Accessory proteins of the zDHHC family of S-acylation enzymes

Almost two decades have passed since seminal work in Saccharomyces cerevisiae identified zinc finger DHHC domain-containing (zDHHC) enzymes as S-acyltransferases. These enzymes are ubiquitous in the eukarya domain, with 23 distinct zDHHC-encoding genes in the human genome. zDHHC enzymes mediate the bulk of S-acylation (also known as palmitoylation) reactions in cells, transferring acyl chains to cysteine thiolates, and in so-doing affecting the stability, localisation and function of several thousand proteins. Studies using purified components have shown that the minimal requirements for S-acylation are an appropriate zDHHC enzyme-substrate pair and fatty acyl-CoA. However, additional proteins including GCP16 (also known as Golga7), Golga7b, huntingtin and selenoprotein K, have been suggested to regulate the activity, stability and trafficking of certain zDHHC enzymes. In this Review, we discuss the role of these accessory proteins as essential components of the cellular S-acylation system

Hidrólise ácida e enzimática de pectina para crescimento celular de Cupriavidus necator e Pseudomonas putida

Substâncias pécticas são encontradas em grandes quantidades nos resíduos da industrialização de sucos de frutas. Esses compostos são susceptíveis à hidrólise por métodos ácidos e enzimáticos, podendo ser empregados como substratos de baixo custo em processos de conversão biológica para obtenção de bioprodutos, como os biopolímeros. Cupriavidus necator e Pseudomonas putida são micro-organismos conhecidos por sua capacidade de acumular poli-hidroxialcanoatos (PHAs) como fonte de carbono e energia, em condições desfavoráveis de crescimento e excesso de fonte de carbono. Foram estudadas as hidrólises ácida e enzimática de uma pectina comercial, e os hidrolisados foram empregados como substrato para crescimento celular de ambos os micro-organismos. O substrato obtido por hidrólise ácida, realizada em sistema de rotaevaporador com refluxo, permitiu o crescimento celular de C. necator após uma fase adaptativa de 12 horas. Os ensaios de hidrólise enzimática foram realizados com a enzima poligalacturonase utilizando-se a pectina esterificada e não esterificada como substrato, obtendo-se ao final de 24 horas mais de 5 g/L de redutores. O hidrolisado obtido permitiu apenas o crescimento celular de C. necator, após uma fase adaptativa de 8 horas, enquanto P. putida não apresentou crescimento celular em nenhuma das condições de hidrólise avaliadas. Palavras-chave: Pectina. Hidrólise. Poligalacturonase. Poli-hidroxialcanoatos

Identification of key features required for efficient S-acylation and plasma membrane targeting of Sprouty-2

Sprouty-2 is an important regulator of growth factor signalling and a tumour suppressor protein. The defining feature of this protein is a cysteine-rich domain (CRD) that contains twenty-six cysteines and is modified by S-acylation. In this study, we show that the CRD of Sprouty-2 is differentially modified by S-acyltransferase enzymes. The high specificity/low activity zDHHC17 enzyme mediated restricted S-acylation of Sprouty-2, and cysteines-265/268 were identified as key targets of this enzyme. In contrast, the low specificity/high activity zDHHC3/zDHHC7 enzymes mediated more expansive modification of the Sprouty-2 CRD. Nevertheless, S-acylation by all enzymes enhanced Sprouty-2 expression, suggesting that S-acylation stabilises this protein. In addition, we identified two charged residues (aspartate-214 and lysine-223), present on opposite faces of a predicted alpha helix in the CRD, which are essential for S-acylation of Sprouty-2. Interestingly, mutations that perturbed S-acylation also led to a loss of plasma membrane localisation of Sprouty-2 in PC12 cells. This study provides insight into the mechanisms and outcomes of Sprouty-2 S-acylation, and highlights distinct patterns of S-acylation mediated by different classes of zDHHC enzymes

S-acylation of Sprouty and SPRED proteins by the S-acyltransferase zDHHC17 involves a novel mode of enzyme-substrate interaction

S-Acylation is an essential post-translational modification, which is mediated by a family of twenty-three zDHHC enzymes in humans. Several thousand proteins are modified by S-acylation; however, we lack a detailed understanding of how enzyme-substrate recognition and specificity is achieved. Previous work showed that the ankyrin repeat domain of zDHHC17 (ANK17) recognizes a short linear motif, known as the zDHHC ANK binding motif (zDABM) in substrate protein SNAP25, as a mechanism of substrate recruitment prior to S-acylation. Here, we investigated the S-acylation of the Sprouty and SPRED family of proteins by zDHHC17. Interestingly, although Sprouty-2 (Spry2) contains a zDABM that interacts with ANK17, this mode of binding is dispensable for S-acylation, and indeed removal of the zDABM does not completely ablate binding to zDHHC17. Furthermore, the related SPRED3 protein interacts with and is efficiently S-acylated by zDHHC17 despite lacking a zDABM. We undertook mutational analysis of SPRED3 to better understand the basis of its zDABM-independent interaction with zDHHC17. This analysis found that the cysteine-rich SPR domain of SPRED3, which is the defining feature of all Sprouty and SPRED proteins, interacts with zDHHC17. Surprisingly, the interaction with SPRED3 was independent of ANK17. Our mutational analysis of Spry2 was consistent with the SPR domain of this protein containing a zDHHC17 binding site, and Srpy2 also showed detectable binding to a zDHHC17 mutant lacking the ANK domain. Thus, zDHHC17 can recognize its substrates through ANK domain and zDABM-dependent and –independent mechanisms, and some substrates display more than one mode of binding to this enzyme

