DNA gyrase could be a crucial regulatory factor for growth and survival of Mycobacterium leprae.

Leprosy, an important infectious disease in humans caused by Mycobacterium leprae (Mle), remains endemic in many countries. Notably, the pathogen cannot be cultured in vitro, except in mouse footpads in vivo. The molecular basis of these characteristics and the mechanisms remain unknown. Consequently, analysis of Mle growth and survival is urgently needed to develop novel therapies against leprosy, including rapid, simple, and specific methods to detect infection. Here, we demonstrated the functional role and contribution of Mle-DNA gyrase, which regulates DNA topology, DNA replication, and chromosome segregation to promote bacterial growth and survival, in Mle growth and survival in vitro and in vivo. The optimum temperature for Mle-DNA gyrase activity was 30 °C. When the DNA gyrB-gyrA genes in Mycobacterium smegmatis were replaced with the Mle gyrase genes by allelic exchange, the recombinants could not grow at 37 °C. Moreover, using radiorespirometry analysis for viability of Mle bacilli, we found that Mle growth was more vigorous at 25-30 °C than at 37 °C, but was inhibited above 40 °C. These results propose that DNA gyrase is a crucial factor for Mle growth and survival and its sensitivity to temperature may be exploited in heat-based treatment of leprosy.

Influence of lineage-specific amino acid dimorphisms in GyrA on Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to fluoroquinolones.

We conducted in vitro DNA supercoiling assays, utilizing recombinant DNA gyrases, to elucidate the influence of the lineage-specific serine or threonine residue at position 95 of GyrA on fluoroquinolone resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There was little effect of the GyrA-Ala74Ser amino acid substitution on activity of the GyrA-Ser95 gyrase, while activity of the GyrA-Asp94Gly-Ser95 gyrase was reduced. These findings were in striking contrast to previous reports analyzing GyrA with Thr95 and suggest an important impact of the amino acid in the development of fluoroquinolone resistance.

Impact of the E540V amino acid substitution in GyrB of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on quinolone resistance.

Amino acid substitutions conferring resistance to quinolones in Mycobacterium tuberculosis have generally been found within the quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) in the A subunit of DNA gyrase (GyrA) rather than the B subunit of DNA gyrase (GyrB). To clarify the contribution of an amino acid substitution, E540V, in GyrB to quinolone resistance in M. tuberculosis, we expressed recombinant DNA gyrases in Escherichia coli and characterized them in vitro. Wild-type and GyrB-E540V DNA gyrases were reconstituted in vitro by mixing recombinant GyrA and GyrB. Correlation between the amino acid substitution and quinolone resistance was assessed by the ATP-dependent DNA supercoiling assay, quinolone-inhibited supercoiling assay, and DNA cleavage assay. The 50% inhibitory concentrations of eight quinolones against DNA gyrases bearing the E540V amino acid substitution in GyrB were 2.5- to 36-fold higher than those against the wild-type enzyme. Similarly, the 25% maximum DNA cleavage concentrations were 1.5- to 14-fold higher for the E540V gyrase than for the wild-type enzyme. We further demonstrated that the E540V amino acid substitution influenced the interaction between DNA gyrase and the substituent(s) at R-7, R-8, or both in quinolone structures. This is the first detailed study of the contribution of the E540V amino acid substitution in GyrB to quinolone resistance in M. tuberculosis.

Expression of c-Myc is related to host cell death following Salmonella typhimurium infection in macrophage.

It has been known that ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) induced by the binding of c-Myc to odc gene is closely linked to cell death. Here, we investigated the relationship between their expressions and cell death in macrophage cells following treatment with Salmonella typhimurium or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). ODC expression was increased by bacteria or LPS and repressed by inhibitors against mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway. In contrast, c-Myc protein level was increased after treatment with bacteria, but not by treatment with LPS or heat-killed bacteria although both bacteria and LPS increased the levels of c-myc mRNA to a similar extent. c-Myc protein level is dependent upon bacterial invasion because treatment with cytochalasin D (CCD), inhibitors of endocytosis, decreased c-Myc protein level. The cell death induced by bacteria was significantly decreased after treatment of CCD or c-Myc inhibitor, indicating that cell death by S. typhimurium infection is related to c-Myc, but not ODC. Consistent with this conclusion, treatment with bacteria mutated to host invasion did not increase c-Myc protein level and cell death rate. Taken together, it is suggested that induction of c-Myc by live bacterial infection is directly related to host cell death.

Molecular cloning and characterization of a single-chain variable fragment antibody specific for benzoylecgonine expressed in Escherichia coli.

