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  1. Generic sorting of raft lipids into secretory vesicles in yeast

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Surma, Michal A; Klose, Christian; Klemm, Robin W

    2011-01-01

    Previous work has showed that ergosterol and sphingolipids become sorted to secretory vesicles immunoisolated using a chimeric, artificial raft membrane protein as bait. In this study, we have extended this analysis to three populations of secretory vesicles isolated using natural yeast plasma...... a complete lipid overview of the yeast late secretory pathway. We could show that vesicles captured with different baits carry the same cargo and have almost identical lipid compositions; being highly enriched in ergosterol and sphingolipids. This finding indicates that lipid raft sorting is a generic...

  2. Mapping organelle motion reveals a vesicular conveyor belt spatially replenishing secretory vesicles in stimulated chromaffin cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maucort, Guillaume; Kasula, Ravikiran; Papadopulos, Andreas; Nieminen, Timo A; Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Halina; Meunier, Frederic A

    2014-01-01

    How neurosecretory cells spatially adjust their secretory vesicle pools to replenish those that have fused and released their hormonal content is currently unknown. Here we designed a novel set of image analyses to map the probability of tracked organelles undergoing a specific type of movement (free, caged or directed). We then applied our analysis to time-lapse z-stack confocal imaging of secretory vesicles from bovine Chromaffin cells to map the global changes in vesicle motion and directionality occurring upon secretagogue stimulation. We report a defined region abutting the cortical actin network that actively transports secretory vesicles and is dissipated by actin and microtubule depolymerizing drugs. The directionality of this "conveyor belt" towards the cell surface is activated by stimulation. Actin and microtubule networks therefore cooperatively probe the microenvironment to transport secretory vesicles to the periphery, providing a mechanism whereby cells globally adjust their vesicle pools in response to secretagogue stimulation.

  3. PICK1 deficiency impairs secretory vesicle biogenesis and leads to growth retardation and decreased glucose tolerance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holst, Birgitte; Madsen, Kenneth L; Jansen, Anna M

    2013-01-01

    by electron microscopy showing prominent reduction in secretory vesicle number. Evidence was also obtained for impaired insulin secretion associated with decreased glucose tolerance. PICK1 localized in cells to immature secretory vesicles, and the PICK1 BAR domain was shown by live imaging to associate...

  4. PICK1 deficiency impairs secretory vesicle biogenesis and leads to growth retardation and decreased glucose tolerance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birgitte Holst

    Full Text Available Secretory vesicles in endocrine cells store hormones such as growth hormone (GH and insulin before their release into the bloodstream. The molecular mechanisms governing budding of immature secretory vesicles from the trans-Golgi network (TGN and their subsequent maturation remain unclear. Here, we identify the lipid binding BAR (Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs domain protein PICK1 (protein interacting with C kinase 1 as a key component early in the biogenesis of secretory vesicles in GH-producing cells. Both PICK1-deficient Drosophila and mice displayed somatic growth retardation. Growth retardation was rescued in flies by reintroducing PICK1 in neurosecretory cells producing somatotropic peptides. PICK1-deficient mice were characterized by decreased body weight and length, increased fat accumulation, impaired GH secretion, and decreased storage of GH in the pituitary. Decreased GH storage was supported by electron microscopy showing prominent reduction in secretory vesicle number. Evidence was also obtained for impaired insulin secretion associated with decreased glucose tolerance. PICK1 localized in cells to immature secretory vesicles, and the PICK1 BAR domain was shown by live imaging to associate with vesicles budding from the TGN and to possess membrane-sculpting properties in vitro. In mouse pituitary, PICK1 co-localized with the BAR domain protein ICA69, and PICK1 deficiency abolished ICA69 protein expression. In the Drosophila brain, PICK1 and ICA69 co-immunoprecipitated and showed mutually dependent expression. Finally, both in a Drosophila model of type 2 diabetes and in high-fat-diet-induced obese mice, we observed up-regulation of PICK1 mRNA expression. Our findings suggest that PICK1, together with ICA69, is critical during budding of immature secretory vesicles from the TGN and thus for vesicular storage of GH and possibly other hormones. The data link two BAR domain proteins to membrane remodeling processes in the secretory pathway of

  5. Secretory Vesicle Priming by CAPS Is Independent of Its SNARE-Binding MUN Domain

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    Cuc Quynh Nguyen Truong

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Priming of secretory vesicles is a prerequisite for their Ca2+-dependent fusion with the plasma membrane. The key vesicle priming proteins, Munc13s and CAPSs, are thought to mediate vesicle priming by regulating the conformation of the t-SNARE syntaxin, thereby facilitating SNARE complex assembly. Munc13s execute their priming function through their MUN domain. Given that the MUN domain of Ca2+-dependent activator protein for secretion (CAPS also binds syntaxin, it was assumed that CAPSs prime vesicles through the same mechanism as Munc13s. We studied naturally occurring splice variants of CAPS2 in CAPS1/CAPS2-deficient cells and found that CAPS2 primes vesicles independently of its MUN domain. Instead, the pleckstrin homology domain of CAPS2 seemingly is essential for its priming function. Our findings indicate a priming mode for secretory vesicles. This process apparently requires membrane phospholipids, does not involve the binding or direct conformational regulation of syntaxin by MUN domains of CAPSs, and is therefore not redundant with Munc13 action.

  6. Secretory vesicles in live cells are not free-floating but tethered to filamentous structures: A study using photonic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abu-Hamdah, Rania; Cho, Won Jin; Hoerber, J.K.H.; Jena, Bhanu P.

    2006-01-01

    It is well established that actin and microtubule cytoskeletal systems are involved in organelle transport and membrane trafficking in cells. This is also true for the transport of secretory vesicles in neuroendocrine cells and neurons. It was however unclear whether secretory vesicles remain free-floating, only to associate with such cytoskeletal systems when needing transport. This hypothesis was tested using live pancreatic acinar cells in physiological buffer solutions, using the photonic force microscope (PFM). When membrane-bound secretory vesicles (0.2-1.2 μm in diameter) in live pancreatic acinar cells were trapped at the laser focus of the PFM and pulled, they were all found tethered to filamentous structures. Mild exposure of cells to nocodazole and cytochalasin B, disrupts the tether. Immunoblot analysis of isolated secretory vesicles, further demonstrated the association of actin, myosin V, and kinesin. These studies demonstrate for the first time that secretory vesicles in live pancreatic acinar cells are tethered and not free-floating, suggesting that following vesicle biogenesis, they are placed on their own railroad track, ready to be transported to their final destination within the cell when required. This makes sense, since precision and regulation are the hallmarks of all cellular process, and therefore would hold true for the transport and localization of subcellular organelles such as secretory vesicles

  7. Secretory vesicles in live cells are not free-floating but tethered to filamentous structures: A study using photonic force microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abu-Hamdah, Rania [Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 5245 Scott Hall, 540 E. Canfield, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States); Cho, Won Jin [Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 5245 Scott Hall, 540 E. Canfield, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States); Hoerber, J.K.H. [Department of Physics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD (United Kingdom); Jena, Bhanu P. [Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 5245 Scott Hall, 540 E. Canfield, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States)]. E-mail: bjena@med.wayne.edu

    2006-06-15

    It is well established that actin and microtubule cytoskeletal systems are involved in organelle transport and membrane trafficking in cells. This is also true for the transport of secretory vesicles in neuroendocrine cells and neurons. It was however unclear whether secretory vesicles remain free-floating, only to associate with such cytoskeletal systems when needing transport. This hypothesis was tested using live pancreatic acinar cells in physiological buffer solutions, using the photonic force microscope (PFM). When membrane-bound secretory vesicles (0.2-1.2 {mu}m in diameter) in live pancreatic acinar cells were trapped at the laser focus of the PFM and pulled, they were all found tethered to filamentous structures. Mild exposure of cells to nocodazole and cytochalasin B, disrupts the tether. Immunoblot analysis of isolated secretory vesicles, further demonstrated the association of actin, myosin V, and kinesin. These studies demonstrate for the first time that secretory vesicles in live pancreatic acinar cells are tethered and not free-floating, suggesting that following vesicle biogenesis, they are placed on their own railroad track, ready to be transported to their final destination within the cell when required. This makes sense, since precision and regulation are the hallmarks of all cellular process, and therefore would hold true for the transport and localization of subcellular organelles such as secretory vesicles.

  8. In Candida albicans hyphae, Sec2p is physically associated with SEC2 mRNA on secretory vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caballero-Lima, David; Hautbergue, Guillaume M; Wilson, Stuart A; Sudbery, Peter E

    2014-11-01

    Candida albicans hyphae grow in a highly polarized fashion from their tips. This polarized growth requires the continuous delivery of secretory vesicles to the tip region. Vesicle delivery depends on Sec2p, the Guanine Exchange Factor (GEF) for the Rab GTPase Sec4p. GTP bound Sec4p is required for the transit of secretory vesicles from the trans-Golgi to sites of polarized growth. We previously showed that phosphorylation of Sec2p at residue S584 was necessary for Sec2p to support hyphal, but not yeast growth. Here we show that on secretory vesicles SEC2 mRNA is physically associated with Sec2p. Moreover, we show that the phosphorylation of S584 allows SEC2 mRNA to dissociate from Sec2p and we speculate that this is necessary for Sec2p function and/or translation. During hyphal extension, the growing tip may be separated from the nucleus by up to 15 μm. Transport of SEC2 mRNA on secretory vesicles to the tip localizes SEC2 translation to tip allowing a sufficient accumulation of this key protein at the site of polarized growth. © 2014 The Authors. Molecular Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Cysteine Cathepsins in the secretory vesicle produce active peptides: Cathepsin L generates peptide neurotransmitters and cathepsin B produces beta-amyloid of Alzheimer's disease.

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    Hook, Vivian; Funkelstein, Lydiane; Wegrzyn, Jill; Bark, Steven; Kindy, Mark; Hook, Gregory

    2012-01-01

    Recent new findings indicate significant biological roles of cysteine cathepsin proteases in secretory vesicles for production of biologically active peptides. Notably, cathepsin L in secretory vesicles functions as a key protease for proteolytic processing of proneuropeptides (and prohormones) into active neuropeptides that are released to mediate cell-cell communication in the nervous system for neurotransmission. Moreover, cathepsin B in secretory vesicles has been recently identified as a β-secretase for production of neurotoxic β- amyloid (Aβ) peptides that accumulate in Alzheimer's disease (AD), participating as a notable factor in the severe memory loss in AD. These secretory vesicle functions of cathepsins L and B for production of biologically active peptides contrast with the well-known role of cathepsin proteases in lysosomes for the degradation of proteins to result in their inactivation. The unique secretory vesicle proteome indicates proteins of distinct functional categories that provide the intravesicular environment for support of cysteine cathepsin functions. Features of the secretory vesicle protein systems insure optimized intravesicular conditions that support the proteolytic activity of cathepsins. These new findings of recently discovered biological roles of cathepsins L and B indicate their significance in human health and disease. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Proteolysis 50 years after the discovery of lysosome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Subcellular localization of SV2 and other secretory vesicle components in PC12 cells by an efficient method of preembedding EM immunocytochemistry for cell cultures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tanner, V A; Ploug, Thorkil; Tao-Cheng, J H

    1996-01-01

    substantially improved the efficiency of the preembedding EM ICC procedures for cell cultures. The advantages and related caveats of this method are discussed. SV2 was distinctly localized on dusters of synaptic vesicles and large dense-cored vesicles (LDCV). The distribution of SV2 on these two types...... of secretory vesicles was compared quantitatively to that of another secretory vesicle-associated transmembrane protein, synaptophysin. In cultures under similar experimental conditions, the ratio of SV2 vs synaptophysin ICC staining on synaptic vesicle dusters was about 1:1, whereas it was about 9:1 on LDCV...

  11. Porosome: The Universal Secretory Portal in Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jena, Bhanu

    2012-10-01

    In the past 50 years it was believed that during cell secretion, membrane-bound secretory vesicles completely merge at the cell plasma membrane resulting in the diffusion of intra-vesicular contents to the cell exterior and the compensatory retrieval of the excess membrane by endocytosis. This explanation made no sense or logic, since following cell secretion partially empty vesicles accumulate as demonstrated in electron micrographs. Furthermore, with the ``all or none'' mechanism of cell secretion by complete merger of secretory vesicle membrane at the cell plasma membrane, the cell is left with little regulation and control of the amount of content release. Moreover, it makes no sense for mammalian cells to possess such `all or none' mechanism of cell secretion, when even single-cell organisms have developed specialized and sophisticated secretory machinery, such as the secretion apparatus of Toxoplasma gondii, the contractile vacuoles in paramecium, or the various types of secretory structures in bacteria. Therefore, in 1993 in a News and Views article in Nature, E. Neher wrote ``It seems terribly wasteful that, during the release of hormones and neurotransmitters from a cell, the membrane of a vesicle should merge with the plasma membrane to be retrieved for recycling only seconds or minutes later.'' This conundrum in the molecular mechanism of cell secretion was finally resolved in 1997 following discovery of the ``Porosome,'' the universal secretory machinery in cells. Porosomes are supramolecular lipoprotein structures at the cell plasma membrane, where membrane-bound secretory vesicles transiently dock and fuse to release inravesicular contents to the outside during cell secretion. In the past decade, the composition of the porosome, its structure and dynamics at nm resolution and in real time, and its functional reconstitution into artificial lipid membrane, have all been elucidated. Since porosomes in exocrine and neuroendocrine cells measure 100-180 nm

  12. Segregation of sphingolipids and sterols during formation of secretory vesicles at the trans-Golgi network

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Klemm, Robin W; Ejsing, Christer S.; Surma, Michal A

    2009-01-01

    The trans-Golgi network (TGN) is the major sorting station in the secretory pathway of all eukaryotic cells. How the TGN sorts proteins and lipids to generate the enrichment of sphingolipids and sterols at the plasma membrane is poorly understood. To address this fundamental question in membrane...... trafficking, we devised an immunoisolation procedure for specific recovery of post-Golgi secretory vesicles transporting a transmembrane raft protein from the TGN to the cell surface in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using a novel quantitative shotgun lipidomics approach, we could demonstrate that TGN...... than the late Golgi membrane, as measured by C-Laurdan spectrophotometry, strongly suggests that lipid rafts play a role in the TGN-sorting machinery....

  13. Regulation of vesicular traffic by a GTP-binding protein on the cytoplasmic surface of secretory vesicles in yeast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novick, P.J.; Goud, B.; Salminen, A.; Walworth, N.C.; Nair, J.; Potenza, M.

    1988-01-01

    Vesicular transport is an important mechanism for the intracellular traffic of proteins and lipids in eukaryotic cells. Vesicles mediate the passage of proteins between the various organelles of the secretory pathway and the exocytic release of these proteins into the extracellular environment. Vesicles also mediate the uptake of proteins and fluid from the external environment, delivering them to endosomes. Despite the generality of the vesicular transport mechanism, the process is not yet understood at a molecular level. The key questions that are addressed are (1) How are vesicles formed from the membrane of the donor organelle? (2) How are these vesicles transported? (3) How do the vesicles recognize the membrane of the target (acceptor) organelle? (4) How is membrane fusion accomplished? The genetic flexibility of yeast has been exploited to identify components of the cellular machinery required for vesicular transport

  14. The kunitz protease inhibitor form of the amyloid precursor protein (KPI/APP) inhibits the proneuropeptide processing enzyme prohormone thiol protease (PTP). Colocalization of KPI/APP and PTP in secretory vesicles.

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    Hook, V Y; Sei, C; Yasothornsrikul, S; Toneff, T; Kang, Y H; Efthimiopoulos, S; Robakis, N K; Van Nostrand, W

    1999-01-29

    Proteolytic processing of proenkephalin and proneuropeptides is required for the production of active neurotransmitters and peptide hormones. Variations in the extent of proenkephalin processing in vivo suggest involvement of endogenous protease inhibitors. This study demonstrates that "protease nexin 2 (PN2)," the secreted form of the kunitz protease inhibitor (KPI) of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), potently inhibited the proenkephalin processing enzyme known as prohormone thiol protease (PTP), with a Ki,app of 400 nM. Moreover, PTP and PN2 formed SDS-stable complexes that are typical of kunitz protease inhibitor interactions with target proteases. In vivo, KPI/APP (120 kDa), as well as a truncated form of KPI/APP that resembles PN2 in apparent molecular mass (110 kDa), were colocalized with PTP and (Met)enkephalin in secretory vesicles of adrenal medulla (chromaffin granules). KPI/APP (110-120 kDa) was also detected in pituitary secretory vesicles that contain PTP. In chromaffin cells, calcium-dependent secretion of KPI/APP with PTP and (Met)enkephalin demonstrated the colocalization of these components in functional secretory vesicles. These results suggest a role for KPI/APP inhibition of PTP in regulated secretory vesicles. In addition, these results are the first to identify an endogenous protease target of KPI/APP, which is developmentally regulated in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

  15. Osh4p is needed to reduce the level of phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate on secretory vesicles as they mature

    OpenAIRE

    Ling, Yading; Hayano, Scott; Novick, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI4P) is produced on both the Golgi and the plasma membrane. Despite extensive vesicular traffic between these compartments, genetic analysis suggests that the two pools of PI4P do not efficiently mix with one another. Several lines of evidence indicate that the PI4P produced on the Golgi is normally incorporated into secretory vesicles, but the fate of that pool has been unclear. We show here that in yeast the oxysterol-binding proteins Osh1?Osh7 are collect...

  16. Insulin replacement restores the vesicular secretory apparatus in the diabetic rat lacrimal gland

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    Ana Carolina Dias

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: In the lacrimal gland (LG acinar cells, signaling regulates the release of secretory vesicles through specific Rab and SNARE exocytotic proteins. In diabetes mellitus (DM, the LGs are dysfunctional. The aim of this work was to determine if secretory apparatus changes were associated with any effects on the secretory vesicles (SV in diabetic rats as well as the expression levels of constituent Rab and members of the SNARE family, and if insulin supplementation reversed those changes. Methods: DM was induced in male Wistar rats with an intravenous dose of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg. One of the two diabetic groups was then treated every other day with insulin (1 IU. A third control group was injected with vehicle. After 10 weeks, Western blotting and RT-PCR were used to compared the Rab and SNARE secretory factor levels in the LGs. Transmission electron microscopy evaluated acinar cell SV density and integrity. Results: In the diabetes mellitus group, there were fewer and enlarged SV. The Rab 27b, Rab 3d, and syntaxin-1 protein expression declined in the rats with diabetes mellitus. Insulin treatment restored the SV density and the Rab 27b and syntaxin expression to their control protein levels, whereas the Vamp 2 mRNA expression increased above the control levels. Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus LG changes were associated with the declines in protein expression levels that were involved in supporting exocytosis and vesicular formation. They were partially reversed by insulin replacement therapy. These findings may help to improve therapeutic management of dry eye in diabetes mellitus.

  17. The Arabidopsis P4-ATPase ALA3 requires a ß-subunit to function in phospholipid translocation and secretory vesicle formation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lopez Marques, Rosa Laura

    The Arabidopsis P4-ATPase ALA3 requires a ß-subunit to function in phospholipid translocation and secretory vesicle formation   Lisbeth R. Poulsen1, Rosa L. López-Marqués1, Stephen C. McDowell2, Juha Okkeri3, Dirk Licht3, Alexander Schulz1, Thomas Pomorski3,  Jeffrey F. Harper2, and Michael G....... Palmgren1 1Centre for Membrane Pumps in Cells and Disease - PUMPKIN, Danish National Research Foundation, Department of Plant Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark 2Biochemistry Department MS200, University of Nevada Reno, NV 89557, USA 3Humboldt-University Berlin, Faculty...... and in inducing membrane curvature, which is a requirement for vesicle formation. We show that Aminophospholipid ATPase3 (ALA3), a member of the P4-ATPase subfamily in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, localizes to the Golgi apparatus and that genetic lesions of ALA3 result in impaired growth of roots and shoots...

  18. Characterization of yeast extracellular vesicles: evidence for the participation of different pathways of cellular traffic in vesicle biogenesis.

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    Débora L Oliveira

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Extracellular vesicles in yeast cells are involved in the molecular traffic across the cell wall. In yeast pathogens, these vesicles have been implicated in the transport of proteins, lipids, polysaccharide and pigments to the extracellular space. Cellular pathways required for the biogenesis of yeast extracellular vesicles are largely unknown.We characterized extracellular vesicle production in wild type (WT and mutant strains of the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae using transmission electron microscopy in combination with light scattering analysis, lipid extraction and proteomics. WT cells and mutants with defective expression of Sec4p, a secretory vesicle-associated Rab GTPase essential for Golgi-derived exocytosis, or Snf7p, which is involved in multivesicular body (MVB formation, were analyzed in parallel. Bilayered vesicles with diameters at the 100-300 nm range were found in extracellular fractions from yeast cultures. Proteomic analysis of vesicular fractions from the cells aforementioned and additional mutants with defects in conventional secretion pathways (sec1-1, fusion of Golgi-derived exocytic vesicles with the plasma membrane; bos1-1, vesicle targeting to the Golgi complex or MVB functionality (vps23, late endosomal trafficking revealed a complex and interrelated protein collection. Semi-quantitative analysis of protein abundance revealed that mutations in both MVB- and Golgi-derived pathways affected the composition of yeast extracellular vesicles, but none abrogated vesicle production. Lipid analysis revealed that mutants with defects in Golgi-related components of the secretory pathway had slower vesicle release kinetics, as inferred from intracellular accumulation of sterols and reduced detection of these lipids in vesicle fractions in comparison with WT cells.Our results suggest that both conventional and unconventional pathways of secretion are required for biogenesis of extracellular vesicles, which demonstrate the

  19. Synaptic Control of Secretory Trafficking in Dendrites

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    Cyril Hanus

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Localized signaling in neuronal dendrites requires tight spatial control of membrane composition. Upon initial synthesis, nascent secretory cargo in dendrites exits the endoplasmic reticulum (ER from local zones of ER complexity that are spatially coupled to post-ER compartments. Although newly synthesized membrane proteins can be processed locally, the mechanisms that control the spatial range of secretory cargo transport in dendritic segments are unknown. Here, we monitored the dynamics of nascent membrane proteins in dendritic post-ER compartments under regimes of low or increased neuronal activity. In response to activity blockade, post-ER carriers are highly mobile and are transported over long distances. Conversely, increasing synaptic activity dramatically restricts the spatial scale of post-ER trafficking along dendrites. This activity-induced confinement of secretory cargo requires site-specific phosphorylation of the kinesin motor KIF17 by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaMK. Thus, the length scales of early secretory trafficking in dendrites are tuned by activity-dependent regulation of microtubule-dependent transport.

  20. Phosphopeptidomics Reveals Differential Phosphorylation States and Novel SxE Phosphosite Motifs of Neuropeptides in Dense Core Secretory Vesicles

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    Lietz, Christopher B.; Toneff, Thomas; Mosier, Charles; Podvin, Sonia; O'Donoghue, Anthony J.; Hook, Vivian

    2018-03-01

    Neuropeptides are vital for cell-cell communication and function in the regulation of the nervous and endocrine systems. They are generated by post-translational modification (PTM) steps resulting in small active peptides generated from prohormone precursors. Phosphorylation is a significant PTM for the bioactivity of neuropeptides. From the known diversity of distinct neuropeptide functions, it is hypothesized that the extent of phosphorylation varies among different neuropeptides. To assess this hypothesis, neuropeptide-containing dense core secretory vesicles from bovine adrenal medullary chromaffin cells were subjected to global phosphopeptidomics analyses by liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Phosphopeptides were identified directly by LC-MS/MS and indirectly by phosphatase treatment followed by LC-MS/MS. The data identified numerous phosphorylated peptides derived from neuropeptide precursors such as chromogranins, secretogranins, proenkephalin and pro-NPY. Phosphosite occupancies were observed at high and low levels among identified peptides and many of the high occupancy phosphopeptides represent prohormone-derived peptides with currently unknown bioactivities. Peptide sequence analyses demonstrated SxE as the most prevalent phosphorylation site motif, corresponding to phosphorylation sites of the Fam20C protein kinase known to be present in the secretory pathway. The range of high to low phosphosite occupancies for neuropeptides demonstrates cellular regulation of neuropeptide phosphorylation. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  1. Phosphopeptidomics Reveals Differential Phosphorylation States and Novel SxE Phosphosite Motifs of Neuropeptides in Dense Core Secretory Vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lietz, Christopher B.; Toneff, Thomas; Mosier, Charles; Podvin, Sonia; O'Donoghue, Anthony J.; Hook, Vivian

    2018-05-01

    Neuropeptides are vital for cell-cell communication and function in the regulation of the nervous and endocrine systems. They are generated by post-translational modification (PTM) steps resulting in small active peptides generated from prohormone precursors. Phosphorylation is a significant PTM for the bioactivity of neuropeptides. From the known diversity of distinct neuropeptide functions, it is hypothesized that the extent of phosphorylation varies among different neuropeptides. To assess this hypothesis, neuropeptide-containing dense core secretory vesicles from bovine adrenal medullary chromaffin cells were subjected to global phosphopeptidomics analyses by liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Phosphopeptides were identified directly by LC-MS/MS and indirectly by phosphatase treatment followed by LC-MS/MS. The data identified numerous phosphorylated peptides derived from neuropeptide precursors such as chromogranins, secretogranins, proenkephalin and pro-NPY. Phosphosite occupancies were observed at high and low levels among identified peptides and many of the high occupancy phosphopeptides represent prohormone-derived peptides with currently unknown bioactivities. Peptide sequence analyses demonstrated SxE as the most prevalent phosphorylation site motif, corresponding to phosphorylation sites of the Fam20C protein kinase known to be present in the secretory pathway. The range of high to low phosphosite occupancies for neuropeptides demonstrates cellular regulation of neuropeptide phosphorylation. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  2. Effect of colchicine on the transport of precursor enamel protein in secretory ameloblasts studied by 3H-proline radioautography in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, S.; Takano, Y.; Wakisaka, S.; Ichikawa, H.; Nishikawa, S.; Akai, M.

    1988-01-01

    The incorporation of 3H-proline into the secretory ameloblasts of rat molar tooth germs cultured with or without colchicine was studied by light and electron microscope radioautography to determine the function of microtubules in the transport of precursor enamel protein from the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (rER) to the Golgi cisternae. The grain counts over the transitional vesicles, which accumulated in various cellular regions with colchicine treatment, continued to increase with chase time, unlike in controls. At 30 and 90 min chase, these counts were significantly higher than in controls. Moreover, the total grain count over the organelles (rER, pale granules, and transitional vesicles), which are positioned before the Golgi cisternae in the synthetic pathway, maintained a significantly higher level at 90 min chase in colchicine-treated tooth germs than in controls. The transport of synthesized protein to the Golgi cisternae via transitional vesicles was suppressed in colchicine-treated tooth germs. Some grains appeared with time over pale granular materials that appeared in the intercellular spaces of secretory ameloblasts with colchicine treatment. However, at each chase period, the grain count over pale granular materials was not so high as the count over the enamel in control. The present results indicate that colchicine affects the transport of newly synthesized protein from the rER to the Golgi cisterna via transitional vesicles, probably by interfering with the oriented transport related to microtubular function. It is suggested that the microtubular system may be concerned with the movement of the transitional vesicles

  3. Shedding light on the role of lipid flippases in the secretory pathway

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lopez Marques, Rosa Laura

    that these pumps serve important functions in vesicular traffic, their activities being required to support vesicle formation in the secretory and endocytic pathways. We are now aiming at determining the mechanism by which these ATPases function in vesicle biogenesis. For this purpose, we are using novel...... biophysical approaches based on giant vesicles and several advanced bioimaging methods. The limitations and future perspectives of these techniques for the characterization of lipid translocases will be discussed in the light of our recent results....

  4. Correlative scanning-transmission electron microscopy reveals that a chimeric flavivirus is released as individual particles in secretory vesicles.

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    Julien Burlaud-Gaillard

    Full Text Available The intracellular morphogenesis of flaviviruses has been well described, but flavivirus release from the host cell remains poorly documented. We took advantage of the optimized production of an attenuated chimeric yellow fever/dengue virus for vaccine purposes to study this phenomenon by microscopic approaches. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM showed the release of numerous viral particles at the cell surface through a short-lived process. For transmission electron microscopy (TEM studies of the intracellular ultrastructure of the small number of cells releasing viral particles at a given time, we developed a new correlative microscopy method: CSEMTEM (for correlative scanning electron microscopy - transmission electron microscopy. CSEMTEM analysis suggested that chimeric flavivirus particles were released as individual particles, in small exocytosis vesicles, via a regulated secretory pathway. Our morphological findings provide new insight into interactions between flaviviruses and cells and demonstrate that CSEMTEM is a useful new method, complementary to SEM observations of biological events by intracellular TEM investigations.

  5. Hierarchical unilamellar vesicles of controlled compositional heterogeneity.

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    Maik Hadorn

    Full Text Available Eukaryotic life contains hierarchical vesicular architectures (i.e. organelles that are crucial for material production and trafficking, information storage and access, as well as energy production. In order to perform specific tasks, these compartments differ among each other in their membrane composition and their internal cargo and also differ from the cell membrane and the cytosol. Man-made structures that reproduce this nested architecture not only offer a deeper understanding of the functionalities and evolution of organelle-bearing eukaryotic life but also allow the engineering of novel biomimetic technologies. Here, we show the newly developed vesicle-in-water-in-oil emulsion transfer preparation technique to result in giant unilamellar vesicles internally compartmentalized by unilamellar vesicles of different membrane composition and internal cargo, i.e. hierarchical unilamellar vesicles of controlled compositional heterogeneity. The compartmentalized giant unilamellar vesicles were subsequently isolated by a separation step exploiting the heterogeneity of the membrane composition and the encapsulated cargo. Due to the controlled, efficient, and technically straightforward character of the new preparation technique, this study allows the hierarchical fabrication of compartmentalized giant unilamellar vesicles of controlled compositional heterogeneity and will ease the development of eukaryotic cell mimics that resemble their natural templates as well as the fabrication of novel multi-agent drug delivery systems for combination therapies and complex artificial microreactors.

  6. Genetically Controlled Fusion, Exocytosis and Fission of Artificial Vesicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bönzli, Eva; Hadorn, Maik; De Lucrezia, Davide

    if a special class of viral proteins, termed fusogenic peptides, were added to the external medium. In the present work, we intend to develop genetically controlled fusion, fission and exocytosis of vesicles by the synthesis of peptides within vesicles. First, we enclosed synthesized peptides in vesicles...... to induce in a next step fusion of adjacent vesicles, fission and exocytosis of nested vesicles. Second, we will replace the peptides by an enclosed cell-free expression system to internally synthesize fusion peptides. To control the gene expression, different mechanisms are available, e.g. addition...... fusion, fission and exocytosis....

  7. Imaging Polarized Secretory Traffic at the Immune Synapse in Living T Lymphocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvo, Víctor; Izquierdo, Manuel

    2018-01-01

    Immune synapse (IS) formation by T lymphocytes constitutes a crucial event involved in antigen-specific, cellular and humoral immune responses. After IS formation by T lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells, the convergence of secretory vesicles toward the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) and MTOC polarization to the IS are involved in polarized secretion at the synaptic cleft. This specialized mechanism appears to specifically provide the immune system with a fine strategy to increase the efficiency of crucial secretory effector functions of T lymphocytes, while minimizing non-specific, cytokine-mediated stimulation of bystander cells, target cell killing and activation-induced cell death. The molecular bases involved in the polarized secretory traffic toward the IS in T lymphocytes have been the focus of interest, thus different models and several imaging strategies have been developed to gain insights into the mechanisms governing directional secretory traffic. In this review, we deal with the most widely used, state-of-the-art approaches to address the molecular mechanisms underlying this crucial, immune secretory response.

  8. Vesicle fusion with bilayer lipid membrane controlled by electrostatic interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azusa Oshima

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The fusion of proteoliposomes is a promising approach for incorporating membrane proteins in artificial lipid membranes. In this study, we employed an electrostatic interaction between vesicles and supported bilayer lipid membranes (s-BLMs to control the fusion process. We combined large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs containing anionic lipids, which we used instead of proteoliposomes, and s-BLMs containing cationic lipids to control electrostatic interaction. Anionic LUVs were never adsorbed or ruptured on the SiO2 substrate with a slight negative charge, and selectively fused with cationic s-BLMs. The LUVs can be fused effectively to the target position. Furthermore, as the vesicle fusion proceeds and some of the positive charges are neutralized, the attractive interaction weakens and finally the vesicle fusion saturates. In other words, we can control the number of LUVs fused with s-BLMs by controlling the concentration of the cationic lipids in the s-BLMs. The fluidity of the s-BLMs after vesicle fusion was confirmed to be sufficiently high. This indicates that the LUVs attached to the s-BLMs were almost completely fused, and there were few intermediate state vesicles in the fusion process. We could control the position and amount of vesicle fusion with the s-BLMs by employing an electrostatic interaction.

  9. Vesicles Are Persistent Features of Different Plastids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindquist, Emelie; Solymosi, Katalin; Aronsson, Henrik

    2016-10-01

    Peripheral vesicles in plastids have been observed repeatedly, primarily in proplastids and developing chloroplasts, in which they are suggested to function in thylakoid biogenesis. Previous observations of vesicles in mature chloroplasts have mainly concerned low temperature pretreated plants occasionally treated with inhibitors blocking vesicle fusion. Here, we show that such vesicle-like structures occur not only in chloroplasts and proplastids, but also in etioplasts, etio-chloroplasts, leucoplasts, chromoplasts and even transforming desiccoplasts without any specific pretreatment. Observations are made both in C3 and C4 species, in different cell types (meristematic, epidermis, mesophyll, bundle sheath and secretory cells) and different organs (roots, stems, leaves, floral parts and fruits). Until recently not much focus has been given to the idea that vesicle transport in chloroplasts could be mediated by proteins, but recent data suggest that the vesicle system of chloroplasts has similarities with the cytosolic coat protein complex II system. All current data taken together support the idea of an ongoing, active and protein-mediated vesicle transport not only in chloroplasts but also in other plastids, obviously occurring regardless of chemical modifications, temperature and plastid developmental stage. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Genetically controlled fusion, exocytosis and fission of artificial vesicles-a roadmap

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bönzli, Eva; Hadorn, Maik; de Lucrezia, Davide

    2011-01-01

    were shown to fuse if a special class of viral proteins, termed fusogenic peptides, were added to the external medium (Nomura et al. 2004). In the present work, we intend to develop genetically controlled fusion, fission and exocytosis of vesicles by the synthesis of peptides within vesicles. First, we...... enclosed synthesized peptides in vesicles to induce in a next step fusion of adjacent vesicles, fission and exocytosis of nested vesicles. Second, we will replace the peptides by an enclosed cell-free expression system to internally synthesize fusion peptides. To control the gene expression, different...

  11. Trafficking of astrocytic vesicles in hippocampal slices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Potokar, Maja; Kreft, Marko; Lee, So-Young; Takano, Hajime; Haydon, Philip G.; Zorec, Robert

    2009-01-01

    The increasingly appreciated role of astrocytes in neurophysiology dictates a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underlying the communication between astrocytes and neurons. In particular, the uptake and release of signaling substances into/from astrocytes is considered as crucial. The release of different gliotransmitters involves regulated exocytosis, consisting of the fusion between the vesicle and the plasma membranes. After fusion with the plasma membrane vesicles may be retrieved into the cytoplasm and may continue to recycle. To study the mobility implicated in the retrieval of secretory vesicles, these structures have been previously efficiently and specifically labeled in cultured astrocytes, by exposing live cells to primary and secondary antibodies. Since the vesicle labeling and the vesicle mobility properties may be an artifact of cell culture conditions, we here asked whether the retrieving exocytotic vesicles can be labeled in brain tissue slices and whether their mobility differs to that observed in cell cultures. We labeled astrocytic vesicles and recorded their mobility with two-photon microscopy in hippocampal slices from transgenic mice with fluorescently tagged astrocytes (GFP mice) and in wild-type mice with astrocytes labeled by Fluo4 fluorescence indicator. Glutamatergic vesicles and peptidergic granules were labeled by the anti-vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (vGlut1) and anti-atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) antibodies, respectively. We report that the vesicle mobility parameters (velocity, maximal displacement and track length) recorded in astrocytes from tissue slices are similar to those reported previously in cultured astrocytes.

  12. A scenario for a genetically controlled fission of artificial vesicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bönzli, Eva; Hadorn, Maik; Jørgensen, Mikkel Girke

    2011-01-01

    to vesicles (Hanczyc et al. 2003). In the present work, we developed a scenario how a genetically controlled fission of vesicles may be achieved by the synthesis of a special class of viral proteins within artificial vesicles. Because the authors already have a lot of experience in the water-in-oil emulsion...... be incorporated into vesicles, and therefore allow the synthesis of a large number of proteins (Noireaux et al. 2005). However, vesicle fission remains one of the upcoming challenges in the artificial cell project (Noireaux et al. 2011). So far, vesicle fission is implemented by applying mechanical stress...

  13. Distribution and structure of internal secretory reservoirs on the vegetative organs of Inula helenium L. (Asteraceae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aneta Sulborska

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to investigate the structure and topography of endogenous secretory tissues of Inula helenium L. By using light and electron microscopy, morphological and anatomical observations of stems, leaves and rhizomes were made. It was shown that in the stems secretory cavities were situated in the vicinity of phloem and xylem bundles. The number of the reservoirs reached its maximum value (34 at shoot flowerig termination, whereas the cavities with the largest diameter were observed at full flowering stage (44.6 µm. In the leaf petioles and midribs, the reservoirs also accompanied the vascular bundles, and their number and size increased along with the growth of the assimilation organs. Observations of the cross sections of the rhizomes revealed the presence of several rings of secretory reservoirs. The measurements of the cavities showed that as a rule the reservoirs with a larger dimension were located in the phelloderm, whereas the smallest ones in the xylem area. The secretory cavities located in the stems and leaves developed by schizogenesis, whereas the rhizome reservoirs were probably formed schizolisygenously. The cells lining the reservoirs formed a one - four-layered epithelium. Observed in TEM, the secretory cells of the mature cavities located in the rhizomes were characterised by the presence of a large central vacuole, whereas the protoplast was largely degraded. Fibrous elements of osmophilic secretion and numerous different coloured vesicles could be distinguished in it. The cell walls formed, from the side of the reservoir lumen, ingrowths into the interior of the epithelial cells. Between the cell wall and the plasmalemma of the glandular cells, a brighter periplasmatic zone with secretory vesicles was observed.

  14. Ca2+-dependent mobility of vesicles capturing anti-VGLUT1 antibodies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stenovec, Matjaz; Kreft, Marko; Grilc, Sonja; Potokar, Maja; Kreft, Mateja Erdani; Pangrsic, Tina; Zorec, Robert

    2007-01-01

    Several aspects of secretory vesicle cycle have been studied in the past, but vesicle trafficking in relation to the fusion site is less well understood. In particular, the mobility of recaptured vesicles that traffic back toward the central cytoplasm is still poorly defined. We exposed astrocytes to antibodies against the vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1), a marker of glutamatergic vesicles, to fluorescently label vesicles undergoing Ca 2+ -dependent exocytosis and examined their number, fluorescence intensity, and mobility by confocal microscopy. In nonstimulated cells, immunolabeling revealed discrete fluorescent puncta, indicating that VGLUT1 vesicles, which are approximately 50 nm in diameter, cycle slowly between the plasma membrane and the cytoplasm. When the cytosolic Ca 2+ level was raised with ionomycin, the number and fluorescence intensity of the puncta increased, likely because the VGLUT1 epitopes were more accessible to the extracellularly applied antibodies following Ca 2+ -triggered exocytosis. In nonstimulated cells, the mobility of labeled vesicles was limited. In stimulated cells, many vesicles exhibited directional mobility that was abolished by cytoskeleton-disrupting agents, indicating dependence on intact cytoskeleton. Our findings show that postfusion vesicle mobility is regulated and may likely play a role in synaptic vesicle cycle, and also more generally in the genesis and removal of endocytic vesicles

  15. Lactadherin inhibits secretory phospholipase A2 activity on pre-apoptotic leukemia cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steffen Nyegaard

    Full Text Available Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2 is a critical component of insect and snake venoms and is secreted by mammalian leukocytes during inflammation. Elevated secretory PLA2 concentrations are associated with autoimmune diseases and septic shock. Many sPLA2's do not bind to plasma membranes of quiescent cells but bind and digest phospholipids on the membranes of stimulated or apoptotic cells. The capacity of these phospholipases to digest membranes of stimulated or apoptotic cells correlates to the exposure of phosphatidylserine. In the present study, the ability of the phosphatidyl-L-serine-binding protein, lactadherin to inhibit phospholipase enzyme activity has been assessed. Inhibition of human secretory phospholipase A2-V on phospholipid vesicles exceeded 90%, whereas inhibition of Naja mossambica sPLA2 plateaued at 50-60%. Lactadherin inhibited 45% of activity of Naja mossambica sPLA2 and >70% of human secretory phospholipase A2-V on the membranes of human NB4 leukemia cells treated with calcium ionophore A23187. The data indicate that lactadherin may decrease inflammation by inhibiting sPLA2.

  16. Quantal basis of vesicle growth and information content, a unified approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nitzany, Eyal; Hammel, Ilan; Meilijson, Isaac

    2010-09-07

    Secretory vesicles express a periodic multimodal size distribution. The successive modes are integral multiples of the smallest mode (G(1)). The vesicle content ranges from macromolecules (proteins, mucopolysaccharides and hormones) to low molecular weight molecules (neurotransmitters). A steady-state model has been developed to emulate a mechanism for the introduction of vesicles of monomer size, which grow by a unit addition mechanism, G(1)+G(n)-->G(n+1) which, at a later stage are eliminated from the system. We describe a model of growth and elimination transition rates which adequately illustrates the distributions of vesicle population size at steady-state and upon elimination. Consequently, prediction of normal behavior and pathological perturbations is feasible. Careful analysis of spontaneous secretion, as compared to short burst-induced secretion, suggests that the basic character-code for reliable communication should be within a range of only 8-10 vesicles' burst which may serve as a yes/no message. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Evidence for small intracellular vesicles in human blood phagocytes containing cytochrome b558 and the adhesion molecule CD11b/CD18

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Calafat, J.; Kuijpers, T. W.; Janssen, H.; Borregaard, N.; Verhoeven, A. J.; Roos, D.

    1993-01-01

    Human neutrophils contain a rapidly mobilizable pool of so-called secretory vesicles distinct from the azurophil granules and specific granules. Using human albumin as a marker for these intracellular vesicles in immuno-electron microscopy, we found that part of the cytochrome b558 in non-purified

  18. The EARP Complex and Its Interactor EIPR-1 Are Required for Cargo Sorting to Dense-Core Vesicles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irini Topalidou

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The dense-core vesicle is a secretory organelle that mediates the regulated release of peptide hormones, growth factors, and biogenic amines. Dense-core vesicles originate from the trans-Golgi of neurons and neuroendocrine cells, but it is unclear how this specialized organelle is formed and acquires its specific cargos. To identify proteins that act in dense-core vesicle biogenesis, we performed a forward genetic screen in Caenorhabditis elegans for mutants defective in dense-core vesicle function. We previously reported the identification of two conserved proteins that interact with the small GTPase RAB-2 to control normal dense-core vesicle cargo-sorting. Here we identify several additional conserved factors important for dense-core vesicle cargo sorting: the WD40 domain protein EIPR-1 and the endosome-associated recycling protein (EARP complex. By assaying behavior and the trafficking of dense-core vesicle cargos, we show that mutants that lack EIPR-1 or EARP have defects in dense-core vesicle cargo-sorting similar to those of mutants in the RAB-2 pathway. Genetic epistasis data indicate that RAB-2, EIPR-1 and EARP function in a common pathway. In addition, using a proteomic approach in rat insulinoma cells, we show that EIPR-1 physically interacts with the EARP complex. Our data suggest that EIPR-1 is a new interactor of the EARP complex and that dense-core vesicle cargo sorting depends on the EARP-dependent trafficking of cargo through an endosomal sorting compartment.

  19. v-SNAREs control exocytosis of vesicles from priming to fusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borisovska, Maria; Zhao, Ying; Tsytsyura, Yaroslav; Glyvuk, Nataliya; Takamori, Shigeo; Matti, Ulf; Rettig, Jens; Südhof, Thomas; Bruns, Dieter

    2005-06-15

    SNARE proteins (soluble NSF-attachment protein receptors) are thought to be central components of the exocytotic mechanism in neurosecretory cells, but their precise function remained unclear. Here, we show that each of the vesicle-associated SNARE proteins (v-SNARE) of a chromaffin granule, synaptobrevin II or cellubrevin, is sufficient to support Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis and to establish a pool of primed, readily releasable vesicles. In the absence of both proteins, secretion is abolished, without affecting biogenesis or docking of granules indicating that v-SNAREs are absolutely required for granule exocytosis. We find that synaptobrevin II and cellubrevin differentially control the pool of readily releasable vesicles and show that the v-SNARE's amino terminus regulates the vesicle's primed state. We demonstrate that dynamics of fusion pore dilation are regulated by v-SNAREs, indicating their action throughout exocytosis from priming to fusion of vesicles.

  20. Size control of giant unilamellar vesicles prepared from inverted emulsion droplets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishimura, Kazuya; Suzuki, Hiroaki; Toyota, Taro; Yomo, Tetsuya

    2012-06-15

    The production of giant lipid vesicles with controlled size and structure will be an important technology in the design of quantitative biological assays in cell-mimetic microcompartments. For establishing size control of giant vesicles, we investigated the vesicle formation process, in which inverted emulsion droplets are transformed into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) when they pass through an oil/water interface. The relationship between the size of the template emulsion and the converted GUVs was studied using inverted emulsion droplets with a narrow size distribution, which were prepared by microfluidics. We successfully found an appropriate centrifugal acceleration condition to obtain GUVs that had a desired size and narrow-enough size distribution with an improved yield so that emulsion droplets can become the template for GUVs. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Airway Secretory microRNAome Changes during Rhinovirus Infection in Early Childhood.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria J Gutierrez

    Full Text Available Innate immune responses are fine-tuned by small noncoding RNA molecules termed microRNAs (miRs that modify gene expression in response to the environment. During acute infections, miRs can be secreted in extracellular vesicles (EV to facilitate cell-to-cell genetic communication. The purpose of this study was to characterize the baseline population of miRs secreted in EVs in the airways of young children (airway secretory microRNAome and examine the changes during rhinovirus (RV infection, the most common cause of asthma exacerbations and the most important early risk factor for the development of asthma beyond childhood.Nasal airway secretions were obtained from children (≤3 yrs. old during PCR-confirmed RV infections (n = 10 and age-matched controls (n = 10. Nasal EVs were isolated with polymer-based precipitation and global miR profiles generated using NanoString microarrays. We validated our in vivo airway secretory miR data in an in vitro airway epithelium model using apical secretions from primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC differentiated at air-liquid interface (ALI. Bioinformatics tools were used to determine the unified (nasal and bronchial signature airway secretory miRNAome and changes during RV infection in children.Multiscale analysis identified four signature miRs comprising the baseline airway secretory miRNAome: hsa-miR-630, hsa-miR-302d-3p, hsa- miR-320e, hsa-miR-612. We identified hsa-miR-155 as the main change in the baseline miRNAome during RV infection in young children. We investigated the potential biological relevance of the airway secretion of hsa-mir-155 using in silico models derived from gene datasets of experimental in vivo human RV infection. These analyses confirmed that hsa-miR-155 targetome is an overrepresented pathway in the upper airways of individuals infected with RV.Comparative analysis of the airway secretory microRNAome in children indicates that RV infection is associated with airway

  2. A new vesicle trafficking regulator CTL1 plays a crucial role in ion homeostasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yi-Qun; Chen, Jiu-Geng; Chen, Zi-Ru; An, Dong; Lv, Qiao-Yan; Han, Mei-Ling; Wang, Ya-Ling; Salt, David E; Chao, Dai-Yin

    2017-12-01

    Ion homeostasis is essential for plant growth and environmental adaptation, and maintaining ion homeostasis requires the precise regulation of various ion transporters, as well as correct root patterning. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes remain largely elusive. Here, we reported that a choline transporter gene, CTL1, controls ionome homeostasis by regulating the secretory trafficking of proteins required for plasmodesmata (PD) development, as well as the transport of some ion transporters. Map-based cloning studies revealed that CTL1 mutations alter the ion profile of Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that the phenotypes associated with these mutations are caused by a combination of PD defects and ion transporter misregulation. We also established that CTL1 is involved in regulating vesicle trafficking and is thus required for the trafficking of proteins essential for ion transport and PD development. Characterizing choline transporter-like 1 (CTL1) as a new regulator of protein sorting may enable researchers to understand not only ion homeostasis in plants but also vesicle trafficking in general.

  3. A pH-Regulated Quality Control Cycle for Surveillance of Secretory Protein Assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vavassori, Stefano; Cortini, Margherita; Masui, Shoji; Sannino, Sara; Anelli, Tiziana; Caserta, Imma R.; Fagioli, Claudio; Mossuto, Maria F.; Fornili, Arianna; van Anken, Eelco; Degano, Massimo; Inaba, Kenji; Sitia, Roberto

    2013-01-01

    Summary To warrant the quality of the secretory proteome, stringent control systems operate at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi interface, preventing the release of nonnative products. Incompletely assembled oligomeric proteins that are deemed correctly folded must rely on additional quality control mechanisms dedicated to proper assembly. Here we unveil how ERp44 cycles between cisGolgi and ER in a pH-regulated manner, patrolling assembly of disulfide-linked oligomers such as IgM and adiponectin. At neutral, ER-equivalent pH, the ERp44 carboxy-terminal tail occludes the substrate-binding site. At the lower pH of the cisGolgi, conformational rearrangements of this peptide, likely involving protonation of ERp44’s active cysteine, simultaneously unmask the substrate binding site and −RDEL motif, allowing capture of orphan secretory protein subunits and ER retrieval via KDEL receptors. The ERp44 assembly control cycle couples secretion fidelity and efficiency downstream of the calnexin/calreticulin and BiP-dependent quality control cycles. PMID:23685074

  4. Nanoparticle orientation to control RNA loading and ligand display on extracellular vesicles for cancer regression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pi, Fengmei; Binzel, Daniel W.; Lee, Tae Jin; Li, Zhefeng; Sun, Meiyan; Rychahou, Piotr; Li, Hui; Haque, Farzin; Wang, Shaoying; Croce, Carlo M.; Guo, Bin; Evers, B. Mark; Guo, Peixuan

    2018-01-01

    Nanotechnology offers many benefits, and here we report an advantage of applying RNA nanotechnology for directional control. The orientation of arrow-shaped RNA was altered to control ligand display on extracellular vesicle membranes for specific cell targeting, or to regulate intracellular trafficking of small interfering RNA (siRNA) or microRNA (miRNA). Placing membrane-anchoring cholesterol at the tail of the arrow results in display of RNA aptamer or folate on the outer surface of the extracellular vesicle. In contrast, placing the cholesterol at the arrowhead results in partial loading of RNA nanoparticles into the extracellular vesicles. Taking advantage of the RNA ligand for specific targeting and extracellular vesicles for efficient membrane fusion, the resulting ligand-displaying extracellular vesicles were capable of specific delivery of siRNA to cells, and efficiently blocked tumour growth in three cancer models. Extracellular vesicles displaying an aptamer that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen, and loaded with survivin siRNA, inhibited prostate cancer xenograft. The same extracellular vesicle instead displaying epidermal growth-factor receptor aptamer inhibited orthotopic breast cancer models. Likewise, survivin siRNA-loaded and folate-displaying extracellular vesicles inhibited patient-derived colorectal cancer xenograft.

  5. Fusion of lysosomes with secretory organelles leads to uncontrolled exocytosis in the lysosomal storage disease mucolipidosis type IV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Soonhong; Ahuja, Malini; Kim, Min Seuk; Brailoiu, G Cristina; Jha, Archana; Zeng, Mei; Baydyuk, Maryna; Wu, Ling-Gang; Wassif, Christopher A; Porter, Forbes D; Zerfas, Patricia M; Eckhaus, Michael A; Brailoiu, Eugen; Shin, Dong Min; Muallem, Shmuel

    2016-02-01

    Mutations in TRPML1 cause the lysosomal storage disease mucolipidosis type IV (MLIV). The role of TRPML1 in cell function and how the mutations cause the disease are not well understood. Most studies focus on the role of TRPML1 in constitutive membrane trafficking to and from the lysosomes. However, this cannot explain impaired neuromuscular and secretory cells' functions that mediate regulated exocytosis. Here, we analyzed several forms of regulated exocytosis in a mouse model of MLIV and, opposite to expectations, we found enhanced exocytosis in secretory glands due to enlargement of secretory granules in part due to fusion with lysosomes. Preliminary exploration of synaptic vesicle size, spontaneous mEPSCs, and glutamate secretion in neurons provided further evidence for enhanced exocytosis that was rescued by re-expression of TRPML1 in neurons. These features were not observed in Niemann-Pick type C1. These findings suggest that TRPML1 may guard against pathological fusion of lysosomes with secretory organelles and suggest a new approach toward developing treatment for MLIV. © 2015 The Authors.

  6. Cell type-specific sorting of neuropeptides : a mechanism to modulate peptide composition of large dense core vesicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klumperman, J.; Spijker, S.; Minnen, J. van; Sharp-Baker, H.; Smit, A.B.; Geraerts, W.P.M.

    1996-01-01

    The CNS of Lymnaea stagnalis contains two populations of egg-laying hormone (ELH)-producing neurons that differ in size and topology. In type I neurons, all peptides located C-terminally from the cleavage site Arg-Ser-Arg-Arg180-183 are sorted into secretory large dense-core vesicles (LDCV), whereas

  7. Quantitation of secretory protein levels by radioimmunoassay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, J.L.; Dawson, J.R.

    1978-01-01

    A radioimmunoassay was designed for the detection of secretory protein, a component of secretory immunoglobulin A, in human serum. The assay uses free secretory protein isolated from human colostrum, and antisera raised in rabbits to be purified antigen. The mean level of secretory protein in the control group was 2.34+-0.41 μg/ml (mean+-S.E.M.). The level in cord blood was slightly lower (0.74+-0.26 μg/ml), while the level in patients with ovarian carcinoma was significantly increased (12.67+-1.43 μg/ml). Pregnant women have increasingly secretory protein levels with increasing length of gestation (5.86+-2.02, 11.55+-1.30 and 17.00+-1.16 μg/ml for the first, second and third trimesters, respectively. (Auth.)

  8. Remotely controlled fusion of selected vesicles and living cells: a key issue review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahadori, Azra; Moreno-Pescador, Guillermo; Oddershede, Lene B.; Bendix, Poul M.

    2018-03-01

    Remote control over fusion of single cells and vesicles has a great potential in biological and chemical research allowing both transfer of genetic material between cells and transfer of molecular content between vesicles. Membrane fusion is a critical process in biology that facilitates molecular transport and mixing of cellular cytoplasms with potential formation of hybrid cells. Cells precisely regulate internal membrane fusions with the aid of specialized fusion complexes that physically provide the energy necessary for mediating fusion. Physical factors like membrane curvature, tension and temperature, affect biological membrane fusion by lowering the associated energy barrier. This has inspired the development of physical approaches to harness the fusion process at a single cell level by using remotely controlled electromagnetic fields to trigger membrane fusion. Here, we critically review various approaches, based on lasers or electric pulses, to control fusion between individual cells or between individual lipid vesicles and discuss their potential and limitations for present and future applications within biochemistry, biology and soft matter.

  9. How cancer cells dictate their microenvironment: present roles of extracellular vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naito, Yutaka; Yoshioka, Yusuke; Yamamoto, Yusuke; Ochiya, Takahiro

    2017-02-01

    Intercellular communication plays an important role in cancer initiation and progression through secretory molecules, including growth factors and cytokines. Recent advances have revealed that small membrane vesicles, termed extracellular vesicles (EVs), served as a regulatory agent in the intercellular communication of cancer. EVs enable the transfer of functional molecules, including proteins, mRNA and microRNAs (miRNAs), into recipient cells. Cancer cells utilize EVs to dictate the unique phenotype of surrounding cells, thereby promoting cancer progression. Against such "education" by cancer cells, non-tumoral cells suppress cancer initiation and progression via EVs. Therefore, researchers consider EVs to be important cues to clarify the molecular mechanisms of cancer biology. Understanding the functions of EVs in cancer progression is an important aspect of cancer biology that has not been previously elucidated. In this review, we summarize experimental data that indicate the pivotal roles of EVs in cancer progression.

  10. Signaling from the secretory granule to the nucleus: Uhmk1 and PAM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francone, Victor P; Ifrim, Marius F; Rajagopal, Chitra; Leddy, Christopher J; Wang, Yanping; Carson, John H; Mains, Richard E; Eipper, Betty A

    2010-08-01

    Neurons and endocrine cells package peptides in secretory granules (large dense-core vesicles) for storage and stimulated release. Studies of peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), an essential secretory granule membrane enzyme, revealed a pathway that can relay information from secretory granules to the nucleus, resulting in alterations in gene expression. The cytosolic domain (CD) of PAM, a type 1 membrane enzyme essential for the production of amidated peptides, is basally phosphorylated by U2AF homology motif kinase 1 (Uhmk1) and other Ser/Thr kinases. Proopiomelanocortin processing in AtT-20 corticotrope tumor cells was increased when Uhmk1 expression was reduced. Uhmk1 was concentrated in the nucleus, but cycled rapidly between nucleus and cytosol. Endoproteolytic cleavage of PAM releases a soluble CD fragment that localizes to the nucleus. Localization of PAM-CD to the nucleus was decreased when PAM-CD with phosphomimetic mutations was examined and when active Uhmk1 was simultaneously overexpressed. Membrane-tethering Uhmk1 did not eliminate its ability to exclude PAM-CD from the nucleus, suggesting that cytosolic Uhmk1 could cause this response. Microarray analysis demonstrated the ability of PAM to increase expression of a small subset of genes, including aquaporin 1 (Aqp1) in AtT-20 cells. Aqp1 mRNA levels were higher in wild-type mice than in mice heterozygous for PAM, indicating that a similar relationship occurs in vivo. Expression of PAM-CD also increased Aqp1 levels whereas expression of Uhmk1 diminished Aqp1 expression. The outlines of a pathway that ties secretory granule metabolism to the transcriptome are thus apparent.

  11. Vesicles and vesicle gels - structure and dynamics of formation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gradzielski, M

    2003-01-01

    Vesicles constitute an interesting morphology formed by self-aggregating amphiphilic molecules. They exhibit a rich structural variety and are of interest both from a fundamental point of view (for studying closed bilayer systems) and from a practical point of view (whenever one is interested in the encapsulation of active molecules). In many circumstances vesicular structures have to be formed by external forces, but of great interest are amphiphilic systems, where they form spontaneously. Here the question arises of whether this means that they are also thermodynamically stable structures, which at least in some systems appears to be the case. If such vesicles are well defined in size, it is possible to pack them densely and thereby form vesicle gels that possess highly elastic properties even for relatively low volume fractions of amphiphile. Conditions for the formation and the microstructure of such vesicle gels have been studied in some detail for the case of unilamellar vesicles. Another important and topical issue is the dynamics of vesicle formation/breakdown, as the understanding of the transition process will open the way to a deeper understanding of their stability and also allow controlling of the structures formed, by means of their formation processes. Significant progress in the study of the transformation processes has been achieved, in particular by means of time-resolved scattering experiments. (topical review)

  12. The V-ATPase membrane domain is a sensor of granular pH that controls the exocytotic machinery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poëa-Guyon, Sandrine; Ammar, Mohamed Raafet; Erard, Marie; Amar, Muriel; Moreau, Alexandre W; Fossier, Philippe; Gleize, Vincent; Vitale, Nicolas; Morel, Nicolas

    2013-10-28

    Several studies have suggested that the V0 domain of the vacuolar-type H(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (V-ATPase) is directly implicated in secretory vesicle exocytosis through a role in membrane fusion. We report in this paper that there was a rapid decrease in neurotransmitter release after acute photoinactivation of the V0 a1-I subunit in neuronal pairs. Likewise, inactivation of the V0 a1-I subunit in chromaffin cells resulted in a decreased frequency and prolonged kinetics of amperometric spikes induced by depolarization, with shortening of the fusion pore open time. Dissipation of the granular pH gradient was associated with an inhibition of exocytosis and correlated with the V1-V0 association status in secretory granules. We thus conclude that V0 serves as a sensor of intragranular pH that controls exocytosis and synaptic transmission via the reversible dissociation of V1 at acidic pH. Hence, the V-ATPase membrane domain would allow the exocytotic machinery to discriminate fully loaded and acidified vesicles from vesicles undergoing neurotransmitter reloading.

  13. Alpha-Synuclein Toxicity in the Early Secretory Pathway: How it Drives Neurodegeneration in Parkinsons Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ting eWang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Alpha-synuclein is a predominant player in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease. However, despite extensive study for two decades, its physiological and pathological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Alpha-synuclein forms a perplexing web of interactions with lipids, trafficking machinery, and other regulatory factors. One emerging consensus is that synaptic vesicles are likely the functional site for alpha-synuclein, where it appears to facilitate vesicle docking and fusion. On the other hand, the disfunctions of alpha-synuclein are more dispersed and numerous; when mutated or over-expressed, alpha-synuclein affects several membrane trafficking and stress pathways, including exocytosis, ER-to-Golgi transport, ER stress, Golgi homeostasis, endocytosis, autophagy, oxidative stress and others. Here we examine recent developments in alpha-synuclein’s toxicity in the early secretory pathway placed in the context of emerging themes from other affected pathways to help illuminate its underlying pathogenic mechanisms in neurodegeneration.

  14. Progressive quality control of secretory proteins in the early secretory compartment by ERp44.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sannino, Sara; Anelli, Tiziana; Cortini, Margherita; Masui, Shoji; Degano, Massimo; Fagioli, Claudio; Inaba, Kenji; Sitia, Roberto

    2014-10-01

    ERp44 is a pH-regulated chaperone of the secretory pathway. In the acidic milieu of the Golgi, its C-terminal tail changes conformation, simultaneously exposing the substrate-binding site for cargo capture and the RDEL motif for ER retrieval through interactions with cognate receptors. Protonation of cysteine 29 in the active site allows tail movements in vitro and in vivo. Here, we show that conserved histidine residues in the C-terminal tail also regulate ERp44 in vivo. Mutants lacking these histidine residues retain substrates more efficiently. Surprisingly, they are also O-glycosylated and partially secreted. Co-expression of client proteins prevents secretion of the histidine mutants, forcing tail opening and RDEL accessibility. Client-induced RDEL exposure allows retrieval of proteins from distinct stations along the secretory pathway, as indicated by the changes in O-glycosylation patterns upon overexpression of different partners. The ensuing gradients might help to optimize folding and assembly of different cargoes. Endogenous ERp44 is O-glycosylated and secreted by human primary endometrial cells, suggesting possible pathophysiological roles of these processes. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  15. Secretory diarrhea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiller, L R

    1999-10-01

    Diarrhea, defined as loose stools, occurs when the intestine does not complete absorption of electrolytes and water from luminal contents. This can happen when a nonabsorbable, osmotically active substance is ingested ("osmotic diarrhea") or when electrolyte absorption is impaired ("secretory diarrhea"). Most cases of acute and chronic diarrhea are due to the latter mechanism. Secretory diarrhea can result from bacterial toxins, reduced absorptive surface area caused by disease or resection, luminal secretagogues (such as bile acids or laxatives), circulating secretagogues (such as various hormones, drugs, and poisons), and medical problems that compromise regulation of intestinal function. Evaluation of patients with secretory diarrhea must be tailored to find the likely causes of this problem. Specific and nonspecific treatment can be valuable.

  16. Extracellular Vesicles From the Helminth Fasciola hepatica Prevent DSS-Induced Acute Ulcerative Colitis in a T-Lymphocyte Independent Mode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Roig

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The complexity of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease has led to the quest of empirically drug therapies, combining immunosuppressant agents, biological therapy and modulators of the microbiota. Helminth parasites have been proposed as an alternative treatment of these diseases based on the hygiene hypothesis, but ethical and medical problems arise. Recent reports have proved the utility of parasite materials, mainly excretory/secretory products as therapeutic agents. The identification of extracellular vesicles on those secreted products opens a new field of investigation, since they exert potent immunomodulating effects. To assess the effect of extracellular vesicles produced by helminth parasites to treat ulcerative colitis, we have analyzed whether extracellular vesicles produced by the parasitic helminth Fasciola hepatica can prevent colitis induced by chemical agents in a mouse model. Adult parasites were cultured in vitro and secreted extracellular vesicles were purified and used for immunizing both wild type C57BL/6 and RAG1-/- mice. Control and immunized mice groups were treated with dextran sulfate sodium 7 days after last immunization to promote experimental colitis. The severity of colitis was assessed by disease activity index and histopathological scores. Mucosal cytokine expression was evaluated by ELISA. The activation of NF-kB, COX-2, and MAPK were evaluated by immunoblotting. Administration of extracellular vesicles from F. hepatica ameliorates the pathological symptoms reducing the amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines and interfering with both MAPK and NF-kB pathways. Interestingly, the observed effects do not seem to be mediated by T-cells. Our results indicate that extracellular vesicles from parasitic helminths can modulate immune responses in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS-induced colitis, exerting a protective effect that should be mediated by other cells distinct from B

  17. [Study of human secretory immunoglobulin A. I. Obtaining monospecific antiserum to human secretory immunoglobulin A].

    Science.gov (United States)

    German, G P; Chernokhvostova, E V; Gol'derman, S Ia

    1975-10-01

    A method of obtaining monospecific antiserum to the human secretory IgA is described. Immunochemically pure secretory IgA (isolated from human colostrum by fractionation with ammonium sulfate and gel-filtration on Sephadex G-200) was used for immunization of rabbits or sheep. Heterologous antibodies were removed by adsorption with commercial gamma globulin, normal serum, the serum of a patient suffering from A-myeloma with the IgA polymere and purified lactoferrin. Monospecific antiserum to the secretory IgA gave a reaction of complete immunological identity with the secretory IgA and a free secretory component.

  18. Formation of Oligovesicular Vesicles by Micromanipulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yukihisa Okumura

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Cell-sized lipid bilayer membrane vesicles (giant vesicles, GVs or semi-vesicles were formed from egg yolk phosphatidylcholine on a platinum electrode under applied electric voltage by electroformation. Micromanipulation of the semi-vesicle by first pressing its membrane with a glass microneedle and then withdrawing the needle left a GV in the interior of the vesicle. During the process, an aqueous solution of Ficoll that filled the needle was introduced into the newly formed inner vesicle and remained encapsulated. Approximately 50% of attempted micromanipulation resulted in the formation of an inner daughter vesicle, “microvesiculation”. By repeating the microvesiculation process, multiple inner GVs could be formed in a single parent semi-vesicle. A semi-vesicle with inner GVs could be detached from the electrode by scraping with a microneedle, yielding an oligovesicular vesicle (OVV with desired inner aqueous contents. Microvesiculation of a GV held on the tip of a glass micropipette was also possible, and this also produced an OVV. Breaking the membrane of the parent semi-vesicle by micromanipulation with a glass needle after microvesiculation, released the inner GVs. This protocol may be used for controlled formation of GVs with desired contents.

  19. The SNARE protein vti1a functions in dense-core vesicle biogenesis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Walter, Alexander M; Kurps, Julia; de Wit, Heidi

    2014-01-01

    overlapping with syntaxin-6. Exocytosis is impaired in vti1a null cells, partly due to fewer Ca(2+)-channels at the plasma membrane, partly due to fewer vesicles of reduced size and synaptobrevin-2 content. In contrast, release kinetics and Ca(2+)-sensitivity remain unchanged, indicating that the final fusion......The SNARE protein vti1a is proposed to drive fusion of intracellular organelles, but recent data also implicated vti1a in exocytosis. Here we show that vti1a is absent from mature secretory vesicles in adrenal chromaffin cells, but localizes to a compartment near the trans-Golgi network, partially...... reaction leading to transmitter release is unperturbed. Additional deletion of the closest related SNARE, vti1b, does not exacerbate the vti1a phenotype, and vti1b null cells show no secretion defects, indicating that vti1b does not participate in exocytosis. Long-term re-expression of vti1a (days...

