Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5, a target molecule of vialinin A, is a key molecule of TNF-α production in RBL-2H3 cells.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), a central mediator of the inflammatory response, is released from basophilic cells and other cells in response to a variety of proinflammatory stimuli. Vialinin A is a potent inhibitor of TNF-α production and is released from RBL-2H3 cells. Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5 (USP5), a deubiquitinating enzyme, was identified as a target molecule of vialinin A and its enzymatic activity was inhibited by vialinin A. Here we report production of TNF-α is decreased in USP5 siRNA-knockdown RBL-2H3 cells, compared with control cells. The finding of the present study strongly suggests that USP5 is one of the essential molecules for the production of TNF-α in RBL-2H3.

Vialinin A is a ubiquitin-specific peptidase inhibitor.

Vialinin A, a small compound isolated from the Chinese mushroom Thelephora vialis, exhibits more effective anti-inflammatory activity than the widely used immunosuppressive drug tacrolimus (FK506). Here, we show that ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5/isopeptidase T (USP5/IsoT) is a target molecule of vialinin A, identified by using a beads-probe method. Vialinin A inhibited the peptidase activity of USP5/IsoT and also inhibited the enzymatic activities of USP4 among deubiquitinating enzymes tested. Although USPs are a member of thiol protease family, vialinin A exhibited no inhibitions for other thiol proteases, such as calpain and cathepsin.

Inhibitory effects of vialinin A and its analog on tumor necrosis factor-α release and production from RBL-2H3 cells.

Vialinin A is an extremely potent inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α release from RBL-2H3 cells. The present study investigated in detail the inhibitory effects of vialinin A and its analog, 5',6'-dimethyl-1,1':4',1″-terphenyl-2',3',4,4″-tetraol (DMT), on TNF-α. Vialinin A and DMT inhibited the release of TNF-α from RBL-2H3 cells in a dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on ß-hexosaminidase activity. Also, vialinins had little effect on TNF-α mRNA levels. Intriguingly, vialinins inhibited TNF-α production at low concentrations, but not shown a dose-dependency. The potent inhibitory activities of vialinins against TNF-α production and release suggest promising new candidate pathways for anti-inflammatory agents.

Jellyfish mucin may have potential disease-modifying effects on osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to study the effects of intra-articular injection of jellyfish mucin (qniumucin) on articular cartilage degeneration in a model of osteoarthritis (OA) created in rabbit knees by resection of the anterior cruciate ligament. Qniumucin was extracted from Aurelia aurita (moon jellyfish) and Stomolophus nomurai (Nomura's jellyfish) and purified by ion exchange chromatography. The OA model used 36 knees in 18 Japanese white rabbits. Purified qniumucin extracts from S. nomurai or A. aurita were used at 1 mg/ml. Rabbits were divided into four groups: a control (C) group injected with saline; a hyaluronic acid (HA)-only group (H group); two qniumucin-only groups (M groups); and two qniumucin + HA groups (MH groups). One milligram of each solution was injected intra-articularly once a week for 5 consecutive weeks, starting from 4 weeks after surgery. Ten weeks after surgery, the articular cartilage was evaluated macroscopically and histologically. RESULTS: In the C and M groups, macroscopic cartilage defects extended to the subchondral bone medially and laterally. When the H and both MH groups were compared, only minor cartilage degeneration was observed in groups treated with qniumucin in contrast to the group without qniumucin. Histologically, densely safranin-O-stained cartilage layers were observed in the H and two MH groups, but cartilage was strongly maintained in both MH groups. CONCLUSION: At the concentrations of qniumucin used in this study, injection together with HA inhibited articular cartilage degeneration in this model of OA.

Structural analysis of O-glycans of mucin from jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) containing 2-aminoethylphosphonate.

The structure of O-glycan in qniumucin (Q-mucin), which is a novel mucin extracted from jellyfish, was analyzed by a combination of NMR and ESI-MS/MS. A previously unidentified monosaccharide involved in the glycan chains was determined to be N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) substituted by 2-aminoethylphosphonate (AEP) at the C-6. The O-glycans in Q-mucin from Aurelia aurita were proved to be mainly composed of three monosaccharides: GalNAc, AEP-(O-->6)-GalNAc, and P-6-GalNAc. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of an O-glycan structure of glycoproteins containing AEP. This exceptionally simple structure of Q-mucin and its potential use in material science and technology are revealed.

NMR study on a novel mucin from jellyfish in natural abundance, Qniumucin from Aurelia aurita.

A novel mucin (qniumucin), which we recently discovered in jellyfish, was investigated by several NMR techniques. Almost all the peaks in the (13)C and proton NMR spectra were satisfactorily assigned to the amino acids in the main chain and to the bridging GalNAc, the major sugar in the saccharide branches. The amino acid sequence in the tandem repeat part (-VVETTAAP-) was reconfirmed by the cross-peaks between alpha protons and carbonyl carbons in the HMBC spectrum. A connectivity analysis around the O-glycoside bond (GalNAc-Thr) was also performed, and detailed information on the local configuration was obtained by the DPFGSE-NOE-HSD technique. The strategy and the results described in this paper can be extended to the structural analysis of general O-glycan chains, which are more complex than the present mucin. NMR analyses reveal the simple structure of qniumucin extracted by the present protocol, and the homogeneity and purity of qniumucin are probably the result of it being extracted from jellyfish, a primitive animal.