Benzoylecgonine is a major metabolite of cocaine. We generated hybridoma cells (C1303) producing anti-benzoylecgonine monoclonal antibody (mAb) with a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) and an antigen-binding domain from the C1303 cells. Genes encoding an scFv antibody and constant region (Fc) were amplified from a cDNA library of C1303 cells using PCR. The two frameworks built for scFv and scFv-Fc consisted of HL [(heavy chain variable region, V(H)) - linker - (light chain variable region, V(L))] and HL-Fc, respectively. A 45 base-pair-long sequence encoding (Gly(4)-Ser)(3) was used as the linker, and the mouse IgG1 constant region sequence (225 amino acids) was used as the Fc domain. These two types of recombinant Abs were determined to be 750 bp in length (which corresponds to a 30 kDa protein) in the HL and 1,432 bp in length (which corresponds to a 65 kDa protein) in the HL-Fc, respectively. The parental Ab and HL-Fc affinities against benzoylecgonine were measured by ELISA and found to be nearly equal to the Ab concentration. We were also able to measure HL affinity using an agarose diffusion assay (Ouchterlony test). The affinity of the recombinant single-chain antibody against benzoylecgonine was sufficiently comparable to that of the parent antibodies to be used for the immunodetection of specific drug compounds or the detoxification of drug abusers by immunotherapy.

Functional analysis of the first mannosyltransferase (PIG-M) involved in glycosylphosphatidylinositol synthesis in Plasmodium falciparum.

The mammalian glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor consists of three mannoses attached to acylated GlcN-(acyl)PI to form Man(3)-GlcN-(acyl)PI. The first of the three mannose groups is attached to an intermediate to generate Man-GlcN-(acyl)PI by the first mannosyltransferase (GPI-MT-I). Mammalian and protozoan GPI-MT-I have different substrate specificities. PIG-M encodes the mammalial GPI-MT-I which has 423 amino acids and multiple transmembrane domains. In this work we cloned PIG-M homologues from humans, Plasmodium falciparum (PfPIG-M), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (GPI14), to test whether they could complement GPI-MT-I-deficient mammalian cells, since this biosynthetic step is likely to be a good target for selective screening of inhibitors against many pathogenic organisms. PfPIG-M partially restored cell surface expression of the GPI-anchored protein CD59 in PIG-M deficient mammalian cells, and first mannose transfer activity in vitro; however, this was not the case for GPI14.

Both mammalian PIG-M and PIG-X are required for growth of GPI14-disrupted yeast.

GPI mannosyltransferase I (GPI-MT-I) transfers the first mannose to a GPI-anchor precursor, glucosamine-(acyl)phosphatidylinositol [GlcN-(acyl)PI]. Mammalian GPI-MT-I consists of two components, PIG-M and PIG-X, which are homologous to Gpi14p and Pbn1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. In the present study, we disrupted yeast GPI14 and analysed the phenotype of gpi14 yeast. The gpi14 haploid cells were inviable and accumulated GlcN-(acyl)PI. We cloned PIG-M homologues from human, Plasmodium falciparum (PfPIG-M) and Trypanosoma brucei (TbGPI14), and tested whether they could complement gpi14-disrupted yeast. None of them restored GPI-MT-I activity and cell growth in gpi14-disrupted yeast. However, gpi14-disrupted yeast cells with human PIG-M, but not with PfPIG-M or TbGPI14, grew slowly but significantly when they were supplemented with rat PIG-X. This suggests that the association of PIG-X and PIG-M for GPI-MT-I activity is not interchangeable between mammals and the other lower eukaryotes.

Isolation of new CHO cell mutants defective in CMP-sialic acid biosynthesis and transport.

Sialic acid is a sugar typically found at the N-glycan termini of glycoproteins in mammalian cells. Lec3 CHO cell mutants are deficient in epimerase activity, due to a defect in the gene that encodes a bifunctional UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc kinase (GNE). Sialic acid modification on the cell surface is partially affected in these cells. We have mutagenized Lec3 CHO cells and isolated six mutants (termed C2m) deficient in the cell surface expression of polysialic acid (PSA). Mutant C2m9 was partially defective in expression of cell-surface PSA and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) binding, while in the other five mutants, both cell-surface PSA and WGA binding were undetectable. PSA expression was restored by complementation with the gene encoding the CMP-sialic acid transporter (CST), indicating that CST mutations were responsible for the phenotypes of the C2m cells. We characterized the CST mutations in these cells by Northern blotting and RT-PCR. C2m9 and C2m45 carried missense mutations resulting in glycine to glutamate substitutions at amino acids 217 (G217E) and 256 (G256E), respectively. C2m13, C2m39 and C2m31 had nonsense mutations that resulted in decreased CST mRNA stability, and C2m34 carried a putative splice site mutation. PSA and CD15s expression in CST-deficient Lec2 cells were partially rescued by G217E CST, but not by G256E CST, although both proteins were expressed at similar levels, and localized to the Golgi. These results indicate that the novel missense mutations isolated in this study affect CST activity.

New mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell representing an unknown gene for attachment of glycosylphosphatidylinositol to proteins.

