Ethoxyquin Inhibits the Progression of Murine Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma through the Inhibition of Autophagy and LDH

Cancer cells exhibit an increased glycolysis rate for ATP generation (the Warburg effect) to sustain an increased proliferation rate. In tumor cells, the oxidation of pyruvate in the Krebs cycle is substituted by lactate production, catalyzed by LDH. In this study, we use ethoxyquin (EQ) as a novel inhibitor to target LDH in murine Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) and as a combination therapy to improve the therapeutic efficacy of the conventional chemotherapy drug, cisplatin (CIS). We investigated the anti-tumor effect of EQ on EAC-bearing mice and checked whether EQ can sustain the anti-tumor potential of CIS and whether it influences LDH activity. Treatment with EQ had evident anti-tumor effects on EAC as revealed by the remarkable decrease in the expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 and by a significant increase in the expression of apoptotic genes (BAX and caspase-3). EQ also caused a significant decrease in the autophagic activity of EAC cells, as shown by a reduction in the fluorescence intensity of the autophagosome marker. Additionally, EQ restored the altered hematological and biochemical parameters and improved the disrupted hepatic tissues of EAC-bearing mice. Co-administration of EQ and CIS showed the highest anti-tumor effect against EAC. Collectively, our findings propose EQ as a novel inhibitor of LDH in cancer cells and as a combinatory drug to increase the efficacy of cisplatin. Further studies are required to validate this therapeutic strategy in different cancer models and preclinical trials

Morphology and anatomical structure of the larval salt gland of Artemia tunisiana under different salinities

Brine shrimps of the genus Artemia is characterized by its high adaptability to adverse environmental conditions. To elucidate the effect of salinity on the neck organ (salt gland) of Artemia tunisiana nauplii, the morphology and fine structure of the ion transporting epithelium were examined following culturing under different salinities (25, 40, 70, 140 and 180 g/L). The expression of APH-1 mRNA, using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), was also determined. The morphology and anatomical structure of the salt gland varied according to the salinity degree. At low salinities, salt gland was small, thin and flat having many shallow canals, while at high salinities, it was more elongated with deeper canals and grooves. Ultrastructure examination showed low amplification of the plasma membrane at 25 g/L with no tubular tufts, while at 40 and 70 g/L salinities, the apical and central zones showed a large amplification of the surface area of the plasma membrane. At 140 g/L salinity, the epithelial cells were more elongated and the cuticle appeared to be composed of many layers. The general structure of the salt gland of nauplii cultured at 180 g/L disappeared. Semiquantitative APH-1 mRNA analysis indicated that the gene was expressed in all tested salinities. The expression did not change remarkably between 25 and 40 g/L salinities. As salinity increased, the gene was up regulated at 70 g/L and reached the highest level at 140 g/L, while the expression level reduced significantly at 180 g/L. This coincides with the histological results and highlights the possible role of APH-1 in salinity protection in Artemia.Keywords: Artemia, nauplii, salt gland, salinity, APH-1 gene expressionAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(41), pp. 6032-604

Chemical activation of Arabidopsis SnRK2.6 by pladienolide B

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone mediating osmotic stress responses. SUCROSE NONFERMENTING 1 (SNF1)-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE 2.6 (SnRK2.6, also named OPEN STOMATA1 and SNF1-RELATED KINASE 2E) is central in the ABA signaling pathway; therefore, manipulating its activity may be useful to confer stress tolerance in plants. Pladienolide B (PB) is an mRNA splicing inhibitor and enhances ABA responses. Here, we analyzed the effect of PB on Arabidopsis SnRK2.6. PB enhanced the activity of recombinant SnRK2.6 in vitro through direct physical interaction as predicted by molecular docking simulations followed by mutation experiments and isothermal titration calorimetry. Structural modeling predicted probable interaction sites between PB and SnRK2.6, and experiments with mutated SnRK2.6 revealed that Leu-46 was the most essential amino acid residue for SnRK2.6 activation by PB. This study demonstrates the feasibility of SnRK2.6 chemical manipulation and paves the way for the modification of plant osmotic stress responses.</p

Plant Genome Engineering for Targeted Improvement of Crop Traits

To improve food security, plant biology research aims to improve crop yield and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, as well as increasing the nutrient contents of food. Conventional breeding systems have allowed breeders to produce improved varieties of many crops; for example, hybrid grain crops show dramatic improvements in yield. However, many challenges remain and emerging technologies have the potential to address many of these challenges. For example, site-specific nucleases such as TALENs and CRISPR/Cas systems, which enable high-efficiency genome engineering across eukaryotic species, have revolutionized biological research and its applications in crop plants. These nucleases have been used in diverse plant species to generate a wide variety of site-specific genome modifications through strategies that include targeted mutagenesis and editing for various agricultural biotechnology applications. Moreover, CRISPR/Cas genome-wide screens make it possible to discover novel traits, expand the range of traits, and accelerate trait development in target crops that are key for food security. Here, we discuss the development and use of various site-specific nuclease systems for different plant genome-engineering applications. We highlight the existing opportunities to harness these technologies for targeted improvement of traits to enhance crop productivity and resilience to climate change. These cutting-edge genome-editing technologies are thus poised to reshape the future of agriculture and food security

