Phosphatidylinositol 3-Monophosphate Is Involved in Toxoplasma Apicoplast Biogenesis

Apicomplexan parasites cause devastating diseases including malaria and toxoplasmosis. They harbour a plastid-like, non-photosynthetic organelle of algal origin, the apicoplast, which fulfils critical functions for parasite survival. Because of its essential and original metabolic pathways, the apicoplast has become a target for the development of new anti-apicomplexan drugs. Here we show that the lipid phosphatidylinositol 3-monophosphate (PI3P) is involved in apicoplast biogenesis in Toxoplasma gondii. In yeast and mammalian cells, PI3P is concentrated on early endosomes and regulates trafficking of endosomal compartments. Imaging of PI3P in T. gondii showed that the lipid was associated with the apicoplast and apicoplast protein-shuttling vesicles. Interference with regular PI3P function by over-expression of a PI3P specific binding module in the parasite led to the accumulation of vesicles containing apicoplast peripheral membrane proteins around the apicoplast and, ultimately, to the loss of the organelle. Accordingly, inhibition of the PI3P-synthesising kinase interfered with apicoplast biogenesis. These findings point to an unexpected implication for this ubiquitous lipid and open new perspectives on how nuclear encoded proteins traffic to the apicoplast. This study also highlights the possibility of developing specific pharmacological inhibitors of the parasite PI3-kinase as novel anti-apicomplexan drugs

Expression of a novel carbonic anhydrase, CA XIII, in normal and neoplastic colorectal mucosa

BACKGROUND: Carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes may have an important role in cancer development. Some isozymes control pH homeostasis in tumors that appears to modulate the behaviour of cancer cells. CA XIII is the newest member of the CA gene family. It is a cytosolic isozyme which is expressed in a number of normal tissues. The present study was designed to investigate CA XIII expression in prospectively collected colorectal tumor samples. METHODS: Both neoplastic and normal tissue specimens were obtained from the same patients. The analyses were performed using CA XIII-specific antibodies and an immunohistochemical staining method. For comparison, the tissue sections were immunostained for other cytosolic isozymes, CA I and II. RESULTS: The results indicated that the expression of CA XIII is down-regulated in tumor cells compared to the normal tissue. The lowest signal was detected in carcinoma samples. This pattern of expression was quite parallel for CA I and II. CONCLUSION: The down-regulation of cytosolic CA I, II and XIII in colorectal cancer may result from reduced levels of a common transcription factor or loss of closely linked CA1, CA2 and CA13 alleles on chromosome 8. Their possible role as tumor suppressors should be further evaluated

Lactate Dehydrogenase-B Is Silenced by Promoter Methylation in a High Frequency of Human Breast Cancers

Objective: Under normoxia, non-malignant cells rely on oxidative phosphorylation for their ATP production, whereas cancer cells rely on Glycolysis; a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. We aimed to elucidate the mechanisms contributing to the Warburg effect in human breast cancer. Experimental design: Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes were profiled using zymography. LDH-B subunit expression was assessed by reverse transcription PCR in cells, and by Immunohistochemistry in breast tissues. LDH-B promoter methylation was assessed by sequencing bisulfite modified DNA. Results: Absent or decreased expression of LDH isoenzymes 1-4, were seen in T-47D and MCF7 cells. Absence of LDH-B mRNA was seen in T-47D cells, and its expression was restored following treatment with the demethylating agent 5'Azacytadine. LDH-B promoter methylation was identified in T-47D and MCF7 cells, and in 25/ 25 cases of breast cancer tissues, but not in 5/ 5 cases of normal breast tissues. Absent immuno-expression of LDH-B protein (<10% cells stained), was seen in 23/ 26 (88%) breast cancer cases, and in 4/8 cases of adjacent ductal carcinoma in situ lesions. Exposure of breast cancer cells to hypoxia (1% O2), for 48 hours resulted in significant increases in lactate levels in both MCF7 (14.0 fold, p = 0.002), and T-47D cells (2.9 fold, p = 0.009), but not in MDA-MB-436 (-0.9 fold, p = 0.229), or MCF10AT (1.2 fold, p = 0.09) cells. Conclusions: Loss of LDH-B expression is an early and frequent event in human breast cancer occurring due to promoter methylation, and is likely to contribute to an enhanced glycolysis of cancer cells under hypoxia

Lysosomes in iron metabolism, ageing and apoptosis

The lysosomal compartment is essential for a variety of cellular functions, including the normal turnover of most long-lived proteins and all organelles. The compartment consists of numerous acidic vesicles (pH ∼4 to 5) that constantly fuse and divide. It receives a large number of hydrolases (∼50) from the trans-Golgi network, and substrates from both the cells’ outside (heterophagy) and inside (autophagy). Many macromolecules contain iron that gives rise to an iron-rich environment in lysosomes that recently have degraded such macromolecules. Iron-rich lysosomes are sensitive to oxidative stress, while ‘resting’ lysosomes, which have not recently participated in autophagic events, are not. The magnitude of oxidative stress determines the degree of lysosomal destabilization and, consequently, whether arrested growth, reparative autophagy, apoptosis, or necrosis will follow. Heterophagy is the first step in the process by which immunocompetent cells modify antigens and produce antibodies, while exocytosis of lysosomal enzymes may promote tumor invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Apart from being an essential turnover process, autophagy is also a mechanism by which cells will be able to sustain temporary starvation and rid themselves of intracellular organisms that have invaded, although some pathogens have evolved mechanisms to prevent their destruction. Mutated lysosomal enzymes are the underlying cause of a number of lysosomal storage diseases involving the accumulation of materials that would be the substrate for the corresponding hydrolases, were they not defective. The normal, low-level diffusion of hydrogen peroxide into iron-rich lysosomes causes the slow formation of lipofuscin in long-lived postmitotic cells, where it occupies a substantial part of the lysosomal compartment at the end of the life span. This seems to result in the diversion of newly produced lysosomal enzymes away from autophagosomes, leading to the accumulation of malfunctioning mitochondria and proteins with consequent cellular dysfunction. If autophagy were a perfect turnover process, postmitotic ageing and several age-related neurodegenerative diseases would, perhaps, not take place

