The retinoblastoma protein induces apoptosis directly at the mitochondria.

The retinoblastoma protein gene RB-1 is mutated in one-third of human tumors. Its protein product, pRB ( retinoblastoma protein), functions as a transcriptional coregulator in many fundamental cellular processes. Here, we report a nonnuclear role for pRB in apoptosis induction via pRB's direct participation in mitochondrial apoptosis. We uncovered this activity by finding that pRB potentiated TNF alpha-induced apoptosis even when translation was blocked. This proapoptotic function was highly BAX- dependent, suggesting a role in mitochondrial apoptosis, and accordingly, a fraction of endogenous pRB constitutively associated with mitochondria. Remarkably, we found that recombinant pRB was sufficient to trigger the BAX- dependent permeabilization of mitochondria or liposomes in vitro. Moreover, pRB interacted with BAX in vivo and could directly bind and conformationally activate BAX in vitro. Finally, by targeting pRB specifically to mitochondria, we generated a mutant that lacked pRB's classic nuclear roles. This mito-tagged pRB retained the ability to promote apoptosis in response to TNF alpha and also additional apoptotic stimuli. Most importantly, induced expression of mito-tagged pRB in Rb-/-; p53(-/-) tumors was sufficient to block further tumor development. Together, these data establish a nontranscriptional role for pRB in direct activation of BAX and mitochondrial apoptosis in response to diverse stimuli, which is profoundly tumor-suppressive

Isolation of Leishmania promastigote flagella

Eukaryotic flagella are conserved multifunctional organelles with roles in motility, intercellular interactions and signal transduction. Leishmania possess a single flagellum at all stages of their life cycle. Flagella of promastigote forms in the fly are long and motile, with a canonical 9+2 microtubule axoneme and an extra-axonemal paraflagellar rod (PFR). This protocol describes a simple method for the isolation of Leishmania mexicana promastigote flagella, optimised to yield intact flagella that retain both the cytoskeletal elements (9+2 axoneme and PFR) and the surrounding membrane. The isolated flagella and deflagellated cell bodies are suitable for analysis by electron microscopy, protein mass spectrometry and lipidomics

Tumor imaging and targeting potential of an Hsp70-derived 14-mer peptide

We have previously used a unique mouse monoclonal antibody cmHsp70.1 to demonstrate the selective presence of a membrane-bound form of Hsp70 (memHsp70) on a variety of leukemia cells and on single cell suspensions derived from solid tumors of different entities, but not on non-transformed cells or cells from corresponding 'healthy' tissue. This antibody can be used to image tumors in vivo and target them for antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Tumor-specific expression of memHsp70 therefore has the potential to be exploited for theranostic purposes. Given the advantages of peptides as imaging and targeting agents, this study assessed whether a 14-mer tumor penetrating peptide (TPP; TKDNNLLGRFELSG), the sequence of which is derived from the oligomerization domain of Hsp70 which is expressed on the cell surface of tumor cells, can also be used for targeting membrane Hsp70 positive (memHsp70+) tumor cells, in vitro.The specificity of carboxy-fluorescein (CF-) labeled TPP (TPP) to Hsp70 was proven in an Hsp70 knockout mammary tumor cell system. TPP specifically binds to different memHsp70+ mouse and human tumor cell lines and is rapidly taken up via endosomes. Two to four-fold higher levels of CF-labeled TPP were detected in MCF7 (82% memHsp70+) and MDA-MB-231 (75% memHsp70+) cells compared to T47D cells (29% memHsp70+) that exhibit a lower Hsp70 membrane positivity. After 90 min incubation, TPP co-localized with mitochondrial membranes in memHsp70+ tumors. Although there was no evidence that any given vesicle population was specifically localized, fluorophore-labeled cmHsp70.1 antibody and TPP preferentially accumulated in the proximity of the adherent surface of cultured cells. These findings suggest a potential association between membrane Hsp70 expression and cytoskeletal elements that are involved in adherence, the establishment of intercellular synapses and/or membrane reorganization.This study demonstrates the specific binding and rapid internalization of TPP by tumor cells with a memHsp70+ phenotype. TPP might therefore have potential for targeting and imaging the large proportion of tumors (∼50%) that express memHsp70