scholarly journals Functional Expression of Adenosine A3 Receptor in Yeast Utilizing a Chimera with the A2AR C-Terminus

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 4547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhinav R. Jain ◽  
Anne S. Robinson

The adenosine A3 receptor (A3R) is the only adenosine receptor subtype to be overexpressed in inflammatory and cancer cells and therefore is considered a novel and promising therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases and cancer. Heterologous expression of A3R at levels to allow biophysical characterization is a major bottleneck in structure-guided drug discovery efforts. Here, we apply protein engineering using chimeric receptors to improve expression and activity in yeast. Previously we had reported improved expression and trafficking of the chimeric A1R variant using a similar approach. In this report, we constructed chimeric A3/A2AR comprising the N-terminus and transmembrane domains from A3R (residues 1–284) and the cytoplasmic C-terminus of the A2AR (residues 291–412). The chimeric receptor showed approximately 2-fold improved expression with a 2-fold decreased unfolded protein response when compared to wild type A3R. Moreover, by varying culture conditions such as initial cell density and induction temperature a further 1.7-fold increase in total receptor yields was obtained. We observed native-like coupling of the chimeric receptor to Gai-Gpa1 in engineered yeast strains, activating the downstream, modified MAPK pathway. This strategy of utilizing chimeric receptor variants in yeast thus provides an exciting opportunity to improve expression and activity of “difficult-to-express” receptors, expanding the opportunity for utilizing yeast in drug discovery.

Endocrinology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 148 (11) ◽  
pp. 5573-5581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés J. Casal ◽  
Stéphane Ryser ◽  
Alessandro M. Capponi ◽  
Carine F. Wang-Buholzer

Angiotensin II (AngII) stimulates aldosterone biosynthesis in the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex. AngII also triggers the MAPK pathways (ERK1/2 and p38). Because ERK1/2 phosphorylation is a transient process, phosphatases could play a crucial role in the acute steroidogenic response. Here we show that the dual specificity (threonine/tyrosine) MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) is present in bovine adrenal glomerulosa cells in primary culture and that AngII markedly increases its expression in a time- and concentration-dependent manner (IC50 = 1 nm), a maximum of 548 ± 10% of controls being reached with 10 nm AngII after 3 h (n = 3, P < 0.01). This effect is completely abolished by losartan, a blocker of the AT1 receptor subtype. Moreover, this AngII-induced MKP-1 expression is reduced to 250 ± 35% of controls (n = 3, P < 0.01) in the presence of U0126, an inhibitor of ERK1/2 phosphorylation, suggesting an involvement of the ERK1/2 MAPK pathway in MKP-1 induction. Indeed, shortly after AngII-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (220% of controls at 30 min), MKP-1 protein expression starts to increase. This increase is associated with a reduction in ERK1/2 phosphorylation, which returns to control values after 3 h of AngII challenge. Enhanced MKP-1 expression is essentially due to a stabilization of MKP-1 mRNA. AngII treatment leads to a 53-fold increase in phosphorylated MKP-1 levels and a doubling of MKP-1 phosphatase activity. Overexpression of MKP-1 results in decreased phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and aldosterone production in response to AngII stimulation. These results strongly suggest that MKP-1 is the specific phosphatase induced by AngII and involved in the negative feedback mechanism ensuring adequate ERK1/2-mediated aldosterone production in response to the hormone.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 987-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bulter ◽  
Miguel Alcalde ◽  
Volker Sieber ◽  
Peter Meinhold ◽  
Christian Schlachtbauer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Laccase from Myceliophthora thermophila (MtL) was expressed in functional form in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Directed evolution improved expression eightfold to the highest yet reported for a laccase in yeast (18 mg/liter). Together with a 22-fold increase in k cat, the total activity was enhanced 170-fold. Specific activities of MtL mutants toward 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and syringaldazine indicate that substrate specificity was not changed by the introduced mutations. The most effective mutation (10-fold increase in total activity) introduced a Kex2 protease recognition site at the C-terminal processing site of the protein, adjusting the protein sequence to the different protease specificities of the heterologous host. The C terminus is shown to be important for laccase activity, since removing it by a truncation of the gene reduces activity sixfold. Mutations accumulated during nine generations of evolution for higher activity decreased enzyme stability. Screening for improved stability in one generation produced a mutant more stable than the heterologous wild type and retaining the improved activity. The molecular mass of MtL expressed in S. cerevisiae is 30% higher than that of the same enzyme expressed in M. thermophila (110 kDa versus 85 kDa). Hyperglycosylation, corresponding to a 120-monomer glycan on one N-glycosylation site, is responsible for this increase. This S. cerevisiae expression system makes MtL available for functional tailoring by directed evolution.


