Lactation is a key aspect of mammalian evolution for adaptation of various reproductive strategies along different mammalian lineages. Marsupials, such as tammar wallaby, adopted a short gestation and a relatively long lactation cycle, the newborn is immature at birth and significant development occurs postnatally during lactation. Continuous changes of tammar milk composition may contribute to development and immune protection of pouch young. Here, in order to address the putative contribution of newly identified secretory milk miRNA in these processes, high throughput sequencing of miRNAs collected from tammar milk at different time points of lactation was conducted. A comparative analysis was performed to find distribution of miRNA in milk and blood serum of lactating wallaby.

IsCT, a 13-residue, non-cell-selective antimicrobial peptide is comprised of mostly hydrophobic residues and lesser cationic residues. Assuming that placement of an additional positive charge in the non-polar face of IsCT could reduce its hydrophobic interaction, resulting in its reduction of cytotoxicity, an analog, I9K-IsCT was designed. Two more analogs, namely, E7K-IsCT and E7K,I9K-IsCT, were designed to investigate the impact of positive charges in the polar face as well as polar and non-polar faces at a time. These amino acid substitutions resulted in a significant enhancement of therapeutic potential of IsCT. IsCT and E7K-IsCT seem to target bacterial membrane for their anti-bacterial activity. However, I9K-IsCT and E7K,I9K-IsCT inhibited nucleic acid and protein syntheses in tested E. coli without perturbing its membrane. This was further supported by the observation that NBD-IsCT localized onto bacterial membrane while NBD-labeled I9K-IsCT and E7K,I9K-IsCT translocated into bacterial cytoplasm. Interestingly, IsCT and E7K-IsCT were significantly helical while I9K-IsCT and E7K,I9K-IsCT were mostly unstructured with no helix content in presence of mammalian and bacterial membrane-mimetic lipid vesicles. Altogether, the results identify two novel cell-selective analogs of IsCT with new prototype amino acid sequences that can translocate into bacterial cytoplasm without any helical structure and inhibit macromolecular syntheses.

Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) injury is one of the primary causes of ischemic stroke. Ischemic postconditioning (iPoCo) is evolving as an important adaptive technique to contain I-R injury. Some recent studies have shown neuroprotective effects of iPoCo. However, the neuroprotective mechanism of iPoCo is not clear. So, the present study has been undertaken to investigate the possible role of Sirtinol, a selective class III histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor in the neuroprotective mechanism of iPoCo in mice.

The hallmark of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is hyperglycemia, although there are multiple other metabolic abnormalities that occur with T2D, including insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. To advance T2D prevention and develop targeted therapies for its treatment, a greater understanding of the alterations in metabolic tissues associated with T2D is necessary. The aim of this study was to use microarray analysis of gene expression in metabolic tissues from a mouse model of pre-diabetes and T2D to further understand the metabolic abnormalities that may contribute to T2D. We also aimed to uncover the novel genes and pathways regulated by the insulin sensitizing agent (CL-316,243) to identify key pathways and target genes in metabolic tissues that can reverse the diabetic phenotype.

Human PAX-Interacting Protein 1 (PAXIP1)-associated glutamate rich protein 1 (PAGR1, also known as PA1) originally was discovered as part of a complex containing PAXIP1 and histone H3K4 methyltransferases MLL3 and MLL4, suggesting a role in epigenetic gene regulation. Further in vitro studies suggested additional functions in DNA damage repair and transcription. However, in vivo analysis of PAGR1 function has been lacking.

The integrin αvβ6 is an emerging biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). An αvβ6-binding peptide was previously selected from a phage-displayed peptide library. Here, we utilize a multivalent design to develop a peptidic probe for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of αvβ6+ NSCLC tumors. Multimeric presentation of this peptide, RGDLATLRQL, on a bifunctional copper chelator was achieved using two approaches: dimerization of the peptide followed by conjugation to the chelator (H2-D10) and direct presentation of two copies of the peptide on the chelator scaffold (H2-(M10)2). Binding affinities of the divalent peptide conjugates are four-fold higher than their monovalent counterpart (H2-M10), suggestive of multivalent binding. PET imaging using the bivalent 64Cu-labeled conjugates showed rapid and persistent accumulation in αvβ6+ tumors. By contrast, no significant accumulation was observed in αvβ6- tumors. Irrespective of the dimerization approach, all divalent probes showed three-fold higher tumor uptake than the monovalent probe, indicating the role of valency in signal enhancement. However, the divalent probes have elevated uptake in non-target organs, especially the kidneys. To abrogate nonspecific uptake, the peptide's N-terminus was acetylated. The resultant bivalent probe, 64Cu- AcD10, showed drastic decrease of kidney accumulation while maintaining tumor uptake. In conclusion, we developed an αvβ6-integrin specific probe with optimized biodistribution for noninvasive PET imaging of NSCLC. Further, we have demonstrated that use of multivalent scaffolds is a plausible method to improve library selected peptides, which would be suboptimal or useless otherwise, for imaging probe development.

