Role of melanotransferrin in iron metabolism: studies using targeted gene disruption in vivo

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 107 (7) ◽  
pp. 2599-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric O. Sekyere ◽  
Louise L. Dunn ◽  
Yohan Suryo Rahmanto ◽  
Des R. Richardson

AbstractMelanotransferrin (MTf) or tumor antigen p97 is a transferrin homolog that binds one iron (Fe) atom and has been suggested to play roles in a variety of processes, including Fe metabolism, eosinophil differentiation, and plasminogen activation. Considering the vital role of Fe in many metabolic pathways, such as DNA and heme synthesis, it is important to understand the function of MTf. To define this, a MTf knockout (MTf–/–) mouse was generated through targeted disruption of the MTf gene. The MTf–/– mice were viable and fertile and developed normally, with no morphologic or histologic abnormalities. Assessment of Fe indices, tissue Fe levels, hematology, and serum chemistry parameters demonstrated no differences between MTf–/– and wild-type (MTf+/+) mice, suggesting MTf was not essential for Fe metabolism.

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 2536-2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Mellado ◽  
G. Garcia-Effron ◽  
M. J. Buitrago ◽  
L. Alcazar-Fuoli ◽  
M. Cuenca-Estrella ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The role of Aspergillus fumigatus 14α-sterol demethylase (Cyp51A) in azole drug susceptibility was assessed. Targeted disruption of cyp51A in azole-susceptible and -resistant strains decreased MICs from 2- to 40-fold. The cyp51A mutants were morphologically indistinguishable from the wild-type strain, retaining the ability to cause pulmonary disease in neutropenic mice.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3159-3165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald N. Cook ◽  
Shu-Cheng Chen ◽  
Lee M. Sullivan ◽  
Denise J. Manfra ◽  
Maria T. Wiekowski ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Fractalkine (CX3CL1) is the first described chemokine that can exist either as a soluble protein or as a membrane-bound molecule. Both forms of fractalkine can mediate adhesion of cells expressing its receptor, CX3CR1. This activity, together with its expression on endothelial cells, suggests that fractalkine might mediate adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium during inflammation. Fractalkine is also highly expressed in neurons, and its receptor, CX3CR1, is expressed on glial cells. To determine the biologic role of fractalkine, we used targeted gene disruption to generate fractalkine-deficient mice. These mice did not exhibit overt behavioral abnormalities, and histologic analysis of their brains did not reveal any gross changes compared to wild-type mice. In addition, these mice had normal hematologic profiles except for a decrease in the number of blood leukocytes expressing the cell surface marker F4/80. The cellular composition of their lymph nodes did not differ significantly from that of wild-type mice. Similarly, the responses offractalkine −/− mice to a variety of inflammatory stimuli were indistinguishable from those of wild-type mice.


2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (44) ◽  
pp. 46129-46134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Beller ◽  
Akiko Maekawa ◽  
Daniel S. Friend ◽  
K. Frank Austen ◽  
Yoshihide Kanaoka

The cysteinyl leukotrienes (cys-LTs) mediate both acute and chronic inflammatory responses in mice, as demonstrated by the attenuation of the IgE/antigen-mediated increase in microvascular permeability and of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, respectively, in a strain with targeted disruption of leukotriene C4synthase to prevent cys-LT synthesis. Our earlier finding that the acute, but not the chronic, injury was attenuated in a strain with targeted disruption of the cysteinyl leukotriene 1 (CysLT1) receptor suggested that the chronic injury might be mediated through the CysLT2receptor. Thus, we generated CysLT2receptor-deficient mice by targeted gene disruption. These mice developed normally and were fertile. The increased vascular permeability associated with IgE-dependent passive cutaneous anaphylaxis was significantly reduced in CysLT2receptor-null mice as compared with wild-type mice, whereas plasma protein extravasation in response to zymosan A-induced peritoneal inflammation was not altered. Alveolar septal thickening after intratracheal injection of bleomycin, characterized by interstitial infiltration with macrophages and fibroblasts and the accumulation of collagen fibers, was significantly reduced in CysLT2receptor-null mice as compared with the wild-type mice. The amounts of cys-LTs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid after bleomycin injection were similar in the CysLT2receptor-null mice and the wild-type mice. Thus, in response to a particular pathobiologic event the CysLT2receptor can mediate an increase in vascular permeability in some tissues or promote chronic pulmonary inflammation with fibrosis.