  20. Effects of 5-fluorouracil on the secretory process of the rat parotid gland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandborg, R.R.

    1986-01-01

    Experimental animals were injected intraperitoneally with 100 mg/kg 5-fluorouracil for three days. The total volume, amylase and protein content of cannulated parotid saliva were determined following stimulation with either 5 mg/kg pilocarpine or 5 mg/kg isoproterenol in experimental, pair-fed , and control animals. Saliva from experimental animals was significantly lower in volume, amylase and protein content than both control groups. 5-fluorouracil treatment reduced the total glandular amylase per unit DNA in both unstimulated and isoproterenol-stimulated parotid glands. Decreased protein synthesis may be the mechanism underlying depleted secretory protein stores since the contents of isolated secretory granules from experimental parotid glands contained less radiolabelled protein than either control group and whole gland homogenates showed marked reductions in the activities of three lysosomal enzymes and total RNA content. Experimental animals contained less labelled protein in their secretory granules than controls, but secreted a greater proportion of their total glandular radiolabelled secretory protein into saliva relative to amylase suggesting that newly synthesized secretory proteins are preferentially secreted

  1. Effects of 5-fluorouracil on the secretory process of the rat parotid gland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sandborg, R.R.

    1986-01-01

    Experimental animals were injected intraperitoneally with 100 mg/kg 5-fluorouracil for three days. The total volume, amylase and protein content of cannulated parotid saliva were determined following stimulation with either 5 mg/kg pilocarpine or 5 mg/kg isoproterenol in experimental, pair-fed , and control animals. Saliva from experimental animals was significantly lower in volume, amylase and protein content than both control groups. 5-fluorouracil treatment reduced the total glandular amylase per unit DNA in both unstimulated and isoproterenol-stimulated parotid glands. Decreased protein synthesis may be the mechanism underlying depleted secretory protein stores since the contents of isolated secretory granules from experimental parotid glands contained less radiolabelled protein than either control group and whole gland homogenates showed marked reductions in the activities of three lysosomal enzymes and total RNA content. Experimental animals contained less labelled protein in their secretory granules than controls, but secreted a greater proportion of their total glandular radiolabelled secretory protein into saliva relative to amylase suggesting that newly synthesized secretory proteins are preferentially secreted.

  2. A quorum-sensing molecule acts as a morphogen controlling gas vesicle organelle biogenesis and adaptive flotation in an enterobacterium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsay, Joshua P.; Williamson, Neil R.; Spring, David R.; Salmond, George P. C.

    2011-01-01

    Gas vesicles are hollow intracellular proteinaceous organelles produced by aquatic Eubacteria and Archaea, including cyanobacteria and halobacteria. Gas vesicles increase buoyancy and allow taxis toward air–liquid interfaces, enabling subsequent niche colonization. Here we report a unique example of gas vesicle-mediated flotation in an enterobacterium; Serratia sp. strain ATCC39006. This strain is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae previously studied for its production of prodigiosin and carbapenem antibiotics. Genes required for gas vesicle synthesis mapped to a 16.6-kb gene cluster encoding three distinct homologs of the main structural protein, GvpA. Heterologous expression of this locus in Escherichia coli induced copious vesicle production and efficient cell buoyancy. Gas vesicle morphogenesis in Serratia enabled formation of a pellicle-like layer of highly vacuolated cells, which was dependent on oxygen limitation and the expression of ntrB/C and cheY-like regulatory genes within the gas-vesicle gene cluster. Gas vesicle biogenesis was strictly controlled by intercellular chemical signaling, through an N-acyl homoserine lactone, indicating that in this system the quorum-sensing molecule acts as a morphogen initiating organelle development. Flagella-based motility and gas vesicle morphogenesis were also oppositely regulated by the small RNA-binding protein, RsmA, suggesting environmental adaptation through physiological control of the choice between motility and flotation as alternative taxis modes. We propose that gas vesicle biogenesis in this strain represents a distinct mechanism of mobility, regulated by oxygen availability, nutritional status, the RsmA global regulatory system, and the quorum-sensing morphogen. PMID:21873216

  3. A quorum-sensing molecule acts as a morphogen controlling gas vesicle organelle biogenesis and adaptive flotation in an enterobacterium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsay, Joshua P; Williamson, Neil R; Spring, David R; Salmond, George P C

    2011-09-06

    Gas vesicles are hollow intracellular proteinaceous organelles produced by aquatic Eubacteria and Archaea, including cyanobacteria and halobacteria. Gas vesicles increase buoyancy and allow taxis toward air-liquid interfaces, enabling subsequent niche colonization. Here we report a unique example of gas vesicle-mediated flotation in an enterobacterium; Serratia sp. strain ATCC39006. This strain is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae previously studied for its production of prodigiosin and carbapenem antibiotics. Genes required for gas vesicle synthesis mapped to a 16.6-kb gene cluster encoding three distinct homologs of the main structural protein, GvpA. Heterologous expression of this locus in Escherichia coli induced copious vesicle production and efficient cell buoyancy. Gas vesicle morphogenesis in Serratia enabled formation of a pellicle-like layer of highly vacuolated cells, which was dependent on oxygen limitation and the expression of ntrB/C and cheY-like regulatory genes within the gas-vesicle gene cluster. Gas vesicle biogenesis was strictly controlled by intercellular chemical signaling, through an N-acyl homoserine lactone, indicating that in this system the quorum-sensing molecule acts as a morphogen initiating organelle development. Flagella-based motility and gas vesicle morphogenesis were also oppositely regulated by the small RNA-binding protein, RsmA, suggesting environmental adaptation through physiological control of the choice between motility and flotation as alternative taxis modes. We propose that gas vesicle biogenesis in this strain represents a distinct mechanism of mobility, regulated by oxygen availability, nutritional status, the RsmA global regulatory system, and the quorum-sensing morphogen.

  4. Structural Disorder Provides Increased Adaptability for Vesicle Trafficking Pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tompa, Peter

    2013-01-01

    Vesicle trafficking systems play essential roles in the communication between the organelles of eukaryotic cells and also between cells and their environment. Endocytosis and the late secretory route are mediated by clathrin-coated vesicles, while the COat Protein I and II (COPI and COPII) routes stand for the bidirectional traffic between the ER and the Golgi apparatus. Despite similar fundamental organizations, the molecular machinery, functions, and evolutionary characteristics of the three systems are very different. In this work, we compiled the basic functional protein groups of the three main routes for human and yeast and analyzed them from the structural disorder perspective. We found similar overall disorder content in yeast and human proteins, confirming the well-conserved nature of these systems. Most functional groups contain highly disordered proteins, supporting the general importance of structural disorder in these routes, although some of them seem to heavily rely on disorder, while others do not. Interestingly, the clathrin system is significantly more disordered (∼23%) than the other two, COPI (∼9%) and COPII (∼8%). We show that this structural phenomenon enhances the inherent plasticity and increased evolutionary adaptability of the clathrin system, which distinguishes it from the other two routes. Since multi-functionality (moonlighting) is indicative of both plasticity and adaptability, we studied its prevalence in vesicle trafficking proteins and correlated it with structural disorder. Clathrin adaptors have the highest capability for moonlighting while also comprising the most highly disordered members. The ability to acquire tissue specific functions was also used to approach adaptability: clathrin route genes have the most tissue specific exons encoding for protein segments enriched in structural disorder and interaction sites. Overall, our results confirm the general importance of structural disorder in vesicle trafficking and

  5. Expression of ODC Antizyme Inhibitor 2 (AZIN2 in Human Secretory Cells and Tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiina Rasila

    Full Text Available Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC antizyme inhibitor 2 (AZIN2, originally called ODCp, is a regulator of polyamine synthesis that we originally identified and cloned. High expression of ODCp mRNA was found in brain and testis. We reported that AZIN2 is involved in regulation of cellular vesicle transport and / or secretion, but the ultimate physiological role(s of AZIN2 is still poorly understood. In this study we used a peptide antibody (K3 to human AZIN2 and by immunohistochemistry mapped its expression in various normal tissues. We found high expression in the nervous system, in type 2 pneumocytes in the lung, in megakaryocytes, in gastric parietal cells co-localized with H,K-ATPase beta subunit, in selected enteroendocrine cells, in acinar cells of sweat glands, in podocytes, in macula densa cells and epithelium of collecting ducts in the kidney. The high expression of AZIN2 in various cells with secretory or vesicle transport activity indicates that the polyamine metabolism regulated by AZIN2 is more significantly involved in these events than previously appreciated.

  6. Conservation of a microRNA cluster in parasitic nematodes and profiling of miRNAs in excretory-secretory products and microvesicles of Haemonchus contortus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henry Y Gu

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that are important regulators of gene expression in a range of animals, including nematodes. We have analysed a cluster of four miRNAs from the pathogenic nematode species Haemonchus contortus that are closely linked in the genome. We find that the cluster is conserved only in clade V parasitic nematodes and in some ascarids, but not in other clade III species nor in clade V free-living nematodes. Members of the cluster are present in parasite excretory-secretory products and can be detected in the abomasum and draining lymph nodes of infected sheep, indicating their release in vitro and in vivo. As observed for other parasitic nematodes, H. contortus adult worms release extracellular vesicles (EV. Small RNA libraries were prepared from vesicle-enriched and vesicle-depleted supernatants from both adult worms and L4 stage larvae. Comparison of the miRNA species in the different fractions indicated that specific miRNAs are packaged within vesicles, while others are more abundant in vesicle-depleted supernatant. Hierarchical clustering analysis indicated that the gut is the likely source of vesicle-associated miRNAs in the L4 stage, but not in the adult worm. These findings add to the growing body of work demonstrating that miRNAs released from parasitic helminths may play an important role in host-parasite interactions.

  7. Munc13 controls the location and efficiency of dense-core vesicle release in neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Bospoort, Rhea; Farina, Margherita; Schmitz, Sabine K; de Jong, Arthur; de Wit, Heidi; Verhage, Matthijs; Toonen, Ruud F

    2012-12-10

    Neuronal dense-core vesicles (DCVs) contain diverse cargo crucial for brain development and function, but the mechanisms that control their release are largely unknown. We quantified activity-dependent DCV release in hippocampal neurons at single vesicle resolution. DCVs fused preferentially at synaptic terminals. DCVs also fused at extrasynaptic sites but only after prolonged stimulation. In munc13-1/2-null mutant neurons, synaptic DCV release was reduced but not abolished, and synaptic preference was lost. The remaining fusion required prolonged stimulation, similar to extrasynaptic fusion in wild-type neurons. Conversely, Munc13-1 overexpression (M13OE) promoted extrasynaptic DCV release, also without prolonged stimulation. Thus, Munc13-1/2 facilitate DCV fusion but, unlike for synaptic vesicles, are not essential for DCV release, and M13OE is sufficient to produce efficient DCV release extrasynaptically.

  8. Adrenergic regulation of cytoplasmic structures related to secretory processes in pig pinealocytes-an ultrastructural, quantitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Przybylska-Gornowicz, Barbara; Lewczuk, Bogdan; Ziółkowska, Natalia; Prusik, Magdalena

    2017-10-01

    Two structures, considered as secretory in nature, are present in the pinealocytes in of the domestic pig show the presence of two structures, which are considered as secretory in nature - the dense core vesicles (DCV) and the membrane bounded (dense) bodies (MBB). The latter are extremely numerous in pig pinealocytes (they occupy 6-20% of the cytoplasm), and the number of MBB changes under different physiological and experimental conditions. Norepinephrine is the main neurotransmitter that regulates the secretion of pineal melatonin. The present study was carried out to 1) clarify whether the DCV and their source - the Golgi apparatus (GA) - as well as the MBB are controlled by norepinephrine, 2) determine the effect of adrenergic stimulation on these structures, and 3) identify the receptors involved in the regulation of these structures. The studies were performed using a static organ culture of pig pineal explants. The explants were incubated in a control medium between 08:00 and 20:00 and in a medium with 10μM norepinephrine or alpha- or beta-adrenoceptor agonists between 20:00 and 08:00 on five consecutive days. The tissues were subsequently prepared for ultrastructural analysis. The results distinctly showed that the DCV, GA and MBB in pig pinealocytes are under adrenergic control. The stimulation of the beta-adrenoceptors resulted in an increase in the numerical density of the DCV and a decrease in the relative volume of the GA in the perikarya, while the incubation with agonists of the alpha1-adrenoceptors was ineffective. The relative volume of the MBB in the perikarya significantly decreased after treatment with both beta-agonists and alpha1-agonists, which suggested the involvement of two types of adrenoceptors in the regulation of these structures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Characterization of Phospholipids in Insulin Secretory Granules and Mitochondria in Pancreatic Beta Cells and Their Changes with Glucose Stimulation*

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Michael J.; Ade, Lacmbouh; Ntambi, James M.; Ansari, Israr-Ul H.; Stoker, Scott W.

    2015-01-01

    The lipid composition of insulin secretory granules (ISG) has never previously been thoroughly characterized. We characterized the phospholipid composition of ISG and mitochondria in pancreatic beta cells without and with glucose stimulation. The phospholipid/protein ratios of most phospholipids containing unsaturated fatty acids were higher in ISG than in whole cells and in mitochondria. The concentrations of negatively charged phospholipids, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylinositol in ISG were 5-fold higher than in the whole cell. In ISG phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and sphingomyelin, fatty acids 12:0 and 14:0 were high, as were phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol containing 18-carbon unsaturated FA. With glucose stimulation, the concentration of many ISG phosphatidylserines and phosphatidylinositols increased; unsaturated fatty acids in phosphatidylserine increased; and most phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, and lysophosphatidylcholines were unchanged. Unsaturation and shorter fatty acid length in phospholipids facilitate curvature and fluidity of membranes, which favors fusion of membranes. Recent evidence suggests that negatively charged phospholipids, such as phosphatidylserine, act as coupling factors enhancing the interaction of positively charged regions in SNARE proteins in synaptic or secretory vesicle membrane lipid bilayers with positively charged regions in SNARE proteins in the plasma membrane lipid bilayer to facilitate docking of vesicles to the plasma membrane during exocytosis. The results indicate that ISG phospholipids are in a dynamic state and are consistent with the idea that changes in ISG phospholipids facilitate fusion of ISG with the plasma membrane-enhancing glucose-stimulated insulin exocytosis. PMID:25762724

  10. Casein phosphopeptides drastically increase the secretion of extracellular proteins in Aspergillus awamori. Proteomics studies reveal changes in the secretory pathway

    OpenAIRE

    Kosalková Katarina; García-Estrada Carlos; Barreiro Carlos; Flórez Martha G; Jami Mohammad S; Paniagua Miguel A; Martín Juan F

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Background The secretion of heterologous animal proteins in filamentous fungi is usually limited by bottlenecks in the vesicle-mediated secretory pathway. Results Using the secretion of bovine chymosin in Aspergillus awamori as a model, we found a drastic increase (40 to 80-fold) in cells grown with casein or casein phosphopeptides (CPPs). CPPs are rich in phosphoserine, but phosphoserine itself did not increase the secretion of chymosin. The stimulatory effect is reduced about 50% u...

  11. Ursodeoxycholic acid attenuates colonic epithelial secretory function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Orlaith B; Mroz, Magdalena S; Ward, Joseph B J; Colliva, Carolina; Scharl, Michael; Pellicciari, Roberto; Gilmer, John F; Fallon, Padraic G; Hofmann, Alan F; Roda, Aldo; Murray, Frank E; Keely, Stephen J

    2013-01-01

    Dihydroxy bile acids, such as chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), are well known to promote colonic fluid and electrolyte secretion, thereby causing diarrhoea associated with bile acid malabsorption. However, CDCA is rapidly metabolised by colonic bacteria to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), the effects of which on epithelial transport are poorly characterised. Here, we investigated the role of UDCA in the regulation of colonic epithelial secretion. Cl− secretion was measured across voltage-clamped monolayers of T84 cells and muscle-stripped sections of mouse or human colon. Cell surface biotinylation was used to assess abundance/surface expression of transport proteins. Acute (15 min) treatment of T84 cells with bilateral UDCA attenuated Cl− secretory responses to the Ca2+ and cAMP-dependent secretagogues carbachol (CCh) and forskolin (FSK) to 14.0 ± 3.8 and 40.2 ± 7.4% of controls, respectively (n= 18, P acid (LCA). Accordingly, LCA (50–200 μm) enhanced agonist-induced secretory responses in vitro and a metabolically stable UDCA analogue, 6α-methyl-UDCA, exerted anti-secretory actions in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, UDCA exerts direct anti-secretory actions on colonic epithelial cells and metabolically stable derivatives of the bile acid may offer a new approach for treating intestinal diseases associated with diarrhoea. PMID:23507881

  12. Optogenetic acidification of synaptic vesicles and lysosomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rost, Benjamin R; Schneider, Franziska; Grauel, M Katharina; Wozny, Christian; Bentz, Claudia; Blessing, Anja; Rosenmund, Tanja; Jentsch, Thomas J; Schmitz, Dietmar; Hegemann, Peter; Rosenmund, Christian

    2015-12-01

    Acidification is required for the function of many intracellular organelles, but methods to acutely manipulate their intraluminal pH have not been available. Here we present a targeting strategy to selectively express the light-driven proton pump Arch3 on synaptic vesicles. Our new tool, pHoenix, can functionally replace endogenous proton pumps, enabling optogenetic control of vesicular acidification and neurotransmitter accumulation. Under physiological conditions, glutamatergic vesicles are nearly full, as additional vesicle acidification with pHoenix only slightly increased the quantal size. By contrast, we found that incompletely filled vesicles exhibited a lower release probability than full vesicles, suggesting preferential exocytosis of vesicles with high transmitter content. Our subcellular targeting approach can be transferred to other organelles, as demonstrated for a pHoenix variant that allows light-activated acidification of lysosomes.

  13. Exocytosis from chromaffin cells: hydrostatic pressure slows vesicle fusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stühmer, Walter

    2015-01-01

    Pressure affects reaction kinetics because chemical transitions involve changes in volume, and therefore pressure is a standard thermodynamic parameter to measure these volume changes. Many organisms live in environments at external pressures other than one atmosphere (0.1 MPa). Marine animals have adapted to live at depths of over 7000 m (at pressures over 70 MPa), and microorganisms living in trenches at over 110 MPa have been retrieved. Here, kinetic changes in secretion from chromaffin cells, measured as capacitance changes using the patch-clamp technique at pressures of up to 20 MPa are presented. It is known that these high pressures drastically slow down physiological functions. High hydrostatic pressure also affects the kinetics of ion channel gating and the amount of current carried by them, and it drastically slows down synaptic transmission. The results presented here indicate a similar change in volume (activation volume) of 390 ± 57 Å3 for large dense-core vesicles undergoing fusion in chromaffin cells and for degranulation of mast cells. It is significantly larger than activation volumes of voltage-gated ion channels in chromaffin cells. This information will be useful in finding possible protein conformational changes during the reactions involved in vesicle fusion and in testing possible molecular dynamic models of secretory processes. PMID:26009771

  14. Replication of simulated prebiotic amphiphile vesicles controlled by experimental lipid physicochemical properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Armstrong, Don L; Zidovetzki, Raphael; Markovitch, Omer; Lancet, Doron

    2011-01-01

    We present a new embodiment of the graded autocatalysis replication domain (GARD) for the growth, replication and evolution of lipid vesicles based on a semi-empirical foundation using experimentally measured kinetic values of selected extant lipid species. Extensive simulations using this formalism elucidated the details of the dependence of the replication and properties of the vesicles on the physicochemical properties and concentrations of the lipids, both in the environment and in the vesicle. As expected, the overall concentration and number of amphiphilic components strongly affect average replication time. Furthermore, variations in acyl chain length and unsaturation of vesicles also influence replication rate, as do the relative concentrations of individual lipid types. Understanding of the dependence of replication rates on physicochemical parameters opens a new direction in the study of prebiotic vesicles and lays the groundwork for future studies involving the competition between lipid vesicles for available amphiphilic monomers

  15. Thermodynamics and kinetics of vesicles formation processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guida, Vincenzo

    2010-12-15

    Vesicles are hollow aggregates, composed of bilayers of amphiphilic molecules, dispersed into and filled with a liquid solvent. These aggregates can be formed either as equilibrium or as out of equilibrium meta-stable structures and they exhibit a rich variety of different morphologies. The surprising richness of structures, the vast range of industrial applications and the presence of vesicles in a number of biological systems have attracted the interest of numerous researchers and scientists. In this article, we review both the thermodynamics and the kinetics aspects of the phenomena of formation of vesicles. We start presenting the thermodynamics of bilayer membranes formation and deformation, with the aim of deriving the conditions for the existence of equilibrium vesicles. Specifically, we use the results from continuum thermodynamics to discuss the possibility of formation of stable equilibrium vesicles, from both mixed amphiphiles and single component systems. We also link the bilayer membrane properties to the molecular structure of the starting amphiphiles. In the second part of this article, we focus on the dynamics and kinetics of vesiculation. We review the process of vesicles formation both from planar lamellar phase under shear and from isotropic micelles. In order to clarify the physical mechanisms of vesicles formation, we continuously draw a parallel between emulsification and vesiculation processes. Specifically, we compare the experimental results, the driving forces and the relative scaling laws identified for the two processes. Describing the dynamics of vesicles formation, we also discuss why non equilibrium vesicles can be formed by kinetics control and why they are meta-stable. Understanding how to control the properties, the stability and the formation process of vesicles is of fundamental importance for a vast number of industrial applications. Copyright © 2009. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Control over the color transition behavior of polydiacetylene vesicles using different alcohols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pattanatornchai, Thanutpon; Charoenthai, Nipaphat; Wacharasindhu, Sumrit; Sukwattanasinitt, Mongkol; Traiphol, Rakchart

    2013-02-01

    In this contribution, we investigate the color transition behavior of polydiacetylene (PDA) vesicles upon exposure to different chemical stimuli. A series of linear and branched alcohols are used as model additives, allowing systematic control of their molecular shape and polarity. The PDA vesicles are fabricated by using three monomers, 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA), 10,12-tricosadyinoic acid (TCDA), and N-(2-amino ethyl)pentacosa-10,12-dyinamide (AEPCDA). When a series of linear alcohols is used, the longer alcohol length causes color transition of all PDA vesicles. In this system, the penetration of linear alcohols into the inner layer of PDA vesicles is dictated by their polarity. The change of -OH position within the alcohol molecule also affects the degree of penetration. It requires a higher amount of the 2-propanol to induce color transitions of the PDAs compared to that of the 1-propanol. The addition of methyl branches into the hydrophobic tail of alcohols causes an increase in steric effect, which hinders the penetration as well. When the 2,2-dimethyl-1-propanol is used as a stimulus, the color transition of PDAs occurs at much higher alcohol concentration compared to 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, and 1-pentanol. The variation of PDA structures also affects their ability to interact with the alcohols. The modified head group of poly(AEPCDA) promotes the ability to distinguish between 1-propanol and 2-propanol or 1-propanol and ethanol. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Secretory expression of the non-secretory-type Lentinula edodes laccase by Aspergillus oryzae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yano, Akira; Kikuchi, Sayaka; Nakagawa, Yuko; Sakamoto, Yuichi; Sato, Toshitsugu

    2009-01-01

    The shiitake mushroom, Lentinula edodes, has an extracelluar secretory-type laccase, Lcc1, and a fruiting-body-accumulation-type laccase, Lcc4. We previously reported the production of Lcc1 by plant cells, but had difficulty producing Lcc4. Here, we report the production of Lcc1 and Lcc4 by Aspergillus oryzae and the extracellular secretory production of Lcc4 using a modified secretion signal peptide (SP) from Lcc1. Sp-Lcc4 produced by A. oryzae had biochemical activities similar to Lcc4 produced by L. edodes. Lcc1 did not react with beta-(3,4-dihydroxyphenol) alanine (DOPA), but Lcc4 from L. edodes and A. oryzae could oxidize DOPA. K(M) values for the substrates 2,2'-azino-di-(3-ethylbenzthiazolinsulfonate), 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, guaiacol, pyrogallol, and catechol were similar for Lcc4 and Sp-Lcc4. In conclusion, a non-secretory-type fungal laccase is secreted into the culture media with its original enzymatic properties by exploiting modified secretory signal peptide. 2008 Elsevier GmbH.

  18. BPIFB6 Regulates Secretory Pathway Trafficking and Enterovirus Replication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morosky, Stefanie; Lennemann, Nicholas J; Coyne, Carolyn B

    2016-05-15

    Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) fold-containing family B, member 3 (BPIFB3) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized host factor that negatively regulates coxsackievirus B (CVB) replication through its control of the autophagic pathway. Here, we show that another member of the BPIFB family, BPIFB6, functions as a positive regulator of CVB, and other enterovirus, replication by controlling secretory pathway trafficking and Golgi complex morphology. We show that similar to BPIFB3, BPIFB6 localizes exclusively to the ER, where it associates with other members of the BPIFB family. However, in contrast to our findings that RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of BPIFB3 greatly enhances CVB replication, we show that silencing of BPIFB6 expression dramatically suppresses enterovirus replication in a pan-viral manner. Mechanistically, we show that loss of BPIFB6 expression induces pronounced alterations in retrograde and anterograde trafficking, which correlate with dramatic fragmentation of the Golgi complex. Taken together, these data implicate BPIFB6 as a key regulator of secretory pathway trafficking and viral replication and suggest that members of the BPIFB family participate in diverse host cell functions to regulate virus infections. Enterovirus infections are associated with a number of severe pathologies, such as aseptic meningitis, dilated cardiomyopathy, type I diabetes, paralysis, and even death. These viruses, which include coxsackievirus B (CVB), poliovirus (PV), and enterovirus 71 (EV71), co-opt the host cell secretory pathway, which controls the transport of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex, to facilitate their replication. Here we report on the identification of a novel regulator of the secretory pathway, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) fold-containing family B, member 6 (BPIFB6), whose expression is required for enterovirus replication. We show that loss of BPIFB6 expression

  19. BPIFB6 Regulates Secretory Pathway Trafficking and Enterovirus Replication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morosky, Stefanie; Lennemann, Nicholas J.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) fold-containing family B, member 3 (BPIFB3) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized host factor that negatively regulates coxsackievirus B (CVB) replication through its control of the autophagic pathway. Here, we show that another member of the BPIFB family, BPIFB6, functions as a positive regulator of CVB, and other enterovirus, replication by controlling secretory pathway trafficking and Golgi complex morphology. We show that similar to BPIFB3, BPIFB6 localizes exclusively to the ER, where it associates with other members of the BPIFB family. However, in contrast to our findings that RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of BPIFB3 greatly enhances CVB replication, we show that silencing of BPIFB6 expression dramatically suppresses enterovirus replication in a pan-viral manner. Mechanistically, we show that loss of BPIFB6 expression induces pronounced alterations in retrograde and anterograde trafficking, which correlate with dramatic fragmentation of the Golgi complex. Taken together, these data implicate BPIFB6 as a key regulator of secretory pathway trafficking and viral replication and suggest that members of the BPIFB family participate in diverse host cell functions to regulate virus infections. IMPORTANCE Enterovirus infections are associated with a number of severe pathologies, such as aseptic meningitis, dilated cardiomyopathy, type I diabetes, paralysis, and even death. These viruses, which include coxsackievirus B (CVB), poliovirus (PV), and enterovirus 71 (EV71), co-opt the host cell secretory pathway, which controls the transport of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex, to facilitate their replication. Here we report on the identification of a novel regulator of the secretory pathway, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) fold-containing family B, member 6 (BPIFB6), whose expression is required for enterovirus replication. We show that loss of

  20. Characterization of phospholipids in insulin secretory granules and mitochondria in pancreatic beta cells and their changes with glucose stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Michael J; Ade, Lacmbouh; Ntambi, James M; Ansari, Israr-Ul H; Stoker, Scott W

    2015-04-24

    The lipid composition of insulin secretory granules (ISG) has never previously been thoroughly characterized. We characterized the phospholipid composition of ISG and mitochondria in pancreatic beta cells without and with glucose stimulation. The phospholipid/protein ratios of most phospholipids containing unsaturated fatty acids were higher in ISG than in whole cells and in mitochondria. The concentrations of negatively charged phospholipids, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylinositol in ISG were 5-fold higher than in the whole cell. In ISG phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and sphingomyelin, fatty acids 12:0 and 14:0 were high, as were phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol containing 18-carbon unsaturated FA. With glucose stimulation, the concentration of many ISG phosphatidylserines and phosphatidylinositols increased; unsaturated fatty acids in phosphatidylserine increased; and most phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, and lysophosphatidylcholines were unchanged. Unsaturation and shorter fatty acid length in phospholipids facilitate curvature and fluidity of membranes, which favors fusion of membranes. Recent evidence suggests that negatively charged phospholipids, such as phosphatidylserine, act as coupling factors enhancing the interaction of positively charged regions in SNARE proteins in synaptic or secretory vesicle membrane lipid bilayers with positively charged regions in SNARE proteins in the plasma membrane lipid bilayer to facilitate docking of vesicles to the plasma membrane during exocytosis. The results indicate that ISG phospholipids are in a dynamic state and are consistent with the idea that changes in ISG phospholipids facilitate fusion of ISG with the plasma membrane-enhancing glucose-stimulated insulin exocytosis. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  1. Male accessory gland secretory protein polymorphism in natural ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    [Ravi Ram K. and Ramesh S. R. 2007 Male accessory gland secretory protein polymorphism in natural ..... quence of species-specific genetic responses to variations in .... Eberhard W. G. 1996 Female control: sexual selection by cryptic.

  2. Vesicles and vesicle fusion: coarse-grained simulations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shillcock, Julian C.

    2010-01-01

    of vesicles that is crucial for this transport is their ability to fuse to target membranes and release their contents to the distal side. In industry, some personal care products contain vesicles to help transport reagents across the skin, and research on drug formulation shows that packaging active......Biological cells are highly dynamic, and continually move material around their own volume and between their interior and exterior. Much of this transport encapsulates the material inside phospholipid vesicles that shuttle to and fro, fusing with, and budding from, other membranes. A feature...

  3. Emergence and stability of intermediate open vesicles in disk-to-vesicle transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jianfeng; Zhang, Hongdong; Qiu, Feng; Shi, An-Chang

    2013-07-01

    The transition between two basic structures, a disk and an enclosed vesicle, of a finite membrane is studied by examining the minimum energy path (MEP) connecting these two states. The MEP is constructed using the string method applied to continuum elastic membrane models. The results reveal that, besides the commonly observed disk and vesicle, open vesicles (bowl-shaped vesicles or vesicles with a pore) can become stable or metastable shapes. The emergence, stability, and probability distribution of these open vesicles are analyzed. It is demonstrated that open vesicles can be stabilized by higher-order elastic energies. The estimated probability distribution of the different structures is in good agreement with available experiments.

  4. Modification of a hydrophobic layer by a point mutation in syntaxin 1A regulates the rate of synaptic vesicle fusion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert D Lagow

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available Both constitutive secretion and Ca(2+-regulated exocytosis require the assembly of the soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE complexes. At present, little is known about how the SNARE complexes mediating these two distinct pathways differ in structure. Using the Drosophila neuromuscular synapse as a model, we show that a mutation modifying a hydrophobic layer in syntaxin 1A regulates the rate of vesicle fusion. Syntaxin 1A molecules share a highly conserved threonine in the C-terminal +7 layer near the transmembrane domain. Mutation of this threonine to isoleucine results in a structural change that more closely resembles those found in syntaxins ascribed to the constitutive secretory pathway. Flies carrying the I254 mutant protein have increased levels of SNARE complexes and dramatically enhanced rate of both constitutive and evoked vesicle fusion. In contrast, overexpression of the T254 wild-type protein in neurons reduces vesicle fusion only in the I254 mutant background. These results are consistent with molecular dynamics simulations of the SNARE core complex, suggesting that T254 serves as an internal brake to dampen SNARE zippering and impede vesicle fusion, whereas I254 favors fusion by enhancing intermolecular interaction within the SNARE core complex.

  5. Automatically Identifying Fusion Events between GLUT4 Storage Vesicles and the Plasma Membrane in TIRF Microscopy Image Sequences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Wu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Quantitative analysis of the dynamic behavior about membrane-bound secretory vesicles has proven to be important in biological research. This paper proposes a novel approach to automatically identify the elusive fusion events between VAMP2-pHluorin labeled GLUT4 storage vesicles (GSVs and the plasma membrane. The differentiation is implemented to detect the initiation of fusion events by modified forward subtraction of consecutive frames in the TIRFM image sequence. Spatially connected pixels in difference images brighter than a specified adaptive threshold are grouped into a distinct fusion spot. The vesicles are located at the intensity-weighted centroid of their fusion spots. To reveal the true in vivo nature of a fusion event, 2D Gaussian fitting for the fusion spot is used to derive the intensity-weighted centroid and the spot size during the fusion process. The fusion event and its termination can be determined according to the change of spot size. The method is evaluated on real experiment data with ground truth annotated by expert cell biologists. The evaluation results show that it can achieve relatively high accuracy comparing favorably to the manual analysis, yet at a small fraction of time.

  6. Understanding the Contribution of Zinc Transporters in the Function of the Early Secretory Pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kambe, Taiho; Matsunaga, Mayu; Takeda, Taka-Aki

    2017-10-19

    More than one-third of newly synthesized proteins are targeted to the early secretory pathway, which is comprised of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, and other intermediate compartments. The early secretory pathway plays a key role in controlling the folding, assembly, maturation, modification, trafficking, and degradation of such proteins. A considerable proportion of the secretome requires zinc as an essential factor for its structural and catalytic functions, and recent findings reveal that zinc plays a pivotal role in the function of the early secretory pathway. Hence, a disruption of zinc homeostasis and metabolism involving the early secretory pathway will lead to pathway dysregulation, resulting in various defects, including an exacerbation of homeostatic ER stress. The accumulated evidence indicates that specific members of the family of Zn transporters (ZNTs) and Zrt- and Irt-like proteins (ZIPs), which operate in the early secretory pathway, play indispensable roles in maintaining zinc homeostasis by regulating the influx and efflux of zinc. In this review, the biological functions of these transporters are discussed, focusing on recent aspects of their roles. In particular, we discuss in depth how specific ZNT transporters are employed in the activation of zinc-requiring ectoenzymes. The means by which early secretory pathway functions are controlled by zinc, mediated by specific ZNT and ZIP transporters, are also subjects of this review.

  7. Bubble-induced microstreaming: guiding and destroying lipid vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marmottant, Philippe; Hilgenfeldt, Sascha

    2002-11-01

    Micron-sized bubbles respond with strong oscillations when submitted to ultrasound. This has led to their use as echographic contrast enhancers. The large energy and force densities generated by the collapsing bubbles also make them non-invasive mechanical tools: Recently, it has been reported that the interaction of cavitating bubbles with nearby cells can render the latter permeable to large molecules (sonoporation), suggesting prospects for drug delivery and gene transfection. We have developed a laboratory setup that allows for a controlled study of the interaction of single microbubbles with single lipid bilayer vesicles. Substituting vesicles for cell membranes is advantageous because the mechanical properties of vesicles are well-known. Microscopic observations reveal that vesicles near a bubble follow the vivid streaming motion set up by the bubble. The vesicles "bounce" off the bubble, being periodically accelerated towards and away from it, and undergo well-defined shape deformations along their trajectory in accordance with fluid-dynamical theory. Break-up of vesicles could also be observed.

  8. Cargo Release from Polymeric Vesicles under Shear

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yingying Guo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we study the release of cargo from polymeric nano-carriers under shear. Vesicles formed by two star block polymers— A 12 B 6 C 2 ( A B C and A 12 B 6 A 2 ( A B A —and one linear block copolymer— A 14 B 6 ( A B , are investigated using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD simulations. A - and C -blocks are solvophobic and B -block is solvophilic. The three polymers form vesicles of different structures. The vesicles are subjected to shear both in bulk and between solvophobic walls. In bulk shear, the mechanisms of cargo release are similar for all vesicles, with cargo travelling through vesicle membrane with no preferential release location. When sheared between walls, high cargo release rate is only observed with A B C vesicle after it touches the wall. For A B C vesicle, the critical condition for high cargo release rate is the formation of wall-polymersome interface after which the effect of shear rate in promoting cargo release is secondary. High release rate is achieved by the formation of solvophilic pathway allowing cargo to travel from the vesicle cavity to the vesicle exterior. The results in this paper show that well controlled target cargo release using polymersomes can be achieved with polymers of suitable design and can potentially be very useful for engineering applications. As an example, polymersomes can be used as carriers for surface active friction reducing additives which are only released at rubbing surfaces where the additives are needed most.

  9. Neutral sphingomyelinase (SMPD3) deficiency disrupts the Golgi secretory pathway and causes growth inhibition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoffel, Wilhelm; Hammels, Ina; Jenke, Bitta; Binczek, Erika; Schmidt-Soltau, Inga; Brodesser, Susanne; Schauss, Astrid; Etich, Julia; Heilig, Juliane; Zaucke, Frank

    2016-01-01

    Systemic loss of neutral sphingomyelinase (SMPD3) in mice leads to a novel form of systemic, juvenile hypoplasia (dwarfism). SMPD3 deficiency in mainly two growth regulating cell types contributes to the phenotype, in chondrocytes of skeletal growth zones to skeletal malformation and chondrodysplasia, and in hypothalamic neurosecretory neurons to systemic hypothalamus–pituitary–somatotropic hypoplasia. The unbiased smpd3−/− mouse mutant and derived smpd3−/− primary chondrocytes were instrumental in defining the enigmatic role underlying the systemic and cell autonomous role of SMPD3 in the Golgi compartment. Here we describe the unprecedented role of SMPD3. SMPD3 deficiency disrupts homeostasis of sphingomyelin (SM), ceramide (Cer) and diacylglycerol (DAG) in the Golgi SMPD3-SMS1 (SM-synthase1) cycle. Cer and DAG, two fusogenic intermediates, modify the membrane lipid bilayer for the initiation of vesicle formation and transport. Dysproteostasis, unfolded protein response, endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis perturb the Golgi secretory pathway in the smpd3−/− mouse. Secretion of extracellular matrix proteins is arrested in chondrocytes and causes skeletal malformation and chondrodysplasia. Similarly, retarded secretion of proteo-hormones in hypothalamic neurosecretory neurons leads to hypothalamus induced combined pituitary hormone deficiency. SMPD3 in the regulation of the protein vesicular secretory pathway may become a diagnostic target in the etiology of unknown forms of juvenile growth and developmental inhibition. PMID:27882938

  10. Rac1 Regulates Endometrial Secretory Function to Control Placental Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davila, Juanmahel; Laws, Mary J.; Kannan, Athilakshmi; Li, Quanxi; Taylor, Robert N.; Bagchi, Milan K.; Bagchi, Indrani C.

    2015-01-01

    During placenta development, a succession of complex molecular and cellular interactions between the maternal endometrium and the developing embryo ensures reproductive success. The precise mechanisms regulating this maternal-fetal crosstalk remain unknown. Our study revealed that the expression of Rac1, a member of the Rho family of GTPases, is markedly elevated in mouse decidua on days 7 and 8 of gestation. To investigate its function in the uterus, we created mice bearing a conditional deletion of the Rac1 gene in uterine stromal cells. Ablation of Rac1 did not affect the formation of the decidua but led to fetal loss in mid gestation accompanied by extensive hemorrhage. To gain insights into the molecular pathways affected by the loss of Rac1, we performed gene expression profiling which revealed that Rac1 signaling regulates the expression of Rab27b, another GTPase that plays a key role in targeting vesicular trafficking. Consequently, the Rac1-null decidual cells failed to secrete vascular endothelial growth factor A, which is a critical regulator of decidual angiogenesis, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4, which regulates the bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors that promote proliferation and differentiation of trophoblast cell lineages in the ectoplacental cone. The lack of secretion of these key factors by Rac1-null decidua gave rise to impaired angiogenesis and dysregulated proliferation of trophoblast cells, which in turn results in overexpansion of the trophoblast giant cell lineage and disorganized placenta development. Further experiments revealed that RAC1, the human ortholog of Rac1, regulates the secretory activity of human endometrial stromal cells during decidualization, supporting the concept that this signaling G protein plays a central and conserved role in controlling endometrial secretory function. This study provides unique insights into the molecular mechanisms regulating endometrial secretions that mediate stromal

  11. Rac1 Regulates Endometrial Secretory Function to Control Placental Development.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juanmahel Davila

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available During placenta development, a succession of complex molecular and cellular interactions between the maternal endometrium and the developing embryo ensures reproductive success. The precise mechanisms regulating this maternal-fetal crosstalk remain unknown. Our study revealed that the expression of Rac1, a member of the Rho family of GTPases, is markedly elevated in mouse decidua on days 7 and 8 of gestation. To investigate its function in the uterus, we created mice bearing a conditional deletion of the Rac1 gene in uterine stromal cells. Ablation of Rac1 did not affect the formation of the decidua but led to fetal loss in mid gestation accompanied by extensive hemorrhage. To gain insights into the molecular pathways affected by the loss of Rac1, we performed gene expression profiling which revealed that Rac1 signaling regulates the expression of Rab27b, another GTPase that plays a key role in targeting vesicular trafficking. Consequently, the Rac1-null decidual cells failed to secrete vascular endothelial growth factor A, which is a critical regulator of decidual angiogenesis, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4, which regulates the bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors that promote proliferation and differentiation of trophoblast cell lineages in the ectoplacental cone. The lack of secretion of these key factors by Rac1-null decidua gave rise to impaired angiogenesis and dysregulated proliferation of trophoblast cells, which in turn results in overexpansion of the trophoblast giant cell lineage and disorganized placenta development. Further experiments revealed that RAC1, the human ortholog of Rac1, regulates the secretory activity of human endometrial stromal cells during decidualization, supporting the concept that this signaling G protein plays a central and conserved role in controlling endometrial secretory function. This study provides unique insights into the molecular mechanisms regulating endometrial secretions

  12. Plasma membrane aquaporins mediates vesicle stability in broccoli.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Del Carmen Martínez-Ballesta

    Full Text Available The use of in vitro membrane vesicles is attractive because of possible applications in therapies. Here we aimed to compare the stability and functionality of plasma membrane vesicles extracted from control and salt-treated broccoli. The impact of the amount of aquaporins was related to plasma membrane osmotic water permeability and the stability of protein secondary structure. Here, we describe for first time an increase in plant aquaporins acetylation under high salinity. Higher osmotic water permeability in NaCl vesicles has been related to higher acetylation, upregulation of aquaporins, and a more stable environment to thermal denaturation. Based on our findings, we propose that aquaporins play an important role in vesicle stability.

  13. Vesicle electrohydrodynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwalbe, Jonathan T; Vlahovska, Petia M; Miksis, Michael J

    2011-04-01

    A small amplitude perturbation analysis is developed to describe the effect of a uniform electric field on the dynamics of a lipid bilayer vesicle in a simple shear flow. All media are treated as leaky dielectrics and fluid motion is described by the Stokes equations. The instantaneous vesicle shape is obtained by balancing electric, hydrodynamic, bending, and tension stresses exerted on the membrane. We find that in the absence of ambient shear flow, it is possible that an applied stepwise uniform dc electric field could cause the vesicle shape to evolve from oblate to prolate over time if the encapsulated fluid is less conducting than the suspending fluid. For a vesicle in ambient shear flow, the electric field damps the tumbling motion, leading to a stable tank-treading state.

  14. Cell secretion machinery: Studies using the AFM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jena, Bhanu P.

    2006-01-01

    A new field in biology, 'nano-cell biology', has emerged from the successful use of force microscopy in understanding the structure and dynamics of cells and biomolecules, at nm resolution and in real time. Atomic force microscopy, in combination with conventional tools and approaches (electron microscopy, electrophysiology, X-ray diffraction, photon correlation spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology), has revealed for the first time, the universal molecular machinery and mechanism of secretion in cells. Secretion occurs in all living cells and involves the delivery of intracellular products to the cell exterior. Secretory products are packaged and stored in membranous sacs or vesicles within the cell. When the cell needs to secrete these products, the secretory vesicles containing them, dock and fuse at plasma membrane-associated supramolecular structures called Porosome, to release their contents. Specialized cells for neurotransmission, enzyme secretion, or hormone release utilize a highly regulated secretory process. During secretion, swelling of secretory vesicles results in a build-up of intravesicular pressure, allowing expulsion of vesicular contents. The extent of vesicle swelling dictates the amount of vesicular contents expelled. The discovery of the porosome as the universal secretory machinery, its isolation, its structure and dynamics at nm resolution and in real time, its biochemical composition and functional reconstitution into artificial lipid membrane, have been determined. The molecular mechanism of secretory vesicle swelling, and the fusion of opposing bilayers, i.e., the fusion of secretory vesicle membrane at the base of the porosome membrane, has also been resolved

  15. ERAD-dependent control of the Wnt secretory factor Evi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaeser, Kathrin; Urban, Manuela; Fenech, Emma; Voloshanenko, Oksana; Kranz, Dominique; Lari, Federica; Christianson, John C; Boutros, Michael

    2018-02-15

    Active regulation of protein abundance is an essential strategy to modulate cellular signaling pathways. Within the Wnt signaling cascade, regulated degradation of β-catenin by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) affects the outcome of canonical Wnt signaling. Here, we found that abundance of the Wnt cargo receptor Evi (Wls/GPR177), which is required for Wnt protein secretion, is also regulated by the UPS through endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD). In the absence of Wnt ligands, Evi is ubiquitinated and targeted for ERAD in a VCP-dependent manner. Ubiquitination of Evi involves the E2-conjugating enzyme UBE2J2 and the E3-ligase CGRRF1. Furthermore, we show that a triaging complex of Porcn and VCP determines whether Evi enters the secretory or the ERAD pathway. In this way, ERAD-dependent control of Evi availability impacts the scale of Wnt protein secretion by adjusting the amount of Evi to meet the requirement of Wnt protein export. As Wnt and Evi protein levels are often dysregulated in cancer, targeting regulatory ERAD components might be a useful approach for therapeutic interventions. © 2018 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

  16. HIV-1 intersection with CD4 T cell vesicle exocytosis: intercellular communication goes viral

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena eSoares

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In cells of the immune system the secretion of extracellular vesicles is modulated through cellular activation. In particular, T cell activation is achieved through cell-cell contacts with antigen presenting cells and the consequent formation of a specialized signaling junction called the immunological synapse. Recent works on CD4 T cells have elucidated that cognate antigen recognition by the T cell receptor (TCR engages two distinct exocytic events. The first, involves the exocytic targeting of signaling molecules at the synaptic membrane and drives the functional architecture of the immunological synapse. The second, enlists the extracellular secretion of the TCR itself, once the functional architecture of the immunological synapse is accomplished. HIV-1, a human lymphotropic virus, has evolved sophisticated mechanisms to co-opt CD4 T cell physiology. Notably, it has become apparent that HIV-1 intersects the regulated secretory system of CD4 T cells in order to bud from the plasma membrane of the infected cell and to promote bystander cell death. Here, I review the relevance of CD4 vesicle exocytosis to immune regulation and to HIV-1 pathogenesis and discuss their potential therapeutic applications.

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  1. Tailoring Escherichia coli for the L-rhamnose PBAD promoter-based production of membrane and secretory proteins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hjelm, Anna; Karyolaimos, Alexandros; Zhang, Zhe; Rujas, Edurne; Vikström, David; Slotboom, Dirk Jan; de Gier, Jan-Willem

    Membrane and secretory protein production in Escherichia coli requires precisely controlled production rates to avoid the deleterious saturation of their biogenesis pathways. Based on this requirement, the E. coli L-rhamnose PBAD promoter (PrhaBAD) is often used for membrane and secretory protein

  2. Folding Up of Gold Nanoparticle Strings into Plasmonic Vesicles for Enhanced Photoacoustic Imaging

    KAUST Repository

    Liu, Yijing

    2015-11-11

    The stepwise self-assembly of hollow plasmonic vesicles with vesicular membranes containing strings of gold nanoparticles (NPs) is reported. The formation of chain vesicles can be controlled by tuning the density of the polymer ligands on the surface of the gold NPs. The strong absorption of the chain vesicles in the near-infrared (NIR) region leads to a much higher efficiency in photoacoustic (PA) imaging than for non-chain vesicles. The chain vesicles were further employed for the encapsulation of drugs and the NIR light triggered release of payloads. This work not only offers a new platform for controlling the hierarchical self-assembly of NPs, but also demonstrates that the physical properties of the materials can be tailored by controlling the spatial arrangement of NPs within assemblies to achieve a better performance in biomedical applications.

  3. Interactions within the yeast t-SNARE Sso1p that control SNARE complex assembly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munson, M; Chen, X; Cocina, A E; Schultz, S M; Hughson, F M

    2000-10-01

    In the eukaryotic secretory and endocytic pathways, transport vesicles shuttle cargo among intracellular organelles and to and from the plasma membrane. Cargo delivery entails fusion of the transport vesicle with its target, a process thought to be mediated by membrane bridging SNARE protein complexes. Temporal and spatial control of intracellular trafficking depends in part on regulating the assembly of these complexes. In vitro, SNARE assembly is inhibited by the closed conformation adopted by the syntaxin family of SNAREs. To visualize this closed conformation directly, the X-ray crystal structure of a yeast syntaxin, Sso1p, has been determined and refined to 2.1 A resolution. Mutants designed to destabilize the closed conformation exhibit accelerated rates of SNARE assembly. Our results provide insight into the mechanism of SNARE assembly and its intramolecular and intermolecular regulation.

  4. Defined DNA-mediated assemblies of gene-expressing giant unilamellar vesicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hadorn, M.; Boenzli, E.; Sørensen, Kristian T.

    2013-01-01

    The technological aspects of artificial vesicles as prominent cell mimics are evolving toward higher-order assemblies of functional vesicles with tissuelike architectures. Here, we demonstrate the spatially controlled DNA-directed bottom-up synthesis of complex microassemblies and macroassemblies...

  5. Characterization of P4 ATPase Phospholipid Translocases (Flippases) in Human and Rat Pancreatic Beta Cells: THEIR GENE SILENCING INHIBITS INSULIN SECRETION

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ansari, Israr-Ul H.; Longacre, Melissa J.; Paulusma, Coen C.; Stoker, Scott W.; Kendrick, Mindy A.; MacDonald, Michael J.

    2015-01-01

    The negative charge of phosphatidylserine in lipid bilayers of secretory vesicles and plasma membranes couples the domains of positively charged amino acids of secretory vesicle SNARE proteins with similar domains of plasma membrane SNARE proteins enhancing fusion of the two membranes to promote

  6. The BAR Domain Protein PICK1 Controls Vesicle Number and Size in Adrenal Chromaffin Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    da Silva Pinheiro, Paulo César; Jansen, Anna M; de Wit, Heidi

    2014-01-01

    , a marker for immature granules. In chromaffin cells isolated from a PICK1 knockout (KO) mouse the amount of exocytosis was reduced, while release kinetics and Ca(2+) sensitivity were unaffected. Vesicle-fusion events had a reduced frequency and released lower amounts of transmitter per vesicle (i...... in vesicle number and size, whereas the fusion competence of generated vesicles was unaffected by the absence of PICK1. Viral rescue experiments demonstrated that long-term re-expression of PICK1 is necessary to restore normal vesicular content and secretion, while short-term overexpression is ineffective...

  7. Eustachian tube three-dimensional reconstruction of secretory otitis media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Yafeng; Zhou Weirong; Bao Xueping; Li Min; Hu Zhenmin

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To study relationship between Eustachian tube and secretory otitis media and to explore the pathogeny of secretory otitis by three-dimensional reconstruction of Eustachian tube. Methods: Thirty cases of secretory otitis media (male 19, female 11) were selected randomly. Everyone was checked by otoscope and audiometry. Their bilateral Eustachian tubes were scanning by helix CT while making Valsalva's action. All images were passed on to work station to make three-dimensional reconstruction. Results: Four patients were found have Eustachian tube diseases, while most of patients' Eustachian tubes ventilated normally. Conclusions: Three-dimensional reconstruction of Eustachian tube can open out some pathogens of some secretory otitis medias. It will be helpful to diagnosis and therapy of secretory otitis media. (authors)

  8. Speed Controls in Translating Secretory Proteins in Eukaryotes - an Evolutionary Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahlab, Shelly; Linial, Michal

    2014-01-01

    Protein translation is the most expensive operation in dividing cells from bacteria to humans. Therefore, managing the speed and allocation of resources is subject to tight control. From bacteria to humans, clusters of relatively rare tRNA codons at the N′-terminal of mRNAs have been implicated in attenuating the process of ribosome allocation, and consequently the translation rate in a broad range of organisms. The current interpretation of “slow” tRNA codons does not distinguish between protein translations mediated by free- or endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-bound ribosomes. We demonstrate that proteins translated by free- or ER-bound ribosomes exhibit different overall properties in terms of their translation efficiency and speed in yeast, fly, plant, worm, bovine and human. We note that only secreted or membranous proteins with a Signal peptide (SP) are specified by segments of “slow” tRNA at the N′-terminal, followed by abundant codons that are considered “fast.” Such profiles apply to 3100 proteins of the human proteome that are composed of secreted and signal peptide (SP)-assisted membranous proteins. Remarkably, the bulks of the proteins (12,000), or membranous proteins lacking SP (3400), do not have such a pattern. Alternation of “fast” and “slow” codons was found also in proteins that translocate to mitochondria through transit peptides (TP). The differential clusters of tRNA adapted codons is not restricted to the N′-terminal of transcripts. Specifically, Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins are unified by clusters of low adapted tRNAs codons at the C′-termini. Furthermore, selection of amino acids types and specific codons was shown as the driving force which establishes the translation demands for the secretory proteome. We postulate that “hard-coded” signals within the secretory proteome assist the steps of protein maturation and folding. Specifically, “speed control” signals for delaying the translation

  9. Multiple roles for the actin cytoskeleton during regulated exocytosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porat-Shliom, Natalie; Milberg, Oleg; Masedunskas, Andrius; Weigert, Roberto

    2014-01-01

    Regulated exocytosis is the main mechanism utilized by specialized secretory cells to deliver molecules to the cell surface by virtue of membranous containers (i.e. secretory vesicles). The process involves a series of highly coordinated and sequential steps, which include the biogenesis of the vesicles, their delivery to the cell periphery, their fusion with the plasma membrane and the release of their content into the extracellular space. Each of these steps is regulated by the actin cytoskeleton. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the involvement of actin and its associated molecules during each of the exocytic steps in vertebrates, and suggest that the overall role of the actin cytoskeleton during regulated exocytosis is linked to the architecture and the physiology of the secretory cells under examination. Specifically, in neurons, neuroendocrine, endocrine, and hematopoietic cells, which contain small secretory vesicles that undergo rapid exocytosis (on the order of milliseconds), the actin cytoskeleton plays a role in pre-fusion events, where it acts primarily as a functional barrier and facilitates docking. In exocrine and other secretory cells, which contain large secretory vesicles that undergo slow exocytosis (seconds to minutes), the actin cytoskeleton plays a role in post-fusion events, where it regulates the dynamics of the fusion pore, facilitates the integration of the vesicles into the plasma membrane, provides structural support, and promotes the expulsion of large cargo molecules. PMID:22986507

  10. Vesicle biomechanics in a time-varying magnetic field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Hui; Curcuru, Austen

    2015-01-01

    Cells exhibit distortion when exposed to a strong electric field, suggesting that the field imposes control over cellular biomechanics. Closed pure lipid bilayer membranes (vesicles) have been widely used for the experimental and theoretical studies of cellular biomechanics under this electrodeformation. An alternative method used to generate an electric field is by electromagnetic induction with a time-varying magnetic field. References reporting the magnetic control of cellular mechanics have recently emerged. However, theoretical analysis of the cellular mechanics under a time-varying magnetic field is inadequate. We developed an analytical theory to investigate the biomechanics of a modeled vesicle under a time-varying magnetic field. Following previous publications and to simplify the calculation, this model treated the inner and suspending media as lossy dielectrics, the membrane thickness set at zero, and the electric resistance of the membrane assumed to be negligible. This work provided the first analytical solutions for the surface charges, electric field, radial pressure, overall translational forces, and rotational torques introduced on a vesicle by the time-varying magnetic field. Frequency responses of these measures were analyzed, particularly the frequency used clinically by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The induced surface charges interacted with the electric field to produce a biomechanical impact upon the vesicle. The distribution of the induced surface charges depended on the orientation of the coil and field frequency. The densities of these charges were trivial at low frequency ranges, but significant at high frequency ranges. The direction of the radial force on the vesicle was dependent on the conductivity ratio between the vesicle and the medium. At relatively low frequencies (biomechanics under a time-varying magnetic field. Biological effects of clinical TMS are not likely to occur via alteration of the biomechanics of brain

  11. Functional Characterization of Monomeric GTPase Rab1 in the Secretory Pathway of Leishmania*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahl, Surbhi; Parashar, Smriti; Malhotra, Himanshu; Raje, Manoj; Mukhopadhyay, Amitabha

    2015-01-01

    Leishmania secretes a large number of its effectors to the extracellular milieu. However, regulation of the secretory pathway in Leishmania is not well characterized. Here, we report the cloning, expression, and characterization of the Rab1 homologue from Leishmania. We have found that LdRab1 localizes in Golgi in Leishmania. To understand the role of LdRab1 in the secretory pathway of Leishmania, we have generated transgenic parasites overexpressing GFP-LdRab1:WT, GFP-LdRab1:Q67L (a GTPase-deficient dominant positive mutant of Rab1), and GFP-LdRab1:S22N (a GDP-locked dominant negative mutant of Rab1). Surprisingly, our results have shown that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N does not disrupt the trafficking and localization of hemoglobin receptor in Leishmania. To determine whether the Rab1-dependent secretory pathway is conserved in parasites, we have analyzed the role of LdRab1 in the secretion of secretory acid phosphatase and Ldgp63 in Leishmania. Our results have shown that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N significantly inhibits the secretion of secretory acid phosphatase by Leishmania. We have also found that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N retains RFP-Ldgp63 in Golgi and blocks the secretion of Ldgp63, whereas the trafficking of RFP-Ldgp63 in GFP-LdRab1:WT-expressing cells is unaltered in comparison with control cells. Taken together, our results have shown that the Rab1-regulated secretory pathway is well conserved, and hemoglobin receptor trafficking follows an Rab1-independent secretory pathway in Leishmania. PMID:26499792

  12. Functional Characterization of Monomeric GTPase Rab1 in the Secretory Pathway of Leishmania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahl, Surbhi; Parashar, Smriti; Malhotra, Himanshu; Raje, Manoj; Mukhopadhyay, Amitabha

    2015-12-11

    Leishmania secretes a large number of its effectors to the extracellular milieu. However, regulation of the secretory pathway in Leishmania is not well characterized. Here, we report the cloning, expression, and characterization of the Rab1 homologue from Leishmania. We have found that LdRab1 localizes in Golgi in Leishmania. To understand the role of LdRab1 in the secretory pathway of Leishmania, we have generated transgenic parasites overexpressing GFP-LdRab1:WT, GFP-LdRab1:Q67L (a GTPase-deficient dominant positive mutant of Rab1), and GFP-LdRab1:S22N (a GDP-locked dominant negative mutant of Rab1). Surprisingly, our results have shown that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N does not disrupt the trafficking and localization of hemoglobin receptor in Leishmania. To determine whether the Rab1-dependent secretory pathway is conserved in parasites, we have analyzed the role of LdRab1 in the secretion of secretory acid phosphatase and Ldgp63 in Leishmania. Our results have shown that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N significantly inhibits the secretion of secretory acid phosphatase by Leishmania. We have also found that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N retains RFP-Ldgp63 in Golgi and blocks the secretion of Ldgp63, whereas the trafficking of RFP-Ldgp63 in GFP-LdRab1:WT-expressing cells is unaltered in comparison with control cells. Taken together, our results have shown that the Rab1-regulated secretory pathway is well conserved, and hemoglobin receptor trafficking follows an Rab1-independent secretory pathway in Leishmania. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  13. Vesicle-based rechargeable batteries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stanish, I.; Singh, A. [Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Lowy, D.A. [Nova Research, Inc., 1900 Elkin St., Alexandria, VA 22308 (United States); Hung, C.W. [Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

    2005-05-02

    Vesicle-based rechargeable batteries can be fabricated by mounting polymerized vesicles filled with ferrocyanide or ferricyanide to a conductive surface. The potential can be adjusted by changing the concentration ratio of hydroquinone and benzoquinone bound to the vesicle membranes. These batteries show promise as a means of supplying portable power for future autonomous nanosystems. (Abstract Copyright [2005], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

  14. Secretory Phospholipase A2-IIA and Cardiovascular Disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holmes, Michael V; Simon, Tabassome; Exeter, Holly J

    2013-01-01

    This study sought to investigate the role of secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2)-IIA in cardiovascular disease.......This study sought to investigate the role of secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2)-IIA in cardiovascular disease....

  15. Growth and instability of a phospholipid vesicle in a bath of fatty acids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dervaux, J.; Noireaux, V.; Libchaber, A. J.

    2017-06-01

    Using a microfluidic trap, we study the behavior of individual phospholipid vesicles in contact with fatty acids. We show that spontaneous fatty acids insertion inside the bilayer is controlled by the vesicle size, osmotic pressure difference across the membrane and fatty acids concentration in the external bath. Depending on these parameters, vesicles can grow spherically or become unstable and fragment into several daughter vesicles. We establish the phase diagram for vesicle growth and we derive a simple thermodynamic model that reproduces the time evolution of the vesicle volume. Finally, we show that stable growth can be achieved on an artificial cell expressing a simple set of bacterial cytoskeletal proteins, paving the way toward artificial cell reproduction.

  16. P-selectin targeting to secretory lysosomes of Rbl-2H3 cells

    OpenAIRE

    Kaur, J.; Cutler, D. F.

    2002-01-01

    The biogenesis of secretory lysosomes, which combine characteristics of both lysosomes and secretory granules, is currently of high interest. In particular, it is not clear whether delivery of membrane proteins to the secretory lysosome requires lysosomal, secretory granule, or some novel targeting determinants. Heterologous expression of P-selectin has established that this membrane protein contains targeting signals for both secretory granules and lysosomes. P-selectin is therefore an ideal...

  17. Genome-scale modeling of the protein secretory machinery in yeast

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feizi, Amir; Österlund, Tobias; Petranovic, Dina

    2013-01-01

    The protein secretory machinery in Eukarya is involved in post-translational modification (PTMs) and sorting of the secretory and many transmembrane proteins. While the secretory machinery has been well-studied using classic reductionist approaches, a holistic view of its complex nature is lacking....... Here, we present the first genome-scale model for the yeast secretory machinery which captures the knowledge generated through more than 50 years of research. The model is based on the concept of a Protein Specific Information Matrix (PSIM: characterized by seven PTMs features). An algorithm...

  18. Irradiation-induced fusion between giant vesicles and photoresponsive large unilamellar vesicles containing malachite green derivative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uda, Ryoko M; Yoshikawa, Yuki; Kitaba, Moe; Nishimoto, Noriko

    2018-07-01

    Light-initiated fusion between vesicles has attracted much attention in the research community. In particular, fusion between photoresponsive and non-photoresponsive vesicles has been of much interest in the development of systems for the delivery of therapeutic agents to cells. We have performed fusion between giant vesicles (GVs) and photoresponsive smaller vesicles containing malachite green (MG) derivative, which undergoes ionization to afford a positive charge on the molecule by irradiation. The fusion proceeds as the concentration of GV lipid increases toward equimolarity with the lipid of the smaller vesicle. It is also dependent on the molar percentage of photoionized MG in the lipid of the smaller vesicle. On the other hand, the fusion is hardly affected by the anionic component of the GV. The photoinduced fusion was characterized by two methods, involving the mixing of lipid membranes and of aqueous contents. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that irradiation triggered the fusion of a single GV with the smaller vesicles containing MG. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Two Novel Rab2 Interactors Regulate Dense-core Vesicle Maturation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ailion, Michael; Hannemann, Mandy; Dalton, Susan; Pappas, Andrea; Watanabe, Shigeki; Hegermann, Jan; Liu, Qiang; Han, Hsiao-Fen; Gu, Mingyu; Goulding, Morgan Q.; Sasidharan, Nikhil; Schuske, Kim; Hullett, Patrick; Eimer, Stefan; Jorgensen, Erik M.

    2014-01-01

    Summary Peptide neuromodulators are released from a unique organelle: the dense-core vesicle. Dense-core vesicles are generated at the trans-Golgi, and then sort cargo during maturation before being secreted. To identify proteins that act in this pathway, we performed a genetic screen in Caenorhabditis elegans for mutants defective in dense-core vesicle function. We identified two conserved Rab2-binding proteins: RUND-1, a RUN domain protein, and CCCP-1, a coiled-coil protein. RUND-1 and CCCP-1 colocalize with RAB-2 at the Golgi, and rab-2, rund-1 and cccp-1 mutants have similar defects in sorting soluble and transmembrane dense-core vesicle cargos. RUND-1 also interacts with the Rab2 GAP protein TBC-8 and the BAR domain protein RIC-19, a RAB-2 effector. In summary, a new pathway of conserved proteins controls the maturation of dense-core vesicles at the trans-Golgi network. PMID:24698274

  20. Cell Secretion: Current Structural and Biochemical Insights

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saurabh Trikha

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Essential physiological functions in eukaryotic cells, such as release of hormones and digestive enzymes, neurotransmission, and intercellular signaling, are all achieved by cell secretion. In regulated (calcium-dependent secretion, membrane-bound secretory vesicles dock and transiently fuse with specialized, permanent, plasma membrane structures, called porosomes or fusion pores. Porosomes are supramolecular, cup-shaped lipoprotein structures at the cell plasma membrane that mediate and control the release of vesicle cargo to the outside of the cell. The sizes of porosomes range from 150nm in diameter in acinar cells of the exocrine pancreas to 12nm in neurons. In recent years, significant progress has been made in our understanding of the porosome and the cellular activities required for cell secretion, such as membrane fusion and swelling of secretory vesicles. The discovery of the porosome complex and the molecular mechanism of cell secretion are summarized in this article.

  1. Single-vesicle imaging reveals different transport mechanisms between glutamatergic and GABAergic vesicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Farsi, Z.; Preobraschenski, J.; Bogaart, G. van den; Riedel, D.; Jahn, R.; Woehler, A.

    2016-01-01

    Synaptic transmission is mediated by the release of neurotransmitters, which involves exo-endocytotic cycling of synaptic vesicles. To maintain synaptic function, synaptic vesicles are refilled with thousands of neurotransmitter molecules within seconds after endocytosis, using the energy provided

  2. Single-vesicle imaging reveals different transport mechanisms between glutamatergic and GABAergic vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farsi, Zohreh; Preobraschenski, Julia; van den Bogaart, Geert; Riedel, Dietmar; Jahn, Reinhard; Woehler, Andrew

    2016-02-26

    Synaptic transmission is mediated by the release of neurotransmitters, which involves exo-endocytotic cycling of synaptic vesicles. To maintain synaptic function, synaptic vesicles are refilled with thousands of neurotransmitter molecules within seconds after endocytosis, using the energy provided by an electrochemical proton gradient. However, it is unclear how transmitter molecules carrying different net charges can be efficiently sequestered while maintaining charge neutrality and osmotic balance. We used single-vesicle imaging to monitor pH and electrical gradients and directly showed different uptake mechanisms for glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) operating in parallel. In contrast to glutamate, GABA was exchanged for protons, with no other ions participating in the transport cycle. Thus, only a few components are needed to guarantee reliable vesicle filling with different neurotransmitters. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  3. The differences in RCAS1 and DFF45 endometrial expression between late proliferative, early secretory, and mid-secretory cycle phases.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerzy Sikora

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available RCAS1 expression is related to the regulation of activated immune cells and to connective tissue remodeling within the endometrium. DFF45 seems to play an important role in the apoptotic process, most likely by acting through the regulation of DNA fragmentation. Its expression changes within the endometrium seem to be related to the resistance of endometrial cells to apoptosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate RCAS1 and DFF45 endometrial expressions during ovulation and the implantation period. RCAS1 and DFF45 expression was assessed by the Western-blot method in endometrial tissue samples obtained from 20 patients. The tissue samples were classified according to the menstrual cycle phases in which they were collected, with a division into three phases: late proliferative, early secretory, and mid-secretory. The lowest level of RCAS1 and the highest level of DFF45 endometrial expression was found during the early secretory cycle phase. Statistically significantly higher RCAS1 and statistically significantly lower DFF45 endometrial expression was identified in the endometrium during the late proliferative as compared to the early secretory cycle phase. Moreover, statistically significantly higher RCAS1 and statistically significantly lower DFF45 expression was found in the endometrium during the mid-secretory as compared to the early secretory cycle phase. The preparation for implantation process in the endometrium is preceded by dynamic changes in endometrial ECM and results from the proper interaction between endometrial and immune cells. The course of this process is conditioned by the immunomodulating activity of endometrial cells and their resistance to immune-mediated apoptosis. These dynamic changes are closely related to RCAS1 and DFF45 expression alterations.

