scholarly journals Structural and Functional Characterization of Rv2966c Protein Reveals an RsmD-like Methyltransferase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the Role of Its N-terminal Domain in Target Recognition

2011 ◽  
Vol 286 (22) ◽  
pp. 19652-19661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atul Kumar ◽  
Kashyap Saigal ◽  
Ketan Malhotra ◽  
Krishna Murari Sinha ◽  
Bhupesh Taneja
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Target Recognition ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Cellular Growth ◽  
Functional Domain ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
16 S Rrna

Nine of ten methylated nucleotides of Escherichia coli 16 S rRNA are conserved in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All the 10 different methyltransferases are known in E. coli, whereas only TlyA and GidB have been identified in mycobacteria. Here we have identified Rv2966c of M. tuberculosis as an ortholog of RsmD protein of E. coli. We have shown that rv2966c can complement rsmD-deleted E. coli cells. Recombinant Rv2966c can use 30 S ribosomes purified from rsmD-deleted E. coli as substrate and methylate G966 of 16 S rRNA in vitro. Structure determination of the protein shows the protein to be a two-domain structure with a short hairpin domain at the N terminus and a C-terminal domain with the S-adenosylmethionine-MT-fold. We show that the N-terminal hairpin is a minimalist functional domain that helps Rv2966c in target recognition. Deletion of the N-terminal domain prevents binding to nucleic acid substrates, and the truncated protein fails to carry out the m2G966 methylation on 16 S rRNA. The N-terminal domain also binds DNA efficiently, a property that may be utilized under specific conditions of cellular growth.

scholarly journals Downregulation of Rv0189c, encoding a dihydroxyacid dehydratase, affects growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro and in mice

Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinayak Singh ◽  
Deepak Chandra ◽  
Brahm S. Srivastava ◽  
Ranjana Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Acid Stress ◽  
Auxotrophic Mutant ◽  
Isoleucine Leucine ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Antisense Mrna

Dihydroxyacid dehydratase (DHAD), a key enzyme involved in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) biosynthesis, catalyses the synthesis of 2-ketoacids from dihydroxyacids. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, DHAD is encoded by gene Rv0189c, and it shares 40 % amino acid sequence identity and conserved motifs with DHAD of Escherichia coli encoded by ilvD. In this study, Rv0189c was overexpressed in E. coli and the resultant protein was characterized as a homodimer (∼155 kDa). Functional characterization of Rv0189c was established by biochemical testing and by genetic complementation of an intron-disrupted ilvD-auxotrophic mutant of E. coli to prototrophy. Growth of M. tuberculosis, E. coli BL21(DE3) and recombinant E. coli BL21(DE3) ΔilvD carrying Rv0189c was inhibited by transient nitric oxide (NO) exposure in minimal medium but growth was restored if the medium was supplemented with BCAA (isoleucine, leucine and valine). This suggested that inactivation of Rv0189c by NO probably inhibited bacterial growth. The role of Rv0189c in M. tuberculosis was elucidated by antisense and sense RNA constructs. Growth of M. tuberculosis transformed with a plasmid encoding antisense mRNA was markedly poor in the lungs of infected mice and in Middlebrook 7H9 broth compared to that of sense and vector-alone transformants, but growth was normal when the medium was supplemented with BCAA. Upregulation of Rv0189c was observed during the early exponential phase of growth, under acid stress and ex vivo, suggesting that Rv0189c has a role in the survival of M. tuberculosis during normal and stress conditions. It may be concluded that the DHAD encoded by Rv0189c is essential for the survival of M. tuberculosis and could be a potential drug/vaccine target, as it is absent in mammals.

scholarly journals Functional identification of ygiP as a positive regulator of the ttdA-ttdB-ygjE operon

Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (7) ◽  
pp. 2129-2135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Oshima ◽  
Francis Biville
Keyword(s):  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Anaerobic Growth ◽  
Functional Identification ◽  
New Members ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Inner Membrane Protein ◽  
Tartrate Dehydratase

