Complexation of Cu(II) by original tartaric acid-based ligands in nonionic micellar media: thermodynamic study and applications.

The complexation of Cu(II) with original alkylamidotartaric acids (C(x)T) is investigated in homogeneous aqueous medium and in the presence of nonionic micelles of Brij 58 (C16EO20), thanks to various analytical techniques such as NMR self-diffusion experiments, CD and UV-vis spectroscopy, ESI mass spectrometry, pHmetry and micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF). First, a complete speciation study proves the formation of dimeric complexes in water and provides their formation constants. Second, a similar study is led in the presence of nonionic micelles. It underlines a modification of the apparent equilibrium constants in micellar medium and demonstrates that the structure of the complexes is slightly modified in the presence of micelles. This thermodynamic and structural study is applied to modelize the evolution of the extraction yields of Cu(II) by the micelles as a function of pH and to identify the complexes extracted in the micelles. The effects of the chain length of the ligand (C3T vs C8T) on the solubilization properties are put into relief and discussed. Anionic species are proved to be more incorporated in the nonionic micelles than the cationic species. The extracting system constituted of octylamidotartaric acid (CsT) solubilized in nonionic micelles of Brij 58 is demonstrated to be very efficient for the extraction of Cu(II) by MEUF, this technique being an interesting green alternative to traditional solvent extraction.

Solubilization of amphiphilic carboxylic acids in nonionic micelles: determination of partition coefficients from pKa measurements and NMR experiments.

The solubilization of octylamidotartaric acid (C8T) and octanoic acid (C8C) in Triton X-100 and Brij 58 nonionic micelles has been studied by pHmetric and 1H NMR self-diffusion experiments. As both C8C and C8T exhibit acid-base properties, a distinction between the partition of the neutral acidic form, in terms of the partition coefficient KPH, and the partition of the charged basic form, in terms of the partition coefficient KP-, has been made. The acidity constants, Ka, of C8T and C8C in the presence of micelles have been evaluated from pHmetric experiments. For both solutes, an increase in the pKa is observed in micellar media due to the difference in the partition of acidic and basic forms of the solutes. A model has been developed to determine KPH and KP- from the pKa shifts observed. The values obtained by this pKa shift modeling method and those from self-diffusion coefficient measurements are in good agreement. The acidic form of C8C is incorporated to a larger extent into the Brij 58 micelles than the acidic form of C8T, whereas the opposite trend is observed for the basic forms. Both the acidic and basic forms of C8T are more easily incorporated into Brij 58 micelles than into Triton X-100 micelles. The influence of the structure of the polar head on the solubilization properties is demonstrated. Moreover, evidence for the localization of the solutes in the micelles is obtained from the comparison of the partition coefficients and from 1H NMR data.

Gene transfer to pre-hematopoietic and committed hematopoietic precursors in the early mouse yolk sac: a comparative study between in situ electroporation and retroviral transduction.

BACKGROUND: Hematopoietic development in vertebrate embryos results from the sequential contribution of two pools of precursors independently generated. While intra-embryonic precursors harbour the features of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), precursors formed earlier in the yolk sac (YS) display limited differentiation and self-renewal potentials. The mechanisms leading to the generation of the precursors in both sites are still largely unknown, as are the molecular basis underlying their different potential. A possible approach to assess the role of candidate genes is to transfer or modulate their expression/activity in both sites. We thus designed and compared transduction protocols to target either native extra-embryonic precursors, or hematopoietic precursors. RESULTS: One transduction protocol involves transient modification of gene expression through in situ electroporation of the prospective blood islands, which allows the evolution of transfected mesodermal cells in their "normal" environment, upon organ culture. Following in situ electroporation of a GFP reporter construct into the YS cavity of embryos at post-streak (mesodermal/pre-hematopoietic precursors) or early somite (hematopoietic precursors) stages, high GFP expression levels as well as a good preservation of cell viability is observed in YS explants. Moreover, the erythro-myeloid progeny typical of the YS arises from GFP+ mesodermal cells or hematopoietic precursors, even if the number of targeted precursors is low. The second approach, based on retroviral transduction allows a very efficient transduction of large precursor numbers, but may only be used to target 8 dpc YS hematopoietic precursors. Again, transduced cells generate a progeny quantitatively and qualitatively similar to that of control YS. CONCLUSION: We thus provide two protocols whose combination may allow a thorough study of both early and late events of hematopoietic development in the murine YS. In situ electroporation constitutes the only possible gene transfer method to transduce mesodermal/pre-hematopoietic precursors and analyze the earliest steps of hematopoietic development. Both in situ electroporation and retroviral transduction may be used to target early hematopoietic precursors, but the latter appears more convenient if a large pool of stably transduced cells is required. We discuss the assets and limitation of both methods, which may be alternatively chosen depending on scientific constraints.

lyl-1 and tal-1/scl, two genes encoding closely related bHLH transcription factors, display highly overlapping expression patterns during cardiovascular and hematopoietic ontogeny.