Aerolysin, a secreted bacterial toxin from Aeromonas hydrophila, binds to glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein and kills the cells by forming pores. Both GPI and N-glycan moieties of GPI-anchored proteins are involved in efficient binding of aerolysin. We isolated various Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutant cells resistant to aerolysin. Among them, CHOPA41.3 mutant cells showed several-fold decreased expression of GPI-anchored proteins. After transfection of N-acetylglucosamine transferase I (GnT1) cDNA, aerolysin was efficiently bound to the cells, indicating that the resistance against aerolysin in this cells was mainly ascribed to the defect of N-glycan maturation. CHOPA41.3 cells also accumulated GPI intermediates lacking ethanolamine phosphate modification on the first mannose. After stable transfection of PIG-N cDNA encoding GPI-ethanolamine phosphate transferase1, a profile of accumulated GPI intermediates became similar to that of GPI transamidase mutant cells. It indicated, therefore, that CHOPA41.3 cells are defective in GnT1, ethanolamine phosphate modification of the first mannose, and attachment of GPI to proteins. The GPI accumulation in CHOPA41.3 cells carrying PIG-N cDNA was not normalized after transfection with cDNAs of all known components in GPI transamidase complex. Microsomes from CHOPA41.3 cells had normal GPI transamidase activity. Taken together, there is an unknown gene required for efficient attachment of GPI to proteins.

Androgen action on hepatic vitellogenin synthesis in the eel, Anguilla japonica is suppressed by an androgen receptor antagonist.

Involvement of additional hormones other than estrogen in the control of vitellogenin (Vg) synthesis has been suggested in fish. However, no satisfactory explanation on the mechanism of the action of these hormones has been reported. In this study, we have exploited the possibility of androgen receptor mediation during the androgen action on the pathway of Vg synthesis. Hepatocytes were prepared from sexually immature Japanese eel Anguilla japonica and treated with estradiol-17beta (E2), 17alpha-methyltestosterone (MT), growth hormone, tamoxifen or flutamide, or in combination of these. Spent culture media were analysed by SDS-PAGE for Vg detection. Results from the chemical treatments demonstrated the necessity of E2 as the primary factor for Vg synthesis and requirement of additional hormones for the full expression of Vg. The effects of E2 and MT were effectively blocked by tamoxifen, an estrogen receptor antagonist and flutamide, an androgen receptor antagonist, respectively, indicating ER-mediated estrogen action and AR-mediated androgen action on Vg synthesis in this species.

Mammalian PIG-X and yeast Pbn1p are the essential components of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-mannosyltransferase I.

Within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mannoses and glucoses, donated from dolichol-phosphate-mannose and -glucose, are transferred to N-glycan and GPI-anchor precursors, and serine/threonine residues in many proteins. Glycosyltransferases that mediate these reactions are ER-resident multitransmembrane proteins with common characteristics, forming a superfamily of >10 enzymes. Here, we report an essential component of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-mannosyltransferase I (GPI-MT-I), which transfers the first of the four mannoses in the GPI-anchor precursors. We isolated a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutant defective in GPI-MT-I but not its catalytic component PIG-M. The mutant gene, termed phosphatidylinositolglycan-class X (PIG-X), encoded a 252-amino acid ER-resident type I transmembrane protein with a large lumenal domain. PIG-X and PIG-M formed a complex, and PIG-M expression was <10% in the absence of PIG-X, indicating that PIG-X stabilizes PIG-M. We found that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pbn1p/YCL052Cp, which was previously reported to be involved in autoprocessing of proproteinase B, is the functional homologue of PIG-X; Pbn1p is critical for Gpi14p/YJR013Wp function, the yeast homologue of PIG-M. This is the first report of an essential subcomponent of glycosyltransferases using dolichol-phosphate-monosaccharide.

Characterization of lipopolysaccharide responsive proteins that binds to the 5'-flanking regions of mouse Rantes.

When macrophage (like the RAW264.7 cell line) was stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), factors that bind specifically to the LPS responsive element (LRE) of murine Rantes gene appeared in the nucleus. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) detected 2 specific bands, designated as S (slow) and M (middle). The S band appeared within 15 min of LPS stimulation, and reached its highest intensity within 2 h. The M band was present in unstimulated cells, but after stimulation its intensity increased and reached its highest intensity also in about 2 h. Significantly, in LPS hyporesponsive 10-9 macrophage like cells, the S band was absent. The M band was present in equal amounts in stimulated and unstimulated cells. The results suggest that the S band was induced by LPS stimulation. In the nuclear extract, the native molecular weight of the S band-forming factor was approximately 270 kDa, and that of the M bands-forming factor was approximately 140 kDa. U.V. cross linking studies consistently showed at least 2 different polypeptides of approximate molecular mass of 70 kDa, both in the S band-forming factor (complex) and the M band-forming factor (complex). In the nuclear extracts of both the LPS stimulated and unstimulated cells, we detected a factor with approximate molecular mass of 120 kDa that could convert the S band-forming complex to the M band-forming complex. This factor, designated as a converting factor, is a protein phosphatase since its activity was blocked by okadaic acid, an inhibitor of Ser/Thr protein phosphatase. Also, purified protein phosphatase type 1 (PP-1) could convert the S band-forming complex to the M band-forming complex.