Functional characterization of unknown genes is currently a major task in biology. The search for gene function involves a combination of various in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches. Available knowledge from the study of more than 21 LysR-type regulators in Escherichia coli has facilitated the classification of new members of the family. From sequence similarities and its location on the E. coli chromosome, it is suggested that ygiP encodes a lysR regulator controlling the expression of a neighbouring operon; this operon encodes the two subunits of tartrate dehydratase (TtdA, TtdB) and YgiE, an integral inner-membrane protein possibly involved in tartrate uptake. Expression of tartrate dehydratase, which converts tartrate to oxaloacetate, is required for anaerobic growth on glycerol as carbon source in the presence of tartrate. Here, it has been demonstrated that disruption of ygiP, ttdA or ygjE abolishes tartrate-dependent anaerobic growth on glycerol. It has also been shown that tartrate-dependent induction of the ttdA-ttdB-ygjE operon requires a functional YgiP.

scholarly journals ELISA- and Activity Assay-Based Quantification of BMP-2 Released In Vitro Can Be Biased by Solubility in “Physiological” Buffers and an Interfering Effect of Chitosan

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 582
Author(s):  
Julius Sundermann ◽  
Steffen Sydow ◽  
Laura Burmeister ◽  
Andrea Hoffmann ◽  
Henning Menzel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Matrix Effects ◽  
In Vitro Release ◽  
Tween 20 ◽  
Activity Assay ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Reversible Aggregation ◽  
Aggregation Tendency ◽  
Bio Assay

Chitosan nanogel-coated polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber mat-based implant prototypes with tailored release of bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP-2) are a promising approach to achieve implant-mediated bone regeneration. In order to ensure reliable in vitro release results, the robustness of a commercially available ELISA for E. coli-derived BMP-2 and the parallel determination of BMP-2 recovery using a quantitative biological activity assay were investigated within a common release setup, with special reference to solubility and matrix effects. Without bovine serum albumin and Tween 20 as solubilizing additives to release media buffed at physiological pH, BMP‑2 recoveries after release were notably reduced. In contrast, the addition of chitosan to release samples caused an excessive recovery. A possible explanation for these effects is the reversible aggregation tendency of BMP-2, which might be influenced by an interaction with chitosan. The interfering effects highlighted in this study are of great importance for bio-assay-based BMP-2 quantification, especially in the context of pharmaceutical release experiments.

scholarly journals N-Acetylglucosamine-1-Phosphate Transferase, WecA, as a Validated Drug Target in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav Huszár ◽  
Vinayak Singh ◽  
Alica Polčicová ◽  
Peter Baráth ◽  
María Belén Barrio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Drug Target ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Drug Candidate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chemical Libraries ◽  
Whole Cells ◽  
Encoding Gene

ABSTRACT The mycobacterial phosphoglycosyltransferase WecA, which initiates arabinogalactan biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has been proposed as a target of the caprazamycin derivative CPZEN-45, a preclinical drug candidate for the treatment of tuberculosis. In this report, we describe the functional characterization of mycobacterial WecA and confirm the essentiality of its encoding gene in M. tuberculosis by demonstrating that the transcriptional silencing of wecA is bactericidal in vitro and in macrophages. Silencing wecA also conferred hypersensitivity of M. tuberculosis to the drug tunicamycin, confirming its target selectivity for WecA in whole cells. Simple radiometric assays performed with mycobacterial membranes and commercially available substrates allowed chemical validation of other putative WecA inhibitors and resolved their selectivity toward WecA versus another attractive cell wall target, translocase I, which catalyzes the first membrane step in the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan. These assays and the mutant strain described herein will be useful for identifying potential antitubercular leads by screening chemical libraries for novel WecA inhibitors.

scholarly journals Role of a tryptophan anchor in human topoisomerase I structure, function and inhibition

2008 ◽  
Vol 411 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary S. Laco ◽  
Yves Pommier
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Topoisomerase I ◽  
Electrostatic Interactions ◽  
Functional Domain ◽  
Site Mutation ◽  
Supercoiled Dna ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
Tryptophan Residues ◽  
N Terminus