Catalytic mechanism of nitrile hydratase proposed by time-resolved X-ray crystallography using a novel substrate, tert-butylisonitrile.

Nitrile hydratases (NHases) have an unusual iron or cobalt catalytic center with two oxidized cysteine ligands, cysteine-sulfinic acid and cysteine-sulfenic acid, catalyzing the hydration of nitriles to amides. Recently, we found that the NHase of Rhodococcus erythropolis N771 exhibited an additional catalytic activity, converting tert-butylisonitrile (tBuNC) to tert-butylamine. Taking advantage of the slow reactivity of tBuNC and the photoreactivity of nitrosylated NHase, we present the first structural evidence for the catalytic mechanism of NHase with time-resolved x-ray crystallography. By monitoring the reaction with attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the product from the isonitrile carbon was identified as a CO molecule. Crystals of nitrosylated inactive NHase were soaked with tBuNC. The catalytic reaction was initiated by photo-induced denitrosylation and stopped by flash cooling. tBuNC was first trapped at the hydrophobic pocket above the iron center and then coordinated to the iron ion at 120 min. At 440 min, the electron density of tBuNC was significantly altered, and a new electron density was observed near the isonitrile carbon as well as the sulfenate oxygen of alphaCys114. These results demonstrate that the substrate was coordinated to the iron and then attacked by a solvent molecule activated by alphaCys114-SOH.

Novel catalytic activity of nitrile hydratase from Rhodococcus sp. N771.

Nitrile hydratase (NHase) from Rhodococcus sp. N771 is a non-heme iron enzyme catalyzing the hydration of various nitriles to the corresponding amides. We report a novel catalytic activity of NHase. When NHase was incubated with an large excess of commercially available isovaleronitrile, the charge transfer band from the sulfur ligand to the Fe atom shifted from 710 nm to 820 nm, but recovered within 4 min. Similar UV-Vis absorption changes were observed after the addition of isobutylisonitrile (iBuNC), a major impurity in commercially available isovaleronitrile, suggesting that NHase catalyzes the conversion of iBuNC to other compounds. The reaction product was identified as isobutylamine (iBuNH(2)) by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. NHase also converts t-butylisonitrile and 1,1,3,3,-tetramethylbutylisonitrile to the corresponding amines. Kinetic analysis of the conversion of iBuNC to iBuNH(2) showed a K(m) value comparable to that for nitriles, while the V(max) value was more than 10(5) times smaller than that for methacrylonitrile. This is the first report suggesting that NHase is a bifunctional enzyme catalyzing a reaction other than the hydration of nitriles.

Solvent control of optical resolution of 2-amino-1-phenylethanol using dehydroabietic acid.

The optical resolution of 2-amino-1-phenylethanol (2-APE) by the solvent switch method was investigated using dehydroabietic acid (DAA), a natural chiral acid obtained as one of the main components of disproportionated rosin. The solvent dependency of optical rotation measurements of 2-APE, DAA and the diastereomeric salts suggested solvent control of optical resolution. Both (R)- and (S)-2-APE were resolved, as the first success for aminoalcohols, only by changing the resolving solvents: (S)-2-APE was obtained in high optical purity by a single crystallization operation with polar solvents (epsilon > 50), whereas the efficiency was lower for (R)-2-APE using less polar solvents (20 < epsilon < 40). The results were compared and discussed with reference to the crystal structures of the diastereomeric salts.

Sulfur K-edge XAS and DFT calculations on nitrile hydratase: geometric and electronic structure of the non-heme iron active site.

The geometric and electronic structure of the active site of the non-heme iron enzyme nitrile hydratase (NHase) is studied using sulfur K-edge XAS and DFT calculations. Using thiolate (RS(-))-, sulfenate (RSO(-))-, and sulfinate (RSO(2)(-))-ligated model complexes to provide benchmark spectral parameters, the results show that the S K-edge XAS is sensitive to the oxidation state of S-containing ligands and that the spectrum of the RSO(-) species changes upon protonation as the S-O bond is elongated (by approximately 0.1 A). These signature features are used to identify the three cysteine residues coordinated to the low-spin Fe(III) in the active site of NHase as CysS(-), CysSOH, and CysSO(2)(-) both in the NO-bound inactive form and in the photolyzed active form. These results are correlated to geometry-optimized DFT calculations. The pre-edge region of the X-ray absorption spectrum is sensitive to the Z(eff) of the Fe and reveals that the Fe in [FeNO](6) NHase species has a Z(eff) very similar to that of its photolyzed Fe(III) counterpart. DFT calculations reveal that this results from the strong pi back-bonding into the pi antibonding orbital of NO, which shifts significant charge from the formally t(2)(6) low-spin metal to the coordinated NO.