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Recent evidence suggests that mitochondrial apoptosis regulators and executioners may regulate differentiation, without being involved in cell death. However, the involved factors and their roles in differentiation and apoptosis are still not fully determined. In the present study, we compared mitochondrial pathway of cell death during early neural differentiation from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Our results demonstrated that ROS generation, cytosolic cytochrome c release, caspases activation and rise in p53 protein level occurred upon either neural or apoptosis induction in hESCs. However, unlike apoptosis, no remarkable increase in apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (Apaf-1) level at early stages of differentiation was observed. Also the caspase-like activity of caspase-9 and caspase-3/7 were seen less than apoptosis. The results suggest that low levels of Apaf-1 as an adaptor protein might be considered as a possible regulatory barrier by which differentiating cells control cell death upon rise in ROS production and cytochrome c release from mitochondria. Better understanding of mechanisms via which mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway promote neural differentiation can result in development of novel therapeutic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystal structure of Photinus pyralis luciferase shows a unique molecular architecture consisting of a large N-terminal domain and a small C-terminal domain which is separated by a wide cleft. Protein engineering methods attempts to design the peptide linkers that make a connection between different protein domains or subunits to allow for separating domains and improve kinetics and structural features of proteins. In regard to this; introduction of a flexible linker at split point of luciferase which has a strong self-association activity, may leads to conformational change and improve general flexibility of protein. In this study, two flexible linkers in the split point of luciferase are introduced in order to test the effect of linker on flexibility of luciferase activity. Glycine-rich linkers are introduced into P. pyralis firefly luciferase to make two separate mutant enzymes. Enzymatic properties of mutant and native forms were measured using luminescence assay. Results show that lengthening of luciferase domains through insertion of a flexible linker did not affect bioluminescence emission spectra. Also adding linkers do not have remarkable effect on thermostability. The Km values of mutants were increased compared to native form, indicating lower affinity of mutants toward substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein engineering can provide useful approaches for loop anchoring and mutation of surface-exposed loop residues to Arg for the design of thermostable proteins. In this context and due to the high proportion of surface loops, some of the solvent-exposed residues in the Lampyris turkestanicus luciferase were mutated to Arg. Using the red-emitter mutant luciferase (E354R/Arg356), the single (-Q35R, -I182R, -I232R and -L300R), double (-Q35R/I232R) and triple (-Q35R/I232R/I182R) mutant luciferases were introduced. The relative remaining activity of -I232R, double and triple mutants increased significantly compared to the wild-type at 40 °C. The optimal temperature of these mutants increased up to 40 °C which were 15 °C more than wild-type luciferase. It is anticipated that these mutations increased the local interactions that finally improved the thermostability and optimum temperature of luciferase. It should be noted that Arg substitution at amino acid positions 35, 182 and 232 had no effect on the bioluminescence emission spectra. Furthermore, these mutations have not significantly changed the specific activities of firefly luciferases. Finally, with the use of the homology modeling and molecular docking, the effects of these substitutions were evaluated. In conclusion, this study provides beneficial insights on how the thermal stability of luciferase can be improved by protein engineering for biological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug development for multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical management focuses on both neuroprotection and repair strategies, and is challenging due to low permeability of the blood-brain barrier, off-target distribution, and the need for high doses of drugs. The changes in the extracellular matrix have been documented in MS patients. It has been shown that the expression of nidogen-1 increases in MS lesions. Laminin forms a stable complex with nidogen-1 through a heptapeptide which was selected to target the lesion area in this study. Here we showed that the peptide binding was specific to the injured area following lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) induced demyelination. In vivo data showed enhanced delivery of the peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (Pep-GNPs) to the lesion area. In addition, Pep-GNPs administration significantly enhanced myelin content and reduced astrocyte/microglia activation. Results demonstrated the possibility of using this peptide to target and treat lesions in patients suffering from MS. A heptapeptide with specific binding to the demyelination area was used to modify the gold nanoparticles. Afterward, intravenous administration of peptide-modified gold nanoparticles showed increased accumulation in the lesion area and exerted more potent anti-inflammatory and protective effects. