Glutamate transporter EAAT2: regulation,function, and potential as a therapeutic target for neurological and psychiatric disease

Glutamate is the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) is primarily responsible for clearance of extracellular glutamate to prevent neuronal excitotoxicity and hyperexcitability. EAAT2 plays a critical role in regulation of synaptic activity and plasticity. In addition, EAAT2 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many central nervous system disorders. In this review, we summarize current understanding of EAAT2, including structure, pharmacology, physiology, and functions, as well as disease relevancy, such as in stroke, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, major depressive disorder, and addiction. A large number of studies have demonstrated that up-regulation of EAAT2 protein provides significant beneficial effects in many disease models suggesting EAAT2 activation is a promising therapeutic approach. Several EAAT2 activators have been identified. Further understanding of EAAT2 regulatory mechanisms could improve development of drug-like compounds that spatiotemporally regulate EAAT2.     

Poly-ADP-ribosylation in health and disease

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation is required by multicellular eukaryotes to ensure genomic integrity under conditions of mild to moderate genotoxic stress. However, severe stress following acute neuronal injury causes overactivation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1, which results in unregulated poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) synthesis and widespread neuronal cell death. Once thought to be a necrotic cell death resulting from energy failure, PARP-1 activation is now known to induce the nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor, which results in caspase-independent cell death. Conversely, poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase, once thought to contribute to neuronal injury, now appears to have a protective role as demonstrated by recent studies utilizing gene disruption technology. Thus, the emerging mechanism dictating the fate of neurons appears to involve the regulation of PAR levels in neurons. Therefore, therapies targeting poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation in the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions such as stroke and Parkinson's disease are required to inhibit PAR synthesis and/or facilitate its degradation.     

Human xylosyltransferases in health and disease

The xylosyltransferases I and II (XT-I, XT-II, EC 2.4.2.26) catalyze the transfer of xylose from UDP-xylose to selected serine residues in the proteoglycan core protein, which is the initial and ratelimiting step in glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis. Both xylosyltransferases are Golgi-resident enzymes and transfer xylose to similar core proteins acceptors. XT-I and XT-II are differentially expressed in cell types and tissues, although the reason for the existence of two xylosyltransferase isoforms in all higher organisms remains elusive. Serum xylosyltransferase activity was found to be a biochemical marker for the assessment of disease activity in systemic sclerosis and for the diagnosis of fibrotic remodeling processes. Furthermore, sequence variations in the XT-I and XT-II coding genes were identified as risk factors for diabetic nephropathy, osteoarthritis or pseudoxanthoma elasticum. These findings point to the important role of the xylosyltransferases as disease modifiers in pathologies which are characterized by an altered proteoglycan metabolism. The present review discusses recent advances in mammalian xylosyltransferases and the impact of xylosyltransferases in proteoglycan-associated diseases. Received 9 February 2007; accepted 5 March 2007     

Telomeres and meiosis in health and disease

Telomeres are important segments of chromosomes that protect chromosome ends from nucleolytic degradation and fusion. At meiosis telomeres display an unprecedented behavior which involves their attachment and motility along the nuclear envelope. The movements become restricted to a limited nuclear sector during the so-called bouquet stage, which is widely conserved among species. Recent observations suggest that telomere clustering involves actin and/or microtubules, and is altered in the presence of impaired recombinogenic and chromosome related functions. This review aims to provide an overview of what is currently known about meiotic telomere attachment, dynamics and regulation in synaptic meiosis.     

Telomeres and meiosis in health and disease

Telomeres are important segments of chromosomes that protect chromosome ends from nucleolytic degradation and fusion. At meiosis telomeres display an unprecedented behavior which involves their attachment and motility along the nuclear envelope. The movements become restricted to a limited nuclear sector during the so-called bouquet stage, which is widely conserved among species. Recent observations suggest that telomere clustering involves actin and/or microtubules, and is altered in the presence of impaired recombinogenic and chromosome related functions. This review aims to provide an overview of what is currently known about meiotic telomere attachment, dynamics and regulation in synaptic meiosis.     

Telomeres and meiosis in health and disease

Beyond their role in replication and chromosome end capping, telomeres are also thought to function in meiotic chromosome pairing, meiotic and mitotic chromosome segregation as well as in nuclear organization. Observations in both somatic and meiotic cells suggest that the positioning of telomeres within the nucleus is highly specific and believed to be dependent mainly on telomere interactions with the nuclear envelope either directly or through chromatin interacting proteins. Although little is known about the mechanism of telomere clustering, some studies show that it is an active process. Recent data have suggested a regulatory role for telomere chromatin structure in telomere movement. This review will summarize recent studies on telomere interactions with the nuclear matrix, telomere chromatin structure and factors that modify telomere chromatin structure as related to regulation of telomere movement.     

Telomeres and meiosis in health and disease

Meiotic dysfunction increasingly afflicts women as they age, resulting in infertility, miscarriage and handicapped offspring. How aging disrupts meiotic function in women remains unclear, but as women increasingly delay childbearing, this issue becomes urgent. Telomeres, which mediate aging in mitotic cells, may also mediate aging during meiosis. Telomeres shorten during DNA replication. In mammals, oocytes remain quiescent, but their precursors replicated during fetal oogenesis. Moreover, eggs ovulated from older women entered meiosis later during fetal oogenesis than eggs ovulated when younger, and therefore underwent more replications. Telomeres also shorten from reactive oxygen, which triggers a DNA repair response, so the prolonged interval between fetal oogenesis and ovulation in some women would further shorten telomeres. Mice normally do not exhibit age-related meiotic dysfunction (interestingly, their telomeres are manyfold longer than telomeres in women), but genetic or pharmacologic shortening of mouse telomeres recapitulates the reproductive aging phenotype of women. This has led to a telomere theory of age-related meiotic dysfunction in women, and underlined the importance to human health of a mechanistic understanding of telomeres and meiosis.     