  4. Lipid vesicle shape analysis from populations using light video microscopy and computer vision.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jernej Zupanc

    Full Text Available We present a method for giant lipid vesicle shape analysis that combines manually guided large-scale video microscopy and computer vision algorithms to enable analyzing vesicle populations. The method retains the benefits of light microscopy and enables non-destructive analysis of vesicles from suspensions containing up to several thousands of lipid vesicles (1-50 µm in diameter. For each sample, image analysis was employed to extract data on vesicle quantity and size distributions of their projected diameters and isoperimetric quotients (measure of contour roundness. This process enables a comparison of samples from the same population over time, or the comparison of a treated population to a control. Although vesicles in suspensions are heterogeneous in sizes and shapes and have distinctively non-homogeneous distribution throughout the suspension, this method allows for the capture and analysis of repeatable vesicle samples that are representative of the population inspected.

  5. Secretory structure and histochemistry test of some Zingiberaceae plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Indriyani, Serafinah

    2017-11-01

    A secretory structure is a structure that produces a plant's metabolite substances. Secretory structures are grouped into an internal and external. Zingiberaceae plants are known as traditional medicine plants and as spice plants due to secretory structures in their tissues. The objective of the research were to describe the secretory structure of Zingiberaceae plants and to discover the qualitatively primary metabolite substances in plant's tissues via histochemistry test. The research was conducted by observation descriptive design, quantitative data including the density of secretory cells per mm². The quantitative data were analyzed by ANOVA and continued by Duncan at α = 5 %. The results showed that the secretory structures in leaves, rhizome, and the root of 14 species of Zingiberaceae plants are found in the mesophyll of leaves and cortex, and also pith in rhizome and roots. The type of secretory structure is internal. Within the root of Zingiber cassumunar Roxb.(bengle), Curcuma domestica Val. (kunyit), Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.) Roscoe (kunyit putih), Zingiber zerumbet (L.) J.E. Smith (lempuyang), Alpiniapurpurata K. Schum (lengkuas merah), and Curcuma aeruginosa Val. (temu ireng) were found amylum grains, while in Kaemferia galanga L. (kencur), Boesen bergiapandurata L. (temu kunci), and Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. (temulawak) there were no amylum grains in the root as well as in the leaves. The roots of bengle had the greatest density of amylum grain, it had 248.1 ± 9.8 secretory cells of amylum grains per mm². Lipids (oil droplets) were found in the root of bengle, Zingiber officinale Roxb. Var. emprit (jahe emprit), Zingiber officinale Roxb. Var. Gajah (jahe gajah), Zingiber officinale Roxb. Var. Rubrum (jahe merah), Keampferia angustifolia L. (kunci pepet), kunyit, kunyit putih, lempuyang, lengkua smerah, Curcuma aeruginosa Val. (temu ireng), and Curcuma mangga Val. and van Zijp (temu mangga); the root of lempuyang had the greatest density of oil

  6. Mammary Analog Secretory Carcinoma of the Nasal Cavity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baneckova, Martina; Agaimy, Abbas; Andreasen, Simon

    2018-01-01

    Secretory carcinoma, originally described as mammary analog secretory carcinoma (MASC), is a low-grade salivary gland tumor characterized by a t(12;15)(p13;q25) translocation, resulting in an ETV6-NTRK3 gene fusion. Most MASCs are localized to the parotid gland and intraoral minor salivary glands...

  7. Fusion of Nonionic Vesicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bulut, Sanja; Oskolkova, M. Z.; Schweins, R.

    2010-01-01

    We present an experimental study of vesicle fusion using light and neutron scattering to monitor fusion events. Vesicles are reproducibly formed with an extrusion procedure using an single amphiphile triethylene glycol mono-n-decyl ether in water. They show long-term stability for temperatures ar...... a barrier to fusion changing from 15 k(B)T at T = 26 degrees C to 10k(H) T at T = 35 degrees C. These results are compatible with the theoretical predictions using the stalk model of vesicle fusion....

  8. Impact of infection on the secretory capacity of the male accessory glands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Marconi

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Studies that compare the impact of different infectious entities of the male reproductive tract (MRT on the male accessory gland function are controversial. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Semen analyses of 71 patients with proven infections of the MRT were compared with the results of 40 healthy non-infected volunteers. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to their diagnosis: chronic prostatitis NIH type II (n = 38, chronic epididymitis (n = 12, and chronic urethritis (n = 21. RESULTS: The bacteriological analysis revealed 9 different types of microorganisms, considered to be the etiological agents, isolated in different secretions, including: urine, expressed prostatic secretions, semen and urethral smears: E. Coli (n = 20, Klebsiella (n = 2, Proteus spp. (n = 1, Enterococcus (n = 20, Staphylococcus spp. (n = 1, M. tuberculosis (n = 2, N. gonorrhea (n = 8, Chlamydia tr. (n = 16 and, Ureaplasma urealyticum (n = 1. The infection group had significantly (p < 0.05 lower: semen volume, alpha-glucosidase, fructose, and zinc in seminal plasma and, higher pH than the control group. None of these parameters was sufficiently accurate in the ROC analysis to discriminate between infected and non-infected men. CONCLUSION: Proven bacterial infections of the MRT impact negatively on all the accessory gland function parameters evaluated in semen, suggesting impairment of the secretory capacity of the epididymis, seminal vesicles and prostate. These findings were associated with an infectious related significant increase of semen pH. None of the semen parameters evaluated can be suggested as a diagnostic tool for infection.

  9. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles launches the first massive open online course on extracellular vesicles

    OpenAIRE

    L?sser, Cecilia; Th?ry, Clotilde; Buz?s, Edit I.; Mathivanan, Suresh; Zhao, Weian; Gho, Yong Song; L?tvall, Jan

    2016-01-01

    The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) has organised its first educational online course for students and beginners in the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs). This course, “Basics of Extracellular Vesicles,” uses recorded lectures from experts in the field and will be open for an unlimited number of participants. The course is divided into 5 modules and can be accessed at www.coursera.org/learn/extracellular-vesicles. The first module is an introduction to the field co...

  10. Exo- and endocytotic trafficking of SCAMP2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyooka, Kiminori; Matsuoka, Ken

    2009-12-01

    Exo- and endocytotic membrane trafficking is an essential process for transport of secretory proteins, extracellular glycans, transporters and lipids in plant cells. Using secretory carrier membrane protein 2 (SCAMP2) as a marker for secretory vesicles and tobacco BY-2 cells as a model system, we recently demonstrated that SCAMP2 positive structures containing secretory materials are transported from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane (PM) and/or cell plate. This structure is consisted with clustered vesicles and was thus named the secretory vesicle cluster (SVC). Here, we have utilized the reversible photoswitching fluorescent protein Dronpa1 to trace the movement of SCAMP2 on the PM and cell plate. Activated SCAMP2-Dronpa fluorescence on the PM and cell plate moved into the BY-2 cells within several minutes, but did not spread around PM. This is consistent with recycling of SCAMP2 among endomembrane compartments such as the TGN, PM and cell plate. The relationship between SVC-mediated trafficking and exo- and endocytosis of plant cells is discussed taking into account this new data and knowledge provided by recent reports.

  11. Seminal vesicle cycts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alpern, M.B.; Dorfman, R.E.; Gross, B.H.; Gottlieb, C.A.; Sandler, M.A.

    1990-01-01

    PURPOSE: Adult polycystic kidney disease (APKCD), an autosomal dominant disorder, causes cyst formation in the kidney, liver, pancreas, esophagus, ovaries, uterus, and brain. This paper describes four APKCD patients with CT evidence of seminal vesicle cysts (SVCs). Four patients (aged 45-65 years) underwent abdominal/pelvic CT with oral and intravenous contrast material. Three were evaluated for possible renal transplantation and one for sepsis material. All seminal vesicles contained cystic masses with fluid that measured between 0 and 30 HU. Seminal vesicle thickness was 3-4 cm (normal, 1.5 cm). High-density walls separated the 3-12-mm diameter cysts. All patients demonstrated typical renal stigmata of APKCD. One patient had hepatic cysts, and none had cysts elsewhere. Postmortem examination in one patient confirmed the SVCs

  12. Intravesicular Phosphatase PHOSPHO1 Function in Enamel Mineralization and Prism Formation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirali Pandya

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The transport of mineral ions from the enamel organ-associated blood vessels to the developing enamel crystals involves complex cargo packaging and carriage mechanisms across several cell layers, including the ameloblast layer and the stratum intermedium. Previous studies have established PHOSPHO1 as a matrix vesicle membrane-associated phosphatase that interacts with matrix vesicles molecules phosphoethanolamine and phosphocholine to initiate apatite crystal formation inside of matrix vesicles in bone. In the present study, we sought to determine the function of Phospho1 during amelogenesis. PHOSPHO1 protein localization during amelogenesis was verified using immunohistochemistry, with positive signals in the enamel layer, ameloblast Tomes' processes, and in the walls of ameloblast secretory vesicles. These ameloblast secretory vesicle walls were also labeled for amelogenin and the exosomal protein marker HSP70 using immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, PHOSPHO1 presence in the enamel organ was confirmed by Western blot. Phospho1−/− mice lacked sharp incisal tips, featured a significant 25% increase in total enamel volume, and demonstrated a significant 2-fold reduction in silver grain density of von Kossa stained ground sections indicative of reduced mineralization in the enamel layer when compared to wild-type mice (p < 0.001. Scanning electron micrographs of Phospho1−/− mouse enamel revealed a loss of the prominent enamel prism “picket fence” structure, a loss of parallel crystal organization within prisms, and a 1.56-fold increase in enamel prism width (p < 0.0001. Finally, EDS elemental analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in phosphate incorporation in the enamel layer when compared to controls (p < 0.05. Together, these data establish that the matrix vesicle membrane-associated phosphatase PHOSPHO1 is essential for physiological enamel mineralization. Our findings also suggest that intracellular ameloblast secretory

  13. Impermeability effects in three-dimensional vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biscari, P; Canevese, S M; Napoli, G

    2004-01-01

    We analyse the effects of the impermeability constraint on the equilibrium shapes of a three-dimensional vesicle hosting a rigid inclusion. A given alteration of the inclusion and/or vesicle parameters leads to shape modifications of different orders of magnitude, when applied to permeable or impermeable vesicles. Moreover, the enclosed-volume constraint wrecks the uniqueness of stationary equilibrium shapes, and gives rise to pear-shaped or stomatocyte-like vesicles

  14. MR imaging of the seminal vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edson, S.B.; Hricak, H.; Chun-Fang Chang, Y.

    1987-01-01

    The seminal vesicles of 56 healthy males and 23 males with pathologic conditions were studied with a .35-T magnet and spin-echo (SE) techniques (repetition time/echo time [msec] = 500/30 and 2,000/60). The authors analyzed (1) the size and relative signal intensity of seminal vesicles compared to surrounding fat, muscle, or urine; (2) the effect of aging on the size and signal intensity of the vesicles, and (3) the appearance of the seminal vesicles in different pathologic conditions. In the transverse plane, the normal seminal vesicle measures 31 +- 7 mm in length and 17 +- 4 mm in width. Its size or signal intensity did not change significantly with age. On SE = 500/30 images the seminal vesicles were isointense with muscle; on SE = 2,000/60 images they were isointense or slightly hypointense relative to fat. MR imaging was highly sensitive for displaying seminal vesicle pathology, based on asymmetry in size and changes in signal intensities. MR imaging provides unique information but its role in pathologic conditions needs to be further explored

  15. Study of the plant COPII vesicle coat subunits by functional complementation of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johan-Owen De Craene

    Full Text Available The formation and budding of endoplasmic reticulum ER-derived vesicles depends on the COPII coat protein complex that was first identified in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The ER-associated Sec12 and the Sar1 GTPase initiate the COPII coat formation by recruiting the Sec23-Sec24 heterodimer following the subsequent recruitment of the Sec13-Sec31 heterotetramer. In yeast, there is usually one gene encoding each COPII protein and these proteins are essential for yeast viability, whereas the plant genome encodes multiple isoforms of all COPII subunits. Here, we used a systematic yeast complementation assay to assess the functionality of Arabidopsis thaliana COPII proteins. In this study, the different plant COPII subunits were expressed in their corresponding temperature-sensitive yeast mutant strain to complement their thermosensitivity and secretion phenotypes. Secretion was assessed using two different yeast cargos: the soluble α-factor pheromone and the membranous v-SNARE (vesicle-soluble NSF (N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor Snc1 involved in the fusion of the secretory vesicles with the plasma membrane. This complementation study allowed the identification of functional A. thaliana COPII proteins for the Sec12, Sar1, Sec24 and Sec13 subunits that could represent an active COPII complex in plant cells. Moreover, we found that AtSec12 and AtSec23 were co-immunoprecipitated with AtSar1 in total cell extract of 15 day-old seedlings of A. thaliana. This demonstrates that AtSar1, AtSec12 and AtSec23 can form a protein complex that might represent an active COPII complex in plant cells.

  16. Statistical Modelling of Synaptic Vesicles Distribution and Analysing their Physical Characteristics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khanmohammadi, Mahdieh

    transmission electron microscopy is used to acquire images from two experimental groups of rats: 1) rats subjected to a behavioral model of stress and 2) rats subjected to sham stress as the control group. The synaptic vesicle distribution and interactions are modeled by employing a point process approach......This Ph.D. thesis deals with mathematical and statistical modeling of synaptic vesicle distribution, shape, orientation and interactions. The first major part of this thesis treats the problem of determining the effect of stress on synaptic vesicle distribution and interactions. Serial section...... on differences of statistical measures in section and the same measures in between sections. Three-dimensional (3D) datasets are reconstructed by using image registration techniques and estimated thicknesses. We distinguish the effect of stress by estimating the synaptic vesicle densities and modeling...

  17. Spontaneous charged lipid transfer between lipid vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richens, Joanna L; Tyler, Arwen I I; Barriga, Hanna M G; Bramble, Jonathan P; Law, Robert V; Brooks, Nicholas J; Seddon, John M; Ces, Oscar; O'Shea, Paul

    2017-10-03

    An assay to study the spontaneous charged lipid transfer between lipid vesicles is described. A donor/acceptor vesicle system is employed, where neutrally charged acceptor vesicles are fluorescently labelled with the electrostatic membrane probe Fluoresceinphosphatidylethanolamine (FPE). Upon addition of charged donor vesicles, transfer of negatively charged lipid occurs, resulting in a fluorescently detectable change in the membrane potential of the acceptor vesicles. Using this approach we have studied the transfer properties of a range of lipids, varying both the headgroup and the chain length. At the low vesicle concentrations chosen, the transfer follows a first-order process where lipid monomers are transferred presumably through the aqueous solution phase from donor to acceptor vesicle. The rate of transfer decreases with increasing chain length which is consistent with energy models previously reported for lipid monomer vesicle interactions. Our assay improves on existing methods allowing the study of a range of unmodified lipids, continuous monitoring of transfer and simplified experimental procedures.

  18. Ultrasound-responsive ultrathin multiblock copolyamide vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Lei; Yu, Chunyang; Huang, Tong; Xu, Shuting; Bai, Yongping; Zhou, Yongfeng

    2016-02-01

    This study reports the self-assembly of novel polymer vesicles from an amphiphilic multiblock copolyamide, and the vesicles show a special structure with an ultrathin wall thickness of about 4.5 nm and a combined bilayer and monolayer packing model. Most interestingly, the vesicles are ultrasound-responsive and can release the encapsulated model drugs in response to ultrasonic irradiation.This study reports the self-assembly of novel polymer vesicles from an amphiphilic multiblock copolyamide, and the vesicles show a special structure with an ultrathin wall thickness of about 4.5 nm and a combined bilayer and monolayer packing model. Most interestingly, the vesicles are ultrasound-responsive and can release the encapsulated model drugs in response to ultrasonic irradiation. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of experiments and characterization, and FT-IR, TEM, DPD, FL and micro-DSC results. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr08596a

  19. Lysosomal Exoglycosidase Profile and Secretory Function in the Salivary Glands of Rats with Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes

    OpenAIRE

    Maciejczyk, Mateusz; Kossakowska, Agnieszka; Szulimowska, Julita; Klimiuk, Anna; Knaś, Małgorzata; Car, Halina; Niklińska, Wiesława; Ładny, Jerzy Robert; Chabowski, Adrian; Zalewska, Anna

    2017-01-01

    Before this study, there had been no research evaluating the relationship between a lysosomal exoglycosidase profile and secretory function in the salivary glands of rats with streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced type 1 diabetes. In our work, rats were divided into 4 groups of 8 animals each: control groups (C2, C4) and diabetic groups (STZ2, STZ4). The secretory function of salivary glands—nonstimulated and stimulated salivary flow, α-amylase, total protein—and salivary exoglycosidase activities—N...

  20. Responsive Polydiacetylene Vesicles for Biosensing Microorganisms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Estelle Lebègue

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Polydiacetylene (PDA inserted in films or in vesicles has received increasing attention due to its property to undergo a blue-to-red colorimetric transition along with a change from non-fluorescent to fluorescent upon application of various stimuli. In this review paper, the principle for the detection of various microorganisms (bacteria, directly detected or detected through the emitted toxins or through their DNA, and viruses and of antibacterial and antiviral peptides based on these responsive PDA vesicles are detailed. The analytical performances obtained, when vesicles are in suspension or immobilized, are given and compared to those of the responsive vesicles mainly based on the vesicle encapsulation method. Many future challenges are then discussed.

  1. Phase separation in artificial vesicles driven by light and curvature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinaldin, Melissa; Pomp, Wim; Schmidt, Thomas; Giomi, Luca; Kraft, Daniela; Physics of Life Processes Team; Soft; Bio Mechanics Collaboration; Self-Assembly in Soft Matter Systems Collaboration

    The role of phase-demixing in living cells, leading to the lipid-raft hypothesis, has been extensively studied. Lipid domains of higher lipid chain order are proposed to regulate protein spatial organization. Giant Unilamellar Vesicles provide an artificial model to study phase separation. So far temperature was used to initiate the process. Here we introduce a new methodology based on the induction of phase separation by light. To this aim, the composition of the lipid membrane is varied by photo-oxidation of lipids. The control of the process gained by using light allowed us to observe vesicle shape fluctuations during phase-demixing. The presence of fluctuations near the critical mixing point resembles features of a critical process. We quantitatively analyze these fluctuations using a 2d elastic model, from which we can estimate the material parameters such as bending rigidity and surface tension, demonstrating the non-equilibrium critical behaviour. Finally, I will describe recent attempts toward tuning the membrane composition by controlling the vesicle curvature.

  2. Transcriptome of extracellular vesicles released by hepatocytes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix Royo

    Full Text Available The discovery that the cells communicate through emission of vesicles has opened new opportunities for better understanding of physiological and pathological mechanisms. This discovery also provides a novel source for non-invasive disease biomarker research. Our group has previously reported that hepatocytes release extracellular vesicles with protein content reflecting the cell-type of origin. Here, we show that the extracellular vesicles released by hepatocytes also carry RNA. We report the messenger RNA composition of extracellular vesicles released in two non-tumoral hepatic models: primary culture of rat hepatocytes and a progenitor cell line obtained from a mouse foetal liver. We describe different subpopulations of extracellular vesicles with different densities and protein and RNA content. We also show that the RNA cargo of extracellular vesicles released by primary hepatocytes can be transferred to rat liver stellate-like cells and promote their activation. Finally, we provide in vitro and in vivo evidence that liver-damaging drugs galactosamine, acetaminophen, and diclofenac modify the RNA content of these vesicles. To summarize, we show that the extracellular vesicles secreted by hepatocytes contain various RNAs. These vesicles, likely to be involved in the activation of stellate cells, might become a new source for non-invasive identification of the liver toxicity markers.

  3. Giant renin secretory granules in beige mouse renal afferent arterioles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, B L; Rasch, Ruth; Nyengaard, Jens Randel

    1997-01-01

    The mutant beige mouse (C57BL/6 bg) has a disease characterised by abnormally enlarged cytoplasmic granules in a variety of cells. With the purpose of establishing a suitable cellular model for studying renin secretion, the present study was undertaken to compare renin granule morphology in beige...... (average granular volume 0.681 microm3), whereas 1-2 large granules were present per cell in beige mice. The volume of afferent arteriole that contained secretory granules was lower in the beige mice. We conclude that the beige mouse synthesizes, stores and releases active renin. Renin secretory granules...... in beige mice are grossly enlarged with 1-2 granules per juxtaglomerular cell. Compared with control mice, a similar amount of total renin granule volume per afferent arteriole is contained in a smaller part of beige mouse afferent arteriole. Granular cells from beige mice could therefore be a valuable...

  4. A Two-Component Regulatory System Impacts Extracellular Membrane-Derived Vesicle Production in Group A Streptococcus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ulrike Resch

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Export of macromolecules via extracellular membrane-derived vesicles (MVs plays an important role in the biology of Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-positive bacteria have also recently been reported to produce MVs; however, the composition and mechanisms governing vesiculogenesis in Gram-positive bacteria remain undefined. Here, we describe MV production in the Gram-positive human pathogen group A streptococcus (GAS, the etiological agent of necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. M1 serotype GAS isolates in culture exhibit MV structures both on the cell wall surface and in the near vicinity of bacterial cells. A comprehensive analysis of MV proteins identified both virulence-associated protein substrates of the general secretory pathway in addition to “anchorless surface proteins.” Characteristic differences in the contents, distributions, and fatty acid compositions of specific lipids between MVs and GAS cell membrane were also observed. Furthermore, deep RNA sequencing of vesicular RNAs revealed that GAS MVs contained differentially abundant RNA species relative to bacterial cellular RNA. MV production by GAS strains varied in a manner dependent on an intact two-component system, CovRS, with MV production negatively regulated by the system. Modulation of MV production through CovRS was found to be independent of both GAS cysteine protease SpeB and capsule biosynthesis. Our data provide an explanation for GAS secretion of macromolecules, including RNAs, lipids, and proteins, and illustrate a regulatory mechanism coordinating this secretory response.

  5. Loss of Sonic hedgehog leads to alterations in intestinal secretory cell maturation and autophagy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica Gagné-Sansfaçon

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intestinal epithelial cells express the Sonic and Indian hedgehog ligands. Despite the strong interest in gut hedgehog signaling in GI diseases, no studies have specifically addressed the singular role of intestinal epithelial cell Sonic hedgehog signaling. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific role of Sonic hedgehog in adult ileal epithelial homeostasis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A Sonic hedgehog intestinal epithelial conditional knockout mouse model was generated. Assessment of ileal histological abnormalities, crypt epithelial cell proliferation, epithelial cell fate, junctional proteins, signaling pathways, as well as ultrastructural analysis of intracellular organelles were performed in control and mutant mice. Mice lacking intestinal epithelial Sonic Hedgehog displayed decreased ileal crypt/villus length, decreased crypt proliferation as well as a decrease in the number of ileal mucin-secreting goblet cells and antimicrobial peptide-secreting Paneth cells during adult life. These secretory cells also exhibited disruption of their secretory products in mutant mice. Ultrastructural microscopy analysis revealed a dilated ER lumen in secretory cells. This phenotype was also associated with a decrease in autophagy. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Altogether, these findings indicate that the loss of Sonic hedgehog can lead to ileal secretory cell modifications indicative of endoplasmic reticulum stress, accompanied by a significant reduction in autophagy.

  6. Spontaneous Vesicle Recycling in the Synaptic Bouton

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sven eTruckenbrodt

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The trigger for synaptic vesicle exocytosis is Ca2+, which enters the synaptic bouton following action potential stimulation. However, spontaneous release of neurotransmitter also occurs in the absence of stimulation in virtually all synaptic boutons. It has long been thought that this represents exocytosis driven by fluctuations in local Ca2+ levels. The vesicles responding to these fluctuations are thought to be the same ones that release upon stimulation, albeit potentially triggered by different Ca2+ sensors. This view has been challenged by several recent works, which have suggested that spontaneous release is driven by a separate pool of synaptic vesicles. Numerous articles appeared during the last few years in support of each of these hypotheses, and it has been challenging to bring them into accord. We speculate here on the origins of this controversy, and propose a solution that is related to developmental effects. Constitutive membrane traffic, needed for the biogenesis of vesicles and synapses, is responsible for high levels of spontaneous membrane fusion in young neurons, probably independent of Ca2+. The vesicles releasing spontaneously in such neurons are not related to other synaptic vesicle pools and may represent constitutively releasing vesicles (CRVs rather than bona fide synaptic vesicles. In mature neurons, constitutive traffic is much dampened, and the few remaining spontaneous release events probably represent bona fide spontaneously releasing synaptic vesicles (SRSVs responding to Ca2+ fluctuations, along with a handful of CRVs that participate in synaptic vesicle turnover.

  7. Spontaneous transfer of gangliotetraosylceramide between phospholipid vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, R.E.; Sugar, I.P.; Thompson, T.E.

    1985-01-01

    The transfer kinetics of the neutral glycosphingolipid gangliotetraosylceramide (asialo-GM1) were investigated by monitoring tritiated asialo-GM1 movement from donor to acceptor vesicles. Two different methods were employed to separate donor and acceptor vesicles at desired time intervals. In one method, a negative charge was imparted to dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine donor vesicles by including 10 mol% dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid. Donors were separated from neutral dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine acceptor vesicles by ion-exchange chromatography. In the other method, small, unilamellar donor vesicles and large, unilamellar acceptor vesicles were coincubated at 45 degrees C and then separated at desired time intervals by molecular sieve chromatography. The majority of asialo-GM1 transfer to acceptor vesicles occurred as a slow first-order process with a half-time of about 24 days assuming that the relative concentration of asialo-GM1 in the phospholipid matrix was identical in each half of the donor bilayer and that no glycolipid flip-flop occurred. Asialo-GM1 net transfer was calculated relative to that of [ 14 C]cholesteryl oleate, which served as a nontransferable marker in the donor vesicles. A nearly identical transfer half-time was obtained when the phospholipid matrix was changed from dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine to palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine. Varying the acceptor vesicle concentration did not significantly alter the asialo-GM1 transfer half-time. This result is consistent with a transfer mechanism involving diffusion of glycolipid through the aqueous phase rather than movement of glycolipid following formation of collisional complexes between donor and acceptor vesicles. (Abstract Truncated)

  8. The evolution of plant secretory structures and emergence of terpenoid chemical diversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lange, Bernd Markus

    2015-01-01

    Secretory structures in terrestrial plants appear to have first emerged as intracellular oil bodies in liverworts. In vascular plants, internal secretory structures, such as resin ducts and laticifers, are usually found in conjunction with vascular bundles, whereas subepidermal secretory cavities and epidermal glandular trichomes generally have more complex tissue distribution patterns. The primary function of plant secretory structures is related to defense responses, both constitutive and induced, against herbivores and pathogens. The ability to sequester secondary (or specialized) metabolites and defense proteins in secretory structures was a critical adaptation that shaped plant-herbivore and plant-pathogen interactions. Although this review places particular emphasis on describing the evolution of pathways leading to terpenoids, it also assesses the emergence of other metabolite classes to outline the metabolic capabilities of different plant lineages.

  9. Transcutol containing vesicles for topical delivery of minoxidil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mura, Simona; Manconi, Maria; Valenti, Donatella; Sinico, Chiara; Vila, Amparo Ofelia; Fadda, Anna Maria

    2011-04-01

    The aim of this work was to evaluate the ability of Transcutol (Trc) to produce elastic vesicles with soy lecithin (SL) and study the influence of the obtained vesicles on in vitro (trans)dermal delivery of minoxidil. To this purpose, so-called penetration enhancer-containing vesicles (PEVs) were prepared using Trc aqueous solutions (5-10-20-30% v/v) as hydrophilic phase. SL liposomes, without Trc, were used as control. Prepared formulations were characterized in terms of size distribution, morphology, zeta potential, deformability, and rheological behavior. The influence of the obtained PEVs on (trans)dermal delivery of minoxidil was studied by in vitro diffusion experiments through pig skin. Results showed that all prepared PEVs were able to give good entrapment efficiency (E%≈67) similar to that of conventional liposomes. Trc-containing PEVs showed to be more deformable than liposomes only when minoxidil was loaded in 5 and 10% Trc-containing vesicles. Rheological studies showed that PEVs have higher fluidity than conventional liposomes. All PEVs showed a higher stability than liposomes as shown by studying zeta potential and size distribution during three months. Results of in vitro diffusion experiments showed that Trc-containing PEVs are able to deliver minoxidil to deep skin layers without any transdermal permeation.

  10. Amyloglucosidase enzymatic reactivity inside lipid vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim Jin-Woo

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Efficient functioning of enzymes inside liposomes would open new avenues for applications in biocatalysis and bioanalytical tools. In this study, the entrapment of amyloglucosidase (AMG (EC 3.2.1.3 from Aspergillus niger into dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC multilamellar vesicles (MLVs and large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs was investigated. Negative-stain, freeze-fracture, and cryo-transmission electron microscopy images verified vesicle formation in the presence of AMG. Vesicles with entrapped AMG were isolated from the solution by centrifugation, and vesicle lamellarity was identified using fluorescence laser confocal microscopy. The kinetics of starch hydrolysis by AMG was modeled for two different systems, free enzyme in aqueous solution and entrapped enzyme within vesicles in aqueous suspension. For the free enzyme system, intrinsic kinetics were described by a Michaelis-Menten kinetic model with product inhibition. The kinetic constants, Vmax and Km, were determined by initial velocity measurements, and Ki was obtained by fitting the model to experimental data of glucose concentration-time curves. Predicted concentration-time curves using these kinetic constants were in good agreement with experimental measurements. In the case of the vesicles, the time-dependence of product (glucose formation was experimentally determined and simulated by considering the kinetic behavior of the enzyme and the permeation of substrate into the vesicle. Experimental results demonstrated that entrapped enzymes were much more stable than free enyzme. The entrapped enzyme could be recycled with retention of 60% activity after 3 cycles. These methodologies can be useful in evaluating other liposomal catalysis operations.

  11. The Fas pathway is involved in pancreatic beta cell secretory function

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schumann, Desiree M; Maedler, Kathrin; Franklin, Isobel

    2007-01-01

    Pancreatic beta cell mass and function increase in conditions of enhanced insulin demand such as obesity. Failure to adapt leads to diabetes. The molecular mechanisms controlling this adaptive process are unclear. Fas is a death receptor involved in beta cell apoptosis or proliferation, depending...... on the activity of the caspase-8 inhibitor FLIP. Here we show that the Fas pathway also regulates beta cell secretory function. We observed impaired glucose tolerance in Fas-deficient mice due to a delayed and decreased insulin secretory pattern. Expression of PDX-1, a beta cell-specific transcription factor...... regulating insulin gene expression and mitochondrial metabolism, was decreased in Fas-deficient beta cells. As a consequence, insulin and ATP production were severely reduced and only partly compensated for by increased beta cell mass. Up-regulation of FLIP enhanced NF-kappaB activity via NF...

  12. RFP tags for labeling secretory pathway proteins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Han, Liyang; Zhao, Yanhua [State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Zhang, Xi; Peng, Jianxin [College of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei (China); Xu, Pingyong, E-mail: pyxu@ibp.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 (China); Huan, Shuangyan, E-mail: shuangyanhuan@163.com [State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Zhang, Mingshu, E-mail: mingshu1984@gmail.com [Key Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 (China)

    2014-05-09

    Highlights: • Membrane protein Orai1 can be used to report the fusion properties of RFPs. • Artificial puncta are affected by dissociation constant as well as pKa of RFPs. • Among tested RFPs mOrange2 is the best choice for secretory protein labeling. - Abstract: Red fluorescent proteins (RFPs) are useful tools for live cell and multi-color imaging in biological studies. However, when labeling proteins in secretory pathway, many RFPs are prone to form artificial puncta, which may severely impede their further uses. Here we report a fast and easy method to evaluate RFPs fusion properties by attaching RFPs to an environment sensitive membrane protein Orai1. In addition, we revealed that intracellular artificial puncta are actually colocalized with lysosome, thus besides monomeric properties, pKa value of RFPs is also a key factor for forming intracellular artificial puncta. In summary, our current study provides a useful guide for choosing appropriate RFP for labeling secretory membrane proteins. Among RFPs tested, mOrange2 is highly recommended based on excellent monomeric property, appropriate pKa and high brightness.

  13. Lysosomal Exoglycosidase Profile and Secretory Function in the Salivary Glands of Rats with Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maciejczyk, Mateusz; Kossakowska, Agnieszka; Szulimowska, Julita; Klimiuk, Anna; Knaś, Małgorzata; Car, Halina; Niklińska, Wiesława; Ładny, Jerzy Robert; Chabowski, Adrian; Zalewska, Anna

    2017-01-01

    Before this study, there had been no research evaluating the relationship between a lysosomal exoglycosidase profile and secretory function in the salivary glands of rats with streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced type 1 diabetes. In our work, rats were divided into 4 groups of 8 animals each: control groups (C2, C4) and diabetic groups (STZ2, STZ4). The secretory function of salivary glands-nonstimulated and stimulated salivary flow, α -amylase, total protein-and salivary exoglycosidase activities-N-acetyl- β -hexosaminidase (HEX, HEX A, and HEX B), β -glucuronidase, α -fucosidase, β -galactosidase, and α -mannosidase-was estimated both in the parotid and submandibular glands of STZ-diabetic and control rats. The study has demonstrated that the activity of most salivary exoglycosidases is significantly higher in the parotid and submandibular glands of STZ-diabetic rats as compared to the healthy controls and that it increases as the disease progresses. Reduced secretory function of diabetic salivary glands was also observed. A significant inverse correlation between HEX B, α -amylase activity, and stimulated salivary flow in diabetic parotid gland has also been shown. Summarizing, STZ-induced diabetes leads to a change in the lysosomal exoglycosidase profile and reduced function of the salivary glands.

  14. Lysosomal Exoglycosidase Profile and Secretory Function in the Salivary Glands of Rats with Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mateusz Maciejczyk

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Before this study, there had been no research evaluating the relationship between a lysosomal exoglycosidase profile and secretory function in the salivary glands of rats with streptozotocin- (STZ- induced type 1 diabetes. In our work, rats were divided into 4 groups of 8 animals each: control groups (C2, C4 and diabetic groups (STZ2, STZ4. The secretory function of salivary glands—nonstimulated and stimulated salivary flow, α-amylase, total protein—and salivary exoglycosidase activities—N-acetyl-β-hexosaminidase (HEX, HEX A, and HEX B, β-glucuronidase, α-fucosidase, β-galactosidase, and α-mannosidase—was estimated both in the parotid and submandibular glands of STZ-diabetic and control rats. The study has demonstrated that the activity of most salivary exoglycosidases is significantly higher in the parotid and submandibular glands of STZ-diabetic rats as compared to the healthy controls and that it increases as the disease progresses. Reduced secretory function of diabetic salivary glands was also observed. A significant inverse correlation between HEX B, α-amylase activity, and stimulated salivary flow in diabetic parotid gland has also been shown. Summarizing, STZ-induced diabetes leads to a change in the lysosomal exoglycosidase profile and reduced function of the salivary glands.

  15. On the Computing Potential of Intracellular Vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayne, Richard; Adamatzky, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    Collision-based computing (CBC) is a form of unconventional computing in which travelling localisations represent data and conditional routing of signals determines the output state; collisions between localisations represent logical operations. We investigated patterns of Ca2+-containing vesicle distribution within a live organism, slime mould Physarum polycephalum, with confocal microscopy and observed them colliding regularly. Vesicles travel down cytoskeletal 'circuitry' and their collisions may result in reflection, fusion or annihilation. We demonstrate through experimental observations that naturally-occurring vesicle dynamics may be characterised as a computationally-universal set of Boolean logical operations and present a 'vesicle modification' of the archetypal CBC 'billiard ball model' of computation. We proceed to discuss the viability of intracellular vesicles as an unconventional computing substrate in which we delineate practical considerations for reliable vesicle 'programming' in both in vivo and in vitro vesicle computing architectures and present optimised designs for both single logical gates and combinatorial logic circuits based on cytoskeletal network conformations. The results presented here demonstrate the first characterisation of intracelluar phenomena as collision-based computing and hence the viability of biological substrates for computing.

  16. Visualizing the effect of dynamin inhibition on annular gap vesicle formation and fission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nickel, Beth; Boller, Marie; Schneider, Kimberly; Shakespeare, Teresa; Gay, Vernon; Murray, Sandra A

    2013-06-15

    Although gap junction plaque assembly has been extensively studied, mechanisms involved in plaque disassembly are not well understood. Disassembly involves an internalization process in which annular gap junction vesicles are formed. These vesicles undergo fission, but the molecular machinery needed for these fissions has not been described. The mechanoenzyme dynamin has been previously demonstrated to play a role in gap junction plaque internalization. To investigate the role of dynamin in annular gap junction vesicle fission, immunocytochemical, time-lapse and transmission electron microscopy were used to analyze SW-13 adrenocortical cells in culture. Dynamin was demonstrated to colocalize with gap junction plaques and vesicles. Dynamin inhibition, by siRNA knockdown or treatment with the dynamin GTPase inhibitor dynasore, increased the number and size of gap junction 'buds' suspended from the gap junction plaques. Buds, in control populations, were frequently released to form annular gap junction vesicles. In dynamin-inhibited populations, the buds were larger and infrequently released and thus fewer annular gap junction vesicles were formed. In addition, the number of annular gap junction vesicle fissions per hour was reduced in the dynamin-inhibited populations. We believe this to be the first report addressing the details of annular gap junction vesicle fissions and demonstrating a role of dynamin in this process. This information is crucial for elucidating the relationship between gap junctions, membrane regulation and cell behavior.

  17. Shear-induced formation of vesicles in membrane phases: Kinetics and size selection mechanisms, elasticity versus surface tension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Courbin, L.; Panizza, P.

    2004-02-01

    Multilamellar vesicles can be formed upon shearing lamellar phases (Lα) and phase-separated lamellar-sponge (Lα/L3) mixtures. In the first case, the vesicle volume fraction is always 100% and the vesicle size is monitored by elasticity (“onion textures”). In the second system the vesicle volume fraction can be tuned from 0 to 100% and the mean size results from a balance between capillary and viscous forces (“Taylor droplets”). However, despite these differences, in both systems we show that the formation of vesicles is a strain-controlled process monitored by a universal primary buckling instability of the lamellae.

  18. Excretory/secretory-products of Echinococcus multilocularis larvae induce apoptosis and tolerogenic properties in dendritic cells in vitro.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justin Komguep Nono

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Alveolar echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus multilocularis larvae, is a chronic disease associated with considerable modulation of the host immune response. Dendritic cells (DC are key effectors in shaping the immune response and among the first cells encountered by the parasite during an infection. Although it is assumed that E.multilocularis, by excretory/secretory (E/S-products, specifically affects DC to deviate immune responses, little information is available on the molecular nature of respective E/S-products and their mode of action. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We established cultivation systems for exposing DC to live material from early (oncosphere, chronic (metacestode and late (protoscolex infectious stages. When co-incubated with Echinococcus primary cells, representing the invading oncosphere, or metacestode vesicles, a significant proportion of DC underwent apoptosis and the surviving DC failed to mature. In contrast, DC exposed to protoscoleces upregulated maturation markers and did not undergo apoptosis. After pre-incubation with primary cells and metacestode vesicles, DC showed a strongly impaired ability to be activated by the TLR ligand LPS, which was not observed in DC pre-treated with protoscolex E/S-products. While none of the larvae induced the secretion of pro-inflammatory IL-12p70, the production of immunosuppressive IL-10 was elevated in response to primary cell E/S-products. Finally, upon incubation with DC and naïve T-cells, E/S-products from metacestode vesicles led to a significant expansion of Foxp3+ T cells in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report on the induction of apoptosis in DC by cestode E/S-products. Our data indicate that the early infective stage of E. multilocularis is a strong inducer of tolerance in DC, which is most probably important for generating an immunosuppressive environment at an infection phase in which the parasite is highly vulnerable to host attacks. The

  19. Brivaracetam augments short-term depression and slows vesicle recycling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaofeng; Bognar, Joseph; He, Tianyu; Mohammed, Mouhari; Niespodziany, Isabelle; Wolff, Christian; Esguerra, Manuel; Rothman, Steven M; Dubinsky, Janet M

    2015-12-01

    Brivaracetam (BRV) decreases seizure activity in a number of epilepsy models and binds to the synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) with a higher affinity than the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam (LEV). Experiments were performed to determine if BRV acted similarly to LEV to induce or augment short-term depression (STD) under high-frequency neuronal stimulation and slow synaptic vesicle recycling. Electrophysiologic field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) recordings were made from CA1 synapses in rat hippocampal slices loaded with BRV or LEV during intrinsic activity or with BRV actively loaded during hypertonic stimulation. STD was examined in response to 5 or 40 Hz stimulus trains. Presynaptic release of FM1-43 was visualized using two-photon microscopy to assess drug effects upon synaptic vesicle mobilization. When hippocampal slices were incubated in 0.1-30 μm BRV or 30 μm-1 mm LEV for 3 h, the relative CA1 field EPSPs decreased over the course of a high-frequency train of stimuli more than for control slices. This STD was frequency- and concentration-dependent, with BRV being 100-fold more potent than LEV. The extent of STD depended on the length of the incubation time for both drugs. Pretreatment with LEV occluded the effects of BRV. Repeated hypertonic sucrose treatments and train stimulation successfully unloaded BRV from recycling vesicles and reversed BRVs effects on STD, as previously reported for LEV. At their maximal concentrations, BRV slowed FM1-43 release to a greater extent than in slices loaded with LEV during prolonged stimulation. BRV, similar to LEV, entered into recycling synaptic vesicles and produced a frequency-dependent decrement of synaptic transmission at 100-fold lower concentrations than LEV. In addition, BRV slowed synaptic vesicle mobilization more effectively than LEV, suggesting that these drugs may modify multiple functions of the synaptic vesicle protein SV2A to curb synaptic transmission and limit epileptic activity

  20. Remodeling of bovine oviductal epithelium by mitosis of secretory cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ito, Sayaka; Kobayashi, Yoshihiko; Yamamoto, Yuki; Kimura, Koji; Okuda, Kiyoshi

    2016-11-01

    Two types of oviductal epithelial cells, secretory and ciliated, play crucial roles in the first days after fertilization in mammals. Secretory cells produce various molecules promoting embryo development, while ciliated cells facilitate transport of oocytes and zygotes by ciliary beating. The proportions of the two cell types change during the estrous cycle. The proportion of ciliated cells on the oviductal luminal surface is abundant at the follicular phase, whereas the proportion of secretory cells gradually increases with the formation of the corpus luteum. In the present study, we hypothesize that the proportions of ciliated and secretory epithelial cells are regulated by mitosis. The proportion of the cells being positive for FOXJ1 (a ciliated cell marker) or Ki67 (a mitosis marker) in epithelial cells during the estrous cycle were immunohistochemically examined. Ki67 and FOXJ1 or PAX8 (a secretory cell marker), were double-stained to clarify which types of epithelial cells undergo mitosis. In the ampulla, the percentage of FOXJ1-positive cells was highest at the day of ovulation (Day 0) and decreased by about 50 % by Days 8-12, while in the isthmus it did not change during the estrous cycle. The proportion of Ki67-positive cells was highest at around the time of ovulation in both the ampulla and isthmus. All the Ki67-positive cells were PAX8-positive and FOXJ1-negative in both the ampulla and isthmus. These findings suggest that epithelial remodeling, which is regulated by differentiation and/or proliferation of secretory cells of the oviduct, provides the optimal environment for gamete transport, fertilization and embryonic development.

  1. Dynamic assembly of MinD on phospholipid vesicles regulated by ATP and MinE

    OpenAIRE

    Hu, Zonglin; Gogol, Edward P.; Lutkenhaus, Joe

    2002-01-01

    Selection of the division site in Escherichia coli is regulated by the min system and requires the rapid oscillation of MinD between the two halves of the cell under the control of MinE. In this study we have further investigated the molecular basis for this oscillation by examining the interaction of MinD with phospholipid vesicles. We found that MinD bound to phospholipid vesicles in the presence of ATP and, upon binding, assembled into a well-ordered helical array that deformed the vesicle...

  2. Extracellular membrane vesicles in blood products-biology and clinical relevance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emilija Krstova Krajnc

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Extracellular membrane vesicles are fragments shed from plasma membranes off all cell types that are undergoing apoptosis or are being subjected to various types of stimulation or stress.  Even in the process of programmed cell death (apoptosis, cell fall apart of varying size vesicles. They expose phosphatidylserine (PS on the outer leaflet of their membrane, and bear surface membrane antigens reflecting their cellular origin. Extracellular membrane vesicles have been isolated from many types of biological fluids, including serum, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, saliva, tears and conditioned culture medium. Flow cytometry is one of the many different methodological approaches that have been used to analyze EMVs. The method attempts to characterize the EMVs cellular origin, size, population, number, and structure. EMVs are present and accumulate in blood products (erythrocytes, platelets as well as in fresh frozen plasma during storage. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of extracellular vesicles as a cell-to-cell communication system and the role in the pathogenesis of different diseases. Special emphasis will be given to the implication of extracellular membrane vesicles in blood products and their clinical relevance. Although our understanding of the role of  EMVs in disease is far from comprehensive, they display promise as biomarkers for different diseases in the future and also as a marker of quality and safety in the quality control of blood products.

  3. Evolution of multinucleated Ashbya gossypii hyphae from a budding yeast-like ancestor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, Hans-Peter; Philippsen, Peter

    2011-06-01

    In the filamentous ascomycete Ashbya gossypii polarity establishment at sites of germ tube and lateral branch emergence depends on homologues of Saccharomyces cerevisiae factors controlling bud site selection and bud emergence. Maintenance of polar growth involves homologues of well-known polarity factors of budding yeast. To achieve the much higher rates of sustained polar surface expansion of hyphae compared to mainly non-polarly growing yeast buds five important alterations had to evolve. Permanent presence of the polarity machinery at a confined area in the rapidly expanding hyphal tip, increased cytoplasmic space with a much enlarged ER surface for generating secretory vesicles, efficient directed transport of secretory vesicles to and accumulation at the tip, increased capacity of the exocytosis system to process these vesicles, and an efficient endocytosis system for membrane and polarity factor recycling adjacent to the zone of exocytosis. Morphological, cell biological, and molecular aspects of this evolution are discussed based on experiments performed within the past 10 y. Copyright © 2011 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Clinical significance of determination of changes of serum IL-6, hs-CRP and saliva secretory IgA levels after treatment in patients with periodontitis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Tongwu

    2009-01-01

    Objective: To explore the clinical significance of changes of serum IL-6, hs-CRP and saliva secretory IgA levels after treatment in patients with periodontitis. Methods: Serum IL-6, saliva secretory IgA (with RIA) and serum hs-CRP (with immuno-tarbility method) levels were measured in 42 patients with periodontitis both before and after treatment as well as in 35 controls. Results: Before treatment serum IL-6, hs-CRP and saliva secretory IgA levels in the patients wree significantly higher than those in controls (P 0.05). However, the saliva secreatory IgA levels were still significantly higher than those in controls (P<0.05). Conclusion: There was disturbance of immunomodulation in patients with periodontitis as expressed by the changes of cytokines levels in the course of the diseases. (authors)

  5. Are calcifying matrix vesicles in atherosclerotic lesions of cellular origin?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bobryshev, Yuri V; Killingsworth, Murray C; Huynh, Thuan G; Lord, Reginald S A; Grabs, Anthony J; Valenzuela, Stella M

    2007-03-01

    Over recent years, the role of matrix vesicles in the initial stages of arterial calcification has been recognized. Matrix calcifying vesicles have been isolated from atherosclerotic arteries and the biochemical composition of calcified vesicles has been studied. No studies have yet been carried out to examine the fine structure of matrix vesicles in order to visualize the features of the consequent stages of their calcification in arteries. In the present work, a high resolution ultrastructural analysis has been employed and the study revealed that matrix vesicles in human atherosclerotic lesions are heterogeneous with two main types which we classified. Type I calcified vesicles were presented by vesicles surrounded by two electron-dense layers and these vesicles were found to be resistant to the calcification process in atherosclerotic lesions in situ. Type II matrix vesicles were presented by vesicles surrounded by several electron-dense layers and these vesicles were found to represent calcifying vesicles in atherosclerotic lesions. To test the hypothesis that calcification of matrix vesicles surrounded by multilayer sheets may occur simply as a physicochemical process, independently from the cell regulation, we produced multilamellar liposomes and induced their calcification in vitro in a manner similar to that occurring in matrix vesicles in atherosclerotic lesions in situ.

  6. Penetration enhancer-containing vesicles (PEVs) as carriers for cutaneous delivery of minoxidil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mura, Simona; Manconi, Maria; Sinico, Chiara; Valenti, Donatella; Fadda, Anna Maria

    2009-10-01

    The aim of this work was to evaluate the ability of a few different penetration enhancers to produce elastic vesicles with soy lecithin and the influence of the obtained vesicles on in vitro (trans)dermal delivery of minoxidil. To this purpose, so-called Penetration Enhancer-containing Vesicles (PEVs) were prepared as dehydrated-rehydrated vesicles by using soy lecithin and different amounts of three penetration enhancers, 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethanol (Transcutol), capryl-caproyl macrogol 8-glyceride (Labrasol), and cineole. Soy lecithin liposomes, without penetration enhancers, were used as control. Prepared formulations were characterized in terms of size distribution, morphology, zeta potential, and vesicle deformability. The influence of PEVs on (trans)dermal delivery of minoxidil was studied by in vitro diffusion experiments through newborn pig skin in comparison with traditional liposomes and ethanolic solutions of the drug also containing each penetration enhancer. A skin pre-treatment study using empty PEVs and conventional liposomes was also carried out. Results showed that all the used penetration enhancers were able to give more deformable vesicles than conventional liposomes with a good drug entrapment efficiency and stability. In vitro skin penetration data showed that PEVs were able to give a statistically significant improvement of minoxidil deposition in the skin in comparison with classic liposomes and penetration enhancer-containing drug ethanolic solutions without any transdermal delivery. Moreover, the most deformable PEVs, prepared with Labrasol and cineole, were also able to deliver to the skin a higher total amount of minoxidil than the PE alcoholic solutions thus suggesting that minoxidil delivery to the skin was strictly correlated to vesicle deformability, and therefore to vesicle composition.

  7. The dynamics of giant unilamellar vesicle oxidation probed by morphological transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sankhagowit, Shalene; Wu, Shao-Hua; Biswas, Roshni; Riche, Carson T; Povinelli, Michelle L; Malmstadt, Noah

    2014-10-01

    We have studied the dynamics of Lissamine Rhodamine B dye sensitization-induced oxidation of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), where the progression of the underlying chemical processes was followed via vesicle membrane area changes. The surface-area-to-volume ratio of our spherical GUVs increased after as little as ten seconds of irradiation. The membrane area expansion was coupled with high amplitude fluctuations not typical of GUVs in isoosmotic conditions. To accurately measure the area of deformed and fluctuating membranes, we utilized a dual-beam optical trap (DBOT) to stretch GUV membranes into a geometrically regular shape. Further oxidation led to vesicle contraction, and the GUVs became tense, with micron-scale pores forming in the bilayer. We analyzed the GUV morphological behaviors as two consecutive rate-limiting steps. We also considered the effects of altering DOPC and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-(lissamine rhodamine B sulfonyl) (RhDPPE) concentrations. The resulting kinetic model allows us to measure how lipid molecular area changes during oxidation, as well as to determine the rate constants controlling how quickly oxidation products are formed. Controlled membrane oxidation leading to permeabilization is also a potential tool for drug delivery based on engineered photosensitizer-containing lipid vesicles. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Lipomatous secretory meningioma: case report and review of the literature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liebig, T.; Hoffmann, T.; Hosten, N.; Sander, B.; Lanksch, W.R.

    1998-01-01

    Secretory meningioma is a rare entity which may be characterised by imaging features unusual for other subtypes of meningoma, such as low attenuation on CT, high (fat-tissue equivalent) signal intensity on T1-weighted MRI, marked surrounding oedema, and irregular contrast enhancement. We report a case of secretory meningioma and review the literature. (orig.) (orig.)

  9. Transmembrane topology of the acetylcholine receptor examined in reconstituted vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCrea, P.D.

    1987-01-01

    Each of the five acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunits, α 2 β-γδ, is believed to have the same number of transmembrane crossing and to share the same general folding pattern. AChR isolated from the electric organ of electric fish is predominantly dimeric. We have used this bridge as a marker for the C-terminus of the δ subunit, and presumably that of the other subunits in addition. The disulfide's accessibility to hydrophilic reductants, principally glutathione (GSH), was tested in a reconstituted vesicle system. The reduction of the δ-δ desulfide, as evidenced by the transition of AChrR dimers to monomers, was quantitatively monitored on velocity sedimentation sucrose gradients. Alternatively, the reduction of δ 2 to δ was followed by employing non-reducing SDS-PAGE. Reductants such as GSH were able to access the bridge in intact right-side-out vesicles. No acceleration of this process was evident when the vesicles were disrupted by freeze-thaw or by detergents. Control experiments which determined the rate of reduction of entrapped diphtheria toxin, or that of 3 H-GSH efflux, demonstrated that intact reconstituted vesicles provide an adequate permeability barrier to GSH access of their intravesicular space

  10. Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis in Different Model Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quan Gan

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Neurotransmission in complex animals depends on a choir of functionally distinct synapses releasing neurotransmitters in a highly coordinated manner. During synaptic signaling, vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane to release their contents. The rate of vesicle fusion is high and can exceed the rate at which synaptic vesicles can be re-supplied by distant sources. Thus, local compensatory endocytosis is needed to replenish the synaptic vesicle pools. Over the last four decades, various experimental methods and model systems have been used to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic vesicle cycle. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is thought to be the predominant mechanism for synaptic vesicle recycling. However, recent studies suggest significant contribution from other modes of endocytosis, including fast compensatory endocytosis, activity-dependent bulk endocytosis, ultrafast endocytosis, as well as kiss-and-run. Currently, it is not clear whether a universal model of vesicle recycling exist for all types of synapses. It is possible that each synapse type employs a particular mode of endocytosis. Alternatively, multiple modes of endocytosis operate at the same synapse, and the synapse toggles between different modes depending on its activity level. Here we compile review and research articles based on well-characterized model systems: frog neuromuscular junctions, C. elegans neuromuscular junctions, Drosophila neuromuscular junctions, lamprey reticulospinal giant axons, goldfish retinal ribbon synapses, the calyx of Held, and rodent hippocampal synapses. We will compare these systems in terms of their known modes and kinetics of synaptic vesicle endocytosis, as well as the underlying molecular machineries. We will also provide the future development of this field.

  11. Post-secretory fate of host defence components in mucus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salathe, Matthias; Forteza, Rosanna; Conner, Gregory E

    2002-01-01

    Airway mucus is a complex mixture of secretory products that provide a multifaceted defence against infection. Among many antimicrobial substances, mucus contains a peroxidase identical to milk lactoperoxidase (LPO) that is produced by goblet cells and submucosal glands. Airway secretions contain the substrates for LPO, namely thiocyanate and hydrogen peroxide, at concentrations sufficient for production of the biocidal compound hypothiocyanite, a fact confirmed by us in vitro. In vivo, inhibition of airway LPO in sheep significantly inhibits bacterial clearance, suggesting that the LPO system is a major contributor to host defences. Since secretory products including LPO are believed to be steadily removed by mucociliary clearance, their amount and availability on the surface is thought to be controlled solely by secretion. In contrast to this paradigm, new data suggest that LPO and other substances are retained at the ciliary border of the airway epithelium by binding to surface-associated hyaluronan, thereby providing an apical, fully active enzyme pool. Thus, hyaluronan, secreted from submucosal gland cells, plays a previously unrecognized pivotal role in mucosal host defence by retaining LPO and possibly other substances important for first line host defence at the apical surface 'ready for use' and protected from ciliary clearance.

  12. Atg9 is required for intraluminal vesicles in amphisomes and autolysosomes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. A. Bader

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Autophagy is an intracellular recycling and degradation process, which is important for energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, physiological stress response and organism development. During Drosophila development, autophagy is up-regulated in fat body and midgut cells, to control metabolic function and to enable tissue remodelling. Atg9 is the only transmembrane protein involved in the core autophagy machinery and is thought to have a role in autophagosome formation. During Drosophila development, Atg9 co-located with Atg8 autophagosomes, Rab11 endosomes and Lamp1 endosomes-lysosomes. RNAi silencing of Atg9 reduced both the number and the size of autophagosomes during development and caused morphological changes to amphisomes/autolysosomes. In control cells there was compartmentalised acidification corresponding to intraluminal Rab11/Lamp-1 vesicles, but in Atg9 depleted cells there were no intraluminal vesicles and the acidification was not compartmentalised. We concluded that Atg9 is required to form intraluminal vesicles and for localised acidification within amphisomes/autolysosomes, and consequently when depleted, reduced the capacity to degrade and remodel gut tissue during development.

  13. Additive effects on the energy barrier for synaptic vesicle fusion cause supralinear effects on the vesicle fusion rate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schotten, Sebastiaan; Meijer, Marieke; Walter, Alexander Matthias

    2015-01-01

    supralinear effects on the fusion rate. To test this prediction experimentally, we developed a method to assess the number of releasable vesicles, rate constants for vesicle priming, unpriming, and fusion, and the activation energy for fusion by fitting a vesicle state model to synaptic responses induced......-linear effects of genetic/pharmacological perturbations on synaptic transmission and a novel interpretation of the cooperative nature of Ca2+-dependent release....

  14. Casein phosphopeptides drastically increase the secretion of extracellular proteins in Aspergillus awamori. Proteomics studies reveal changes in the secretory pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosalková, Katarina; García-Estrada, Carlos; Barreiro, Carlos; Flórez, Martha G; Jami, Mohammad S; Paniagua, Miguel A; Martín, Juan F

    2012-01-10

    The secretion of heterologous animal proteins in filamentous fungi is usually limited by bottlenecks in the vesicle-mediated secretory pathway. Using the secretion of bovine chymosin in Aspergillus awamori as a model, we found a drastic increase (40 to 80-fold) in cells grown with casein or casein phosphopeptides (CPPs). CPPs are rich in phosphoserine, but phosphoserine itself did not increase the secretion of chymosin. The stimulatory effect is reduced about 50% using partially dephosphorylated casein and is not exerted by casamino acids. The phosphopeptides effect was not exerted at transcriptional level, but instead, it was clearly observed on the secretion of chymosin by immunodetection analysis. Proteomics studies revealed very interesting metabolic changes in response to phosphopeptides supplementation. The oxidative metabolism was reduced, since enzymes involved in fermentative processes were overrepresented. An oxygen-binding hemoglobin-like protein was overrepresented in the proteome following phosphopeptides addition. Most interestingly, the intracellular pre-protein enzymes, including pre-prochymosin, were depleted (most of them are underrepresented in the intracellular proteome after the addition of CPPs), whereas the extracellular mature form of several of these secretable proteins and cell-wall biosynthetic enzymes was greatly overrepresented in the secretome of phosphopeptides-supplemented cells. Another important 'moonlighting' protein (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase), which has been described to have vesicle fusogenic and cytoskeleton formation modulating activities, was clearly overrepresented in phosphopeptides-supplemented cells. In summary, CPPs cause the reprogramming of cellular metabolism, which leads to massive secretion of extracellular proteins.

  15. Roles of the TRAPP-II Complex and the Exocyst in Membrane Deposition during Fission Yeast Cytokinesis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ning Wang

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The cleavage-furrow tip adjacent to the actomyosin contractile ring is believed to be the predominant site for plasma-membrane insertion through exocyst-tethered vesicles during cytokinesis. Here we found that most secretory vesicles are delivered by myosin-V on linear actin cables in fission yeast cytokinesis. Surprisingly, by tracking individual exocytic and endocytic events, we found that vesicles with new membrane are deposited to the cleavage furrow relatively evenly during contractile-ring constriction, but the rim of the cleavage furrow is the main site for endocytosis. Fusion of vesicles with the plasma membrane requires vesicle tethers. Our data suggest that the transport particle protein II (TRAPP-II complex and Rab11 GTPase Ypt3 help to tether secretory vesicles or tubulovesicular structures along the cleavage furrow while the exocyst tethers vesicles at the rim of the division plane. We conclude that the exocyst and TRAPP-II complex have distinct localizations at the division site, but both are important for membrane expansion and exocytosis during cytokinesis.

  16. Extracellular vesicles: Exosomes, microvesicles, and friends

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raposo, G.; Stoorvogel, W.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/074352385

    2013-01-01

    Cells release into the extracellular environment diverse types of membrane vesicles of endosomal and plasma membrane origin called exosomes and microvesicles, respectively. These extracellular vesicles (EVs) represent an important mode of intercellular communication by serving as vehicles for

  17. Glycosaminoglycan synthesis by adult rat submandibular salivary-gland secretory units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutler, L S; Christian, C P; Rendell, J K

    1987-01-01

    The synthesis of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) by a preparation of purified, functional submandibular-gland secretory units (acini and intercalated ducts) was examined. Such units were isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats by digestion of minced gland with hyaluronidase and collagenase followed by gentle sieving of the digest through a graded series of Teflon screens. They incorporated amino acids into exocrine proteins which could be released by stimulation with isoproterenol as in vivo, indicating their functional integrity. Secretory units, incubated for 2 h in medium containing [35S]-sodium sulphate alone or in combination with [3H]-glucosamine, were then washed, homogenized and digested in pronase. The resulting material was then sequentially digested by specific enzymic and chemical procedures and analysed by chromatography on Sephadex G-50 columns to identify the various GAG synthesized. Secretory units synthesized a GAG mixture which was 20-25 per cent hyaluronic acid, 70-75 per cent heparan sulphate, and only 3-5 per cent chondroitin or dermatan sulphates, similar to that synthesized in vivo. No GAG was present in the secretory material, suggesting that all the GAG synthesized was destined for the basement membrane or cell surface.

  18. Slow sedimentation and deformability of charged lipid vesicles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iván Rey Suárez

    Full Text Available The study of vesicles in suspension is important to understand the complicated dynamics exhibited by cells in in vivo and in vitro. We developed a computer simulation based on the boundary-integral method to model the three dimensional gravity-driven sedimentation of charged vesicles towards a flat surface. The membrane mechanical behavior was modeled using the Helfrich Hamiltonian and near incompressibility of the membrane was enforced via a model which accounts for the thermal fluctuations of the membrane. The simulations were verified and compared to experimental data obtained using suspended vesicles labelled with a fluorescent probe, which allows visualization using fluorescence microscopy and confers the membrane with a negative surface charge. The electrostatic interaction between the vesicle and the surface was modeled using the linear Derjaguin approximation for a low ionic concentration solution. The sedimentation rate as a function of the distance of the vesicle to the surface was determined both experimentally and from the computer simulations. The gap between the vesicle and the surface, as well as the shape of the vesicle at equilibrium were also studied. It was determined that inclusion of the electrostatic interaction is fundamental to accurately predict the sedimentation rate as the vesicle approaches the surface and the size of the gap at equilibrium, we also observed that the presence of charge in the membrane increases its rigidity.

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  1. File list: Unc.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

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    Full Text Available Unc.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 Unclassified Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Unc.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

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  3. Primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle: Case report and review of the literature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cauvin, Cécile; Moureau-Zabotto, Laurence; Chetaille, Bruno; Hilgers, Werner; Denoux, Yves; Jacquemier, Jocelyne; Guiramand, Jérôme; Sarran, Anthony; Bertucci, François

    2011-01-01

    Primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle is exceedingly rare. We report a case of a 59-year-old man with tumour detected by rectal symptoms and ultrasonography. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging suggested an origin in the right seminal vesicle. Transperineal biopsy of the tumour revealed leiomyosarcoma. A radical vesiculo-prostactectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed. Pathological examination showed a grade 2 leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle. The patient received adjuvant radiotherapy. He developed distant metastases 29 months after diagnosis, and received chemotherapy. Metastatic disease was controlled by second-line gemcitabine-docetaxel combination. Fifty-one months after diagnosis of the primary tumour, and 22 months after the first metastases, the patient is alive with excellent performance status, and multiple asymptomatic stable lung and liver lesions. We report the eighth case of primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle and the first one with a so long follow-up

  4. Primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle: case report and review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cauvin, Cécile; Moureau-Zabotto, Laurence; Chetaille, Bruno; Hilgers, Werner; Denoux, Yves; Jacquemier, Jocelyne; Guiramand, Jérôme; Sarran, Anthony; Bertucci, François

    2011-07-29

    Primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle is exceedingly rare. We report a case of a 59-year-old man with tumour detected by rectal symptoms and ultrasonography. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging suggested an origin in the right seminal vesicle. Transperineal biopsy of the tumour revealed leiomyosarcoma. A radical vesiculo-prostactectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed. Pathological examination showed a grade 2 leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle. The patient received adjuvant radiotherapy. He developed distant metastases 29 months after diagnosis, and received chemotherapy. Metastatic disease was controlled by second-line gemcitabine-docetaxel combination. Fifty-one months after diagnosis of the primary tumour, and 22 months after the first metastases, the patient is alive with excellent performance status, and multiple asymptomatic stable lung and liver lesions. We report the eighth case of primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle and the first one with a so long follow-up.

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  10. File list: Pol.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 RNA polymerase Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  11. File list: DNS.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 DNase-seq Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/DNS.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  12. File list: DNS.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 DNase-seq Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/DNS.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  13. File list: Pol.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 RNA polymerase Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  14. File list: DNS.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 DNase-seq Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/DNS.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  15. File list: Oth.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 TFs and others Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  16. [The observation and analysis the function and morphology of the eustachian tube in secretory otitis media and chronic rhinosinusitis in children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Zhongfang; Wang, Zhinan; Xu, Zhongxiang; Cui, Long; Wei, Cuifen; Liu, Yan; Huang, Fang

    2014-07-01

    To observe and analyze the function and morphology of pharyngeal ostium of the eustachian tubes in secretory otitis media and chronic rhinosinusitis in children under direct vision,in order to provide an objective basis for clinical treatments. Fifty cases of secretory otitis media,50 cases of chronic rhinosinusitis and a control group of 50 cases with hoarseness were examined under video laryngoscope to observe the pharyngeal ostium morphological changes of the eustachian tubes, and their functional statuses were tested by using acoustic impedance instrument. All the data were analyzed by statistical methods. (1) In the secretory otitis group, the abnomal rate of the pharyngeal ostium of the eustachian tubes was 94% while the chronic rhinosinusitis group was 80%,and between them there was no significant differences (P > 0.05). But both of them had significant differences with the control group (P otitis group, the rate of the eustachian tube dysfunction was 70% while the chronic rhinosinusitis group was 26%, and between them there was significant differences (P otitis media and chronic rhinosinusitis in children. Eustachian tube dysfunction played a dominant role in the pathogenesis of secretory otitis media in children rather than the morphological change did compared to the chronic rhinosinusitis in children.

  17. The secretory endometrial protein, placental protein 14, in women with ectopic gestation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ruge, S; Sørensen, Steen; Vejtorp, M

    1992-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To determine the serum level of the secretory endometrial protein, placental protein 14 (PP14) and progesterone (P) in women with ectopic gestation. DESIGN: Blood samples were collected prospectively and preoperatively. Reference range was determined from a prospective population of 98......: These findings suggest that the regulation of the PP14 production involves either a control mechanism from the ovary or is mediated by paracrine secretion....

