A primary mechanism for initiating smooth muscle contraction involves an increase in [Ca 2ϩ ] i , leading to myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) phosphorylation, crossbridge cycling, and force development (1, 2). Phosphorylation of Ser-19 on RLC of myosin II changes the orientation of myosin crossbridges, allowing actin activation of myosin ATPase activity. A similar mechanism occurs with nonmuscle myosin II with effects on many cellular actomyosin-dependent functions. The Ca 2ϩ -dependent phosphorylation of RLC is mediated by Ca 2ϩ ͞cal-modulin (CaM)-dependent myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), whereas myosin light chain phosphatase dephosphorylates RLC. In smooth muscles, agonists stimulate greater RLC phosphorylation and force than do depolarizing stimuli at comparable [Ca 2ϩ ] i because of Ca We developed a different CaM-sensor MLCK capable of monitoring MLCK activation to obtain temporal and quantitative information on Ca 2ϩ ͞CaM binding to MLCK where Ca 2ϩ -dependent CaM binding increased kinase activity coincident with a decrease in FRET (11). The CaM-sensor MLCK was expressed in smooth muscle tissues of transgenic mice to obtain quantitative insights on CaM activation of MLCK relative to [Ca 2ϩ ] i and RLC phosphorylation and force development. These results show that genetically encoded biosensors may be used to investigate physiological processes in tissues of transgenic mice. MethodsConstruction of SM8 35 KCS Plasmid. The pSM8 35 KCS construct was prepared by subcloning the 1.6-kb cDNA of Ca 2ϩ ͞CaM-sensor containing the MLCK CaM-binding sequence flanked by enhanced cyan fluorescent protein (ECFP) and enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) (12) into the pSM8-CAT vector, which contains the smooth muscle ␣-actin promoter (13, 14). The 3.1-kb cDNA fragment of short rabbit smooth muscle MLCK was further subcloned into the site between the Ca 2ϩ ͞ CaM-sensor gene and the smooth muscle ␣-actin promoter in pSM8-CAT vector to produce pSM8 35 KCS construct. Correct This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Atypical antipsychotic (AA) medications including risperidone (RIS) and olanzapine (OLAN) are FDA approved for the treatment of psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Clinical side effects of AA medications include obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension and increased cardiovascular disease risk. Despite the known pharmacology of these AA medications, however, the mechanisms contributing to adverse metabolic side-effects are not well understood. To evaluate drug-associated effects on the heart, we assessed changes in the cardiac proteomic signature in mice administered for 4 weeks with clinically relevant exposure of RIS or OLAN. Using proteomic and gene enrichment analysis, we identified differentially expressed (DE) proteins in both RIS-and OLAN-treated mouse hearts (p <0.05), including proteins comprising mitochondrial respiratory complex I and pathways involved
A novel translocation step is inferred from structural studies of the interactions between the intracellular calcium receptor protein calmodulin (CaM) and one of its regulatory targets. A mutant of CaM missing residues 2-8 (⌬NCaM) binds skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase with high affinity but fails to activate catalysis. Small angle x-ray scattering data reveal that ⌬NCaM occupies a position near the catalytic cleft in its complex with the kinase, whereas the native protein translocates to a position near the C-terminal end of the catalytic core. Thus, CaM residues 2-8 appear to facilitate movement of bound CaM away from the vicinity of the catalytic cleft.
Iron deficiency (ID) anemia during infancy results in long‐term neurological consequences, yet the mediating mechanisms remain unclear. Infant monkeys often become naturally anemic during the first 6 months of life, presenting an opportunity to determine the effect of developmental iron deficiency. After weaning, animals were chosen randomly for supplementation with oral iron or, fed a standard commercial chow diet. The control group was never iron deficient. ID anemia was corrected by 12 months in both groups, as indicated by hematological parameters. CSF was collected for proteomic analysis at 12 months of age to assess the impact of developmental ID on the brain. The CSF proteome for both formerly iron deficient groups was similar and revealed 12 proteins with expression levels altered at least twofold. These proteins were identified by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight spectrometry and included prostaglandin D synthase, olfactory receptors and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Thus the proteomic analysis reveals a persistent effect of ID and provides insights into reports of disturbed sleep, hypomyelination and other behavioral alterations associated with ID. Furthermore, alterations in the CSF proteome despite normal hematologic parameters indicate that there is a hierarchical system that prioritizes repletion of red cell mass at the expense of the brain.