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weakness of firefly luciferase is its rapid inactivation. Many studies have been done to develop thermostable luciferases. One of these modifications was LRR mutant in which the Leu300 was substituted with Arg in the E 354 RR 356 Lampyris turkestanicus luciferase as template. LRR was more thermostable than the wild type but with only 0.02% activity. In this study, site-directed mutagenesis was used to change the proposed ionic bond between the Arg and two neighboring residues (Glu270 and Glu271), to understand if the induced interactions were responsible for inactivation in LRR. Our results showed that substitution of Glu270 and 271 with Ala removed the interactions but the activity of enzyme did not return. The E270A mutant was more active than LRR but the E271A and E270A/E271A mutants were inactive. Fluorescence and CD measurements showed that these mutations were accompanied by conformational changes. Extrinsic fluorescence measurement and obtained quenching data by KI and acrylamide also confirmed that the mutants were less compact than the LRR enzyme. In conclusion, in LRR, the interactions between Arg300 and Glu270 and Glu271 were not responsible for the enzyme inactivation and it is proposed that the enzyme inactivation is due to conformational changes of LRR mutant of firefly luciferase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ursolic acid (UA) is a triterpenoid compound, which exerts its influences on the skeletal muscles. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are still unclear. In this study, muscle satellite cells were isolated and purified by high-throughput pre-plating method (∼>60%) from 10 days old mice skeletal muscles. Evaluation of paired-box 7 (Pax7) expressions then confirmed the purification. Treatment of the cells with UA showed that UA up-regulated SIRT1 (∼35 folds) and overexpressed PGC-1α (∼175 folds) gene significantly. Moreover, the number of muscle satellite cells, which accompanied by initiation of neomyogenesis in the animal skeletal muscles, was increased (∼3.4 times). We also evaluated UA-mediated changes in the cellular energy status in the skeletal muscles. The results revealed that in the UA-treated mice, ATP and ADP contents in the various skeletal muscle tissue types, including: Gastrocnemius ( Gas ), Tibialis Anterior ( Tib ) and Gluteus Maximus ( Glu ) have been significantly decreased ( P ≤ 0.001); 2.2, 3.2, 2 times for ATP, and 9.6, 35.7, 11.6 times for ADP, respectively; however to compensate this process mitochondrial biogenesis occurred (12.33% ± 1.5 times). Furthermore, a rise in ATP/ADP ratio was observed 2.5, 4.5, 2.05 times for Gas , Tib and Glu muscles, respectively ( P ≤ 0.001). Alternatively, UA enhanced the expression of myoglobin (∼2 folds) in concert with remodeling of glycolytic muscle fibers to mainly fast IIA (∼30%) and slow-twitch (∼4%) types as well. Finally, our study indicated that UA indirectly mimicked beneficial effects of short-term calorie restriction and exercise (fast-oxidative) by directing the skeletal muscle composition toward oxidative metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apaf-1, the key element of apoptotic mitochondrial pathway, normally exists in an auto-inhibited form inside the cytosol. WRD-domain of Apaf-1 has a critical role in the preservation of auto-inhibited form; however the underlying mechanism is unclear. It seems the salt bridges between WRD and NOD domains are involved in maintaining the inactive conformation of Apaf-1. At the present study, we have investigated the effect of E546-R907 salt bridge on the maintenance of auto-inhibited form of human Apaf-1. E546 is mutated to glutamine (Q) and arginine (R). Over-expression of wild type Apaf-1 and its E546Q and E546R variants in HEK293T cells does not induce apoptosis unlike – HL-60 cancer cell line. In vitro apoptosome formation assay showed that all variants are cytochrome c and dATP dependent to form apoptosome and activate endogenous procaspase-9 in Apaf-1-knockout MEF cell line. These results suggest that E546 is not a critical residue for preservation of auto-inhibited Apaf-1. Furthermore, the behavior of Apaf-1 variants for in vitro apoptosome formation in HEK293T cell is similar to exogenous wild type Apaf-1. Wild type and its variants can form apoptosome in HEK293T cell with different procaspase-3 processing pattern in the presence and absence of exogenous cytochrome c and dATP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]