Human Top1 (topoisomerase I) relaxes supercoiled DNA during cell division and transcription. Top1 is composed of 765 amino acids and contains an unstructured N-terminal domain of 200 amino acids, and a structured functional domain of 565 amino acids that binds and relaxes supercoiled DNA. In the present study we examined the region spanning the junction of the N-terminal domain and functional domain (junction region). Analysis of several published Top1 structures revealed that three tryptophan residues formed a network of aromatic stacking interactions and electrostatic interactions that anchored the N-terminus of the functional domain to sub-domains containing the nose cone and active site. Mutation of the three tryptophan residues (Trp203/Trp205/Trp206) to an alanine residue, either individually or together, in silico revealed that the individual tryptophan residue's contribution to the tryptophan ‘anchor’ was additive. When the three tryptophan residues were mutated to alanine in vitro, the resulting mutant Top1 differed from wild-type Top1 in that it lacked processivity, exhibited resistance to camptothecin and was inactivated by urea. The results indicated that the tryptophan anchor stabilized the N-terminus of the functional domain and prevented the loss of Top1 structure and function.

scholarly journals Synthesis of silver nanoparticles from extracts of Scytonema geitleri HKAR-12 and their in vitro antibacterial and antitumor potentials

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 576-585
Keyword(s):  
Silver Nanoparticles ◽  
Coli Strain ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Xrd Pattern ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Vis Spectroscopy ◽  
Shape Structure ◽  
Actual Size

In the present study silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been synthesized through the cell-free extracts of the rooftop dwelling cyanobacterium Scytonema geitleri HKAR-12. UV-VIS spectroscopy, FTIR, X-ray diffraction, SEM and TEM were used for the determination of morphological, structural and optical properties of synthesized AgNPs. Extracts of Scytonema geitleri HKAR-12 have the ability to reduce AgNO3 to Ag0. Sharp peak at 422 nm indicated the rapid synthesis of AgNPs. FTIR results showed the presence of different groups responsible for the reduction of AgNO3 to AgNPs. XRD pattern confirmed the crystalline nature of AgNPs. SEM showed the bead shape structure of AgNPs. TEM confirmed the actual size of AgNPs to be ranging between 9-17 nm. AgNPs showed antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli strain1 and E. coli strain 2 and 11 μg/mL of AgNPs effectively inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells. Hence, Scytonema geitleri HKAR-12, isolated from the rooftop could serve as a desirable biological candidate for convenient and cheap production of AgNPs having antimicrobial and anti-cancerous properties.

Screening of Antimicrobial Activity and Cytotoxic Effects of Two Cladonia Species

2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 191-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birkan Açıkgöz ◽  
İskender Karaltı ◽  
Melike Ersöz ◽  
Zeynep M. Coşkun ◽  
Gülşah Çobanoğlu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Activity ◽  
Antimicrobial Activities ◽  
Chloroform Extract ◽  
Cytotoxic Effects ◽  
Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Methanol Extracts ◽  
Gram Positive Bacteria

The present study explores the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxic effects in culture assays of two fruticose soil lichens, Cladonia rangiformis Hoffm. and Cladonia convoluta (Lamkey) Cout., to contribute to possible pharmacological uses of lichens. In vitro antimicrobial activities of methanol and chloroform extracts against two Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli), two Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus), and the yeast Candida albicans were examined using the paper disc method and through determination of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs). The data showed the presence of antibiotic substances in the chloroform and the methanol extracts of the lichen species. The chloroform extracts exhibited more signifi cant antimicrobial activity than the methanol extracts. However, a higher antifungal activity was noted in the methanol extract of C. rangiformis. The maximum antimicrobial activity was recorded for the chloroform extract of C. convoluta against E. coli. The cytotoxic effects of the lichen extracts on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were evaluated by the trypan blue assay yielding IC50 values of ca. 173 and 167 μg/ml for the extracts from C. rangiformis and C. convoluta, respectively.

scholarly journals Detection of Viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Reverse Transcriptase-Strand Displacement Amplification of mRNA

1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Hellyer ◽  
L. E. DesJardin ◽  
L. Teixeira ◽  
M. D. Perkins ◽  
M. D. Cave ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Reverse Transcriptase ◽  
Therapeutic Efficacy ◽  
Sputum Sample ◽  
Drug Susceptibility ◽  
Strand Displacement ◽  
Strand Displacement Amplification ◽  
Amplification System

