Signalling via caveolin: involvement in the cross-talk between phosphoinositolglycans and insulin

In recent years, a number of cross-talk systems have been identified which feed into the insulin signalling cascade at the level of insulin receptor substrate (IRS) tyrosine phosphorylation, e.g., receptor and non-receptor tyrosine kinases and G-protein-coupled receptors. At the molecular level, a number of negative modulator and feedback systems somehow interacting with the beta-subunit (catecholamine-, phorbolester-, or tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced serine/threonine phosphorylation, carboxy-terminal trimming by a thiol-dependent protease, association of inhibitory/regulatory proteins such as RAD, PC1, PED, alpha2-HS-glycoprotein) have been identified as candidate mechanisms for the impairment of insulin receptor function by elevations in the activity and/or amount of the corresponding modification enzymes/inhibitors. Both decreased responsiveness and sensitivity of the insulin receptor beta-subunit for insulin-induced tyrosine autophosphorylation have been demonstrated in several cellular and animal models of metabolic insulin resistance as well as in the adipose tissue and skeletal muscle of diabetic patients and obese Pima Indians compared to non-obese subjects. Therefore, induction of the insulin signalling cascade by bypassing the defective insulin receptor kinase may be useful for the therapy of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. During the past two decades, phosphoinositolglycans (PIGs) of various origin have been demonstrated to exert potent insulin-mimetic metabolic effects upon incubation with cultured or isolated muscle and adipose cells. However, it remained to be elucidated whether these compounds actually manage to trigger insulin signalling and if so at which level of hierarchy within the signalling cascade the site of interference is located. Recent studies using isolated rat adipocytes and chemically synthesized PIG compounds point to IRS1/3 tyrosine phosphorylation by p59Lyn kinase as the site of cross-talk, the negative regulation of which by interaction with caveolin is apparently abrogated by PIG. This putative mechanism is thus compatible with the recently formulated caveolin signalling hypothesis, the supporting data for which are reviewed here. Though we have not obtained experimental evidence for the involvement of PIG in physiological insulin action, the potential cross-talk between insulin and PIG signalling, including the caveolae/detergent-insoluble glycolipid-enriched rafts as the compartments where the corresponding signalling components are concentrated, thus represent novel targets for signal transduction therapy.     

Proteasomes in apoptosis: villains or guardians?

The proteasome (multicatalytic proteinase complex, prosome) is a major cytoplasmic proteolytic enzyme, responsible for degradation of the vast majority of intracellular proteins. Proteins degraded by the proteasome are usually tagged with multiple ubiquitin moieties, conjugated to the substrates by a complicated cascade of enzymes. Over the last years, evidence has accumulated that changes in the expression and activity of the different components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system occur during apoptosis. Proteasome inhibitors have been used to induce apoptosis in various cell types, whereas in others, these compounds were able to prevent apoptosis induced by different stimuli. The proteasome mediated step(s) in apoptosis is located upstream of mitochondrial changes and caspase activation, and can involve in different systems Bcl-2, Jun N-terminal kinase, heat shock proteins, Myc, p53, polyamines and other factors.     

Permeability of rat heart myocytes to cytochrome c

Rat heart myocytes undergoing progressive damage demonstrate morphological changes of shortening and swelling followed by the formation of intracellular vacuoles and plasma membrane blebbing. The damaged myocytes displayed impaired N,N'-tetramethyl-p-phenyldiamine (TMPD) ascorbate-stimulated respiratory activity which was restored by the addition of reduced cytochrome c to the cell culture medium. To clarify the role played by cytochrome c in the impairment of cell respiration, polarographic, spectrophotometric and fluorescence as well as electron microscopy imaging experiments were performed. TMPD/ascorbate-stimulated respiratory activity returned to control levels, at approximately 20 microM cytochrome c, establishing the threshold below which the turnover rate by cytochrome c oxidase in the cell depends on cytochrome concentration. Mildly damaged cardiac myocytes, as indicated by cell shortening, retention of visible striations and free-fluorescein exclusion, together with the absence of lactate dehydrogenase leakage and exclusion of trypan blue, were able to oxidize exogenous cytochrome c and were permeable to fluorescein-conjugated cytochrome c. The results, while consistent with an early cytochrome c release observed at the beginning of cell death, elucidate the role played by cytochrome c in the kinetic control of mitochondrial electron transfer under pathological conditions, particularly those involving the terminal part of the respiratory chain. These data are the first to demonstrate that the sarcolemma of cardiac myocytes, damaged but still viable, is permeable to cytochrome c.     