Telomeres and meiosis in health and disease

The aim of this review is threefold. First, we want to report on recent observations on the role of telomeres in the alignment of homolog and non-homologues in the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe and the relationship of early telomere clustering to later recombination events. Second, we compare the similarities and differences between synaptic and asynaptic yeasts. Third, we report on the increasing evidence of the effect of meiosis on telomeric sequences that suggest an induction of a specific form of recombination processes termed telomere rapid deletion.     

Functional and structural determinants of reverse operation in the pH-dependent oligopeptide transporter PepT1

The functional and structural basis of reverse operation of PepT1 has been studied in Xenopus oocytes expressing the wild-type and mutated forms of this protein. Using brief pulses from a negative holding potential, wild-type and Arg282 mutants exhibit outward currents in the presence of Gly-Gln. The reversal potential of these currents is affected by both pH and substrate concentration, confirming coupled transport in the wild type and in the mutants as well. Long-lasting voltage and current-clamp experiments show that the outward currents are only temporary, and reflect accumulation and/or depletion effects near the membrane. The ability to operate in reverse mode was confirmed in all isoforms by intracellular injection of substrate. The role of Arg282 and Asp341 in the reverse transport was also investigated using charged substrates. Positive Lys-Gly (but not Gly-Lys) showed enhanced transport currents in the Arg282 mutants. In contrast, negative Gly-Asp and Asp-Gly elicited modest currents in all isoforms.     

Potassium and sodium transport in non-animal cells: the Trk/Ktr/HKT transporter family

Bacterial Trk and Ktr, fungal Trk and plant HKT form a family of membrane transporters permeable to K⁺ and/or Na⁺ and characterized by a common structure probably derived from an ancestral K⁺ channel subunit. This transporter family, specific of non-animal cells, displays a large diversity in terms of ionic permeability, affinity and energetic coupling (H⁺–K⁺ or Na⁺–K⁺ symport, K⁺ or Na⁺ uniport), which might reflect a high need for adaptation in organisms living in fluctuating or dilute environments. Trk/Ktr/HKT transporters are involved in diverse functions, from K⁺ or Na⁺ uptake to membrane potential control, adaptation to osmotic or salt stress, or Na⁺ recirculation from shoots to roots in plants. Structural analyses of bacterial Ktr point to multimeric structures physically interacting with regulatory subunits. Elucidation of Trk/Ktr/HKT protein structures along with characterization of mutated transporters could highlight functional and evolutionary relationships between ion channels and transporters displaying channel-like features.     

Human mitochondrial tRNAs in health and disease

The human mitochondrial genome encodes 13 proteins, all subunits of the respiratory chain complexes and thus involved in energy metabolism. These genes are translated by 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), also encoded by the mitochondrial genome, which form the minimal set required for reading all codons. Human mitochondrial tRNAs gained interest with the rapid discovery of correlations between point mutations in their genes and various neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders. In this review, emerging fundamental knowledge on the structure/function relationships of these particular tRNAs and an overview of the large variety of mechanisms within translation, affected by mutations, are summarized. Also, initial results on wide-ranging molecular consequences of mutations outside the frame of mitochondrial translation are highlighted. While knowledge of mitochondrial tRNAs in both health and disease increases, deciphering the intricate network of events leading different genotypes to the variety of phenotypes requires further investigation using adapted model systems.Received 3 December 2002; received after revision 14 January 2003; accepted 27 January 2003     

Identification of an essential glutamate residue in the 3-phosphoglycerate kinase of yeast]

The incorporation of nitrotyrosine into 3-phosphoglycerate kinase activated by carbodiimide results in the chemical modification of a single essential residue. After total proteolytic digestion, isolation of the dipeptide gamma Glu-NO2 Tyr by immuno-affinity chromatography indicates the implication of a glutamyl residue. It is interesting to point out the applicability of the method described for the purification of peptides containing carboxyl residues.     

Altered expression of securin (Pttg1) and serpina3n in the auditory system of hearing-impaired Tff3-deficient mice

Introduction

Tff3 peptide exerts important functions in cytoprotection and restitution of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract epithelia. Moreover, its presence in the rodent inner ear and involvement in the hearing process was demonstrated recently. However, its role in the auditory system still remains elusive. Our previous results showed a deterioration of hearing with age in Tff3-deficient animals.

Results

Present detailed analysis of auditory brain stem response (ABR) measurements and immunohistochemical study of selected functional proteins indicated a normal function and phenotype of the cochlea in Tff3 mutants. However, a microarray-based screening of tissue derived from the auditory central nervous system revealed an alteration of securin (Pttg1) and serpina3n expression between wild-type and Tff3 knock-out animals. This was confirmed by qRT-PCR, immunostaining and western blots.

Conclusions

We found highly down-regulated Pttg1 and up-regulated serpina3n expression as a consequence of genetically deleting Tff3 in mice, indicating a potential role of these factors during the development of presbyacusis.     

Changes in the T4/T3 molar ratio following thyrotrophin releasing hormone injection in cattle

Summary The injection of thyrotropin releasing hormone into cattle resulted in a rapid decrease in the T₄/T₃ molar ratio. 2 breeds of cattle, Shorthorn and Africander Cross were studied. The decrease in the T₄/T₃ molar ratio was significantly greater in the Shorthorn breed. It is concluded that acute stimulation of the thyroid gland with TRH results in enhanced release of both T₃ and T₄ and that T₃ is discharged more rapidly than T₄.