Akt signaling plays a central role in many biological processes, which are key players in human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) pathogenesis. We found that Akt interacts with HIV-1 Nef protein. In primary T cells treated with exogenous Nef or acutely infected with Nef-expressing HIV-1 in vitro, Akt became phosphorylated on serine(473) and threonine(308). In vitro, Akt activation mediated by Nef in T-cells was blocked by HIV protease inhibitors (PI), but not by reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTI). Ex vivo, we found that the Akt pathway is hyperactivated in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from cART naïve HIV-1-infected patients. PBLs isolated from PI-treated patients, but not from RTI-treated patients, exhibited decreased Akt activation, T-cell proliferation and IL-2 production. We found that PI but not RTI can block HIV-1 reactivation in latently infected J-Lat lymphoid cells stimulated with various stimuli. Using luciferase measurement, we further confirmed that Nef-mediated reactivation of HIV-1 from latency in 1G5 cells was blocked by PI parallel to decreased Akt activation. Our results indicate that PI-mediated blockade of Akt activation could impact the HIV-1 reservoir and support the need to further assess the therapeutic use of HIV-1 PI in order to curtail latently infected cells in HIV-1-infected patients.

A latent viral reservoir that resides in resting CD4+ T cells represents a major barrier for eradication of HIV infection. We test here the impact of HIV protease inhibitor (PI) based combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) over nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based cART on HIV-1 reactivation and integration in resting CD4+ T cells. This is a prospective cohort study of patients with chronic HIV-1 infection treated with conventional cART with an undetectable viremia. We performed a seven-year study of 47 patients with chronic HIV-infection treated with cART regimens and with undetectable plasma HIV-1 RNA levels for at least 1 year. Of these 47 patients treated with cART, 24 were treated with a PI-based regimen and 23 with a NNRTI-based regimen as their most recent treatment for more than one year. We evaluated the HIV-1 reservoir using reactivation assay and integrated HIV-1 DNA, respectively, in resting CD4+ T cells. Resting CD4+ T cells isolated from PI-treated patients compared to NNRTI-treated patients showed a limited HIV-1 reactivation upon T-cell stimulation (p = 0·024) and a lower level of HIV-1 integration (p = 0·024). Our study indicates that PI-based cART could be more efficient than NNRTI-based cART for limiting HIV-1 reactivation in aviremic chronically infected patients.

Akt, a serine/threonine protein kinase, is often hyper activated in breast and prostate cancers, but with poor prognosis. Allosteric inhibitors regulate aberrant kinase activity by stabilizing the protein in inactive conformation. Several natural compounds have been reported as inhibitors for kinases. In this study, to identify potential natural allosteric inhibitor for Akt1, we generated a seven-point pharmacophore model and screened it through natural compound library. Quercetin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside or Q7G was found to be the best among selected molecules based on its hydrogen bond occupancy with key allosteric residues, persistent polar contacts and salt bridges that stabilize Akt1 in inactive conformation and minimum binding free energy during molecular dynamics simulation. Q7G induced dose-dependent inhibition of breast cancer cells (MDA MB-231) and arrested them in G1 and sub-G phase. This was associated with down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, up-regulation of cleaved caspase-3 and PARP. Expression of p-Akt (Ser473) was also down-regulated which might be due to Akt1 inhibition in inactive conformation. We further confirmed the Akt1 and Q7G interaction which was observed to have a dissociation constant (Kd) of 0.246μM. With these computational, biological and thermodynamic studies, we suggest Q7G as a lead molecule and propose for its further optimization.

Piperine, a naturally occurring alkaloid, is well known as anti-oxidant, anti-mutagenic, anti-tumor and anti-proliferative agent. Piperine exerts such pharmacological activities by binding or interacting with various cellular targets. Recently, the first report for Piperine interaction with duplex DNA has been published last year but its interaction with G-quadruplex structures has not been studied yet. Herein, we report for the first time the interaction of Piperine with various DNA G-quadruplex structures. Comprehensive biophysical techniques were employed to determine the basis of interaction for the complex formed between Piperine and G-quadruplex DNA sequences. Piperine showed specificity for G-quadruplex DNA over double stranded DNA, with highest affinity for G-quadruplex structure formed at c-myc promoter region. Further, in-vitro studies show that Piperine causes apoptosis-mediated cell death that further emphasizes the potential of this natural product, Piperine, as a promising candidate for targeting G-quadruplex structure and thus, acts as a potent anti-cancer agent.

Sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) most often results from productive infection by a single transmitted/founder (T/F) virus, indicating a stringent mucosal bottleneck. Understanding the viral traits that overcome this bottleneck could have important implications for HIV-1 vaccine design and other prevention strategies. Most T/F viruses use CCR5 to infect target cells and some encode envelope glycoproteins (Envs) that contain fewer potential N-linked glycosylation sites and shorter V1/V2 variable loops than Envs from chronic viruses. Moreover, it has been reported that the gp120 subunits of certain transmitted Envs bind to the gut-homing integrin α4β7, possibly enhancing virus entry and cell-to-cell spread. Here we sought to determine whether subtype C T/F viruses, which are responsible for the majority of new HIV-1 infections worldwide, share biological properties that increase their transmission fitness, including preferential α4β7 engagement. Using single genome amplification, we generated panels of both T/F (n = 20) and chronic (n = 20) Env constructs as well as full-length T/F (n = 6) and chronic (n = 4) infectious molecular clones (IMCs). We found that T/F and chronic control Envs were indistinguishable in the efficiency with which they used CD4 and CCR5. Both groups of Envs also exhibited the same CD4+ T cell subset tropism and showed similar sensitivity to neutralization by CD4 binding site (CD4bs) antibodies. Finally, saturating concentrations of anti-α4β7 antibodies failed to inhibit infection and replication of T/F as well as chronic control viruses, although the growth of the tissue culture-adapted strain SF162 was modestly impaired. These results indicate that the population bottleneck associated with mucosal HIV-1 acquisition is not due to the selection of T/F viruses that use α4β7, CD4 or CCR5 more efficiently.

Tubulin is a well established target for anticancer drug development. Lignans and neolignans were synthesized as tubulin interacting agents. Neolignans 10 and 19 exhibited significant anticancer activity against MCF-7 and MDAMB-231 human breast cancer cell lines. Both the compounds effectively induced stabilization of microtubule at 4 and 20 μM concentrations respectively. Neolignan 10 induced G2/M phase arrest in MCF-7 cells. Docking experiments raveled that 10 and 19 occupied the same binding pocket of paclitaxel with some difference in active site amino acids and good bioavailability of both the compounds. In in vivo acute oral toxicity 10 was well tolerated up to 300 mg/kg dose in Swiss-albino mice.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) comprises a family of universal transcription factors that help cells sense and respond to environmental signals. STAT5 refers to two highly related proteins, STAT5A and STAT5B, with critical function: their complete deficiency is lethal in mice; in humans, STAT5B deficiency alone leads to endocrine and immunological problems, while STAT5A deficiency has not been reported. STAT5A and STAT5B show peptide sequence similarities greater than 90%, but subtle structural differences suggest possible non-redundant roles in gene regulation. However, these roles remain unclear in humans. We applied chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA sequencing using human CD4(+) T cells to detect candidate genes regulated by STAT5A and/or STAT5B, and quantitative-PCR in STAT5A or STAT5B knock-down (KD) human CD4(+) T cells to validate the findings. Our data show STAT5A and STAT5B play redundant roles in cell proliferation and apoptosis via SGK1 interaction. Interestingly, we found a novel, unique role for STAT5A in binding to genes involved in neural development and function (NDRG1, DNAJC6, and SSH2), while STAT5B appears to play a distinct role in T cell development and function via DOCK8, SNX9, FOXP3 and IL2RA binding. Our results also suggest that one or more co-activators for STAT5A and/or STAT5B may play important roles in establishing different binding abilities and gene regulation behaviors. The new identification of these genes regulated by STAT5A and/or STAT5B has major implications for understanding the pathophysiology of cancer progression, neural disorders, and immune abnormalities.

There has been increased interest in the possible role of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in carcinogenesis during the last decade. HCMV seroprevalence was enhanced in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) but a possible relationship between HCC and HCMV infection remained to be assessed. The aim of this work was to investigate the pro-tumor influence of HCMV on primary human hepatocytes (PHH) and HepG2 cells.

