Molecular evidence of insulinomimetic property exhibited by steviol and stevioside in diabetes induced L6 and 3T3L1 cells.

BACKGROUND: The defective responsiveness of body tissues to insulin involves the insulin receptors of cell membranes. The binding of insulin to its receptor induce an increase of high affinity glucose transporter molecules in target cell surface that enhance the uptake of glucose in to these cells. The WHO expert committee recommended the importance to investigate the hypoglycemic agents from plant origin, which are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes. Stevioside, a natural sweetener and a diterpene glycoside extracted from Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) has been used as an anti-hyperglycemic agent for the treatment of diabetes for decades. HYPOTHESIS: To reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the insulinomimetic activity of stevioside and its aglycone metabolite, steviol using cell line models. STUDY DESIGN: Efficacy of stevioside and steviol in inducing glucose absorption was studied at transcript level, protein level and by measuring glucose absorption in the cell using in-vitro cell line studies. METHOD: Quantification of glucose transporter (GLUT4) transcript was done in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and L6 myotubes by qPCR using RPL23 as the internal control. GLUT4 protein was quantified using anti GLUT4 antibody by ELISA and radioactive glucose uptake studies were done to measure the rate of glucose absorption. RESULTS: The absolute and relative quantitation of GLUT4 gene by qPCR showed the activation of GLUT4 transcript at lower concentration of steviol (1 µM) and higher concentration of stevioside (100 µM) in both L6 myotubes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The increased level of glut4 protein and the glucose uptake in both the cell lines using the same concentration of steviol and stevioside further supports the qPCR data. The copy number and the expression level of GLUT4 gene, the amount of GLUT4 protein and the glucose uptake efficacy support the insulinomimetic effect of steviol and stevioside. CONCLUSION: The results of the study clearly demonstrate the functional similarity of steviol and stevioside with that of insulin in controlling the level of glucose in both the cell lines. In other words, the insulinomimetic property of stevioside and steviol was evident from the data.

Functional characterization of recombinant bromelain of Ananas comosus expressed in a prokaryotic system.

Bromelain (BRM) is a defense protein present in the fruit and stem of pineapple (Ananas comosus) and it is grouped as a cysteine protease enzyme with diversified medicinal uses. Based on its therapeutic applications, bromelain has got sufficient attention in pharmaceutical industries. In the present study, the full coding gene of bromelain in pineapple stem (1,093 bp) was amplified by RT-PCR. The PCR product was cloned, sequenced, and characterized. The sequence analysis of the gene revealed the single nucleotide polymorphism and its phylogenetic relatedness. The peptide sequence deduced from the gene showed the amino acid variations, physicochemical properties and secondary and tertiary structural features of the protein. The full BRM gene was transformed to prokaryotic vector pET32b and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 DE3pLysS host cells successfully. The identity of the recombinant bromelain (rBRM) protein was confirmed by Western blot analysis using anti-BRM-rabbit IgG antibody. The activity of recombinant bromelain compared with purified native bromelain was determined by protease assay. The inhibitory effect of rBRM compared with native BRM in the growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains of Streptococcus agalactiae and Escherichia coli O111 was evident from the antibacterial sensitivity test. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing the bactericidal property of rBRM expressed in a prokaryotic system.

Determination of B cell epitopes and evaluation of antigen capture ELISA for the earlier diagnosis of CHIK virus using anti-rCHIK E1 rabbit antibodies.

Chikungunya fever caused by an alpha virus has been generally considered as self limiting and non fatal. Recent reports on Chikungunya infection indicate high mortality rates due to the severity of the viral infection. For the early diagnosis of CHIK virus, the incubation period required for the development of antibodies in the serum of patients was a constraint for antigen based ELISA. The results of the present study demonstrates the development and evaluation of the antigen capture ELISA using recombinant anti-CHIK rabbit antibodies and anti-CHIK human antibody for more specific and rapid detection of CHIK viral antigen. A comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of the amino acid sequence of CHIK E1 protein was done for determining the antigenic residues, predominant B cell epitopes and their properties. Rabbit antibodies against recombinant CHIK E1 antigen was developed and purified. Antigen capture ELISA was done in 104 CHIK patient serum samples using anti-rCHIK E1 rabbit antibodies and anti-CHIK human antibodies. The highest rate of sensitivity (96%) and specificity (100%) was observed in the assay data and it highlights the accuracy of the test as a clinical diagnostic tool. No cross reactivity was observed with samples of dengue patients. Apart from the development and evaluation of the ELISA test, the dominant epitopes identified in the recombinant CHIK E1 protein sequence can be exploited for the development of a subunit Chikungunya vaccine.

Functional and structural variation of uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT) gene of Stevia rebaudiana-UGTSr involved in the synthesis of rebaudioside A.