Pre-mRNA splicing repression triggers abiotic stress signaling in plants

[EN] Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor RNAs enhances transcriptome plasticity and proteome diversity in response to diverse growth and stress cues. Recent work has shown that AS is pervasive across plant species, with more than 60% of intron-containing genes producing different isoforms. Mammalian cell-based assays have discovered various inhibitors of AS. Here, we show that the macrolide pladienolide B (PB) inhibits constitutive splicing and AS in plants. Also, our RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data revealed that PB mimics abiotic stress signals including salt, drought and abscisic acid (ABA). PB activates the abiotic stress-and ABA-responsive reporters RD29A::LUC and MAPKKK18::uidA in Arabidopsis thaliana and mimics the effects of ABA on stomatal aperture. Genome-wide analysis of AS by RNA-seq revealed that PB perturbs the splicing machinery and leads to a striking increase in intron retention and a reduction in other forms of AS. Interestingly, PB treatment activates the ABA signaling pathway by inhibiting the splicing of clade A PP2C phosphatases while still maintaining to some extent the splicing of ABA-activated SnRK2 kinases. Taken together, our data establish PB as an inhibitor and modulator of splicing and a mimic of abiotic stress signals in plants. Thus, PB reveals the molecular underpinnings of the interplay between stress responses, ABA signaling and post-transcriptional regulation in plants.We wish to thank members of the Laboratory for Genome Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript. We wish to thank Moussa Benhamed for helpful discussions and suggestions and for providing key materials. We wish to thank Sean Cutler for providing Arabidopsis seeds of MAKPKKK18-uidA. This study was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Work in PR's laboratory was funded by grant BIO2014-52537-R from MINECO. Work in PD's laboratory is funded by grant PTDC/BIA-PLA/1084/2014 from FCT. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.Ling, Y.; Alshareef, S.; Butt, H.; Lozano Juste, J.; Li, L.; Galal, AA.; Moustafa, A.... (2017). Pre-mRNA splicing repression triggers abiotic stress signaling in plants. The Plant Journal. 89(2):291-309. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.13383S29130989

BSA Interaction, Molecular Docking, and Antibacterial Activity of Zinc(II) Complexes Containing the Sterically Demanding Biomimetic N3S2 Ligand: The Effect of Structure Flexibility

Two zinc(II) complexes, DBZ and DBZH4, that have (ZnN3S2) cores and differ in the bridging mode of the ligating backbone, effectively bind to BSA. The binding affinity varies as DBZ > DBZH4 and depends on the ligand structure. At low concentrations, both complexes exhibit dynamic quenching, whereas at higher concentrations they exhibit mixed (static and dynamic) quenching. The energy transfer mechanism from the BSA singlet excited state to DBZ and DBZH4, is highly likely according to steady-state fluorescence and time-correlated singlet photon counting. Molecular docking was used to support the mode of interaction of the complexes with BSA and showed that DBZ had more energy for binding. Furthermore, antibacterial testing revealed that both complexes were active but to a lesser extent than chloramphenicol. In comparison to DBZH4, DBZ has higher antibacterial activity, which is consistent with the binding constants, molecular docking, and particle size of adducts. These findings may have an impact on biomedicine

GCN5 modulates salicylic acid homeostasis by regulating H3K14ac levels at the 5ʹ and 3ʹ ends of its target genes

The modification of histones by acetyl groups has a key role in the regulation of chromatin structure and transcription. The Arabidopsis thaliana histone acetyltransferase GCN5 regulates histone modifications as part of the Spt-Ada-Gcn5 Acetyltransferase (SAGA) transcriptional coactivator complex. GCN5 was previously shown to acetylate lysine 14 of histone 3 (H3K14ac) in the promoter regions of its target genes even though GCN5 binding did not systematically correlate with gene activation. Here, we explored the mechanism through which GCN5 controls transcription. First, we fine-mapped its GCN5 binding sites genome-wide and then used several global methodologies (ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq and RNA-seq) to assess the effect of GCN5 loss-of-function on the expression and epigenetic regulation of its target genes. These analyses provided evidence that GCN5 has a dual role in the regulation of H3K14ac levels in their 5′ and 3′ ends of its target genes. While the gcn5 mutation led to a genome-wide decrease of H3K14ac in the 5′ end of the GCN5 down-regulated targets, it also led to an increase of H3K14ac in the 3′ ends of GCN5 up-regulated targets. Furthermore, genome-wide changes in H3K14ac levels in the gcn5 mutant correlated with changes in H3K9ac at both 5′ and 3′ ends, providing evidence for a molecular link between the depositions of these two histone modifications. To understand the biological relevance of these regulations, we showed that GCN5 participates in the responses to biotic stress by repressing salicylic acid (SA) accumulation and SA-mediated immunity, highlighting the role of this protein in the regulation of the crosstalk between diverse developmental and stress-responsive physiological programs. Hence, our results demonstrate that GCN5, through the modulation of H3K14ac levels on its targets, controls the balance between biotic and abiotic stress responses and is a master regulator of plant-environmental interactions