Antioxidant Vitamin Levels and Glutathione Peroxidase Activity During Ischemia/Reperfusion in Myocardial Infarction

Summary The consequences of increased oxidative stress, measured as the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) during ischemia/reperfusion, were studied in 48 patients in the acute phase of myocardial infarction (AMI) and a control group (21 blood donors). The serum levels of α-tocopherol and β-carotene were followed. Immediately after the treatment onset the level of α-tocopherol started to decrease, reaching a plateau after 24 h. The consumption of β-carotene was delayed by 90 min. Steady decline was detected during the whole time interval studied (48 h). Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, as a representative of antioxidant enzymes, was estimated in whole blood. The influx of oxygenated blood was accompanied by a stimulation of GPx activity, which reached its maximum at the time of completed reperfusion. When comparing the AMI patients with the control group, the levels of MDA were found significantly increased, which indicates that oxidative stress is already increased during ischemia. Lower antioxidant levels found in the patients might either already be the result of vitamin consumption during ischemia or be a manifestation of their susceptibility to AMI. Monitored consumption of α-tocopherol and β-carotene during reperfusion indicated that in the case of patients, whose level of antioxidant vitamins is below the threshold limit, a further substantial decrease of antioxidant vitamins during reperfusion could enhance the oxidative damage of the myocardium

Extensive flagellar remodeling during the complex life cycle of Paratrypanosoma, an early-branching trypanosomatid

Paratrypanosoma confusum is a monoxenous kinetoplastid flagellate that constitutes the most basal branch of the highly diverse parasitic trypanosomatids, which include human pathogens Trypanosoma and Leishmania. This makes Paratrypanosoma uniquely informative for the evolution of obligatory parasitism from free-living lifestyle and the evolution of human parasitism in some trypanosomatid lineages. It has typical promastigote morphology but also forms surface-attached haptomonads and amastigotes. Haptomonads form by attachment to a surface via a large bulge at the base of the flagellum, which is then remodeled into a thin attachment pad associated with flagellum shortening. Promastigotes and haptomonads multiply by binary division, and the progeny of a haptomonad can either remain attached or grow a flagellum and resume swimming. Whole genome sequencing and transcriptome profiling, in combination with analysis of the cell ultrastructure, reveal how the cell surface and metabolism are adapted to parasitism and how characteristic cytoskeletal features are conserved. Our data demonstrate that surface attachment by the flagellum and the flagellar pocket, a Leishmania-like flagellum attachment zone, and a Trypanosoma cruzi-like cytostome are ancestral features, while evolution of extant trypanosomatids, including the human parasites, is associated with genome streamlining and diversification of membrane proteins

Stage-specific requirement for Isa1 and Isa2 proteins in the mitochondrion of Trypanosoma brucei and heterologous rescue by human and Blastocystis orthologues

IscA/Isa proteins function as alternative scaffolds for the assembly of Fe-S clusters and/or provide iron for their assembly in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Isa are usually non-essential and in most organisms are confined to the mitochondrion. We have studied the function of TbIsa1 and TbIsa2 in Trypanosoma brucei, where the requirement for both of them to sustain cell growth depends on the life cycle stage. The TbIsa proteins are abundant in the procyclic form, which contains an active organelle. Both proteins are indispensable for growth, as they are required for the assembly of Fe-S clusters in mitochondrial aconitase, fumarase and succinate dehydrogenase. Reactive oxygen species but not iron accumulate in the procyclic mitochondrion upon ablation of the TbIsa proteins, but their depletion does not influence the assembly of Fe-S clusters in cytosolic proteins. In the bloodstream form, which has a downregulated mitochondrion, the TbIsa proteins are non-essential. The Isa2 orthologue of the anaerobic protist Blastocystis partially rescued the growth and enzymatic activities of TbIsa1/2 knock-down. Rescues of single knock-downs as well as heterologous rescues with human Isa orthologues partially recovered the activities of aconitase and fumarase. These results show that the Isa1 and Isa2 proteins of diverse eukaryotes have overlapping functions