MTA family of coregulators in nuclear receptor biology and pathology

Nuclear receptors (NRs) rely on coregulators (coactivators and corepressors) to modulate the transcription of target genes. By interacting with nucleosome remodeling complexes, NR coactivators potentiate transcription, whereas corepressors inhibit transcription of the target genes. Metastasis-associated proteins (MTA) represent an emerging family of novel NR coregulators. In general, MTA family members form independent nucleosome remodeling and deacetylation (NuRD) complexes and repress the transcription of different genes by recruiting histone deacetylases onto their target genes. However, MTA1 also acts as a coactivator in a promoter-context dependent manner. Recent findings that repression of estrogen receptor transactivation functions by MTA1, MTA1s, and MTA2 and regulation of MTA3 by estrogen signaling have indicated the significance of these proteins in NR signaling. Here, we highlight the action of MTA proteins on NR signaling and their roles in pathophysiological conditions

Over-expression of parathion hydrolase of <i>Flavobacterium balustinum </i>in <i>E. coli:</i> Purification and characterization of His-tagged parathion hydrolase

82-86The organophosphorus pesticide degrading (opd) gene was cloned downstream to the transcriptional and translational signals of expression vectors pTrc99A and pET32A. The resulting recombinant expression plasmids pNH2 and pHH2 were introduced into E. coli JM105 and E. coli BL21 respectively. On induction the E. coli cells containing pNH2 produced high levels of parathion hydrolase. A 60 kD fusion protein was produced in E. coli cultures containing recombinant plasmid pHH2. The molecular mass of the fusion protein coincided with the molecular mass of 40 kD parathion hydrolase and 20 kD N-terminal His tag encoded by the vector. Further, the fusion protein was purified using Ni-column and the N-terminal Histag was removed by digesting it with thrombin. The resulting protein folded properly in presence of Zn2+ ions, and showed parathion hydrolase activity

mRNA secondary structure modulates the translation of Organophosphate Hydrolase (OPH) in E. coli

Organophosphate Hydrolases (OPHs), involved in hydrolytic cleavage of structurally diverse organophosphates are coded by a plasmid borne, highly conserved organophosphate degrading (opd) gene. An inverted repeat sequence found in the signal coding region of the opd gene was found to be responsible for inducing a stable stem loop structure with a &#916;G of −23.1 kcal/mol. This stem loop structure has shown significant influence on the expression levels of Organophosphate Hydrolase (OPH) in E. coli. When the signal coding region comprising the inverted repeat sequence was deleted a &#8764;3.28 fold increase in the expression levels of OPH was noticed in E. coli BL21 cells. Mutations in the inverted repeat region, especially at the third position of the codon, to a non-complementary base destabilized the secondary structure of opd mRNA. When such opd variant, opd′ was expressed, the expression levels were found to be similar to expression levels coded by the construct generated by deleting the signal peptide coding region. Deletion of signal peptide did not influence the folding and activity of OPH. Though high level induction has resulted in accumulation of OPH as inclusion bodies, modulation of expression levels by reducing the copy number of the expression plasmid, inducer concentration and growth temperature has produced majority of the protein in soluble and active form

Localisation of identical organophosphorus pesticide degrading <i>(opd) </i>genes on genetically dissimilar indigenous plasmids of soil bacteria: PCR amplification, <span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-IN">cloning and sequencing of <i>opd </i>gene from <i>Flavobacterium balustinum</i></span>

774-779Plasmid borne organophosphorus pesticide degrading (opd) gene of Flavobacterium balustinum has been amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the resulting PCR product (1.25 Kb) was cloned in pUC18. Further, a detailed restriction map was determined to PCR product and subcloned as overlapping restriction fragments. The nucleotide sequence was determined for all subclones to obtain complete sequence of PCR amplified fragment. The sequence showed 98% similarity to opd genes cloned from other soil bacteria isolated from diversified geographical regions. The protein sequence predicted from the nucleotide sequence was almost identical to parathion hydrolase, a triesterase involved in hydrolysis of triester bond found in variety of op-pesticides. The signal sequence of parathion hydrolase contained recently discovered twin arginine transport (tat) motif. It appears that tat motif plays a critical role in membrane targeting of parathion hydrolase.</span

Transposon-Like Organization of the Plasmid-Borne Organophosphate Degradation (opd) Gene Cluster Found in Flavobacterium sp.