1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (01) ◽  
pp. 111-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Levi ◽  
Jan Paul de Boer ◽  
Dorina Roem ◽  
Jan Wouter ten Cate ◽  
C Erik Hack

SummaryInfusion of desamino-d-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) results in an increase in plasma plasminogen activator activity. Whether this increase results in the generation of plasmin in vivo has never been established.A novel sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of the complex between plasmin and its main inhibitor α2 antiplasmin (PAP complex) was developed using monoclonal antibodies preferentially reacting with complexed and inactivated α2-antiplasmin and monoclonal antibodies against plasmin. The assay was validated in healthy volunteers and in patients with an activated fibrinolytic system.Infusion of DDAVP in a randomized placebo controlled crossover study resulted in all volunteers in a 6.6-fold increase in PAP complex, which was maximal between 15 and 30 min after the start of the infusion. Hereafter, plasma levels of PAP complex decreased with an apparent half-life of disappearance of about 120 min. Infusion of DDAVP did not induce generation of thrombin, as measured by plasma levels of prothrombin fragment F1+2 and thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complex.We conclude that the increase in plasminogen activator activity upon the infusion of DDAVP results in the in vivo generation of plasmin, in the absence of coagulation activation. Studying the DDAVP induced increase in PAP complex of patients with thromboembolic disease and a defective plasminogen activator response upon DDAVP may provide more insight into the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of thrombosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawei Chen ◽  
Zhenguo Zhao ◽  
Lu Chen ◽  
Qinghua Li ◽  
Jixue Zou ◽  
...  

AbstractEmerging evidence has demonstrated that alternative splicing has a vital role in regulating protein function, but how alternative splicing factors can be regulated remains unclear. We showed that the PPM1G, a protein phosphatase, regulated the phosphorylation of SRSF3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and contributed to the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of HCC. PPM1G was highly expressed in HCC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues, and higher levels of PPM1G were observed in adverse staged HCCs. The higher levels of PPM1G were highly correlated with poor prognosis, which was further validated in the TCGA cohort. The knockdown of PPM1G inhibited the cell growth and invasion of HCC cell lines. Further studies showed that the knockdown of PPM1G inhibited tumor growth in vivo. The mechanistic analysis showed that the PPM1G interacted with proteins related to alternative splicing, including SRSF3. Overexpression of PPM1G promoted the dephosphorylation of SRSF3 and changed the alternative splicing patterns of genes related to the cell cycle, the transcriptional regulation in HCC cells. In addition, we also demonstrated that the promoter of PPM1G was activated by multiple transcription factors and co-activators, including MYC/MAX and EP300, MED1, and ELF1. Our study highlighted the essential role of PPM1G in HCC and shed new light on unveiling the regulation of alternative splicing in malignant transformation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e001364
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Jun Zhao ◽  
Ping Wan ◽  
Ye Hu ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe activation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) facilitates the progression of gastric cancer (GC). Cell metabolism reprogramming has been shown to play a vital role in the polarization of TAMs. However, the role of methionine metabolism in function of TAMs remains to be explored.MethodsMonocytes/macrophages were isolated from peripheral blood, tumor tissues or normal tissues from healthy donors or patients with GC. The role of methionine metabolism in the activation of TAMs was evaluated with both in vivo analyses and in vitro experiments. Pharmacological inhibition of the methionine cycle and modulation of key metabolic genes was employed, where molecular and biological analyses were performed.ResultsTAMs have increased methionine cycle activity that are mainly attributed to elevated methionine adenosyltransferase II alpha (MAT2A) levels. MAT2A modulates the activation and maintenance of the phenotype of TAMs and mediates the upregulation of RIP1 by increasing the histone H3K4 methylation (H3K4me3) at its promoter regions.ConclusionsOur data cast light on a novel mechanism by which methionine metabolism regulates the anti-inflammatory functions of monocytes in GC. MAT2A might be a potential therapeutic target for cancer cells as well as TAMs in GC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6865
Author(s):  
Eun Seon Lee ◽  
Joung Hun Park ◽  
Seong Dong Wi ◽  
Ho Byoung Chae ◽  
Seol Ki Paeng ◽  
...  