Beyond blood pressure: new roles for angiotensin II

Since the discovery 100 years ago by Tigerstedt and Bergman of renin, an acid protease generating angiotensin peptide, numerous discoveries have advanced our understanding of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). The recent cloning of angiotensin receptors and the availability of specific receptor ligands have allowed characterization of angiotensin-receptor-mediated actions, and an increasing number of studies using biochemical, pharmacological and molecular biological methods has focused on the many different physiological actions of the RAS in various tissues. Angiotensin II, the main effector peptide of the RAS, exerts most of its known actions in blood pressure control and body fluid homeostasis via the AT, receptor. AT, receptors not only play a role in growth control and cell differentiation but have been implicated in apoptosis and tissue regeneration. This review focuses on the extrarenal functions of angiotensin, especially in neuronal cells and the nervous system, and on recent advances in angiotensin receptor research.     

High-resolution mapping of quantitative trait loci in outbred mice

Screening the whole genome of a cross between two inbred animal strains has proved to be a powerful method for detecting genetic loci underlying quantitative behavioural traits, but the level of resolution offered by quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping is still too coarse to permit molecular cloning of the genetic determinants. To achieve high-resolution mapping, we used an outbred stock of mice for which the entire genealogy is known. The heterogeneous stock (HS) was established 30 years ago from an eight-way cross of C57BL/6, BALB/c, RIII, AKR, DBA/2, I, A/J and C3H inbred mouse strains. At the time of the experiment reported here, the HS mice were at generation 58, theoretically offering at least a 30-fold increase in resolution for QTL mapping compared with a backcross or an F2 intercross. Using the HS mice we have mapped a QTL influencing a psychological trait in mice to a 0.8-cM interval on chromosome 1. This method allows simultaneous fine mapping of multiple QTLs, as shown by our report of a second QTL on chromosome 12. The high resolution possible with this approach makes QTLs accessible to positional cloning.     

Notch signalling pathway mediates hair cell development in mammalian cochlea

The mammalian cochlea contains an invariant mosaic of sensory hair cells and non-sensory supporting cells reminiscent of invertebrate structures such as the compound eye in Drosophila melanogaster. The sensory epithelium in the mammalian cochlea (the organ of Corti) contains four rows of mechanosensory hair cells: a single row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells. Each hair cell is separated from the next by an interceding supporting cell, forming an invariant and alternating mosaic that extends the length of the cochlear duct. Previous results suggest that determination of cell fates in the cochlear mosaic occurs via inhibitory interactions between adjacent progenitor cells (lateral inhibition). Cells populating the cochlear epithelium appear to constitute a developmental equivalence group in which developing hair cells suppress differentiation in their immediate neighbours through lateral inhibition. These interactions may be mediated through the Notch signalling pathway, a molecular mechanism that is involved in the determination of a variety of cell fates. Here we show that genes encoding the receptor protein Notch1 and its ligand, Jagged 2, are expressed in alternating cell types in the developing sensory epithelium. In addition, genetic deletion of Jag2 results in a significant increase in sensory hair cells, presumably as a result of a decrease in Notch activation. These results provide direct evidence for Notch-mediated lateral inhibition in a mammalian system and support a role for Notch in the development of the cochlear mosaic.     