1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (03) ◽  
pp. 454-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Bregengaard ◽  
Ole Nordfang ◽  
Per Østergaard ◽  
Jens G L Petersen ◽  
Giorgio Meyn ◽  
...  

SummaryTissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is a feed back inhibitor of the initial activation of the extrinsic pathway of coagulation. In humans, injection of heparin results in a 2-6 fold increase in plasma TFPI and recent studies suggest that TFPI may be important for the anticoagulant activity of heparin. Full length (FL) TFPI, but not recombinant two-domain (2D) TFPI, has a poly cationic C-terminus showing very strong heparin binding. Therefore, we have investigated if heparin affects the pharmacokinetics of TFPI with and without this C-terminus.FL-TFPI (608 U/kg) and 2D-TFPI (337 U/kg) were injected intravenously in rabbits with and without simultaneous intravenous injections of low molecular weight heparin (450 anti-XaU/kg).Heparin decreased the volume of distribution and the clearance of FL-TFPI by a factor 10-15, whereas the pharmacokinetics of 2D-TFPI were unaffected by heparin. When heparin was administered 2 h following TFPI the recovery of FL-TFPI was similar to that found in the group receiving the two compounds simultaneously, suggesting that the releasable pool of FL-TFPI is removed very slowly in the absence of circulating heparin.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1507-1512 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Zhu ◽  
H Conrad-Webb ◽  
X S Liao ◽  
P S Perlman ◽  
R A Butow

All mRNAs of yeast mitochondria are processed at their 3' ends within a conserved dodecamer sequence, 5'-AAUAAUAUUCUU-3'. A dominant nuclear suppressor, SUV3-I, was previously isolated because it suppresses a dodecamer deletion at the 3' end of the var1 gene. We have tested the effects of SUV3-1 on a mutant containing two adjacent transversions within a dodecamer at the 3' end of fit1, a gene located within the 1,143-base-pair intron of the 21S rRNA gene, whose product is a site-specific endonuclease required in crosses for the quantitative transmission of that intron to 21S alleles that lack it. The fit1 dodecamer mutations blocked both intron transmission and dodecamer cleavage, neither of which was suppressed by SUV3-1 when present in heterozygous or homozygous configurations. Unexpectedly, we found that SUV3-1 completely blocked cleavage of the wild-type fit1 dodecamer and, in SUV3-1 homozygous crosses, intron conversion. In addition, SUV3-1 resulted in at least a 40-fold increase in the amount of excised intron accumulated. Genetic analysis showed that these phenotypes resulted from the same mutation. We conclude that cleavage of a wild-type dodecamer sequence at the 3' end of the fit1 gene is essential for fit1 expression.


2021 ◽  
pp. 247255522110138
Author(s):  
Önder Kartal ◽  
Fabio Andres ◽  
May Poh Lai ◽  
Rony Nehme ◽  
Kaspar Cottier

Surface-based biophysical methods for measuring binding kinetics of molecular interactions, such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or grating-coupled interferometry (GCI), are now well established and widely used in drug discovery. Increasing throughput is an often-cited need in the drug discovery process and this has been achieved with new instrument generations where multiple interactions are measured in parallel, shortening the total measurement times and enabling new application areas within the field. Here, we present the development of a novel technology called waveRAPID for a further—up to 10-fold—increase in throughput, consisting of an injection method using a single sample. Instead of sequentially injecting increasing analyte concentrations for constant durations, the analyte is injected at a single concentration in short pulses of increasing durations. A major advantage of the new method is its ability to determine kinetics from a single well of a microtiter plate, making it uniquely suitable for kinetic screening. We present the fundamentals of this approach using a small-molecule model system for experimental validation and comparing kinetic parameters to traditional methods. By varying experimental conditions, we furthermore assess the robustness of this new technique. Finally, we discuss its potential for improving hit quality and shortening cycle times in the areas of fragment screening, low-molecular-weight compound screening, and hit-to-lead optimization.