The thioredoxin-h (Trx-h) family of Arabidopsis thaliana comprises cytosolic disulfide reductases. However, the physiological function of Trx-h2, which contains an additional 19 amino acids at its N-terminus, remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the molecular function of Trx-h2 both in vitro and in vivo and found that Arabidopsis Trx-h2 overexpression (Trx-h2OE) lines showed significantly longer roots than wild-type plants under cold stress. Therefore, we further investigated the role of Trx-h2 under cold stress. Our results revealed that Trx-h2 functions as an RNA chaperone by melting misfolded and non-functional RNAs, and by facilitating their correct folding into active forms with native conformation. We showed that Trx-h2 binds to and efficiently melts nucleic acids (ssDNA, dsDNA, and RNA), and facilitates the export of mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm under cold stress. Moreover, overexpression of Trx-h2 increased the survival rate of the cold-sensitive E. coli BX04 cells under low temperature. Thus, our data show that Trx-h2 performs function as an RNA chaperone under cold stress, thus increasing plant cold tolerance.


2008 ◽  
Vol 200 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Schmidt ◽  
A Hommel ◽  
V Gawlik ◽  
R Augustin ◽  
N Junicke ◽  
...  

Deletion of glucose transporter geneSlc2a3(GLUT3) has previously been reported to result in embryonic lethality. Here, we define the exact time point of growth arrest and subsequent death of the embryo.Slc2a3−/−morulae and blastocysts developed normally, implantedin vivo, and formed egg-cylinder-stage embryos that appeared normal until day 6.0. At day 6.5, apoptosis was detected in the ectodermal cells ofSlc2a3−/−embryos resulting in severe disorganization and growth retardation at day 7.5 and complete loss of embryos at day 12.5. GLUT3 was detected in placental cone, in the visceral ectoderm and in the mesoderm of 7.5-day-old wild-type embryos. Our data indicate that GLUT3 is essential for the development of early post-implanted embryos.


1995 ◽  
Vol 182 (5) ◽  
pp. 1415-1421 ◽  
Author(s):  
T C Wu ◽  
A Y Huang ◽  
E M Jaffee ◽  
H I Levitsky ◽  
D M Pardoll

Introduction of the B7-1 gene into murine tumor cells can result in rejection of the B7-1 transductants and, in some cases, systemic immunity to subsequent challenge with the nontransduced tumor cells. These effects have been largely attributed to the function of B7-1 as a costimulator in directly activating tumor specific, major histocompatibility class I-restricted CD8+ T cells. We examined the role of B7-1 expression in the direct rejection as well as in the induction of systemic immunity to a nonimmunogenic murine tumor. B-16 melanoma cells with high levels of B7-1 expression did not grow in C57BL/6 recipient mice, while wild-type B-16 cells and cells with low B7-1 expression grew progressively within 21 d. In mixing experiments with B7-1hi and wild-type B-16 cells, tumors grew out in vivo even when a minority of cells were B7-1-. Furthermore, the occasional tumors that grew out after injection of 100% B-16 B7-1hi cells showed markedly decreased B7-1 expression. In vivo antibody depletions showed that NK1.1 and CD8+ T cells, but not CD4+ T cells, were essential for the in vivo rejection of tumors. Animals that rejected B-16 B7-1hi tumors did not develop enhanced systemic immunity against challenge with wild-type B-16 cells. These results suggest that a major role of B7-1 expression by tumors is to mediate direct recognition and killing by natural killer cells. With an intrinsically nonimmunogenic tumor, this direct killing does not lead to enhanced systemic immunity.


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