Mutations in ATP2A2, encoding a Ca2+ pump, cause Darier disease

Darier disease (DD) is an autosomal-dominant skin disorder characterized by loss of adhesion between epidermal cells (acantholysis) and abnormal keratinization. Recently we constructed a 2.4-Mb, P1-derived artificial chromosome contig spanning the DD candidate region on chromosome 12q23-24.1. After screening several genes that mapped to this region, we identified mutations in the ATP2A2 gene, which encodes the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-ATPase type 2 isoform (SERCA2) and is highly expressed in keratinocytes. Thirteen mutations were identified, including frameshift deletions, in-frame deletions or insertions, splice-site mutations and non-conservative missense mutations in functional domains. Our results demonstrate that mutations in ATP2A2 cause DD and disclose a role for this pump in a Ca(2+)-signalling pathway regulating cell-to-cell adhesion and differentiation of the epidermis.     

Chemotherapy and immunotherapy of malignant glioma: molecular mechanisms and clinical perspectives

Despite the considerable progress in modern tumor therapy, the prognosis for patients with glioblastoma, the most frequent malignant brain tumor, has not been substantially improved. Although cytoreductive surgery and radiotherapy are the mainstays of treatment for malignant glioma at present, novel cytotoxic drugs and immunotherapeutic approaches hold great promise as effective weapons against these malignancies. Thus, great efforts are being made to enhance antitumoral efficacy by combining various cytotoxic agents, by novel routes of drug administration, or by combining anticancer drugs and immune modulators. Immunotherapeutic approaches include cytotoxic cytokines, targeted antibodies, and vaccination strategies. However, the success of most of these experimental therapies is prevented by the marked molecular resistance of glioma cells to diverse cytotoxic agents or by glioma-associated immunosuppression. One promising experimental strategy to target glioma is the employment of death ligands such as CD95 (Fas/Apo1) ligand or Apo2 ligand (TRAIL). Specific proapoptotic approaches may overcome many of the obvious obstacles to a satisfactory management of malignant brain tumors. Received 8 March 1999; received after revision 27 May 1999; accepted 14 June 1999     

The Pendred syndrome gene encodes a chloride-iodide transport protein

Pendred syndrome is the most common form of syndromic deafness and characterized by congenital sensorineural hearing loss and goitre. This disorder was mapped to chromosome 7 and the gene causing Pendred syndrome (PDS) was subsequently identified by positional cloning. PDS encodes a putative transmembrane protein designated pendrin. Pendrin is closely related to a family of sulfate transport proteins that includes the rat sulfate-anion transporter (encoded by Sat-1; 29% amino acid sequence identity), the human diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (encoded by DTD; 32%) and the human sulfate transporter 'downregulated in adenoma' (encoded by DRA; 45%). On the basis of this homology and the presence of a slightly modified sulfate-transporter signature sequence comprising its putative second transmembrane domain, pendrin has been proposed to function as a sulfate transporter. We were unable to detect evidence of sulfate transport following the expression of pendrin in Xenopus laevis oocytes by microinjection of PDS cRNA or in Sf9 cells following infection with PDS-recombinant baculovirus. The rates of transport for iodide and chloride were significantly increased following the expression of pendrin in both cell systems. Our results demonstrate that pendrin functions as a transporter of chloride and iodide, but not sulfate, and may provide insight into thyroid physiology and the pathophysiology of Pendred syndrome.     

Myosins from plants

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of myosin genes from Arabidopsis thaliana and electron microscopic observation of a myosin from characean alga have revealed that overall structure of plant unconventional myosins is similar to that of the class V myosins. These plant unconventional myosins have two heads, a coiled-coil tail of varied length and a globular tail piece at the end. The tail piece is probably a site for membrane interaction. Characean myosin is of special interest because it can translocate actin filaments at a velocity several times faster than muscle myosin, which must have evolved to support the quick movement of animals in the struggle for their lives.