The TAL-1/SCL and LYL-1 genes encode two closely related basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors involved in child T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia through chromosomal rearrangements and transcriptional deregulation. During ontogeny, Tal-1/SCL is required for hematopoietic cell generation, both in the yolk sac, where erythro-myeloid cells are first produced, then in the intra-embryonic compartment, where hematopoietic stem cells independently arise. We describe here the expression pattern of lyl-1 in mouse embryos from 7 to 14 days post coitus using in situ hybridization, as well as beta-Galactosidase (beta-Gal) expression in lyl-1-lacZ knock-in embryos, which express a C-terminally truncated Lyl-1 protein fused to the beta-Galactosidase (Lyl-1Delta/beta-Gal). In addition, we compare lyl-1 expression pattern with that of tal-1/scl. Similar to Tal-1/SCL, Lyl-1 mRNA expression occurs in the developing cardiovascular and hematopoietic systems. However, contrary to tal-1/scl, lyl-1 is not expressed in the developing nervous system. In lyl-1-lacZ knock-in heterozygous and homozygous embryos, beta-Gal expression completely correlates with Lyl-1 mRNA expression in the intra-embryonic compartment and is present: (1) in the developing hematopoietic system, precisely where hematopoietic stem cells emerge, and thereafter in the fetal liver; (2) in the developing vascular system; and (3) in the endocardium. In contrast, whereas Lyl-1 mRNA is expressed in yolk sac-derived endothelial and hematopoietic cells, Lyl-1Delta/beta-Gal is either absent or poorly expressed in these cell types, thus differing from Tal-1/SCL, which is highly expressed there at both mRNA and protein levels.

Characterization of purified intraembryonic hematopoietic stem cells as a tool to define their site of origin.

Little is known about hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) development from mesoderm. To gain more information on the intraembryonic HSC site of origin, we purified multipotent hematopoietic progenitors from the aorta-gonads-mesonephros (AGM) of mice. This population, expressing c-Kit, AA4.1, CD31, and CD41, but not Flk1, and mainly negative for CD45, proved capable of long-term reconstitution in sublethally irradiated Rag2gammac(-/-) recipients. We assigned the expression of GATA-2, GATA-3, and lmo2 to AGM-HSC, whereas erythromyeloid progenitors express only GATA-2. This unique combination of surface markers and transcription factors could be allocated in the AGM to the intraaortic clusters and the subaortic patches underlying aortic endothelial cells. Taken together, those data indicate that embryonic HSCs (i) differ from their fetal liver and adult counterpart by the low expression of CD45, (ii) do not colocalize with aortic endothelial cells as previously thought, and (iii) are localized, at 10.5 days postcoitum, in the splanchnic mesoderm underlying aortic endothelial cells, within GATA-3(+)CD31(+) cell clusters.

Hematopoietic stem cell development during mouse embryogenesis.

The progress of the last few years in the understanding of hematopoietic cell development during embryogenesis resulted from a combination of experimental approaches used in hematology and developmental biology. This methodology has been particularly powerful for the analysis of the earliest steps of hematopoietic ontogeny because it allows for the first time the demonstration of the existence of two independent sites of hematopoietic cell generation. Here, we describe the methods used in our laboratories to characterize the phenotype and differentiation potential of the primordial hematopoietic precursors as well as their localization in the mouse embryo. This multidisciplinary approach is required to explore the mechanisms of hematopoietic cell generation.

Inhibition of angiotensin I-converting enzyme induces radioprotection by preserving murine hematopoietic short-term reconstituting cells.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors can affect hematopoiesis by several mechanisms including inhibition of angiotensin II formation and increasing plasma concentrations of AcSDKP (acetyl-N-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro), an ACE substrate and a negative regulator of hematopoiesis. We tested whether ACE inhibition could decrease the hematopoietic toxicity of lethal or sublethal irradiation protocols. In all cases, short treatment with the ACE inhibitor perindopril protected against irradiation-induced death. ACE inhibition accelerated hematopoietic recovery and led to a significant increase in platelet and red cell counts. Pretreatment with perindopril increased bone marrow cellularity and the number of hematopoietic progenitors (granulocyte macrophage colony-forming unit [CFU-GM], erythroid burst-forming unit [BFU-E], and megakaryocyte colony-forming unit [CFU-MK]) from day 7 to 28 after irradiation. Perindopril also increased the number of hematopoietic stem cells with at least a short-term reconstitutive activity in animals that recovered from irradiation. To determine the mechanism of action involved, we evaluated the effects of increasing AcSDKP plasma concentrations and of an angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonist (telmisartan) on radioprotection. We found that the AT1-receptor antagonism mediated similar radioprotection as the ACE inhibitor. These results suggest that ACE inhibitors and AT1-receptor antagonists could be used to decrease the hematopoietic toxicity of irradiation.