Protein phosphatase 4 catalytic subunit (PP4C) increases hepatitis B virus X protein levels and promotes its biological functions / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective:To investigate the role of protein phosphatase 4 catalytic subunit (PP4C) in regulating hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) levels and its effects on the biological functions of HBx, thus to provide a potential therapeutic targets for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods:In vivo and in vitro interactions between HBx and PP4C were analyzed by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and GST pull-down assay. Recombinant plasmids of PP4C and HBx were co-transfected with Lipofectamine 3000 reagents into hepatoma cells to detect the protein levels of HBx by Western blot. The half-life of HBx in the transfected cells treated with cycloheximide (CHX) were detected. The phosphorylation assay was used to evaluate the effects of PP4C on HBx phosphorylation. CCK8 assay, wound healing assay and Matrigel invasion chamber assay were used to analyze the effects of PP4C on the biological functions of HBx. Results:PP4C interacted with HBx in vivo and in vitro. PP4C overexpression significantly increased the protein level and stability of HBx and the phosphorylation assay confirmed that PP4C overexpression decreased the serine phosphorylation of HBx in hepatoma cells. PP4C overexpression enhanced the migration and invasion of hepatoma cells, but had no significant effects on the proliferation. Conclusions:The interactions between HBx and PP4C promoted the stability of HBx and ultimately enhanced the migration and invasion of hepatoma cells, and the mechanisms might be related to the decrease of HBx serine phosphorylation by PP4C. This study provided a theoretical basis for further investigation of the pathogenic mechanisms of HBx, and targeting PP4C and HBx interaction might provide insights for developing novel treatment for HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Targeting an oncogenic kinase/phosphatase signaling network for cancer therapy

Protein kinases and phosphatases signal by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation to precisely control the activities of their individual and common substrates for a coordinated cellular outcome. In many situations, a kinase/phosphatase complex signals dynamically in time and space through their reciprocal regulations and their cooperative actions on a substrate. This complex may be essential for malignant transformation and progression and can therefore be considered as a target for therapeutic intervention. p38 is a unique MAPK family member that contains a PDZ motif at its C-terminus and interacts with a PDZ domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase PTPH1. This PDZ-coupled binding is required for both PTPH1 dephosphorylation and inactivation of p38 and for p38 phosphorylation and activation of PTPH1. Moreover, the p38/PTPH1 complex can further regulate their substrates phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, which impacts Ras transformation, malignant growth and progression, and therapeutic response. This review will use the p38/PTPH1 signaling network as an example to discuss the potential of targeting the kinase/phosphatase signaling complex for development of novel targeted cancer therapy.

Isolation of a thermostable acid phytase from Aspergillus niger UFV-1 with strong proteolysis resistance

An Aspergillus niger UFV-1 phytase was characterized and made available for industrial application. The enzyme was purified via ultrafiltration followed by acid precipitation, ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. This protein exhibited a molecular mass of 161 kDa in gel filtration and 81 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), indicating that it may be a dimer. It presented an optimum temperature of 60 °C and optimum pH of 2.0. The KM for sodium phytate hydrolysis was 30.9 mM, while the kcat and kcat/KM were 1.46 ×105 s−1 and 4.7 × 106 s−1.M−1, respectively. The purified phytase exhibited broad specificity on a range of phosphorylated compounds, presenting activity on sodium phytate, p-NPP, 2- naphthylphosphate, 1- naphthylphosphate, ATP, phenyl-phosphate, glucose-6-phosphate, calcium phytate and other substrates. Enzymatic activity was slightly inhibited by Mg2+, Cd2+, K+ and Ca2+, and it was drastically inhibited by F−. The enzyme displayed high thermostability, retaining more than 90% activity at 60 °C during 120 h and displayed a t1/2 of 94.5 h and 6.2 h at 70 °C and 80 °C, respectively. The enzyme demonstrated strong resistance toward pepsin and trypsin, and it retained more than 90% residual activity for both enzymes after 1 h treatment. Additionally, the enzyme efficiently hydrolyzed phytate in livestock feed, liberating 15.3 μmol phosphate/mL after 2.5 h of treatment.

