The stoichiometry of peptide-heparan sulfate binding as a determinant of uptake efficiency of cell-penetrating peptides

Binding to negatively charged heparan sulfates (HS) at the cell surface is considered the first step in the internalization of cationic cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). However, little is known about the relation of the characteristics of the HS-CPP interaction such as affinity, stoichiometry, and clustering with uptake. In this study, we investigated a collection of mutants of a cyclic CPP derived from human lactoferrin with respect to HS binding and uptake. The thermodynamic parameters of HS binding were determined by isothermal titration calorimetry, clustering of HS was investigated by dynamic light scattering, and cellular uptake by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Whereas mutations of non-arginine amino acids that are conserved across lactoferrins of different mammalia only had a minor effect on uptake efficiency, changes in the number of arginine residues influenced the uptake significantly. In general, introduction of arginine residues and cyclization improved the HS affinity and the ability to cluster HS. In particular, there was a strong negative correlation between stoichiometry and uptake, indicating that crosslinking of HS is the driving force for the uptake of arginine-rich CPPs. Using glycan microarrays presenting a collection of synthetic HS, we show that a minimal chain length of HS is required for peptide binding.     

14-3-3sigma controls mitotic translation to facilitate cytokinesis

14-3-3 proteins are crucial in a wide variety of cellular responses including cell cycle progression, DNA damage checkpoints and apoptosis. One particular 14-3-3 isoform, sigma, is a p53-responsive gene, the function of which is frequently lost in human tumours, including breast and prostate cancers as a result of either hypermethylation of the 14-3-3sigma promoter or induction of an oestrogen-responsive ubiquitin ligase that specifically targets 14-3-3sigma for proteasomal degradation. Loss of 14-3-3sigma protein occurs not only within the tumours themselves but also in the surrounding pre-dysplastic tissue (so-called field cancerization), indicating that 14-3-3sigma might have an important tumour suppressor function that becomes lost early in the process of tumour evolution. The molecular basis for the tumour suppressor function of 14-3-3sigma is unknown. Here we report a previously unknown function for 14-3-3sigma as a regulator of mitotic translation through its direct mitosis-specific binding to a variety of translation/initiation factors, including eukaryotic initiation factor 4B in a stoichiometric manner. Cells lacking 14-3-3sigma, in marked contrast to normal cells, cannot suppress cap-dependent translation and do not stimulate cap-independent translation during and immediately after mitosis. This defective switch in the mechanism of translation results in reduced mitotic-specific expression of the endogenous internal ribosomal entry site (IRES)-dependent form of the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk11 (p58 PITSLRE), leading to impaired cytokinesis, loss of Polo-like kinase-1 at the midbody, and the accumulation of binucleate cells. The aberrant mitotic phenotype of 14-3-3sigma-depleted cells can be rescued by forced expression of p58 PITSLRE or by extinguishing cap-dependent translation and increasing cap-independent translation during mitosis by using rapamycin. Our findings show how aberrant mitotic translation in the absence of 14-3-3sigma impairs mitotic exit to generate binucleate cells and provides a potential explanation of how 14-3-3sigma-deficient cells may progress on the path to aneuploidy and tumorigenesis.     

CCDC103 mutations cause primary ciliary dyskinesia by disrupting assembly of ciliary dynein arms

Cilia are essential for fertilization, respiratory clearance, cerebrospinal fluid circulation and establishing laterality. Cilia motility defects cause primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD, MIM244400), a disorder affecting 1:15,000-30,000 births. Cilia motility requires the assembly of multisubunit dynein arms that drive ciliary bending. Despite progress in understanding the genetic basis of PCD, mutations remain to be identified for several PCD-linked loci. Here we show that the zebrafish cilia paralysis mutant schmalhans (smh(tn222)) encodes the coiled-coil domain containing 103 protein (Ccdc103), a foxj1a-regulated gene product. Screening 146 unrelated PCD families identified individuals in six families with reduced outer dynein arms who carried mutations in CCDC103. Dynein arm assembly in smh mutant zebrafish was rescued by wild-type but not mutant human CCDC103. Chlamydomonas Ccdc103/Pr46b functions as a tightly bound, axoneme-associated protein. These results identify Ccdc103 as a dynein arm attachment factor that causes primary ciliary dyskinesia when mutated.     

The coiled-coil domain containing protein CCDC40 is essential for motile cilia function and left-right axis formation

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous autosomal recessive disorder characterized by recurrent infections of the respiratory tract associated with the abnormal function of motile cilia. Approximately half of individuals with PCD also have alterations in the left-right organization of their internal organ positioning, including situs inversus and situs ambiguous (Kartagener's syndrome). Here, we identify an uncharacterized coiled-coil domain containing a protein, CCDC40, essential for correct left-right patterning in mouse, zebrafish and human. In mouse and zebrafish, Ccdc40 is expressed in tissues that contain motile cilia, and mutations in Ccdc40 result in cilia with reduced ranges of motility. We further show that CCDC40 mutations in humans result in a variant of PCD characterized by misplacement of the central pair of microtubules and defective assembly of inner dynein arms and dynein regulatory complexes. CCDC40 localizes to motile cilia and the apical cytoplasm and is required for axonemal recruitment of CCDC39, disruption of which underlies a similar variant of PCD.     

萃取动力学分析法的研究和应用Ⅵ.非催化法测定Ce(Ⅳ)

利用Ce(Ⅳ)在2mol/LHCl 介质中氧化二苯硫腙褪色的慢反应,用萃取平衡控制反应时间和水相中二苯硫腙的浓度,建立了非催化动力学分析法测定Ce(Ⅳ)的新方法。反应速度的检测是在620nm下测定反应前后CCl_4相中二苯硫腙吸光度的变化。方法的检测限为5.0×10~(-7) gCe(Ⅳ)·ml~(-1) ,线性范围为0. 5-5μgCe(Ⅳ)·ml~(-1)。对干扰严重的金属离子 Ag~+、Au~(3+)、Cu~(2+)、Hg~(2+)等可在 pH4-6条件下,用二苯硫腙的四氯化碳溶液萃取除去。将方法用于测定合成水样中Ce(Ⅳ),结果满意。     

Effects of 2-Br-α-ergocryptine on plasma prolactin level and milk yield in cows

Zusammenfassung An 5 Kühen wurde der Effekt eines spezifischen Prolaktininhibitors (2-Br--ergokryptin=CB 154, SANDOZ, Basel) auf den Plasmaprolaktinspiegel und die Milchleistung untersucht. Bereits mit einer Dosis von 80 mg CB 154 pro Tag konnte eine sichere Hemmwirkung der Prolaktinausschüttung erreicht werden. Im Gegensatz zu dem starken Prolaktinabfall war die bestehende Milchleistung überhaupt nicht oder nur um 10–20% vermindert. Prolaktin dürfte somit beim Rind nicht als maßgeblicher oder ausschließlicher galaktopoetischer Faktor anzusehen sein. Dagegen zeigte sich in einem vorläufigen Versuch, daß mit CB 154 nicht nur der bekannte Prolantinpeak um den Geburtstermin unterdrückt, sondern auch die einsetzende Laktation wesentlich beeinträchtigt werden kann.     

Changes of theβ-receptor binding sites of the rabbit ileum under the influence of high temperature

Zusammenfassung Am Kaninchen-Ileum besteht die durch Temperaturerhöhung bedingte Rechtsverschiebung der Dosis-Wirkungs-Kurven von Isoprenalin und Th 1165a aus einem reversiblen und einem irreversiblen Anteil.