  18. Profiling extracellular vesicle release by the filarial nematode Brugia malayi reveals sex-specific differences in cargo and a sensitivity to ivermectin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiruni Harischandra

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The filarial nematode Brugia malayi is an etiological agent of Lymphatic Filariasis. The capability of B. malayi and other parasitic nematodes to modulate host biology is recognized but the mechanisms by which such manipulation occurs are obscure. An emerging paradigm is the release of parasite-derived extracellular vesicles (EV containing bioactive proteins and small RNA species that allow secretion of parasite effector molecules and their potential trafficking to host tissues. We have previously described EV release from the infectious L3 stage B. malayi and here we profile vesicle release across all intra-mammalian life cycle stages (microfilariae, L3, L4, adult male and female worms. Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis was used to quantify and size EVs revealing discrete vesicle populations and indicating a secretory process that is conserved across the life cycle. Brugia EVs are internalized by murine macrophages with no preference for life stage suggesting a uniform mechanism for effector molecule trafficking. Further, the use of chemical uptake inhibitors suggests all life stage EVs are internalized by phagocytosis. Proteomic profiling of adult male and female EVs using nano-scale LC-MS/MS described quantitative and qualitative differences in the adult EV proteome, helping define the biogenesis of Brugia EVs and revealing sexual dimorphic characteristics in immunomodulatory cargo. Finally, ivermectin was found to rapidly inhibit EV release by all Brugia life stages. Further this drug effect was also observed in the related filarial nematode, the canine heartworm Dirofilaria immitis but not in an ivermectin-unresponsive field isolate of that parasite, highlighting a potential mechanism of action for this drug and suggesting new screening platforms for anti-filarial drug development.

  19. Mechanical collapse of confined fluid membrane vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rim, Jee E; Purohit, Prashant K; Klug, William S

    2014-11-01

    Compact cylindrical and spherical invaginations are common structural motifs found in cellular and developmental biology. To understand the basic physical mechanisms that produce and maintain such structures, we present here a simple model of vesicles in confinement, in which mechanical equilibrium configurations are computed by energy minimization, balancing the effects of curvature elasticity, contact of the membrane with itself and the confining geometry, and adhesion. For cylindrical confinement, the shape equations are solved both analytically and numerically by finite element analysis. For spherical confinement, axisymmetric configurations are obtained numerically. We find that the geometry of invaginations is controlled by a dimensionless ratio of the adhesion strength to the bending energy of an equal area spherical vesicle. Larger adhesion produces more concentrated curvatures, which are mainly localized to the "neck" region where the invagination breaks away from its confining container. Under spherical confinement, axisymmetric invaginations are approximately spherical. For extreme confinement, multiple invaginations may form, bifurcating along multiple equilibrium branches. The results of the model are useful for understanding the physical mechanisms controlling the structure of lipid membranes of cells and their organelles, and developing tissue membranes.

  20. Spontaneous transfer of ganglioside GM1 between phospholipid vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, R.E.; Thompson, T.E.

    1987-01-01

    The transfer kinetics of the negatively charged glycosphingolipid II 3 -N-acetylneuraminosyl-gangliotetraosylceramide (GM 1 ) were investigated by monitoring tritiated GM 1 movement between donor and acceptor vesicles. After appropriate incubation times at 45 0 C, donor and acceptor vesicles were separated by molecular sieve chromatography. Donors were small unilamellar vesicles produced by sonication, whereas acceptors were large unilamellar vesicles produced by either fusion or ethanol injection. Initial GM 1 transfer to acceptors followed first-order kinetics with a half-time of about 40 h assuming that GM 1 is present in equal mole fractions in the exterior and interior surfaces of the donor vesicle bilayer and that no glycolipid flip-flop occurs. GM 1 net transfer was calculated relative to that of [ 14 C]cholesteryl oleate, which served as a nontransferable marker in the donor vesicles. Factors affecting the GM 1 interbilayer transfer rate included phospholipid matrix composition, initial GM 1 concentration in donor vesicles, and the GM 1 distribution in donor vesicles with respect to total lipid symmetry. The findings provide evidence that GM 1 is molecularly dispersed at low concentrations within liquid-crystalline phospholipid bilayers

  1. ABC Triblock Copolymer Vesicles with Mesh-like Morphology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Wei; Russell, Thomas; Grason, Gregory

    2010-03-01

    Polymer vesicles can be made from poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-2-vinylpyridene) (PI-b-PS-b-P2VP) triblock copolymer under the confinement of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. It was found that these vesicles have well-defined, nanoscopic size and a microphase-separated hydrophobic core, comprised of PS and PI blocks. Vesicle formation was tracked using both transmission and scanning electron microscopy. A mesh-like morphology formed in the core at a well-defined composition of three blocks. Confinement played an important role in generating these vesicles with such an unusual morphology.

  2. Analysing the distribution of synaptic vesicles using a spatial point process model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khanmohammadi, Mahdieh; Waagepetersen, Rasmus; Nava, Nicoletta

    2014-01-01

    functionality by statistically modelling the distribution of the synaptic vesicles in two groups of rats: a control group subjected to sham stress and a stressed group subjected to a single acute foot-shock (FS)-stress episode. We hypothesize that the synaptic vesicles have different spatial distributions...... in the two groups. The spatial distributions are modelled using spatial point process models with an inhomogeneous conditional intensity and repulsive pairwise interactions. Our results verify the hypothesis that the two groups have different spatial distributions....

  3. LRRK2 affects vesicle trafficking, neurotransmitter extracellular level and membrane receptor localization.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rossana Migheli

    Full Text Available The leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2 gene was found to play a role in the pathogenesis of both familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD. LRRK2 encodes a large multi-domain protein that is expressed in different tissues. To date, the physiological and pathological functions of LRRK2 are not clearly defined. In this study we have explored the role of LRRK2 in controlling vesicle trafficking in different cellular or animal models and using various readouts. In neuronal cells, the presence of LRRK2(G2019S pathological mutant determines increased extracellular dopamine levels either under basal conditions or upon nicotine stimulation. Moreover, mutant LRRK2 affects the levels of dopamine receptor D1 on the membrane surface in neuronal cells or animal models. Ultrastructural analysis of PC12-derived cells expressing mutant LRRK2(G2019S shows an altered intracellular vesicle distribution. Taken together, our results point to the key role of LRRK2 to control vesicle trafficking in neuronal cells.

  4. Hybrid, Nanoscale Phospholipid/Block Copolymer Vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Liedberg

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Hybrid phospholipid/block copolymer vesicles, in which the polymeric membrane is blended with phospholipids, display interesting self-assembly behavior, incorporating the robustness and chemical versatility of polymersomes with the softness and biocompatibility of liposomes. Such structures can be conveniently characterized by preparing giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs via electroformation. Here, we are interested in exploring the self-assembly and properties of the analogous nanoscale hybrid vesicles (ca. 100 nm in diameter of the same composition prepared by film-hydration and extrusion. We show that the self-assembly and content-release behavior of nanoscale polybutadiene-b-poly(ethylene oxide (PB-PEO/1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC hybrid phospholipid/block copolymer vesicles can be tuned by the mixing ratio of the amphiphiles. In brief, these hybrids may provide alternative tools for drug delivery purposes and molecular imaging/sensing applications and clearly open up new avenues for further investigation.

  5. Primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle: Case report and review of the literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guiramand Jérôme

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle is exceedingly rare. Case Presentation We report a case of a 59-year-old man with tumour detected by rectal symptoms and ultrasonography. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging suggested an origin in the right seminal vesicle. Transperineal biopsy of the tumour revealed leiomyosarcoma. A radical vesiculo-prostactectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed. Pathological examination showed a grade 2 leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle. The patient received adjuvant radiotherapy. He developed distant metastases 29 months after diagnosis, and received chemotherapy. Metastatic disease was controlled by second-line gemcitabine-docetaxel combination. Fifty-one months after diagnosis of the primary tumour, and 22 months after the first metastases, the patient is alive with excellent performance status, and multiple asymptomatic stable lung and liver lesions. Conclusions We report the eighth case of primary leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle and the first one with a so long follow-up.

  6. Primary vesicles, vesicle-rich segregation structures and recognition of primary and secondary porosities in lava flows from the Paraná igneous province, southern Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barreto, Carla Joana S.; de Lima, Evandro F.; Goldberg, Karin

    2017-04-01

    This study focuses on a volcanic succession of pāhoehoe to rubbly lavas of the Paraná-Etendeka Province exposed in a single road profile in southernmost Brazil. This work provides an integrated approach for examining primary vesicles and vesicle-rich segregation structures at the mesoscopic scale. In addition, this study provides a quantitative analysis of pore types in thin section. We documented distinct distribution patterns of vesicle and vesicle-rich segregation structures according to lava thickness. In compound pāhoehoe lavas, the cooling allows only vesicles (pipe vesicles to be frozen into place. In inflated pāhoehoe lavas, vesicles of different sizes are common, including pipe vesicles, and also segregation structures such as proto-cylinders, cylinders, cylinder sheets, vesicle sheets, and pods. In rubbly lavas, only vesicles of varying sizes occur. Gas release from melt caused the formation of primary porosity, while hydrothermal alteration and tectonic fracturing are the main processes that generated secondary porosity. Although several forms of porosity were created in the basaltic lava flows, the precipitation of secondary minerals within the pores has tended to reduce the original porosities. Late-stage fractures could create efficient channel networks for possible hydrocarbon/groundwater migration and entrapment owing to their ability to connect single pores. Quantitative permeability data should be gathered in future studies to confirm the potential of these lavas for store hydrocarbons or groundwater.

  7. Vesicle coating and uncoating: controlling the formation of large COPII-coated carriers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townley, Anna K; Stephens, David J

    2009-08-26

    The basic mechanisms underlying the formation of coated vesicles are now defined in considerable detail. This article highlights recent developments in our understanding of the problem of exporting large macromolecular cargo such as procollagen from the endoplasmic reticulum and discusses the implications that this has for cell and tissue organisation and human disease.

  8. Synaptic vesicle distribution by conveyor belt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moughamian, Armen J; Holzbaur, Erika L F

    2012-03-02

    The equal distribution of synaptic vesicles among synapses along the axon is critical for robust neurotransmission. Wong et al. show that the continuous circulation of synaptic vesicles throughout the axon driven by molecular motors ultimately yields this even distribution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Molecular characterization of exosome-like vesicles from breast cancer cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruger, Stefan; Elmageed, Zakaria Y Abd; Hawke, David H; Wörner, Philipp M; Jansen, David A; Abdel-Mageed, Asim B; Alt, Eckhard U; Izadpanah, Reza

    2014-01-01

    Membrane vesicles released by neoplastic cells into extracellular medium contain potential of carrying arrays of oncogenic molecules including proteins and microRNAs (miRNA). Extracellular (exosome-like) vesicles play a major role in cell-to-cell communication. Thus, the characterization of proteins and miRNAs of exosome-like vesicles is imperative in clarifying intercellular signaling as well as identifying disease markers. Exosome-like vesicles were isolated using gradient centrifugation from MCF-7 and MDA-MB 231 cultures. Proteomic profiling of vesicles using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed different protein profiles of exosome-like vesicles derived from MCF-7 cells (MCF-Exo) than those from MDA-MB 231 cells (MDA-Exo). The protein database search has identified 88 proteins in MDA-Exo and 59 proteins from MCF-Exo. Analysis showed that among all, 27 proteins were common between the two exosome-like vesicle types. Additionally, MDA-Exo contains a higher amount of matrix-metalloproteinases, which might be linked to the enhanced metastatic property of MDA-MB 231 cells. In addition, microarray analysis identified several oncogenic miRNA between the two types vesicles. Identification of the oncogenic factors in exosome-like vesicles is important since such vesicles could convey signals to non-malignant cells and could have an implication in tumor progression and metastasis

  10. Astrocytic Vesicle Mobility in Health and Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Zorec

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Astrocytes are no longer considered subservient to neurons, and are, instead, now understood to play an active role in brain signaling. The intercellular communication of astrocytes with neurons and other non-neuronal cells involves the exchange of molecules by exocytotic and endocytotic processes through the trafficking of intracellular vesicles. Recent studies of single vesicle mobility in astrocytes have prompted new views of how astrocytes contribute to information processing in nervous tissue. Here, we review the trafficking of several types of membrane-bound vesicles that are specifically involved in the processes of (i intercellular communication by gliotransmitters (glutamate, adenosine 5'-triphosphate, atrial natriuretic peptide, (ii plasma membrane exchange of transporters and receptors (EAAT2, MHC-II, and (iii the involvement of vesicle mobility carrying aquaporins (AQP4 in water homeostasis. The properties of vesicle traffic in astrocytes are discussed in respect to networking with neighboring cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and states in which astrocytes contribute to neuroinflammatory conditions.

  11. EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES: CLASSIFICATION, FUNCTIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Oberemko

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This review presents a generalized definition of vesicles as bilayer extracellular organelles of all celular forms of life: not only eu-, but also prokaryotic. The structure and composition of extracellular vesicles, history of research, nomenclature, their impact on life processes in health and disease are discussed. Moreover, vesicles may be useful as clinical instruments for biomarkers, and they are promising as biotechnological drug. However, many questions in this area are still unresolved and need to be addressed in the future. The most interesting from the point of view of practical health care represents a direction to study the effect of exosomes and microvesicles in the development and progression of a particular disease, the possibility of adjusting the pathological process by means of extracellular vesicles of a particular type, acting as an active ingredient. Relevant is the further elucidation of the role and importance of exosomes to the surrounding cells, tissues and organs at the molecular level, the prospects for the use of non-cellular vesicles as biomarkers of disease.

  12. Predicting Secretory Proteins with SignalP

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Henrik

    2017-01-01

    SignalP is the currently most widely used program for prediction of signal peptides from amino acid sequences. Proteins with signal peptides are targeted to the secretory pathway, but are not necessarily secreted. After a brief introduction to the biology of signal peptides and the history...

  13. Antigenic analyses of tissues and excretory and secretory products from Strongylus vulgaris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wynne, E; Slocombe, J O; Wilkie, B N

    1981-07-01

    Rabbit antisera were prepared against veronal buffered saline extracts of L4 and L5 Strongylus vulgaris, adult S. vulgaris and adult Strongylus equinus retrieved from naturally infected horses. In agar gel diffusion with these antisera, adult S vulgaris and S. equinus each appeared to have at least one unique antigen; larval S. vulgaris appeared to have two species-specific and two stage-specific antigens. There were several common antigens. Excretory and secretory products were collected also from L4 and L5 an maintained over several days in tissue culture fluid. In agar gel diffusion against the above rabbit antisera, a stage-specific antigen was found also in excretory and secretory products. In addition, excretory and secretory products had three antigens in common with adult and larval S. vulgaris, but only one of these was common to adult S. equinus. The excretory and secretory products appear, therefore, to have two species-specific and one stage-specific antigens.

  14. Ganglioside GM1 spontaneous transfer between phospholipid vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, R.E.; Sugar, I.P.; Thompson, T.E.

    1986-01-01

    The transfer kinetics of the monosiaylated glycosphingolipid, GM 1 , between different size phospholipid vesicles was measured using molecular sieve chromatography. At desired time intervals, small unilamellar donor vesicles were separated from large unilamellar acceptor vesicles by elution from a Sephacryl S-500 column [ 3 H]-GM 1 net transfer was calculated relative to [ 14 C]-cholesteryl oleate, which served as a nontransferable marker in the donor vesicles. The initial GM 1 transfer rate between 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles at 45 0 C deviated slightly from first order kinetics and possessed a half time of 3.6 days. This transfer half time is an order of magnitude shorter than that observed from the desiaylated derivative of GM 1 . The transfer kinetics are consistent with the authors recent electron microscopic results suggesting a molecular distribution of GM 1 in liquid-crystalline phosphatidylcholine bilayers

  15. Control of early-formed vesicle cylinders on upper crustal prismatic jointing in compound pāhoehoe lavas of Elephanta Island, western Deccan Traps, India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheth, Hetu; Patel, Vanit; Samant, Hrishikesh

    2017-08-01

    Upper crustal prismatic joints and vesicle cylinders, common in pāhoehoe lava flows, form early and late, respectively, and are therefore independent features. However, small-scale compound pāhoehoe lava lobes on Elephanta Island (western Deccan Traps, India), which resemble S-type (spongy) pāhoehoe in some aspects, contain vesicle cylinders which apparently controlled the locations of upper crustal prismatic joints. The lobes are decimeters thick, did not experience inflation after emplacement, and solidified rapidly. They have meter-scale areas that are exceptionally rich in vesicle cylinders (up to 68 cylinders in 1 m2, with a mean spacing of 12.1 cm), separated by cylinder-free areas, and pervasive upper crustal prismatic jointing with T, curved T, and quadruple joint intersections. A majority (≥76.5%) of the cylinders are located exactly on joints or at joint intersections, and were not simply captured by downward growing joints, as the cylinders show no deflection in vertical section. We suggest that large numbers of cylinders originated in a layer of bubble-rich residual liquid at the top of a basal diktytaxitic crystal mush zone which was formed very early (probably within the first few minutes of the emplacement history). The locations where the rising cylinders breached the crust provided weak points or mechanical flaws towards which any existing joints (formed by thermal contraction) propagated. New joints may also have propagated outwards from the cylinders and linked up laterally. Some cylinders breached the crust between the joints, and thus formed a little later than most others. The Elephanta Island example reveals that, whereas thermal contraction is undoubtedly valid as a standard mechanism for forming upper crustal prismatic joints, abundant mechanical flaws (such as large concentrations of early-formed, crust-breaching vesicle cylinders) can also control the joint formation process.

  16. Casein phosphopeptides drastically increase the secretion of extracellular proteins in Aspergillus awamori. Proteomics studies reveal changes in the secretory pathway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kosalková Katarina

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The secretion of heterologous animal proteins in filamentous fungi is usually limited by bottlenecks in the vesicle-mediated secretory pathway. Results Using the secretion of bovine chymosin in Aspergillus awamori as a model, we found a drastic increase (40 to 80-fold in cells grown with casein or casein phosphopeptides (CPPs. CPPs are rich in phosphoserine, but phosphoserine itself did not increase the secretion of chymosin. The stimulatory effect is reduced about 50% using partially dephosphorylated casein and is not exerted by casamino acids. The phosphopeptides effect was not exerted at transcriptional level, but instead, it was clearly observed on the secretion of chymosin by immunodetection analysis. Proteomics studies revealed very interesting metabolic changes in response to phosphopeptides supplementation. The oxidative metabolism was reduced, since enzymes involved in fermentative processes were overrepresented. An oxygen-binding hemoglobin-like protein was overrepresented in the proteome following phosphopeptides addition. Most interestingly, the intracellular pre-protein enzymes, including pre-prochymosin, were depleted (most of them are underrepresented in the intracellular proteome after the addition of CPPs, whereas the extracellular mature form of several of these secretable proteins and cell-wall biosynthetic enzymes was greatly overrepresented in the secretome of phosphopeptides-supplemented cells. Another important 'moonlighting' protein (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, which has been described to have vesicle fusogenic and cytoskeleton formation modulating activities, was clearly overrepresented in phosphopeptides-supplemented cells. Conclusions In summary, CPPs cause the reprogramming of cellular metabolism, which leads to massive secretion of extracellular proteins.

  17. Low-resolution simulations of vesicle suspensions in 2D

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabacaoğlu, Gökberk; Quaife, Bryan; Biros, George

    2018-03-01

    Vesicle suspensions appear in many biological and industrial applications. These suspensions are characterized by rich and complex dynamics of vesicles due to their interaction with the bulk fluid, and their large deformations and nonlinear elastic properties. Many existing state-of-the-art numerical schemes can resolve such complex vesicle flows. However, even when using provably optimal algorithms, these simulations can be computationally expensive, especially for suspensions with a large number of vesicles. These high computational costs can limit the use of simulations for parameter exploration, optimization, or uncertainty quantification. One way to reduce the cost is to use low-resolution discretizations in space and time. However, it is well-known that simply reducing the resolution results in vesicle collisions, numerical instabilities, and often in erroneous results. In this paper, we investigate the effect of a number of algorithmic empirical fixes (which are commonly used by many groups) in an attempt to make low-resolution simulations more stable and more predictive. Based on our empirical studies for a number of flow configurations, we propose a scheme that attempts to integrate these fixes in a systematic way. This low-resolution scheme is an extension of our previous work [51,53]. Our low-resolution correction algorithms (LRCA) include anti-aliasing and membrane reparametrization for avoiding spurious oscillations in vesicles' membranes, adaptive time stepping and a repulsion force for handling vesicle collisions and, correction of vesicles' area and arc-length for maintaining physical vesicle shapes. We perform a systematic error analysis by comparing the low-resolution simulations of dilute and dense suspensions with their high-fidelity, fully resolved, counterparts. We observe that the LRCA enables both efficient and statistically accurate low-resolution simulations of vesicle suspensions, while it can be 10× to 100× faster.

  18. File list: NoD.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 No description Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  19. File list: NoD.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 No description Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  20. File list: NoD.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 No description Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  1. File list: NoD.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 No description Uterus Fallopian tube secret...ory epithelial cell http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.Utr.10.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  2. Seminal vesicle intrafraction motion analysed with cinematic magnetic resonance imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gill, Suki; Dang, Kim; Fox, Chris; Bressel, Mathias; Kron, Tomas; Bergen, Noelene; Ferris, Nick; Owen, Rebecca; Chander, Sarat; Tai, Keen Hun; Foroudi, Farshad

    2014-01-01

    This study analyses seminal vesicle displacement relative to the prostate and in relation to treatment time. A group of eleven patients undergoing prostate cancer radiotherapy were imaged with a continuous 3 T cine-MRI in the standard treatment setup position. Four images were recorded every 4 seconds for 15 minutes in the sagittal plane and every 6.5 seconds for 12 minutes in the coronal plane. The prostate gland and seminal vesicles were contoured on each MRI image. The coordinates of the centroid of the prostate and seminal vesicles on each image was analysed for displacement against time. Displacements between the 2.5 percentile and 97.5 percentile (i.e. the 2.5% trimmed range) for prostate and seminal vesicle centroid displacements were measured for 3, 5, 10 and 15 minutes time intervals in the anterior-posterior (AP), left-right (LR) and superior-inferior (SI) directions. Real time prostate and seminal vesicle displacement was compared for individual patients. The 2.5% trimmed range for 3, 5, 10 and 15 minutes for the seminal vesicle centroids in the SI direction measured 4.7 mm; 5.8 mm; 6.5 mm and 7.2 mm respectively. In the AP direction, it was 4.0 mm, 4.5 mm, 6.5 mm, and 7.0 mm. In the LR direction for 3, 5 and 10 minutes; for the left seminal vesicle, it was 2.7 mm, 2.8 mm, 3.4 mm and for the right seminal vesicle, it was 3.4 mm, 3.3 mm, and 3.4 mm. The correlation between the real-time prostate and seminal vesicle displacement varied substantially between patients indicating that the relationship between prostate displacement and seminal vesicles displacement is patient specific with the majority of the patients not having a strong relationship. Our study shows that seminal vesicle motion increases with treatment time, and that the prostate and seminal vesicle centroids do not move in unison in real time, and that an additional margin is required for independent seminal vesicle motion if treatment localisation is to the prostate

  3. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles launches the first massive open online course on extracellular vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lässer, Cecilia; Théry, Clotilde; Buzás, Edit I; Mathivanan, Suresh; Zhao, Weian; Gho, Yong Song; Lötvall, Jan

    2016-01-01

    The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) has organised its first educational online course for students and beginners in the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs). This course, "Basics of Extracellular Vesicles," uses recorded lectures from experts in the field and will be open for an unlimited number of participants. The course is divided into 5 modules and can be accessed at www.coursera.org/learn/extracellular-vesicles. The first module is an introduction to the field covering the nomenclature and history of EVs. Module 2 focuses on the biogenesis and uptake mechanisms of EVs, as well as their RNA, protein and lipid cargo. Module 3 covers the collection and processing of cell culture media and body fluids such as blood, breast milk, cerebrospinal fluid and urine prior to isolation of EVs. Modules 4 and 5 present different isolation methods and characterisation techniques utilised in the EV field. Here, differential ultracentrifugation, size-exclusion chromatography, density gradient centrifugation, kit-based precipitation, electron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy, flow cytometry, atomic-force microscopy and nanoparticle-tracking analysis are covered. This first massive open online course (MOOC) on EVs was launched on 15 August 2016 at the platform "Coursera" and is free of charge.

  4. Synaptic vesicle proteins under conditions of rest and activation: analysis by 2-D difference gel electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burré, Jacqueline; Beckhaus, Tobias; Corvey, Carsten; Karas, Michael; Zimmermann, Herbert; Volknandt, Walter

    2006-09-01

    Synaptic vesicles are organelles of the nerve terminal that secrete neurotransmitters by fusion with the presynaptic plasma membrane. Vesicle fusion is tightly controlled by depolarization of the plasma membrane and a set of proteins that may undergo post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation. In order to identify proteins that undergo modifications as a result of synaptic activation, we induced massive exocytosis and analysed the synaptic vesicle compartment by benzyldimethyl-n-hexadecylammonium chloride (BAC)/SDS-PAGE and difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) followed by MALDI-TOF-MS. We identified eight proteins that revealed significant changes in abundance following nerve terminal depolarization. Of these, six were increased and two were decreased in abundance. Three of these proteins were phosphorylated as detected by Western blot analysis. In addition, we identified an unknown synaptic vesicle protein whose abundance increased on synaptic activation. Our results demonstrate that depolarization of the presynaptic compartment induces changes in the abundance of synaptic vesicle proteins and post-translational protein modification.

  5. Minimal experimental requirements for definition of extracellular vesicles and their functions: a position statement from the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lötvall, Jan; Hill, Andrew F; Hochberg, Fred; Buzás, Edit I; Di Vizio, Dolores; Gardiner, Christopher; Gho, Yong Song; Kurochkin, Igor V; Mathivanan, Suresh; Quesenberry, Peter; Sahoo, Susmita; Tahara, Hidetoshi; Wauben, Marca H; Witwer, Kenneth W; Théry, Clotilde

    2014-01-01

    Secreted membrane-enclosed vesicles, collectively called extracellular vesicles (EVs), which include exosomes, ectosomes, microvesicles, microparticles, apoptotic bodies and other EV subsets, encompass a very rapidly growing scientific field in biology and medicine. Importantly, it is currently technically challenging to obtain a totally pure EV fraction free from non-vesicular components for functional studies, and therefore there is a need to establish guidelines for analyses of these vesicles and reporting of scientific studies on EV biology. Here, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) provides researchers with a minimal set of biochemical, biophysical and functional standards that should be used to attribute any specific biological cargo or functions to EVs.

  6. Organic Nano vesicular Cargoes for Sustained Drug Delivery: Synthesis, Vesicle Formation, Controlling “Pearling” States, and Terfenadine Loading/Release Studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Botcha, A.K.; Chandrasekar, R.; Dulla, B.; Reddy, E.R.; Rajadurai, M.S.; Chennubhotla, K.S.; Kulkarni, P.; Kulkarni, P.

    2014-01-01

    “Sustained drug delivery systems” which are designed to accomplish long-lasting therapeutic effect are one of the challenging topics in the area of nano medicine. We developed an innovative strategy to prepare nontoxic and polymer stabilized organic nano vesicles (diameter: 200 nm) from a novel bolaamphiphile, where two hydrogen bonding acetyl cytosine molecules connected to 4,4′′-positions of the 2,6-bispyrazolylpyridine through two flexible octyne chains. The nano vesicles behave like biological membrane by spontaneously self-assembling into “pearl-like” chains and subsequently forming long nano tubes (diameter: 150 nm), which further develop into various types of network-junctions through self-organization. For drug loading and delivery applications, the nano vesicles were externally protected with biocompatible poly(ethyleneglycol)-2000 to prevent them from fusion and ensuing tube formation. Nontoxic nature of the nano vesicles was demonstrated by zebra fish teratogenicity assay. Biocompatible nano vesicles were loaded with “terfenadine” drug and successfully utilized to transport and release drug in sustained manner (up to 72 h) in zebra fish larvae, which is recognized as an emerging in vivo model system Synthetic nano

  7. Calmodulin stimulation of calcium transport in carrot microsomal vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pierce, W.S.; Sze, H.

    1987-01-01

    ATP-dependent 45 Ca 2+ uptake into microsomal vesicles isolated from cultured carrot cells (Daucus carota Danvers) was stimulated 2-3 fold by 5 ug/ml calmodulin (CaM). Microsomal vesicles separated with a linear sucrose gradient showed two peaks with CaM-stimulated Ca 2+ uptake activities. One peak (at 1.12 g/cc) comigrated with the activity of the antimycin A-insensitive NADH-dependent cytochrome c reductase. This transport activity was enhanced 10-20 fold by 10 mM oxalate and appeared to be associates with vesicles derived primarily from the ER. The other peak of CaM-stimulated Ca 2+ uptake (at 1.17 g/cc) was not affected by oxalate. These vesicles are probably derived from the plasma membrane. Preliminary experiments with the low-density vesicles (ER) vesicles, indicate that inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate caused a transient reduction in intravesicular Ca 2+ . These results are consistent with the ER being an important site of intracellular Ca 2+ regulation

  8. Deformation of phospholipid vesicles in an optical stretcher

    OpenAIRE

    Delabre , Ulysse; Feld , Kasper; Crespo , Eleonore; Whyte , Graeme; Sykes , Cecile; Seifert , Udo; Guck , Jochen

    2015-01-01

    International audience; Phospholipid vesicles are common model systems for cell membranes. Important aspects of the membrane function relate to its mechanical properties. Here we have investigated the deformation behaviour of phospholipid vesicles in a dual-beam laser trap, also called an optical stretcher. This study explicitly makes use of the inherent heating present in such traps to investigate the dependence of vesicle deformation on temperature. By using lasers with different wavelength...

  9. Single-vesicle detection and analysis of peptide-induced membrane permeabilization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Kasper; Ehrlich, Nicky; Henriksen, Jonas Rosager

    2015-01-01

    The capability of membrane-active peptides to disrupt phospholipid membranes is often studied by investigating peptide-induced leakage of quenched fluorescent molecules from large unilamellar lipid vesicles. In this article, we explore two fluorescence microscopy-based single-vesicle detection...... methods as alternatives to the quenching-based assays for studying peptide-induced leakage from large unilamellar lipid vesicles. Specifically, we use fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to study the leakage of fluorescent molecules of different sizes from large unilamellar lipid vesicles...... dispersed in aqueous solution, and we use confocal imaging of surface-immobilized large unilamellar lipid vesicles to investigate whether there are heterogeneities in leakage between individual vesicles. Of importance, we design an experimental protocol that allows us to quantitatively correlate the results...

  10. Continuous fabrication of polymeric vesicles and nanotubes with fluidic channe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Peng, F.; Deng, N.-N.; Tu, Y.; van Hest, J.C.M.; Wilson, D.A.

    2017-01-01

    Fluidic channels were employed to induce the self-assembly of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-polystyrene into polymeric vesicles and nanotubes. The laminar flow in the device enables controlled diffusion of two miscible liquids at the phase boundary, leading to the formation of homogeneous polymeric

  11. Active elastohydrodynamics of vesicles in narrow blind constrictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fai, T. G.; Kusters, R.; Harting, J.; Rycroft, C. H.; Mahadevan, L.

    2017-11-01

    Fluid-resistance limited transport of vesicles through narrow constrictions is a recurring theme in many biological and engineering applications. Inspired by the motor-driven movement of soft membrane-bound vesicles into closed neuronal dendritic spines, here we study this problem using a combination of passive three-dimensional simulations and a simplified semianalytical theory for the active transport of vesicles forced through constrictions by molecular motors. We show that the motion of these objects is characterized by two dimensionless quantities related to the geometry and to the strength of forcing relative to the vesicle elasticity. We use numerical simulations to characterize the transit time for a vesicle forced by fluid pressure through a constriction in a channel and find that relative to an open channel, transport into a blind end leads to the formation of a smaller forward-flowing lubrication layer that strongly impedes motion. When the fluid pressure forcing is complemented by forces due to molecular motors that are responsible for vesicle trafficking into dendritic spines, we find that the competition between motor forcing and fluid drag results in multistable dynamics reminiscent of the real system. Our study highlights the role of nonlocal hydrodynamic effects in determining the kinetics of vesicular transport in constricted geometries.

  12. Minimal experimental requirements for definition of extracellular vesicles and their functions: a position statement from the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Lötvall

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Secreted membrane-enclosed vesicles, collectively called extracellular vesicles (EVs, which include exosomes, ectosomes, microvesicles, microparticles, apoptotic bodies and other EV subsets, encompass a very rapidly growing scientific field in biology and medicine. Importantly, it is currently technically challenging to obtain a totally pure EV fraction free from non-vesicular components for functional studies, and therefore there is a need to establish guidelines for analyses of these vesicles and reporting of scientific studies on EV biology. Here, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV provides researchers with a minimal set of biochemical, biophysical and functional standards that should be used to attribute any specific biological cargo or functions to EVs.

  13. Effect of vanadate on glucose transporter (GLUT4) intrinsic activity in skeletal muscle plasma membrane giant vesicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristiansen, S; Youn, J; Richter, Erik

    1996-01-01

    of vanadate (NaVO3) on glucose transporter (GLUT4) intrinsic activity (V(max) = intrinsic activity x [GLUT4 protein]) was studied in muscle plasma membrane giant vesicles. Giant vesicles (average diameter 7.6 microns) were produced by collagenase treatment of rat skeletal muscle. The vesicles were incubated......) 55% and 60%, respectively, compared with control. The plasma membrane GLUT4 protein content was not changed in response to vanadate. It is concluded that vanadate decreased glucose transport per GLUT4 (intrinsic activity). This finding suggests that regulation of glucose transport in skeletal muscle...

  14. Spitzenkorper, exocyst, and polarisome components in Candida albicans hyphae show different patterns of localization and have distinct dynamic properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Laura A; Sudbery, Peter E

    2010-10-01

    During the extreme polarized growth of fungal hyphae, secretory vesicles are thought to accumulate in a subapical region called the Spitzenkörper. The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans can grow in a budding yeast or hyphal form. When it grows as hyphae, Mlc1 accumulates in a subapical spot suggestive of a Spitzenkörper-like structure, while the polarisome components Spa2 and Bud6 localize to a surface crescent. Here we show that the vesicle-associated protein Sec4 also localizes to a spot, confirming that secretory vesicles accumulate in the putative C. albicans Spitzenkörper. In contrast, exocyst components localize to a surface crescent. Using a combination of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) experiments and cytochalasin A to disrupt actin cables, we showed that Spitzenkörper-located proteins are highly dynamic. In contrast, exocyst and polarisome components are stably located at the cell surface. It is thought that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae exocyst components are transported to the cell surface on secretory vesicles along actin cables. If each vesicle carried its own complement of exocyst components, then it would be expected that exocyst components would be as dynamic as Sec4 and would have the same pattern of localization. This is not what we observe in C. albicans. We propose a model in which a stream of vesicles arrives at the tip and accumulates in the Spitzenkörper before onward delivery to the plasma membrane mediated by exocyst and polarisome components that are more stable residents of the cell surface.

  15. Secretory pattern of canine growth hormone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    French, M.B.; Vaitkus, P.; Cukerman, E.; Sirek, A.; Sirek, O.V.

    1987-01-01

    The aim of this paper was to define the secretory pattern of growth hormone (GH) under basal conditions in fasted, conscious, male dogs accustomed to handling. Blood samples were withdrawn from a cephalic vein at 15-min intervals. In this way, any ultradian rhythms, if present, could be detected within the frequency range of 0.042-2 cycles/h. In addition, samples were drawn at either 1- or 2.5-min intervals for 2.5 or 5 h to determine whether frequency components greater than 2 cycles/h were present. GH was measured by radioimmunoassay and the raw data were submitted to time series analysis employing power spectral estimation by means of fast Fourier transformation techniques. Peak plasma levels were up to 12 times higher than the baseline concentration of ∼ 1 ng/ml. Spectral analysis revealed an endogenous frequency of 0.22 cycles/h, i.e., a periodicity of 4.5 h/cycle. The results indicate that under basal conditions the secretory bursts of canine GH are limited to one peak every 4.5 h

  16. Membrane Protrusion Coarsening and Nanotubulation within Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

    KAUST Repository

    Węgrzyn, Ilona

    2011-11-16

    Hydrophobic side groups on a stimuli-responsive polymer, encapsulated within a single giant unilamellar vesicle, enable membrane attachment during compartment formation at elevated temperatures. We thermally modulated the vesicle through implementation of an IR laser via an optical fiber, enabling localized directed heating. Polymer-membrane interactions were monitored using confocal imaging techniques as subsequent membrane protrusions occurred and lipid nanotubes formed in response to the polymer hydrogel contraction. These nanotubes, bridging the vesicle membrane to the contracting hydrogel, were retained on the surface of the polymer compartment, where they were transformed into smaller vesicles in a process reminiscent of cellular endocytosis. This development of a synthetic vesicle system containing a stimuli-responsive polymer could lead to a new platform for studying inter/intramembrane transport through lipid nanotubes. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

  17. Isolation of intact sub-dermal secretory cavities from Eucalyptus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goodger Jason QD

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The biosynthesis of plant natural products in sub-dermal secretory cavities is poorly understood at the molecular level, largely due to the difficulty of physically isolating these structures for study. Our aim was to develop a protocol for isolating live and intact sub-dermal secretory cavities, and to do this, we used leaves from three species of Eucalyptus with cavities that are relatively large and rich in essential oils. Results Leaves were digested using a variety of commercially available enzymes. A pectinase from Aspergillus niger was found to allow isolation of intact cavities after a relatively short incubation (12 h, with no visible artifacts from digestion and no loss of cellular integrity or cavity contents. Several measurements indicated the potential of the isolated cavities for further functional studies. First, the cavities were found to consume oxygen at a rate that is comparable to that estimated from leaf respiratory rates. Second, mRNA was extracted from cavities, and it was used to amplify a cDNA fragment with high similarity to that of a monoterpene synthase. Third, the contents of the cavity lumen were extracted, showing an unexpectedly low abundance of volatile essential oils and a sizeable amount of non-volatile material, which is contrary to the widely accepted role of secretory cavities as predominantly essential oil repositories. Conclusions The protocol described herein is likely to be adaptable to a range of Eucalyptus species with sub-dermal secretory cavities, and should find wide application in studies of the developmental and functional biology of these structures, and the biosynthesis of the plant natural products they contain.

  18. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles launches the first massive open online course on extracellular vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecilia Lässer

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV has organised its first educational online course for students and beginners in the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs. This course, “Basics of Extracellular Vesicles,” uses recorded lectures from experts in the field and will be open for an unlimited number of participants. The course is divided into 5 modules and can be accessed at www.coursera.org/learn/extracellular-vesicles. The first module is an introduction to the field covering the nomenclature and history of EVs. Module 2 focuses on the biogenesis and uptake mechanisms of EVs, as well as their RNA, protein and lipid cargo. Module 3 covers the collection and processing of cell culture media and body fluids such as blood, breast milk, cerebrospinal fluid and urine prior to isolation of EVs. Modules 4 and 5 present different isolation methods and characterisation techniques utilised in the EV field. Here, differential ultracentrifugation, size-exclusion chromatography, density gradient centrifugation, kit-based precipitation, electron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy, flow cytometry, atomic-force microscopy and nanoparticle-tracking analysis are covered. This first massive open online course (MOOC on EVs was launched on 15 August 2016 at the platform “Coursera” and is free of charge.

  19. Identification of Secretory Odontoblasts Using DMP1-GFP Transgenic Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balic, Anamaria; Mina, Mina

    2011-01-01

    Terminal differentiation of odontoblasts from dental papilla is a long process involving several intermediate steps and changes in the transcriptional profile and expression of proteins secreted by cells in the odontoblast lineage. Transgenic mouse lines in which GFP expression is under the control of tissue-and stage specific promoters have provided powerful experimental tools for identification and isolation of cells at specific stages of differentiation along a lineage. Our previous studies showed utilization of pOBCol3.6GFP and pOBCol2.3GFP animals for identification of odontoblasts at early and late stages of polarization respectively. In the present study we used the DMP1-GFP transgenic animal as an experimental model to examine its expression during the differentiation of odontoblasts from progenitor cells in vivo and in vitro. Our observations showed that DMP1-GFP transgene is first activated in secretory/functional odontoblasts engaged in secretion of predentin and then transiently expressed at high levels in newly differentiated odontoblasts. Expression of DMP1-GFP was down-regulated in highly differentiated odontoblasts. The temporal and spatial pattern of expression of DMP1-GFP transgene closely mimics the expression of endogenous DMP1. This transgenic animal will facilitate studies of gene expression and biological functions in secretory/functional odontoblasts. PMID:21172466

  20. The transcriptional corepressor MTGR1 regulates intestinal secretory lineage allocation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parang, Bobak; Rosenblatt, Daniel; Williams, Amanda D; Washington, Mary K; Revetta, Frank; Short, Sarah P; Reddy, Vishruth K; Hunt, Aubrey; Shroyer, Noah F; Engel, Michael E; Hiebert, Scott W; Williams, Christopher S

    2015-03-01

    Notch signaling largely determines intestinal epithelial cell fate. High Notch activity drives progenitors toward absorptive enterocytes by repressing secretory differentiation programs, whereas low Notch permits secretory cell assignment. Myeloid translocation gene-related 1 (MTGR1) is a transcriptional corepressor in the myeloid translocation gene/Eight-Twenty-One family. Given that Mtgr1(-/-) mice have a dramatic reduction of intestinal epithelial secretory cells, we hypothesized that MTGR1 is a key repressor of Notch signaling. In support of this, transcriptome analysis of laser capture microdissected Mtgr1(-/-) intestinal crypts revealed Notch activation, and secretory markers Mucin2, Chromogranin A, and Growth factor-independent 1 (Gfi1) were down-regulated in Mtgr1(-/-) whole intestines and Mtgr1(-/-) enteroids. We demonstrate that MTGR1 is in a complex with Suppressor of Hairless Homolog, a key Notch effector, and represses Notch-induced Hairy/Enhancer of Split 1 activity. Moreover, pharmacologic Notch inhibition using a γ-secretase inhibitor (GSI) rescued the hyperproliferative baseline phenotype in the Mtgr1(-/-) intestine and increased production of goblet and enteroendocrine lineages in Mtgr1(-/-) mice. GSI increased Paneth cell production in wild-type mice but failed to do so in Mtgr1(-/-) mice. We determined that MTGR1 can interact with GFI1, a transcriptional corepressor required for Paneth cell differentiation, and repress GFI1 targets. Overall, the data suggest that MTGR1, a transcriptional corepressor well characterized in hematopoiesis, plays a critical role in intestinal lineage allocation. © FASEB.

  1. ABC triblock copolymer vesicles with mesh-like morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Wei; Chen, Dian; Hu, Yunxia; Grason, Gregory M; Russell, Thomas P

    2011-01-25

    Polymer vesicles made from poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-2-vinyl pyridine) (PI-b-PS-b-P2VP) triblock copolymer confined within the nanopores of an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane are studied. It was found that these vesicles have well-defined, nanoscopic size, and complex microphase-separated hydrophobic membranes, comprised of the PS and PI blocks, while the coronas are formed by the P2VP block. Vesicle formation was tracked using both transmission and scanning electron microscopy. A mesh-like morphology formed in the membrane at a well-defined composition of the three blocks that can be tuned by changing the copolymer composition. The nanoscale confinement, copolymer composition, and subtle molecular interactions contribute to the generation of these vesicles with such unusual morphologies.

  2. Vesicle interactions with polyamino acids and antibody: in vitro and in vivo studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunnick, J.K.; McDougall, I.R.; Aragon, S.; Goris, M.L.; Kriss, J.P.

    1975-01-01

    Artificial spherules or vesicles of 900 A in diameter formed from phosphatidylcholine and gangliosides and enclosing /sup 99m/TcO 4 - (standard preparation) survive intact in the circulation of the mouse. Polyamino acids and protein have been incorporated into and onto the vesicles; such vesicles remain intact as determined by diffusion dialysis studies and by electron paramagnetic resonance studies of vesicles enclosing spin label. In studying the distribution of polyamino acid-vesicles and protein vesicles in vivo, it was found that the latter distribute differently from standard vesicles or free protein alone whereas aromatic polyamino acid-vesicles concentrate in the liver and spleen to a greater extent than standard vesicles. The permeability and stability characteristics of vesicles may be preserved when they are modified by the addition of protein or polyamino acids and that such modification of vesicles may be associated with an alteration of their fate in vivo. The potential exists to use vesicles as carriers of radiopharmaceuticals and other drugs and to direct the vesicles preferentially to tissue targets in vivo. (U.S.)

  3. Cellular responses to the expression of unstable secretory proteins in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yokota, Jun-Ichi; Shiro, Daisuke; Tanaka, Mizuki; Onozaki, Yasumichi; Mizutani, Osamu; Kakizono, Dararat; Ichinose, Sakurako; Shintani, Tomoko; Gomi, Katsuya; Shintani, Takahiro

    2017-03-01

    Filamentous fungi are often used as cell factories for recombinant protein production because of their ability to secrete large quantities of hydrolytic enzymes. However, even using strong transcriptional promoters, yields of nonfungal proteins are generally much lower than those of fungal proteins. Recent analyses revealed that expression of certain nonfungal secretory proteins induced the unfolded protein response (UPR), suggesting that they are recognized as proteins with folding defects in filamentous fungi. More recently, however, even highly expressed endogenous secretory proteins were found to evoke the UPR. These findings raise the question of whether the unfolded or misfolded state of proteins is selectively recognized by quality control mechanisms in filamentous fungi. In this study, a fungal secretory protein (1,2-α-D-mannosidase; MsdS) with a mutation that decreases its thermostability was expressed at different levels in Aspergillus oryzae. We found that, at moderate expression levels, wild-type MsdS was secreted to the medium, while the mutant was not. In the strain with a deletion for the hrdA gene, which is involved in the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway, mutant MsdS had specifically increased levels in the intracellular fraction but was not secreted. When overexpressed, the mutant protein was secreted to the medium to a similar extent as the wild-type protein; however, the mutant underwent hyperglycosylation and induced the UPR. Deletion of α-amylase (the most abundant secretory protein in A. oryzae) alleviated the UPR induction by mutant MsdS overexpression. These findings suggest that misfolded MsdS and unfolded species of α-amylase might act synergistically for UPR induction.

  4. Unc-51/ATG1 controls axonal and dendritic development via kinesin-mediated vesicle transport in the Drosophila brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroaki Mochizuki

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Members of the evolutionary conserved Ser/Thr kinase Unc-51 family are key regulatory proteins that control neural development in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Previous studies have suggested diverse functions for the Unc-51 protein, including axonal elongation, growth cone guidance, and synaptic vesicle transport.In this work, we have investigated the functional significance of Unc-51-mediated vesicle transport in the development of complex brain structures in Drosophila. We show that Unc-51 preferentially accumulates in newly elongating axons of the mushroom body, a center of olfactory learning in flies. Mutations in unc-51 cause disintegration of the core of the developing mushroom body, with mislocalization of Fasciclin II (Fas II, an IgG-family cell adhesion molecule important for axonal guidance and fasciculation. In unc-51 mutants, Fas II accumulates in the cell bodies, calyx, and the proximal peduncle. Furthermore, we show that mutations in unc-51 cause aberrant overshooting of dendrites in the mushroom body and the antennal lobe. Loss of unc-51 function leads to marked accumulation of Rab5 and Golgi components, whereas the localization of dendrite-specific proteins, such as Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (DSCAM and No distributive disjunction (Nod, remains unaltered. Genetic analyses of kinesin light chain (Klc and unc-51 double heterozygotes suggest the importance of kinesin-mediated membrane transport for axonal and dendritic development. Moreover, our data demonstrate that loss of Klc activity causes similar axonal and dendritic defects in mushroom body neurons, recapitulating the salient feature of the developmental abnormalities caused by unc-51 mutations.Unc-51 plays pivotal roles in the axonal and dendritic development of the Drosophila brain. Unc-51-mediated membrane vesicle transport is important in targeted localization of guidance molecules and organelles that regulate elongation and compartmentalization of

  5. Antibody Binding Alters the Characteristics and Contents of Extracellular Vesicles Released by Histoplasma capsulatum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baltazar, Ludmila M.; Nakayasu, Ernesto S.; Sobreira, Tiago; Choi, Hyungwon; Casadevall, Arturo; Nimrichter, Leonardo; Nosanchuk, Joshua D.

    2016-03-30

    ABSTRACT

    Histoplasma capsulatumproduces extracellular vesicles containing virulence-associated molecules capable of modulating host machinery, benefiting the pathogen. Treatment ofH. capsulatumcells with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) can change the outcome of infection in mice. We evaluated the sizes, enzymatic contents, and proteomic profiles of the vesicles released by fungal cells treated with either protective MAb 6B7 (IgG1) or nonprotective MAb 7B6 (IgG2b), both of which bindH. capsulatumheat shock protein 60 (Hsp60). Our results showed that treatment with either MAb was associated with changes in size and vesicle loading. MAb treatments reduced vesicle phosphatase and catalase activities compared to those of vesicles from untreated controls. We identified 1,125 proteins in vesicles, and 250 of these manifested differences in abundance relative to that of proteins in vesicles isolated from yeast cells exposed to Hsp60-binding MAbs, indicating that surface binding of fungal cells by MAbs modified protein loading in the vesicles. The abundance of upregulated proteins in vesicles upon MAb 7B6 treatment was 44.8% of the protein quantities in vesicles from fungal cells treated with MAb 6B7. Analysis of orthologous proteins previously identified in vesicles from other fungi showed that different ascomycete fungi have similar proteins in their extracellular milieu, many of which are associated with virulence. Our results demonstrate that antibody binding can modulate fungal cell responses, resulting in differential loading of vesicles, which could alter fungal cell susceptibility to host defenses. This finding provides additional evidence that antibody binding modulates microbial physiology and suggests a new function for specific immunoglobulins through alterations of fungal secretion.

    IMPORTANCEDiverse fungal species release extracellular vesicles, indicating that this is a

  6. Vesicle dynamics in shear and capillary flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noguchi, Hiroshi; Gompper, Gerhard

    2005-01-01

    The deformation of vesicles in flow is studied by a mesoscopic simulation technique, which combines multi-particle collision dynamics for the solvent with a dynamically triangulated surface model for the membrane. Shape transitions are investigated both in simple shear flows and in cylindrical capillary flows. We focus on reduced volumes, where the discocyte shape of fluid vesicles is stable, and the prolate shape is metastable. In simple shear flow at low membrane viscosity, the shear induces a transformation from discocyte to prolate with increasing shear rate, while at high membrane viscosity, the shear induces a transformation from prolate to discocyte, or tumbling motion accompanied by oscillations between these two morphologies. In capillary flow, at small flow velocities the symmetry axis of the discocyte is found not to be oriented perpendicular to the cylinder axis. With increasing flow velocity, a transition to a prolate shape occurs for fluid vesicles, while vesicles with shear-elastic membranes (like red blood cells) transform into a coaxial parachute-like shape

  7. Sugar-based gemini surfactant with a vesicle-to-micelle transition at acidic pH and a reversible vesicle flocculation near neutral pH

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Johnsson, M; Wagenaar, A; Engberts, JBFN

    2003-01-01

    A sugar-based (reduced glucose) gemini surfactant forms vesicles in dilute aqueous solution near neutral pH. At lower pH, there is a vesicle-to-micelle transition within a narrow pH region (pH 6.0-5.6). The vesicles are transformed into large cylindrical micelles that in turn are transformed into

  8. Hydrogen Bonded Supramolecular Polymers in Both Apolar and Aqueous Media: Self-Assembly and Reversible Conversion of Vesicles and Gels%Hydrogen Bonded Supramolecular Polymers in Both Apolar and Aqueous Media: Self-Assembly and Reversible Conversion of Vesicles and Gels

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    杜平; 孔军; 王贵涛; 赵新; 李光玉; 蒋锡夔; 黎占亭

    2011-01-01

    In a preliminary letter (Tetrahedron Lett. 2010, 51, 188), we reported two new hydrazide-based quadruple hydrogen-bonding motifs, this is, two monopodal (la and lb) and five dipodal (2a, 2b and 3a--3c) aromatic hydrazide derivatives, and the formation of supramolecular polymers and vesicles from the dipodal motifs in hydrocarbons. In this paper, we present a full picture on the properties of these hydrogen-bonding motifs with an emphasis on their self-assembling behaviors in aqueous media. SEM, AFM, TEM and fluorescent micrographs indicate that all the dipodal compounds also form vesicles in polar methanol and water-methanol (up to 50% of water) mixtures. Control experiments show that lb does not form vesicles in same media. Addition of lb to the solution of the dipodal compounds inhibits the latter's capacity of forming vesicles. At high concentrations, 3b and 3c also gelate discrete solvents, including hydrocarbons, esters, methanol, and methanol-water mixture. Concentration-dependent SEM investigations reveal that the vesicles of 3b and 3c fuse to form gels and the gel of 3c can de-aggregate to form the vesicles reversibly.

  9. Single lipid vesicle assay for characterizing single-enzyme kinetics of phospholipid hydrolysis in a complex biological fluid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabaei, Seyed R; Rabe, Michael; Zetterberg, Henrik; Zhdanov, Vladimir P; Höök, Fredrik

    2013-09-25

    Imaging of individual lipid vesicles is used to track single-enzyme kinetics of phospholipid hydrolysis. The method is employed to quantify the catalytic activity of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) in both pure and complex biological fluids. The measurements are demonstrated to offer a subpicomolar limit of detection (LOD) of human secretory PLA2 (sPLA2) in up to 1000-fold-diluted cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). An additional new feature provided by the single-enzyme sensitivity is that information about both relative concentration variations of active sPLA2 in CSF and the specific enzymatic activity can be simultaneously obtained. When CSF samples from healthy controls and individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are analyzed, the specific enzymatic activity is found to be preserved within 7% in the different CSF samples whereas the enzyme concentration differs by up to 56%. This suggests that the previously reported difference in PLA2 activity in CSF samples from healthy and AD individuals originates from differences in the PLA2 expression level rather than from the enzyme activity. Conventional ensemble averaging methods used to probe sPLA2 activity do not allow one to obtain such information. Together with an improvement in the LOD of at least 1 order of magnitude compared to that of conventional assays, this suggests that the method will become useful in furthering our understanding of the role of PLA2 in health and disease and in detecting the pharmacodynamic effects of PLA2-targeting drug candidates.

  10. Evaluation of beta-cell secretory capacity using glucagon-like peptide 1

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vilsbøll, Tina; Nielsen, Mette Toft; Krarup, T

    2000-01-01

    Beta-cell secretory capacity is often evaluated with a glucagon test or a meal test. However, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is the most insulinotropic hormone known, and the effect is preserved in type 2 diabetic patients.......Beta-cell secretory capacity is often evaluated with a glucagon test or a meal test. However, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is the most insulinotropic hormone known, and the effect is preserved in type 2 diabetic patients....

  11. Pulsed-laser polymerization in compartmentalized liquids. 1. Polymerization in vesicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jung, M.; Casteren, van I.A.; Monteiro, M.J.; Herk, van A.M.; German, A.L.

    2000-01-01

    Polymerization in vesicles is a novel type of polymerization in heterogeneous media, leading to parachute-like vesicle-polymer hybrid morphologies. To explore the kinetics of vesicle polymerizations and to learn more about the actual locus of polymerization we applied the pulsed-laser polymerization

  12. Coordinated activation of the secretory pathway during notochord formation in the Xenopus embryo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanegashima, Kosuke; Zhao, Hui; Rebbert, Martha L; Dawid, Igor B

    2009-11-01

    We compared the transcriptome in the developing notochord of Xenopus laevis embryos with that of other embryonic regions. A coordinated and intense activation of a large set of secretory pathway genes was observed in the notochord, but not in notochord precursors in the axial mesoderm at early gastrula stage. The genes encoding Xbp1 and Creb3l2 were also activated in the notochord. These two transcription factors are implicated in the activation of secretory pathway genes during the unfolded protein response, where cells react to the stress of a build-up of unfolded proteins in their endoplasmic reticulum. Xbp1 and Creb3l2 are differentially expressed but not differentially activated in the notochord. Reduction of expression of Xbp1 or Creb3l2 by injection of antisense morpholinos led to strong deficits in notochord but not somitic muscle development. In addition, the expression of some, but not all, genes encoding secretory proteins was inhibited by injection of xbp1 morpholinos. Furthermore, expression of activated forms of Xbp1 or Creb3l2 in animal explants could activate a similar subset of secretory pathway genes. We conclude that coordinated activation of a battery of secretory pathway genes mediated by Xbp1 and Creb/ATF factors is a characteristic and necessary feature of notochord formation.

  13. Frequency-dependent electrodeformation of giant phospholipid vesicles in AC electric field

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    A model of vesicle electrodeformation is described which obtains a parametrized vesicle shape by minimizing the sum of the membrane bending energy and the energy due to the electric field. Both the vesicle membrane and the aqueous media inside and outside the vesicle are treated as leaky dielectrics, and the vesicle itself is modeled as a nearly spherical shape enclosed within a thin membrane. It is demonstrated (a) that the model achieves a good quantitative agreement with the experimentally determined prolate-to-oblate transition frequencies in the kilohertz range and (b) that the model can explain a phase diagram of shapes of giant phospholipid vesicles with respect to two parameters: the frequency of the applied alternating current electric field and the ratio of the electrical conductivities of the aqueous media inside and outside the vesicle, explored in a recent paper (S. Aranda et al., Biophys J 95:L19–L21, 2008). A possible use of the frequency-dependent shape transitions of phospholipid vesicles in conductometry of microliter samples is discussed. PMID:21886342

  14. Development and characterization of nanopore system for nano-vesicle analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goyal, Gaurav

    Nano-vesicles have recently attracted a lot of attention in research and medical communities and are very promising next-generation drug delivery vehicles. This is due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability and their ability to protect drug cargo and deliver it to site-specific locations, while maintaining the desired pharmacokinetic profile. The interaction of these drug loaded vesicles with the recipient cells via adsorption, endocytosis or receptor mediated internalization involve significant bending and deformation and is governed by mechanical properties of the nano-vesicles. Currently, the mechanical characteristics of nano-vesicles are left unexplored because of the difficulties associated with vesicle analysis at sub-100 nm length scale. The need for a complete understanding of nano-vesicle interaction with each other and the recipient cells warrants development of an analytical tool capable of mechanical investigation of individual vesicles at sub-100 nm scale. This dissertation presents investigation of nano-vesicle deformability using resistive pulse sensing and solid-state nanopore devices. The dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the motivation, specific aims and presents an overview of nanoparticle characterization techniques, resistive pulse sensing background and principles, techniques for fabricating solid-state nanopores, as well the deformation behavior of giant vesicles when placed in electric field. Chapter 2 is dedicated to understanding of the scientific principles governing transport of sub-100 nm particles in dilute solutions. We investigated the translocation of rigid nanoparticles through nanopores at salt concentrations exosomes derived from human breast cancer cell line. Exosomes also exhibit co-translocational deformation behavior; however, they appear to be less affected by the deforming force inside the nanopore compared to the DOPC liposomes. We believe, the results of this research will bring about a

  15. Isolation and characterization of urinary extracellular vesicles: implications for biomarker discovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merchant, Michael L; Rood, Ilse M; Deegens, Jeroen K J; Klein, Jon B

    2017-12-01

    Urine is a valuable diagnostic medium and, with the discovery of urinary extracellular vesicles, is viewed as a dynamic bioactive fluid. Extracellular vesicles are lipid-enclosed structures that can be classified into three categories: exosomes, microvesicles (or ectosomes) and apoptotic bodies. This classification is based on the mechanisms by which membrane vesicles are formed: fusion of multivesicular bodies with the plasma membranes (exosomes), budding of vesicles directly from the plasma membrane (microvesicles) or those shed from dying cells (apoptotic bodies). During their formation, urinary extracellular vesicles incorporate various cell-specific components (proteins, lipids and nucleic acids) that can be transferred to target cells. The rigour needed for comparative studies has fueled the search for optimal approaches for their isolation, purification, and characterization. RNA, the newest extracellular vesicle component to be discovered, has received substantial attention as an extracellular vesicle therapeutic, and compelling evidence suggests that ex vivo manipulation of microRNA composition may have uses in the treatment of kidney disorders. The results of these studies are building the case that urinary extracellular vesicles act as mediators of renal pathophysiology. As the field of extracellular vesicle studies is burgeoning, this Review focuses on primary data obtained from studies of human urine rather than on data from studies of laboratory animals or cultured immortalized cells.

  16. ISEV position paper: extracellular vesicle RNA analysis and bioinformatics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew F. Hill

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Extracellular vesicles (EVs are the collective term for the various vesicles that are released by cells into the extracellular space. Such vesicles include exosomes and microvesicles, which vary by their size and/or protein and genetic cargo. With the discovery that EVs contain genetic material in the form of RNA (evRNA has come the increased interest in these vesicles for their potential use as sources of disease biomarkers and potential therapeutic agents. Rapid developments in the availability of deep sequencing technologies have enabled the study of EV-related RNA in detail. In October 2012, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV held a workshop on “evRNA analysis and bioinformatics.” Here, we report the conclusions of one of the roundtable discussions where we discussed evRNA analysis technologies and provide some guidelines to researchers in the field to consider when performing such analysis.

  17. Vesicular trafficking of immune mediators in human eosinophils revealed by immunoelectron microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Melo, Rossana C.N., E-mail: rossana.melo@ufjf.edu.br [Laboratory of Cellular Biology, Department of Biology, ICB, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, UFJF, Rua José Lourenço Kelmer, Juiz de Fora, MG 36036-900 (Brazil); Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, CLS 943, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Weller, Peter F. [Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, CLS 943, Boston, MA 02215 (United States)

    2016-10-01

    Electron microscopy (EM)-based techniques are mostly responsible for our current view of cell morphology at the subcellular level and continue to play an essential role in biological research. In cells from the immune system, such as eosinophils, EM has helped to understand how cells package and release mediators involved in immune responses. Ultrastructural investigations of human eosinophils enabled visualization of secretory processes in detail and identification of a robust, vesicular trafficking essential for the secretion of immune mediators via a non-classical secretory pathway associated with secretory (specific) granules. This vesicular system is mainly organized as large tubular-vesicular carriers (Eosinophil Sombrero Vesicles – EoSVs) actively formed in response to cell activation and provides a sophisticated structural mechanism for delivery of granule-stored mediators. In this review, we highlight the application of EM techniques to recognize pools of immune mediators at vesicular compartments and to understand the complex secretory pathway within human eosinophils involved in inflammatory and allergic responses. - Highlights: • Application of EM to understand the complex secretory pathway in human eosinophils. • EM techniques reveal an active vesicular system associated with secretory granules. • Tubular vesicles are involved in the transport of granule-derived immune mediators.

  18. Vesicular trafficking of immune mediators in human eosinophils revealed by immunoelectron microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melo, Rossana C.N.; Weller, Peter F.

    2016-01-01

    Electron microscopy (EM)-based techniques are mostly responsible for our current view of cell morphology at the subcellular level and continue to play an essential role in biological research. In cells from the immune system, such as eosinophils, EM has helped to understand how cells package and release mediators involved in immune responses. Ultrastructural investigations of human eosinophils enabled visualization of secretory processes in detail and identification of a robust, vesicular trafficking essential for the secretion of immune mediators via a non-classical secretory pathway associated with secretory (specific) granules. This vesicular system is mainly organized as large tubular-vesicular carriers (Eosinophil Sombrero Vesicles – EoSVs) actively formed in response to cell activation and provides a sophisticated structural mechanism for delivery of granule-stored mediators. In this review, we highlight the application of EM techniques to recognize pools of immune mediators at vesicular compartments and to understand the complex secretory pathway within human eosinophils involved in inflammatory and allergic responses. - Highlights: • Application of EM to understand the complex secretory pathway in human eosinophils. • EM techniques reveal an active vesicular system associated with secretory granules. • Tubular vesicles are involved in the transport of granule-derived immune mediators.

  19. Extracellular vesicles: fundamentals and clinical relevance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wael Nassar

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available All types of cells of eukaryotic organisms produce and release small nanovesicles into their extracellular environment. Early studies have described these vesicles as ′garbage bags′ only to remove obsolete cellular molecules. Valadi and colleagues, in 2007, were the first to discover the capability of circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs to horizontally transfer functioning gene information between cells. These extracellular vesicles express components responsible for angiogenesis promotion, stromal remodeling, chemoresistance, genetic exchange, and signaling pathway activation through growth factor/receptor transfer. EVs represent an important mode of intercellular communication by serving as vehicles for transfer between cells of membrane and cytosolic proteins, lipids, signaling proteins, and RNAs. They contribute to physiology and pathology, and they have a myriad of potential clinical applications in health and disease. Moreover, vesicles can pass the blood-brain barrier and may perhaps even be considered as naturally occurring liposomes. These cell-derived EVs not only represent a central mediator of the disease microenvironment, but their presence in the peripheral circulation may serve as a surrogate for disease biopsies, enabling real-time diagnosis and disease monitoring. In this review, we′ll be addressing the characteristics of different types of extracellular EVs, as well as their clinical relevance and potential as diagnostic markers, and also define therapeutic options.

  20. The Bretherton Problem for a Vesicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barakat, Joseph; Spann, Andrew; Shaqfeh, Eric

    2016-11-01

    The motion of a lipid bilayer vesicle through a circular tube is investigated by singular perturbation theory in the limit of vanishing clearance. The vesicle is treated as a sac of fluid enclosed by a thin, elastic sheet that admits a bending stiffness. It is assumed that the vesicle is axisymmetric and swollen to a near-critical volume such that the clearance "e" between the membrane and the tube wall is very small. In this limit, bending resistance is of negligible importance compared to the isotropic tension, allowing the vesicle to be treated as a "no-slip bubble." The effective membrane tension is found to scale inversely with "e" raised to the 3/2 power with a comparatively weak Marangoni gradient. The extra pressure drop is found to have a leading contribution due to the cylindrical midsection, which scales inversely with "e," as well as a correction due to the end caps, which scales inversely with the square root of "e." The apparent viscosity is predicted as a unique function of the geometry. The theory exhibits excellent agreement with a simplified, "quasi-parallel" theory and with direct numerical simulations using the boundary element method. The results of this work are compared to those for bubbles, rigid particles, and red blood cells in confined flows.

  1. Functionalization of Block Copolymer Vesicle Surfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wolfgang Meier

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In dilute aqueous solutions certain amphiphilic block copolymers self-assemble into vesicles that enclose a small pool of water with a membrane. Such polymersomes have promising applications ranging from targeted drug-delivery devices, to biosensors, and nanoreactors. Interactions between block copolymer membranes and their surroundings are important factors that determine their potential biomedical applications. Such interactions are influenced predominantly by the membrane surface. We review methods to functionalize block copolymer vesicle surfaces by chemical means with ligands such as antibodies, adhesion moieties, enzymes, carbohydrates and fluorophores. Furthermore, surface-functionalization can be achieved by self-assembly of polymers that carry ligands at their chain ends or in their hydrophilic blocks. While this review focuses on the strategies to functionalize vesicle surfaces, the applications realized by, and envisioned for, such functional polymersomes are also highlighted.

  2. Overproduction of individual gas vesicle proteins perturbs flotation, antibiotic production and cell division in the enterobacterium Serratia sp. ATCC 39006.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monson, Rita E; Tashiro, Yosuke; Salmond, George P C

    2016-09-01

    Gas vesicles are intracellular proteinaceous organelles that facilitate bacterial colonization of static water columns. In the enterobacterium Serratia sp. ATCC 39006, gas vesicle formation requires the proteins GvpA1, GvpF1, GvpG, GvpA2, GvpK, GvpA3, GvpF2 and GvpF3 and the three gas vesicle regulatory proteins GvrA, GvrB and GvrC. Deletion of gvpC alters gas vesicle robustness and deletion of gvpN or gvpV results in small bicone vesicles. In this work, we assessed the impacts on gas vesicle formation when each of these 14 essential proteins was overexpressed. Overproduction of GvpF1, GvpF2, GvrA, GvrB or GvrC all resulted in significantly reduced gas vesicle synthesis. Perturbations in gas vesicle formation were also observed when GvpV and GvpA3 were in excess. In addition to impacts on gas vesicle formation, overproduction of GvrA or GvrB led to elevated biosynthesis of the tripyrrole pigment, prodigiosin, a secondary metabolite of increasing medical interest due to its antimalarial and anticancer properties. Finally, when GvpG was overexpressed, gas vesicles were still produced, but the cells exhibited a growth defect. Further analysis showed that induction of GvpG arrested cell growth and caused a drop in viable count, suggesting a possible physiological role for this protein linking gas vesicle biogenesis and binary fission. These combined results demonstrate that the stoichiometry of individual gas vesicle proteins is crucially important for controlled organelle morphogenesis and flotation and provides evidence for the first link between gas vesicle assembly and cell division, to our knowledge.

