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Translocation of bacteria, primarily Gram-negative pathogenic flora, from the intestinal lumen into the circulatory system leads to sepsis. In newborns, and especially very low birth weight infants, sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The results of recently conducted clinical trials suggest that lactoferrin, an iron-binding protein that is abundant in mammalian colostrum and milk, may be an effective agent in preventing sepsis in newborns. However, despite numerous basic studies on lactoferrin, very little is known about how metal saturation of this protein affects a host's health. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to elucidate how iron-depleted, iron-saturated, and manganese-saturated forms of lactoferrin regulate intestinal barrier function via interactions with epithelial cells and macrophages. For these studies, a human intestinal epithelial cell line, Caco-2, was used. In this model, none of the tested lactoferrin forms induced higher levels of apoptosis or necrosis. There was also no change in the production of tight junction proteins regardless of lactoferrin metal saturation status. None of the tested forms induced a pro-inflammatory response in Caco-2 cells or in macrophages either. However, the various lactoferrin forms did effectively inhibit the pro-inflammatory response in macrophages that were activated with lipopolysaccharide with the most potent effect observed for apolactoferrin. Lactoferrin that was not bound to its cognate receptor was able to bind and neutralize lipopolysaccharide. Lactoferrin was also able to neutralize microbial-derived antigens, thereby potentially reducing their pro-inflammatory effect. Therefore, we hypothesize that lactoferrin supplementation is a relevant strategy for preventing sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antimetastatic ruthenium(III) complex (HIm)[ trans-RuCl(HIm)(DMSO)] (NAMI-A) as well as its two analogues (HInd)[ trans-RuCl(HInd)(DMSO)] (Ru-Ind) and (HIsq)[ trans-RuCl(Isq)(DMSO)] (Ru-Isq) (HIm-imidazole, HInd-indazole, Isq-isoquinoline, DMSO-dimethyl sulfoxide) were tested for their effect on endothelial cell functions in vitro on human skin microvascular endothelial cells (HSkMEC) and human endothelial progenitor cells (HPEC-CB.2) under normoxic (21 % O) and hypoxic (1 % O) conditions. All studied complexes showed very low cytotoxicity profiles towards both mature microvascular and precursor endothelial cells (ECs), independently of oxygen concentration. Among tested compounds Ru-Ind exhibited the highest cytotoxicity. The antiangiogenic activity of ruthenium complexes was evaluated for their influence on pseudo-vessels formation by microvascular endothelial cells (HSkMEC) because of their involvement in melanoma progression. Our studies indicated that Ru-Ind and Ru-Isq exhibited hypoxia- and dose-dependent-inhibition of angiogenesis on Matrigel™. Significant hypoxia-selective downregulation of pseudo-vessels formation by Ru-Isq correlates with efficient inhibition of cell motility. Interestingly, in the applied concentration doses migration of endothelial cells was also inhibited by NAMI-A, but the pseudo-vessels formation on Matrigel™ was unaffected. Angiogenesis-related genes expression profile for both mature and precursor ECs indicated that inhibition of angiogenesis, mainly due to Ru-Isq, as compared to NAMI-A and Ru-Ind correlated with downregulation of CD31 and CD144 expression and upregulation of NOTCH4 expression in mature ECs, which is essential for endothelial cell motility and stalk cells organization control. The hypoxia-selective antiangiogenic activity of Ru-Ind and Ru-Isq, NAMI-A analogues makes them potent antimetastatic therapeutics for their selective action in hypoxia which controls tumor pathologic angiogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three competitive inhibitors of urease: boric acid, 2-mercaptoethanol and phosphate buffer pH 6.45, were subjected to the studies of temperature effects on their binding to the enzyme. The first of their kind for these systems, the studies were carried out at temperatures between 15 and 35 °C in HEPES buffers. The Michaelis K and inhibition K constants determined for the uninhibited and inhibited urease reactions, respectively, were found to increase with an increase in temperature, importantly, the inhibition remaining competitive irrespective of temperature. The inverse of the constants were further analyzed as equilibrium constants of substrate and inhibitor binding reactions resulting in the formation of ES and EI complexes. The reactions were thermodynamically analyzed with use of the van't Hoff equation. Found pH-independent in the pH range 6.45-7.0, the changes in the standard enthalpy (Δ H° = −14 kJ mol) and the Gibbs free energy ( $$ \Delta G_{298}^{^\circ } $$ = −14 kJ mol) for the substrate binding were negative, proving favorable for an exothermic and spontaneous reaction. With the standard entropy change Δ S° close to zero, the reaction is enthalpy driven. The thermodynamic functions of the inhibitor binding by contrast, were found strongly correlated with the inhibitory strengths of the inhibitors in the order: boric acid > 2-mercaptoethanol > phosphate buffer pH 6.45. Accordingly, boric acid demonstrated the changes in the thermodynamic functions considerably bigger (Δ H° = −42 kJ mol, $$ \Delta G_{298}^{^\circ } $$ = −23 kJ mol) than the substrate and the other two inhibitors. Those