The sweetness of honey leaf plant Stevia rebaudiana is attributed to steviol glycosides or steviosides, accumulated in the leaves. Steviol glycosides are diterpenoids derived from steviol as the final step of glycosylation by the marker enzyme Uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT). Out of the eight different steviol glycosides, rebaudioside A was detected as the sweetest glycoside with reduced bitter aftertaste. The pattern of glycosylation of steviol has a crucial role in maintaining the sweetness as well as the taste perception of stevioside. Within the 12 UGTs of S. rebaudiana so far elucidated, the functional genomics of three UGTs-UGT76G1, UGT74G1 & UGT85C2 in stevioside synthesis were studied. In the present study a UGT gene of S. rebaudiana named UGTSr showing resemblance with UGT76G1 was structurally analyzed and the functional role of the recombinant UGTSr in the synthesis of rebaudioside A was ascertained. The relative expression of UGTSr by qPCR showed a higher level of expression in mature leaves than in tender. Despite the similarity of nucleotide with UGT76G1, the gene UGTSr exhibits 48 SNPs and 39 associated amino acid substitutions with remarkable variation in the secondary and tertiary structure of the protein. The helical changes, the presence of a new amino acid, novel substitutions of amino acids and the hydrogen bond in the conserved histidine and aspartame residues observed in UGTSr support its functional stability and specificity from that of other UGTs of S. rebaudiana. Based on these features UGTSr exhibits a novel status from other UGTs of S. rebaudiana.

Recombinant lactoferrin (Lf) of Vechur cow, the critical breed of Bos indicus and the Lf gene variants.

Vechur cow, categorized as a critically maintained breed by the FAO, is a unique breed of Bos indicus due to its extremely small size, less fodder intake, adaptability, easy domestication and traditional medicinal property of the milk. Lactoferrin (Lf) is an iron-binding glycoprotein that is found predominantly in the milk of mammals. The full coding region of Lf gene of Vechur cow was cloned, sequenced and expressed in a prokaryotic system. Antibacterial activity of the recombinant Lf showed suppression of bacterial growth. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that the full coding region of Lf gene of B. indicus Vechur breed is sequenced, successfully expressed in a prokaryotic system and characterized. Comparative analysis of Lf gene sequence of five Vechur cows with B. taurus revealed 15 SNPs in the exon region associated with 11 amino acid substitutions. The amino acid arginine was noticed as a pronounced substitution and the tertiary structure analysis of the BLfV protein confirmed the positions of arginine in the ß sheet region, random coil and helix region 1. Based on the recent reports on the nutritional therapies of arginine supplementation for wound healing and for cardiovascular diseases, the higher level of arginine in the lactoferrin protein of Vechur cow milk provides enormous scope for further therapeutic studies.

Physicochemical characterization and functional site analysis of lactoferrin gene of Vechur cow.

The Bos indicus Vechur breed cow milk is known for its medicinal value and the breed is listed under the category of critically maintained breeds by the Food and Agriculture Organization. The lactoferrin protein in milk is known for its nutritional value. Gene polymorphisms have been reported for Bovine lactoferrin. Mutations in the evolutionarily conserved sites tend to impair protein function and are related with the physicochemical difference between the known variants with 11 SNPs within the wild type. Structural differences are located due to these SNPs that may lead to functional variations. The structural variation is seen primarily in the first 48 residues at 5' end in all the samples modelled. Out of 11 SNPs 5 amino acid variations fall under alpha helix and beta sheet region, this might be of functional significance. This result may provide evidence that the SNPs detected in lactoferrin gene might have potential effects on milk composition. Our result demonstrates one major domain that could be a common binding pocket to all the samples, and important as an active site common to all the breeds that could be utilized for effective drug designing. Moreover, at some SNP positions in Vechur breed, antimicrobial peptides were located indicating importance of those residues for enhanced antimicrobial activity in lactoferrin of Vechur breed. Second binding pocket found in N- lobe region with the three required residues aspartic acid, histidine and tyrosine for iron binding, was considered as major binding site.

Recombinant CHIK virus E1 coat protein of 11 KDa with antigenic domains for the detection of Chikungunya.

Chikungunya is an acute febrile illness caused by an alpha virus technically called as CHIK virus. A smaller size of CHIK virus E1 coat protein -11 kDa was expressed in prokaryotic expression system. The recombinant protein was purified and confirmed by western blot analysis. The positions of the antigenic domain in the protein were identified and the immunoreactivity of recombinant protein with anti-CHIK IgM antibodies was ascertained. The antigen showed an 88% sensitivity and 100% specificity by Indirect ELISA. No cross reactivity of the antigen was observed with anti-Dengue virus serum samples. The results strongly support that the recombinant CHIK coat protein could be used as a diagnostic antigen for the detection of Chikungunya by Indirect ELISA. The relevance of a smaller size recombinant antigen highlights its large scale application in serodiagnosis of CHIK virus since bacterial expression is more simple and cost effective than eukaryotic system.

The cytoplasmic C2A domain of synaptotagmin shows sequence specific interaction with its own mRNA.

Synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1) is essential in Ca(2+)-dependent neurotransmitter release, but its expression regulation is unknown. Here we report that the cytoplasmic Syt1 fragment forms ribonucleoprotein complex by interacting with the 3' untranslated region (3(')UTR) of its own mRNA. Two protein-binding domains, GU(15) repeat and GUCAAUG, within the Syt 3'UTR and the C2 domains in Syt1, especially C2A, are essential in this ribonucleoprotein complex formation. Furthermore, in in vitro assay the translation efficiency of Syt1 mRNA was downregulated in presence of 3'UTR. These results demonstrate for the fist time that the soluble fraction of Syt1 can interact with its own mRNA in a highly sequence specific manner.