  3. Neuronal Depolarization Drives Increased Dopamine Synaptic Vesicle Loading via VGLUT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilar, Jenny I; Dunn, Matthew; Mingote, Susana; Karam, Caline S; Farino, Zachary J; Sonders, Mark S; Choi, Se Joon; Grygoruk, Anna; Zhang, Yuchao; Cela, Carolina; Choi, Ben Jiwon; Flores, Jorge; Freyberg, Robin J; McCabe, Brian D; Mosharov, Eugene V; Krantz, David E; Javitch, Jonathan A; Sulzer, David; Sames, Dalibor; Rayport, Stephen; Freyberg, Zachary

    2017-08-30

    The ability of presynaptic dopamine terminals to tune neurotransmitter release to meet the demands of neuronal activity is critical to neurotransmission. Although vesicle content has been assumed to be static, in vitro data increasingly suggest that cell activity modulates vesicle content. Here, we use a coordinated genetic, pharmacological, and imaging approach in Drosophila to study the presynaptic machinery responsible for these vesicular processes in vivo. We show that cell depolarization increases synaptic vesicle dopamine content prior to release via vesicular hyperacidification. This depolarization-induced hyperacidification is mediated by the vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT). Remarkably, both depolarization-induced dopamine vesicle hyperacidification and its dependence on VGLUT2 are seen in ventral midbrain dopamine neurons in the mouse. Together, these data suggest that in response to depolarization, dopamine vesicles utilize a cascade of vesicular transporters to dynamically increase the vesicular pH gradient, thereby increasing dopamine vesicle content. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. [Effects of secretory and osmotic diarrhea on rats intestinal function and morphology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Lima de Mon, Margarita; Cioccia, Anna M; González, Eduardo; Hevia, Patricio

    2002-03-01

    In order to compare intestinal morphology and function, diarrhea was produced in rats using laxatives in the diet. The 14 day study included two groups of rats with diarrhea (osmotic or secretory), two groups without diarrhea but with a degree of malnutrition which was similar to that seen in the rats with diarrhea (malnourished without diarrhea) and a well-nourished group (control). The inclusion of laxatives(lactose or bisoxatin acetate) cause a reduction in food intake, diarrhea an malnutrition. It also caused a reduction in dietary protein and fat digestibility which was proportional to the severity of diarrhea and more pronounced in secretory diarrhea. In the malnourished rats without diarrhea, malnutrition did not affect their absorptive function. Both in the rats with secretory and osmotic diarrhea an intestinal hypertrophy was observed. This hypertrophy was proportional to the severity of diarrhea and independent of its aetiology. In the intestines of the rats with both types of diarrhea there was inflammation, a greater number of mitotic figures but the flattening of the villi seen in the malnourished rats without diarrhea was not seen. In osmotic diarrhea there was, in addition, a patchy damage of the surface of the jejunal mucosa and an increment in the number of goblet cells, indicating a more severe intestinal deterioration. Since despite this greater deterioration, these rats absorbed more protein and fat we concluded that the alterations in intestinal morphology seen in this study was not predictive of intestinal function. The study also showed that diarrhea had a trophic effect on the intestine which did not occur in malnourished rats without diarrhea.

  5. Overall energy conversion efficiency of a photosynthetic vesicle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sener, Melih [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Strumpfer, Johan [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Singharoy, Abhishek [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Hunter, C. Neil [Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom; Schulten, Klaus [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States

    2016-08-26

    The chromatophore of purple bacteria is an intracellular spherical vesicle that exists in numerous copies in the cell and that efficiently converts sunlight into ATP synthesis, operating typically under low light conditions. Building on an atomic-level structural model of a low-light-adapted chromatophore vesicle from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, we investigate the cooperation between more than a hundred protein complexes in the vesicle. The steady-state ATP production rate as a function of incident light intensity is determined after identifying quinol turnover at the cytochrome bc1 complex (cytbc1) as rate limiting and assuming that the quinone/quinol pool of about 900 molecules acts in a quasi-stationary state. For an illumination condition equivalent to 1% of full sunlight, the vesicle exhibits an ATP production rate of 82 ATP molecules/s. The energy conversion efficiency of ATP synthesis at illuminations corresponding to 1%–5% of full sunlight is calculated to be 0.12-0.04, respectively. The vesicle stoichiometry, evolutionarily adapted to the low light intensities in the habitat of purple bacteria, is suboptimal for steady-state ATP turnover for the benefit of protection against over-illumination.

  6. The Role of Adenoid Mast Cells in the Pathogenesis of Secretory Otitis Media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Faruk Oktay

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the possible role of adenoid mast cells in the etiology of secretory otitis media. Between 2001-2002, 25 patients with chronic adenoitis and chronic secretory otitis media and 25 patients with isolated adenoid hypertrophy were included to the study. Adenoidectomy performed to the all patients under general anesthesia. Adenoidectomy specimens were evaluated under the light microscopy and the number of mast cells were calculated for each patient. The number of mast cells were compared between two groups. The number of mast cells were between 4-84 in the otitis media with effusion and adenoid hypertrophy group (median:52, however it was between 2-63 (median: 23 in the isolated adenoid hypertrophy group. When comparing the two groups using Mann-Withney U test, the number of mast cells found to be significantly higher in the chronic secretory otitis media group (p<0.001.Based on our findings there is a relationship between increased adenoid mast cells and otitis media with effusion and these cells may have a possible role in the etiology of chronic secretory otitis media.

  7. Assembly of cells and vesicles for organ engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taguchi, Tetsushi

    2011-01-01

    The development of materials and technologies for the assembly of cells and/or vesicles is a key for the next generation of tissue engineering. Since the introduction of the tissue engineering concept in 1993, various types of scaffolds have been developed for the regeneration of connective tissues in vitro and in vivo. Cartilage, bone and skin have been successfully regenerated in vitro, and these regenerated tissues have been applied clinically. However, organs such as the liver and pancreas constitute numerous cell types, contain small amounts of extracellular matrix, and are highly vascularized. Therefore, organ engineering will require the assembly of cells and/or vesicles. In particular, adhesion between cells/vesicles will be required for regeneration of organs in vitro. This review introduces and discusses the key technologies and materials for the assembly of cells/vesicles for organ regeneration. (topical review)

  8. Aspirin induces morphological transformation to the secretory state in isolated rabbit parietal cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murthy, U K; Levine, R A

    1991-08-01

    The morphological response of rabbit parietal cells to aspirin was evaluated by grading several ultra-structural features including the extent of the tubulovesicular system, intracellular secretory canaliculi, and microvilli. After exposure of isolated parietal cells and gastric glands to aspirin or histamine, there was an approximately twofold increase in the ratio of secretory to nonsecretory parietal cells, and depletion of extracellular Ca2+ abolished the aspirin-induced morphological changes. Morphometry in parietal cells showed that aspirin induced a sixfold increase in secretory canalicular membrane elaboration. Aspirin potentiated histamine-induced parietal cell respiration and aminopyrine uptake ratio but did not increase basal respiration or aminopyrine uptake, suggesting an apparent dissociation from aspirin-induced morphological changes.

  9. Biochemical and morphological characterization of light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, Kevin Peter [Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)

    1978-01-01

    Light (30 to 32.5% sucrose) and heavy (38.5 to 42% sucrose) sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles (LSR,HSR) were isolated from rabbit leg muscle using a combination of differential centrifugation and isopycnic zonal ultracentrifugation. Thin-section electron microscopy of LSR vesicles reveals empty vesicles of various sizes and shapes whereas the HSR vesicles appear as rounded vesicles of uniform size filled with electron dense material, similar to that seen in the terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The sucrose HSR vesicles have an additional morphological feature which appears as membrane projections that resemble the SR feet. The freeze-fracture morphology of either type of SR reveals an asymmetric distribution of intramembraneous particles in the same orientation and distribution as the sarcoplasmic reticulum in vivo. Biochemical studies were made on the content of Ca, Mg, ATPase, and protein of the vesicles and phosphorylation of the vesicles. The biochemical and morphological data indicate that the LSR is derived from the longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticulum and the HSR is derived from the terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, contains junctional SR membrane and has three unique proteins (calsequestrin, an intrinsic 30,000 dalton protein and a 9000 dalton proteolipid).

  10. Interaction of a potyviral VPg with anionic phospholipid vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rantalainen, Kimmo I.; Christensen, Peter A.; Hafren, Anders; Otzen, Daniel E.; Kalkkinen, Nisse; Maekinen, Kristiina

    2009-01-01

    The viral genome-linked protein (VPg) of Potato virus A (PVA) is a multifunctional protein that belongs to a class of intrinsically disordered proteins. Typically, this type of protein gains a more stable structure upon interactions or posttranslational modifications. In a membrane lipid strip overlay binding assay, PVA VPg was found to bind phosphatidylserine (PS), but not phosphatidylcholine (PC). According to circular dichroism spectroscopy, the secondary structure of PVA VPg was stabilized upon interactions with PS and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), but not with PC vesicles. It is possible that this stabilization favored the formation of α-helical structures. Limited tryptic digestion showed that the interaction with anionic vesicles protected certain, otherwise accessible, trypsin cleavage sites. An electron microscopy study revealed that interaction with VPg substantially increased the vesicle diameter and caused the formation of pore or plaque-like electron dense spots on the vesicle surface, which gradually led to disruption of the vesicles.

  11. Spin State As a Probe of Vesicle Self-Assembly

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, Sanghoon; Bellouard, Christine; Eastoe, Julian; Canilho, Nadia; Rogers, Sarah E; Ihiawakrim, Dris; Ersen, Ovidiu; Pasc, Andreea

    2016-01-01

    A novel system of paramagnetic vesicles was designed using ion pairs of iron-containing surfactants. Unilamellar vesicles (diameter ≈ 200 nm) formed spontaneously and were characterized by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and light and small-angle neutron scattering. Moreover, for the first time, it is shown that magnetization measurements can be used to investigate self-assembly of such functionalized systems, giving information on the vesicle compo...

  12. File list: ALL.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 All antigens Uterus Fallopian tube secret...hg19/assembled/ALL.Utr.20.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  13. File list: ALL.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 All antigens Uterus Fallopian tube secret...hg19/assembled/ALL.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  14. File list: ALL.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell hg19 All antigens Uterus Fallopian tube secret...hg19/assembled/ALL.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell.bed ...

  15. Sequence Classification: 891153 [

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available calized to COPII-coated vesicles, involved in vesicle formation and incorporation of specific secretory cargo; required for the deliv...ery of bud-site selection protein Axl2p to cell surface; related to Drosophila cornichon; Erv14p || http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/protein/6321384 ...

  16. Constructing Asymmetric Polyion Complex Vesicles via Template Assembling Strategy: Formulation Control and Tunable Permeability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junbo Li

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available A strategy for constructing polyion complex vesicles (PICsomes with asymmetric structure is described. Poly(methylacrylic acid-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide modified gold nanoparticles (PMAA-b-PNIPAm-@-Au NPs were prepared and then assembled with poly(ethylene glycol-block-poly[1-methyl-3-(2-methacryloyloxy propylimidazolium bromine] (PEG-b-PMMPImB via polyion complex of PMMA and PMMPImB. After removing the Au NPs template, asymmetric PICsomes composed of a PNIPAm inner-shell, PIC wall, and PEG outer-corona were obtained. These PICsomes have low protein absorption and thermally tunable permeability, provided by the PEG outer-corona and the PNIPAm inner-shell, respectively. Moreover, PICsome size can be tailored by using templates of predetermined sizes. This novel strategy for constructing asymmetric PICsomes with well-defined properties and controllable size is valuable for applications such as drug delivery, catalysis and monitoring of chemical reactions, and biomimetics.

  17. Myopic (HD-PTP, PTPN23) selectively regulates synaptic neuropeptide release.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulgari, Dinara; Jha, Anupma; Deitcher, David L; Levitan, Edwin S

    2018-02-13

    Neurotransmission is mediated by synaptic exocytosis of neuropeptide-containing dense-core vesicles (DCVs) and small-molecule transmitter-containing small synaptic vesicles (SSVs). Exocytosis of both vesicle types depends on Ca 2+ and shared secretory proteins. Here, we show that increasing or decreasing expression of Myopic (mop, HD-PTP, PTPN23), a Bro1 domain-containing pseudophosphatase implicated in neuronal development and neuropeptide gene expression, increases synaptic neuropeptide stores at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ). This occurs without altering DCV content or transport, but synaptic DCV number and age are increased. The effect on synaptic neuropeptide stores is accounted for by inhibition of activity-induced Ca 2+ -dependent neuropeptide release. cAMP-evoked Ca 2+ -independent synaptic neuropeptide release also requires optimal Myopic expression, showing that Myopic affects the DCV secretory machinery shared by cAMP and Ca 2+ pathways. Presynaptic Myopic is abundant at early endosomes, but interaction with the endosomal sorting complex required for transport III (ESCRT III) protein (CHMP4/Shrub) that mediates Myopic's effect on neuron pruning is not required for control of neuropeptide release. Remarkably, in contrast to the effect on DCVs, Myopic does not affect release from SSVs. Therefore, Myopic selectively regulates synaptic DCV exocytosis that mediates peptidergic transmission at the NMJ.

  18. Secretory Phospholipase A(2) Activity toward Diverse Substrates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Jesper Jonasson; Linderoth, Lars; Subramanian, Arun Kumar

    2011-01-01

    We have studied secretory phospholipase A(2)-IIA (sPLA(2)) activity toward different phospholipid analogues by performing biophysical 1 characterizations and molecular dynamics simulations. The phospholipids were natural substrates, triple alkyl phospholipids, a prodrug anticancer etherlipid, and...

  19. Biochemical and morphological characterization of light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. Volume I

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, Kevin Peter [Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)

    1978-01-01

    Light (30 to 32.5% sucrose) and heavy (38.5 to 42% sucrose) sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles (LSR, HSR) were isolated from rabbit leg muscle. They were then diluted and washed with sucrose or KCl and referred to as sucrose or KCl washed vesicles. Thin-section electron microscopy of LSR vesicles reveals empty vesicles of various sizes and shapes where as the HSR vesicles appear as rounded vesicles of uniform size filled with electron dense material. The LSR consists of predominantly Ca2+ + Mg2+ ATPase (80 to 90%), a small amount of the high affinity Ca binding protein (5%), and a 5000 dalton proteolipid. The sucrose HSR vesicles contain the Ca2+ + Mg2+ ATPase (50%), Calsequestrin (25%), high affinity Ca binding protein (5%), one extrinsic 34,000 dalton protein (3%), one intrinsic 30,000 dalton protein (3%), a 9000 dalton proteolipid, and a 5000 dalton proteolipid. The sucrose--washed HSR vesicles contain greater than three times the calcium content of the sucrose washed LSR vesicles where as the KCl--washed vesicles contain less than 15 nmoles Ca2+ mg of protein each. The light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles were both able to accumulate calcium in the presence of ATP. Exchange of methanesulfonate for chloride resulted in the release of calcium from both the light and heavy SR vesicles. Sucrose causes a slight inhibition of chloride--induced calcium release from the heavy SR vesicles but it greatly reduces the release of calcium from the light SR vesicles. Sodium dantrolene (20 uM) has no effect on the release of calcium from the light SR vesicles but it inhibits the release of calcium from the heavy SR vesicles. The results indicate that the chloride--induced release of calcium may be acting by two mechanisms, osmotic swelling and depolarization.

  20. Biochemical and morphological characterization of light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. Volume I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, K.P.

    1978-01-01

    Light (30 to 32.5% sucrose) and heavy (38.5 to 42% sucrose) sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles (LSR, HSR) were isolated from rabbit leg muscle. They were then diluted and washed with sucrose or KCl and referred to as sucrose or KCl washed vesicles. Thin-section electron microscopy of LSR vesicles reveals empty vesicles of various sizes and shapes where as the HSR vesicles appear as rounded vesicles of uniform size filled with electron dense material. The LSR consists of predominantly Ca 2+ + Mg 2+ ATPase (80 to 90%), a small amount of the high affinity Ca binding protein (5%), and a 5000 dalton proteolipid. The sucrose HSR vesicles contain the Ca 2+ + Mg 2+ ATPase (50%), Calsequestrin (25%), high affinity Ca binding protein (5%), one extrinsic 34,000 dalton protein (3%), one intrinsic 30,000 dalton protein (3%), a 9000 dalton proteolipid, and a 5000 dalton proteolipid. The sucrose--washed HSR vesicles contain greater than three times the calcium content of the sucrose washed LSR vesicles where as the KCl--washed vesicles contain less than 15 nmoles Ca 2+ /mg of protein each. The light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles were both able to accumulate calcium in the presence of ATP. Exchange of methanesulfonate for chloride resulted in the release of calcium from both the light and heavy SR vesicles. Sucrose causes a slight inhibition of chloride--induced calcium release from the heavy SR vesicles but it greatly reduces the release of calcium from the light SR vesicles. Sodium dantrolene (20 uM) has no effect on the release of calcium from the light SR vesicles but it inhibits the release of calcium from the heavy SR vesicles. The results indicate that the chloride--induced release of calcium may be acting by two mechanisms, osmotic swelling and depolarization

  1. Secretory Overexpression of Bacillus thermocatenulatus Lipase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using Combinatorial Library Strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kajiwara, Shota; Yamada, Ryosuke; Ogino, Hiroyasu

    2018-04-10

    Simple and cost-effective lipase expression host microorganisms are highly desirable. A combinatorial library strategy is used to improve the secretory expression of lipase from Bacillus thermocatenulatus (BTL2) in the culture supernatant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A plasmid library including expression cassettes composed of sequences encoding one of each 15 promoters, 15 secretion signals, and 15 terminators derived from yeast species, S. cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris, and Hansenula polymorpha, is constructed. The S. cerevisiae transformant YPH499/D4, comprising H. polymorpha GAP promoter, S. cerevisiae SAG1 secretion signal, and P. pastoris AOX1 terminator, is selected by high-throughput screening. This transformant expresses BTL2 extra-cellularly with a 130-fold higher than the control strain, comprising S. cerevisiae PGK1 promoter, S. cerevisiae α-factor secretion signal, and S. cerevisiae PGK1 terminator, after cultivation for 72 h. This combinatorial library strategy holds promising potential for application in the optimization of the secretory expression of proteins in yeast. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Chemical modifications to vesicle forming diblock copolymers: Development of smart functional polymersome membranes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Joshua S.

    2011-07-01

    A major limitation to current treatment regimens for diseases is the inability to adequately deliver therapeutics. Many routes to encapsulation of these materials have been explored to improve biodistribution and better protect encapsulants from harsh biological conditions. One vehicle particularly attractive for encapsulation of such materials is the polymersome. While promising for translation to clinical use, there are still limitations in polymer chemistry and resulting polymersome behavior that will slow their adaptation. This thesis addresses several of these limitations. The first major limitation to polymersomes is lack of control over their release rate. Release is generally by simple diffusion, leading to a burst. To address this burst, Aim 1 proposes a route to stabilizing polymersome membranes through their polymerization. PCL-PEG copolymers were terminally acrylated and the acrylates polymerized in the membrane following vesicle assembly. Polymerization enhanced mechanical robustness of the membranes and reduced diffusion of encapsulated contents. To ultimately trigger release, Aim 2 presents a novel route to synthesizing diblock copolymers, enabling insertion of a functional group at the blocks' junction. To facilitate triggering of release, we inserted UV-cleavable 2-nitrophenylalanine. Polymersomes assembled from this polymer collapse upon exposure to light and molecules release. Demonstrating further utility of this synthetic route, fluorescent vesicles were prepared using fluorescent lysine as the joining molecule. These vesicles labeled dendritic cells, providing a novel route to cell labeling and tracking. The second limitation to vesicles promising for biomedical applications (made of PCL-PEG) is their solid membranes. Aim 3 demonstrates partial (or full) replacement of the PCL block with a caprolactone analogue, TOSUO, which is non-crystalline and assembles into soft, deformable vesicles. Increasing TOSUO content in the copolymer leads to

  3. Functional transferred DNA within extracellular vesicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cai, Jin [Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042 (China); Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Jiangsu Province (China); Wu, Gengze [Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042 (China); Jose, Pedro A. [Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine and Physiology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201 (United States); Zeng, Chunyu, E-mail: Chunyuzeng01@163.com [Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042 (China)

    2016-11-15

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane vesicles including exosomes and shedding vesicles that mediated a cell-to-cell communication. EVs are released from almost all cell types under both physiological and pathological conditions and incorporate nuclear and cytoplasmic molecules for intercellular delivery. Besides protein, mRNA, and microRNA of these molecules, as recent studies show, specific DNA are prominently packaged into EVs. It appears likely that some of exosomes or shedding vesicles, bearing nuclear molecules are released upon bubble-like blebs. Specific interaction of EVs with susceptible recipients performs the uptake of EVs into the target cells, discharging their cargo including nuclear and cytoplasmic macromolecules into the cytosol. These findings expand the nucleic acid content of EVs to include increased levels of specific DNA. Thus, EVs contain a repertoire of genetic information available for horizontal gene transfer and potential use as blood biomarkers for cancer and atherosclerosis. In this review, the focus is on the characteristics, biological functions, and roles in diseases of DNA within EVs. - Highlights: • This review is focused on the DNA within EVs including its characteristics, biological functions, and roles in diseases. • It is clear that DNA within EVs might have important physiological and pathological roles in various diseases. • Knowledge in this area may provides us alternative methods for disease diagnosis or therapy in the future.

  4. Functional transferred DNA within extracellular vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai, Jin; Wu, Gengze; Jose, Pedro A.; Zeng, Chunyu

    2016-01-01

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane vesicles including exosomes and shedding vesicles that mediated a cell-to-cell communication. EVs are released from almost all cell types under both physiological and pathological conditions and incorporate nuclear and cytoplasmic molecules for intercellular delivery. Besides protein, mRNA, and microRNA of these molecules, as recent studies show, specific DNA are prominently packaged into EVs. It appears likely that some of exosomes or shedding vesicles, bearing nuclear molecules are released upon bubble-like blebs. Specific interaction of EVs with susceptible recipients performs the uptake of EVs into the target cells, discharging their cargo including nuclear and cytoplasmic macromolecules into the cytosol. These findings expand the nucleic acid content of EVs to include increased levels of specific DNA. Thus, EVs contain a repertoire of genetic information available for horizontal gene transfer and potential use as blood biomarkers for cancer and atherosclerosis. In this review, the focus is on the characteristics, biological functions, and roles in diseases of DNA within EVs. - Highlights: • This review is focused on the DNA within EVs including its characteristics, biological functions, and roles in diseases. • It is clear that DNA within EVs might have important physiological and pathological roles in various diseases. • Knowledge in this area may provides us alternative methods for disease diagnosis or therapy in the future.

  5. Compartmentalization and Transport in Synthetic Vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine eSchmitt

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Nano-scale vesicles have become a popular tool in life sciences. Besides liposomes that are generated from phospholipids of natural origin, polymersomes fabricated of synthetic block copolymers enjoy increasing popularity, as they represent more versatile membrane building blocks that can be selected based on their specific physicochemical properties, like permeability, stability or chemical reactivity.In this review, we focus on the application of simple and nested artificial vesicles in synthetic biology. First, we provide an introduction into the utilization of multi-compartmented vesosomes as compartmentalized nano-scale bioreactors. In the bottom-up development of protocells from vesicular nano-reactors, the specific exchange of pathway intermediates across compartment boundaries represents a bottleneck for future studies. To date, most compartmented bioreactors rely on unspecific exchange of substrates and products. This is either based on changes in permeability of the coblock polymer shell by physicochemical triggers or by the incorporation of unspecific porin proteins into the vesicle membrane. Since the incorporation of membrane transport proteins into simple and nested artificial vesicles offers the potential for specific exchange of substances between subcompartments, it opens new vistas in the design of protocells. Therefore we devote the main part of the review to summarize the technical advances in the use of phospholipids and block copolymers for the reconstitution of membrane proteins.

  6. Hydroxylase inhibition attenuates colonic epithelial secretory function and ameliorates experimental diarrhea.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Ward, Joseph B J

    2012-02-01

    Hydroxylases are oxygen-sensing enzymes that regulate cellular responses to hypoxia. Transepithelial Cl(-) secretion, the driving force for fluid secretion, is dependent on O(2) availability for generation of cellular energy. Here, we investigated the role of hydroxylases in regulating epithelial secretion and the potential for targeting these enzymes in treatment of diarrheal disorders. Ion transport was measured as short-circuit current changes across voltage-clamped monolayers of T(84) cells and mouse colon. The antidiarrheal efficacy of dimethyloxallyl glycine (DMOG) was tested in a mouse model of allergic disease. Hydroxylase inhibition with DMOG attenuated Ca(2+)- and cAMP-dependent secretory responses in voltage-clamped T(84) cells to 20.2 +\\/- 2.6 and 38.8 +\\/- 6.7% (n=16; P<\\/=0.001) of those in control cells, respectively. Antisecretory actions of DMOG were time and concentration dependent, being maximal after 18 h of DMOG (1 mM) treatment. DMOG specifically inhibited Na(+)\\/K(+)-ATPase pump activity without altering its expression or membrane localization. In mice, DMOG inhibited agonist-induced secretory responses ex vivo and prevented allergic diarrhea in vivo. In conclusion, hydroxylases are important regulators of epithelial Cl(-) and fluid secretion and present a promising target for development of new drugs to treat transport disorders.

  7. Hydroxylase inhibition attenuates colonic epithelial secretory function and ameliorates experimental diarrhea.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Ward, Joseph B J

    2011-02-01

    Hydroxylases are oxygen-sensing enzymes that regulate cellular responses to hypoxia. Transepithelial Cl(-) secretion, the driving force for fluid secretion, is dependent on O(2) availability for generation of cellular energy. Here, we investigated the role of hydroxylases in regulating epithelial secretion and the potential for targeting these enzymes in treatment of diarrheal disorders. Ion transport was measured as short-circuit current changes across voltage-clamped monolayers of T(84) cells and mouse colon. The antidiarrheal efficacy of dimethyloxallyl glycine (DMOG) was tested in a mouse model of allergic disease. Hydroxylase inhibition with DMOG attenuated Ca(2+)- and cAMP-dependent secretory responses in voltage-clamped T(84) cells to 20.2 ± 2.6 and 38.8 ± 6.7% (n=16; P≤0.001) of those in control cells, respectively. Antisecretory actions of DMOG were time and concentration dependent, being maximal after 18 h of DMOG (1 mM) treatment. DMOG specifically inhibited Na(+)\\/K(+)-ATPase pump activity without altering its expression or membrane localization. In mice, DMOG inhibited agonist-induced secretory responses ex vivo and prevented allergic diarrhea in vivo. In conclusion, hydroxylases are important regulators of epithelial Cl(-) and fluid secretion and present a promising target for development of new drugs to treat transport disorders.

  8. Chromatic response of polydiacetylene vesicle induced by the permeation of methotrexate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Min Jae; Kim, Ye Jin; Kim, Jong-Duk

    2015-07-07

    The noble vesicular system of polydiacetylene showed a red shift using two types of detecting systems. One of the systems involves the absorption of target materials from the outer side of the vesicle, and the other system involves the permeation through the vesicular layers from within the vesicle. The chromatic mixed vesicles of N-(2-aminoethyl)pentacosa-10,12-diynamide (AEPCDA) and dimethyldioctadecylammonium chloride (DODAC) were fabricated by sonication, followed by polymerization by UV irradiation. The stability of monomeric vesicles was observed to increase with the polymerization of the vesicles. Methotrexate was used as a target material. The polymerized mixed vesicles having a blue color were exposed to a concentration gradient of methotrexate, and a red shift was observed indicating the adsorption of methotrexate on the polydiacetylene bilayer. In order to check the chromatic change by the permeation of methotrexate, we separated the vesicle portion, which contained methotrexate inside the vesicle, and checked chromatic change during the permeation of methotrexate through the vesicle. The red shift apparently indicates the disturbance in the bilayer induced by the permeation of methotrexate. The maximum contrast of color appeared at the equal molar ratio of AEPCDA and DODAC, indicating that the formation of flexible and deformable vesicular layers is important for red shift. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the system can be applicable for the chromatic detection of the permeation of methotrexate through the polydiacetylene layer.

  9. Effect of Gamma Radiation on Amino Acid Based Vesicle Carrying Radiosensitizer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nur Ratasha Alia Mohd Rosli; Faizal Mohamed; Muhammad Amir Syafiq Mohd Sah; Irman Abdul Rahman

    2014-01-01

    Vesicles has been developed and studied to be used as a medium to transport radiosensitizer in treating cancer cells by increasing its sensitivity effectively towards the radiation given during radiotherapy. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of gamma radiation on amino acid-based vesicle carrying radiosensitizer. Amino acid based vesicles carrying radiosensitizer were synthesized using sonication method with sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate hydrate and decanol being the primary surfactant, while hydrogen peroxide and sodium hyaluronate as the encapsulated radiosensitizer. The synthesized vesicle was then irradiated at radiation doses equivalent to those given during radiotherapy. Irradiated vesicle carrying radiosensitizer were then characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Polarized Light Microscope. Results obtained shows that there were no significant changes in morphology and molecular conformation of the synthesized vesicle after irradiation. Even at higher radiation dose of 100 Gray and 200 Gray, the results remained unchanged. This indicates that the synthesized vesicle carrying radiosensitizer is morphologically and spectroscopically stable even at high radiation doses. (author)

  10. Gold nanoparticles covalently assembled onto vesicle structures as possible biosensing platform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Fátima Barroso

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this contribution a strategy is shown to covalently immobilize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs onto vesicle bilayers with the aim of using this nanomaterial as platform for the future design of immunosensors. A novel methodology for the self-assembly of AuNPs onto large unilamellar vesicle structures is described. The vesicles were formed with 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC and 1-undecanethiol (SH. After, the AuNPs photochemically synthesized in pure glycerol were mixed and anchored onto SH–DOPC vesicles. The data provided by voltammetry, spectrometry and microscopy techniques indicated that the AuNPs were successfully covalently anchored onto the vesicle bilayer and decorated vesicles exhibit a spherical shape with a size of 190 ± 10 nm. The developed procedure is easy, rapid and reproducible to start designing a possible immunosensor by using environmentally friendly procedures.

  11. Pseudomonas aeruginosa vesicles associate with and are internalized by human lung epithelial cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuehn Meta J

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the major pathogen associated with chronic and ultimately fatal lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF. To investigate how P. aeruginosa-derived vesicles may contribute to lung disease, we explored their ability to associate with human lung cells. Results Purified vesicles associated with lung cells and were internalized in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Vesicles from a CF isolate exhibited a 3- to 4-fold greater association with lung cells than vesicles from the lab strain PAO1. Vesicle internalization was temperature-dependent and was inhibited by hypertonic sucrose and cyclodextrins. Surface-bound vesicles rarely colocalized with clathrin. Internalized vesicles colocalized with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER marker, TRAPα, as well as with ER-localized pools of cholera toxin and transferrin. CF isolates of P. aeruginosa abundantly secrete PaAP (PA2939, an aminopeptidase that associates with the surface of vesicles. Vesicles from a PaAP knockout strain exhibited a 40% decrease in cell association. Likewise, vesicles from PAO1 overexpressing PaAP displayed a significant increase in cell association. Conclusion These data reveal that PaAP promotes the association of vesicles with lung cells. Taken together, these results suggest that P. aeruginosa vesicles can interact with and be internalized by lung epithelial cells and contribute to the inflammatory response during infection.

  12. Periodic activity of secretory glands of stomach in ulcer erosion of gastro-duodenal zone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. I. Rudenko

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available It was fixed, that development of atophanum-carbacholimun ulcer of the gastroduodenal zone invoked various changes of secretory activity of the stomach. The changes directly depend on a progress of pathological process. As this takes place the reaction of stomach secretory glands varies under the stimulation with histamine: the decrease of stomach secretory glands’ work capacity till 10th day and its increase after 10–15th day were observed. Disorders of the glands’ ultradian rhythms at initial stages of modeling of gastrointestinal nervous regulation disturbances testify to dependence of periodic activity of gastrointestinal tract on resistance of regulatory mechanisms correlation.

  13. Interaction and rheology of vesicle suspensions in confined shear flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Zaiyi; Farutin, Alexander; Thiébaud, Marine; Misbah, Chaouqi

    2017-10-01

    Dynamics and rheology of a confined suspension of vesicles (a model for red blood cells) are studied numerically in two dimensions by using an immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann method. We pay particular attention to the link between the spatiotemporal organization and the rheology of the suspension. Besides confinement, we analyze the effect of concentration of the suspension, ϕ (defined as the area fraction occupied by the vesicles in the simulation domain), as well as the viscosity contrast λ (defined as the ratio between the viscosity of the fluid inside the vesicles, ηint, and that of the suspending fluid, ηext). The hydrodynamic interaction between two vesicles is shown to play a key role in determining the spatial organization. For λ =1 , the pair of vesicles settles into an equilibrium state with constant interdistance, which is regulated by the confinement. The equilibrium interdistance increases with the gap between walls, following a linear relationship. However, no stable equilibrium interdistance between two tumbling vesicles is observed for λ =10 . A quite ordered suspension is observed concomitant with the existence of an equilibrium interdistance between a vesicle pair. However, a disordered suspension prevails when no pair equilibrium interdistance exists, as occurs for tumbling vesicles. We then analyze the rheology, focusing on the effective viscosity, denoted as η , as well as on normalized viscosity, defined as [η ] =(η -ηext) /(ηextϕ ) . Ordering of the suspension is accompanied by a nonmonotonic behavior of [η ] with ϕ , while η exhibits plateaus. The nonmonotonic behavior of [η ] is suppressed when a disordered pattern prevails.

  14. Biogenesis and function of Porphyromonas gingivalis outer membrane vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, H

    2015-01-01

    Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the keystone pathogens associated with chronic periodontitis. All P. gingivalis strains examined thus far produce outer membrane vesicles. Recent studies have found that vesicles possess some well-known virulence factors of P. gingivalis such as adhesins, toxins and proteolytic enzymes. Carrying most of the characteristic features of their parent P. gingivalis cells, vesicles communicate with host cells and other members of microbial biofilms, resulting in the transmission of virulence factors into these host cells and the formation of pathogenic bacteria-dominated microbial communities. An in-depth understanding of both the nature and role of vesicles in the pathogenicity of P. gingivalis is both important and timely, particularly when speaking of periodontitis and its related systemic effects. PMID:26343879

  15. Lactadherin inhibits secretory phospholipase A2 activity on pre-apoptotic leukemia cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nyegaard, Steffen; Novakovic, Valerie A.; Rasmussen, Jan Trige

    2013-01-01

    Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) is a critical component of insect and snake venoms and is secreted by mammalian leukocytes during inflammation. Elevated secretory PLA2 concentrations are associated with autoimmune diseases and septic shock. Many sPLA2’s do not bind to plasma membranes of quies...

  16. Effect of nitrate supply and mycorrhizal inoculation on characteristics of tobacco root plasma membrane vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moche, Martin; Stremlau, Stefanie; Hecht, Lars; Göbel, Cornelia; Feussner, Ivo; Stöhr, Christine

    2010-01-01

    Plant plasma membrane (pm) vesicles from mycorrhizal tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun) roots were isolated with negligible fungal contamination by the aqueous two-phase partitioning technique as proven by fatty acid analysis. Palmitvaccenic acid became apparent as an appropriate indicator for fungal membranes in root pm preparations. The pm vesicles had a low specific activity of the vanadate-sensitive ATPase and probably originated from non-infected root cells. In a phosphate-limited tobacco culture system, root colonisation by the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus mosseae, is inhibited by external nitrate in a dose-dependent way. However, detrimental high concentrations of 25 mM nitrate lead to the highest colonisation rate observed, indicating that the defence system of the plant is impaired. Nitric oxide formation by the pm-bound nitrite:NO reductase increased in parallel with external nitrate supply in mycorrhizal roots in comparison to the control plants, but decreased under excess nitrate. Mycorrhizal pm vesicles had roughly a twofold higher specific activity as the non-infected control plants when supplied with 10-15 mM nitrate.

  17. Secretory pathway Ca2+/Mn2+-ATPase isoform 2 and lactation: specific localization of plasmalemmal and secretory pathway Ca2+ pump isoforms in the mammary gland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Faddy, Helen M.; Smart, Chanel E.; Xu, Ren; Lee, Genee Y.; Kenny, Paraic A.; Feng, Mingye; Rao, Rajini; Brown, Melissa A.; Bissell, Mina J.; Roberts-Thomson, Sarah J.; Monteith, Gregory R.

    2008-04-09

    The supply of calcium to the developing neonate via milk is an important physiological process. Until recently the mechanism for the enrichment of milk with calcium was thought to be almost entirely mediated via the secretory pathway. However, recent studies suggest that a specific isoform of the plasma membrane calcium ATPase, PMCA2, is the primary mechanism for calcium transport into milk, highlighting a major role for apical calcium transport. We compared the expression of the recently identified secretory calcium ATPase, SPCA2, and SPCA1, in the mouse mammary gland during different stages of development. SPCA2 levels increased over 35 fold during lactation, while SPCA1 increased only a modest two fold. The potential importance of SPCA2 in lactation was also highlighted by its localization to luminal secretory cells of the mammary gland during lactation, while SPCA1 was expressed throughout the cells of the mammary gland. We also observed major differences in the localization of PMCA2 and PMCA1 during lactation. Using the SCp2 mouse mammary epithelial cell 3D culture model, differences in the sub-cellular distribution of PMCA2 and PMCA1 were clear. These studies highlight the likely specific roles of PMCA2 and SPCA2 in lactation, and link the recently characterized SPCA2 calcium pump to the supply of calcium into milk and the regulation of Golgi resident enzymes important in lactation. They also indicate that calcium transport into milk is a complex interplay between apical and secretory pathways.

  18. Adhesion signals of phospholipid vesicles at an electrified interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeNardis, Nadica Ivošević; Žutić, Vera; Svetličić, Vesna; Frkanec, Ruža

    2012-09-01

    General adhesion behavior of phospholipid vesicles was examined in a wide range of potentials at the mercury electrode by recording time-resolved adhesion signals. It was demonstrated that adhesion-based detection is sensitive to polar headgroups in phospholipid vesicles. We identified a narrow potential window around the point of zero charge of the electrode where the interaction of polar headgroups of phosphatidylcholine vesicles with the substrate is manifested in the form of bidirectional signals. The bidirectional signal is composed of the charge flow due to the nonspecific interaction of vesicle adhesion and spreading and of the charge flow due to a specific interaction of the negatively charged electrode and the most exposed positively charged choline headgroups. These signals are expected to appear only when the electrode surface charge density is less than the surface charge density of the choline groups at the contact interface. In comparison, for the negatively charged phosphatidylserine vesicles, we identified the potential window at the mercury electrode where charge compensation takes place, and bidirectional signals were not detected.

  19. The Xanthomonas Ax21 protein is processed by the general secretory system and is secreted in association with outer membrane vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ofir Bahar

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs play an important role in detecting invading pathogens and mounting a robust defense response to restrict infection. In rice, one of the best characterized PRRs is XA21, a leucine rich repeat receptor-like kinase that confers broad-spectrum resistance to multiple strains of the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo. In 2009 we reported that an Xoo protein, called Ax21, is secreted by a type I-secretion system and that it serves to activate XA21-mediated immunity. This report has recently been retracted. Here we present data that corrects our previous model. We first show that Ax21 secretion does not depend on the predicted type I secretion system and that it is processed by the general secretion (Sec system. We further show that Ax21 is an outer membrane protein, secreted in association with outer membrane vesicles. Finally, we provide data showing that ax21 knockout strains do not overcome XA21-mediated immunity.

  20. Intact deposition of cationic vesicles on anionic cellulose fibers: Role of vesicle size, polydispersity, and substrate roughness studied via streaming potential measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Abhijeet; Gilson, Laurent; Henrich, Franziska; Dahl, Verena; Kleinen, Jochen; Gambaryan-Roisman, Tatiana; Venzmer, Joachim

    2016-07-01

    Understanding the mechanism of intact vesicle deposition on solid surfaces is important for effective utilization of vesicles as active ingredient carriers in applications such as drug delivery and fabric softening. In this study, the deposition of large (davg=12μm) and small (davg=0.27μm) cationic vesicles of ditallowethylester dimethylammonium chloride (DEEDMAC) on smooth and rough anionic cellulose fibers is investigated. The deposition process is studied quantitatively using streaming potential measurements and spectrophotometric determination of DEEDMAC concentrations. Natural and regenerated cellulose fibers, namely cotton and viscose, having rough and smooth surfaces, respectively, are used as adsorbents. Equilibrium deposition data and profiles of substrate streaming potential variation with deposition are used to gain insights into the fate of vesicles upon deposition and the deposition mechanism. Intact deposition of DEEDMAC vesicles is ascertained based on streaming potential variation with deposition in the form of characteristic saturating profiles which symbolize particle-like deposition. The same is also confirmed by confocal fluorescence microscopy. Substrate roughness is found to considerably influence the deposition mechanism which, in a novel application of electrokinetic methods, is elucidated via streaming potential measurements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Dynamics of coarsening in multicomponent lipid vesicles with non-uniform mechanical properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funkhouser, Chloe M.; Solis, Francisco J.; Thornton, K.

    2014-04-01

    Multicomponent lipid vesicles are commonly used as a model system for the complex plasma membrane. One phenomenon that is studied using such model systems is phase separation. Vesicles composed of simple lipid mixtures can phase-separate into liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered phases, and since these phases can have different mechanical properties, this separation can lead to changes in the shape of the vesicle. In this work, we investigate the dynamics of phase separation in multicomponent lipid vesicles, using a model that couples composition to mechanical properties such as bending rigidity and spontaneous curvature. The model allows the vesicle surface to deform while conserving surface area and composition. For vesicles initialized as spheres, we study the effects of phase fraction and spontaneous curvature. We additionally initialize two systems with elongated, spheroidal shapes. Dynamic behavior is contrasted in systems where only one phase has a spontaneous curvature similar to the overall vesicle surface curvature and systems where the spontaneous curvatures of both phases are similar to the overall curvature. The bending energy contribution is typically found to slow the dynamics by stabilizing configurations with multiple domains. Such multiple-domain configurations are found more often in vesicles with spheroidal shapes than in nearly spherical vesicles.

  2. File list: His.Utr.50.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  5. File list: His.Utr.05.AllAg.Fallopian_tube_secretory_epithelial_cell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  6. Suppression of cell death by the secretory form of N-terminal ERC/mesothelin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Tegexibaiyin; Kajino, Kazunori; Abe, Masaaki; Tan, Ke; Maruo, Masumi; Sun, Guodong; Hagiwara, Yoshiaki; Maeda, Masahiro; Hino, Okio

    2010-08-01

    ERC/mesothelin is highly expressed in malignant mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer, and ovarian cancer. It is cleaved to a 30 kDa N-terminal secretory form (N-ERC) and a 40 kDa C-terminal membranous form (C-ERC). Several functions have been reported for full-length ERC (full-ERC) and C-ERC/mesothelin, such as in cell adhesion and invasion, stimulation of cell proliferation, and the suppression of cell death. However, there have been no studies to date on the function of secretory N-ERC, despite the fact that it is abundantly secreted into the sera of mesothelioma patients. In this study, we investigated whether N-ERC could function as a secretory factor to stimulate tumor progression. Full-, N, or C-ERC was overexpressed in the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Huh7 that lacks endogenous expression of ERC/mesothelin. Changes in the rates of cell proliferation and cell death were determined, and the state of signal transducers was examined using various endpoints: total cell counts, trypan blue exclusion rate, BrdU incorporation rate, TUNEL assay, and the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and Stat3. In cells overexpressing N-ERC, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was enhanced and the rate of cell death decreased, leading to the increase of cell number. The culture medium containing the secretory N-ERC also had the activity to increase the number of cells. Our data suggested that one of the full-ERC functions reported previously was mediated by the secretory N-ERC.

  7. Amelogenins as potential buffers during secretory-stage amelogenesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, J; Lyaruu, D M; Takano, Y; Gibson, C W; DenBesten, P K; Bronckers, A L J J

    2015-03-01

    Amelogenins are the most abundant protein species in forming dental enamel, taken to regulate crystal shape and crystal growth. Unprotonated amelogenins can bind protons, suggesting that amelogenins could regulate the pH in enamel in situ. We hypothesized that without amelogenins the enamel would acidify unless ameloblasts were buffered by alternative ways. To investigate this, we measured the mineral and chloride content in incisor enamel of amelogenin-knockout (AmelX(-/-)) mice and determined the pH of enamel by staining with methyl-red. Ameloblasts were immunostained for anion exchanger-2 (Ae2), a transmembrane pH regulator sensitive for acid that secretes bicarbonate in exchange for chloride. The enamel of AmelX(-/-) mice was 10-fold thinner, mineralized in the secretory stage 1.8-fold more than wild-type enamel and containing less chloride (suggesting more bicarbonate secretion). Enamel of AmelX(-/-) mice stained with methyl-red contained no acidic bands in the maturation stage as seen in wild-type enamel. Secretory ameloblasts of AmelX(-/-) mice, but not wild-type mice, were immunopositive for Ae2, and stained more intensely in the maturation stage compared with wild-type mice. Exposure of AmelX(-/-) mice to fluoride enhanced the mineral content in the secretory stage, lowered chloride, and intensified Ae2 immunostaining in the enamel organ in comparison with non-fluorotic mutant teeth. The results suggest that unprotonated amelogenins may regulate the pH of forming enamel in situ. Without amelogenins, Ae2 could compensate for the pH drop associated with crystal formation. © International & American Associations for Dental Research 2014.

  8. Getting there: vesicles en route for plant cytokinesis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ozdoba, A.

    2007-01-01

    In dividing plant cells, membranous vesicles (60-80 nm in diameter) are transported to the site where a new cell wall that separates the daughter cells is formed. In this thesis the physical parameters size and stiffness that vesicles require to reach the forming cell plate were studied. Synthetic

  9. Spin State As a Probe of Vesicle Self-Assembly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sanghoon; Bellouard, Christine; Eastoe, Julian; Canilho, Nadia; Rogers, Sarah E; Ihiawakrim, Dris; Ersen, Ovidiu; Pasc, Andreea

    2016-03-02

    A novel system of paramagnetic vesicles was designed using ion pairs of iron-containing surfactants. Unilamellar vesicles (diameter ≈ 200 nm) formed spontaneously and were characterized by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and light and small-angle neutron scattering. Moreover, for the first time, it is shown that magnetization measurements can be used to investigate self-assembly of such functionalized systems, giving information on the vesicle compositions and distribution of surfactants between the bilayers and the aqueous bulk.

  10. Origins of microstructural transformations in charged vesicle suspensions: the crowding hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seth, Mansi; Ramachandran, Arun; Murch, Bruce P; Leal, L Gary

    2014-09-02

    It is observed that charged unilamellar vesicles in a suspension can spontaneously deflate and subsequently transition to form bilamellar vesicles, even in the absence of externally applied triggers such as salt or temperature gradients. We provide strong evidence that the driving force for this deflation-induced transition is the repulsive electrostatic pressure between charged vesicles in concentrated suspensions, above a critical effective volume fraction. We use volume fraction measurements and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy imaging to quantitatively follow both the macroscopic and microstructural time-evolution of cationic diC18:1 DEEDMAC vesicle suspensions at different surfactant and salt concentrations. A simple model is developed to estimate the extent of deflation of unilamellar vesicles caused by electrostatic interactions with neighboring vesicles. It is determined that when the effective volume fraction of the suspension exceeds a critical value, charged vesicles in a suspension can experience "crowding" due to overlap of their electrical double layers, which can result in deflation and subsequent microstructural transformations to reduce the effective volume fraction of the suspension. Ordinarily in polydisperse colloidal suspensions, particles interacting via a repulsive potential transform into a glassy state above a critical volume fraction. The behavior of charged vesicle suspensions reported in this paper thus represents a new mechanism for the relaxation of repulsive interactions in crowded situations.

  11. Integral equation methods for vesicle electrohydrodynamics in three dimensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veerapaneni, Shravan

    2016-12-01

    In this paper, we develop a new boundary integral equation formulation that describes the coupled electro- and hydro-dynamics of a vesicle suspended in a viscous fluid and subjected to external flow and electric fields. The dynamics of the vesicle are characterized by a competition between the elastic, electric and viscous forces on its membrane. The classical Taylor-Melcher leaky-dielectric model is employed for the electric response of the vesicle and the Helfrich energy model combined with local inextensibility is employed for its elastic response. The coupled governing equations for the vesicle position and its transmembrane electric potential are solved using a numerical method that is spectrally accurate in space and first-order in time. The method uses a semi-implicit time-stepping scheme to overcome the numerical stiffness associated with the governing equations.

  12. Instability of a Lamellar Phase under Shear Flow: Formation of Multilamellar Vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Courbin, L.; Delville, J. P.; Rouch, J.; Panizza, P.

    2002-09-01

    The formation of closed-compact multilamellar vesicles (referred to in the literature as the ``onion texture'') obtained upon shearing lamellar phases is studied using small-angle light scattering and cross-polarized microscopy. By varying the shear rate γ ˙, the gap cell D, and the smectic distance d, we show that: (i)the formation of this structure occurs homogeneously in the cell at a well-defined wave vector qi, via a strain-controlled process, and (ii)the value of qi varies as (dγ ˙/D)1/3. These results strongly suggest that formation of multilamellar vesicles may be monitored by an undulation (buckling) instability of the membranes, as expected from theory.

  13. The endocytic pathways of a secretory granule membrane protein in HEK293 cells: PAM and EGF traverse a dynamic multivesicular body network together.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bäck, Nils; Kanerva, Kristiina; Kurutihalli, Vishwanatha; Yanik, Andrew; Ikonen, Elina; Mains, Richard E; Eipper, Betty A

    2017-08-01

    Peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) is highly expressed in neurons and endocrine cells, where it catalyzes one of the final steps in the biosynthesis of bioactive peptides. PAM is also expressed in unicellular organisms such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which do not store peptides in secretory granules. As for other granule membrane proteins, PAM is retrieved from the cell surface and returned to the trans-Golgi network. This pathway involves regulated entry of PAM into multivesicular body intralumenal vesicles (ILVs). The aim of this study was defining the endocytic pathways utilized by PAM in cells that do not store secretory products in granules. Using stably transfected HEK293 cells, endocytic trafficking of PAM was compared to that of the mannose 6-phosphate (MPR) and EGF (EGFR) receptors, established markers for the endosome to trans-Golgi network and degradative pathways, respectively. As in neuroendocrine cells, PAM internalized by HEK293 cells accumulated in the trans-Golgi network. Based on surface biotinylation, >70% of the PAM on the cell surface was recovered intact after a 4h chase and soluble, bifunctional PAM was produced. Endosomes containing PAM generally contained both EGFR and MPR and ultrastructural analysis confirmed that all three cargos accumulated in ILVs. PAM containing multivesicular bodies made frequent dynamic tubular contacts with younger and older multivesicular bodies. Frequent dynamic contacts were observed between lysosomes and PAM containing early endosomes and multivesicular bodies. The ancient ability of PAM to localize to ciliary membranes, which release bioactive ectosomes, may be related to its ability to accumulate in ILVs and exosomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  14. Biochemical and morphological characterization of light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, K.P.

    1978-01-01

    Light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles isolated from rabbit leg muscle have been used in a study of chloride-induced calcium release. The biochemical and morphological data indicate that light sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles are derived from the longitudinal reticulum and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles are derived from the terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles were both able to accumulate calcium in the presence of ATP to amounts greater than 100 nmoles Ca/sup + +/ per mg of protein in less than one minute. Light and heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles each had a biphasic time course of calcium uptake. The initial uptake was followed by a rapid release after approximately one minute, of 30 to 40% of the accumulated calcium, which was then followed by a slower phase of calcium accumulation. Results indicate that the chloride induced release of calcium may be acting by two mechanisms, osmotic swelling and depolarization. The release of calcium from the light SR vesicles is probably due to osmotic swelling and the release of calcium from the heavy SR vesicles is probably due to depolarization.

  15. Characteristics of minerals in vesicles produced by human osteoblasts hFOB 1.19 and osteosarcoma Saos-2 cells stimulated for mineralization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strzelecka-Kiliszek, Agnieszka; Bozycki, Lukasz; Mebarek, Saida; Buchet, Rene; Pikula, Slawomir

    2017-06-01

    Bone cells control initial steps of mineralization by producing extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and releasing vesicles that trigger apatite nucleation. Using transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (TEM-EDX) we compared the quality of minerals in vesicles produced by two distinct human cell lines: fetal osteoblastic hFOB 1.19 and osteosarcoma Saos-2. Both cell lines, subjected to osteogenic medium with ascorbic acid (AA) and β-glycerophosphate (β-GP), undergo the entire osteoblastic differentiation program from proliferation to mineralization, produce the ECM and spontaneously release vesicles. We observed that Saos-2 cells mineralized better than hFOB 1.19, as probed by Alizarin Red-S (AR-S) staining, tissue nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) activity and by analyzing the composition of minerals in vesicles. Vesicles released from Saos-2 cells contained and were surrounded by more minerals than vesicles released from hFOB 1.19. In addition, there were more F and Cl substituted apatites in vesicles from hFOB 1.19 than in those from Saos-2 cells as determined by ion ratios. Saos-2 and h-FOB 1.19 cells revealed distinct mineralization profiles, indicating that the process of mineralization may proceed differently in various types of cells. Our findings suggest that TNAP activity is correlated with the relative proportions of mineral-filled vesicles and mineral-surrounded vesicles. The origin of vesicles and their properties predetermine the onset of mineralization at the cellular level. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Theory of Disk-to-Vesicle Transformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jianfeng; Shi, An-Chang

    2009-03-01

    Self-assembled membranes from amphiphilic molecules, such as lipids and block copolymers, can assume a variety of morphologies dictated by energy minimization of system. The membrane energy is characterized by a bending modulus (κ), a Gaussian modulus (κG), and the line tension (γ) of the edge. Two basic morphologies of membranes are flat disks that minimize the bending energy at the cost of the edge energy, and enclosed vesicles that minimize the edge energy at the cost of bending energy. In our work, the transition from disk to vesicle is studied theoretically using the string method, which is designed to find the minimum energy path (MEP) or the most probable transition path between two local minima of an energy landscape. Previous studies of disk-to-vesicle transition usually approximate the transitional states by a series of spherical cups, and found that the spherical cups do not correspond to stable or meta-stable states of the system. Our calculation demonstrates that the intermediate shapes along the MEP are very different from spherical cups. Furthermore, some of these transitional states can be meta-stable. The disk-to-vesicle transition pathways are governed by two scaled parameters, κG/κ and γR0/4κ, where R0 is the radius of the disk. In particular, a meta-stable intermediate state is predicted, which may correspond to the open morphologies observed in experiments and simulations.

  17. Secretory expression of a heterologous nattokinase in Lactococcus lactis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Xiaobo; Zhang, Lixin; Zhong, Jin; Huan, Liandong

    2007-05-01

    Nattokinase has been reported as an oral health product for the prevention of atherosclerosis. We developed a novel strategy to express a nattokinase from Bacillus subtilis in a live delivery vehicle, Lactococcus lactis. Promoter P( nisZ) and signal peptide SP(Usp) were used for inducible and secretory expression of nattokinase in L. lactis. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that nattokinase was successfully expressed, and about 94% of the enzyme was secreted to the culture. The recombinant nattokinase showed potent fibrinolytic activity, equivalent to 41.7 urokinase units per milliliter culture. Expression and delivery of such a fibrinolytic enzyme in the food-grade vehicle L. lactis would facilitate the widespread application of nattokinase in the control and prevention of thrombosis diseases.

  18. Vesicle dynamics in a confined Poiseuille flow: from steady state to chaos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aouane, Othmane; Thiébaud, Marine; Benyoussef, Abdelilah; Wagner, Christian; Misbah, Chaouqi

    2014-09-01

    Red blood cells (RBCs) are the major component of blood, and the flow of blood is dictated by that of RBCs. We employ vesicles, which consist of closed bilayer membranes enclosing a fluid, as a model system to study the behavior of RBCs under a confined Poiseuille flow. We extensively explore two main parameters: (i) the degree of confinement of vesicles within the channel and (ii) the flow strength. Rich and complex dynamics for vesicles are revealed, ranging from steady-state shapes (in the form of parachute and slipper shapes) to chaotic dynamics of shape. Chaos occurs through a cascade of multiple periodic oscillations of the vesicle shape. We summarize our results in a phase diagram in the parameter plane (degree of confinement and flow strength). This finding highlights the level of complexity of a flowing vesicle in the small Reynolds number where the flow is laminar in the absence of vesicles and can be rendered turbulent due to elasticity of vesicles.

  19. Safety and immunogenicity of the RIVM hexavalent meningococcal B vesicle vaccine for Rotterdam children aged 2-3 and 7-8

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Labadie J; Kleijn ED de; Lafeber AB; Mees MMM; Booy K; Groot R de; Omme GW van; Dijken H van; Kuipers AJ; Dobbelsteen G van den; Juttmann RE; Wala M; Alphen AJW van; Rumke HC; Sophia Kinderziekenhuis /; LVO

    2000-01-01

    This report documents the results of a randomised controlled phase-II clinical study into the safety and immunogenicity of the RIVM hexavalent MenB vesicle vaccine among 189 children aged 2-3 and 168 children aged 7-8 in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Two concentrations of the MenB vesicle

  20. Phospholipid Vesicles in Materials Science

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Granick, Steve [Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, IL (United States)

    2016-05-11

    The objective of this research was to develop the science basis needed to deploy phospholipid vesicles as functional materials in energy contexts. Specifically, we sought to: (1) Develop an integrated molecular-level understanding of what determines their dynamical shape, spatial organization, and responsiveness to complex, time-varying environments; and (2) Develop understanding of their active transportation in crowded environments, which our preliminary measurements in cells suggest may hold design principles for targeting improved energy efficiency in new materials systems. The methods to do this largely involved fluorescence imaging and other spectroscopy involving single particles, vesicles, particles, DNA, and endosomes. An unexpected importance outcome was a new method to image light-emitting diodes during actual operation using super-resolution spectroscopy.

  1. Effect of Semen on Vaginal Fluid Cytokines and Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathy J. Agnew

    2008-01-01

    Methods: 138 pregnant women had vaginal fluid collected for Gram stain, acid phosphatase detection by colorimetric assay, and interleukin 1-Beta, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor measurement by enzyme immunoassay. Results for women with and without acid phosphatase were compared by Mann-Whitney test. Results: of 138 subjects, 28 (20% had acid phosphatase detected; of these, only 19 (68% reported recent intercourse and 3 (11% had sperm seen on Gram stain. There were no significant differences in proinflammatory cytokine concentrations; however, secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor concentrations were significantly higher among women with acid phosphatase. Conclusions: proinflammatory cytokine measurement does not appear to be affected by the presence of semen, but secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor is significantly higher when semen is present. Detection of semen by acid phosphatase was associated with higher vaginal SLPI concentrations, however, the presence of semen did not appear to influence vaginal proinflammatory cytokine concentrations.

  2. Sugar-Decorated Sugar Vesicles : Lectin-Carbohydrate Recognition at the Surface of Cyclodextrin Vesicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Voskuhl, Jens; Stuart, Marc C. A.; Ravoo, Bart Jan

    2010-01-01

    An artificial glycocalix self-assembles when unilamellar bilayer vesicles of amphiphilic beta-cyclodextrins are decorated with maltose and lactose by host-guest interactions. To this end, maltose and lactose were conjugated with adamantane through a tetra(ethyleneglycol) spacer. Both

  3. Calcium transport in vesicles energized by cytochrome oxidase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosier, Randy N. [Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)

    1979-01-01

    Experiments on the reconstitution of cytochrome oxidase into phospholipid vesicles were carried out using techniques of selectivity energizing the suspensions with ascorbate and cytochrome c or ascorbate, PMS, and internally trapped cytochrome c. It was found that the K+ selective ionophore valinomycin stimulated the rate of respiration of cytochrome oxidase vesicles regardless of the direction of the K+ flux across the vesicle membranes. The stimulation occurred in the presence of protonophoric uncouplers and in the complete absence of potassium or in detergent-lysed suspensions. Gramicidin had similar effects and it was determined that the ionophores acted by specific interaction with cytochrome oxidase rather than by the previously assumed collapse of membrane potentials. When hydrophobic proteins and appropriate coupling factors were incorporated into the cytochrome oxidase, vesicles phosphorylation of ADP could be coupled to the oxidation reaction of cytochrome oxidase. Relatively low P:O, representing poor coupling of the system, were problematical and precluded measurements of protonmotive force. However the system was used to study ion translocation.

  4. An AFM-based pit-measuring method for indirect measurements of cell-surface membrane vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Xiaojun; Chen, Yuan; Chen, Yong

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Air drying induced the transformation of cell-surface membrane vesicles into pits. • An AFM-based pit-measuring method was developed to measure cell-surface vesicles. • Our method detected at least two populations of cell-surface membrane vesicles. - Abstract: Circulating membrane vesicles, which are shed from many cell types, have multiple functions and have been correlated with many diseases. Although circulating membrane vesicles have been extensively characterized, the status of cell-surface membrane vesicles prior to their release is less understood due to the lack of effective measurement methods. Recently, as a powerful, micro- or nano-scale imaging tool, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been applied in measuring circulating membrane vesicles. However, it seems very difficult for AFM to directly image/identify and measure cell-bound membrane vesicles due to the similarity of surface morphology between membrane vesicles and cell surfaces. Therefore, until now no AFM studies on cell-surface membrane vesicles have been reported. In this study, we found that air drying can induce the transformation of most cell-surface membrane vesicles into pits that are more readily detectable by AFM. Based on this, we developed an AFM-based pit-measuring method and, for the first time, used AFM to indirectly measure cell-surface membrane vesicles on cultured endothelial cells. Using this approach, we observed and quantitatively measured at least two populations of cell-surface membrane vesicles, a nanoscale population (<500 nm in diameter peaking at ∼250 nm) and a microscale population (from 500 nm to ∼2 μm peaking at ∼0.8 μm), whereas confocal microscopy only detected the microscale population. The AFM-based pit-measuring method is potentially useful for studying cell-surface membrane vesicles and for investigating the mechanisms of membrane vesicle formation/release

  5. Loading of Vesicles into Soft Amphiphilic Nanotubes using Osmosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erne, Petra M.; van Bezouwen, Laura S.; Stacko, Peter; van Dtjken, Derk Jan; Chen, Jiawen; Stuart, Marc C. A.; Boekema, Eghert J.; Feringa, Ben L.

    2015-01-01

    The facile assembly of higher-order nanoarchitectures from simple building blocks is demonstrated by the loading of vesicles into soft amphiphilic nanotubes using osmosis. The nanotubes are constructed from rigid interdigitated bilayers which are capped with vesicles comprising phospholipid-based

  6. Secretory Phospholipase A(2)-IIA and Cardiovascular Disease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Holmes, Michael V.; Simon, Tabassome; Exeter, Holly J.; Folkersen, Lasse; Asselbergs, Folkert W.; Guardiola, Montse; Cooper, Jackie A.; Palmen, Jutta; Hubacek, Jaroslav A.; Carruthers, Kathryn F.; Horne, Benjamin D.; Brunisholz, Kimberly D.; Mega, Jessica L.; Van Iperen, Erik P. A.; Li, Mingyao; Leusink, Maarten; Trompet, Stella; Verschuren, Jeffrey J. W.; Hovingh, G. Kees; Dehghan, Abbas; Nelson, Christopher P.; Kotti, Salma; Danchin, Nicolas; Scholz, Markus; Haase, Christiane L.; Rothenbacher, Dietrich; Swerdlow, Daniel I.; Kuchenbaecker, Karoline B.; Staines-Urias, Eleonora; Goel, Anuj; van 't Hooft, Ferdinand; Gertow, Karl; de Faire, Ulf; Panayiotou, Andrie G.; Tremoli, Elena; Baldassarre, Damiano; Veglia, Fabrizio; Holdt, Lesca M.; Beutner, Frank; Gansevoort, Ron T.; Navis, Gerjan J.; Mateo Leach, Irene; Breitling, Lutz P.; Brenner, Hermann; Thiery, Joachim; Dallmeier, Dhayana; Franco-Cereceda, Anders; Boer, Jolanda M. A.; Stephens, Jeffrey W.; Hofker, Marten H.; Tedgui, Alain; Hofman, Albert; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; Adamkova, Vera; Pitha, Jan; Onland-Moret, N. Charlotte; Cramer, Maarten J.; Nathoe, Hendrik M.; Spiering, Wilko; Klungel, Olaf H.; Kumari, Meena; Whincup, Peter H.; Morrow, David A.; Braund, Peter S.; Hall, Alistair S.; Olsson, Anders G.; Doevendans, Pieter A.; Trip, Mieke D.; Tobin, Martin D.; Hamsten, Anders; Watkins, Hugh; Koenig, Wolfgang; Nicolaides, Andrew N.; Teupser, Daniel; Day, Ian N. M.; Carlquist, John F.; Gaunt, Tom R.; Ford, Ian; Sattar, Naveed; Tsimikas, Sotirios; Schwartz, Gregory G.; Lawlor, Debbie A.; Morris, Richard W.; Sandhu, Manjinder S.; Poledne, Rudolf; Maitland-van der Zee, Anke H.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Keating, Brendan J.; van der Harst, Pim; Price, Jackie F.; Mehta, Shamir R.; Yusuf, Salim; Witteman, Jaqueline C. M.; Franco, Oscar H.; Jukema, J. Wouter; de Knijff, Peter; Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne; Rader, Daniel J.; Farrall, Martin; Samani, Nilesh J.; Kivimaki, Mika; Fox, Keith A. A.; Humphries, Steve E.; Anderson, Jeffrey L.; Boekholdt, S. Matthijs; Palmer, Tom M.; Eriksson, Per; Pare, Guillaume; Hingorani, Aroon D.; Sabatine, Marc S.; Mallat, Ziad; Casas, Juan P.; Talmud, Philippa J.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives This study sought to investigate the role of secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2))-IIA in cardiovascular disease. Background Higher circulating levels of sPLA(2)-IIA mass or sPLA(2) enzyme activity have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. However, it is not

  7. Extracellular Membrane Vesicles and Phytopathogenicity of Acholeplasma laidlawii PG8

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladislav M. Chernov

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available For the first time, the phytopathogenicity of extracellular vesicles of Acholeplasma laidlawii PG8 (a ubiquitous mycoplasma that is one of the five common species of cell culture contaminants and is a causative agent for phytomycoplasmoses in Oryza sativa L. plants was studied. Data on the ability of extracellular vesicles of Acholeplasma laidlawii PG8 to penetrate from the nutrient medium into overground parts of Oryza sativa L. through the root system and to cause alterations in ultrastructural organization of the plants were presented. As a result of the analysis of ultrathin leaf sections of plants grown in medium with A. laidlawii PG8 vesicles, we detected significant changes in tissue ultrastructure characteristic to oxidative stress in plants as well as their cultivation along with bacterial cells. The presence of nucleotide sequences of some mycoplasma genes within extracellular vesicles of Acholeplasma laidlawii PG8 allowed a possibility to use PCR (with the following sequencing to perform differential detection of cells and bacterial vesicles in samples under study. The obtained data may suggest the ability of extracellular vesicles of the mycoplasma to display in plants the features of infection from the viewpoint of virulence criteria—invasivity, infectivity—and toxigenicity—and to favor to bacterial phytopathogenicity.

