The two-step oxidation of proline in all eukaryotes is performed at the inner mitochondrial membrane by the consecutive action of proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) that produces ⌬ 1 -pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) and P5C dehydrogenase (P5CDH) that oxidizes P5C to glutamate. This catabolic route is down-regulated in plants during osmotic stress, allowing free Pro accumulation. We show here that overexpression of MsProDH in tobacco and Arabidopsis or impairment of P5C oxidation in the Arabidopsis p5cdh mutant did not change the cellular Pro to P5C ratio under ambient and osmotic stress conditions, indicating that P5C excess was reduced to Pro in a mitochondrial-cytosolic cycle. This cycle, involving ProDH and P5C reductase, exists in animal cells and now demonstrated in plants. As a part of the cycle, Pro oxidation by the ProDH-FAD complex delivers electrons to the electron transport chain. Hyperactivity of the cycle, e.g. when an excess of exogenous L-Pro is provided, generates mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) by delivering electrons to O 2 , as demonstrated by the mitochondria-specific MitoSox staining of superoxide ions. Lack of P5CDH activity led to higher ROS production under dark and light conditions in the presence of Pro excess, as well as rendered plants hypersensitive to heat stress. Balancing mitochondrial ROS production during increased Pro oxidation is therefore critical for avoiding Pro-related toxic effects. Hence, normal oxidation of P5C to Glu by P5CDH is key to prevent P5C-Pro intensive cycling and avoid ROS production from electron run-off.Stress-related changes in Pro biosynthesis and degradation are conserved in different organisms and used to induce essential signaling pathways, such as p53-mediated apoptosis in mammalian cells (1) or osmo-protecting mechanisms in plants (2) and bacteria (3). Pro is one of the most common osmolytes that, together with glycine-betaine and soluble sugars, accumulates in plants in response to a wide array of abiotic and biotic stresses (2,4,5). Although the role of Pro as an osmo-protecting molecule in prokaryotes is well established (3, 6), the overall function of stress-accumulated free Pro in plants is still under debate (2, 7-9). In most plants, stress-induced free Pro accumulation results from enhanced Pro synthesis and concomitant silencing of Pro degradation (10 -13). Pro is produced in the cytosol and chloroplasts (14, 15) and degraded in the mitochondria by a short, strictly regulated cyclic pathway (Fig. 1). In the anabolic part of the pathway, glutamate is converted to ⌬ 1 -pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) 3 by P5C synthetase (P5CS), and P5C-reductase (P5CR) reduces P5C to Pro. In an alternative pathway, P5C is generated from ornithine by mitochondrial ornithine-aminotransferase (16, 17) and is reduced to Pro by P5CR in the cytosol. Thus, a possible movement of P5C among organelles and cytosol is assumed. P5CS is considered the key enzyme in the synthesis route, and its expression is increased by osmotic stress in many plants (11, 16 -18). A singl...
Collagen's biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity render it advantageous for extensive application in pharmaceutical or biotechnological disciplines. However, typical collagen extraction from animal or cadaver sources harbors risks including allergenicity and potential sample contamination with pathogens. In this work, two human genes encoding recombinant heterotrimeric collagen type I (rhCOL1) were successfully coexpressed in tobacco plants with the human prolyl-4-hydroxylase (P4H) and lysyl hydroxylase 3 (LH3) enzymes, responsible for key posttranslational modifications of collagen. Plants coexpressing all five vacuole-targeted proteins generated intact procollagen yields of approximately 2% of the extracted total soluble proteins. Plant-extracted rhCOL1 formed thermally stable triple helical structures and demonstrated biofunctionality similar to human tissue-derived collagen supporting binding and proliferation of adult peripheral blood-derived endothelial progenitor-like cells. Through a simple, safe and scalable method of rhCOL1 production and purification from tobacco plants, this work broadens the potential applications of human recombinant collagen in regenerative medicine.
Free proline accumulation is an innate response of many plants to osmotic stress. To characterize transcriptional regulation of the key proline cycle enzymes in alfalfa (Medicago sativa), two proline dehydrogenase (MsPDH) genes and a partial sequence of Delta (1) -pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (MsP5CDH) gene were identified and cloned. The two MsPDH genes share a high nucleotide sequence homology and a similar exon/intron structure. Estimation of transcript levels during salt stress and recovery revealed that proline accumulation during stress was linearly correlated with a strong decline in MsPDH transcript levels, while Delta (1) -pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (MsP5CS) and MsP5CDH steady-state transcript levels remained essentially unchanged. MsPDH transcript levels dramatically decreased in a fast, salt concentration-dependent manner. The extent of salt-induced proline accumulation also correlated with salt concentrations. Salt-induced repression of MsPDH1 promoter linked to the GUS reporter gene confirmed that the decline in MsPDH transcript levels was due to less transcription initiation. Contrary to the salt-dependent repression, a rapid induction of MsPDH transcription occurred at a very early stage of the recovery process, independently of earlier salt treatments. Hence our results suggest the existence of two different regulatory modes of MsPDH expression; the repressing mode that quantifies salt concentration in an as yet unknown mechanism and the "rehydration"-enhancing mode that responds to stress relief in a maximal induction of MsPDH transcription. As yet the components of salt sensing as well as those that might interact with MsPDH promoter to reduce transcription are still unknown.
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