The comparative study of calcium-dependent and calcium-independent of dephosphorylation of myosin light chain and its effect on pulmonary artery pressure and right ventricular remodeling in rats / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of calcium - dependent and calcium - independent in myosin light chain(MLC)dephosphorylation on pulmonary hemodynamics and right ventricular remodeling,and to observe whether there is a superimposition effect while intervention is conducted in two ways at the same time. Methods Ac-cording to random number table,50 rats were divided into 5 groups:sham operation group,model group,3 mg/(kg·d) ML - 7[MLC kinase(MLCK)inhibitor]treating group(M group),20 mg/(kg·d)Fasudil(Rho kinase inhibitor) treating group(F group)and 3 mg/(kg·d)ML - 7 plus 20 mg/(kg·d)Fasudil treating group(M + F group). The shunt between the abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava was used to establish rat models of pulmonary hypertension in-duced by high pulmonary flow in group of C and the experimental groups. The sham operation group was given a sham operation. MLCK and Rho kinase inhibitor were administrated intraperitoneally to rats with the shunt. After 8 weeks of shunting,mean right ventricular pressure(MRVP),mean pulmonary arterial pressure(MPAP),right ventricular hyper-trophy index(RVHI)and width of inferior venacava were evaluated by the right cardiac catheterization procedure. Results Compared with the sham operation group,MRVP,MPAP,and RVHI were obviously elevated in the model group [(2. 65 ±0. 57)kPa vs(4. 19 ±0. 67)kPa;(2. 42 ± 0. 48)kPa vs(4. 04 ± 0. 61)kPa,F = 295. 368,263. 912,all P ﹤0. 01;(0. 21 ±0. 01)g/ g vs(0. 41 ±0. 03)g/ g,F =247. 024,P ﹤0. 01]. Compared with model group,the MRVP,MPAP and RVHI in M group and F group were decreased significantly[(3. 51 ± 0. 47)kPa vs(4. 19 ± 0. 67)kPa;(3. 68 ± 0. 55)kPa vs(4. 19 ±0. 67)kPa,all P ﹤0. 01;M group:(0. 29 ±0. 02)g/ g,model group:(0. 41 ± 0. 03)g/ g,F group (0. 30 ±0. 03)g/ g,F =247. 024,P ﹤0. 05]. But the MRVP,MPAP and RVHI in M group and F group were higher than those of rats in the sham operation group. The MRVP,MPAP and RVHI of M + F group were elevated much obviously compared with those of the M or F group(P ﹤0. 05). Conclusions The calcium - dependent and calcium - independent in MLC dephosphorylation can respectively restrain the development of pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular re-modeling,and the obvious additive effect can be observed when the 2 drugs are used jointly.

Bacterial phytase: potential application, in vivo function and regulation of its synthesis

The stepwise release of phosphate from phytate, the major storage form of phosphate in plant seeds and pollen, is initiated by a class of enzymes that have been collectively called phytases. The classification is solely due to the in vitro capability of these enzymes to accept phytate as a substrate. Phytases have been studied intensively in recent years because of the great interest in such enzymes for reducing phytate content in animal feed and food for human consumption. They have a wide distribution in plants, microorganisms, and in some animal tissues. Due to several biological characteristics, such as substrate specificity, resistance to proteolysis and catalytic efficiency, bacterial phytases have considerable potential in commercial applications. In bacteria, phytase is an inducible enzyme and its expression is subjected to a complex regulation, but phytase formation is not controlled uniformly among different bacteria. It was suggested that phytase is not required for balanced growth of bacterial cells, but may be synthesised in response to a nutrient or energy limitation.

Bacterial phytase: potential application, in vivo function and regulation of its synthesis

The stepwise release of phosphate from phytate, the major storage form of phosphate in plant seeds and pollen, is initiated by a class of enzymes that have been collectively called phytases. The classification is solely due to the in vitro capability of these enzymes to accept phytate as a substrate. Phytases have been studied intensively in recent years because of the great interest in such enzymes for reducing phytate content in animal feed and food for human consumption. They have a wide distribution in plants, microorganisms, and in some animal tissues. Due to several biological characteristics, such as substrate specificity, resistance to proteolysis and catalytic efficiency, bacterial phytases have considerable potential in commercial applications. In bacteria, phytase is an inducible enzyme and its expression is subjected to a complex regulation, but phytase formation is not controlled uniformly among different bacteria. It was suggested that phytase is not required for balanced growth of bacterial cells, but may be synthesised in response to a nutrient or energy limitation.

