N-Acetylcysteine-Loaded Magnetic Nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition characterized by the rapid onset of lung inflammation Therefore, monitoring the spatial distribution of the drug directly administered to heterogeneously damaged lungs is desirable. In this work, we focus on optimizing the drug N-acetylcysteine (NAC) adsorption on poly-l-lysine-modified magnetic nanoparticles (PLLMNPs) to monitor the drug spatial distribution in the lungs using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. The physicochemical characterizations of the samples were conducted in terms of morphology, particle size distributions, surface charge, and magnetic properties followed by the thermogravimetric quantification of NAC coating and cytotoxicity experiments. The sample with the theoretical NAC loading concentration of 0.25 mg/mL was selected as an optimum due to the hydrodynamic nanoparticle size of 154 nm, the surface charge of +32 mV, good stability, and no cytotoxicity. Finally, MRI relaxometry confirmed the suitability of the sample to study the spatial distribution of the drug in vivo using MRI protocols. We showed the prevailing transverse relaxation with high transverse relaxivity values and a high r2(*)/r1 ratio, causing visible hypointensity in the final MRI signal. Furthermore, NAC adsorption significantly affects the relaxation properties of PLLMNPs, which can help monitor drug release in vitro/in vivo.

Characterization of RACK1-depleted mammalian cells by a palette of microscopy approaches reveals defects in cell cycle progression and polarity establishment.

The Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) is an evolutionarily conserved scaffold protein involved in the regulation of numerous cellular processes. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9 and siRNA to reduce the expression of RACK1 in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells and Rat2 fibroblasts, respectively. RACK1-depleted cells were examined using coherence-controlled holographic microscopy, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. RACK1 depletion resulted in decreased cell proliferation, increased cell area and perimeter, and in the appearance of large binucleated cells suggesting a defect in the cell cycle progression. Our results show that the depletion of RACK1 has a pleiotropic effect on both epithelial and mesenchymal cell lines and support its essential role in mammalian cells.

Development of Positively Charged Poly-L-Lysine Magnetic Nanoparticles as Potential MRI Contrast Agent.

A colloidal solution of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) modified with biocompatible positively charged poly-L-lysine (PLL) with an oleate (OL) layer employed as an initial coating was produced as a potential MRI contrast agent. The effect of various PLL/MNPs' mass ratios on the samples' hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential, and isoelectric point (IEP) was studied by the dynamic light-scattering method. The optimal mass ratio for MNPs' surface coating was 0.5 (sample PLL0.5-OL-MNPs). The average hydrodynamic particle size in the sample of PLL0.5-OL-MNPs was 124.4 ± 1.4 nm, and in the PLL-unmodified nanoparticles, it was 60.9 ± 0.2 nm, indicating that the OL-MNPs' surface became covered by PLL. Next, the typical characteristics of the superparamagnetic behavior were observed in all samples. In addition, the decrease in saturation magnetizations from 66.9 Am2/kg for MNPs to 35.9 and 31.6 Am2/kg for sample OL-MNPs and PLL0.5-OL-MNPs also confirmed successful PLL adsorption. Moreover, we show that both OL-MNPs and PLL0.5-OL-MNPs exhibit excellent MRI relaxivity properties and a very high r2(*)/r1 ratio, which is very desirable in biomedical applications with required MRI contrast enhancement. The PLL coating itself appears to be the crucial factor in enhancing the relaxivity of MNPs in MRI relaxometry.

Yeast stress granules at a glance.

The formation of stress granules (SGs), membrane-less organelles that are composed of mainly messenger ribonucleoprotein assemblies, is the result of a conserved evolutionary strategy to cellular stress. During their formation, which is triggered by robust environmental stress, SGs sequester translationally inactive mRNA molecules, which are either forwarded for further processing elsewhere or stored during a period of stress within SGs. Removal of mRNA molecules from active translation and their sequestration in SGs allows preferential translation of stress response transcripts. By affecting the specificity of mRNA translation, mRNA localization and stability, SGs are involved in the overall cellular reprogramming during periods of environmental stress and viral infection. Over the past two decades, we have learned which processes drive SGs assembly, how their composition varies under stress, and how they co-exist with other subcellular organelles. Yeast as a model has been instrumental in our understanding of SG biology. Despite the specific differences between the SGs of yeast and mammals, yeast have been shown to be a valuable tool to the study of SGs in translation-related stress response. This review summarizes the data surrounding SGs that are formed under different stress conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeast species. It offers a comprehensive and up-to-date view on these still somewhat mysterious entities.

Mmi1, the Yeast Ortholog of Mammalian Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein (TCTP), Negatively Affects Rapamycin-Induced Autophagy in Post-Diauxic Growth Phase.

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a multifunctional and highly conserved protein from yeast to humans. Recently, its role in non-selective autophagy has been reported with controversial results in mammalian and human cells. Herein we examine the effect of Mmi1, the yeast ortholog of TCTP, on non-selective autophagy in budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a well-established model system to monitor autophagy. We induced autophagy by nitrogen starvation or rapamycin addition and measured autophagy by using the Pho8Δ60 and GFP-Atg8 processing assays in WT, mmi1Δ, and in autophagy-deficient strains atg8Δ or atg1Δ. Our results demonstrate that Mmi1 does not affect basal or nitrogen starvation-induced autophagy. However, an increased rapamycin-induced autophagy is detected in mmi1Δ strain when the cells enter the post-diauxic growth phase, and this phenotype can be rescued by inserted wild-type MMI1 gene. Further, the mmi1Δ cells exhibit significantly lower amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the post-diauxic growth phase compared to WT cells. In summary, our study suggests that Mmi1 negatively affects rapamycin-induced autophagy in the post-diauxic growth phase and supports the role of Mmi1/TCTP as a negative autophagy regulator in eukaryotic cells.

