Che1/AATF interacts with subunits of the histone acetyltransferase core module of SAGA complexes.

General Control Non-derepressible 5 (GCN5) and Alteration/Deficiency in Activation 2 and 3 proteins (ADA2 and ADA3, respectively) are subunits of the Histone AcetylTransferase (HAT) module of SAGA- and ATAC-type co-activators. We previously reported four new interacting partners of human ADA3 identified by screening a human fetal brain cDNA library using yeast two hybrid technology. One of these partners was Apoptosis-Antagonizing Transcription Factor (AATF), also known as Che-1, an RNA polymerase II-binding protein with a number of roles in different cellular processes including regulation of transcription, cell proliferation, cell cycle control, DNA damage responses and apoptosis. Che-1/AATF is a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatments. In this study, we aimed to identify whether besides ADA3, other components of the HAT modules of SAGA and ATAC complexes, human ADA2 and GCN5 also interact with Che-1/AATF. Co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization experiments were used to demonstrate association of AATF both with two ADA2 isoforms, ADA2A and ADA2B and with GCN5 proteins in human cells and yeast two-hybrid assays to delineate domains in the ADA2 and GCN5 proteins required for these interactions. These findings provide new insights into the pathways regulated by ADA-containing protein complexes.

Insect growth regulator activity of Cestrum parqui saponins: an interaction with cholesterol metabolism.

Cestrum parqui is an ornamental shrub known for its insecticidal activity against some insect pests; this activity comes from the crude saponic extract of the leaves of this plant, the saponins cause insect growth regulator symptoms (development and moulting perturbation). In this work we try to demonstrate the hypothesis that saponins interact with ecdysone (moulting hormone) synthesis mechanisms by reducing diet cholesterol absorption (cholesterol forms the skeleton of ecdysone and of other ecdysteroids). To show the cholesterol/saponin interaction we used a stored product pest insect (Tribolium confuisurn), the larva of this insect are affected by saponins added in their diet, but the addition of cholesterol permits to reduce significatively this insecticidal propriety. Using Spodoptera littoralis larva model the tentative to detect a cholesterol rate reduction on the level of hemolymph is also unsuccessful. All these experiments shows that this type of reaction can't occur in the diet or in the digestive system but probably in insect cells. It is clear that Cestrurn parqui saponins affect the cholesterol metabolism but the exactly mechanism is still unknown. More investigations are necessary to develop this hypothesis and to envisage the use of Cestrum saponins as insect growth regulator bioinsecticide.