Secreted proteins maintain cell structure and biogenesis besides acting in signaling events crucial for cellular homeostasis during stress adaptation. To understand the underlying mechanism of stress-responsive secretion, the dehydration-responsive secretome was developed from suspension-cultured cells of chickpea. Cell viability of the suspension culture remained unaltered until 96 h, which gradually declined at later stages of dehydration. Proteomic analysis led to the identification of 215 differentially regulated proteins, involved in a variety of cellular functions that include metabolism, cell defence, and signal transduction suggesting their concerted role in stress adaptation. One-third of the secreted proteins were devoid of N-terminal secretion signals suggesting a non-classical secretory route. Screening of the secretome identified a leaderless Bet v 1-like protein, designated CaRRP1, the export of which was inhibited by brefeldin A. We investigated the gene structure and genomic organization and demonstrated that CaRRP1 may be involved in stress response. Its expression was positively associated with abiotic and biotic stresses. CaRRP1 could complement the aberrant growth phenotype of yeast mutant, deficient in vesicular transport, indicating a partial overlap of protein secretion and stress response. Our study provides the most comprehensive analysis of dehydration-responsive secretome and the complex metabolic network operating in plant extracellular space.

Arsenic (As) contamination of water is a global concern and rice consumption is the biggest dietary exposure to human posing carcinogenic risks, predominantly in Asia. Sulfur (S) is involved in di-sulfide linkage in many proteins and plays crucial role in As detoxification. Present study explores role of variable S supply on rice leaf proteome, its inclination towards amino acids (AA) profile and non protein thiols under arsenite exposure. Analysis of 282 detected proteins on 2-DE gel revealed 113 differentially expressed proteins, out of which 80 were identified by MALDI-TOF-TOF. The identified proteins were mostly involved in glycolysis, TCA cycle, AA biosynthesis, photosynthesis, protein metabolism, stress and energy metabolism. Among these, glycolytic enzymes play a major role in AA biosynthesis that leads to change in AAs profiling. Proteins of glycolytic pathway, photosynthesis and energy metabolism were also validated by western blot analysis. Conclusively S supplementation reduced the As accumulation in shoot positively skewed thiol metabolism and glycolysis towards AA accumulation under AsIII stress.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are present in the majority of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) responsive to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) gefitinib or erlotinib. These EGFR-dependent tumors eventually become TKI resistant, and the common secondary T790M mutation accounts for half the tumors with acquired resistance to gefitinib. However, the key proapoptotic proteins involved in TKI-induced cell death and other secondary mutations involved in resistance remain unclear. The objective of this study was to identify the mechanism of EGFR TKI-induced apoptosis and secondary resistant mutations that affect this process.

Class I phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) constitute a family of enzymes that generates 3-phosphorylated polyphosphoinositides at the cell membrane after stimulation of protein tyrosine (Tyr) kinase-associated receptors or G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The class I PI3Ks are divided into two types: class I(A) p85/p110 heterodimers, which are activated by Tyr kinases, and the class I(B) p110gamma isoform, which is activated by GPCR. Although the T cell receptor (TCR) is a protein Tyr kinase-associated receptor, p110gamma deletion affects TCR-induced T cell stimulation. We examined whether the TCR activates p110gamma, as well as the consequences of interfering with p110gamma expression or function for T cell activation. We found that after TCR ligation, p110gamma interacts with G alpha(q/11), lymphocyte-specific Tyr kinase, and zeta-associated protein. TCR stimulation activates p110gamma, which affects 3-phosphorylated polyphosphoinositide levels at the immunological synapse. We show that TCR-stimulated p110gamma controls RAS-related C3 botulinum substrate 1 activity, F-actin polarization, and the interaction between T cells and antigen-presenting cells, illustrating a crucial role for p110gamma in TCR-induced T cell activation.

Ribosomes perform protein synthesis but are also involved in signaling processes, the full extent of which are still being uncovered. We report that phenotypes of mutating ribosomal proteins (Rps) are largely due to signaling. Using Drosophila, we discovered that a bZip-domain protein, Xrp1, becomes elevated in Rp mutant cells. Xrp1 reduces translation and growth, delays development, is responsible for gene expression changes, and causes the cell competition of Rp heterozygous cells from genetic mosaics. Without Xrp1, even cells homozygously deleted for Rp genes persist and grow. Xrp1 induction in Rp mutant cells depends on a particular Rp with regulatory effects, RpS12, and precedes overall changes in translation. Thus, effects of Rp mutations, even the reductions in translation and growth, depend on signaling through the Xrp1 pathway and are not simply consequences of reduced ribosome production limiting protein synthesis. One benefit of this system may be to eliminate Rp-mutant cells by cell competition.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy enables the non-invasive observation of biochemical processes, in living cells, at comparably high spectral and temporal resolution. Preferably, means of increasing the detection limit of this powerful analytical method need to be applied when observing cellular processes under physiological conditions, due to the low sensitivity inherent to the technique. In this review, a brief introduction to in-cell NMR, protein-small molecule interactions, posttranslational phosphorylation, and hyperpolarization NMR methods, used for the study of metabolites in cellulo, are presented. Recent examples of method development in all three fields are conceptually highlighted, and an outlook into future perspectives of this emerging area of NMR research is given.