2004 ◽  
Vol 377 (2) ◽  
pp. 459-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose M. LAPLAZA ◽  
Magnolia BOSTICK ◽  
Derek T. SCHOLES ◽  
M. Joan CURCIO ◽  
Judy CALLIS

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the ubiquitin-like protein Rub1p (related to ubiquitin 1 protein) covalently attaches to the cullin protein Cdc53p (cell division cycle 53 protein), a subunit of a class of ubiquitin E3 ligases named SCF (Skp1–Cdc53–F-box protein) complex. We identified Rtt101p (regulator of Ty transposition 101 protein, where Ty stands for transposon of yeast), initially found during a screen for proteins to confer retrotransposition suppression, and Cul3p (cullin 3 protein), a protein encoded by the previously uncharacterized open reading frame YGR003w, as two new in vivo targets for Rub1p conjugation. These proteins show significant identity with Cdc53p and, therefore, are cullin proteins. Modification of Cul3p is eliminated by deletion of the Rub1p pathway through disruption of either RUB1 or its activating enzyme ENR2/ULA1. The same disruptions in the Rub pathway decreased the percentage of total Rtt101p that is modified from approx. 60 to 30%. This suggests that Rtt101p has an additional RUB1- and ENR2-independent modification. All modified forms of Rtt101p and Cul3p were lost when a single lysine residue in a conserved region near the C-terminus was replaced by an arginine residue. These results suggest that this lysine residue is the site of Rub1p-dependent and -independent modifications in Rtt101p and of Rub1p-dependent modification in Cul3p. An rtt101Δ strain was hypersensitive to thiabendazole, isopropyl (N-3-chlorophenyl) carbamate and methyl methanesulphonate, but rub1Δ strains were not. Whereas rtt101Δ strains exhibited a 14-fold increase in Ty1 transposition, isogenic rub1Δ strains did not show statistically significant increases. Rtt101K791Rp, which cannot be modified, complemented for Rtt101p function in a transposition assay. Altogether, these results suggest that neither the RUB1-dependent nor the RUB1-independent form of Rtt101p is required for Rtt101p function. The identification of additional Rub1p targets in S. cerevisiae suggests an expanded role for Rub in this organism.


2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (6) ◽  
pp. R1994-R2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila V. Virkki ◽  
Gordon J. Cooper ◽  
Walter F. Boron

The major intrinsic protein (MIP) of lens fiber cells is a member of the aquaporin (AQP) water channel family. The protein is expressed at very high levels in lens fiber cells, but its physiological function is unclear. By homology to known AQPs, we have cloned a full-length cDNA encoding an MIP from the lens of killifish ( Fundulus heteroclitus). The predicted protein (263 amino acids; GenBank accession no. AF191906 ) shows 77% identity to amphibian MIPs, 70% identity to mammalian MIPs, and 46% identity to mammalian AQP1. Expression of MIPfun in Xenopus laevis oocytes causes an ∼40-fold increase in oocyte water permeability. This stimulation is comparable to that seen with AQP1 and substantially larger than that seen with other MIPs. The mercurials HgCl2 and p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonate inhibit the water permeability of MIPfun by ∼25%. MIPfun is not permeable to glycerol, urea, or formic acid but is weakly permeable to CO2.


Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Xiong ◽  
Yingqing Huo ◽  
Chao Chen ◽  
Xiaofan Lu ◽  
Jincai Luo

Many endothelial inflammatory and prothrombotic mediators are stored in and rapidly released from Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs), endothelium-specific storage organelles upon stimulation. The von Willebrand factor (vWF), a major component inside WPBs, mediates the initial contact of platelets with the injured vessel wall and thus plays an important role in haemostasis and thrombosis. It has previously been shown that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) triggers a rapid release of vWF. However, specific VEGF receptors and their potential downstream pathways involved in this process have not been carefully determined. To dissect the role of VEGF receptors in vWF release activation, we utilized two approaches: one is to use receptor-specific ligands and the other is to use a chimeric receptor approach. The ligands for VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2), but not VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR1), stimulated vWF release. The predominant role of VEGFR2 in vWF release regulation was further confirmed by using a chimeric receptor approach in which the extracellular domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor was substituted for that of VEGFR1 or VEGFR2, and was then expressed in early-passage HUVECs. Further, the knockdown of phospholipase C-γ1 (PLCγ1) suppressed VEGF-triggered intracellular calcium increase and blocked VEGF-induced vWF release. In addition, the two products of PLCγ1 hydrolysis, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG), are both required for VEGF-induced vWF release. Finally, combined with point mutagenesis, the responsible binding sites for PLCγ1 and their importance in VEGFR2-activated vWF release have been determined. Point mutation of a single tyrosine residue Tyr1175, a putative binding site for PLCγ1 on the C-terminus, abolished VEGFR2-activated vWF release. This study presents the first evidence that the PLCγ1 is essential for VEGF-triggered vWF release mediated through a VEGFR2/Tyr1175 pathway.


Hypertension ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubhnita Singh ◽  
Ariane Bruder Nascimento ◽  
Anita Bargaje ◽  
Thiago Bruder Nascimento

Chemokine (C-Cmotif) ligand 5 (CCL5) and its receptor CCR5 belong to the family of chemokines and are expressed and active in the vasculature. NADPH oxidases (Noxs) are the major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vascular cells, but whether the activation of these oxidases is CCL5/CCR5 sensitive and whether such interaction participates in the genesis of vascular disease is not fully known. We investigated whether CCL5/CCR5 leads to vascular injury by activating Nox1. Carotid ligation model (CL, for 2-weeks) was used to induce pathological vascular growth in 10-weeks old (C57BL6/J) mice. Rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMC) were treated with recombinant CCL5 (100ng/mL) to study the molecular mechanisms. CL induces neointima formation, which was associated with increase in IL1β, TNFα, CCR3, CCR5 (3-fold increase), CCL5, and Nox1 gene expression. No difference was observed for Nox2 and 4. Treatment with CCR5 blocker (maraviroc, 25mg/Kg/day i.p) partially inhibited CL-induced vascular injury (media/intima ratio, CL: 1.2 ± 0.2 vs CL + maraviroc: 0.7 ± 0.2) and Nox1 expression (Fold changes: CL: 2.1 ± 0.4 vs CL + maraviroc: 1.2 ± 0.4). In RASMC, CCL5 induced Nox1 expression, which was blunted by pre-treating cells with maraviroc (10uM). Also, it increases p47phox content in membrane fraction (index of Nox activation), and elevated ROS production, analyzed by L012. CCL5 also induced cell migration, measured by transwell assay (number of cells per spot, control: 21.3 ± 3.1 vs CCL5: 31.1 ± 2.4), proliferation, analyzed by Edu+ cells (% of cells per spot, control: 10.6 ± 4.3 vs CCL5: 22.8 ± 5.1), and inflammation (studied by IL1β and TNFα levels). Lastly, CCL5 elevated NF-κB translocation into the nucleus, indicating NF-κB activation. Strikingly, inhibition of Nox1 (GKT771, 10uM), blocked CCL5-induced vascular migration, proliferation, and inflammation, as well as NF-κB activation. We propose that CCL5 activates Nox1 in the vasculature leading to local injury characterized by vascular inflammation and cellular migration and proliferation, perhaps by activating NF-κB signaling. Herein, we place CCR5 signaling as possible therapeutic target to reduce the cardiovascular risk in inflammatory diseases associated with dysregulation of CCL5 and/or CCR5


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