  8. Elastic vesicles for transdermal drug delivery of hydrophilic drugs: a comparison of important physicochemical characteristics of different vesicle types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ntimenou, Vassiliki; Fahr, Alfred; Antimisiaris, Sophia G

    2012-08-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of different lipid vesicular systems on the skin permeation ability of hydrophilic molecules, and understand if and which vesicle physicochemical properties may be used as predictive tools. Calcein and carboxyfluorescein were used as hydrophilic drug models. All vesicles (conventional liposomes [CLs], transfersomes [TRs] and invasomes [INVs]), were characterized for particle size distribution, zeta-potential, vesicular shape and morphology, encapsulation efficiency, integrity, colloidal stability, elasticity and finally in vitro human skin permeation. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) defined that almost all vesicles had spherical structure, low polydispersity (PI Elasticity values (measured by extrusion through membranes) were in the order INVs > TRs > CLs. Three vesicle types were selected (having different elasticity) and in vitro skin permeation experiments demonstrated that calcein permeation was minimal from an aqueous solution, slightly enhanced from CLs, and enhanced by 1.8 and 7.2 times from TRs and INVs, respectively. Permeation and elasticity values were correlated by rank order but not linearly, indicating that elasticity can be used as a crude predictive tool for enhancement of skin transport. Drug encapsulation efficiency was not found to be an important factor in the current study.

  9. Label-free tracking of single extracellular vesicles in a nano-fluidic optical fiber (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Pol, Edwin; Weidlich, Stefan; Lahini, Yoav; Coumans, Frank A. W.; Sturk, Auguste; Nieuwland, Rienk; Schmidt, Markus A.; Faez, Sanli; van Leeuwen, Ton G.

    2016-03-01

    Background: Extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, are abundantly present in human body fluids. Since the size, concentration and composition of these vesicles change during disease, vesicles have promising clinical applications, including cancer diagnosis. However, since ~70% of the vesicles have a diameter <70 nm, detection of single vesicles remains challenging. Thus far, vesicles <70 nm have only be studied by techniques that require the vesicles to be adhered to a surface. Consequently, the majority of vesicles have never been studied in their physiological environment. We present a novel label-free optical technique to track single vesicles <70 nm in suspension. Method: Urinary vesicles were contained within a single-mode light-guiding silica fiber containing a 600 nm nano-fluidic channel. Light from a diode laser (660 nm wavelength) was coupled to the fiber, resulting in a strongly confined optical mode in the nano-fluidic channel, which continuously illuminated the freely diffusing vesicles inside the channel. The elastic light scattering from the vesicles, in the direction orthogonal to the fiber axis, was collected using a microscope objective (NA=0.95) and imaged with a home-built microscope. Results: We have tracked single urinary vesicles as small as 35 nm by elastic light scattering. Please note that vesicles are low-refractive index (n<1.4) particles, which we confirmed by combining data on thermal diffusion and light scattering cross section. Conclusions: For the first time, we have studied vesicles <70 nm freely diffusing in suspension. The ease-of-use and performance of this technique support its potential for vesicle-based clinical applications.

  10. Model of separated form factors for unilamellar vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiselev, M.A.; Aksenov, V.L.; Lesieur, P.; Lombardo, D.; Kiselev, A.M.

    2001-01-01

    A new model of separated form factors is proposed for the evaluation of small-angle neutron scattering curves from large unilamellar vesicles. The validity of the model was checked via comparison with the model of a hollow sphere. The model of separated form factors and the hollow sphere model give a reasonable agreement in the evaluation of vesicle parameters

  11. Influence of continuous light and darkness on the secretory ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    rent phases of the secretory process were demonstrated. (Srivastava 1999). ..... in the pineal supportive cells of deep sea fish, Nezumia liolepis (McNulty 1976) and .... factors as light and temperature. Melatonin and ... Brain Res. 52 271–296.

  12. Analysis of the effect of diabetes type 2 duration on beta cell secretory function and insulin resistance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Popović Ljiljana

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Diabetes type 2 is a chronic metabolic disorder. Pathogenesis of diabetes type 2 results from the impaired insulin secretion, impaired insulin action and increased endogenous glucose production. Diabetes evolves through several phases characterized by qualitative and quantitative changes of beta cell secretory function. The aim of our study was to analyze the impact of diabetes duration on beta cell secretory function and insulin resistance. The results indicated significant negative correlation of diabetes duration and fasting insulinemia, as well as beta cell secretory function assessed by HOMA β index. Our study also found significant negative correlation of diabetes duration and insulin resistance assessed by HOMA IR index. Significant positive correlation was established between beta cell secretory capacity (fasting insulinemia and HOMA β and insulin resistance assessed by HOMA IR index, independently of diabetes duration. These results indicate that: beta cell secretory capacity, assessed by HOMA β index, significantly decreases with diabetes duration. In parallel with decrease of fasting insulinemia, reduction of insulin resistance assessed by HOMA IR index was found as well.

  13. Asymmetric incorporation of Na+, K+-ATPase into phospholipid vesicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jackson, R.L.; Verkleij, A.J.; Zoelen, E.J.J. van; Lane, L.K.; Schwartz, A.; Deenen, L.L.M. van

    Purified lamb kidney Na+, K+-ATPase, consisting solely of the Mτ = 95,000 catalytic subunit and the Mτ- 44,000 glycoprotein, was solubilized with Triton X-100 and incorporated into unilamellar phospholipid vesicles. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy of the vesicles showed intramembranous particles

  14. Detection of association and fusion of giant vesicles using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunami, Takeshi; Caschera, Filippo; Morita, Yuuki; Toyota, Taro; Nishimura, Kazuya; Matsuura, Tomoaki; Suzuki, Hiroaki; Hanczyc, Martin M; Yomo, Tetsuya

    2010-10-05

    We have developed a method to evaluate the fusion process of giant vesicles using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). Three fluorescent markers and FACS technology were used to evaluate the extent of association and fusion of giant vesicles. Two fluorescent markers encapsulated in different vesicle populations were used as association markers; when these vesicles associate, the two independent markers should be observed simultaneously in a single detection event. The quenched fluorescent marker and the dequencher, which were encapsulated in separate vesicle populations, were used as the fusion marker. When the internal aqueous solutions mix, the quenched marker is liberated by the dequencher and emits the third fluorescent signal. Although populations of pure POPC vesicles showed no detectable association or fusion, the same populations, oppositely charged by the exogenous addition of charged amphiphiles, showed up to 50% association and 30% fusion upon population analysis of 100,000 giant vesicles. Although a substantial fraction of the vesicles associated in response to a small amount of the charged amphiphiles (5% mole fraction compared to POPC alone), a larger amount of the charged amphiphiles (25%) was needed to induce vesicle fusion. The present methodology also revealed that the association and fusion of giant vesicles was dependent on size, with larger giant vesicles associating and fusing more frequently.

  15. Methods for the physical characterization and quantification of extracellular vesicles in biological samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rupert, Déborah L M; Claudio, Virginia; Lässer, Cecilia; Bally, Marta

    2017-01-01

    Our body fluids contain a multitude of cell-derived vesicles, secreted by most cell types, commonly referred to as extracellular vesicles. They have attracted considerable attention for their function as intercellular communication vehicles in a broad range of physiological processes and pathological conditions. Extracellular vesicles and especially the smallest type, exosomes, have also generated a lot of excitement in view of their potential as disease biomarkers or as carriers for drug delivery. In this context, state-of-the-art techniques capable of comprehensively characterizing vesicles in biological fluids are urgently needed. This review presents the arsenal of techniques available for quantification and characterization of physical properties of extracellular vesicles, summarizes their working principles, discusses their advantages and limitations and further illustrates their implementation in extracellular vesicle research. The small size and physicochemical heterogeneity of extracellular vesicles make their physical characterization and quantification an extremely challenging task. Currently, structure, size, buoyant density, optical properties and zeta potential have most commonly been studied. The concentration of vesicles in suspension can be expressed in terms of biomolecular or particle content depending on the method at hand. In addition, common quantification methods may either provide a direct quantitative measurement of vesicle concentration or solely allow for relative comparison between samples. The combination of complementary methods capable of detecting, characterizing and quantifying extracellular vesicles at a single particle level promises to provide new exciting insights into their modes of action and to reveal the existence of vesicle subpopulations fulfilling key biological tasks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Understanding crumpling lipid vesicles at the gel phase transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirst, Linda; Ossowski, Adam; Fraser, Matthew

    2011-03-01

    Wrinkling and crumpling transitions in different membrane types have been studied extensively in recent years both theoretically and computationally. There has also been very interesting recent work on defects in liquid crystalline shells. Lipid bilayer vesicles, widely used in biophysical research can be considered as a single layer smectic shell in the liquid crystalline phase. On cooling the lipid vesicle a transition to the gel phase may take place in which the lipid chains tilt and assume a more ordered packing arrangement. We observe large scale morphological changes in vesicles close to this transition point using fluorescence microscopy and investigate the possible mechanisms for this transition. Confocal microscopy is used to map 3D vesicle shape and crumpling length-scales. We also employ the molecular tilt sensitive dye, Laurdan to investigate the role of tilt domain formation on macroscopic structure. Funded by NSF CAREER award (DMR - BMAT #0852791).

  17. Reduced synaptic vesicle protein degradation at lysosomes curbs TBC1D24/sky-induced neurodegeneration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandes, Ana Clara; Uytterhoeven, Valerie; Kuenen, Sabine; Wang, Yu-Chun; Slabbaert, Jan R; Swerts, Jef; Kasprowicz, Jaroslaw; Aerts, Stein; Verstreken, Patrik

    2014-11-24

    Synaptic demise and accumulation of dysfunctional proteins are thought of as common features in neurodegeneration. However, the mechanisms by which synaptic proteins turn over remain elusive. In this paper, we study Drosophila melanogaster lacking active TBC1D24/Skywalker (Sky), a protein that in humans causes severe neurodegeneration, epilepsy, and DOOR (deafness, onychdystrophy, osteodystrophy, and mental retardation) syndrome, and identify endosome-to-lysosome trafficking as a mechanism for degradation of synaptic vesicle-associated proteins. In fly sky mutants, synaptic vesicles traveled excessively to endosomes. Using chimeric fluorescent timers, we show that synaptic vesicle-associated proteins were younger on average, suggesting that older proteins are more efficiently degraded. Using a genetic screen, we find that reducing endosomal-to-lysosomal trafficking, controlled by the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) complex, rescued the neurotransmission and neurodegeneration defects in sky mutants. Consistently, synaptic vesicle proteins were older in HOPS complex mutants, and these mutants also showed reduced neurotransmission. Our findings define a mechanism in which synaptic transmission is facilitated by efficient protein turnover at lysosomes and identify a potential strategy to suppress defects arising from TBC1D24 mutations in humans. © 2014 Fernandes et al.

  18. A novel isolation strategy for obtaining crude membrane vesicles from bovine skim milk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blans, Kristine; Larsen, Lotte Bach; Wiking, Lars

    Bovine milks content of phospholipid membranes have largely been explored in the cream fraction, and known as the milk fat globule membrane that surrounds fat droplets. In skim milk, the population of phospholipid membranes is reported to constitute membrane vesicles with a soluble content known...... is observed all over the gradient. The variety of the membrane vesicles is currently being investigated further by several means. Summary/conclusion: A new procedure for easy and gentle isolation of bovine milk membrane vesicles encompassing ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography has been...... established. The resulting vesicle isolate exhibits the general membrane vesicle characteristics and provides an appropriate start material from which the variety of milk vesicles can be investigated...

  19. Increased biogenesis of glucagon-containing secretory granules and glucagon secretion in BIG3-knockout mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongyu Li

    2015-03-01

    Conclusions: Together with our previous studies, the current data reveal a conserved role for BIG3 in regulating alpha- and beta-cell functions. We propose that BIG3 negatively regulates hormone production at the secretory granule biogenesis stage and that such regulatory mechanism may be used in secretory pathways of other endocrine cells.

  20. The effect of spontaneous curvature on a two-phase vesicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cox, Geoffrey; Lowengrub, John

    2015-01-01

    Vesicles are membrane-bound structures commonly known for their roles in cellular transport and the shape of a vesicle is determined by its surrounding membrane (lipid bilayer). When the membrane is composed of different lipids, it is natural for the lipids of similar molecular structure to migrate towards one another (via spinodal decomposition), creating a multi-phase vesicle. In this article, we consider a two-phase vesicle model which is driven by nature's propensity to maintain a minimal state of elastic energy. The model assumes a continuum limit, thereby treating the membrane as a closed three-dimensional surface. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the complexity of the Helfrich two-phase vesicle model with non-zero spontaneous curvature and provide further evidence to support the relevance of spontaneous curvature as a modelling parameter. In this paper, we illustrate the complexity of the Helfrich two-phase model by providing multiple examples of undocumented solutions and energy hysteresis. We also investigate the influence of spontaneous curvature on morphological effects and membrane phenomena such as budding and fusion. (paper)

  1. Endocytic vesicle rupture is a conserved mechanism of cellular invasion by amyloid proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flavin, William P; Bousset, Luc; Green, Zachary C; Chu, Yaping; Skarpathiotis, Stratos; Chaney, Michael J; Kordower, Jeffrey H; Melki, Ronald; Campbell, Edward M

    2017-10-01

    Numerous pathological amyloid proteins spread from cell to cell during neurodegenerative disease, facilitating the propagation of cellular pathology and disease progression. Understanding the mechanism by which disease-associated amyloid protein assemblies enter target cells and induce cellular dysfunction is, therefore, key to understanding the progressive nature of such neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we utilized an imaging-based assay to monitor the ability of disease-associated amyloid assemblies to rupture intracellular vesicles following endocytosis. We observe that the ability to induce vesicle rupture is a common feature of α-synuclein (α-syn) assemblies, as assemblies derived from WT or familial disease-associated mutant α-syn all exhibited the ability to induce vesicle rupture. Similarly, different conformational strains of WT α-syn assemblies, but not monomeric or oligomeric forms, efficiently induced vesicle rupture following endocytosis. The ability to induce vesicle rupture was not specific to α-syn, as amyloid assemblies of tau and huntingtin Exon1 with pathologic polyglutamine repeats also exhibited the ability to induce vesicle rupture. We also observe that vesicles ruptured by α-syn are positive for the autophagic marker LC3 and can accumulate and fuse into large, intracellular structures resembling Lewy bodies in vitro. Finally, we show that the same markers of vesicle rupture surround Lewy bodies in brain sections from PD patients. These data underscore the importance of this conserved endocytic vesicle rupture event as a damaging mechanism of cellular invasion by amyloid assemblies of multiple neurodegenerative disease-associated proteins, and suggest that proteinaceous inclusions such as Lewy bodies form as a consequence of continued fusion of autophagic vesicles in cells unable to degrade ruptured vesicles and their amyloid contents.

  2. Ready-made chromatography columns for extracellular vesicle isolation from plasma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanne Louise Welton

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Proteomic studies of circulating vesicles are hampered by difficulties in purifying vesicles from plasma and serum. Isolations are contaminated with high-abundance blood proteins that may mask genuine vesicular-associated proteins and/or simply provide misleading data. In this brief report, we explored the potential utility of a commercially available size exclusion chromatography column for rapid vesicle purification. We evaluated the performance of the column, with cancer cell line conditioned medium or healthy donor plasma, in terms of removing non-vesicular protein and enriching for vesicles exhibiting exosome characteristics. Serial fractions revealed a peak for typical exosomal proteins (CD9, CD81 etc. that preceded the peak for highly abundant proteins, including albumin, for either sample type, and harvesting only this peak would represent elimination of >95% of protein from the sample. The columns showed good reproducibility, and streamlining the workflow would allow the exosome-relevant material to be collected in less than 10 minutes. Surprisingly, however, subsequent post-column vesicle concentration steps whilst resulting in some protein loss also lead to low vesicle recoveries, with a net effect of reducing sample purity (assessed by the particle-to-protein ratio. The columns provide a convenient, reproducible and highly effective means of eliminating >95% of non-vesicular protein from biological fluid samples such as plasma.

  3. Snapin mediates insulin secretory granule docking, but not trans-SNARE complex formation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somanath, Sangeeta [Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 2AT (United Kingdom); Partridge, Christopher J. [Diabetes Research Laboratories, Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7LJ (United Kingdom); Marshall, Catriona [Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 2AT (United Kingdom); Rowe, Tony [CSL Limited, 45 Poplar Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Turner, Mark D., E-mail: mark.turner@ntu.ac.uk [Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG11 8NS (United Kingdom)

    2016-04-29

    Secretory granule exocytosis is a tightly regulated process requiring granule targeting, tethering, priming, and membrane fusion. At the heart of this process is the SNARE complex, which drives fusion through a coiled-coil zippering effect mediated by the granule v-SNARE protein, VAMP2, and the plasma membrane t-SNAREs, SNAP-25 and syntaxin-1A. Here we demonstrate that in pancreatic β-cells the SNAP-25 accessory protein, snapin, C-terminal H2 domain binds SNAP-25 through its N-terminal Sn-1 domain. Interestingly whilst snapin binds SNAP-25, there is only modest binding of this complex with syntaxin-1A under resting conditions. Instead synataxin-1A appears to be recruited in response to secretory stimulation. These results indicate that snapin plays a role in tethering insulin granules to the plasma membrane through coiled coil interaction of snapin with SNAP-25, with full granule fusion competency only resulting after subsequent syntaxin-1A recruitment triggered by secretory stimulation. - Highlights: • Snapin mediates granule docking. • Snapin binds SNAP-25. • SNARE complex forms downstream.

  4. Snapin mediates insulin secretory granule docking, but not trans-SNARE complex formation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Somanath, Sangeeta; Partridge, Christopher J.; Marshall, Catriona; Rowe, Tony; Turner, Mark D.

    2016-01-01

    Secretory granule exocytosis is a tightly regulated process requiring granule targeting, tethering, priming, and membrane fusion. At the heart of this process is the SNARE complex, which drives fusion through a coiled-coil zippering effect mediated by the granule v-SNARE protein, VAMP2, and the plasma membrane t-SNAREs, SNAP-25 and syntaxin-1A. Here we demonstrate that in pancreatic β-cells the SNAP-25 accessory protein, snapin, C-terminal H2 domain binds SNAP-25 through its N-terminal Sn-1 domain. Interestingly whilst snapin binds SNAP-25, there is only modest binding of this complex with syntaxin-1A under resting conditions. Instead synataxin-1A appears to be recruited in response to secretory stimulation. These results indicate that snapin plays a role in tethering insulin granules to the plasma membrane through coiled coil interaction of snapin with SNAP-25, with full granule fusion competency only resulting after subsequent syntaxin-1A recruitment triggered by secretory stimulation. - Highlights: • Snapin mediates granule docking. • Snapin binds SNAP-25. • SNARE complex forms downstream.

  5. Three-dimensional ultrastructural analyses of anterior pituitary gland expose spatial relationships between endocrine cell secretory granule localization and capillary distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshitomi, Munetake; Ohta, Keisuke; Kanazawa, Tomonoshin; Togo, Akinobu; Hirashima, Shingo; Uemura, Kei-Ichiro; Okayama, Satoko; Morioka, Motohiro; Nakamura, Kei-Ichiro

    2016-10-31

    Endocrine and endothelial cells of the anterior pituitary gland frequently make close appositions or contacts, and the secretory granules of each endocrine cell tend to accumulate at the perivascular regions, which is generally considered to facilitate secretory functions of these cells. However, three-dimensional relationships between the localization pattern of secretory granules and blood vessels are not fully understood. To define and characterize these spatial relationships, we used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) three-dimensional reconstruction method based on focused ion-beam slicing and scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM). Full three-dimensional cellular architectures of the anterior pituitary tissue at ultrastructural resolution revealed that about 70% of endocrine cells were in apposition to the endothelial cells, while almost 30% of endocrine cells were entirely isolated from perivascular space in the tissue. Our three-dimensional analyses also visualized the distribution pattern of secretory granules in individual endocrine cells, showing an accumulation of secretory granules in regions in close apposition to the blood vessels in many cases. However, secretory granules in cells isolated from the perivascular region tended to distribute uniformly in the cytoplasm of these cells. These data suggest that the cellular interactions between the endocrine and endothelial cells promote an uneven cytoplasmic distribution of the secretory granules.

  6. Overproduction of a Model Sec- and Tat-Dependent Secretory Protein Elicits Different Cellular Responses in Streptomyces lividans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia Gullón

    Full Text Available Streptomyces lividans is considered an efficient host for the secretory production of homologous and heterologous proteins. To identify possible bottlenecks in the protein production process, a comparative transcriptomic approach was adopted to study cellular responses during the overproduction of a Sec-dependent model protein (alpha-amylase and a Tat-dependent model protein (agarase in Streptomyces lividans. The overproduction of the model secretory proteins via the Sec or the Tat route in S. lividans does elicit a different major cell response in the bacterium. The stringent response is a bacterial response to nutrients' depletion, which naturally occurs at late times of the bacterial cell growth. While the induction of the stringent response at the exponential phase of growth may limit overall productivity in the case of the Tat route, the induction of that response does not take place in the case of the Sec route, which comparatively is an advantage in secretory protein production processes. Hence, this study identifies a potential major drawback in the secretory protein production process depending on the secretory route, and provides clues to improving S. lividans as a protein production host.

  7. Viscoelastic deformation of lipid bilayer vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shao-Hua; Sankhagowit, Shalene; Biswas, Roshni; Wu, Shuyang; Povinelli, Michelle L; Malmstadt, Noah

    2015-10-07

    Lipid bilayers form the boundaries of the cell and its organelles. Many physiological processes, such as cell movement and division, involve bending and folding of the bilayer at high curvatures. Currently, bending of the bilayer is treated as an elastic deformation, such that its stress-strain response is independent of the rate at which bending strain is applied. We present here the first direct measurement of viscoelastic response in a lipid bilayer vesicle. We used a dual-beam optical trap (DBOT) to stretch 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). Upon application of a step optical force, the vesicle membrane deforms in two regimes: a fast, instantaneous area increase, followed by a much slower stretching to an eventual plateau deformation. From measurements of dozens of GUVs, the average time constant of the slower stretching response was 0.225 ± 0.033 s (standard deviation, SD). Increasing the fluid viscosity did not affect the observed time constant. We performed a set of experiments to rule out heating by laser absorption as a cause of the transient behavior. Thus, we demonstrate here that the bending deformation of lipid bilayer membranes should be treated as viscoelastic.

  8. Attachment of 99mTc to lipid vesicles containing the lipophilic chelate dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine-DTPA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahkong, Q.F.; Tilcock, C.

    1992-01-01

    The binding of 99m Tc to negatively-charged and neutral unilamellar lipid vesicles was investigated in the absence and presence of the ligand diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) covalently attached to the headgroup of phosphatidylethanolamine at the surface of the membrane. Even in the absence of DTPA on the membrane surface, 99m Tc reduced by Sn bound to the membrane surface but rapidly dissociated from the vesicles in the presence of plasma in vitro. When DTPA was present on the membrane surface, dissociation of 99m Tc from the vesicle surface in plasma was much reduced. The dissociation of 99m Tc from the surface of negatively-charged vesicles was less than for neutral vesicles in the absence of ligand but was markedly greater than for vesicles containing the ligand DTPA, suggesting that the binding of 99m Tc to vesicles with surface-attached DTPA could not be explained solely on the basis of the negative charge provided by the DTPA. In vitro experiments using 14 C-labeled lipids as well as in vivo imaging studies indicated that dissociation of 99m Tc from the surface of the vesicle did not arise predominantly because of lipid exchange with plasma components or due to cleavage of Tc-DTPA from the vesicle surface. For vesicles with surface-attached DTPA, 99m Tc dissociation from the vesicle surface in plasma was further reduced by addition of the antioxidant ascorbate. (author)

  9. Secretory structures of Ipomoea asarifolia: anatomy and histochemistry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabiano M. Martins

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Ipomoea asarifolia (Desr. Roem. & Schult., Convolvulaceae, is a weed that infests agricultural areas and is toxic to cattle. In spite of its toxicity, the leaves of this plant are used in traditional remedies in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The present work describes the leaf anatomy of I. asarifolia and characterizes the exudates of its secretory structures. The leaves have a unistratified epidermis composed of ordinary cells with straight to slightly sinuous anticlinal walls and thin cuticles. Paracytic stomata are found on both surfaces of the leaves at the same level as the ordinary epidermal cells. Trichomes producing polysaccharide secretions occur on the petiole and leaf blade and are considered colleters. The mesophyll is dorsiventral and the vascular bundle of the central vein is bicollateral. Two opposed nectaries occur on the petiole near the leaf blade. Each nectary is composed of a small canal with internal ramifications and numerous secretory trichomes. The laticiferous glands are articulated, not anastomosed, and are composed of large diameter cells with thin cell walls. The secretions of the laticiferous glands are lipidic.

  10. Modulating the forces between self-assembling molecules to control the shape of vesicles and the mechanics and alignment of nanofiber networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenfield, Megan Ann

    One of the great challenges in supramolecular chemistry is the design of molecules that can self-assemble into functional aggregates with well-defined three-dimensional structures and bulk material properties. Since the self-assembly of nanostructures is greatly influenced by both the nature of the self-assembling components and the environmental conditions in which the components assemble, this work explores how changes in the molecular design and the environment affect the properties of self-assembled structures. We first explore how to control the mechanical properties of self-assembled fibrillar networks by changing environmental conditions. We report here on how changing pH, screening ions, and solution temperature affect the gelation, stiffness, and response to deformation of peptide amphiphile gels. Although the morphology of PA gels formed by charge neutralization and salt-mediated charge screening are similar by electron microscopy, rheological measurements indicate that the calcium-mediated ionic bridges in CaCl2-PA gels form stronger intra- and inter-fiber crosslinks than the hydrogen bonds formed by the protonated carboxylic acid residues in HCl-PA gels. In contrast, the structure of PA gels changes drastically when the PA solution is annealed prior to gel formation. Annealed PA solutions are birefringent and can form viscoelastic strings of aligned nanofibers when manually dragged across a thin film of CaCl2. These aligned arrays of PA nanofibers hold great promise in controlling the orientation of cells in three-dimensions. Separately, we applied the principles of molecular design to create buckled membrane nanostructures that mimic the shape of viruses. When oppositely charged amphiphilic molecules are mixed they can form vesicles with a periodic two-dimensional ionic lattice that opposes the membrane's natural curvature and can result in vesicle buckling. Our results demonstrate that a large +3 to -1 charge imbalance between the cationic and anionic

  11. Gliadin peptide P31-43 localises to endocytic vesicles and interferes with their maturation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Vittoria Barone

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Celiac Disease (CD is both a frequent disease (1:100 and an interesting model of a disease induced by food. It consists in an immunogenic reaction to wheat gluten and glutenins that has been found to arise in a specific genetic background; however, this reaction is still only partially understood. Activation of innate immunity by gliadin peptides is an important component of the early events of the disease. In particular the so-called "toxic" A-gliadin peptide P31-43 induces several pleiotropic effects including Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR-dependent actin remodelling and proliferation in cultured cell lines and in enterocytes from CD patients. These effects are mediated by delayed EGFR degradation and prolonged EGFR activation in endocytic vesicles. In the present study we investigated the effects of gliadin peptides on the trafficking and maturation of endocytic vesicles. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Both P31-43 and the control P57-68 peptide labelled with fluorochromes were found to enter CaCo-2 cells and interact with the endocytic compartment in pulse and chase, time-lapse, experiments. P31-43 was localised to vesicles carrying early endocytic markers at time points when P57-68-carrying vesicles mature into late endosomes. In time-lapse experiments the trafficking of P31-43-labelled vesicles was delayed, regardless of the cargo they were carrying. Furthermore in celiac enterocytes, from cultured duodenal biopsies, P31-43 trafficking is delayed in early endocytic vesicles. A sequence similarity search revealed that P31-43 is strikingly similar to Hrs, a key molecule regulating endocytic maturation. A-gliadin peptide P31-43 interfered with Hrs correct localisation to early endosomes as revealed by western blot and immunofluorescence microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: P31-43 and P57-68 enter cells by endocytosis. Only P31-43 localises at the endocytic membranes and delays vesicle trafficking by interfering with Hrs

  12. Brucella Modulates Secretory Trafficking via Multiple Type IV Secretion Effector Proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myeni, Sebenzile; Child, Robert; Ng, Tony W.; Kupko, John J.; Wehrly, Tara D.; Porcella, Stephen F.; Knodler, Leigh A.; Celli, Jean

    2013-01-01

    The intracellular pathogenic bacterium Brucella generates a replicative vacuole (rBCV) derived from the endoplasmic reticulum via subversion of the host cell secretory pathway. rBCV biogenesis requires the expression of the Type IV secretion system (T4SS) VirB, which is thought to translocate effector proteins that modulate membrane trafficking along the endocytic and secretory pathways. To date, only a few T4SS substrates have been identified, whose molecular functions remain unknown. Here, we used an in silico screen to identify putative T4SS effector candidate proteins using criteria such as limited homology in other bacterial genera, the presence of features similar to known VirB T4SS effectors, GC content and presence of eukaryotic-like motifs. Using β-lactamase and CyaA adenylate cyclase reporter assays, we identified eleven proteins translocated into host cells by Brucella, five in a VirB T4SS-dependent manner, namely BAB1_0678 (BspA), BAB1_0712 (BspB), BAB1_0847 (BspC), BAB1_1671 (BspE) and BAB1_1948 (BspF). A subset of the translocated proteins targeted secretory pathway compartments when ectopically expressed in HeLa cells, and the VirB effectors BspA, BspB and BspF inhibited protein secretion. Brucella infection also impaired host protein secretion in a process requiring BspA, BspB and BspF. Single or combined deletions of bspA, bspB and bspF affected Brucella ability to replicate in macrophages and persist in the liver of infected mice. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that Brucella modulates secretory trafficking via multiple T4SS effector proteins that likely act coordinately to promote Brucella pathogenesis. PMID:23950720

  13. Effectiveness of a group B outer membrane vesicle meningococcal vaccine against gonorrhoea in New Zealand: a retrospective case-control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petousis-Harris, Helen; Paynter, Janine; Morgan, Jane; Saxton, Peter; McArdle, Barbara; Goodyear-Smith, Felicity; Black, Steven

    2017-09-30

    Gonorrhoea is a major global public health problem that is exacerbated by drug resistance. Effective vaccine development has been unsuccessful, but surveillance data suggest that outer membrane vesicle meningococcal group B vaccines affect the incidence of gonorrhoea. We assessed vaccine effectiveness of the outer membrane vesicle meningococcal B vaccine (MeNZB) against gonorrhoea in young adults aged 15-30 years in New Zealand. We did a retrospective case-control study of patients at sexual health clinics aged 15-30 years who were born between Jan 1, 1984, and Dec 31, 1998, eligible to receive MeNZB, and diagnosed with gonorrhoea or chlamydia, or both. Demographic data, sexual health clinic data, and National Immunisation Register data were linked via patients' unique personal identifier. For primary analysis, cases were confirmed by laboratory isolation or detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae only from a clinical specimen, and controls were individuals with a positive chlamydia test only. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) comparing disease outcomes in vaccinated versus unvaccinated participants via multivariable logistic regression. Vaccine effectiveness was calculated as 100×(1-OR). 11 of 24 clinics nationally provided records. There were 14 730 cases and controls for analyses: 1241 incidences of gonorrhoea, 12 487 incidences of chlamydia, and 1002 incidences of co-infection. Vaccinated individuals were significantly less likely to be cases than controls (511 [41%] vs 6424 [51%]; adjusted OR 0·69 [95% CI 0·61-0·79]; pvaccine effectiveness of MeNZB against gonorrhoea after adjustment for ethnicity, deprivation, geographical area, and sex was 31% (95% CI 21-39). Exposure to MeNZB was associated with reduced rates of gonorrhoea diagnosis, the first time a vaccine has shown any protection against gonorrhoea. These results provide a proof of principle that can inform prospective vaccine development not only for gonorrhoea but also for meningococcal vaccines. GSK

  14. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV is sorted to the secretory granules in pancreatic islet A-cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Mona Dam; Hansen, Gert Helge; Dabelsteen, Erik

    1993-01-01

    Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DP IV:EC 3.4.14.5) was localized in endocrine cells of pig pancreas by immunohistochemical and enzyme histochemical methods. Immunolight microscopy with both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies demonstrated DP IV immunoreactivity in cells located in the peripheral part...... of the islets of Langerhans. The antigen is enzymatically active, as shown by enzyme histochemical analysis with a synthetic DP IV substrate. By immunoelectron microscopy (immunogold labeling), the labeling of DP IV in the islets was associated with the secretory granules of the A-cells, as identified by double...... labeling using a monoclonal glucagon antibody as the second primary antibody. These results show that DP IV is sorted to secretory granules in the pig pancreatic islet A-cells. Furthermore, this secretory granule enzyme, as opposed to intestinal brush border DP IV, is suggested to be a soluble protein...

  15. Cystadenoma of the seminal vesicle. A case report

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundhus, E; Bundgaard, N; Sørensen, Flemming Brandt

    1984-01-01

    Cystadenomas of the seminal vesicle are extremely rare benign tumours, which only have been reported seven times earlier in the literature. The first Danish case is reported with discussion of symptomatology, pathology and treatment.......Cystadenomas of the seminal vesicle are extremely rare benign tumours, which only have been reported seven times earlier in the literature. The first Danish case is reported with discussion of symptomatology, pathology and treatment....

  16. Packing states of multilamellar vesicles in a nonionic surfactant system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Le, T.D.; Olsson, U.; Mortensen, K.

    2001-01-01

    -alpha(*) phase using the noninvasive small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique, one while heating and the other while cooling the sample. Data from the heating and cooling cycles were used to demonstrate reversibility of the system. Three states of packing can be identified from the scattering profiles......Lyotropic lamellar phases under shear flow have been shown to form multilamellar vesicles (MLVs), an onion-like structure. The size of the vesicles is governed by the shear imposed on the sample. Previously, we studied the structural transformation from multilamellar vesicles to lamellae to sponge...... under shear. Here, we focused only in the MLV region, L-alpha(*), of a temperature sensitive surfactant system (C12E4-water) to investigate the packing of multilamellar vesicles as a function of temperature under constant shear. Two sets of temperature scan experiments were performed in the L...

  17. Vesicle fusion observed by content transfer across a tethered lipid bilayer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rawle, Robert J; van Lengerich, Bettina; Chung, Minsub; Bendix, Poul Martin; Boxer, Steven G

    2011-10-19

    Synaptic transmission is achieved by exocytosis of small, synaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitters across the plasma membrane. Here, we use a DNA-tethered freestanding bilayer as a target architecture that allows observation of content transfer of individual vesicles across the tethered planar bilayer. Tethering and fusion are mediated by hybridization of complementary DNA-lipid conjugates inserted into the two membranes, and content transfer is monitored by the dequenching of an aqueous content dye. By analyzing the diffusion profile of the aqueous dye after vesicle fusion, we are able to distinguish content transfer across the tethered bilayer patch from vesicle leakage above the patch. Copyright © 2011 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Formation of Giant Protein Vesicles by a Lipid Cosolvent Method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Jesper S.; Vararattanavech, Ardcharaporn; Vissing, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a method to create giant protein vesicles (GPVs) of ≥10 μm by solvent‐driven fusion of large vesicles (0.1–0.2 μm) with reconstituted membrane proteins. We found that formation of GPVs proceeded from rotational mixing of protein‐reconstituted large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs)...... of spinach SoPIP2;1 and E. coli AqpZ aquaporins. Our findings show that hydrophobic interactions within the bilayer of formed GPVs are influenced not only by the solvent partitioning propensity, but also by lipid composition and membrane protein isoform....

  19. Structure formation in binary mixtures of lipids and detergents: self-assembly and vesicle division.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noguchi, Hiroshi

    2013-01-14

    Self-assembly dynamics in binary surfactant mixtures and structure changes of lipid vesicles induced by detergent solution are studied using coarse-grained molecular simulations. Disk-shaped micelles, the bicelles, are stabilized by detergents surrounding the rim of a bilayer disk of lipids. The self-assembled bicelles are considerably smaller than bicelles formed from vesicle rupture, and their size is determined by the concentrations of lipids and detergents and the interactions between the two species. The detergent-adsorption induces spontaneous curvature of the vesicle bilayer and results in vesicle division into two vesicles or vesicle rupture into worm-like micelles. The division occurs mainly via the inverse pathway of the modified stalk model. For large spontaneous curvature of the monolayers of the detergents, a pore is often opened, thereby leading to vesicle division or worm-like micelle formation.

  20. Composition Effect of the Outer Layer on the Vesicle Fusion Catalyzed by Phospholipase D

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jin Won [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-09-15

    Phospholipase D (PLD) catalyzed the generation of phosphatidic acid (PA) from phosphatidylcholine (PC) at the outer layer of the vesicles prepared through layer by layer via a double emulsion technique. The generation induced a curvature change in the vesicles, which eventually led them to fuse each other. The ratio of two-fattyacid-tail ethanolamine (PE) to one-fatty-acid-tail ethanolamine (PE) was found to acquire the condition where the mixed-phospholipid vesicles were stable identically with pure two-fatty-acid-tail PC. The effect of the outer-layer mixture on the PLD-induced vesicle fusion was investigated using the fluorescence intensity change. 8-Aminonaph- thalene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid disodium salt (ANTS) and p-Xylene-bis(N-pyridinium bromide) (DPX) were encapsulated in the vesicles, respectively, for the quantification of the fusion. The fluorescence scale was calibrated with the fluorescence of a 1/1 mixture of ANTS and DPX vesicles in NaCl buffer taken as 100% fluorescence (0% fusion) and the vesicles containing both ANTS and DPX as 0% fluorescence (100% fusion), considering the leakage into the medium studied directly in a separate experiment using vesicles containing both ANTS and DPX. The fusion data for each composition were acquired with the subtraction of the leakage from the quenching. From the monitoring, the vesicle fusion caused by the PLD reaction seems dominantly to occur rather than the vesicle lysis, because the composition effect on the fusion was observed identically with that on the change in the vesicle structure. Furthermore, the diameter measurements also support the fusion dominancy.

  1. Comparative proteomic analysis of extracellular vesicles isolated by acoustic trapping or differential centrifugation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rezeli, Melinda; Gidlöf, Olof; Evander, Mikael; Bryl-Górecka, Paulina; Sathanoori, Ramasri; Gilje, Patrik; Pawlowski, Krzysztof; Horvatovich, Péter; Erlinge, David; Marko-Varga, György; Laurell, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    Extracellular vesicles (ECVs), including microparticles (MPs) and exosomes, are submicron membrane vesicles released by diverse cell types upon activation or stress. Circulating ECVs are potential reservoirs of disease biomarkers, and the complexity of these vesicles is significantly lower compared

  2. Novelties in secretory structures and anatomy of Rhynchosia (Fabaceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Vargas, Wanderleia; Sartori, Ângela L B; Dias, Edna S

    2015-03-01

    A comparative anatomical study was carried out on the secretory structures of leaflets from taxa belonging to the genus Rhynchosia - taxa difficult to delimit because of uncertain interspecific relations - in order to evaluate the potential diagnostic value of these anatomical traits for taxonomic assignment. A further objective was to establish consensual denomination for these secretory structures. The new anatomical features found in these taxa were sufficiently consistent to separate the species evaluated. The presence and localization of glandular-punctate structures bulbous-based trichomes, the number of layers in the palisade parenchyma and the arrangement of vascular units distinguish the taxa investigated and these characteristics can be extended to other species of Papilionoideae. The trichomes analyzed were described and classified into five types. Depicted in diagrams, photomicrographs, and by scanning electron microscopy, and listed for the first time at the genus and species levels. The information obtained served to effectively distinguish the taxa investigated among species of Papilonoideae.

  3. Dynamics of Shape Fluctuations of Quasi-spherical Vesicles Revisited

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miao, L.; Lomholt, Michael Andersen; Kleis, J.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper, the dynamics of spontaneous shape fluctuations of a single, giant quasi-spherical vesicle formed from a single lipid species is revisited theoretically. A coherent physical theory for the dynamics is developed based on a number of fundamental principles and considerations, and a sy......In this paper, the dynamics of spontaneous shape fluctuations of a single, giant quasi-spherical vesicle formed from a single lipid species is revisited theoretically. A coherent physical theory for the dynamics is developed based on a number of fundamental principles and considerations...... of the phenomenological constants in a canonical continuum description of fluid lipid-bilayer membranes and shown the consequences of this new interpretation in terms of the characteristics of the dynamics of vesicle shape fluctuations. Moreover, we have used the systematic formulation of our theory as a framework...... against which we have discussed the previously existing theories and their discrepancies. Finally, we have made a systematic prediction about the system-dependent characteristics of the relaxation dynamics of shape fluctuations of quasi-spherical vesicles with a view of experimental studies...

  4. Sperm-storage defects and live birth in Drosophila females lacking spermathecal secretory cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra L Schnakenberg

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Male Drosophila flies secrete seminal-fluid proteins that mediate proper sperm storage and fertilization, and that induce changes in female behavior. Females also produce reproductive-tract secretions, yet their contributions to postmating physiology are poorly understood. Large secretory cells line the female's spermathecae, a pair of sperm-storage organs. We identified the regulatory regions controlling transcription of two genes exclusively expressed in these spermathecal secretory cells (SSC: Spermathecal endopeptidase 1 (Send1, which is expressed in both unmated and mated females, and Spermathecal endopeptidase 2 (Send2, which is induced by mating. We used these regulatory sequences to perform precise genetic ablations of the SSC at distinct time points relative to mating. We show that the SSC are required for recruiting sperm to the spermathecae, but not for retaining sperm there. The SSC also act at a distance in the reproductive tract, in that their ablation: (1 reduces sperm motility in the female's other sperm-storage organ, the seminal receptacle; and (2 causes ovoviviparity--the retention and internal development of fertilized eggs. These results establish the reproductive functions of the SSC, shed light on the evolution of live birth, and open new avenues for studying and manipulating female fertility in insects.

  5. Vesicle capture, not delivery, scales up neuropeptide storage in neuroendocrine terminals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulgari, Dinara; Zhou, Chaoming; Hewes, Randall S; Deitcher, David L; Levitan, Edwin S

    2014-03-04

    Neurons vary in their capacity to produce, store, and release neuropeptides packaged in dense-core vesicles (DCVs). Specifically, neurons used for cotransmission have terminals that contain few DCVs and many small synaptic vesicles, whereas neuroendocrine neuron terminals contain many DCVs. Although the mechanistic basis for presynaptic variation is unknown, past research demonstrated transcriptional control of neuropeptide synthesis suggesting that supply from the soma limits presynaptic neuropeptide accumulation. Here neuropeptide release is shown to scale with presynaptic neuropeptide stores in identified Drosophila cotransmitting and neuroendocrine terminals. However, the dramatic difference in DCV number in these terminals occurs with similar anterograde axonal transport and DCV half-lives. Thus, differences in presynaptic neuropeptide stores are not explained by DCV delivery from the soma or turnover. Instead, greater neuropeptide accumulation in neuroendocrine terminals is promoted by dramatically more efficient presynaptic DCV capture. Greater capture comes with tradeoffs, however, as fewer uncaptured DCVs are available to populate distal boutons and replenish neuropeptide stores following release. Finally, expression of the Dimmed transcription factor in cotransmitting neurons increases presynaptic DCV capture. Therefore, DCV capture in the terminal is genetically controlled and determines neuron-specific variation in peptidergic function.

  6. Molecular dynamics simulations of lipid vesicle fusion in atomic detail

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Knecht, Volker; Marrink, Siewert-Jan

    The fusion of a membrane-bounded vesicle with a target membrane is a key step in intracellular trafficking, exocytosis, and drug delivery. Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the fusion of small unilamellar vesicles composed of a dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/palmitic

  7. Fusion of Sendai virus with vesicles of oligomerizable lipids: a microcalorimetric analysis of membrane fusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravoo, B J; Weringa, W D; Engberts, J B

    2000-01-01

    Sendai virus fuses efficiently with small and large unilamellar vesicles of the lipid 1,2-di-n-hexadecyloxypropyl-4- (beta-nitrostyryl) phosphate (DHPBNS) at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, as shown by lipid mixing assays and electron microscopy. However, fusion is strongly inhibited by oligomerization of the head groups of DHPBNS in the bilayer vesicles. The enthalpy associated with fusion of Sendai virus with DHPBNS vesicles was measured by isothermal titration microcalorimetry, comparing titrations of Sendai virus into (i) solutions of DHPBNS vesicles (which fuse with the virus) and (ii) oligomerized DHPBNS vesicles (which do not fuse with the virus), respectively. The observed heat effect of fusion of Sendai virus with DHPBNS vesicles is strongly dependent on the buffer medium, reflecting a partial charge neutralization of the Sendai F and HN proteins upon insertion into the negatively-charged vesicle membrane. No buffer effect was observed for the titration of Sendai virus into oligomerized DHPBNS vesicles, indicating that inhibition of fusion is a result of inhibition of insertion of the fusion protein into the target membrane. Fusion of Sendai virus with DHPBNS vesicles is endothermic and entropy-driven. The positive enthalpy term is dominated by heat effects resulting from merging of the protein-rich viral envelope with the lipid vesicle bilayers rather than by the fusion of the viral with the vesicle bilayers per se. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

  8. Structure of clathrin-coated vesicles from small-angle scattering experiments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, J.S.

    1993-01-01

    Previously published small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering data from coated vesicles, reassembled coats, and stripped vesicles have been analyzed in terms of one common model. The neutron data sets include contrast variation measurements at three different D2O solvent concentrations. The model...... used for interpreting the data has spherical symmetry and explicitly takes into account polydispersity, which is described by a Gaussian distribution. A constant thickness of the clathrin coats is assumed. The fitting of the model shows that the coated vesicles consist of a low-density outer protein....... Thus, the membrane and the high-density protein shell overlap in space, which shows that the lipid membrane contains protein. The molecular mass of the average particle is 27 x 10(6) Da. The coated vesicles consist, on average, of approximately 85% protein and 15% lipids. About 40% of the protein mass...

  9. Giant lipid vesicles under electric field pulses assessed by non invasive imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mauroy, Chloé; Portet, Thomas; Winterhalder, Martin; Bellard, Elisabeth; Blache, Marie-Claire; Teissié, Justin; Zumbusch, Andreas; Rols, Marie-Pierre

    2012-10-01

    We present experimental results regarding the effects of electric pulses on giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). We have used phase contrast and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy as relevant optical approaches to gain insight into membrane changes under electropermeabilization. No addition of exogenous molecules (lipid analogue, fluorescent dye) was needed. Therefore, experiments were performed on pure lipid systems avoiding possible artefacts linked to their use. Structural membrane changes were assessed by loss of contrast inside the GUVs due to sucrose and glucose mixing. Our observations, performed at the single vesicle level, indicate these changes are under the control of the number of pulses and field intensity. Larger number of pulses enhances membrane alterations. A threshold value of the field intensity must be applied to allow exchange of molecules between GUVs and the external medium. This threshold depends on the size of the vesicles, the larger GUVs being affected at lower electric field strengths than the smaller ones. Our experimental data are well described by a simple model in which molecule entry is driven by direct exchange. The CARS microscopic study of the effect of pulse duration confirms that pulses, in the ms time range, induce loss of lipids and membrane deformations facing the electrodes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Models for randomly distributed nanoscopic domains on spherical vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anghel, Vinicius N. P.; Bolmatov, Dima; Katsaras, John

    2018-06-01

    The existence of lipid domains in the plasma membrane of biological systems has proven controversial, primarily due to their nanoscopic size—a length scale difficult to interrogate with most commonly used experimental techniques. Scattering techniques have recently proven capable of studying nanoscopic lipid domains populating spherical vesicles. However, the development of analytical methods able of predicting and analyzing domain pair correlations from such experiments has not kept pace. Here, we developed models for the random distribution of monodisperse, circular nanoscopic domains averaged on the surface of a spherical vesicle. Specifically, the models take into account (i) intradomain correlations corresponding to form factors and interdomain correlations corresponding to pair distribution functions, and (ii) the analytical computation of interdomain correlations for cases of two and three domains on a spherical vesicle. In the case of more than three domains, these correlations are treated either by Monte Carlo simulations or by spherical analogs of the Ornstein-Zernike and Percus-Yevick (PY) equations. Importantly, the spherical analog of the PY equation works best in the case of nanoscopic size domains, a length scale that is mostly inaccessible by experimental approaches such as, for example, fluorescent techniques and optical microscopies. The analytical form factors and structure factors of nanoscopic domains populating a spherical vesicle provide a new and important framework for the quantitative analysis of experimental data from commonly studied phase-separated vesicles used in a wide range of biophysical studies.

  11. Microbiota promote secretory cell determination in the intestinal epithelium by modulating host Notch signaling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Troll, Joshua V; Hamilton, M Kristina; Abel, Melissa L; Ganz, Julia; Bates, Jennifer M; Stephens, W Zac; Melancon, Ellie; van der Vaart, Michiel; Meijer, Annemarie H; Distel, Martin; Eisen, Judith S; Guillemin, Karen

    2018-02-23

    Resident microbes promote many aspects of host development, although the mechanisms by which microbiota influence host tissues remain unclear. We showed previously that the microbiota is required for allocation of appropriate numbers of secretory cells in the zebrafish intestinal epithelium. Because Notch signaling is crucial for secretory fate determination, we conducted epistasis experiments to establish whether the microbiota modulates host Notch signaling. We also investigated whether innate immune signaling transduces microbiota cues via the Myd88 adaptor protein. We provide the first evidence that microbiota-induced, Myd88-dependent signaling inhibits host Notch signaling in the intestinal epithelium, thereby promoting secretory cell fate determination. These results connect microbiota activity via innate immune signaling to the Notch pathway, which also plays crucial roles in intestinal homeostasis throughout life and when impaired can result in chronic inflammation and cancer. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  12. Analysis of Membrane Protein Topology in the Plant Secretory Pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Jinya; Miao, Yansong; Cai, Yi

    2017-01-01

    Topology of membrane proteins provides important information for the understanding of protein function and intermolecular associations. Integrate membrane proteins are generally transported from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi and downstream compartments in the plant secretory pathway. Here, we describe a simple method to study membrane protein topology along the plant secretory pathway by transiently coexpressing a fluorescent protein (XFP)-tagged membrane protein and an ER export inhibitor protein, ARF1 (T31N), in tobacco BY-2 protoplast. By fractionation, microsome isolation, and trypsin digestion, membrane protein topology could be easily detected by either direct confocal microscopy imaging or western-blot analysis using specific XFP antibodies. A similar strategy in determining membrane protein topology could be widely adopted and applied to protein analysis in a broad range of eukaryotic systems, including yeast cells and mammalian cells.

  13. Molecular Recognition of Vesicles : Host-Guest Interactions Combined with Specific Dimerization of Zwitterions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Voskuhl, Jens; Fenske, Tassilo; Stuart, Marc C. A.; Wibbeling, Birgit; Schmuck, Carsten; Ravoo, Bart Jan

    2010-01-01

    The aggregation of beta-cyclodextrin vesicles can be induced by an adamantyl-substituted zwitterionic guanidiniocarbonylpyrrole carboxylate guest molecule (1). Upon addition of 1 to the cyclodextrin vesicles at neutral pH, the vesicles aggregate (but do not fuse), as shown by using UV/Vis and

  14. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons storage by Fusarium solani in intracellular lipid vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verdin, Anthony; Lounes-Hadj Sahraoui, Anissa; Newsam, Ray; Robinson, Gary; Durand, Roger

    2005-01-01

    Accumulation and elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in the fungus Fusarium solani. When the fungus was grown on a synthetic medium containing benzo[a]pyrene, hyphae of F. solani contained numerous lipid vesicles which could be stained by the lipid-specific dyes: Sudan III and Rhodamine B. The fluorescence produced by Rhodamine B and PAH benzo[a]pyrene were at the same locations in the fungal hyphae, indicating that F. solani stored PAH in pre-existing lipid vesicles. A passive temperature-independent process is involved in the benzo[a]pyrene uptake and storage. Sodium azide, a cytochrome c oxidation inhibitor, and the two cytoskeleton inhibitors colchicine and cytochalasin did not prevent the transport and accumulation of PAH in lipid vesicles of F. solani hyphae. F. solani degraded a large range of PAHs at different rates. PAH intracellular storage in lipid vesicles was not necessarily accompanied by degradation and was common to numerous other fungi. - Fungi can store PAHs intracellularly in lipid vesicles independently of their PAH degradation abilities

  15. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons storage by Fusarium solani in intracellular lipid vesicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verdin, Anthony [Laboratoire de Mycologie/Phytopathologie/Environnement, Universite du Littoral-Cote d' Opale, 17 avenue Bleriot, BP 699, 62228 Calais Cedex (France); Lounes-Hadj Sahraoui, Anissa [Laboratoire de Mycologie/Phytopathologie/Environnement, Universite du Littoral-Cote d' Opale, 17 avenue Bleriot, BP 699, 62228 Calais Cedex (France)]. E-mail: lounes@univ-littoral.fr; Newsam, Ray [Department of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NJ (United Kingdom); Robinson, Gary [Department of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NJ (United Kingdom); Durand, Roger [Laboratoire de Mycologie/Phytopathologie/Environnement, Universite du Littoral-Cote d' Opale, 17 avenue Bleriot, BP 699, 62228 Calais Cedex (France)

    2005-01-01

    Accumulation and elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in the fungus Fusarium solani. When the fungus was grown on a synthetic medium containing benzo[a]pyrene, hyphae of F. solani contained numerous lipid vesicles which could be stained by the lipid-specific dyes: Sudan III and Rhodamine B. The fluorescence produced by Rhodamine B and PAH benzo[a]pyrene were at the same locations in the fungal hyphae, indicating that F. solani stored PAH in pre-existing lipid vesicles. A passive temperature-independent process is involved in the benzo[a]pyrene uptake and storage. Sodium azide, a cytochrome c oxidation inhibitor, and the two cytoskeleton inhibitors colchicine and cytochalasin did not prevent the transport and accumulation of PAH in lipid vesicles of F. solani hyphae. F. solani degraded a large range of PAHs at different rates. PAH intracellular storage in lipid vesicles was not necessarily accompanied by degradation and was common to numerous other fungi. - Fungi can store PAHs intracellularly in lipid vesicles independently of their PAH degradation abilities.

  16. Linking cortical microtubule attachment and exocytosis [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivar Noordstra

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Exocytosis is a fundamental cellular process whereby secreted molecules are packaged into vesicles that move along cytoskeletal filaments and fuse with the plasma membrane. To function optimally, cells are strongly dependent on precisely controlled delivery of exocytotic cargo. In mammalian cells, microtubules serve as major tracks for vesicle transport by motor proteins, and thus microtubule organization is important for targeted delivery of secretory carriers. Over the years, multiple microtubule-associated and cortical proteins have been discovered that facilitate the interaction between the microtubule plus ends and the cell cortex. In this review, we focus on mammalian protein complexes that have been shown to participate in both cortical microtubule capture and exocytosis, thereby regulating the spatial organization of secretion. These complexes include microtubule plus-end tracking proteins, scaffolding factors, actin-binding proteins, and components of vesicle docking machinery, which together allow efficient coordination of cargo transport and release.

  17. Survey of Red Fluorescence Proteins as Markers for Secretory Granule Exocytosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikhil R Gandasi

    Full Text Available Fluorescent proteins (FPs have proven to be valuable tools for high-resolution imaging studies of vesicle transport processes, including exo- and endocytosis. Since the pH of the vesicle lumen changes between acidic and neutral during these events, pH-sensitive FPs with near neutral pKa, such as pHluorin, are particularly useful. FPs with pKa>6 are readily available in the green spectrum, while red-emitting pH-sensitive FPs are rare and often not well characterized as reporters of exo- or endocytosis. Here we tested a panel of ten orange/red and two green FPs in fusions with neuropeptide Y (NPY for use as secreted vesicle marker and reporter of dense core granule exocytosis and release. We report relative brightness, bleaching rate, targeting accuracy, sensitivity to vesicle pH, and their performance in detecting exocytosis in live cells. Tandem dimer (td-mOrange2 was identified as well-targeted, bright, slowly bleaching and pH-sensitive FP that performed similar to EGFP. Single exocytosis events were readily observed, which allowed measurements of fusion pore lifetime and the dynamics of the exocytosis protein syntaxin at the release site during membrane fusion and cargo release.

  18. Kadar Prostaglandin F2? pada Cairan Vesikula Seminalis dan Produk Sel Monolayer Vesikula Seminalis Sapi Bali (CONCENTRATIONS OF PROSTAGLANDIN F2? IN SEMINAL VESICLE FLUID AND PRODUCT OF SEMINAL VESICLE MONOLAYER CELLS OF BALI CATTLE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tjok Gde Oka Pemayun

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the concentration of prostaglandin F2 ? (PGF2? in seminal vesicle fluid and seminal vesicle monolayer cell cultures of Bali cattle was determined. The seminal vesicle fluid was aspirated and the epithelial cells of the seminal vesicles were cultured in tissue culture medium (TCM 199 growth medium containing 10% fetal calf serum (FCS and 10% oestrus mares serum (EMS with a density of 1.9 x 106 cells / ml medium. Following an incubation at 38.50 C in 5% CO2 atmosphere for 6 days and the level of PGF2 ? in the original seminal vesicle fluid and in the cell culture medium were determined by radioimmunoassay techniques (RIA. The results showed that the level of PGF2 ? in the non-extracted monolayer culture of seminal vesicle (1287,50 ± 3,39 pg/ml was significantly higher than that of detected in non-extracted seminal vesicle fluid (1,23 ± 0,79 pg/ml. In contrast, after extraction the level of PGF2 ? in seminal vesicle monolayer cell cultures (218,33 ± 2,87 pg/ml significantly decreased as compared to seminal vesicle fluid (1750,83 ± 2,71 pg/ml. In conclusion the highest level of PGF2 ? was found in the extract of seminal vesicle fluid.

  19. Mammary analogue secretory carcinoma: A rare salivary gland tumour

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Salivary gland malignancy is rare, with a global annual incidence of. 3 per 100 000 people.[1,2] A rare salivary gland tumour, mammary analogue secretory carcinoma (MASC), has only recently been described.[3] The few reports and studies concerning MASC have been published in several pathology journals. We report ...

  20. Focus on Extracellular Vesicles: Physiological Role and Signalling Properties of Extracellular Membrane Vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nunzio Iraci

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Extracellular vesicles (EVs are a heterogeneous population of secreted membrane vesicles, with distinct biogenesis routes, biophysical properties and different functions both in physiological conditions and in disease. The release of EVs is a widespread biological process, which is conserved across species. In recent years, numerous studies have demonstrated that several bioactive molecules are trafficked with(in EVs, such as microRNAs, mRNAs, proteins and lipids. The understanding of their final impact on the biology of specific target cells remains matter of intense debate in the field. Also, EVs have attracted great interest as potential novel cell-free therapeutics. Here we describe the proposed physiological and pathological functions of EVs, with a particular focus on their molecular content. Also, we discuss the advances in the knowledge of the mechanisms regulating the secretion of EV-associated molecules and the specific pathways activated upon interaction with the target cell, highlighting the role of EVs in the context of the immune system and as mediators of the intercellular signalling in the brain.

  1. Differential Regulation of Synaptic Vesicle Tethering and Docking by UNC-18 and TOM-1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gracheva, Elena O; Maryon, Ed B; Berthelot-Grosjean, Martine; Richmond, Janet E

    2010-01-01

    The assembly of SNARE complexes between syntaxin, SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin is required to prime synaptic vesicles for fusion. Since Munc18 and tomosyn compete for syntaxin interactions, the interplay between these proteins is predicted to be important in regulating synaptic transmission. We explored this possibility, by examining genetic interactions between C. elegans unc-18(Munc18), unc-64(syntaxin) and tom-1(tomosyn). We have previously demonstrated that unc-18 mutants have reduced synaptic transmission, whereas tom-1 mutants exhibit enhanced release. Here we show that the unc-18 mutant release defect is associated with loss of two morphologically distinct vesicle pools; those tethered within 25 nm of the plasma membrane and those docked with the plasma membrane. In contrast, priming defective unc-13 mutants accumulate tethered vesicles, while docked vesicles are greatly reduced, indicating tethering is UNC-18-dependent and occurs in the absence of priming. C. elegans unc-64 mutants phenocopy unc-18 mutants, losing both tethered and docked vesicles, whereas overexpression of open syntaxin preferentially increases vesicle docking, suggesting UNC-18/closed syntaxin interactions are responsible for vesicle tethering. Given the competition between vertebrate tomosyn and Munc18, for syntaxin binding, we hypothesized that C. elegans TOM-1 may inhibit both UNC-18-dependent vesicle targeting steps. Consistent with this hypothesis, tom-1 mutants exhibit enhanced UNC-18 plasma membrane localization and a concomitant increase in both tethered and docked synaptic vesicles. Furthermore, in tom-1;unc-18 double mutants the docked, primed vesicle pool is preferentially rescued relative to unc-18 single mutants. Together these data provide evidence for the differential regulation of two vesicle targeting steps by UNC-18 and TOM-1 through competitive interactions with syntaxin.

  2. Differential regulation of synaptic vesicle tethering and docking by UNC-18 and TOM-1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena O Gracheva

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The assembly of SNARE complexes between syntaxin, SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin is required to prime synaptic vesicles for fusion. Since Munc18 and tomosyn compete for syntaxin interactions, the interplay between these proteins is predicted to be important in regulating synaptic transmission. We explored this possibility, by examining genetic interactions between C. elegans unc-18(Munc18, unc-64(syntaxin and tom-1(tomosyn. We have previously demonstrated that unc-18 mutants have reduced synaptic transmission, whereas tom-1 mutants exhibit enhanced release. Here we show that the unc-18 mutant release defect is associated with loss of two morphologically distinct vesicle pools; those tethered within 25nm of the plasma membrane and those docked with the plasma membrane. In contrast, priming defective unc-13 mutants accumulate tethered vesicles, while docked vesicles are greatly reduced, indicating tethering is UNC-18-dependent and occurs in the absence of priming. C. elegans unc-64 mutants phenocopy unc-18 mutants, losing both tethered and docked vesicles, whereas overexpression of open syntaxin preferentially increases vesicle docking, suggesting UNC-18/closed syntaxin interactions are responsible for vesicle tethering. Given the competition between vertebrate tomosyn and Munc18, for syntaxin binding, we hypothesized that C. elegans TOM-1 may inhibit both UNC-18-dependent vesicle targeting steps. Consistent with this hypothesis, tom-1 mutants exhibit enhanced UNC-18 plasma membrane localization and a concomitant increase in both tethered and docked synaptic vesicles. Furthermore, in tom-1;unc-18 double mutants the docked, primed vesicle pool is preferentially rescued relative to unc-18 single mutants. Together these data provide evidence for the differential regulation of two vesicle targeting steps by UNC-18 and TOM-1 through competitive interactions with syntaxin

  3. Vesicle Motion during Sustained Exocytosis in Chromaffin Cells: Numerical Model Based on Amperometric Measurements.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daungruthai Jarukanont

    Full Text Available Chromaffin cells release catecholamines by exocytosis, a process that includes vesicle docking, priming and fusion. Although all these steps have been intensively studied, some aspects of their mechanisms, particularly those regarding vesicle transport to the active sites situated at the membrane, are still unclear. In this work, we show that it is possible to extract information on vesicle motion in Chromaffin cells from the combination of Langevin simulations and amperometric measurements. We developed a numerical model based on Langevin simulations of vesicle motion towards the cell membrane and on the statistical analysis of vesicle arrival times. We also performed amperometric experiments in bovine-adrenal Chromaffin cells under Ba2+ stimulation to capture neurotransmitter releases during sustained exocytosis. In the sustained phase, each amperometric peak can be related to a single release from a new vesicle arriving at the active site. The amperometric signal can then be mapped into a spike-series of release events. We normalized the spike-series resulting from the current peaks using a time-rescaling transformation, thus making signals coming from different cells comparable. We discuss why the obtained spike-series may contain information about the motion of all vesicles leading to release of catecholamines. We show that the release statistics in our experiments considerably deviate from Poisson processes. Moreover, the interspike-time probability is reasonably well described by two-parameter gamma distributions. In order to interpret this result we computed the vesicles' arrival statistics from our Langevin simulations. As expected, assuming purely diffusive vesicle motion we obtain Poisson statistics. However, if we assume that all vesicles are guided toward the membrane by an attractive harmonic potential, simulations also lead to gamma distributions of the interspike-time probability, in remarkably good agreement with experiment. We

  4. Vesicle Motion during Sustained Exocytosis in Chromaffin Cells: Numerical Model Based on Amperometric Measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarukanont, Daungruthai; Bonifas Arredondo, Imelda; Femat, Ricardo; Garcia, Martin E

    2015-01-01

    Chromaffin cells release catecholamines by exocytosis, a process that includes vesicle docking, priming and fusion. Although all these steps have been intensively studied, some aspects of their mechanisms, particularly those regarding vesicle transport to the active sites situated at the membrane, are still unclear. In this work, we show that it is possible to extract information on vesicle motion in Chromaffin cells from the combination of Langevin simulations and amperometric measurements. We developed a numerical model based on Langevin simulations of vesicle motion towards the cell membrane and on the statistical analysis of vesicle arrival times. We also performed amperometric experiments in bovine-adrenal Chromaffin cells under Ba2+ stimulation to capture neurotransmitter releases during sustained exocytosis. In the sustained phase, each amperometric peak can be related to a single release from a new vesicle arriving at the active site. The amperometric signal can then be mapped into a spike-series of release events. We normalized the spike-series resulting from the current peaks using a time-rescaling transformation, thus making signals coming from different cells comparable. We discuss why the obtained spike-series may contain information about the motion of all vesicles leading to release of catecholamines. We show that the release statistics in our experiments considerably deviate from Poisson processes. Moreover, the interspike-time probability is reasonably well described by two-parameter gamma distributions. In order to interpret this result we computed the vesicles' arrival statistics from our Langevin simulations. As expected, assuming purely diffusive vesicle motion we obtain Poisson statistics. However, if we assume that all vesicles are guided toward the membrane by an attractive harmonic potential, simulations also lead to gamma distributions of the interspike-time probability, in remarkably good agreement with experiment. We also show that

  5. Placental Nano-vesicles Target to Specific Organs and Modulate Vascular Tone In Vivo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Mancy; Stanley, Joanna L; Chen, Q; James, Joanna L; Stone, Peter R; Chamley, Larry W

    2017-11-01

    How do nano-vesicles extruded from normal first trimester human placentae affect maternal vascular function? Placental nano-vesicles affect the ability of systemic mesenteric arteries to undergo endothelium- and nitric oxide- (NO-) dependent vasodilation in vivo in pregnant mice. Dramatic cardiovascular adaptations occur during human pregnancy, including a substantial decrease in total peripheral resistance in the first trimester. The human placenta constantly extrudes extracellular vesicles that can enter the maternal circulation and these vesicles may play an important role in feto-maternal communication. Human placental nano-vesicles were administered into CD1 mice via a tail vein and their localization and vascular effects at 30 min and 24 h post-injection were investigated. Nano-vesicles from normal first trimester human placentae were collected and administered into pregnant (D12.5) or non-pregnant female mice. After either 30 min or 24 h of exposure, all major organs were dissected for imaging (n = 7 at each time point) while uterine and mesenteric arteries were dissected for wire myography (n = 6 at each time point). Additional in vitro studies using HMEC-1 endothelial cells were also conducted to investigate the kinetics of interaction between placental nano-vesicles and endothelial cells. Nano-vesicles from first trimester human placentae localized to the lungs, liver and kidneys 24 h after injection into pregnant mice (n = 7). Exposure of pregnant mice to placental nano-vesicles for 30 min in vivo increased the vasodilatory response of mesenteric arteries to acetylcholine, while exposure for 24 h had the opposite effect (P nano-vesicles did not affect the function of uterine arteries or mesenteric arteries from non-pregnant mice. Placental nano-vesicles rapidly interacted with endothelial cells via a combination of phagocytosis, endocytosis and cell surface binding in vitro. N/A. As it is not ethical to administer labelled placental nano-vesicles to

  6. Muscle Releases Alpha-Sarcoglycan Positive Extracellular Vesicles Carrying miRNAs in the Bloodstream.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele Guescini

    Full Text Available In the past few years, skeletal muscle has emerged as an important secretory organ producing soluble factors, called myokines, that exert either autocrine, paracrine or endocrine effects. Moreover, recent studies have shown that muscle releases microRNAs into the bloodstream in response to physical exercise. These microRNAs affect target cells, such as hormones and cytokines. The mechanisms underlying microRNA secretion are poorly characterized at present. Here, we investigated whether muscle tissue releases extracellular vesicles (EVs, which carry microRNAs in the bloodstream under physiological conditions such as physical exercise. Using density gradient separation of plasma from sedentary and physically fit young men we found EVs positive for TSG101 and alpha-sarcoglycan (SGCA, and enriched for miR-206. Cytometric analysis showed that the SGCA+ EVs account for 1-5% of the total and that 60-65% of these EVs were also positive for the exosomal marker CD81. Furthermore, the SGCA-immuno captured sub-population of EVs exhibited higher levels of the miR-206/miR16 ratio compared to total plasma EVs. Finally, a significant positive correlation was found between the aerobic fitness and muscle-specific miRNAs and EV miR-133b and -181a-5p were significantly up-regulated after acute exercise. Thus, our study proposes EVs as a novel means of muscle communication potentially involved in muscle remodeling and homeostasis.