for 2-mercaptoethanol were Δ H° = −20 kJ mol and $$ \Delta G_{298}^{^\circ } $$ = −17 kJ mol, while for phosphate buffer pH 6.45, Δ H° = −17 kJ mol, and $$ \Delta G_{298}^{^\circ } $$ = −13 kJ mol, and although slightly bigger, they were found practically comparable in value with those of the substrate, features that apparently result from the comparable values of K and Ks. Remarkably, the inhibitors showed negative values of Δ S° (to various degrees) proving that their binding to the enzyme, like that of the substrate, is driven by enthalpy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we examine the photophysical properties of five ruthenium(II) complexes comprising two 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dip) ligands and functionalized bipyridine (Rbpy-R, where R = H or CH, R = H, CH, COO,4-[3-(2-nitro-1 H-imidazol-1-yl)propyl] or 1,3-dicyclohexyl-1-carbonyl-urea) towards development of luminescence probes for cellular imaging. These complexes have been shown to interact with albumin and the formed adducts exhibited up to eightfold increase in the luminescence quantum yield as well as the average lifetime of emission. It was demonstrated that they cannot bind to DNA through the intercalation mode and its luminescence in the presence of DNA is quenching. Cell viability experiments indicated that all complexes possess significant dose-dependent cytotoxicity (with IC 5-19 μM) on 4T1 breast cancer cell line and their anti-proliferative activity correlates very well with their lipophilicity. Cellular uptake was studied by measuring the ruthenium content in cells using ICP-MS technique. As expected, the better uptake is directly related to higher lipophilicity of doubly charged ruthenium complexes while uptake of monocationic one is much lower in spite of the highest lipophilicity. Additionally staining properties were assessed using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. These experiments showed that complex with 1,3-dicyclohexyl-1-carbonyl-urea substituent exhibits the best staining properties in spite of the lowest luminescence quantum yield in buffered solution (pH 7.4). Our results point out that both the imaging and cytotoxic properties of the studied ruthenium complexes are strongly influence by the level of internalization and protein interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactoferrin is considered as a part of the innate immune system that plays a crucial role in preventing bacterial growth, mostly via an iron sequestration mechanism. Recent data show that bovine lactoferrin prevents late-onset sepsis in preterm very low birth weight neonates by serving as an iron chelator for some bacterial strains; thus, it is very important to control the iron saturation level during diet supplementation. An accurate estimation of lactoferrin iron saturation is essential not only because of its clinical applications but also for a wide range of biochemical experiments. A comprehensive method for the quantification of iron saturation in lactoferrin preparations was developed to obtain a calibration curve enabling the determination of iron saturation levels relying exclusively on the defined ratio of absorbances at 280 and 466 nm ( A). To achieve this goal, selected techniques such as spectrophotometry, ELISA, and ICP-MS were combined. The ability to obtain samples of lactoferrin with determination of its iron content in a simple and fast way has been proven to be very useful. Furthermore, a similar approach could easily be implemented to facilitate the determination of iron saturation level for other metalloproteins in which metal binding results in the appearance of a distinct band in the visible part of the spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urease, a Ni-containing metalloenzyme, features an activity that has profound medical and agricultural implications. The mechanism of this activity, however, has not been as yet thoroughly established. Accordingly, to improve its understanding, in this study we analyzed the steady-state kinetic parameters of the enzyme (jack bean), K and k, measured at different temperatures and pressures. Such an analysis is useful as it provides information on the molecular nature of the intermediate and transition states of the catalytic reaction. We measured the parameters in a noninteracting buffer using a stopped-flow technique in the temperature range 15-35 °C and in the pressure range 5-132 MPa, the pressure-dependent measurements being the first of their kind performed for urease. While temperature enhanced the activity of urease, pressure inhibited the enzyme; the inhibition was biphasic. Analyzing K provided the characteristics of the formation of the ES complex, and analyzing k, the characteristics of the activation of ES. From the temperature-dependent measurements, the energetic parameters were derived, i.e. thermodynamic Δ H and Δ S for ES formation, and kinetic Δ H and Δ S for ES activation, while from the pressure-dependent measurements, the binding Δ V and activation $$ \Updelta V_{\rm cat}^{ \ne } $$ volumes were determined. The thermodynamic and activation parameters obtained are discussed in terms of the current proposals for the mechanism of the urease reaction, and they are found to support the mechanism proposed by Benini et al. ( Structure 7:205-216; 1999), in which the Ni-Ni bridging hydroxide-not the terminal hydroxide-is the nucleophile in the catalytic reaction. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]