Malnutrition affects up to one billion people in the world and is a major cause of mortality. In many cases, malnutrition is associated with diarrhoea and intestinal inflammation, further contributing to morbidity and death. The mechanisms by which unbalanced dietary nutrients affect intestinal homeostasis are largely unknown. Here we report that deficiency in murine angiotensin I converting enzyme (peptidyl-dipeptidase A) 2 (Ace2), which encodes a key regulatory enzyme of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), results in highly increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation induced by epithelial damage. The RAS is known to be involved in acute lung failure, cardiovascular functions and SARS infections. Mechanistically, ACE2 has a RAS-independent function, regulating intestinal amino acid homeostasis, expression of antimicrobial peptides, and the ecology of the gut microbiome. Transplantation of the altered microbiota from Ace2 mutant mice into germ-free wild-type hosts was able to transmit the increased propensity to develop severe colitis. ACE2-dependent changes in epithelial immunity and the gut microbiota can be directly regulated by the dietary amino acid tryptophan. Our results identify ACE2 as a key regulator of dietary amino acid homeostasis, innate immunity, gut microbial ecology, and transmissible susceptibility to colitis. These results provide a molecular explanation for how amino acid malnutrition can cause intestinal inflammation and diarrhoea. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11228Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-65968 Originally published at: Hashimoto, Tatsuo; Perlot, Thomas; Rehman, Ateequr; Trichereau, Jean; Ishiguro, Hiroaki; Paolino, Magdalena; Sigl, Verena; Hanada, Toshikatsu; Hanada, Reiko; Lipinski, Simone; Wild, Birgit; Camargo, Simone M R; Singer, Dustin; Richter, Andreas; Kuba, Keiji; Fukamizu, Akiyoshi; Schreiber, Stefan; Clevers, Hans; Verrey, Francois; Rosenstiel, Philip; Penninger, Josef M (2012 Supplementary Fig. 4), indicating that these effects are independent of the classical RAS system. Whether ACE inhibition might alter the phenotype of Agtr1a -/-Ace2 -/y mice needs to be further examined. In addition to cleaving AngII, ACE2 exhibits catalytic activity towards a second peptide system, Apelin 15 .However, DSS-induced colitis was not altered in mice carrying genetic mutations in Apelin ( Supplementary Fig. 5) or its receptor Apj (Supplementary Fig. 6). Thus, the catalytic activity of ACE2, essential for its function in the RAS and Apelin cleavage, has no overt role in DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.It had been reported that the RAS can control immune functions 16 . However, in unchallenged Ace2 mutant mice, we did not observe any apparent differences in immune cell populations of the colon and small intestine (insert: "not shown"?). Fig. 10a,b) nor did it affect apoptosis rates of intestinal epithelial cells ( Supplementary Fig. 10a,c).ACE levels were slightly, albeit not significa...

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the small RNA-binding, regulatory protein RsmA is a negative control element in the formation of several extracellular products (e.g., pyocyanin, hydrogen cyanide, PA-IL lectin) as well as in the production of N-acylhomoserine lactone quorum-sensing signal molecules. RsmA was found to control positively the ability to swarm and to produce extracellular rhamnolipids and lipase, i.e., functions contributing to niche colonization by P. aeruginosa. An rsmA null mutant was entirely devoid of swarming but produced detectable amounts of rhamnolipids, suggesting that factors in addition to rhamnolipids influence the swarming ability of P. aeruginosa. A small regulatory RNA, rsmZ, which antagonized the effects of RsmA, was identified in P. aeruginosa. Expression of the rsmZ gene was dependent on both the global regulator GacA and RsmA, increased with cell density, and was subject to negative autoregulation. Overexpression of rsmZ and a null mutation in rsmA resulted in quantitatively similar, negative or positive effects on target genes, in agreement with a model that postulates titration of RsmA protein by RsmZ RNA.Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous saprophyte and an opportunistic human pathogen which synthesizes numerous extracellular products including elastase, LasA protease, alkaline protease, phospholipase C, lipase, exotoxin A, rhamnolipids, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and pyocyanin (25, 63). The production of these exoproducts, most of which can act as virulence factors, is positively controlled by two quorum-sensing signal molecules, N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C12-HSL) and N-butanoyl-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL), which activate the transcription factors LasR and RhlR, respectively (20,26,59). The las and rhl systems are organized in a hierarchical manner such that the las system exerts transcriptional control over both rhlR and rhlI (26). A third signal molecule, 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone, the synthesis and activity of which is linked to the las and rhl circuitry, is also required for virulence factor production and, in particular, for rhl-dependent exoproducts including pyocyanin and PA-IL lectin (41).Motility helps P. aeruginosa to colonize niches (10); three types of motility are observed, i.e., swimming, twitching, and swarming (24, 44). Whereas swimming in liquid media depends on flagella, twitching on solid media requires type IV pili.Swarming on semisolid media results from a combination of both types of motility and also requires rhamnolipid production (24, 46). Rhamnolipids are biosurfactants which not only enhance bacterial surface translocation by virtue of their wetting properties but also stimulate solubilization and degradation of hydrocarbons (35) and act as heat-stable hemolysins (21).The production of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) and the expression of many virulence determinants in P. aeruginosa is negatively controlled at a posttranscriptional level by the small RNA-binding protein RsmA (42,43). This regulator is a homolog of CsrA in E...