Several bacterial strains that can use organophosphate pesticides as a source of carbon have been isolated from soil samples collected from diverse geographical regions. All these organisms synthesize an enzyme called parathion hydrolase, and in each case the enzyme is encoded by a gene (opd) located on a large indigenous plasmid. These plasmids show considerable genetic diversity, but the region containing the opd gene is highly conserved. Two opd plasmids, pPDL2 from Flavobacterium sp. and pCMS1 from Pseudomonas diminuta, are well characterized, and in each of them a region of about 5.1 kb containing the opd gene shows an identical restriction pattern. We now report the complete sequence of the conserved region of plasmid pPDL2. The opd gene is flanked upstream by an insertion sequence, ISFlsp1, that is a member of the IS21 family, and downstream by a Tn3-like element encoding a transposase and a resolvase. Adjacent to opd but transcribed in the opposite direction is an open reading frame (orf243) with the potential to encode an aromatic hydrolase somewhat similar to Pseudomonas putida TodF. We have shown that orf243 encodes a polypeptide of 27 kDa, which plays a role in the degradation of p-nitrophenol and is likely to act in concert with opd in the degradation of parathion. The linkage of opd and orf243, the organization of the genes flanking opd, and the wide geographical distribution of these genes suggest that this DNA sequence may constitute a complex catabolic transposon

Estrogen receptor coregulators and pioneer factors: the orchestrators of mammary gland cell fate and development

The 17-beta estradiol (E2), a steroid hormone, which play critical role in various cellular processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis, is essential for reproduction and mammary gland development. E2 actions are mediated by two classical nuclear hormone receptors, estrogen receptor alpha and beta (ERs). The activity of ERs depends on the coordinate activity of ligand binding, posttranslational modification, and importantly their interaction with their partner proteins called ‘coregulators’. Because majority of breast cancers are ERalpha positive and coregulators are proved to be crucial for ER transcriptional activity, an increased interest in the field has led to the identification of a large number of coregulators. In the last decade, gene knockout studies using mouse models provided impetus to our further understanding of the role of these coregulators in mammary gland development. Several coregulators appear to be critical for terminal end bud formation, ductal branching and alveologenesis during mammary gland development. The emerging studies support that, in addition to these coregulators, the other ER partner proteins ‘pioneering factors’ also seems to contribute significantly to E2 signaling and mammary cell fate. This review discusses emerging themes in coregulator- and pioneering factor-mediated action on ER functions, particularly their role in mammary gland cell fate and development

Chemical characterization & bioactivity of diketopiperazine derivatives from the mangrove derived Pseudonocardia endophytica

Sediment samples from the mangrove ecosystem of Nizampatnam have been analyzed for actinomycetes as an elite source to screen for the formulation and production of antimicrobial and cytotoxic compounds. The actinomycetes strain VUK-10 has an interesting bioactivity profile and was isolated during our systematic study of mangrove actinomycetes. It was identified as Pseudonocardia endophytica with the aid of polyphasic taxonomy. The ethyl acetate extract of the actinobacterial culture filtrate has been purified by gel-filtration and silica gel column chromatographic purifications led to the isolation of two diketopiperazine compounds, (3S,8aS)-3-isobutylhexahydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione (1) and (3R,8aS)-3-isobutylhexahydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione (2). The compounds listed, alluring cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231, HeLa, MCF-7 and OAW-42 cancer cell lines and also exhibited antimicrobial activities against gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Compound 1 recorded significant antibacterial activity against Xanthomonas campestris and Escherichia coli (8 μg/ml) and compound 2 presented highest activity against Bacillus subtilis (4 μg/ml). Compounds 1 and 2 were active against pathogenic fungi to plants and human beings. The activity was compared with griseofulvin and amphotericin-B, which are standard fungicides. The activity of 16 μg/ml by compound 1 was recorded against Epidermophyton floccosum; an anthropophilic dermatophyte responsible for tinea pedis, tinea cruris and tinea corporis. To the best of our knowledge this is the first narration on the isolation of supra said compounds from the genus Pseudonocardia

Influence of zinc and cobalt on expression and activity of Parathion Hydrolase from Flavobacterium sp. ATCC27551

Organophosphorus triesterases are encoded by the organophosphate degradation (opd) gene found in species of Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas and Agrobacterium. They are involved in hydrolysis of triester bonds found in a variety of organophosphorus pesticides. In view of their potential biotechnological importance in disposal of pesticide wastes, several attempts have been made to express the opd gene in heterologous hosts. Increased levels of Parathion Hydrolase (PH) activity were previously reported in the presence of divalent metal ions such as zinc and cobalt, and it was suggested that this reflected metal ion-induced transcriptional activation of opd. We have now used opd–lacZ fusions to examine the influence of zinc and cobalt on opd expression and found no effects. However, when opd was expressed from the lac promoter there was considerable increase in PH activity if the culture medium was supplemented with 1 mM zinc or cobalt although the amount of PH was unaffected. These results suggest that the increase in specific activity of PH caused by these divalent cations is due to improved folding of overexpressed protein