  7. Thermally assisted acoustofluidic separation of extracellular vesicles from cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirtaheri, Elnaz; Dolatmoradi, Ata; Pimentel, Krystine; Bhansali, Shekhar; El-Zahab, Bilal

    2018-02-01

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been gaining increasing attention given their role in communicating information between cells. Composition-based isolation of EVs is particularly of high significance as the proteomic and lipidomic characterization of their cargo could provide valuable clues to the role of EVs in mediating the biology of various conditions. This has, however, proved to be challenging as EVs, despite their abundance, are very small and difficult to be differentiated from the other constituents of host media. In addition, currently available methods like ultracentrifugation and filtration are cumbersome and capable of achieving mostly size-based separations. In this work, we demonstrate the possibility of separating submicron EV-like vesicles from cancer cells using a thermally-assisted acoustophoretic device. In a system composed of MCF-7 breast cancer cells spiked with two different types of same-size vesicles, composition-based isolation of vesicles was shown to be realizable through opposite focusing of the system's components at the node and antinodes of the overlaid ultrasonic standing wave. By proper choice of temperature in the microchannel, we were able to achieve separations with purities exceeding 93%. Furthermore, cells recovered from the channel were shown to be viable after the separation.

  8. Thin film drainage between pre-inflated capsules or vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keh, Martin; Walter, Johann; Leal, Gary

    2013-11-01

    Capsules and vesicles are often used as vehicles to carry active ingredients or fragrance in drug delivery and consumer products and oftentimes in these applications the particles may be pre-inflated due to the existence of a small osmotic pressure difference between the interior and exterior fluid. We study the dynamics of thin film drainage between capsules and vesicles in flow as it is crucial to fusion and deposition of the particles and, therefore, the stability and effectiveness of the products. Simulations are conducted using a numerical model coupling the boundary integral method for the motion of the fluids and a finite element method for the membrane mechanics. For low capillary numbers, the drainage behavior of vesicles and capsules are approximately the same, and also similar to that of drops as the flow-independent and uniform tension due to pre-inflation dominates. The tension due to deformation caused by flow will become more important as the strength of the external flow (i.e. the capillary number) increases. In this case, the shapes of the thin film region are fundamentally different for capsules and vesicles, and the drainage behavior in both cases differs from a drop. Funded by P&G.

  9. Orchestrating cytoskeleton and intracellular vesicle traffic to build functional immunological synapses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soares, Helena; Lasserre, Rémi; Alcover, Andrés

    2013-11-01

    Immunological synapses are specialized cell-cell contacts formed between T lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells. They are induced upon antigen recognition and are crucial for T-cell activation and effector functions. The generation and function of immunological synapses depend on an active T-cell polarization process, which results from a finely orchestrated crosstalk between the antigen receptor signal transduction machinery, the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons, and controlled vesicle traffic. Although we understand how some of these particular events are regulated, we still lack knowledge on how these multiple cellular elements are harmonized to ensure appropriate T-cell responses. We discuss here our view on how T-cell receptor signal transduction initially commands cytoskeletal and vesicle traffic polarization, which in turn sets the immunological synapse molecular design that regulates T-cell activation. We also discuss how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) hijacks some of these processes impairing immunological synapse generation and function. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Abnormal ion content, hydration and granule expansion of the secretory granules from cystic fibrosis airway glandular cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baconnais, S.; Delavoie, F.; Zahm, J.M.; Milliot, M.; Terryn, C.; Castillon, N.; Banchet, V.; Michel, J.; Danos, O.; Merten, M.; Chinet, T.; Zierold, K.; Bonnet, N.; Puchelle, E.; Balossier, G.

    2005-01-01

    The absence or decreased expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) induces increased Na + absorption and hyperabsorption of the airway surface liquid (ASL) resulting in a dehydrated and hyperviscous ASL. Although the implication of abnormal airway submucosal gland function has been suggested, the ion and water content in the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) glandular secretory granules, before exocytosis, is unknown. We analyzed, in non-CF and CF human airway glandular cell lines (MM-39 and KM4, respectively), the ion content in the secretory granules by electron probe X-ray microanalysis and the water content by quantitative dark field imaging on freeze-dried cryosections. We demonstrated that the ion content (Na + , Mg 2+ , P, S and Cl - ) is significantly higher and the water content significantly lower in secretory granules from the CF cell line compared to the non-CF cell line. Using videomicroscopy, we observed that the secretory granule expansion was deficient in CF glandular cells. Transfection of CF cells with CFTR cDNA or inhibition of non-CF cells with CFTR inh -172, respectively restored or decreased the water content and granule expansion, in parallel with changes in ion content. We hypothesize that the decreased water and increased ion content in glandular secretory granules may contribute to the dehydration and increased viscosity of the ASL in CF

  11. Human protein secretory pathway genes are expressed in a tissue-specific pattern to match processing demands of the secretome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feizi, Amir; Gatto, Francesco; Uhlén, Mathias

    2017-01-01

    Protein secretory pathway in eukaryal cells is responsible for delivering functional secretory proteins. The dysfunction of this pathway causes a range of important human diseases from congenital disorders to cancer. Despite the piled-up knowledge on the molecular biology and biochemistry level...... in specific gene families of the secretory pathway. We also inspected the potential functional link between detected extreme genes and the corresponding tissues enriched secretome. As a result, the detected extreme genes showed correlation with the enrichment of the nature and number of specific post......-translational modifications in each tissue's secretome. Our findings conciliate both the housekeeping and tissue-specific nature of the protein secretory pathway, which we attribute to a fine-tuned regulation of defined gene families to support the diversity of secreted proteins and their modifications....

  12. Membrane Trafficking and Vesicle Fusion

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 19; Issue 5. Membrane Trafficking and Vesicle Fusion: Post-Palade Era Researchers Win the Nobel Prize. Riddhi Atul Jani Subba Rao Gangi Setty. General Article Volume 19 Issue 5 May 2014 pp 421-445 ...

  13. Standardization of sample collection, isolation and analysis methods in extracellular vesicle research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenneth W. Witwer

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The emergence of publications on extracellular RNA (exRNA and extracellular vesicles (EV has highlighted the potential of these molecules and vehicles as biomarkers of disease and therapeutic targets. These findings have created a paradigm shift, most prominently in the field of oncology, prompting expanded interest in the field and dedication of funds for EV research. At the same time, understanding of EV subtypes, biogenesis, cargo and mechanisms of shuttling remains incomplete. The techniques that can be harnessed to address the many gaps in our current knowledge were the subject of a special workshop of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV in New York City in October 2012. As part of the “ISEV Research Seminar: Analysis and Function of RNA in Extracellular Vesicles (evRNA”, 6 round-table discussions were held to provide an evidence-based framework for isolation and analysis of EV, purification and analysis of associated RNA molecules, and molecular engineering of EV for therapeutic intervention. This article arises from the discussion of EV isolation and analysis at that meeting. The conclusions of the round table are supplemented with a review of published materials and our experience. Controversies and outstanding questions are identified that may inform future research and funding priorities. While we emphasize the need for standardization of specimen handling, appropriate normative controls, and isolation and analysis techniques to facilitate comparison of results, we also recognize that continual development and evaluation of techniques will be necessary as new knowledge is amassed. On many points, consensus has not yet been achieved and must be built through the reporting of well-controlled experiments.

  14. Secretory proteins of the pulmonary extracellular lining

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, R.P.; Patton, S.E.; Eddy, M.; Smits, H.L.; Jetten, A.M.; Nettesheim, P.; Hook, G.E.R.

    1986-01-01

    The objective of this investigation was to identify proteins in the pulmonary extracellular lining (EL) that are secreted by cells of the pulmonary epithelium. Pulmonary lavage effluents from the lungs of rabbits were centrifuged to remove all cells and particulate materials. Serum proteins were removed by repeatedly passing concentrated lavage effluent fluid through an affinity column containing IgG fraction of goat anti-rabbit (whole serum) antiserum bound to Sepharose-4B. Nonserum proteins accounted for 21.3 +/- 10.3% of the total soluble proteins in pulmonary lavage effluents. Serum free lavage effluents (SFL) contained 25 identifiable proteins as determined by using SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions. Of these proteins approximately 73% was accounted for by a single protein with MW of 66 kd. The secretory nature of the proteins present in SFL was investigated by studying the incorporation of 35 S-methionine into proteins released by lung slices and trachea followed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. Many, but not all proteins present in SFL were identified as proteins secreted by pulmonary tissues. The major secretory proteins appeared to have MWs of 59, 53, 48, 43, 24, 14, and 6 kd under reducing conditions. These data demonstrate the presence of several proteins in the pulmonary extracellular lining that appear to be secreted by the pulmonary epithelium

  15. Spontaneous Vesicle Self-Assembly: A Mesoscopic View of Membrane Dynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shillcock, J. C.

    2012-01-01

    Amphiphilic vesicles are ubiquitous in living cells and industrially interesting as drug delivery vehicles. Vesicle self-assembly proceeds rapidly from nanometer to micrometer length scales and is too fast to image experimentally but too slow for molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we use...... parallel dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to follow spontaneous vesicle self-assembly for up to 445 mu s with near-molecular resolution. The mean mass and radius of gyration of growing amphiphilic clusters obey power laws with exponents of 0.85 +/- 0.03 and 0.41 +/- 0.02, respectively. We show that DPD...... provides a computational window onto fluid dynamics on scales unreachable by other explicit-solvent simulations....

  16. Binding and Fusion of Extracellular Vesicles to the Plasma Membrane of Their Cell Targets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prada, Ilaria; Meldolesi, Jacopo

    2016-08-09

    Exosomes and ectosomes, extracellular vesicles of two types generated by all cells at multivesicular bodies and the plasma membrane, respectively, play critical roles in physiology and pathology. A key mechanism of their function, analogous for both types of vesicles, is the fusion of their membrane to the plasma membrane of specific target cells, followed by discharge to the cytoplasm of their luminal cargo containing proteins, RNAs, and DNA. Here we summarize the present knowledge about the interactions, binding and fusions of vesicles with the cell plasma membrane. The sequence initiates with dynamic interactions, during which vesicles roll over the plasma membrane, followed by the binding of specific membrane proteins to their cell receptors. Membrane binding is then converted rapidly into fusion by mechanisms analogous to those of retroviruses. Specifically, proteins of the extracellular vesicle membranes are structurally rearranged, and their hydrophobic sequences insert into the target cell plasma membrane which undergoes lipid reorganization, protein restructuring and membrane dimpling. Single fusions are not the only process of vesicle/cell interactions. Upon intracellular reassembly of their luminal cargoes, vesicles can be regenerated, released and fused horizontally to other target cells. Fusions of extracellular vesicles are relevant also for specific therapy processes, now intensely investigated.

  17. The freezing process of small lipid vesicles at molecular resolution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Risselada, H. Jelger; Marrink, Siewert J.

    2009-01-01

    At present very little is known about the kinetic barriers which a small vesicle will face during the transformation from the liquid-crystalline to the gel phase, and what the structure of frozen vesicles looks like at the molecular level. The formation of gel domains in the strongly curved bilayer

  18. Plasma biomarker discovery in preeclampsia using a novel differential isolation technology for circulating extracellular vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Kok Hian; Tan, Soon Sim; Sze, Siu Kwan; Lee, Wai Kheong Ryan; Ng, Mor Jack; Lim, Sai Kiang

    2014-10-01

    To circumvent the complex protein milieu of plasma and discover robust predictive biomarkers for preeclampsia (PE), we investigate if phospholipid-binding ligands can reduce the milieu complexity by extracting plasma extracellular vesicles for biomarker discovery. Cholera toxin B chain (CTB) and annexin V (AV) which respectively binds GM1 ganglioside and phosphatidylserine were used to isolate extracellular vesicles from plasma of PE patients and healthy pregnant women. The proteins in the vesicles were identified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, antibody array, and mass spectrometry. CTB and AV were found to bind 2 distinct groups of extracellular vesicles. Antibody array and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that PE patients had elevated levels of CD105, interleukin-6, placental growth factor, tissue inhibitor of metallopeptidase 1, and atrial natriuretic peptide in cholera toxin B- but not AV-vesicles, and elevated levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, pro-calcitonin, S100b, tumor growth factor β, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1, brain natriuretic peptide, and placental growth factor in both cholera toxin B- and AV-vesicles. CD9 level was elevated in cholera toxin B-vesicles but reduced in AV vesicles of PE patients. Proteome analysis revealed that in cholera toxin B-vesicles, 87 and 222 proteins were present only in PE patients and healthy pregnant women respectively while in AV-vesicles, 104 and 157 proteins were present only in PE and healthy pregnant women, respectively. This study demonstrated for the first time that CTB and AV bind unique extracellular vesicles, and their protein cargo reflects the disease state of the patient. The successful use of these 2 ligands to isolate circulating plasma extracellular vesicles for biomarker discovery in PE represents a novel technology for biomarker discovery that can be applied to other specialties. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. The regulated secretory pathway and human disease: insights from gene variants and single nucleotide polymorphisms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen eSalton

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The regulated secretory pathway provides critical control of peptide, growth factor, and hormone release from neuroendocrine and endocrine cells, and neurons, maintaining physiological homeostasis. Propeptides and prohormones are packaged into dense core granules (DCGs, where they frequently undergo tissue-specific processing as the DCG matures. Proteins of the granin family are DCG components, and although their function is not fully understood, data suggest they are involved in DCG formation and regulated protein/peptide secretion, in addition to their role as precursors of bioactive peptides. Association of gene variation, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, with neuropsychiatric, endocrine and metabolic diseases, has implicated specific secreted proteins and peptides in disease pathogenesis. For example, a SNP at position 196 (G/A of the human brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF gene dysregulates protein processing and secretion and leads to cognitive impairment. This suggests more generally that variants identified in genes encoding secreted growth factors, peptides, hormones, and proteins involved in DCG biogenesis, protein processing, and the secretory apparatus, could provide insight into the process of regulated secretion as well as disorders that result when it is impaired.

  20. Differential testosterone secretory capacity of the testes of aggressive and nonaggressive house mice during ontogeny

    OpenAIRE

    de Ruiter, Anne J H; Koolhaas, Jaap M; van Oortmerssen, Geert A; Bohus, Bela

    1992-01-01

    In this study, testosterone secretory capacity of testicular Leydig cells during ontogeny was determined in males of an aggressive and a nonaggressive genetic selection line of wild house mice. Neonates, 23-day-old prepubertals, and adult male mice were studied. A morphometric method was used to quantify 3-beta-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase (3-beta-HSD)-stained Leydig cells in testicular sections to determine testosterone secretory capacity. We consider this parameter to reflect circulating t...

  1. Extracellular Vesicles in Brain Tumors and Neurodegenerative Diseases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Federica Ciregia

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Extracellular vesicles (EVs can be classified into apoptotic bodies, microvesicles (MVs, and exosomes, based on their origin or size. Exosomes are the smallest and best characterized vesicles which derived from the endosomal system. These vesicles are released from many different cell types including neuronal cells and their functions in the nervous system are investigated. They have been proposed as novel means for intercellular communication, which takes part not only to the normal neuronal physiology but also to the transmission of pathogenic proteins. Indeed, exosomes are fundamental to assemble and transport proteins during development, but they can also transfer neurotoxic misfolded proteins in pathogenesis. The present review will focus on their roles in neurological diseases, specifically brain tumors, such as glioblastoma (GBM, neuroblastoma (NB, medulloblastoma (MB, and metastatic brain tumors and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, multiple sclerosis (MS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Huntington, and Prion diseseases highlighting their involvement in spreading neurotoxicity, in therapeutics, and in pathogenesis.

  2. Changes in mean plasma ACTH reflect changes in amplitude and frequency of secretory pulses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carnes, M.; Lent, S.J.; Erisman, S.; Feyzi, J.

    1988-01-01

    ACTH is secreted in an episodic manner from the anterior pituitary. Unanesthetized rats with indwelling jugular and femoral venous cannulae were continuously bled and simultaneously infused with isotonic fluid by peristaltic pump. Two-minute blood samples were collected for up to five hours in 8 male rats. ACTH was measured by radioimmunoassay. The resulting time series were analyzed for significant secretory pulses with the PULSAR program. Elevations or declines in mean plasma ACTH levels were associated with significant changes in amplitude and frequency of secretory pulses

  3. Small unilamellar vesicles as reagents: a chemically defined, quantitative assay for lectins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rando, R.R.

    1981-01-01

    Samll unilamellar vesicles containing synthetic glycolipids can be prepared. These vesicles are aggregated by the appropriate lectin (Orr et al., 1979; Rando and Bangerter, 1979; Slama and Rando, 1980). It is shown here that extent of aggregation of these vesicles as measured by light scattering at 360 nm, is, under certain conditions, linear with amount of lectin added. This forms the basis of a rapid and simple quantitative assay for lectins using the modified vesicles as a defined chemical substrate. The assay is sensitive to lectin concentrations in the low ..mu..g range. The assay is applied here to studies on concanavalin A, Ricinus communis agglutinin and the ..cap alpha..-fucosyl binding lectin from Ulex europaeus (Type I).

  4. Secretory immunity with special reference to the oral cavity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Per Brandtzaeg

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The two principal antibody classes present in saliva are secretory IgA (SIgA and IgG; the former is produced as dimeric IgA by local plasma cells (PCs in the stroma of salivary glands and is transported through secretory epithelia by the polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR, also named membrane secretory component (SC. Most IgG in saliva is derived from the blood circulation by passive leakage mainly via gingival crevicular epithelium, although some may be locally produced in the gingiva or salivary glands. Gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT and nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT do not contribute equally to the pool of memory/effector B cells differentiating to mucosal PCs throughout the body. Thus, enteric immunostimulation may not be the best way to activate the production of salivary IgA antibodies although the level of specific SIgA in saliva may still reflect an intestinal immune response after enteric immunization. It remains unknown whether the IgA response in submandibular/sublingual glands is better related to B-cell induction in GALT than the parotid response. Such disparity is suggested by the levels of IgA in submandibular secretions of AIDS patients, paralleling their highly upregulated intestinal IgA system, while the parotid IgA level is decreased. Parotid SIgA could more consistently be linked to immune induction in palatine tonsils/adenoids (human NALT and cervical lymph nodes, as supported by the homing molecule profile observed after immune induction at these sites. Several other variables influence the levels of antibodies in salivary secretions. These include difficulties with reproducibility and standardization of immunoassays, the impact of flow rate, acute or chronic stress, protein loss during sample handling, and uncontrolled admixture of serum-derived IgG and monomeric IgA. Despite these problems, saliva is an easily accessible biological fluid with interesting scientific and clinical potentials.

  5. Secretory IgA (SIgA: designed for antimicrobial defence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Per eBrandtzaeg

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Prevention of infections by vaccination remains a compelling goal to improve public health. Mucosal vaccines would make immunization procedures easier, be better suited for mass administration, and most efficiently induce immune exclusion -- a term coined for non-inflammatory antibody shielding of internal body surfaces, mediated principally by secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA. The exported antibodies are polymeric, mainly IgA dimers (pIgA, produced by local plasma cells stimulated by antigens that target the mucosae. SIgA was early shown to be complexed with an epithelial glycoprotein -- the secretory component (SC. A common SC-dependent transport mechanism for pIgA and pentameric IgM was then proposed, implying that membrane SC acts as a receptor, now usually called the polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR. From the basolateral surface, pIg-pIgR complexes are taken up by endocytosis and then extruded into the lumen after apical cleavage of the receptor -- bound SC having stabilizing and innate functions in the secretory antibodies. Mice deficient for pIgR show that this is the only receptor responsible for epithelial export of IgA and IgM. These knockout mice show a variety of defects in their mucosal defensce and changes in their intestinal microbiota. In the gut, induction of B cells occurs in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT, particularly the Peyer’s patches and isolated lymphoid follicles, but also in mesenteric lymph nodes. Plasma cell differentiation is accomplished in the lamina propria to which the activated memory/effector B cells home. The airways also receive such cells from nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT but by different homing receptors. This compartmentalization is a challenge for mucosal vaccination, as are the mechanisms used by the mucosal immune system to discriminate between commensal symbionts (mutualism, pathobionts and overt pathogens (elimination.

  6. Reactions of the hydrated electron with pyrene in lipid bilayer vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schnecke, W.; Graetzel, M.; Henglein, A.

    1977-01-01

    Pyrene and some pyrene derivatives were solubilized in bilayer vesicles of lecithin and the rates of lecithin and the rates of reaction with the hydrated electron investigated. The concentration of the vesicles was 1.3 x 10 -7 M, that of pyrene 10 -6 - 10 -4 M. The rate constant decreases with increasing pyrene concentration. The effect is explained by the highly inhomogeneous distribution of pyrene molecules in the solutions. Only those pyrene molicules are reactive that reside close to the outer surface of the vesicles. The anions of pyrene formed disappear in a second order process. It is concluded that the anions are rapidly detached from their vesicular carriers and react with each other in the aqueous phase. Fluorescence, light scattering and electron microscopic investigations were also carried out to obtain information about the properties of the vesicles used. (orig.) [de

  7. Release of canine parvovirus from endocytic vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suikkanen, Sanna; Antila, Mia; Jaatinen, Anne; Vihinen-Ranta, Maija; Vuento, Matti

    2003-01-01

    Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a small nonenveloped virus with a single-stranded DNA genome. CPV enters cells by clathrin-mediated endocytosis and requires an acidic endosomal step for productive infection. Virion contains a potential nuclear localization signal as well as a phospholipase A 2 like domain in N-terminus of VP1. In this study we characterized the role of PLA 2 activity on CPV entry process. PLA 2 activity of CPV capsids was triggered in vitro by heat or acidic pH. PLA 2 inhibitors inhibited the viral proliferation suggesting that PLA 2 activity is needed for productive infection. The N-terminus of VP1 was exposed during the entry, suggesting that PLA 2 activity might have a role during endocytic entry. The presence of drugs modifying endocytosis (amiloride, bafilomycin A 1 , brefeldin A, and monensin) caused viral proteins to remain in endosomal/lysosomal vesicles, even though the drugs were not able to inhibit the exposure of VP1 N-terminal end. These results indicate that the exposure of N-terminus of VP1 alone is not sufficient to allow CPV to proliferate. Some other pH-dependent changes are needed for productive infection. In addition to blocking endocytic entry, amiloride was able to block some postendocytic steps. The ability of CPV to permeabilize endosomal membranes was demonstrated by feeding cells with differently sized rhodamine-conjugated dextrans together with the CPV in the presence or in the absence of amiloride, bafilomycin A 1 , brefeldin A, or monensin. Dextran with a molecular weight of 3000 was released from vesicles after 8 h of infection, while dextran with a molecular weight of 10,000 was mainly retained in vesicles. The results suggest that CPV infection does not cause disruption of endosomal vesicles. However, the permeability of endosomal membranes apparently changes during CPV infection, probably due to the PLA 2 activity of the virus. These results suggest that parvoviral PLA 2 activity is essential for productive infection and

  8. The Human Pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes Releases Lipoproteins as Lipoprotein-rich Membrane Vesicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biagini, Massimiliano; Garibaldi, Manuela; Aprea, Susanna; Pezzicoli, Alfredo; Doro, Francesco; Becherelli, Marco; Taddei, Anna Rita; Tani, Chiara; Tavarini, Simona; Mora, Marirosa; Teti, Giuseppe; D'Oro, Ugo; Nuti, Sandra; Soriani, Marco; Margarit, Immaculada; Rappuoli, Rino; Grandi, Guido; Norais, Nathalie

    2015-08-01

    Bacterial lipoproteins are attractive vaccine candidates because they represent a major class of cell surface-exposed proteins in many bacteria and are considered as potential pathogen-associated molecular patterns sensed by Toll-like receptors with built-in adjuvanticity. Although Gram-negative lipoproteins have been extensively characterized, little is known about Gram-positive lipoproteins. We isolated from Streptococcus pyogenes a large amount of lipoproteins organized in vesicles. These vesicles were obtained by weakening the bacterial cell wall with a sublethal concentration of penicillin. Lipid and proteomic analysis of the vesicles revealed that they were enriched in phosphatidylglycerol and almost exclusively composed of lipoproteins. In association with lipoproteins, a few hypothetical proteins, penicillin-binding proteins, and several members of the ExPortal, a membrane microdomain responsible for the maturation of secreted proteins, were identified. The typical lipidic moiety was apparently not necessary for lipoprotein insertion in the vesicle bilayer because they were also recovered from the isogenic diacylglyceryl transferase deletion mutant. The vesicles were not able to activate specific Toll-like receptor 2, indicating that lipoproteins organized in these vesicular structures do not act as pathogen-associated molecular patterns. In light of these findings, we propose to name these new structures Lipoprotein-rich Membrane Vesicles. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  9. A study of the enhanced sensitizing capacity of a contact allergen in lipid vesicle formulations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simonsson, Carl; Madsen, Jakob Torp; Graneli, Annette

    2011-01-01

    , an indicator of a compounds sensitizing capacity, increased when RBITC was applied in lipid vesicles as compared to an ethanol:water (Et:W) solution. Micro-scale vesicles showed a slightly higher cell proliferative response compared to nano-scale vesicles. TPM imaging revealed that the vesicle formulations...... improved the skin penetration of RBITC compared to the Et:W solution. A strong fluorescent region in the stratum corneum and upper epidermis implies elevated association of RBITC to these skin layers when formulated in lipid vesicles. In conclusion, the results indicate that there could be an elevated risk...... of sensitization when haptens are delivered in vehicles containing lipid vesicles. Although the size of the vesicles seems to be of minor importance, further studies are needed before a more generalized conclusion can be drawn. It is likely that the enhanced sensitizing capacity is a consequence of the improved...

  10. Tissue specificity of the hormonal response in sex accessory tissues is associated with nuclear matrix protein patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Getzenberg, R H; Coffey, D S

    1990-09-01

    The DNA of interphase nuclei have very specific three-dimensional organizations that are different in different cell types, and it is possible that this varying DNA organization is responsible for the tissue specificity of gene expression. The nuclear matrix organizes the three-dimensional structure of the DNA and is believed to be involved in the control of gene expression. This study compares the nuclear structural proteins between two sex accessory tissues in the same animal responding to the same androgen stimulation by the differential expression of major tissue-specific secretory proteins. We demonstrate here that the nuclear matrix is tissue specific in the rat ventral prostate and seminal vesicle, and undergoes characteristic alterations in its protein composition upon androgen withdrawal. Three types of nuclear matrix proteins were observed: 1) nuclear matrix proteins that are different and tissue specific in the rat ventral prostate and seminal vesicle, 2) a set of nuclear matrix proteins that either appear or disappear upon androgen withdrawal, and 3) a set of proteins that are common to both the ventral prostate and seminal vesicle and do not change with the hormonal state of the animal. Since the nuclear matrix is known to bind androgen receptors in a tissue- and steroid-specific manner, we propose that the tissue specificity of the nuclear matrix arranges the DNA in a unique conformation, which may be involved in the specific interaction of transcription factors with DNA sequences, resulting in tissue-specific patterns of secretory protein expression.

  11. RAB-10-Dependent Membrane Transport Is Required for Dendrite Arborization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Wei; Yadav, Smita; DeVault, Laura; Jan, Yuh Nung; Sherwood, David R.

    2015-01-01

    Formation of elaborately branched dendrites is necessary for the proper input and connectivity of many sensory neurons. Previous studies have revealed that dendritic growth relies heavily on ER-to-Golgi transport, Golgi outposts and endocytic recycling. How new membrane and associated cargo is delivered from the secretory and endosomal compartments to sites of active dendritic growth, however, remains unknown. Using a candidate-based genetic screen in C. elegans, we have identified the small GTPase RAB-10 as a key regulator of membrane trafficking during dendrite morphogenesis. Loss of rab-10 severely reduced proximal dendritic arborization in the multi-dendritic PVD neuron. RAB-10 acts cell-autonomously in the PVD neuron and localizes to the Golgi and early endosomes. Loss of function mutations of the exocyst complex components exoc-8 and sec-8, which regulate tethering, docking and fusion of transport vesicles at the plasma membrane, also caused proximal dendritic arborization defects and led to the accumulation of intracellular RAB-10 vesicles. In rab-10 and exoc-8 mutants, the trans-membrane proteins DMA-1 and HPO-30, which promote PVD dendrite stabilization and branching, no longer localized strongly to the proximal dendritic membranes and instead were sequestered within intracellular vesicles. Together these results suggest a crucial role for the Rab10 GTPase and the exocyst complex in controlling membrane transport from the secretory and/or endosomal compartments that is required for dendritic growth. PMID:26394140

  12. Secretory proteins in the reproductive tract of the snapping turtle, Chelhydra serpentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoud, I Y; Paulson, J R; Dudley, M; Patzlaff, J S; Al-Kindi, A Y A

    2004-12-01

    SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to separate the secretory proteins produced by the epithelial and endometrial glands of the uterine tube and uterus in the snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina. The proteins were analyzed throughout the phases of the reproductive cycle from May to August, including preovulatory, ovulatory, postovulatory or luteal, and vitellogenic phases. The pattern of secretory proteins is quite uniform along the length of the uterine tube, and the same is true of the uterus, but the patterns for uterine tube and uterus are clearly different. We identify 13 major proteins in C. serpentina egg albumen. Bands co-migrating with 11 of these are found in the uterine tube, but at most 4 are found in the uterus, suggesting that the majority of the albumen proteins are most likely secreted in the uterine tube, not in the uterus. Although some of the egg albumen proteins are present in the uterine tube only at the time of ovulation, most of the bands corresponding to albumen proteins are present throughout the breeding season even though the snapping turtle is a monoclutch species. These results suggest that the glandular secretory phase in the uterine tube is active and quite homogeneous in function regardless of location or phase of the reproductive cycle.

  13. The plant secretory pathway seen through the lens of the cell wall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Meene, A M L; Doblin, M S; Bacic, Antony

    2017-01-01

    Secretion in plant cells is often studied by looking at well-characterised, evolutionarily conserved membrane proteins associated with particular endomembrane compartments. Studies using live cell microscopy and fluorescent proteins have illuminated the highly dynamic nature of trafficking, and electron microscopy studies have resolved the ultrastructure of many compartments. Biochemical and molecular analyses have further informed about the function of particular proteins and endomembrane compartments. In plants, there are over 40 cell types, each with highly specialised functions, and hence potential variations in cell biological processes and cell wall structure. As the primary function of secretion in plant cells is for the biosynthesis of cell wall polysaccharides and apoplastic transport complexes, it follows that utilising our knowledge of cell wall glycosyltransferases (GTs) and their polysaccharide products will inform us about secretion. Indeed, this knowledge has led to novel insights into the secretory pathway, including previously unseen post-TGN secretory compartments. Conversely, our knowledge of trafficking routes of secretion will inform us about polarised and localised deposition of cell walls and their constituent polysaccharides/glycoproteins. In this review, we look at what is known about cell wall biosynthesis and the secretory pathway and how the different approaches can be used in a complementary manner to study secretion and provide novel insights into these processes.

  14. Human milk containing specific secretory IgA inhibits binding of Giardia lamblia to nylon and glass surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samra, H K; Ganguly, N K; Mahajan, R C

    1991-06-01

    The effects of human milk, containing specific secretory IgA, on the adherence of Giardia lamblia trophozoites in the presence and in the absence of intestinal mucus in vitro were studied. It was found that the trophozoites treated with breast milk, containing specific secretory IgA to G. lamblia, showed a significant decrease (p less than 0.01) in adherence to nylon fibre columns and glass surfaces than did trophozoites treated with milk containing no SIgA antibodies. The adherence to glass surfaces was significantly more (p less than 0.01) in the presence of intestinal mucus than when the mucus was absent. Milk that did not contain specific secretory SIgA to G. lamblia did not decrease the adherence to glass surfaces either in the presence or in the absence of mucus. The fluorescence study revealed the binding of specific secretory IgA on the trophozoite surface. The results suggest that binding of SIgA antibodies in milk to G. lamblia trophozoites inhibits parasite adherence, thus protecting against this infection in breast-fed babies.

  15. Interactions between Melanin Enzymes and Their Atypical Recruitment to the Secretory Pathway by Palmitoylation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Srijana Upadhyay

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Melanins are biopolymers that confer coloration and protection to the host organism against biotic or abiotic insults. The level of protection offered by melanin depends on its biosynthesis and its subcellular localization. Previously, we discovered that Aspergillus fumigatus compartmentalizes melanization in endosomes by recruiting all melanin enzymes to the secretory pathway. Surprisingly, although two laccases involved in the late steps of melanization are conventional secretory proteins, the four enzymes involved in the early steps of melanization lack a signal peptide or a transmembrane domain and are thus considered “atypical” secretory proteins. In this work, we found interactions among melanin enzymes and all melanin enzymes formed protein complexes. Surprisingly, the formation of protein complexes by melanin enzymes was not critical for their trafficking to the endosomal system. By palmitoylation profiling and biochemical analyses, we discovered that all four early melanin enzymes were strongly palmitoylated during conidiation. However, only the polyketide synthase (PKS Alb1 was strongly palmitoylated during both vegetative hyphal growth and conidiation when constitutively expressed alone. This posttranslational lipid modification correlates the endosomal localization of all early melanin enzymes. Intriguingly, bioinformatic analyses predict that palmitoylation is a common mechanism for potential membrane association of polyketide synthases (PKSs and nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs in A. fumigatus. Our findings indicate that protein-protein interactions facilitate melanization by metabolic channeling, while posttranslational lipid modifications help recruit the atypical enzymes to the secretory pathway, which is critical for compartmentalization of secondary metabolism.

  16. Isolation and characterization of urinary extracellular vesicles: implications for biomarker discovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Merchant, M.L.; Rood, I.M.; Deegens, J.K.J.; Klein, J.B.

    2017-01-01

    Urine is a valuable diagnostic medium and, with the discovery of urinary extracellular vesicles, is viewed as a dynamic bioactive fluid. Extracellular vesicles are lipid-enclosed structures that can be classified into three categories: exosomes, microvesicles (or ectosomes) and apoptotic bodies.

  17. Sialotranscriptomics of Rhipicephalus zambeziensis reveals intricate expression profiles of secretory proteins and suggests tight temporal transcriptional regulation during blood-feeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Castro, Minique Hilda; de Klerk, Daniel; Pienaar, Ronel; Rees, D Jasper G; Mans, Ben J

    2017-08-10

    Ticks secrete a diverse mixture of secretory proteins into the host to evade its immune response and facilitate blood-feeding, making secretory proteins attractive targets for the production of recombinant anti-tick vaccines. The largely neglected tick species, Rhipicephalus zambeziensis, is an efficient vector of Theileria parva in southern Africa but its available sequence information is limited. Next generation sequencing has advanced sequence availability for ticks in recent years and has assisted the characterisation of secretory proteins. This study focused on the de novo assembly and annotation of the salivary gland transcriptome of R. zambeziensis and the temporal expression of secretory protein transcripts in female and male ticks, before the onset of feeding and during early and late feeding. The sialotranscriptome of R. zambeziensis yielded 23,631 transcripts from which 13,584 non-redundant proteins were predicted. Eighty-six percent of these contained a predicted start and stop codon and were estimated to be putatively full-length proteins. A fifth (2569) of the predicted proteins were annotated as putative secretory proteins and explained 52% of the expression in the transcriptome. Expression analyses revealed that 2832 transcripts were differentially expressed among feeding time points and 1209 between the tick sexes. The expression analyses further indicated that 57% of the annotated secretory protein transcripts were differentially expressed. Dynamic expression profiles of secretory protein transcripts were observed during feeding of female ticks. Whereby a number of transcripts were upregulated during early feeding, presumably for feeding site establishment and then during late feeding, 52% of these were downregulated, indicating that transcripts were required at specific feeding stages. This suggested that secretory proteins are under stringent transcriptional regulation that fine-tunes their expression in salivary glands during feeding. No open

  18. Penetration and fusion of phospholipid vesicles by lysozyme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, J.; Kim, H.

    1989-01-01

    The lysozyme-induced fusion of phosphatidylserine/phosphatidylethanolamine vesicles as studied at a wide range of pH is found to correlate well with the binding of this protein to the vesicles. An identical 6000 molecular weight segment of lysozyme at the N-terminal region is found to be protected from tryptic digestion when initially incubated with vesicles at several pH values. Only this segment is labeled by dansyl chloride, which is partitioned into the bilayer. These results suggest the penetration of one segment of lysozyme into the bilayer. Photoactivated labeling of the membrane-penetrating segment of lysozyme with 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-([ 125 I]iodophenyl)diazirine ([ 125 I]TID) and subsequent identification of the labeled residues by Edman degradation and gamma-ray counting indicate that four amino acids from the N-terminal are located outside the hydrophobic core of the bilayer. Although treatment of the membrane-embedded segment with aminopeptidase failed to cleave any amino acids from the N-terminal, it appears that a loop of lysozyme segment near the N-terminal penetrates into the bilayer at acidic pH. A helical wheel diagram shows that the labeling is done mainly on one surface of the alpha-helix. The penetration kinetics as studied by time-dependent [ 125 I]TID labeling coincide with the fusion kinetics, strongly suggesting that the penetration of the lysozyme segment into the vesicles is the cause of the fusion

  19. Penetration and fusion of phospholipid vesicles by lysozyme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, J.; Kim, H. (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul)

    1989-10-01

    The lysozyme-induced fusion of phosphatidylserine/phosphatidylethanolamine vesicles as studied at a wide range of pH is found to correlate well with the binding of this protein to the vesicles. An identical 6000 molecular weight segment of lysozyme at the N-terminal region is found to be protected from tryptic digestion when initially incubated with vesicles at several pH values. Only this segment is labeled by dansyl chloride, which is partitioned into the bilayer. These results suggest the penetration of one segment of lysozyme into the bilayer. Photoactivated labeling of the membrane-penetrating segment of lysozyme with 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(({sup 125}I)iodophenyl)diazirine (({sup 125}I)TID) and subsequent identification of the labeled residues by Edman degradation and gamma-ray counting indicate that four amino acids from the N-terminal are located outside the hydrophobic core of the bilayer. Although treatment of the membrane-embedded segment with aminopeptidase failed to cleave any amino acids from the N-terminal, it appears that a loop of lysozyme segment near the N-terminal penetrates into the bilayer at acidic pH. A helical wheel diagram shows that the labeling is done mainly on one surface of the alpha-helix. The penetration kinetics as studied by time-dependent ({sup 125}I)TID labeling coincide with the fusion kinetics, strongly suggesting that the penetration of the lysozyme segment into the vesicles is the cause of the fusion.

  20. Selective Metal-Ion-Mediated Vesicle Adhesion Based on Dynamic Self-Organization of a Pyrene-Appended Glutamic Acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xing, Pengyao; Wang, Yajie; Yang, Minmin; Zhang, Yimeng; Wang, Bo; Hao, Aiyou

    2016-07-13

    Vesicles with dynamic membranes provide an ideal model system for investigating biological membrane activities, whereby vesicle aggregation behaviors including adhesion, fusion, fission, and membrane contraction/extension have attracted much attention. In this work we utilize an aromatic amino acid (pyrene-appended glutamic acid, PGlu) to prepare nanovesicles that aggregate to form vesicle clusters selectively induced by Fe(3+) or Cu(2+), and the vesicles transform into irregular nano-objects when interacting with Al(3+). Vesicle clusters have better stability than pristine vesicles, which hinders the spontaneous morphological transformation from vesicles into lamellar nanosheets with long incubation period. The difference between complexation of Fe(3+) and Al(3+) with vesicles was studied by various techniques. On the basis of metal ion-vesicle interactions, this self-assembled nanovesicle system also behaves as an effective fluorescent sensor for Fe(3+) and Al(3+), which cause fluorescence quenching and enhanced excimer emission, respectively.

  1. Irregular bilayer structure in vesicles prepared from Halobacterium cutirubrum lipids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanyi, J. K.

    1974-01-01

    Fluorescent probes were used to study the structure of the cell envelope of Halobacterium cutirubrum, and, in particular, to explore the effect of the heterogeneity of the lipids in this organism on the structure of the bilayers. The fluorescence polarization of perylene was followed in vesicles of unfractionated lipids and polar lipids as a function of temperature in 3.4 M solutions of NaCl, NaNO3, and KSCN, and it was found that vesicles of unfractionated lipids were more perturbed by chaotropic agents than polar lipids. The dependence of the relaxation times of perylene on temperature was studied in cell envelopes and in vesicles prepared from polar lipids, unfractionated lipids, and mixtures of polar and neutral lipids.

  2. Seminal vesicle metastasis after partial hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong, Li; Zheng, Minwen; Li, Yanhong; Zhang, Wendong; Bu, Wangjun; Shi, Lifang; Zhang, Wei; Yan, Hong

    2011-01-01

    Metastasis to the seminal vesicle is extremely rare for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To our knowledge, it has been not reported in literature. The purpose of the present paper was to report a case of metastasis to the seminal vesicle after HCC resection, along with its histological features and immunohistochemical characteristics. A 46-year-old Chinese man was admitted to our hospital due to abdominal distension. He had a history of HCC related to hepatitis B virus infection. Moreover, left partial hepatectomy was performed in another hospital 28 months ago, and right partial hepatectomy for HCC recurrence in our hospital 4 months ago. After resection, radiofrequency ablation therapy had been performed. About 27 months after the initial operation, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the pelvic cavity revealed a mass with homogeneous enhancement in the seminal vesicle. Transrectal needle biopsy revealed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Therefore, seminal vesiculectomy was resected. The histological diagnosis of the removed tumor was compatible with the original HCC. Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated that the tumor cells were positive for glypican-3 (GPC3), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), hepatocyte paraffin-1 (Hep Par 1), cytokeratin 18 (CK 18), and hepatocyte antigen, which confirmed that the seminal vesicle tumor was a metastatic tumor of HCC. However, CT subsequently revealed multiple metastatic foci in the abdominal and pelvic cavities in May 2009 and August 2009, respectively. The seminal vesicle is an extremely rare metastatic site for HCC, and the prognosis is very poor. A combination of clinical and pathological features is necessary for a correct diagnosis, and primary tumor should be excluded before diagnosing metastatic foci

  3. Secretory IgA in complex with Lactobacillus rhamnosus potentiates mucosal dendritic cell-mediated Treg cell differentiation via TLR regulatory proteins, RALDH2 and secretion of IL-10 and TGF-β.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikulic, Josip; Longet, Stéphanie; Favre, Laurent; Benyacoub, Jalil; Corthesy, Blaise

    2017-06-01

    The importance of secretory IgA in controlling the microbiota is well known, yet how the antibody affects the perception of the commensals by the local immune system is still poorly defined. We have previously shown that the transport of secretory IgA in complex with bacteria across intestinal microfold cells results in an association with dendritic cells in Peyer's patches. However, the consequences of such an interaction on dendritic cell conditioning have not been elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the impact of the commensal Lactobacillus rhamnosus, alone or associated with secretory IgA, on the responsiveness of dendritic cells freshly recovered from mouse Peyer's patches, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleen. Lactobacillus rhamnosus-conditioned mucosal dendritic cells are characterized by increased expression of Toll-like receptor regulatory proteins [including single immunoglobulin interleukin-1 receptor-related molecule, suppressor of cytokine signaling 1, and Toll-interacting molecule] and retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2, low surface expression of co-stimulatory markers, high anti- versus pro-inflammatory cytokine production ratios, and induction of T regulatory cells with suppressive function. Association with secretory IgA enhanced the anti-inflammatory/regulatory Lactobacillus rhamnosus-induced conditioning of mucosal dendritic cells, particularly in Peyer's patches. At the systemic level, activation of splenic dendritic cells exposed to Lactobacillus rhamnosus was partially dampened upon association with secretory IgA. These data suggest that secretory IgA, through coating of commensal bacteria, contributes to the conditioning of mucosal dendritic cells toward tolerogenic profiles essential for the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis.

  4. Small round blue cell tumor of seminal vesicle in a young patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriano A. De Paula

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Seminal vesicle tumor is a rare disease with unclear origin. Generally, it is presented as a pelvic mass that can be detected by sonography and digital rectal exam. The authors report a 25-year-old patient with a pelvic mass which the magnetic resonance and surgical specimen reveal a seminal vesicle tumor. Immunohistochemical findings favored a primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the seminal vesicle. Herein, the treatment, histological and histochemical findings of this entity are discussed.

  5. Interbilayer-crosslinked multilamellar vesicles as synthetic vaccines for potent humoral and cellular immune responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, James J.; Suh, Heikyung; Bershteyn, Anna; Stephan, Matthias T.; Liu, Haipeng; Huang, Bonnie; Sohail, Mashaal; Luo, Samantha; Ho Um, Soong; Khant, Htet; Goodwin, Jessica T.; Ramos, Jenelyn; Chiu, Wah; Irvine, Darrell J.

    2011-03-01

    Vaccines based on recombinant proteins avoid the toxicity and antivector immunity associated with live vaccine (for example, viral) vectors, but their immunogenicity is poor, particularly for CD8+ T-cell responses. Synthetic particles carrying antigens and adjuvant molecules have been developed to enhance subunit vaccines, but in general these materials have failed to elicit CD8+ T-cell responses comparable to those for live vectors in preclinical animal models. Here, we describe interbilayer-crosslinked multilamellar vesicles formed by crosslinking headgroups of adjacent lipid bilayers within multilamellar vesicles. Interbilayer-crosslinked vesicles stably entrapped protein antigens in the vesicle core and lipid-based immunostimulatory molecules in the vesicle walls under extracellular conditions, but exhibited rapid release in the presence of endolysosomal lipases. We found that these antigen/adjuvant-carrying vesicles form an extremely potent whole-protein vaccine, eliciting endogenous T-cell and antibody responses comparable to those for the strongest vaccine vectors. These materials should enable a range of subunit vaccines and provide new possibilities for therapeutic protein delivery.

  6. Unconditionally energy stable numerical schemes for phase-field vesicle membrane model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guillén-González, F.; Tierra, G.

    2018-02-01

    Numerical schemes to simulate the deformation of vesicles membranes via minimizing the bending energy have been widely studied in recent times due to its connection with many biological motivated problems. In this work we propose a new unconditionally energy stable numerical scheme for a vesicle membrane model that satisfies exactly the conservation of volume constraint and penalizes the surface area constraint. Moreover, we extend these ideas to present an unconditionally energy stable splitting scheme decoupling the interaction of the vesicle with a surrounding fluid. Finally, the well behavior of the proposed schemes are illustrated through several computational experiments.

  7. Self-assembly of star micelle into vesicle in solvents of variable quality: the star micelle retains its core-shell nanostructure in the vesicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Nijuan; He, Qun; Bu, Weifeng

    2015-03-03

    Intra- and intermolecular interactions of star polymers in dilute solutions are of fundamental importance for both theoretical interest and hierarchical self-assembly into functional nanostructures. Here, star micelles with a polystyrene corona and a small ionic core bearing platinum(II) complexes have been regarded as a model of star polymers to mimic their intra- and interstar interactions and self-assembled behaviors in solvents of weakening quality. In the chloroform/methanol mixture solvents, the star micelles can self-assemble to form vesicles, in which the star micelles shrink significantly and are homogeneously distributed on the vesicle surface. Unlike the morphological evolution of conventional amphiphiles from micellar to vesicular, during which the amphiphilic molecules are commonly reorganized, the star micelles still retain their core-shell nanostructures in the vesicles and the coronal chains of the star micelle between the ionic cores are fully interpenetrated.

  8. Increased production of outer membrane vesicles by cultured freshwater bacteria in response to ultraviolet radiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamalier, Juliana P; Silva, Thiago P; Zarantonello, Victor; Dias, Felipe F; Melo, Rossana C N

    2017-01-01

    Secretion of membrane vesicles is an important biological process of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. This process has been characterized in pathogenic bacteria, but is less clear in non-pathogenic bacteria from aquatic ecosystems. Here, we investigated, for the first time, the process of formation of outer membranes vesicles (OMVs), nanoscale vesicles extruded from the outer membrane (OM) of gram-negative bacteria, in cultures of freshwater bacteria after exposure or not to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) as an environmental stressor. Non-axenic cultures of freshwater bacteria isolated from a Brazilian aquatic ecosystem (Funil reservoir) were exposed or not to UVR (UVA+UVB) over a 3h period, during which cell density, viability and ultrastructure were analyzed. First, we showed that UVR induce bacterial death. UVR triggered significant negative effect on cell density after 3h of UVR treatment. This decrease was directly associated with cell death as revealed by a cell viability fluorescent probe that enables the distinction of live/dead bacteria. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed changes indicative of cell death after 3h of UVR exposure, with significant increase of damaged cells compared to the control group. Second, we demonstrated that gram-negative bacteria release OMVs during normal growth and after UVR exposure. OMVs were clearly identified as round, membrane-bound vesicles budding off from the bacterial OM as isolated or clustered vesicles or free in the extracellular medium. Remarkably, quantitative TEM analyses showed that bacteria respond to UVR with increased formation of OMVs. Moreover, while OMVs numbers per intact or damaged cell did not differ in the untreated group, UVR led to a higher vesiculation by bacteria in process of death. This means that degenerating bacteria release OMVs before lysis and that this secretion might be an adaptive/protective response to rapid changes in environmental conditions such as UV radiation. Copyright

  9. Two types of mineral-related matrix vesicles in the bone mineralization of zebrafish

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, L; Zhang, Y; Cui, F Z

    2007-01-01

    Two types of mineral-related matrix vesicle, multivesicular body (MVB) and monovesicle, were detected in the skeletal bone of zebrafish. Transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses of the vesicular inclusions reveal that both types of vesicles contain calcium and phosphorus, suggesting that these vesicles may be involved in mineral ion delivery for the bone mineralization of zebrafish. However, their size and substructure are quite different. Monovesicles, whose diameter ranges from 100 nm to 550 nm, are similar to the previously reported normal matrix vesicles, while MVBs have a larger size of 700-1000 nm in nominal diameter and possess a substructure that is composed of smaller vesicles with their average size around 100 nm. The presence of mineral-related MVBs, which is first identified in zebrafish bone, indicates that the mineralization-associated transportation process of mineral ions is more complicated than is ordinarily imagined

  10. Calcium transport in sealed vesicles from red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) storage tissue. II. Characterization of 45Ca2+ uptake into plasma membrane vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giannini, J.L.; Ruiz-Cristin, J.; Briskin, D.P.

    1987-01-01

    Calcium uptake was examined in sealed plasma membrane vesicles isolated from red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) storage tissue using 45 Ca 2+ . Uptake of 45 Ca 2+ by the vesicles was ATP-dependent and radiotracer accumulated by the vesicles could be released by the addition of the calcium ionophore A23187. The uptake was stimulated by gramicidin D but slightly inhibited by carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone. Although the latter result might suggest some degree of indirect coupling of 45 Ca 2+ uptake to ATP utilization via ΔμH + , no evidence for a secondary H + /Ca 2+ antiport in this vesicle system could be found. Following the imposition of an acid-interior pH gradient, proton efflux from the vesicle was not enhanced by the addition of Ca 2+ and an imposed pH gradient could not drive 45 Ca 2+ uptake. Optimal uptake of 45 Ca 2+ occurred broadly between pH 7.0 and 7.5 and the transport was inhibited by orthovanadate, N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and diethylstilbestrol but insensitive to nitrate and azide. The dependence of 45 Ca 2+ uptake on both calcium and Mg:ATP concentration demonstrated saturation kinetics with K/sub m/ values of 6 micromolar and 0.37 millimolar, respectively. While ATP was the preferred substrate for driving 45 Ca 2+ uptake, GTP could drive transport at about 50% of the level observed for ATP. The results of this study demonstrate the presence of a unique primary calcium transport system associated with the plasma membrane which could drive calcium efflux from the plant cell

  11. Crosstalk of Autophagy and the Secretory Pathway and Its Role in Diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahoor, Muhammad; Farhan, Hesso

    2018-01-01

    The secretory and autophagic pathways are two fundamental, evolutionary highly conserved endomembrane processes. Typically, secretion is associated with biosynthesis and delivery of proteins. In contrast, autophagy is usually considered as a degradative pathway. Thus, an analogy to metabolic pathways is evident. Anabolic (biosynthetic) and catabolic (degradative) pathways are usually intimately linked and intertwined, and likewise, the secretory and autophagy pathways are intertwined. Investigation of this link is an emerging area of research, and we will provide an overview of some of the major advances that have been made to contribute to understanding of how secretion regulates autophagy and vice versa. Finally, we will highlight evidence that supports a potential involvement of the autophagy-secretion crosstalk in human diseases. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of islet secretory granule proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watkins, D.T.

    1991-01-01

    The effect of Ca2+ and calmodulin on phosphorylation of islet secretory granule proteins was studied. Secretory granules were incubated in a phosphorylation reaction mixture containing [32P]ATP and test reagents. The 32P-labeled proteins were resolved by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the 32P content was visualized by autoradiography, and the relative intensities of specific bands were quantitated. When the reaction mixture contained EGTA and no added Ca2+, 32P was incorporated into two proteins with molecular weights of 45,000 and 13,000. When 10(-4) M Ca2+ was added without EGTA, two additional proteins (58,000 and 48,000 Mr) were phosphorylated, and the 13,000-Mr protein was absent. The addition of 2.4 microM calmodulin markedly enhanced the phosphorylation of the 58,000- and 48,000-Mr proteins and resulted in the phosphorylation of a major protein whose molecular weight (64,000 Mr) is identical to that of one of the calmodulin binding proteins located on the granule surface. Calmodulin had no effect on phosphorylation in the absence of Ca2+ but was effective in the presence of calcium between 10 nM and 50 microM. Trifluoperazine and calmidazolium, calmodulin antagonists, produced a dose-dependent inhibition of the calmodulin effect. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate, a phorbol ester that activates protein kinase C, produced no increase in phosphorylation, and 1-(5-isoquinoline sulfonyl)-2-methyl piperazine dihydrochloride, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, had no effect. These results indicate that Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent protein kinases and endogenous substrates are present in islet secretory granules

  13. Dynamics of fatty acid vesicles in response to pH stimuli

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ikari, Keita; Sakuma, Yuka; Jimbo, Takehiro

    2015-01-01

    We investigate the dynamics of decanoic acid/decanoate (DA) vesicles in response to pH stimuli. Two types of dynamic processes induced by the micro injection of NaOH solutions are sequentially observed: deformations and topological transitions. In the deformation stage, DA vesicles show a series...

  14. Myeloid extracellular vesicles: messengers from the demented brain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annamaria eNigro

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Blood-borne monocyte derived cells play a pivotal, initially unrecognized, role in most central nervous system disorders, including diseases initially classified as purely neurodegenerative (i.e. AD, PD, and ALS. Their trafficking to the brain and spinal cord has been extensively studied in classical neuroinflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Central nervous system resident myeloid cells, namely microglia and perivascular macrophages, also are in the spotlight of investigations on neurological disorders. Myeloid cells, such as infiltrating macrophages and microglia, have been described as having both protective and destructive features in neurological disorders, thus identification of their functional phenotype during disease evolution would be of paramount importance. Extracellular vesicles, namely exosomes and shed vesicles, are released by virtually any cell type and can be detected and identified in terms of cell origin in biological fluids. They therefore constitute an ideal tool to access information on cells residing in an inaccessible site such as the brain. We will review here available information on extracellular vesicles detection in neurological disorders with special emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases.

  15. Regulatory Multidimensionality of Gas Vesicle Biogenesis in Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew I. Yao

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available It is becoming clear that the regulation of gas vesicle biogenesis in Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1 is multifaceted and appears to integrate environmental and metabolic cues at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. The mechanistic details underlying this process, however, remain unclear. In this manuscript, we quantify the contribution of light scattering made by both intracellular and released gas vesicles isolated from Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1, demonstrating that each form can lead to distinct features in growth curves determined by optical density measured at 600 nm (OD600. In the course of the study, we also demonstrate the sensitivity of gas vesicle accumulation in Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1 on small differences in growth conditions and reevaluate published works in the context of our results to present a hypothesis regarding the roles of the general transcription factor tbpD and the TCA cycle enzyme aconitase on the regulation of gas vesicle biogenesis.

  16. Therapeutic application of extracellular vesicles in acute and chronic renal injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rovira, Jordi; Diekmann, Fritz; Campistol, Josep M; Ramírez-Bajo, María José

    A new cell-to-cell communication system was discovered in the 1990s, which involves the release of vesicles into the extracellular space. These vesicles shuttle bioactive particles, including proteins, mRNA, miRNA, metabolites, etc. This particular communication has been conserved throughout evolution, which explains why most cell types are capable of producing vesicles. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in the regulation of different physiological processes, as well as in the development and progression of several diseases. EVs have been widely studied over recent years, especially those produced by embryonic and adult stem cells, blood cells, immune system and nervous system cells, as well as tumour cells. EV analysis from bodily fluids has been used as a diagnostic tool for cancer and recently for different renal diseases. However, this review analyses the importance of EVs generated by stem cells, their function and possible clinical application in renal diseases and kidney transplantation. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U.

  17. Adrenomedullin increases the short-circuit current in the mouse seminal vesicle: actions on chloride secretion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, S B; Cheung, K H; O, W S; Tang, Fai

    2014-08-01

    Adrenomedullin (ADM) may regulate seminal vesicle fluid secretion, and this may affect sperm quality. In this study, we investigated the effect of ADM on chloride secretion in the mouse seminal vesicle. The presence of ADM in mouse seminal vesicle was confirmed using immunostaining, and the molecular species was determined using gel filtration chromatography coupled with enzyme-linked assay for ADM. The effects of ADM on chloride secretion were studied by short-circuit current technique in a whole-mount preparation of mouse seminal vesicle in an Ussing chamber. The effects of specific ADM and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists were investigated. Whether the ADM effect depended on the cAMP- and/or calcium-activated chloride channel was also studied using specific chloride channel blockers. The results showed that ADM was present in seminal vesicle epithelial cells. The major molecular species was precursor in the mouse seminal vesicle. ADM increased short-circuit current through the calcium-activated chloride channel in mouse seminal vesicle, and CGRP receptor was involved. We conclude that ADM may regulate chloride and fluid secretion from the seminal vesicle, which may affect the composition of the seminal plasma bathing the sperm and, hence, fertility. © 2014 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc.

  18. Vitamin D Impacts the Expression of Runx2 Target Genes and Modulates Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Membrane Vesicle Biogenesis Gene Networks in 143B Osteosarcoma Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garimella, Rama; Tadikonda, Priyanka; Tawfik, Ossama; Gunewardena, Sumedha; Rowe, Peter; Van Veldhuizen, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive malignancy of bone affecting children, adolescents and young adults. Understanding vitamin D metabolism and vitamin D regulated genes in OS is an important aspect of vitamin D/cancer paradigm, and in evaluating vitamin D as adjuvant therapy for human OS. Vitamin D treatment of 143B OS cells induced significant and novel changes in the expression of genes that regulate: (a) inflammation and immunity; (b) formation of reactive oxygen species, metabolism of cyclic nucleotides, sterols, vitamins and mineral (calcium), quantity of gap junctions and skeletogenesis; (c) bone mineral density; and (d) cell viability of skeletal cells, aggregation of bone cancer cells and exocytosis of secretory vesicles. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed significant reduction in Runx2 target genes such as fibroblast growth factor -1, -12 (FGF1 and FGF12), bone morphogenetic factor-1 (BMP1), SWI/SNF related, matrix associated actin dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily a, member 4 (SMARCA4), Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE), Integrin, β4 (ITGBP4), Matrix Metalloproteinase -1, -28 (MMP1 and MMP28), and signal transducer and activator of transcription-4 (STAT4) in vitamin D treated 143B OS cells. These genes interact with the inflammation, oxidative stress and membrane vesicle biogenesis gene networks. Vitamin D not only inhibited the expression of Runx2 target genes MMP1, MMP28 and kallikrein related peptidase-7 (KLK7), but also migration and invasion of 143B OS cells. Vitamin D regulated Runx2 target genes or their products represent potential therapeutic targets and laboratory biomarkers for applications in translational oncology. PMID:28300755

  19. SEC24A deficiency lowers plasma cholesterol through reduced PCSK9 secretion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xiao-Wei; Wang, He; Bajaj, Kanika; Zhang, Pengcheng; Meng, Zhuo-Xian; Ma, Danjun; Bai, Yongsheng; Liu, Hui-Hui; Adams, Elizabeth; Baines, Andrea; Yu, Genggeng; Sartor, Maureen A; Zhang, Bin; Yi, Zhengping; Lin, Jiandie; Young, Stephen G; Schekman, Randy; Ginsburg, David

    2013-01-01

    The secretory pathway of eukaryotic cells packages cargo proteins into COPII-coated vesicles for transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi. We now report that complete genetic deficiency for the COPII component SEC24A is compatible with normal survival and development in the mouse, despite the fundamental role of SEC24 in COPII vesicle formation and cargo recruitment. However, these animals exhibit markedly reduced plasma cholesterol, with mutations in Apoe and Ldlr epistatic to Sec24a, suggesting a receptor-mediated lipoprotein clearance mechanism. Consistent with these data, hepatic LDLR levels are up-regulated in SEC24A-deficient cells as a consequence of specific dependence of PCSK9, a negative regulator of LDLR, on SEC24A for efficient exit from the ER. Our findings also identify partial overlap in cargo selectivity between SEC24A and SEC24B, suggesting a previously unappreciated heterogeneity in the recruitment of secretory proteins to the COPII vesicles that extends to soluble as well as trans-membrane cargoes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00444.001 PMID:23580231

  20. LIPIDS IN REGULATED EXOCYTOSIS: WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed Raafet Ammar

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available TThe regulated secretory pathway in neuroendocrine cells ends with the release of hormones and neurotransmitters following a rise in cytosolic calcium. This process known as regulated exocytosis involves the assembly of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE proteins, the synaptic vesicle VAMP (synaptobrevin and the plasma membrane proteins syntaxin and SNAP-25. Although there is much evidence suggesting that SNARE proteins play a key role in the fusion machinery, other cellular elements regulating the kinetics, the extent of fusion, and the preparation of vesicle for release have received less attention. Among those factors, lipids have also been proposed to play important functions both at the level of secretory vesicle recruitment and late membrane fusion steps. Here, we will review the latest evidence supporting the concept of the fusogenic activity of lipids, and also discuss how this may be achieved. These possibilities include the recruitment and sequestration of the components of the exocytotic machinery, regulation of protein function and direct effects on membrane topology.

  1. Polymer Vesicles as Robust Scaffolds for the Directed Assembly of Highly Crystalline Nanocrystals †

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Mingfeng

    2009-12-15

    We report the incorporation of various inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) (PbS, LaOF, LaF3, and TiO2, each capped by oleic acid, and CdSe/ZnS core/shell QDs capped by trioctylphosphine oxide) into vesicles (d = 70-150 nm) formed by a sample of poly(styrene-b-acrylic acid) (PS4o4-b-PAA 62, where the subscripts refer to the degree of polymerization) in mixtures of tetrahydrofuran (THF), dioxane, and water. The block copolymer formed mixtures of crew-cut micelles and vesicles with some enhancement of the vesicle population when the NPs were present. The vesicle fraction could be isolated by selective sedimentation via centrifugation, followed by redispersion in water. The NPs appeared to be incorporated into the PAA layers on the internal and external walls of the vesicles (strongly favoring the former). NPs on the exterior surface of the vesicles could be removed completely by treating the samples with a solution of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) in water. The triangular nanoplatelets of LaF3 behaved differently. Stacks of these platelets were incorporated into solid colloidal entities, similar in size to the empty vesicles that accompanied them, during the coassembly as water was added to the polymer/LaF3/THF/ dioxane mixture. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

  2. EVpedia: an integrated database of high-throughput data for systemic analyses of extracellular vesicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dae-Kyum Kim

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Secretion of extracellular vesicles is a general cellular activity that spans the range from simple unicellular organisms (e.g. archaea; Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to complex multicellular ones, suggesting that this extracellular vesicle-mediated communication is evolutionarily conserved. Extracellular vesicles are spherical bilayered proteolipids with a mean diameter of 20–1,000 nm, which are known to contain various bioactive molecules including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Here, we present EVpedia, which is an integrated database of high-throughput datasets from prokaryotic and eukaryotic extracellular vesicles. EVpedia provides high-throughput datasets of vesicular components (proteins, mRNAs, miRNAs, and lipids present on prokaryotic, non-mammalian eukaryotic, and mammalian extracellular vesicles. In addition, EVpedia also provides an array of tools, such as the search and browse of vesicular components, Gene Ontology enrichment analysis, network analysis of vesicular proteins and mRNAs, and a comparison of vesicular datasets by ortholog identification. Moreover, publications on extracellular vesicle studies are listed in the database. This free web-based database of EVpedia (http://evpedia.info might serve as a fundamental repository to stimulate the advancement of extracellular vesicle studies and to elucidate the novel functions of these complex extracellular organelles.

  3. Plane partition vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rensburg, E J Janse van; Ma, J

    2006-01-01

    We examine partitions and their natural three-dimensional generalizations, plane partitions, as models of vesicles undergoing an inflation-deflation transition. The phase diagrams of these models include a critical point corresponding to an inflation-deflation transition, and exhibits multicritical scaling in the vicinity of a multicritical point located elsewhere on the critical curve. We determine the locations of the multicritical points by analysing the generating functions using analytic and numerical means. In addition, we determine the numerical values of the multicritical scaling exponents associated with the multicritical scaling regimes in these models

  4. Surface degassing and modifications to vesicle size distributions in active basalt flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cashman, K.V.; Mangan, M.T.; Newman, S.

    1994-01-01

    The character of the vesicle population in lava flows includes several measurable parameters that may provide important constraints on lava flow dynamics and rheology. Interpretation of vesicle size distributions (VSDs), however, requires an understanding of vesiculation processes in feeder conduits, and of post-eruption modifications to VSDs during transport and emplacement. To this end we collected samples from active basalt flows at Kilauea Volcano: (1) near the effusive Kupaianaha vent; (2) through skylights in the approximately isothermal Wahaula and Kamoamoa tube systems transporting lava to the coast; (3) from surface breakouts at different locations along the lava tubes; and (4) from different locations in a single breakout from a lava tube 1 km from the 51 vent at Pu'u 'O'o. Near-vent samples are characterized by VSDs that show exponentially decreasing numbers of vesicles with increasing vesicle size. These size distributions suggest that nucleation and growth of bubbles were continuous during ascent in the conduit, with minor associated bubble coalescence resulting from differential bubble rise. The entire vesicle population can be attributed to shallow exsolution of H2O-dominated gases at rates consistent with those predicted by simple diffusion models. Measurements of H2O, CO2 and S in the matrix glass show that the melt equilibrated rapidly at atmospheric pressure. Down-tube samples maintain similar VSD forms but show a progressive decrease in both overall vesicularity and mean vesicle size. We attribute this change to open system, "passive" rise and escape of larger bubbles to the surface. Such gas loss from the tube system results in the output of 1.2 ?? 106 g/day SO2, an output representing an addition of approximately 1% to overall volatile budget calculations. A steady increase in bubble number density with downstream distance is best explained by continued bubble nucleation at rates of 7-8/cm3s. Rates are ???25% of those estimated from the vent

  5. Optimization of Pathogenetic Treatment of Secretory Diarrhea in Infants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.K. Koloskova

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the research was to access clinical efficacy of oral rehydration therapy using III generation solutions in the treatment of secretory diarrhea in infants. To achieve this aim, on the basis of infectious box unit (enteric infections of regional clinical hospital (Chernivtsi we examined 116 infants, randomly selected, with acute gastroenteritis, who admitted to the hospital with signs of exycosis due to secretory diarrhea. Among examined patients, 73 (67.5 % children with the purpose of oral rehydration therapy received rehydration solutions, and 35 (32.4 % patients received other rehydration solutions. Monitoring of the dynamics of patients’ state enabled to state that, when we used III generation mixture as a main component of oral rehydration therapy, rate of positive dynamics in terms of clinical status of patients was significantly faster, in particular, body temperature, frequency and nature of bowel movements normalized significantly earlier, vomiting disappeared. In children treated with rehydration solutions, compared with patients receiving other rehydration solutions, odds ratio to confine only oral rehydration was 3.7 (95% CI 0.4–38.9 with an absolute risk to avoid the need for infusion therapy — 11 %.