Numerous assays have been described for the detection of DNA and rRNA sequences that are specific for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Although beneficial to initial diagnosis, such assays have proven unsuitable for monitoring therapeutic efficacy owing to the persistence of these nucleic acid targets long after conversion of smears and cultures to negative. However, prokaryotic mRNA has a typical half-life of only a few minutes and we have previously shown that the presence of mRNA is a good indicator of bacterial viability. The purpose of the present study was to develop a novel reverse transcriptase-strand displacement amplification system for the detection of M. tuberculosis α-antigen (85B protein) mRNA and to demonstrate the use of this assay in assessing chemotherapeutic efficacy in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The assay was applied to sequential, noninduced sputum specimens collected from four patients: 10 of 11 samples (91%) collected prior to the start of therapy were positive for alpha-antigen mRNA, compared with 1 of 8 (13%), 2 of 8 (25%), 2 of 8 (25%), and 0 of 8 collected on days 2, 4, 7, and 14 of treatment, respectively. In contrast, 39 of 44 samples (89%) collected on or before day 14 were positive for α-antigen DNA. The loss of detectable mRNA corresponded to a rapid drop over the first 4 days of treatment in the number of viable organisms present in each sputum sample, equivalent to a mean fall of 0.43 log10 CFU/ml/day. Analysis of mRNA is a potentially useful method for monitoring therapeutic efficacy and for rapid in vitro determination of drug susceptibility.

scholarly journals Fluorescence-free quantification of protein/nucleic-acid binding through single-molecule kinetic locking

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Rieu ◽  
Jessica Valle-Orero ◽  
Bertrand Ducos ◽  
Jean-François Allemand ◽  
Vincent Croquette
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Nucleic Acid Binding ◽  
Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Natural Function ◽  
Protein Nucleic Acid ◽  
Free Quantification

ABSTRACTFluorescence-free micro-manipulation of nucleic acids (NA) allows the functional characterization of DNA/RNA processing proteins, without the interference of labels, but currently fails to detect and quantify their binding. To overcome this limitation, we developed a new method based on single-molecule force spectroscopy, called kinetic locking, that allows a direct in vitro visualization of protein binding while avoiding any kind of chemical disturbance of the protein’s natural function. We validate kinetic locking by measuring accurately the hybridization energy of ultrashort nucleotides (5,6,7 bases) and use it to measure the dynamical interactions of E. coli RecQ helicase with its DNA substrate.

scholarly journals A Novel In Vitro Method to Assess the Microbial Barrier Function of Tissue Adhesives Using Bioluminescence Imaging Technique

2022 ◽  
Vol 2022 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yalda Mirzaei ◽  
Kerstin Hagemeister ◽  
Martina Hüffel ◽  
Timo Schwandt ◽  
René H. Tolba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Barrier Function ◽  
Wound Closure ◽  
Bioluminescence Imaging ◽  
Imaging Technique ◽  
In Vitro Method ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Tissue Glue ◽  
Bioluminescence Signal

Background. Tissue glues can minimize treatment invasiveness, mitigate the risk of infection, and reduce surgery time; ergo, they have been developed and used in surgical procedures as wound closure devices beside sutures, staples, and metallic grafts. Regardless of their structure or function, tissue glues should show an acceptable microbial barrier function before being used in humans. This study proposes a novel in vitro method using Escherichia coli Lux and bioluminescence imaging technique to assess the microbial barrier function of tissue glues. Different volumes and concentrations of E. coli Lux were applied to precured or cured polyurethane-based tissue glue placed on agar plates. Plates were cultured for 1 h, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h with bioluminescence signal measurement subsequently. Herein, protocol established a volume of 5 μL of a 1 : 100 dilution of E. coli Lux containing around 2 × 10 7  CFU/mL as optimal for testing polyurethane-based tissue glue. Measurement of OD600nm, determination of CFU/mL, and correlation with the bioluminescence measurement in p/s unit resulted in a good correlation between CFU/mL and p/s and demonstrated good reproducibility of our method. In addition, this in vitro method could show that the tested polyurethane-based tissue glue can provide a reasonable barrier against the microbial penetration and act as a bacterial barrier for up to 48 h with no penetration and up to 72 h with a low level of penetration through the material. Overall, we have established a novel, sensitive, and reproducible in vitro method using the bioluminescence imaging technique for testing the microbial barrier function of new tissue glues.

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