(SLC6A19) is the major luminal sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporter of small intestine and kidney proximal tubule. The expression of B(0)AT1 in kidney was recently shown to depend on its association with collectrin (Tmem27), a protein homologous to the membrane-anchoring domain of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) 2. METHODS: Because collectrin is almost absent from small intestine, we tested the hypothesis that it is ACE2 that interacts with B(0)AT1 in enterocytes. Furthermore, because B(0)AT1 expression depends on an associated protein, we tested the hypothesis that Hartnup-causing B(0)AT1 mutations differentially impact on B(0)AT1 interaction with intestinal and kidney accessory proteins. RESULTS: Immunofluorescence, coimmunoprecipitation, and functional experiments using wild-type and ace2-null mice showed that expression of B(0)AT1 in small intestine critically depends on ACE2.Coexpressing new and previously identified Hartnup disorder-causing missense mutations of B(0)AT1 with either collectrin or ACE2 in Xenopus laevis oocytes showed that the high-frequency D173N and the newly identified P265L mutant B(0)AT1 transporters can still be activated by ACE2 but not collectrin coexpression. In contrast, the human A69T and R240Q B(0)AT1 mutants cannot be activated by either of the associated proteins, although they function as wild-type B(0)AT1 when expressed alone. CONCLUSIONS: We thus show that ACE2 is necessary for the expression of the Hartnup transporter in intestine and suggest that the differential functional association of mutant B(0)AT1 transporters with ACE2 and collectrin in intestine and kidney, respectively, participates in the phenotypic heterogeneity of human Hartnup disorder. Camargo et al., GASTRO-D-

Angiotensin -converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a regulator of the renin angiotensin system involved in acute lung failure, cardiovascular functions and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infections in mammals. A gene encoding a homologue to ACE2, termed collectrin (Tmem27), has been identified in immediate proximity to the ace2 locus. The in vivo function of collectrin was unclear. Here we report that targeted disruption of collectrin in mice results in a severe defect in renal amino acid uptake owing to downregulation of apical amino acid transporters in the kidney. Collectrin associates with multiple apical transporters and defines a novel group of renal amino acid transporters. Expression of collectrin in Xenopus oocytes and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells enhances amino acid transport by the transporter B(0)AT1. These data identify collectrin as a key regulator of renal amino acid uptake.

Human APOBEC3A (A3A) is a single-domain cytidine deaminase that converts deoxycytidine residues to deoxyuridine in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). It inhibits a wide range of viruses and endogenous retroelements such as LINE-1, but it can also edit genomic DNA, which may play a role in carcinogenesis. Here, we extend our recent findings on the NMR structure of A3A and report structural, biochemical and cell-based mutagenesis studies to further characterize A3A’s deaminase and nucleic acid binding activities. We find that A3A binds ssRNA, but the RNA and DNA binding interfaces differ and no deamination of ssRNA is detected. Surprisingly, with only one exception (G105A), alanine substitution mutants with changes in residues affected by specific ssDNA binding retain deaminase activity. Furthermore, A3A binds and deaminates ssDNA in a length-dependent manner. Using catalytically active and inactive A3A mutants, we show that the determinants of A3A deaminase activity and anti-LINE-1 activity are not the same. Finally, we demonstrate A3A’s potential to mutate genomic DNA during transient strand separation and show that this process could be counteracted by ssDNA binding proteins. Taken together, our studies provide new insights into the molecular properties of A3A and its role in multiple cellular and antiviral functions.