Extracellular and Luminal pH Regulation by Vacuolar H⁺-ATPase Isoform Expression and Targeting to the Plasma Membrane and Endosomes

Plasma membrane vacuolar H+ -ATPase (pm-V-ATPase) activity of tumor cells is a major factor in control of cytoplasmic and extracellular pH and metastatic potential, but the isoforms involved and the factors governing plasma membrane recruitment remain uncertain. Here, we examined expression, distribution and activity of V- ATPase isoforms in invasive prostate adenocarcinoma (PC-3) cells. Isoforms 1 and 3 were the most highly expressed forms of membrane subunit a, with a1 and a3 the dominant plasma membrane isoforms. Correlation between pm-V-ATPase activity and invasiveness was limited, but RNAi knockdown of either a isoform did slow cell proliferation and inhibit invasion in vitro. Isoform a1 was recruited to the cell surface from the early endosome/recycling complex pathway, its knockdown arresting transferrin receptor (TfR) recycling. Isoform a3 was associated with the late endosomal/lysosomal compartment. Both a isoforms associated with accessory protein Ac45, knockdown of which stalled transit of a1 and Tf-TfR, decreased proton efflux and reduced cell growth and invasiveness, this latter effect at least partly due to decreased delivery of the membrane-bound matrix metalloproteinase MMP-14 to the plasma membrane. These data indicate that in prostatic carcinoma cells, a1 and a3 isoform populations predominate in different compartments where they maintain different luminal pH. Ac45 plays a central role in navigating the V-ATPase to the plasma membrane, and hence is an important factor in expression of the invasive phenotype

Comportement dynamique au centrosome de la tyrosine kinase Syk, un nouveau suppresseur de tumeur dans le sein (Etude par microscopie à haute résolution)

Très étudié pour son rôle dans la signalisation des immuno-récepteurs, la tyrosine kinase Syk agirait comme suppresseur de tumeur et de métastase dans l'épithélium mammaire. Le mécanisme de cette activité anti-oncogénique reste inconnu. En plus de la localisation cytoplasmique, Syk est localisée aux extensions membranaires et au centrosome où elle est catalytiquement active, avec une variation de la concentration au cours du cycle cellulaire. Les localisations de mutants de Syk dans la cellule dépendent du type du site tyrosine muté d'une part, et les effecteurs potentiels de Syk reconnus par analyse protéomique d'autre part, font penser à un code de phosphorylation qui dépendrait du résidu tyrosine activé pour cibler la kinase à des sites sub-cellulaires différents. Afin de caractériser la dynamique des échanges de Syk entre compartiments subcellulaires et surtout dans le centrosome, nous avons employé des approches d'imagerie à haute résolution sur cellules vivantes de cancer du sein transfectées par des formes sauvage ou mutantes de DsRed-Syk. L'approche de FRAP et l'utilisation d'une chimère photo-activable (PA-GFP-Syk) montrent que Syk est recrutée activement au centrosome, avec un de 18,54 +- 3,63 sec. L'utilisation d'inhibiteurs de polymérisation de microtubules ou du moteur moléculaire dynéine/dynactine, la visualisation par TIRF des déplacements de particules de Syk à la base des cellules, la co-localisation par immunofluorescence, l'observation confirmée par modélisation d'une dérive directionnelle de PA-GFP-Syk après activation, tout indique que cytosquelette microtubulaire et moteur moléculaire sont nécessaires pour le recrutement de Syk au centrosome.Initially studied for its role in immunoreceptor-mediated downstream signalling, the tyrosine kinase Syk acts like a tumor and metastasis suppressor within breast cancer cells. The mechanism of its anti-oncogenic activity remains, however, to be identified. In addition to its cytoplasmic localization, Syk is also visualized at plasma membrane extensions and at the centrosome in which it exhibits a catalytic activity and is tightly regulated along the cell cycle. Considering both the action sites of potential effectors as identified by proteomic approach and differently targeted DsRed-Syk following the tyrosine residue mutated, we hypothesize a phosphorylation code targeting the kinase at different sub-cellular compartments depending on the tyrosine residue activated. In order to determine whether a dynamic exchange occurs between the subcellular compartments, we applied different imaging techniques on living breast cancer cells transiently expressing wild-type and mutant fluorescent Syk chimeras. Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) with DsRed-Syk and photoactivatable GFP-Syk clearly evidenced rapid exchanges at the centrosomes with a recruitment of 18,54 +- 3,63 sec. Treatments affecting the microtubule skeleton or the molecular motor dynein, TIRF imaging of Syk clusters, antibody co-localization, directional drift of activated PA-GFP-Syk corroborated by mathematical modelling, together show that the tubulin cytoskeleton and the microtubule motor dynein/dynactin are necessary for Syk recruitment at the centrosome.MONTPELLIER-BU Sciences (341722106) / SudocSudocFranceF