Knock-down of PSAT1 Enhances Sensitivity of NSCLC Cells to Glutamine-limiting Conditions.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Phosphoserine aminotransferase 1 (PSAT1) is an enzyme implicated in serine biosynthesis, and its overexpression has been linked to cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, targeting PSAT1 is considered to be an anticancer strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The viability of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells was measured by MTT assay. Protein and mRNA expression were determined by western blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS: Glutamine-limiting conditions were generated through glutamine deprivation or CB-839 treatment, which induced PSAT1 expression in NSCLC cells. PSAT1 expression induced by glutamine-limiting conditions was regulated by activating transcription factor 4. Knock-down of PSAT1 enhanced the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to glutamine-limiting conditions. Interestingly, ionizing radiation induced PSAT1 expression, and knocking down PSAT1 increased cell sensitivity to ionizing radiation. CONCLUSION: Inhibiting PSAT1 might aid in the treatment of lung cancer, and PSAT1 may be a therapeutic target for lung cancer.

Global proteomic analysis of protein acetylation affecting metabolic regulation in Daphnia pulex.

Daphnia (Daphnia pulex) is a small planktonic crustacean and a key constituent of aquatic ecosystems. It is generally used as a model organism to study environmental toxic problems. In the past decade, genomic and proteomic datasets of Daphnia have been developed. The proteomic dataset allows for the investigation of toxicological effects in the context of "Daphnia proteomics," resulting in greater insights for toxicological research. To exploit Daphnia for ecotoxicological research, information on the post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins is necessary, as this is a critical regulator of biological processes. Acetylation of lysine (Kac) is a reversible and highly regulated PTM that is associated with diverse biological functions. However, a comprehensive description of Kac in Daphnia is not yet available. To understand the cellular distribution of lysine acetylation in Daphnia, we identified 98 acetylation sites in 65 proteins by immunoprecipitation using an anti-acetyllysine antibody and a liquid chromatography system supported by mass spectroscopy. We identified 28 acetylated sites related to metabolic proteins and six acetylated enzymes associated with the TCA cycle in Daphnia. From GO and KEGG enrichment analyses, we showed that Kac in D. pulex is highly enriched in proteins associated with metabolic processes. Our data provide the first global analysis of Kac in D. pulex and is an important resource for the functional analysis of Kac in this organism.

Comprehensive Analysis of in Vivo Phosphoproteome of Mouse Liver Microsomes.

Protein phosphorylation at serine, threonine, and tyrosine residues are some of the most widespread reversible post-translational modifications. Microsomes are vesicle-like bodies, not ordinarily present within living cells, which form from pieces of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), plasma membrane, mitochondria, or Golgi apparatus of broken eukaryotic cells. Here we investigated the total phosphoproteome of mouse liver microsomes (MLMs) using TiO2 enrichment of phosphopeptides coupled to on-line 2D-LC-MS/MS. In total, 699 phosphorylation sites in 527 proteins were identified in MLMs. When compared with the current phosphoSitePlus database, 155 novel phosphoproteins were identified in MLM. The distributions of phosphosites were 89.4, 8.0, and 2.6% for phosphoserine, phosphotheronine, and phosphotyrosine, respectively. By Motif-X analysis, eight Ser motifs and one Thr motif were found, and five acidic, two basophilic-, and two proline-directed motifs were assigned. The potential functions of phosphoproteins in MLM were assigned by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. In GO annotation, phosphorylated microsomal proteins were involved in mRNA processing, mRNA metabolic processes, and RNA splicing. In the KEGG pathway analysis, phosphorylated microsomal proteins were highly enriched in ribosome protein processing in ER and ribosomes and in RNA transport. Furthermore, we determined that 52 and 23 phosphoproteins were potential substrates of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A and casein kinase II, respectively, many of which are 40S/60S ribosomal proteins. Overall, our results provide an overview of features of protein phosphorylation in MLMs that should be a valuable resource for the future understanding of protein synthesis or translation involving phosphorylation.

Korean Red Ginseng attenuates ethanol-induced steatosis and oxidative stress via AMPK/Sirt1 activation.

BACKGROUND: Alcoholic steatosis is the earliest and most common liver disease, and may precede the onset of more severe forms of liver injury. METHODS: The effect of Korean Red Ginseng extract (RGE) was tested in two murine models of ethanol (EtOH)-feeding and EtOH-treated hepatocytes. RESULTS: Blood biochemistry analysis demonstrated that RGE treatment improved liver function. Histopathology and measurement of hepatic triglyceride content verified the ability of RGE to inhibit fat accumulation. Consistent with this, RGE administration downregulated hepatic lipogenic gene induction and restored hepatic lipolytic gene repression by EtOH. The role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver diseases is well established. Treatment with RGE attenuated EtOH-induced cytochrome P450 2E1, 4-hydroxynonenal, and nitrotyrosine levels. Alcohol consumption also decreased phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, which was restored by RGE. Moreover, RGE markedly inhibited fat accumulation in EtOH-treated hepatocytes, which correlated with a decrease in sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 and a commensurate increase in sirtuin 1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α expression. Interestingly, the ginsenosides Rb2 and Rd, but not Rb1, significantly inhibited fat accumulation in hepatocytes. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that RGE and its ginsenoside components inhibit alcoholic steatosis and liver injury by adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase/sirtuin 1 activation both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that RGE may have a potential to treat alcoholic liver disease.

In vitro inhibition of human cytochrome P450 by cudratricusxanthone A.