Opening of ATP-sensitive K+ channel by pinacidil requires serine/threonine phosphorylation in rat ventricular myocytes

The influences of specific protein phosphatase and protein kinase inhibitors on the ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel-opening effect of pinacidil were investigated in single rat ventricular myocytes using patch clamp technique. In cell-attached patches, pinacidil (100 muM) induced the opening of the KATP channel, which was blocked by the pretreatment with H-7 (100 muM) whereas enhanced by the pretreatment with genistein (30 muM) or tyrphostin A23 (10 muM). In inside-out patches, pinacidil (10 muM) activated the KATP channels in the presence of ATP (0.3 mM) or AMP-PNP (0.3 mM) and in a partial rundown state. The effect of pinacidil (10 muM) was not affected by the pretreatment with protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B, 10 mug ml-1), but blocked by the pretreatment of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A, 1 U ml-1). In addition, pinacidil (10 muM) could not induce the opening of the reactivated KATP channels in the presence of H-7 (100 muM) but enhanced it in the presence of ATP(1 mM) and genistein (30 muM). These results indicate that the KATP channel-opening effect of pinacidil is not mediated via phosphorylation of KATP channel protein or associated protein, although it still requires the phosphorylation of serine/threonine residues as a prerequisite condition.

Endothelin-1 induced sustained contractions of tracheal smooth muscle involve an activation of protein kinase C.

Endothelin-1, a potent vasoconstrictor peptide produces concentration dependent contractions in lamb tracheal smooth muscle. These contractions are not inhibited by low doses (up to 20 μM) of trifluoroperazine and W-7, the calmodulin/myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) inhibitors. At higher concentrations (200 μM), a delayed and poor reversal of isometric tensions results. These relaxations are coupled with a partial dephosphorylation of regulatory myosin light chain (MLC). Preincubation of fiber strips in MLCK inhibitors (200 μM) results in a delayed and attenuated contractile response but without a dephosphorylation of MLC. H-7, a putative protein kinase C antagonist (25–100 μM) abolishes endothelin-1 induced contractile effects rapidly (50% relaxation within 1–3 min). Moreover, such relaxations are accompanied by complete dephosphorylation of MLC. Phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate, an exogenous activator of protein kinase C potentiates the endothelin induced contractions. Inactive phorbol ester, 4α-phorbol ester does not elicit any contractile response in the muscle. The down regulation of protein kinase C, on the other hand suppresses such potentiated contractile responses. These results suggest that endothelin-1 induced contractile tensions in tracheal smooth muscle are mediated by a mechanism that involves an activation of enzyme protein kinase C.

Dephosphorylation of cell-surface phosphoproteins of goat spermatozoa.

Multiple ecto-phosphoproteins of the goat cauda-epididymal intact spermatozoa have been shown to undergo dephosphorylation in vitro by endogenous phosphoprotein phosphatase(s) located on the sperm outer surface. The major ecto-phosphoproteins that are dephosphorylated have molecular masses of 27, 40, 70, 116 and 205 kDa. The cell surface dephosphorylation reaction is not dependent on bivalent metal ions. Mg2+ (5 mM), Mn2+ (5 mM), orthovanadate (200 μΜ) and cAMP (5 μΜ) have no effect on this surface reaction whereas it is inhibited nearly 50% by Co2+ or Zn2+ (1 mM). Spermidine (5 mM), or Ca2+ (1mM) inhibited to a small extent (approx. 25%) the cell surface dephosphorylation of proteins.

The Effect of Indomethacin on Na-K-ATPase and K-pNPPase Activity of Rat Brain

The effect of indomethacin on Na-K-ATPase and K-pNPPase activity was studied with rat brain homogenate. The results were as follows : 1) Indomethacin inhibited both Na-K-ATPase and K-pNPPase in a dose-related pattern. 2) Inhibition mode of indomethacin for K+ in both Na-K-ATPase and K-pNPPase was competitive type. 3) Indomethacin showed stimulative effect at lower sodium concentration below 10mM, and showed inhibitory effect at higher sodium concentration on Na-K-ATPase and K-pNPPase activity, and the inhibitory effect was slightly increased with increasing concentration of sodium. 4) The inhibitory effect of indomethacin on Na-K-ATPase activity was increased with increasing ATP concentration, but was not affected by Mg++ concentration. These results indicate that indomethacin inhibits Na-K-ATPase activity by inhibiting K+- dependent dephosphorylation steps.