Human APOBEC3B (A3B) is a member of the APOBEC3 (A3) family of cytidine deaminases, which function as DNA mutators and restrict viral pathogens and endogenous retrotransposons. Recently, A3B was identified as a major source of genetic heterogeneity in several human cancers. Here, we determined the solution NMR structure of the catalytically active C-terminal domain (CTD) of A3B and performed detailed analyses of its deaminase activity. The core of the structure comprises a central five-stranded β-sheet with six surrounding helices, common to all A3 proteins. The structural fold is most similar to that of A3A and A3G-CTD, with the most prominent difference found in loop 1. The catalytic activity of A3B-CTD is ~15-fold less than that of A3A, although both exhibit similar pH dependence. Interestingly, A3B-CTD with an A3A loop 1 substitution had significantly increased deaminase activity, while a single residue change (H29R) in A3A loop 1 reduced A3A activity to the level seen with A3B-CTD. This establishes that loop 1 plays an important role in A3-catalyzed deamination by precisely positioning the deamination-targeted C into the active site. Overall, our data provide important insights into the determinants for the activities of individual A3 proteins and facilitate understanding of their biological function.

Mutations in the main intestinal and kidney luminal neutral amino acid transporter B0AT1 (Slc6a19) lead to Hartnup disorder, a condition that is characterized by neutral aminoaciduria and in some cases pellagra-like symptoms. These latter symptoms caused by low-niacin are thought to result from defective intestinal absorption of its precursor l-tryptophan. Since Ace2 is necessary for intestinal B0AT1 expression, we tested the impact of intestinal B0AT1 absence in ace2 null mice. Their weight gain following weaning was decreased, and Na+-dependent uptake of B0AT1 substrates measured in everted intestinal rings was defective. Additionally, high-affinity Na+-dependent transport of l-proline, presumably via SIT1 (Slc6a20), was absent, whereas glucose uptake via SGLT1 (Slc5a1) was not affected. Measurements of small intestine luminal amino acid content following gavage showed that more l-tryptophan than other B0AT1 substrates reach the ileum in wild-type mice, which is in line with its known lower apparent affinity. In ace2 null mice, the absorption defect was confirmed by a severalfold increase of l-tryptophan and of other neutral amino acids reaching the ileum lumen. Furthermore, plasma and muscle levels of glycine and l-tryptophan were significantly decreased in ace2 null mice, with other neutral amino acids displaying a similar trend. A low-protein/low-niacin diet challenge led to differential changes in plasma amino acid levels in both wild-type and ace2 null mice, but only in ace2 null mice to a stop in weight gain. Despite the combination of low-niacin with a low-protein diet, plasma niacin concentrations remained normal in ace2 null mice and no pellagra symptoms, such as photosensitive skin rash or ataxia, were observed. In summary, mice lacking Ace2-dependent intestinal amino acid transport display no total niacin deficiency nor clear pellagra symptoms, even under a low-protein and low-niacin diet, despite gross amino acid homeostasis alterations.

Near complete reabsorption of filtered amino acids is a main specialized transport function of the kidney proximal tubule. This evolutionary conserved task is carried out by a subset of luminal and basolateral transporters that together form the transcellular amino acid transport machinery similar to that of small intestine. A number of other amino acid transporters expressed in the basolateral membrane of proximal kidney tubule cells subserve either specialized metabolic functions, such as the production of ammonium, or are part of the cellular housekeeping equipment. A new finding is that the luminal Na + -dependent neutral amino acid transporters of the SLC6 family require an associated protein for their surface expression as shown for the Hartnup transporter B 0 AT1 (SLC6A19) and suggested for the L-proline transporter SIT1 (IMINO B , SLC6A20) and for B 0 AT3 (XT2, SLC6A18). This accessory subunit called collectrin (TMEM27) is homologous to the transmembrane anchor region of the renin-angiotensin system enzyme ACE2 that we have shown to function in small intestine as associated subunit of the luminal SLC6 transporters B 0 AT1 and SIT1. Some mutations of B 0 AT1 differentially interact with these accessory subunits, providing an explanation for differential intestinal phenotypes among Hartnup patients. The basolateral efflux of numerous amino acids from kidney tubular cells is mediated by heteromeric amino acid transporters that function as obligatory exchangers. Thus, other transporters within the same membrane need to mediate the net efflux of exchange substrates, controlling thereby the net basolateral amino transport and thus the intracellular amino acid concentration.