  6. Magnetic resonance of seminal vesicles: a noninvasive study of seminal way

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ocantos, J.A.; Rey Valzacchi, G.; Sinclair, M.E.; Loor Guadamud, G.

    2010-01-01

    The magnetic resonance without endorectal coil is an excellent diagnostic tool for studying the entire route of seminal non-invasive way in a single step diagnosis. We call magnetic resonance of seminal vesicles, but includes both the study of the seminal vesicles as the channels of the seminal way. [es

  7. Intracellular vesicles as reproduction elements in cell wall-deficient L-form bacteria.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yves Briers

    Full Text Available Cell wall-deficient bacteria, or L-forms, represent an extreme example of bacterial plasticity. Stable L-forms can multiply and propagate indefinitely in the absence of a cell wall. Data presented here are consistent with the model that intracellular vesicles in Listeria monocytogenes L-form cells represent the actual viable reproductive elements. First, small intracellular vesicles are formed along the mother cell cytoplasmic membrane, originating from local phospholipid accumulation. During growth, daughter vesicles incorporate a small volume of the cellular cytoplasm, and accumulate within volume-expanding mother cells. Confocal Raman microspectroscopy demonstrated the presence of nucleic acids and proteins in all intracellular vesicles, but only a fraction of which reveals metabolic activity. Following collapse of the mother cell and release of the daughter vesicles, they can establish their own membrane potential required for respiratory and metabolic processes. Premature depolarization of the surrounding membrane promotes activation of daughter cell metabolism prior to release. Based on genome resequencing of L-forms and comparison to the parental strain, we found no evidence for predisposing mutations that might be required for L-form transition. Further investigations revealed that propagation by intracellular budding not only occurs in Listeria species, but also in L-form cells generated from different Enterococcus species. From a more general viewpoint, this type of multiplication mechanism seems reminiscent of the physicochemical self-reproducing properties of abiotic lipid vesicles used to study the primordial reproduction pathways of putative prokaryotic precursor cells.

  8. Intracellular vesicles as reproduction elements in cell wall-deficient L-form bacteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briers, Yves; Staubli, Titu; Schmid, Markus C; Wagner, Michael; Schuppler, Markus; Loessner, Martin J

    2012-01-01

    Cell wall-deficient bacteria, or L-forms, represent an extreme example of bacterial plasticity. Stable L-forms can multiply and propagate indefinitely in the absence of a cell wall. Data presented here are consistent with the model that intracellular vesicles in Listeria monocytogenes L-form cells represent the actual viable reproductive elements. First, small intracellular vesicles are formed along the mother cell cytoplasmic membrane, originating from local phospholipid accumulation. During growth, daughter vesicles incorporate a small volume of the cellular cytoplasm, and accumulate within volume-expanding mother cells. Confocal Raman microspectroscopy demonstrated the presence of nucleic acids and proteins in all intracellular vesicles, but only a fraction of which reveals metabolic activity. Following collapse of the mother cell and release of the daughter vesicles, they can establish their own membrane potential required for respiratory and metabolic processes. Premature depolarization of the surrounding membrane promotes activation of daughter cell metabolism prior to release. Based on genome resequencing of L-forms and comparison to the parental strain, we found no evidence for predisposing mutations that might be required for L-form transition. Further investigations revealed that propagation by intracellular budding not only occurs in Listeria species, but also in L-form cells generated from different Enterococcus species. From a more general viewpoint, this type of multiplication mechanism seems reminiscent of the physicochemical self-reproducing properties of abiotic lipid vesicles used to study the primordial reproduction pathways of putative prokaryotic precursor cells.

  9. Residual urinary extracellular vesicles in ultracentrifugation supernatants after hydrostatic filtration dialysis enrichment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musante, Luca; Tataruch-Weinert, Dorota; Kerjaschki, Dontscho; Henry, Michael; Meleady, Paula; Holthofer, Harry

    2017-01-01

    Urinary extracellular vesicles (UEVs) appear an ideal source of biomarkers for kidney and urogenital diseases. The majority of protocols designed for their isolation are based on differential centrifugation steps. However, little is still known of the type and amount of vesicles left in the supernatant. Here we used an isolation protocol for UEVs which uses hydrostatic filtration dialysis as first pre-enrichment step, followed by differential centrifugation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), mass spectrometry (MS), western blot, ELISA assays and tuneable resistive pulse sensing (TRPS) were used to characterise and quantify UEVs in the ultracentrifugation supernatant. TEM showed the presence of a variety of small size vesicles in the supernatant while protein identification by MS matched accurately with the protein list available in Vesiclepedia. Screening and relative quantification for specific vesicle markers showed that the supernatant was preferentially positive for CD9 and TSG101. ELISA tests for quantification of exosome revealed that 14%, was left in the supernatant with a particle diameter of 110 nm and concentration of 1.54 × 10 10 /ml. Here we show a comprehensive characterisation of exosomes and other small size urinary vesicles which the conventional differential centrifugation protocol may lose.

  10. A simplified method to recover urinary vesicles for clinical applications, and sample banking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musante, Luca; Tataruch, Dorota; Gu, Dongfeng; Benito-Martin, Alberto; Calzaferri, Giulio; Aherne, Sinead; Holthofer, Harry

    2014-12-23

    Urinary extracellular vesicles provide a novel source for valuable biomarkers for kidney and urogenital diseases: Current isolation protocols include laborious, sequential centrifugation steps which hampers their widespread research and clinical use. Furthermore, large individual urine sample volumes or sizable target cohorts are to be processed (e.g. for biobanking), the storage capacity is an additional problem. Thus, alternative methods are necessary to overcome such limitations. We have developed a practical vesicle isolation technique to yield easily manageable sample volumes in an exceptionally cost efficient way to facilitate their full utilization in less privileged environments and maximize the benefit of biobanking. Urinary vesicles were isolated by hydrostatic dialysis with minimal interference of soluble proteins or vesicle loss. Large volumes of urine were concentrated up to 1/100 of original volume and the dialysis step allowed equalization of urine physico-chemical characteristics. Vesicle fractions were found suitable to any applications, including RNA analysis. In the yield, our hydrostatic filtration dialysis system outperforms the conventional ultracentrifugation-based methods and the labour intensive and potentially hazardous step of ultracentrifugations are eliminated. Likewise, the need for trained laboratory personnel and heavy initial investment is avoided. Thus, our method qualifies as a method for laboratories working with urinary vesicles and biobanking.

  11. The Function of Gas Vesicles in Halophilic Archaeaand Bacteria: Theories and Experimental Evidence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oren, Aharon

    2012-01-01

    A few extremely halophilic Archaea (Halobacterium salinarum, Haloquadratum walsbyi, Haloferax mediterranei, Halorubrum vacuolatum, Halogeometricum borinquense, Haloplanus spp.) possess gas vesicles that bestow buoyancy on the cells. Gas vesicles are also produced by the anaerobic endospore-forming halophilic Bacteria Sporohalobacter lortetii and Orenia sivashensis. We have extensive information on the properties of gas vesicles in Hbt. salinarum and Hfx. mediterranei and the regulation of their formation. Different functions were suggested for gas vesicle synthesis: buoying cells towards oxygen-rich surface layers in hypersaline water bodies to prevent oxygen limitation, reaching higher light intensities for the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin, positioning the cells optimally for light absorption, light shielding, reducing the cytoplasmic volume leading to a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio (for the Archaea) and dispersal of endospores (for the anaerobic spore-forming Bacteria). Except for Hqr. walsbyi which abounds in saltern crystallizer brines, gas-vacuolate halophiles are not among the dominant life forms in hypersaline environments. There only has been little research on gas vesicles in natural communities of halophilic microorganisms, and the few existing studies failed to provide clear evidence for their possible function. This paper summarizes the current status of the different theories why gas vesicles may provide a selective advantage to some halophilic microorganisms. PMID:25371329

  12. Early events of secretory granule formation in the rat parotid acinar cell under the influence of isoproterenol. An ultrastructural and lectin cytochemical study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F D’Amico

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The events involved in the maturation process of acinar secretory granules of rat parotid gland were investigated ultrastructurally and cytochemically by using a battery of four lectins [Triticum vulgaris agglutinin (WGA, Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I, Glycine max agglutinin (SBA, Arachys hypogaea agglutinin (PNA]. In order to facilitate the study, parotid glands were chronically stimulated with isoproterenol to induce secretion. Specimens were embedded in the Lowicryl K4M resin. The trans-Golgi network (TGN derived secretory granules, which we refer to as immature secretory granules, were found to be intermediate structures in the biogenesis process of the secretory granules in the rat parotid acinar cell. These early structures do not seem to be the immediate precursor of the mature secretory granules: in fact, a subsequent interaction process between these early immature granule forms and TGN elements seems to occur, leading, finally, to the mature granules. These findings could explain the origin of the polymorphic subpopulations of the secretory granules in the normal acinar cells of the rat parotid gland. The lectin staining patterns were characteristic of each lectin. Immature and mature secretory gran- ules were labelled with WGA, SBA, PNA, and lightly with UEA-I. Cis and intermediate cisternae of the Golgi apparatus were labelled with WGA, and trans cisternae with WGA and SBA.

  13. Electrogenic Na+-independent Pi transport in canine renal basolateral membrane vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schwab, S.J.; Hammerman, M.R.

    1986-01-01

    To define the mechanism by which Pi exists from the renal proximal tubular cell across the basolateral membrane, we measured 32Pi uptake in basolateral membrane vesicles from dog kidney in the absence of Na+. Preloading of basolateral vesicles with 2 mM Pi transstimulated 32Pi uptake, which is consistent with counterflow. We used measurements of transstimulation to quantitate the transport component of 32Pi uptake. Transstimulation of 32Pi uptake was inhibited less than 30% by concentrations of probenecid as high as 50 mM. In contrast, transstimulation of 35SO4(2-) uptake by intravesicular SO4(2-) was inhibited 92% by 5 mM probenecid. Preloading basolateral vesicles with SO4(2-) did not result in transstimulation of 32Pi uptake. Accumulation of 32Pi in basolateral vesicles above steady state was driven by a membrane potential (intravesicular positive), consistent with Na+-independent Pi transport being accompanied by the net transfer of negative charge across the membrane. We conclude that carrier-mediated, electrogenic Na+-independent 32Pi transport can be demonstrated in basolateral vesicles from dog kidney. This process appears to be mediated, at least in part, via a mechanism different from that by which SO4(2-) is transported. Electrogenic Na+-independent Pi transport may reflect one means by which Pi reabsorbed across the luminal membrane exists from the proximal tubular cell down an electrochemical gradient

  14. A study of the enhanced sensitizing capacity of a contact allergen in lipid vesicle formulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simonsson, Carl; Madsen, Jakob Torp; Graneli, Annette; Andersen, Klaus E.; Karlberg, Ann-Therese; Jonsson, Charlotte A.; Ericson, Marica B.

    2011-01-01

    The growing focus on nanotechnology and the increased use of nano-sized structures, e.g. vesicles, in topical formulations has led to safety concerns. We have investigated the sensitizing capacity and penetration properties of a fluorescent model compound, rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RBITC), when administered in micro- and nano-scale vesicle formulations. The sensitizing capacity of RBITC was studied using the murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) and the skin penetration properties were compared using diffusion cells in combination with two-photon microscopy (TPM). The lymph node cell proliferation, an indicator of a compounds sensitizing capacity, increased when RBITC was applied in lipid vesicles as compared to an ethanol:water (Et:W) solution. Micro-scale vesicles showed a slightly higher cell proliferative response compared to nano-scale vesicles. TPM imaging revealed that the vesicle formulations improved the skin penetration of RBITC compared to the Et:W solution. A strong fluorescent region in the stratum corneum and upper epidermis implies elevated association of RBITC to these skin layers when formulated in lipid vesicles. In conclusion, the results indicate that there could be an elevated risk of sensitization when haptens are delivered in vehicles containing lipid vesicles. Although the size of the vesicles seems to be of minor importance, further studies are needed before a more generalized conclusion can be drawn. It is likely that the enhanced sensitizing capacity is a consequence of the improved penetration and increased formation of hapten-protein complexes in epidermis when RBITC is delivered in ethosomal formulations. - Graphical Abstract: Display Omitted

  15. The Influence of Vesicle Shape and Medium Conductivity on Possible Electrofusion under a Pulsed Electric Field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Linying; Mao, Zheng; Zhang, Jianhua; Liu, Na; Liu, Qing Huo

    2016-01-01

    The effects of electric field on lipid membrane and cells have been extensively studied in the last decades. The phenomena of electroporation and electrofusion are of particular interest due to their wide use in cell biology and biotechnology. However, numerical studies on the electrofusion of cells (or vesicles) with different deformed shapes are still rare. Vesicle, being of cell size, can be treated as a simple model of cell to investigate the behaviors of cell in electric field. Based on the finite element method, we investigate the effect of vesicle shape on electrofusion of contact vesicles in various medium conditions. The transmembrane voltage (TMV) and pore density induced by a pulsed field are examined to analyze the possibility of vesicle fusion. In two different medium conditions, the prolate shape is observed to have selective electroporation at the contact area of vesicles when the exterior conductivity is smaller than the interior one; selective electroporation is more inclined to be found at the poles of the oblate vesicles when the exterior conductivity is larger than the interior one. Furthermore, we find that when the exterior conductivity is lower than the internal conductivity, the pulse can induce a selective electroporation at the contact area between two vesicles regardless of the vesicle shape. Both of these two findings have important practical applications in guiding electrofusion experiments.

  16. Recognition of secretory proteins in Escherichia coli requires signals in addition to the signal sequence and slow folding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flower Ann M

    2002-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Sec-dependent protein export apparatus of Escherichia coli is very efficient at correctly identifying proteins to be exported from the cytoplasm. Even bacterial strains that carry prl mutations, which allow export of signal sequence-defective precursors, accurately differentiate between cytoplasmic and mutant secretory proteins. It was proposed previously that the basis for this precise discrimination is the slow folding rate of secretory proteins, resulting in binding by the secretory chaperone, SecB, and subsequent targeting to translocase. Based on this proposal, we hypothesized that a cytoplasmic protein containing a mutation that slows its rate of folding would be recognized by SecB and therefore targeted to the Sec pathway. In a Prl suppressor strain the mutant protein would be exported to the periplasm due to loss of ability to reject non-secretory proteins from the pathway. Results In the current work, we tested this hypothesis using a mutant form of λ repressor that folds slowly. No export of the mutant protein was observed, even in a prl strain. We then examined binding of the mutant λ repressor to SecB. We did not observe interaction by either of two assays, indicating that slow folding is not sufficient for SecB binding and targeting to translocase. Conclusions These results strongly suggest that to be targeted to the export pathway, secretory proteins contain signals in addition to the canonical signal sequence and the rate of folding.

  17. Identification of rice cornichon as a possible cargo receptor for the Golgi-localized sodium transporter OsHKT1;3

    OpenAIRE

    Rosas-Santiago, Paul; Lagunas-G?mez, Daniel; Barkla, Bronwyn J.; Vera-Estrella, Rosario; Lalonde, Sylvie; Jones, Alexander; Frommer, Wolf B.; Zimmermannova, Olga; Sychrov?, Hana; Pantoja, Omar

    2015-01-01

    Membrane proteins are synthesized and folded in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and continue their path to their site of residence along the secretory pathway. The COPII system has been identified as a key player for selecting and directing the fate of membrane and secretory cargo proteins. Selection of cargo proteins within the COPII vesicles is achieved by cargo receptors. The cornichon cargo receptor belongs to a conserved protein family found in eukaryotes that has been demonstrated to pa...

  18. Intractable secretory diarrhea in a Japanese boy with mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I deficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murayama, Kei; Nagasaka, Hironori; Tsuruoka, Tomoko; Omata, Yuko; Horie, Hiroshi; Tregoning, Simone; Thorburn, David R; Takayanagi, Masaki; Ohtake, Akira

    2009-03-01

    The etiology of secretory diarrhea in early life is often unclear. We report a Japanese boy who survived until 3 years of age, despite intractable diarrhea commencing soon after birth. The fecal sodium content was strikingly high (109 mmol/L [normal range, 27-35 mmol/L]) and the osmotic gap was decreased (15 mOsm/kg), consistent with the findings of congenital sodium diarrhea. We examined the mitochondrial respiratory chain function by blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE) in-gel enzyme staining, BN-PAGE western blotting, respiratory chain enzyme activity assay, and immunohistochemistry. Liver respiratory chain complex (Co) I activity was undetectable, while other respiratory chain complex activities were increased (Co II, 138%; Co III, 153%; Co IV, 126% versus respective control activities). Liver BN-PAGE in-gel enzyme staining and western blotting showed an extremely weak complex I band, while immunohistochemistry showed extremely weak staining for the 30-kDa subunit of complex I, but normal staining for the 70-kDa subunit of complex II. The patient was, therefore, diagnosed with complex I deficiency. The overall complex I activity of the jejunum was substantially decreased (63% of the control activity). The immunohistochemistry displayed apparently decreased staining of the 30-kDa complex I subunit, together with a slightly enhanced staining of the 70-kDa complex II subunit in intestinal epithelial cells. These data imply that intestinal epithelial cells are also complex I-deficient in this patient. Complex I deficiency is a novel cause of secretory diarrhea and may act via disrupting the supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) needed for the maintenance of ion gradients across membranes.

  19. Porphyromonas gingivalis Outer Membrane Vesicles Mediate Coaggregation and Piggybacking of Treponema denticola and Lachnoanaerobaculum saburreum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Grenier

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Porphyromonas gingivalis sheds outer membrane vesicles that contain several virulence factors, including adhesins. In this study, we investigated the ability of P. gingivalis outer membrane vesicles to mediate the coaggregation and piggybacking of Treponema denticola and Lachnoanaerobaculum saburreum. Marked coaggregation between T. denticola and L. saburreum occurred in the presence of P. gingivalis outer membrane vesicles. Sucrose was an effective chemoattractant for the motile species T. denticola. The addition of outer membrane vesicles to a mixture of T. denticola and L. saburreum significantly increased the number of nonmotile bacteria that migrated into a sucrose-filled capillary tube immersed in the bacterial mixture. Under optimal conditions, the number of nonmotile L. saburreum in the capillary tube increased approximately 5-fold, whereas no increase occurred when boiled vesicles were used. This study showed that P. gingivalis outer membrane vesicles mediate coaggregation between T. denticola and L. saburreum and that nonmotile bacteria can be translocated by piggybacking on spirochetes.

  20. A practical guide to giant vesicles. Probing the membrane nanoregime via optical microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dimova, Rumiana; Aranda, Said; Bezlyepkina, Natalya; Nikolov, Vesselin; Riske, Karin A; Lipowsky, Reinhard

    2006-01-01

    Research on giant vesicles is becoming increasingly popular. Giant vesicles provide model biomembrane systems for systematic measurements of mechanical and rheological properties of bilayers as a function of membrane composition and temperature, as well as hydrodynamic interactions. Membrane response to external factors (for example electric fields, ions and amphiphilic molecules) can be directly visualized under the microscope. In this paper we review our current understanding of lipid bilayers as obtained from studies on giant unilamellar vesicles. Because research on giant vesicles increasingly attracts the interest of scientists from various backgrounds, we also try to provide a concise introduction for newcomers in the field. Finally, we summarize some recent developments on curvature effects induced by polymers, domain formation in membranes and shape transitions induced by electric fields

  1. Sorting of a HaloTag protein that has only a signal peptide sequence into exocrine secretory granules without protein aggregation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujita-Yoshigaki, Junko; Matsuki-Fukushima, Miwako; Yokoyama, Megumi; Katsumata-Kato, Osamu

    2013-11-15

    The mechanism involved in the sorting and accumulation of secretory cargo proteins, such as amylase, into secretory granules of exocrine cells remains to be solved. To clarify that sorting mechanism, we expressed a reporter protein HaloTag fused with partial sequences of salivary amylase protein in primary cultured parotid acinar cells. We found that a HaloTag protein fused with only the signal peptide sequence (Met(1)-Ala(25)) of amylase, termed SS25H, colocalized well with endogenous amylase, which was confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy. Percoll-density gradient centrifugation of secretory granule fractions shows that the distributions of amylase and SS25H were similar. These results suggest that SS25H is transported to secretory granules and is not discriminated from endogenous amylase by the machinery that functions to remove proteins other than granule cargo from immature granules. Another reporter protein, DsRed2, that has the same signal peptide sequence also colocalized with amylase, suggesting that the sorting to secretory granules is not dependent on a characteristic of the HaloTag protein. Whereas Blue Native PAGE demonstrates that endogenous amylase forms a high-molecular-weight complex, SS25H does not participate in the complex and does not form self-aggregates. Nevertheless, SS25H was released from cells by the addition of a β-adrenergic agonist, isoproterenol, which also induces amylase secretion. These results indicate that addition of the signal peptide sequence, which is necessary for the translocation in the endoplasmic reticulum, is sufficient for the transportation and storage of cargo proteins in secretory granules of exocrine cells.

  2. Ex vivo skin delivery of diclofenac by transcutol containing liposomes and suggested mechanism of vesicle-skin interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manconi, Maria; Caddeo, Carla; Sinico, Chiara; Valenti, Donatella; Mostallino, Maria Cristina; Biggio, Giovanni; Fadda, Anna Maria

    2011-05-01

    Recently, we described a novel family of liposomes, the Penetration Enhancer-containing Vesicles (PEVs), as carriers for enhanced (trans)dermal drug delivery. In this study, to go deeply into the potential of these new vesicles and suggest the possible mechanism of vesicle-skin interaction, we investigated transcutol containing PEVs as carriers for diclofenac, in the form of either acid or sodium salt. PEVs, prepared with soy phosphatidylcholine and aqueous solutions containing different concentrations of transcutol, were characterized by size distribution, zeta potential, incorporation efficiency, thermotropic behavior, and stability. (Trans)dermal diclofenac delivery from PEVs was investigated ex vivo through new born pig skin using conventional liposomes and a commercial gel as controls. The mode of action of the vesicles was also studied by performing a pre-treatment test and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analyses. Results of the all skin permeation experiments showed an improved diclofenac (both acid and sodium salt) delivery to and through the skin when PEVs were used (especially in comparison with the commercial gel) thus suggesting intact PEVs' penetration through the pig skin. Images of the qualitative CLSM analyses support this conclusion. Thus, this work shows the superior ability of the PEVs to enhance ex vivo drug transport of both hydrophilic and lipophilic diclofenac forms. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Onsager's variational principle for the dynamics of a vesicle in a Poiseuille flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oya, Yutaka; Kawakatsu, Toshihiro

    2018-03-01

    We propose a systematic formulation of the migration behaviors of a vesicle in a Poiseuille flow based on Onsager's variational principle, which can be used to determine the most stable steady state. Our model is described by a combination of the phase field theory for the vesicle and the hydrodynamics for the flow field. The dynamics is governed by the bending elastic energy and the dissipation functional, the latter being composed of viscous dissipation of the flow field, dissipation of the bending energy of the vesicle, and the friction between the vesicle and the flow field. We performed a series of simulations on 2-dimensional systems by changing the bending elasticity of the membrane and observed 3 types of steady states, i.e., those with slipper shape, bullet shape, and snaking motion, and a quasi-steady state with zig-zag motion. We show that the transitions among these steady states can be quantitatively explained by evaluating the dissipation functional, which is determined by the competition between the friction on the vesicle surface and the viscous dissipation in the bulk flow.

  4. Update on controls for isolation and quantification methodology of extracellular vesicles derived from adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Franquesa (Marcella); M.J. Hoogduijn (Martin); E. Ripoll (Elia); F. Luk (Franka); M. Salih (Mahdi); M.G.H. Betjes (Michiel); J. Torras; C.C. Baan (Carla); J. Grinyo (Josep); A. Merino (Ana)

    2014-01-01

    textabstractThe research field on extracellular vesicles (EV) has rapidly expanded in recent years due to the therapeutic potential of EV. Adipose tissue human mesenchymal stem cells (ASC) may be a suitable source for therapeutic EV. A major limitation in the field is the lack of standardization of

  5. Regulation of HIV-Gag Expression and Targeting to the Endolysosomal/Secretory Pathway by the Luminal Domain of Lysosomal-Associated Membrane Protein (LAMP-1) Enhance Gag-Specific Immune Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucas, Carolina Gonçalves de Oliveira; Rigato, Paula Ordonhez; Gonçalves, Jorge Luiz Santos; Sato, Maria Notomi; Maciel, Milton; Peçanha, Ligia Maria Torres; August, J. Thomas; de Azevedo Marques, Ernesto Torres; de Arruda, Luciana Barros

    2014-01-01

    We have previously demonstrated that a DNA vaccine encoding HIV-p55gag in association with the lysosomal associated membrane protein-1 (LAMP-1) elicited a greater Gag-specific immune response, in comparison to a DNA encoding the native gag. In vitro studies have also demonstrated that LAMP/Gag was highly expressed and was present in MHCII containing compartments in transfected cells. In this study, the mechanisms involved in these processes and the relative contributions of the increased expression and altered traffic for the enhanced immune response were addressed. Cells transfected with plasmid DNA constructs containing p55gag attached to truncated sequences of LAMP-1 showed that the increased expression of gag mRNA required p55gag in frame with at least 741 bp of the LAMP-1 luminal domain. LAMP luminal domain also showed to be essential for Gag traffic through lysosomes and, in this case, the whole sequence was required. Further analysis of the trafficking pathway of the intact LAMP/Gag chimera demonstrated that it was secreted, at least in part, associated with exosome-like vesicles. Immunization of mice with LAMP/gag chimeric plasmids demonstrated that high expression level alone can induce a substantial transient antibody response, but targeting of the antigen to the endolysosomal/secretory pathways was required for establishment of cellular and memory response. The intact LAMP/gag construct induced polyfunctional CD4+ T cell response, which presence at the time of immunization was required for CD8+ T cell priming. LAMP-mediated targeting to endolysosomal/secretory pathway is an important new mechanistic element in LAMP-mediated enhanced immunity with applications to the development of novel anti-HIV vaccines and to general vaccinology field. PMID:24932692

  6. Secretory processes involved in the formation of milk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knutsson, P.G.

    1976-01-01

    Current knowledge on milk formation is reviewed. Emphasis is given to sites of formation of protein, fat and lactose, and transfer of these compounds into the alveolar lumen. Further, the formation of the water phase of milk is thoroughly discussed, and evidence presented that milk formation includes both secretory and re-absorptive processes as well as diffusion. A short presentation of colostrum formation is included. Neither biochemical processes involved in synthesis of organic compounds nor mammary gland endocrinology are discussed. (author)

  7. G protein betagamma-subunits activated by serotonin mediate presynaptic inhibition by regulating vesicle fusion properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Photowala, Huzefa; Blackmer, Trillium; Schwartz, Eric; Hamm, Heidi E; Alford, Simon

    2006-03-14

    Neurotransmitters are thought to be released as quanta, where synaptic vesicles deliver packets of neurotransmitter to the synaptic cleft by fusion with the plasma membrane. However, synaptic vesicles may undergo incomplete fusion. We provide evidence that G protein-coupled receptors inhibit release by causing such incomplete fusion. 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor signaling potently inhibits excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) between lamprey reticulospinal axons and their postsynaptic targets by a direct action on the vesicle fusion machinery. We show that 5-HT receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition, at this synapse, involves a reduction in EPSC quantal size. Quantal size was measured directly by comparing unitary quantal amplitudes of paired EPSCs before and during 5-HT application and indirectly by determining the effect of 5-HT on the relationship between mean-evoked EPSC amplitude and variance. Results from FM dye-labeling experiments indicate that 5-HT prevents full fusion of vesicles. 5-HT reduces FM1-43 staining of vesicles with a similar efficacy to its effect on the EPSC. However, destaining of FM1-43-labeled vesicles is abolished by lower concentrations of 5-HT that leave a substantial EPSC. The use of a water-soluble membrane impermeant quenching agent in the extracellular space reduced FM1-43 fluorescence during stimulation in 5-HT. Thus vesicles contact the extracellular space during inhibition of synaptic transmission by 5-HT. We conclude that 5-HT, via free Gbetagamma, prevents the collapse of synaptic vesicles into the presynaptic membrane.

  8. miR-200–containing extracellular vesicles promote breast cancer cell metastasis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Minh T.N.; Hamar, Peter; Guo, Changying; Basar, Emre; Perdigão-Henriques, Ricardo; Balaj, Leonora; Lieberman, Judy

    2014-01-01

    Metastasis is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Not all cancer cells within a tumor are capable of metastasizing. The microRNA-200 (miR-200) family, which regulates the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition, is enriched in the serum of patients with metastatic cancers. Ectopic expression of miR-200 can confer metastatic ability to poorly metastatic tumor cells in some settings. Here, we investigated whether metastatic capability could be transferred between metastatic and nonmetastatic cancer cells via extracellular vesicles. miR-200 was secreted in extracellular vesicles from metastatic murine and human breast cancer cell lines, and miR-200 levels were increased in sera of mice bearing metastatic tumors. In culture, murine and human metastatic breast cancer cell extracellular vesicles transferred miR-200 microRNAs to nonmetastatic cells, altering gene expression and promoting mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition. In murine cancer and human xenograft models, miR-200–expressing tumors and extracellular vesicles from these tumors promoted metastasis of otherwise weakly metastatic cells either nearby or at distant sites and conferred to these cells the ability to colonize distant tissues in a miR-200–dependent manner. Together, our results demonstrate that metastatic capability can be transferred by the uptake of extracellular vesicles. PMID:25401471

  9. Protein thiophosphorylation associated with secretory inhibition in permeabilized chromaffin cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brooks, J.C.; Brooks, M.

    1985-01-01

    Permeabilized cells treated with the adenosine triphosphate analog, ( 35 S)adenosine-5'-0-3(3-thiotriphosphate) ((γ- 35 S)ATP), showed thiophosphorylation of a small number of cellular proteins. A 54 kilodalton (kDa) protein was heavily thiophosphorylated in unstimulated control cells and a 43 kilodalton protein was more heavily thiophosphorylated in calcium stimulated cells. Intact cells incorporated 35 S into a series of higher molecular weight proteins. Stimulation of prelabelled, permeabilized cells resulted in a loss of 35 S from the cells over a 20 min period. Treatment of permeabilized cells with ATPγS inhibited secretion and 35 S incorporation into the cells. Pretreatment with ATPγS resulted in subsequent inhibition of both secretion and the ability of the cells to incorporate 35 S from (γ- 35 S)ATP. These results indicate that the sites normally available for phosphorylation were inactivated by thiophosphorylation and were unavailable to participate in the secretory process. The inhibition of secretion associated with thiophosphorylation of these proteins suggests that they may play a role in the control of secretion by chromaffin cells. 15 references, 1 figure, 3 tables

  10. The exocyst complex in health and disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdanela eMartin-Urdiroz

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Exocytosis involves the fusion of intracellular secretory vesicles with the PM, thereby delivering integral membrane proteins to the cell surface and releasing material into the extracellular space. Importantly, exocytosis also provides a source of lipid moieties for membrane extension. The tethering of the secretory vesicle before docking and fusion with the PM is mediated by the exocyst complex, an evolutionary conserved octameric complex of proteins. Recent findings indicate that the exocyst complex also takes part in other intra-cellular processes besides secretion. These various functions seem to converge towards defining a direction of membrane growth in a range of systems from fungi to plants and from neurons to cilia. In this review we summarise the current knowledge of exocyst function in cell polarity, signalling and cell-cell communication and discuss implications for plant and animal health and disease.

  11. Polymerization of styrene in DODAB vesicles : a small-angle neutron scattering study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jung, M.; Robinson, B.H.; Steytler, D.C.; German, A.L.; Heenan, R.K.

    2002-01-01

    The polymerization of styrene, located in the bilayer of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) vesicles, gives rise to phase separation between the growing polymer and the bilayer. The result is a small (20-30 nm) bead of polymer located in the bilayer of each vesicle giving them a

  12. SPRED: A machine learning approach for the identification of classical and non-classical secretory proteins in mammalian genomes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kandaswamy, Krishna Kumar [Institute for Neuro- and Bioinformatics, University of Luebeck, 23538 Luebeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Luebeck, 23538 Luebeck (Germany); Pugalenthi, Ganesan [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Hartmann, Enno; Kalies, Kai-Uwe [Centre for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, Institute of Biology, University of Luebeck, 23538 Luebeck (Germany); Moeller, Steffen [Institute for Neuro- and Bioinformatics, University of Luebeck, 23538 Luebeck (Germany); Suganthan, P.N. [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Martinetz, Thomas, E-mail: martinetz@inb.uni-luebeck.de [Institute for Neuro- and Bioinformatics, University of Luebeck, 23538 Luebeck (Germany)

    2010-01-15

    Eukaryotic protein secretion generally occurs via the classical secretory pathway that traverses the ER and Golgi apparatus. Secreted proteins usually contain a signal sequence with all the essential information required to target them for secretion. However, some proteins like fibroblast growth factors (FGF-1, FGF-2), interleukins (IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta), galectins and thioredoxin are exported by an alternative pathway. This is known as leaderless or non-classical secretion and works without a signal sequence. Most computational methods for the identification of secretory proteins use the signal peptide as indicator and are therefore not able to identify substrates of non-classical secretion. In this work, we report a random forest method, SPRED, to identify secretory proteins from protein sequences irrespective of N-terminal signal peptides, thus allowing also correct classification of non-classical secretory proteins. Training was performed on a dataset containing 600 extracellular proteins and 600 cytoplasmic and/or nuclear proteins. The algorithm was tested on 180 extracellular proteins and 1380 cytoplasmic and/or nuclear proteins. We obtained 85.92% accuracy from training and 82.18% accuracy from testing. Since SPRED does not use N-terminal signals, it can detect non-classical secreted proteins by filtering those secreted proteins with an N-terminal signal by using SignalP. SPRED predicted 15 out of 19 experimentally verified non-classical secretory proteins. By scanning the entire human proteome we identified 566 protein sequences potentially undergoing non-classical secretion. The dataset and standalone version of the SPRED software is available at (http://www.inb.uni-luebeck.de/tools-demos/spred/spred).

  13. SPRED: A machine learning approach for the identification of classical and non-classical secretory proteins in mammalian genomes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kandaswamy, Krishna Kumar; Pugalenthi, Ganesan; Hartmann, Enno; Kalies, Kai-Uwe; Moeller, Steffen; Suganthan, P.N.; Martinetz, Thomas

    2010-01-01

    Eukaryotic protein secretion generally occurs via the classical secretory pathway that traverses the ER and Golgi apparatus. Secreted proteins usually contain a signal sequence with all the essential information required to target them for secretion. However, some proteins like fibroblast growth factors (FGF-1, FGF-2), interleukins (IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta), galectins and thioredoxin are exported by an alternative pathway. This is known as leaderless or non-classical secretion and works without a signal sequence. Most computational methods for the identification of secretory proteins use the signal peptide as indicator and are therefore not able to identify substrates of non-classical secretion. In this work, we report a random forest method, SPRED, to identify secretory proteins from protein sequences irrespective of N-terminal signal peptides, thus allowing also correct classification of non-classical secretory proteins. Training was performed on a dataset containing 600 extracellular proteins and 600 cytoplasmic and/or nuclear proteins. The algorithm was tested on 180 extracellular proteins and 1380 cytoplasmic and/or nuclear proteins. We obtained 85.92% accuracy from training and 82.18% accuracy from testing. Since SPRED does not use N-terminal signals, it can detect non-classical secreted proteins by filtering those secreted proteins with an N-terminal signal by using SignalP. SPRED predicted 15 out of 19 experimentally verified non-classical secretory proteins. By scanning the entire human proteome we identified 566 protein sequences potentially undergoing non-classical secretion. The dataset and standalone version of the SPRED software is available at (http://www.inb.uni-luebeck.de/tools-demos/spred/spred).

  14. Morphological study of lipid vesicles in presence of amphotericin B via modification of the microfluidic CellASIC platform and LED illumination microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Genova, J; Decheva-Zarkova, M; Pavlič, J I

    2016-01-01

    Giant lipid vesicles (liposomes) are the simplest model of the biological cell and can be easily formed from natural or synthetic lipid species with controlled composition and properties. This is the reason why they are the preferred objects for various scientific investigations. Amphotericin B (AmB) is a membrane active drug, used for treatment of systemic fungal infections. In this work we studied the morphological behavior of giant SOPC vesicles in asymmetrical presence of amphotericin B antibiotic in the vicinity of the lipid membrane. The visualization of the vesicles was carried out via inverted phase contrast microscopy. The illumination source was modified in a way that tungsten light bulb was replaced by 10 W white LED chip. All the experiments were performed using CellASIC ONIX Microfluidic Platform. The setup has been modified thus opening new opportunities for a variety of experimental realizations. The performed morphological studies showed strong and irreversible effect on the vesicle shape at the presence of amphotericin B in concentration 10 -5 g/l in the outer for the liposome's membrane solution. At concentration 10 -3 g/l AmB the effect was less visible and in 15-20 minutes the vesicles regained its initial spherical shape. (paper)

  15. Extracellular Vesicles as Biomarkers and Therapeutics in Dermatology: A Focus on Exosomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBride, Jeffrey D; Rodriguez-Menocal, Luis; Badiavas, Evangelos V

    2017-08-01

    Extracellular vesicles (exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies) are ubiquitous in human tissues, circulation, and body fluids. Of these vesicles, exosomes are of growing interest among investigators across multiple fields, including dermatology. The characteristics of exosomes, their associated cargo (nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids), and downstream functions are vastly different, depending on the cell origin. Here, we review concepts in extracellular vesicle biology, with a focus on exosomes, highlighting recent studies in the field of dermatology. Furthermore, we highlight emerging technical issues associated with isolating and measuring exosomes. Extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, have immediate potential for serving as biomarkers and therapeutics in dermatology over the next decade. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Morphological changes in vesicles and release of an encapsulated compound triggered by a photoresponsive Malachite Green leuconitrile derivative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uda, Ryoko M; Hiraishi, Eri; Ohnishi, Ryo; Nakahara, Yoshio; Kimura, Keiichi

    2010-04-20

    Photoinduced morphological changes in phosphatidylcholine vesicles are triggered by a Malachite Green leuconitrile derivative dissolved in the lipidic membrane, and are observed at Malachite Green derivative/lipid ratios Malachite Green derivative is a photoresponsive compound that undergoes ionization to afford a positive charge on the molecule by UV irradiation. The Malachite Green derivative exhibits amphiphilicity when ionized photochemically, whereas it behaves as a lipophilic compound under dark conditions. Cryo-transmission electron microscopy was used to determine vesicle morphology. The effects of the Malachite Green derivative on vesicles were studied by dynamic light scattering and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Irradiation of vesicles containing the Malachite Green derivative induces nonspherical vesicle morphology, fusion of vesicles, and membrane solubilization, depending on conditions. Furthermore, irradiation of the Malachite Green derivative induces the release of a vesicle-encapsulated compound.

  17. Structure formation of lipid membranes: Membrane self-assembly and vesicle opening-up to octopus-like micelles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noguchi, Hiroshi

    2013-02-01

    We briefly review our recent studies on self-assembly and vesicle rupture of lipid membranes using coarse-grained molecular simulations. For single component membranes, lipid molecules self-assemble from random gas states to vesicles via disk-shaped clusters. Clusters aggregate into larger clusters, and subsequently the large disks close into vesicles. The size of vesicles are determined by kinetics than by thermodynamics. When a vesicle composed of lipid and detergent types of molecules is ruptured, a disk-shaped micelle called bicelle can be formed. When both surfactants have negligibly low critical micelle concentration, it is found that bicelles connected with worm-like micelles are also formed depending on the surfactant ratio and spontaneous curvature of the membrane monolayer.

  18. Intracellular and transcellular transport of secretory and membrane proteins in the rat hepatocyte

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sztul, E.S.

    1984-01-01

    The intra- and transcellular transport of hepatic secretory and membrane proteins was studied in rats in vivo using [ 3 H]fucose and [ 35 S]cyteine as metabolic precursors. Incorporated radioactivity in plasma, bile, and liver subcellular fractions was measured and the labeled proteins of the Golgi complex, bile and plasma were separated by SDS-PAGE and identified by fluorography. 3 H-radioactivity in Golgi fractions peaked at 10 min post injection (p.i.) and then declined concomitantly with the appearance of labeled glycoproteins in plasma. Maximal secretion of secretory fucoproteins from the Golgi complex occurred between 10 and 20 min p.i. In contrast, the clearance of labeled proteins from Golgi membrane subfractions occurred past 30 min p.i., indicating that membrane proteins leave the Golgi complex at least 10 min later than the bulk of content proteins. A major 80K form of Secretory Component (SC) was identified in the bile by precipitation with an anti IgA antibody. A comparative study of kinetics of transport of 35 S-labeled SC and 35 S-labeled albumin showed that albumin peaked in bile at ∼45 min p.i., whereas the SC peak occurred at 80 min p.i., suggesting that the transit time differs for plasma and membrane proteins which are delivered to the bile canaliculus (BC)

  19. CAPS Activity in Priming Vesicle Exocytosis Requires CK2 Phosphorylation*

    OpenAIRE

    Nojiri, Mari; Loyet, Kelly M.; Klenchin, Vadim A.; Kabachinski, Gregory; Martin, Thomas F. J.

    2009-01-01

    CAPS (Ca2+-dependent activator protein for secretion) functions in priming Ca2+-dependent vesicle exocytosis, but the regulation of CAPS activity has not been characterized. Here we show that phosphorylation by protein kinase CK2 is required for CAPS activity. Dephosphorylation eliminated CAPS activity in reconstituting Ca2+-dependent vesicle exocytosis in permeable and intact PC12 cells. Ser-5, -6, and -7 and Ser-1281 were identified by mass spectrometry as the major phosphorylation sites in...

  20. α-Synuclein may cross-bridge v-SNARE and acidic phospholipids to facilitate SNARE-dependent vesicle docking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lou, Xiaochu; Kim, Jaewook; Hawk, Brenden J; Shin, Yeon-Kyun

    2017-06-06

    Misfolded α-synuclein (A-syn) is widely recognized as the primal cause of neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The normal cellular function of A-syn has, however, been elusive. There is evidence that A-syn plays multiple roles in the exocytotic pathway in the neuron, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. A-syn has been known to interact with negatively charged phospholipids and with vesicle SNARE protein VAMP2. Using single-vesicle docking/fusion assays, we find that A-syn promotes SNARE-dependent vesicles docking significantly at 2.5 µM. When phosphatidylserine (PS) is removed from t-SNARE-bearing vesicles, the docking enhancement by A-syn disappears and A-syn instead acts as an inhibitor for docking. In contrast, subtraction of PS from the v-SNARE-carrying vesicles enhances vesicle docking even further. Moreover, when we truncate the C-terminal 45 residues of A-syn that participates in interacting with VAMP2, the promotion of vesicle docking is abrogated. Thus, the results suggest that the A-syn's interaction with v-SNARE through its C-terminal tail and its concurrent interaction with PS in trans through its amphipathic N-terminal domain facilitate SNARE complex formation, whereby A-syn aids SNARE-dependent vesicle docking. © 2017 The Author(s); published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

  1. Wide-range high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals morphological and distributional changes of endomembrane compartments during log to stationary transition of growth phase in tobacco BY-2 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyooka, Kiminori; Sato, Mayuko; Kutsuna, Natsumaro; Higaki, Takumi; Sawaki, Fumie; Wakazaki, Mayumi; Goto, Yumi; Hasezawa, Seiichiro; Nagata, Noriko; Matsuoka, Ken

    2014-09-01

    Rapid growth of plant cells by cell division and expansion requires an endomembrane trafficking system. The endomembrane compartments, such as the Golgi stacks, endosome and vesicles, are important in the synthesis and trafficking of cell wall materials during cell elongation. However, changes in the morphology, distribution and number of these compartments during the different stages of cell proliferation and differentiation have not yet been clarified. In this study, we examined these changes at the ultrastructural level in tobacco Bright yellow 2 (BY-2) cells during the log and stationary phases of growth. We analyzed images of the BY-2 cells prepared by the high-pressure freezing/freeze substitution technique with the aid of an auto-acquisition transmission electron microscope system. We quantified the distribution of secretory and endosomal compartments in longitudinal sections of whole cells by using wide-range gigapixel-class images obtained by merging thousands of transmission electron micrographs. During the log phase, all Golgi stacks were composed of several thick cisternae. Approximately 20 vesicle clusters (VCs), including the trans-Golgi network and secretory vesicle cluster, were observed throughout the cell. In the stationary-phase cells, Golgi stacks were thin with small cisternae, and only a few VCs were observed. Nearly the same number of multivesicular body and small high-density vesicles were observed in both the stationary and log phases. Results from electron microscopy and live fluorescence imaging indicate that the morphology and distribution of secretory-related compartments dramatically change when cells transition from log to stationary phases of growth. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Secretory IgA, albumin level, and bone density as markers of biostimulatory effects of laser radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kucerova, Hana; Dostalova, Tatjana; Himmlova, Lucia; Bartova, Jirina; Mazanek, Jiri

    1998-12-01

    The aim of contribution is to evaluate the effects of low- level laser radiation on healing process after human molars extraction in lower jaw using frequency 5 Hz, 292 Hz and 9000 Hz. Changes in bone density and monitoring of secretory IgA and albumin levels in saliva were used as a marker of biostimulatory effect. Bone density after extraction and 6 month after surgical treatment was examined using the dental digital radiography. Bone healing was followed by osseointegration of bone structure in extraction wound. Changes of bone density, secretory IgA and albumin levels were compared in groups of patients with laser therapy and control group without laser therapy. Differences in levels of the saliva markers (sIgA and albumin) were found to be significant comparing irradiated and non-irradiated groups, as well as comparing groups irradiated by various modulatory frequencies. Density of alveolar bone (histogram) was examined on five slices acquired from every RVG image. Histograms were evaluated with computer program for microscopic image analysis. Differences of density were verified in area of the whole slice. There were no significant differences found between the bone density in irradiated and non irradiated groups perhaps due to our used therapeutical diagram.

  3. Proton-stimulated Cl-HCO3 antiport by basolateral membrane vesicles of lobster hepatopancreas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahearn, G.A.; Grover, M.L.; Tsuji, R.T.; Clay, L.P.

    1987-01-01

    Purified epithelial basolateral membrane vesicles were prepared from lobster hepatopancreas by sorbitol gradient centrifugation. Na+-K+-adenosinetriphosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, and cytochrome-c oxidase enzyme activities in the final membrane preparation were enriched 9.6-, 1.4-, and 0.4-fold, respectively, compared with their activities in the original tissue homogenate. Vesicle osmotic reactivity was demonstrated using 60-min equilibrium 36 Cl uptake experiments at a variety of transmembrane osmotic gradients. 36 Cl uptake into vesicles preloaded with HCO 3 was significantly greater than into vesicles lacking HCO 3 . This exchange process was stimulated by a transmembrane proton gradient (internal pH greater than external pH). Proton-gradient-dependent Cl-HCO 3 exchange was potential sensitive and stimulated by an electrically negative vesicle interior. 36 Cl influx (4-s exposures) into HCO 3 -loaded vesicles occurred by the combination of 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid sensitive, carrier-mediated transfer and apparent diffusion. 36 Cl influx was a hyperbolic function of both internal [HCO 3 ] and internal [Cl]. The two internal anions displayed a 100-fold difference in apparent affinity constants with HCO 3 being strongly preferred. 36 Cl influx was stimulated more by preloaded monovalent than by divalent anions. Na was an inhibitor of proton-dependent anion antiport, whereas K had no effect. A model for HCl-HCO 3 antiport is suggested that employs combined transmembrane concentration gradients of Cl and HCO 3 to power anion exchange and transfer protons against a concentration gradient

  4. Disparate effects of p24alpha and p24delta on secretory protein transport and processing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeroen R P M Strating

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The p24 family is thought to be somehow involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER-to-Golgi protein transport. A subset of the p24 proteins (p24alpha(3, -beta(1, -gamma(3 and -delta(2 is upregulated when Xenopus laevis intermediate pituitary melanotrope cells are physiologically activated to produce vast amounts of their major secretory cargo, the prohormone proopiomelanocortin (POMC. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we find that transgene expression of p24alpha(3 or p24delta(2 specifically in the Xenopus melanotrope cells in both cases causes an effective displacement of the endogenous p24 proteins, resulting in severely distorted p24 systems and disparate melanotrope cell phenotypes. Transgene expression of p24alpha(3 greatly reduces POMC transport and leads to accumulation of the prohormone in large, ER-localized electron-dense structures, whereas p24delta(2-transgenesis does not influence the overall ultrastructure of the cells nor POMC transport and cleavage, but affects the Golgi-based processes of POMC glycomaturation and sulfation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Transgenic expression of two distinct p24 family members has disparate effects on secretory pathway functioning, illustrating the specificity and non-redundancy of our transgenic approach. We conclude that members of the p24 family furnish subcompartments of the secretory pathway with specific sets of machinery cargo to provide the proper microenvironments for efficient and correct secretory protein transport and processing.

  5. Extracellular vesicles as a platform for membrane-associated therapeutic protein delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yoosoo; Hong, Yeonsun; Cho, Eunji; Kim, Gi Beom; Kim, In-San

    2018-01-01

    Membrane proteins are of great research interest, particularly because they are rich in targets for therapeutic application. The suitability of various membrane proteins as targets for therapeutic formulations, such as drugs or antibodies, has been studied in preclinical and clinical studies. For therapeutic application, however, a protein must be expressed and purified in as close to its native conformation as possible. This has proven difficult for membrane proteins, as their native conformation requires the association with an appropriate cellular membrane. One solution to this problem is to use extracellular vesicles as a display platform. Exosomes and microvesicles are membranous extracellular vesicles that are released from most cells. Their membranes may provide a favourable microenvironment for membrane proteins to take on their proper conformation, activity, and membrane distribution; moreover, membrane proteins can cluster into microdomains on the surface of extracellular vesicles following their biogenesis. In this review, we survey the state-of-the-art of extracellular vesicle (exosome and small-sized microvesicle)-based therapeutics, evaluate the current biological understanding of these formulations, and forecast the technical advances that will be needed to continue driving the development of membrane protein therapeutics.

  6. Pressure exerted by a vesicle on a surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Owczarek, A L; Prellberg, T

    2014-01-01

    Several recent works have considered the pressure exerted on a wall by a model polymer. We extend this consideration to vesicles attached to a wall, and hence include osmotic pressure. We do this by considering a two-dimensional directed model, namely that of area-weighted Dyck paths. Not surprisingly, the pressure exerted by the vesicle on the wall depends on the osmotic pressure inside, especially its sign. Here, we discuss the scaling of this pressure in the different regimes, paying particular attention to the crossover between positive and negative osmotic pressure. In our directed model, there exists an underlying Airy function scaling form, from which we extract the dependence of the bulk pressure on small osmotic pressures. (paper)

  7. A novel isolation strategy for obtaining crude membrane vesicles from bovine skim milk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blans, Kristine; Larsen, Lotte Bach; Wiking, Lars

    2014-01-01

    as exosomes and microvesicles. These vesicles contain various types of RNAs and proteins, suggested to transfer health-promoting messages from mother to offspring. However, the variety of the vesicles in milk is less understood and, additionally, complicated by the complexity of more pronounced milk...... components. Here we present a novel strategy for a short, gentle and non-denaturing isolation of skim milk-derived membrane vesicles. Methods: Untreated fresh bovine milk was defatted to remove milk fat globules. The resulting skim milk was subjected to ultracentrifugation. The resulting ochre...

  8. Freeze-thaw cycles induce content exchange between cell-sized lipid vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litschel, Thomas; Ganzinger, Kristina A.; Movinkel, Torgeir; Heymann, Michael; Robinson, Tom; Mutschler, Hannes; Schwille, Petra

    2018-05-01

    Early protocells are commonly assumed to consist of an amphiphilic membrane enclosing an RNA-based self-replicating genetic system and a primitive metabolism without protein enzymes. Thus, protocell evolution must have relied on simple physicochemical self-organization processes within and across such vesicular structures. We investigate freeze-thaw (FT) cycling as a potential environmental driver for the necessary content exchange between vesicles. To this end, we developed a conceptually simple yet statistically powerful high-throughput procedure based on nucleic acid-containing giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) as model protocells. GUVs are formed by emulsion transfer in glass bottom microtiter plates and hence can be manipulated and monitored by fluorescence microscopy without additional pipetting and sample handling steps. This new protocol greatly minimizes artefacts, such as unintended GUV rupture or fusion by shear forces. Using DNA-encapsulating phospholipid GUVs fabricated by this method, we quantified the extent of content mixing between GUVs under different FT conditions. We found evidence of nucleic acid exchange in all detected vesicles if fast freezing of GUVs at ‑80 °C is followed by slow thawing at room temperature. In contrast, slow freezing and fast thawing both adversely affected content mixing. Surprisingly, and in contrast to previous reports for FT-induced content mixing, we found that the content is not exchanged through vesicle fusion and fission, but that vesicles largely maintain their membrane identity and even large molecules are exchanged via diffusion across the membranes. Our approach supports efficient screening of prebiotically plausible molecules and environmental conditions, to yield universal mechanistic insights into how cellular life may have emerged.

  9. Transfer of oleic acid between albumin and phospholipid vesicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, J.A.; Cistola, D.P.

    1986-01-01

    The net transfer of oleic acid between egg phosphatidylcholine unilamellar vesicles and bovine serum albumin has been monitored by 13 C NMR spectroscopy and 90% isotopically substituted [1- 13 C]oleic acid. The carboxyl chemical shifts of oleic acid bound to albumin were different from those for oleic acid in phospholipid vesicles. Therefore, in mixtures of donor particles, the equilibrium distribution of oleic acid was determined from chemical shift and peak intensity data without separation of donor and acceptor particles. In a system containing equal masses of albumin and phospholipid and a stoichiometry of 4-5 mol of oleic acid per mol of albumin, the oleic acid distribution was pH dependent, with ≥80% of the oleic acid associated with albumin at pH 7.4; association was ≥90% at pH 8.0. Decreasing the pH below 7.4 markedly decreased the proportion of fatty acid bound to albumin. The distribution was reversible with pH and was independent of whether vesicles or albumin acted as a donor. These data suggest that pH may strongly influence the partitioning of fatty acid between cellular membranes and albumin. The 13 C NMR method is also advantageous because it provides information about the structural environments of oleic acid bound to albumin or phospholipid, the ionization state of oleic acid in each environment, and the structural integrity of the vesicles. In addition, minimum and maximum limits for the exchange rates of oleic acid among different environments were obtained from the NMR data

  10. Evaluation of the secretory immunoglobulin A levels in the colostrum and milk of mothers of term and pre-trerm newborns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edílson D. Araújo

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To determine and to compare the levels of secretory immunoglobulin A in samples of colostrum and milk of mothers of term and preterm neonates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The levels of secretory immunoglobulin A of 10 mothers of term neonates and 10 mothers of preterm neonates were determined from 5mL of colostrum or milk collected on the 1st, 4th, 10th and 15th days of the puerperal period, using the radial immunodifusion technique. We employed anamnesis, as well as physical and gynecological exams in women in the puerperal period. All the patients were attended at the Januário Cicco Maternity College. RESULTS: The secretory immunoglobulin A levels were significantly higher in the colostrum and milk of mothers of preterm neonates when compared with the levels found in colostrum and milk of mothers of term neonates (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.0001. There was a significant decline in the secretory immunoglobulin A levels of the colostrum and milk of the mothers of term and preterm neonates during the four periods (Kruskal-Wallis test, p<00001. CONCLUSIONS: The secretory immunoglobulin A levels in colostrum and milk of mothers of preterm neonates were significantly higher than in the mothers of term neonates, demonstrating immunological adaptation in preterm neonate breast-feeding.

  11. Comparison of ion transport by cultured secretory and absorptive canine airway epithelia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boucher, R C; Larsen, Erik Hviid

    1988-01-01

    The use of primary cell culture techniques to predict the function of native respiratory epithelia was tested in studies of dog airway epithelia. Epithelial cells from Cl- secretory (tracheal) and Na+ absorptive (bronchial) airway regions were isolated by enzymatic digestion, plated on collagen...

  12. Routes and mechanisms of extracellular vesicle uptake

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Ann Mulcahy

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Extracellular vesicles (EVs are small vesicles released by donor cells that can be taken up by recipient cells. Despite their discovery decades ago, it has only recently become apparent that EVs play an important role in cell-to-cell communication. EVs can carry a range of nucleic acids and proteins which can have a significant impact on the phenotype of the recipient. For this phenotypic effect to occur, EVs need to fuse with target cell membranes, either directly with the plasma membrane or with the endosomal membrane after endocytic uptake. EVs are of therapeutic interest because they are deregulated in diseases such as cancer and they could be harnessed to deliver drugs to target cells. It is therefore important to understand the molecular mechanisms by which EVs are taken up into cells. This comprehensive review summarizes current knowledge of EV uptake mechanisms. Cells appear to take up EVs by a variety of endocytic pathways, including clathrin-dependent endocytosis, and clathrin-independent pathways such as caveolin-mediated uptake, macropinocytosis, phagocytosis, and lipid raft–mediated internalization. Indeed, it seems likely that a heterogeneous population of EVs may gain entry into a cell via more than one route. The uptake mechanism used by a given EV may depend on proteins and glycoproteins found on the surface of both the vesicle and the target cell. Further research is needed to understand the precise rules that underpin EV entry into cells.

  13. Vitamin D Impacts the Expression of Runx2 Target Genes and Modulates Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Membrane Vesicle Biogenesis Gene Networks in 143B Osteosarcoma Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rama Garimella

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Osteosarcoma (OS is an aggressive malignancy of bone affecting children, adolescents and young adults. Understanding vitamin D metabolism and vitamin D regulated genes in OS is an important aspect of vitamin D/cancer paradigm, and in evaluating vitamin D as adjuvant therapy for human OS. Vitamin D treatment of 143B OS cells induced significant and novel changes in the expression of genes that regulate: (a inflammation and immunity; (b formation of reactive oxygen species, metabolism of cyclic nucleotides, sterols, vitamins and mineral (calcium, quantity of gap junctions and skeletogenesis; (c bone mineral density; and (d cell viability of skeletal cells, aggregation of bone cancer cells and exocytosis of secretory vesicles. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed significant reduction in Runx2 target genes such as fibroblast growth factor -1, -12 (FGF1 and FGF12, bone morphogenetic factor-1 (BMP1, SWI/SNF related, matrix associated actin dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily a, member 4 (SMARCA4, Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE, Integrin, β4 (ITGBP4, Matrix Metalloproteinase -1, -28 (MMP1 and MMP28, and signal transducer and activator of transcription-4 (STAT4 in vitamin D treated 143B OS cells. These genes interact with the inflammation, oxidative stress and membrane vesicle biogenesis gene networks. Vitamin D not only inhibited the expression of Runx2 target genes MMP1, MMP28 and kallikrein related peptidase-7 (KLK7, but also migration and invasion of 143B OS cells. Vitamin D regulated Runx2 target genes or their products represent potential therapeutic targets and laboratory biomarkers for applications in translational oncology.

  14. Molecular dynamics simulation of the formation, structure, and dynamics of small phospholipid vesicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marrink, SJ; Mark, AE

    2003-01-01

    Here, we use coarse grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the spontaneous aggregation of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipids into small unilamellar vesicles. We show that the aggregation process occurs on a nanosecond time scale, with bicelles and cuplike vesicles formed at

  15. Introducing a prognostic score for pretherapeutic assessment of seminal vesicle invasion in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salomon, Laurent; Porcher, Raphaeel; Anastasiadis, Aristotelis G.; Levrel, Olivier; Saint, Fabian; Taille, Alexandre de la; Vordos, Dimitrios; Cicco, Antony; Hoznek, Andras; Chopin, Dominique; Abbou, Clement-Claude; Lagrange, Jean-Leon

    2003-01-01

    Purpose: To identify prostate cancer patients who will have the most likely benefit from sparing the seminal vesicles during 3D conformal radiation therapy. Methods and materials: From 1988 to 2001, 532 patients underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer. Primary endpoint was the pathological evidence of seminal vesicle invasion. Variables for univariate and multivariate analyses were age, prostate weight, clinical stage, PSA level, Gleason score, number and site of positive prostate sextant biopsies. Multivariate logistic regression with backward stepwise variable selection was used to identify a set of independent predictors of seminal vesicle invasion, and the variable selection procedure was validated by non-parametric bootstrap. Results: Seminal vesicle invasion was reported in 14% of the cases. In univariate analysis, all variables except age and prostate weight were predictors of seminal vesicle invasion. In multivariate analysis, only the number of positive biopsies (P<0.0001), Gleason score (P<0.007) and PSA (P<0.0001) were predictors for seminal vesicles invasion. Based on the multivariate model, we were able to develop a prognostic score for seminal vesicle invasion, which allowed us to discriminate two patient groups: A group with low risk of seminal vesicles invasion (5.7%), and the second with a higher risk of seminal vesicles invasion (32.7%). Conclusions: Using the number of positive biopsies, Gleason score and PSA, it is possible to identify patients with low risk of seminal vesicles invasion. In this population, seminal vesicles might be excluded as a target volume in radiation therapy of prostate cancer

  16. The Prohormone VGF Regulates β Cell Function via Insulin Secretory Granule Biogenesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel B. Stephens

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The prohormone VGF is expressed in neuroendocrine and endocrine tissues and regulates nutrient and energy status both centrally and peripherally. We and others have shown that VGF-derived peptides have direct action on the islet β cell as secretagogues and cytoprotective agents; however, the endogenous function of VGF in the β cell has not been described. Here, we demonstrate that VGF regulates secretory granule formation. VGF loss-of-function studies in both isolated islets and conditional knockout mice reveal a profound decrease in stimulus-coupled insulin secretion. Moreover, VGF is necessary to facilitate efficient exit of granule cargo from the trans-Golgi network and proinsulin processing. It also functions to replenish insulin granule stores following nutrient stimulation. Our data support a model in which VGF operates at a critical node of granule biogenesis in the islet β cell to coordinate insulin biosynthesis with β cell secretory capacity.

  17. Lipids, lipid bilayers and vesicles as seen by neutrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seto, Hideki

    2011-01-01

    Lipid molecules self-assemble into bilayers in water with their hydrocarbon chains facing inward due to their amphiphilic nature. The structural and dynamical properties of lipids and lipid bilayers have been studied by neutron scattering intensively. In this article, 3 topics are shown as typical examples. 1) a time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering on uni-lamellar vesicles composed of deuterated and protonated lipids to determine lipid kinetics, 2) small-angle neutron scattering to investigate spontaneous formation of nanopores on uni-lamellar vesicles, and 3) neutron spin echo study to determine bending modulus of lipid bilayers. (author)

  18. 3D imaging of vesicles in hyaloclastic fragments - clues to syn-eruptive shear conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helo, C.; Flaws, A.; Hess, K.; Franz, A.; Clague, D. A.; Dingwell, D. B.

    2011-12-01

    3D imaging of stretched vesicles in hyaloclastic fragments has been used to investigate the shear environment of mild pyroclastic eruptions at mid-ocean ridges. X-ray computed tomography offers an attractive non-invasive method to investigate geomaterials at a high resolution for the geometry of the different phases. In this study, we have imaged vesicles within two types of basaltic glass fragments. Stretched, ellipsoid-shaped vesicles in thin limu o Pele and tubular vesicles in a pumiceous fragment. Both types originate from pyroclastic activity on Axial Seamount, Juan de Fuca ridge. Rapid quenching of the glass has prevented extensive bubble relaxation and information about syn-eruptive shear and differential stress conditions is stored, as the dimensions of a stretched bubble directly relates to the extent and mode of shearing. The X-ray tomography data was processed using a set of codes based on edge detection and ellipsoid fitting to acquire quantitative information on the shape of the stretched vesicles. Preliminary results demonstrate, that the geometry of the stretched vesicles, e.g., the elongation of the vesicle with respect to the calculated undeformed radius, is in accordance with simple shear scenarios. Stored differential stress ranges from 5 kPa to 90 kPa with shear rates between 3.2x102 s-1 and 5.7x3 s-1 within a single limu o Pele fragment. This range may be explained by either variable time available for relaxation as the cooling front proceeds through the fragment, complex interplay in space and time between fragmentation and quenching, bubble clusters mutually inhibiting each others extend of deformation, or any combination of these. Bubble relaxation time scales are less then 0.005 s providing constraints on the timeframe for cooling to the glass transition. Qualitative analyses of the tube pumice indicates that the tubular structures grow in length by coalescence of vertically aligned ellipsoid-shaped vesicles, and in width by coalescence of

  19. Free amino acids in synaptic vesicles isolated from the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres of control and neonatally X-irradiated rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valcana, T.; Hudson, D.B.; Timiras, P.S.

    1984-01-01

    X-irradiation of the rat brain (1000R, at two days of age), suppresses the normal age-related increase in the weight of the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres and influences amino acid levels. The decrease in glutamic acid concentration, particularly in the cerebellum, supports the previously advanced proposition that this amino acid may be associated with or may be the transmitter of, the rat cerebellar granule cells. Subfractionation of the cerebellar tissue reveals that the decrease in the glutamic acid level consequent to the loss of granule cells, is reflected in the cytoplasmic fraction but not in the synaptic vesicle subfraction, where glutamic acid was increased. The reduced weight gain in the cerebral hemispheres after irradiation, is accompanied by a significant decrease of aspartate in the cytoplasmic fraction, changes which suggest that a specific cell type, with aspartic acid as its neurotransmitter (possibly in the hippocampus), may also be radiosensitive in the early postnatal period. In contrast, in the synaptic vesicle fraction from cerebral hemispheres, all free amino acids, with the exception of glutamine, increased significantly. Overall, the changes in free amino acid concentration induced by X-irradiation in the cytoplasmic fraction in both brain regions studied are opposite to those found in the synaptic vesicle fraction and although they may indicate changes in specific cell populations, as proposed above, they could also reflect changes in cellular compartmentalization and metabolism or changes in the relative axonal arborization of the affected regions

  20. Rac1-Rab11-FIP3 regulatory hub coordinates vesicle traffic with actin remodeling and T-cell activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchet, Jérôme; Del Río-Iñiguez, Iratxe; Lasserre, Rémi; Agüera-Gonzalez, Sonia; Cuche, Céline; Danckaert, Anne; McCaffrey, Mary W; Di Bartolo, Vincenzo; Alcover, Andrés

    2016-06-01

    The immunological synapse generation and function is the result of a T-cell polarization process that depends on the orchestrated action of the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton and of intracellular vesicle traffic. However, how these events are coordinated is ill defined. Since Rab and Rho families of GTPases control intracellular vesicle traffic and cytoskeleton reorganization, respectively, we investigated their possible interplay. We show here that a significant fraction of Rac1 is associated with Rab11-positive recycling endosomes. Moreover, the Rab11 effector FIP3 controls Rac1 intracellular localization and Rac1 targeting to the immunological synapse. FIP3 regulates, in a Rac1-dependent manner, key morphological events, like T-cell spreading and synapse symmetry. Finally, Rab11-/FIP3-mediated regulation is necessary for T-cell activation leading to cytokine production. Therefore, Rac1 endosomal traffic is key to regulate T-cell activation. © 2016 The Authors.