Robust heat shock induces eIF2alpha-phosphorylation-independent assembly of stress granules containing eIF3 and 40S ribosomal subunits in budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Environmental stresses inducing translation arrest are accompanied by the deposition of translational components into stress granules (SGs) serving as mRNA triage sites. It has recently been reported that, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, formation of SGs occurs as a result of a prolonged glucose starvation. However, these SGs did not contain eIF3, one of hallmarks of mammalian SGs. We have analyzed the effect of robust heat shock on distribution of eIF3a/Tif32p/Rpg1p and showed that it results in the formation of eIF3a accumulations containing other eIF3 subunits, known yeast SG components and small but not large ribosomal subunits and eIF2alpha/Sui2p. Interestingly, under these conditions, Dcp2p and Dhh1p P-body markers also colocalized with eIF3a. Microscopic analyses of the edc3Deltalsm4DeltaC mutant demonstrated that different scaffolding proteins are required to induce SGs upon robust heat shock as opposed to glucose deprivation. Even though eIF2alpha became phosphorylated under these stress conditions, the decrease in polysomes and formation of SGs occurred independently of phosphorylation of eIF2alpha. We conclude that under specific stress conditions, such as robust heat shock, yeast SGs do contain eIF3 and 40S ribosomes and utilize alternative routes for their assembly.

Adenylate cyclase toxin subverts phagocyte function by RhoA inhibition and unproductive ruffling.

Adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA or ACT) is a key virulence factor of pathogenic Bordetellae. It penetrates phagocytes expressing the alpha(M)beta(2) integrin (CD11b/CD18, Mac-1 or CR3) and paralyzes their bactericidal capacities by uncontrolled conversion of ATP into a key signaling molecule, cAMP. Using pull-down activity assays and transfections with mutant Rho family GTPases, we show that cAMP signaling of CyaA causes transient and selective inactivation of RhoA in mouse macrophages in the absence of detectable activation of Rac1, Rac2, or RhoG. This CyaA/cAMP-induced drop of RhoA activity yielded dephosphorylation of the actin filament severing protein cofilin and massive actin cytoskeleton rearrangements, which were paralleled by rapidly manifested macrophage ruffling and a rapid and unexpected loss of macropinocytic fluid phase uptake. As shown in this study for the first time, CyaA/cAMP signaling further caused a rapid and near-complete block of complement-mediated phagocytosis. Induction of unproductive membrane ruffling, hence, represents a novel sophisticated mechanism of down-modulation of bactericidal activities of macrophages and a new paradigm for action of bacterial toxins that hijack host cell signaling by manipulating cellular cAMP levels.

Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxin induces a cascade of morphological changes of sheep erythrocytes and localizes into clusters in erythrocyte membranes.

Adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) of Bordetella pertussis penetrates the membrane of eukaryotic cells, producing high levels of intracellular cAMP, as well as hemolysis that results from the formation of cation-selective toxin channels in the membrane. Using several microscopical approaches we studied the effects of CyaA action on the morphology of sheep erythrocytes during early phases preceding lysis and examined localization of CyaA molecules within the erythrocyte membrane. CyaA induced a cascade of morphological changes of erythrocytes, such as shrinkage, formation of membrane projections, and blebs and swelling. The use of an enzymatically inactive CyaA-AC- toxoid that is unable to produce cAMP and of a CyaA-E581K mutant exhibiting higher hemolytic activity than with CyaA showed that the hemolytic activity is responsible for the induction of morphological changes of erythrocytes. Further, immunolabeling of inserted CyaA-232/FLAG molecules with specific anti-FLAG antibodies and IgG-gold particles indicated a clustered distribution of CyaA molecules in erythrocyte membrane. This was confirmed by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, which revealed uniform stoichiometry of CyaA clusters, suggesting CyaA binding into specific domains in erythrocyte membrane. Indeed, a decrease of CyaA binding after cholesterol depletion of erythrocytes suggests toxin targeting and binding to membrane microdomains (rafts).

Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxin: a swift saboteur of host defense.

Bordetella that infect mammals produce a multifunctional repeat in toxin (RTX) adenylate cyclase toxin known as CyaA, an excellent example of bacterial sophistication in subverting host defense. Recent reports show that interaction of CyaA with tracheal epithelial cells aids adhesion of Bordetella to ciliated mucosa and induces production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin, IL-6. Myeloid phagocytes, attracted to the site of infection are the target of freshly secreted CyaA that binds to the alpha(M)beta2 integrin (CD11b/CD18), penetrates cells and promptly suppresses their bactericidal functions by converting cellular ATP to cAMP. Such uncontrolled cAMP signaling can also drive CD11b-expressing immature dendritic cells into a semi-mature state, possibly hijacking them to shape the local adaptive immune response towards tolerance of the pathogen.