In this study, we compared gene transfer efficiency and host response to ultrasound-assisted, nonviral gene transfer with a conventional plasmid and a minicircle vector in the submandibular salivary glands of mice. Initially, we looked at gene transfer efficiency with equimolar amounts of the plasmid and minicircle vectors, corroborating an earlier report showing that minicircle is more efficient in the context of a physical method of gene transfer. We then sought to characterize the physiological response of the salivary gland to exogenous gene transfer using global proteomic profiling. Somewhat surprisingly, we found that sonoporation alone, without a gene transfer vector present, had virtually no effect on the salivary gland proteome. However, when a plasmid vector was used, we observed profound perturbations of the salivary gland proteome that compared in magnitude to that seen in a previous report after high doses of AAV. Finally, we found that gene transfer with a minicircle induces only minor proteomic alterations that were similar to sonoporation alone. Using mass spectrometry, we assigned protein IDs to 218 gel spots that differed between plasmid and minicircle. Bioinformatic analysis of these proteins demonstrated convergence on 68 known protein interaction pathways, most notably those associated with innate immunity, cellular stress, and morphogenesis.
Two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis remains a primary resolving tool for proteomic analyses. The final number of proteins resolved by 2-D electrophoresis depends on their respective solubility, size, charge, and isoelectric point. While water-soluble cytosolic proteins have often been well represented in 2-D maps, the same is not true with membrane proteins. Highly hydrophobic in nature, membrane proteins are poorly resolved in 2-D gels due to problems associated primarily with sample preparation. This is of especial concern in neuroscience studies where many proteins of interest are membrane bound. In the current work, we present a substantially improved sample preparation protocol for membrane proteins utilizing GLUT-1 glucose transporter from brain microvessels as an example of a typical membrane protein. GLUT-1 (SLC2A1; Solute carrier family 2 (facilitated glucose transporter), member 1) is a 55 kD glycoprotein that contains 12 membrane spanning alpha helices that impart the protein its characteristic hydrophobicity. GLUT-1 based on its amino acid sequence has a theoretical isoelectric point (pI) of 8.94. Using a combination of the non-ionic detergents, n-dodecyl-β-maltoside (DDM) and amido sulfobetaine-14 (ASB-14) for sample solubilzation, and a modification of the Biorad 2-D clean-up protocol involving trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone, we obtained near complete solubilization of GLUT-1 and greater than 90% recovery of this membrane protein in 1-D and 2-D Western blots. The total number of proteins resolved also increased dramatically in Deep Purple ™ total protein stains using our improved protocol.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease that culminates in right heart failure and death. Prostacyclin (PGI2) and its derivatives are effective treatments for PAH when administered as continuous parenteral infusions. This treatment paradigm requires medical sophistication, and patients are at risk for complications from an indewelling catheter; drug interruptions may result in rebound pulmonary hypertension and death. We hypothesized that the salivary gland can be repurposed into an endogenous production site for circulating PGI2 through the expression of a fusion protein embodying cyclooxygenase-1 (Cox1) and prostacyclin synthase (PGIS) domains. We utilized ultrasound-assisted gene transfer, a nonviral gene transfer strategy that achieves robust gene transfer to the salivary gland. We initially found that Cox1-PGIS expression in livers of mice using an adenoviral vector dramatically increased circulating PGI2 relative to untreated rats or rats treated with PGIS alone. We then utilized ultrasound-assisted gene transfer to express Cox1-PGIS in the submandibular glands of rats and showed a significant elevation of circulating PGI2 that corresponded to approximately 30% of that seen in humans undergoing intravenous infusion therapy for PAH. These results suggest the feasibility of gene therapy to drive endogenous biosynthesis of PGI2 as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PAH.
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