Cudratricusxanthone A (CTXA) isolated from the roots of Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau (Moraceae) has several biological activities, including hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, monoamine oxidase inhibitory, and antithrombotic activities. In this study, we investigated the potential herb-drug interaction of CTXA and nine cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms in pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs) using a cocktail probe assay. CTXA reversibly inhibited the CYP1A2-catalyzed phenacetin O-deethylation, CYP2C8-catalyzed paclitaxel 6-hydroxylation, and CYP2C9-catalyzed diclofenac 4'-hydroxylation with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 3.9, 4.7, and 2.9 µM, respectively. The IC50 values did not change under different preincubation conditions. CTXA showed marked dose-dependent, but not time-dependent, inhibition of CYP1A2 and 2C9 activities in HLMs. Dixon plots showed typical competitive inhibition of CYP1A2 and CYP2C9 with Ki values of 1.3 and 1.5 µM, respectively. Further, CTXA inhibited CYP2C8 in a non-competitive manner with a Ki value of 2.2 µM. Our results showed that CTXA reversibly inhibits CYP1A2, 2C8, and 2C9.

Characterization of in vitro metabolites of cudratricusxanthone A in human liver microsomes.

Cudratricusxanthone A (CTXA), isolated from the roots of Cudrania tricuspidata, exhibits several biological activities; however, metabolic biotransformation was not investigated. Therefore, metabolites of CTXA were investigated and the major metabolic enzymes engaged in human liver microsomes (HLMs) were characterized using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). CTXA was incubated with HLMs or human recombinant CYPs and UGTs, and analysed by an LC-MS/MS equipped electrospray ionization (ESI) to qualify and quantify its metabolites. In total, eight metabolites were identified: M1-M4 were identified as mono-hydroxylated metabolites during Phase I, and M5-M8 were identified as O-glucuronidated metabolites during Phase II in HLMs. Moreover, these metabolite structures and a metabolic pathway were identified by elucidation of MS(n) fragments and formation by human recombinant enzymes. M1 was formed by CYP2D6, and M2-M4 were generated by CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. M5-M8 were mainly formed by UGT1A1, respectively. While investigating the biotransformation of CTXA, eight metabolites of CTXA were identified by CYPs and UGTs; these data will be valuable for understanding the in vivo metabolism of CTXA.

Selective induction of hepatic cytochrome P450 2B activity by leelamine in vivo, as a potent novel inducer.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is an important enzyme that can act on xenobiotic substances such as toxic chemicals or drugs. Phenobarbital (PB) has been widely used to induce CYP2B activity to investigate the drug-drug interaction of CYP2B substrate drugs. Leelamine is a diterpene compound, and is the current focus of efforts to develop a treatment for diabetes. In this study, we identified the selective and potent inductive effect of leelamine on CYP2B at doses of 5, 10, or 20 mg/kg in male ICR mice for 1 or 3 days. In liver, the activity of CYP2B significantly increased 3.6-fold after treatment with leelamine, compared to vehicle-treated group. Activities of benzyloxyresorufin O-dealkylase and pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase significantly increased 6.3- and 5.3-fold, respectively, with a single treatment of 20 mg/kg leelamine for 1 day. Furthermore, immunoblot analysis showed that significantly and dose-dependently increased CYP2B10 protein levels in liver. However, PCR results showed that there were no significant changes in the CAR and CYP2B mRNA levels after leelamine treatment. Accordingly, we suggest that leelamine is a novel substitute of PB for the selective induction of CYP2B activity in vivo.

Potent inhibitory effect of alpha-viniferin on human cytochrome P450.

α-Viniferin isolated from Caragana chamlagu is a trimer of resveratrol, and has several biological activities, which include anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-arthritis, and anti-tumor activities. Herb-drug interactions are the source of the most harmful complications in patients coadministered herbal and modern medicines, and are caused by modulation of the activities of drug metabolizing enzymes. Here, the authors investigated the inhibitory effects of α-viniferin on the activities of 9 human cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms using a cocktail of probe substrates and LC-MS/MS in pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs). α-Viniferin strongly inhibited 7 of the 9 CYP isoforms (except CYP2A6 and CYP2E1). Furthermore, α-viniferin strongly inhibited CYP2C19-mediated omeprazole 5-hydroxylation and CYP3A4-catalyzed midazolam 1-hydroxylation with IC50 values of 0.93 and 1.2 µM, respectively. α-Viniferin strongly inhibited the activities of these two CYPs dose dependently, but not time-dependently. Lineweaver-Burk plots and secondary plots indicated a typical pattern of mix-mode inhibition for CYP2C19 and 3A4. This is the first investigation conducted on the inhibitory effect of α-viniferin on CYP2C19 and 3A4 in HLMs to predict a potential herb-drug interaction.

Global phosphoproteomic analysis of Daphnia pulex reveals evolutionary conservation of Ser/Thr/Tyr phosphorylation.

Reversible protein phosphorylations of serine, threonine, and tyrosine are critical processes in organisms ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Water fleas (Daphnids) have been used widely in ecologic and ecotoxicological studies, with more than 80% of ecotoxicological publications over the last 10 years involving planktonic genera, including Daphnia. However, the substrate proteins and the functions of phosphorylation in Daphnia remain largely unknown. Here, we report the first global screening of phosphoproteins and their sites of phosphorylation in D. pulex. We identified 103 phosphorylation sites in 91 Daphnia proteins by phosphopeptide enrichment using titanium dioxide isolation technology and an online two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) system supported by high accuracy mass spectrometry. The identified Serine/threonine/tyrosine phosphorylation sites showed enrichment in the unstructured regions. Using Gene Ontology analysis, phosphorylated proteins were identified mainly as membrane proteins with essential biological roles such as protein binding, catalytic activity and nucleotide binding. BLASTP searching identified 21 phosphorylated sites in 20 D. pulex proteins that were evolutionally conserved between D. pulex and human. Here, we report the phosphorylation in Daphnia proteins and the predicted biological and functional roles of these phosphorylations. D. pulex might provide a promising model for examining the role of phosphorylation in biological functions.