T(6;9)(p22;q34)/DEK-NUP214-rearranged pediatric myeloid leukemia: An international study of 62 patients

Acute myeloid leukemia with t(6;9)(p22;q34) is listed as a distinct entity in the 2008 World Health Organization classification, but little is known about the clinical implications of t(6;9)-positive myeloid leukemia in children. This international multicenter study presents the clinical and genetic characteristics of 62 pediatric patients with t(6;9)/DEK-NUP214-rearranged myeloid leukemia; 54 diagnosed as having acute myeloid leukemia, representing <1% of all childhood acute myeloid leukemia, and eight as having myelodysplastic syndrome. The t(6;9)/DEK-NUP214 was associated with relatively late onset (median age 10.4 years), male predominance (sex ratio 1.7), French-American-British M2 classification (54%), myelodysplasia (100%), and FLT3-ITD (42%). Outcome was substantially better than previously reported with a 5-year event-free survival of 32%, 5-year overall survival of 53%, and a 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse of 57%. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in first complete remission improved the 5-year event-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone (68% versus 18%; P<0.01) but not the overall survival (68% versus 54%; P=0.48). The presence of FLT3-ITD had a non-significant negative effect on 5-year overall survival compared with non-mutated cases (22% versus 62%; P=0.13). Gene expression profiling showed a unique signature characterized by significantly higher expression of EYA3, SESN1, PRDM2/RIZ, and HIST2H4 genes. In conclusion, t(6;9)/DEK-NUP214 represents a unique subtype of acute myeloid leukemia with a high risk of relapse, high frequency of FLT3-ITD, and a specific gene expression signature

RNA and DNA Bacteriophages as Molecular Diagnosis Controls in Clinical Virology: A Comprehensive Study of More than 45,000 Routine PCR Tests

Real-time PCR techniques are now commonly used for the detection of viral genomes in various human specimens and require for validation both external and internal controls (ECs and ICs). In particular, ICs added to clinical samples are necessary to monitor the extraction, reverse transcription, and amplification steps in order to detect false-negative results resulting from PCR-inhibition or errors in the technical procedure. Here, we performed a large scale evaluation of the use of bacteriophages as ICs in routine molecular diagnosis. This allowed to propose simple standardized procedures (i) to design specific ECs for both DNA and RNA viruses and (ii) to use T4 (DNA) or MS2 (RNA) phages as ICs in routine diagnosis. Various technical formats for using phages as ICs were optimised and validated. Subsequently, T4 and MS2 ICs were evaluated in routine real-time PCR or RT-PCR virological diagnostic tests, using a series of 8,950 clinical samples (representing 36 distinct specimen types) sent to our laboratory for the detection of a variety of DNA and RNA viruses. The frequency of inefficient detection of ICs was analyzed according to the nature of the sample. Inhibitors of enzymatic reactions were detected at high frequency in specific sample types such as heparinized blood and bone marrow (>70%), broncho-alveolar liquid (41%) and stools (36%). The use of T4 and MS2 phages as ICs proved to be cost-effective, flexible and adaptable to various technical procedures of real-time PCR detection in virology. It represents a valuable strategy for enhancing the quality of routine molecular diagnosis in laboratories that use in-house designed diagnostic systems, which can conveniently be associated to the use of specific synthetic ECs. The high rate of inhibitors observed in a variety of specimen types should stimulate the elaboration of improved technical protocols for the extraction and amplification of nucleic acids

Étude archéodendrométrique de bois découverts sur le site de Schlettstadterfeld à Marckolsheim (67)

Les fouilles préventives menées en 2015 par la Société ANTEA sur la commune de Marckolsheim (67) au lieu dit « Schlettstadterfeld » sur le futur emplacement du parc d’activités intercommunal, ont conduit notamment à la mise au jour d’un ensemble de fosses renfermant des bois gorgés d’eau et de puits conservant des cuvelages dont l’étude nous a été confiée (figure 1). L’ensemble des bois prélevés ont été étudiés en dépit d’un état de conservation inégal et d’un potentiel d’analyse archéodendrométrique variable ; au delà des questions de datation dendrochronologique et d’identification taxonomique, l’étude a été consacrée à la description et à l’inventaire des artefacts découverts. Elle a porté sur plus de 80 éléments se référant à 14 structures distinctes, inventoriées 487, 500, 838, 841, 848, 963, 971, 993, 1019, 1022, 1096, 1109, 1120, 1126 (catalogue)