purified 125I-omega-conotoxin receptor preparations. Monoclonal antibody 1D12, produced by immunizing mice with synaptic membranes, has similar properties as these LEMS IgG. 1D12 antigen was purified by immunoaffinity chromatography and shown to bind LEMS IgG. The antigen was identified by immunoscreening a rat brain cDNA library with mAb 1D12 and found to have strong homology to the synaptic vesicle protein synaptotagmin. These antibodies immunoprecipitate calcium channels by binding to synpatotagmin, an associated protein. We suggest that the interaction between synaptotagmin and omega-conotoxin sensitive calcium channels plays a role in docking synaptic vesicles at the plasma membrane prior to rapid neurotransmitter release. Autoantibody binding to a synaptotagmin-calcium channel complex may be involved in the etiology of LEMS.

Na+(Li+)/Branched-chain amino acid cotransport inPseudomonas aeruginosa

SummaryA transport system for branched-chain amino acids (designated as LIV-II system) inPseudomonas aeruginosa requires Na+ for its operation. Coupling cation for this system was identified by measuring cation movement during substrate entry using cation-selective electrodes. Uptakes of Na+ and Li− were induced by the imposition of an inwardly-directed concentration gradient of leucine, isoleucine, or valine. No uptake of H− was found, however, under the same conditions. In addition, effects of Na+ and Li+ on the kinetic property of the system were examined. At chloride salt concentration of 2.5mm, values of apparentKm andVmax for leucine uptake were larger in the presence of Na+ than Li+. These results indicate that the LIV-II transport system is a Na+(Li+)/substrate cotransport system, although effects of Na+ and Li+ on kinetics of the system are different.

Phospholipids stabilize the secondary structure of the sodium-coupled branched-chain amino acid carrier of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

For functional reconstitution of bacterial cotransporters (carriers or permeases) including the sodium-coupled branched-chain amino acid carrier (LIV-II carrier) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the presence of phospholipid is required through the process of solubilization and purification of the transporters from the bacterial membranes, suggesting the possibility that phospholipid may stabilize the structure of the cotransporter proteins to be in a functional form. In this study, this possibility was examined by studying the effect of denaturant on the secondary structure of the LIV-II carrier purified in the absence and presence of phospholipid using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. CD spectra of the purified LIV-II carrier solubilized in n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (OG), OG/dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE)/dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) mixture, and dispersed into DOPE/DOPG small unilamellar vesicles were measured in the absence of denaturant. The three spectra were very similar and had a trough at 222 nm with mean residue molar ellipticity of -23000 deg.cm(2)/dmol and a shoulder at 208 nm. CD spectral analyses with three different methods (S.W. Provencher, J. Glöckner, Estimation of globular protein secondary structure from circular dichroism, Biochemistry 20 (1981) 33-37; J.Y. Yang, C.-S.C. Wu, H.Z. Martinez, Calculation of protein conformation from circular dichroism, Methods Enzymol. 130 (1986) 208-269; N. Sreerama, R.W. Woody, A self-consistent method for the analysis of protein secondary structure from circular dichroism, Anal. Biochem. 209 (1993) 32-44) revealed that the LIV-II carrier solubilized in OG/DOPE/DOPG mixture contained 69-75% alpha-helix and 0-9% beta-sheet. Addition of 6 M guanidine hydrochloride decreased 48% of the amplitude at 222 nm of the CD spectrum of the carrier solubilized in OG alone and 9-14% of the CD amplitude of the carrier solubilized in OG/DOPE/DOPG or OG/dioleoylphosphatidylcholine mixture and dispersed in liposomes composed of DOPE/DOPG. These results show that the ordered secondary structure of the LIV-II carrier is partially unfolded in OG without phospholipid by denaturant but is greatly stabilized with phospholipids with oleoyl chains independently of their polar head group composition and suggest that the alpha-helical structure of the carrier is mainly embedded in the lipid environment.

Transport Systems in Pseudomonas

Nutrient acquisition and waste excretion are important functions of all living cells including bacteria. Cellular membranes composed of lipid bilayers are inherently impermeable to most nutrients and wastes because of their hydrophilicity. Therefore, living organisms have developed a variety of transport systems that accumulate or excrete a particular solute across the cytoplasmic membrane. These transport systems either equilibrate solutes across the membrane (facilitated diffusion) or use energy to concentrate solutes (active transport). In bacteria, most solutes are translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane by active transport systems, which allow accumulation of solute in chemically unmodified form against a concentration gradient. Such transport systems can be classified into two classes according to the mode of energy coupling (Harold, 1972; Konings et al., 1989): primary transport systems that are directly coupled to biochemical reaction to translocate solutes across the cytoplasmic membrane; and secondary transport systems that utilize electrochemical energy of some compound (mostly electrochemical potential of protons or Na+ ions) generated by metabolic reaction. Another important mechanisms for accumulation of solute employed by bacteria is group translocation, which couples the translocation of a solute across the membrane to the chemical modification of the solute.