18 research outputs found
Paving the Way to a Green Future With Artificial Intelligence – Exploring Organizational Adoption Factors
Preservation of Mitochondrial Structure and Function after Bid- or Bax-Mediated Cytochrome c Release
Proapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 protein family, including Bid and Bax, can activate apoptosis by directly interacting with mitochondria to cause cytochrome c translocation from the intermembrane space into the cytoplasm, thereby triggering Apaf-1–mediated caspase activation. Under some circumstances, when caspase activation is blocked, cells can recover from cytochrome c translocation; this suggests that apoptotic mitochondria may not always suffer catastrophic damage arising from the process of cytochrome c release. We now show that recombinant Bid and Bax cause complete cytochrome c loss from isolated mitochondria in vitro, but preserve the ultrastructure and protein import function of mitochondria, which depend on inner membrane polarization. We also demonstrate that, if caspases are inhibited, mitochondrial protein import function is retained in UV-irradiated or staurosporine-treated cells, despite the complete translocation of cytochrome c. Thus, Bid and Bax act only on the outer membrane, and lesions in the inner membrane occurring during apoptosis are shown to be secondary caspase-dependent events
Circulating endothelial cells as biomarker for cardiovascular diseases
Background: Endothelial dysfunction is involved in several cardiovascular diseases. Elevated levels of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and low levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been described in different cardiovascular conditions, suggesting their potential use as diagnostic biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction. Compared to typical peripheral blood leukocyte subsets, CECs and EPCs occur at very low frequency. The reliable identification and characterization of CECs and EPCs is a prerequisite for their clinical use, however, a validated method to this purpose is still missing but a key for rare cell events. Objectives: To establish a validated flow cytometric procedure in order to quantify CECs and EPCs in human whole blood. Methods: In the establishment phase, the assay sensitivity, robustness, and the sample storage conditions were optimized as prerequisite for clinical use. In a second phase, CECs and EPCs were analyzed in heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) and reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction, in arterial hypertension (aHT), and in diabetic nephropathy (DN) in comparison to age-matched healthy controls. Results: The quantification procedure for CECs and EPCs showed high sensitivity and reproducibility. CEC values resulted significantly increased in patients with DN and HFpEF in comparison to healthy controls. CEC quantification showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 90% and a sensitivity of 68.0%, 70.4%, and 66.7% for DN, HFpEF, and aHT, respectively. Conclusion: A robust and precise assay to quantify CECs and EPCs in pre-clinical and clinical studies has been established. CEC counts resulted to be a good diagnostic biomarker for DN and HFpEF
Computational study of the mechanism of Bcl-2 apoptotic switch
Programmed cell death - apoptosis is one of the most studied biological
phenomenon of recent years. Apoptotic regulatory network contains several
significant control points, including probably the most important one - Bcl--2
apoptotic switch. There are two proposed hypotheses regarding its internal
working - the indirect activation and direct activation models. Since these
hypotheses form extreme poles of full continuum of intermediate models, we have
constructed more general model with these two models as extreme cases.
By studying relationship between model parameters and steady-state response
ultrasensitivity we have found optimal interaction pattern which reproduces
behavior of Bcl-2 apoptotic switch. Our results show, that stimulus-response
ultrasensitivity is negatively related to spontaneous activation of Bcl-2
effectors - subgroup of Bcl-2 proteins. We found that ultrasensitivity requires
effector's activation, mediated by another subgroup of Bcl-2 proteins -
activators. We have shown that the auto-activation of effectors forms
ultrasensitivity enhancing feedback loop, only if mediated by monomers, but not
by oligomers. Robustness analysis revealed that interaction pattern proposed by
direct activation hypothesis is able to conserve stimulus-response dependence
and preserve ultrasensitivity despite large changes of its internal parameters.
This ability is strongly reduced as for the intermediate to indirect side of
the models.
Computer simulation of the more general model presented here suggest, that
stimulus-response ultrasensitivity is an emergent property of the direct
activation model, that cannot originate within model of indirect activation.
Introduction of indirect-model-specific interactions does not provide better
explanation of Bcl-2 functioning compared to direct model
The heat shock factor and mitochondrial Hsp70 are necessary for survival of heat shock in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
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ATAD2 is an epigenetic reader of newly synthesized histone marks during DNA replication
ATAD2 (ATPase family AAA domain-containing protein 2) is a chromatin regulator harboring an AAA+ ATPase domain and a bromodomain, previously proposed to function as an oncogenic transcription co-factor. Here we suggest that ATAD2 is also required for DNA replication. ATAD2 is co-expressed with genes involved in DNA replication in various cancer types and predominantly expressed in S phase cells where it localized on nascent chromatin (replication sites). Our extensive biochemical and cellular analyses revealed that ATAD2 is recruited to replication sites through a direct interaction with di-acetylated histone H4 at K5 and K12, indicative of newly synthesized histones during replication-coupled chromatin reassembly. Similar to ATAD2-depletion, ectopic expression of ATAD2 mutants that are deficient in binding to these di-acetylation marks resulted in reduced DNA replication and impaired loading of PCNA onto chromatin, suggesting relevance of ATAD2 in DNA replication. Taken together, our data show a novel function of ATAD2 in cancer and for the first time identify a reader of newly synthesized histone di-acetylation-marks during replication
IL3RA-Targeting Antibody–Drug Conjugate BAY-943 with a Kinesin Spindle Protein Inhibitor Payload Shows Efficacy in Preclinical Models of Hematologic Malignancies
IL3RA (CD123) is the alpha subunit of the interleukin 3 (IL-3) receptor, which regulates the proliferation, survival, and differentiation of hematopoietic cells. IL3RA is frequently expressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), presenting an opportunity to treat AML and HL with an IL3RA-directed antibody–drug conjugate (ADC). Here, we describe BAY-943 (IL3RA-ADC), a novel IL3RA-targeting ADC consisting of a humanized anti-IL3RA antibody conjugated to a potent proprietary kinesin spindle protein inhibitor (KSPi). In vitro, IL3RA-ADC showed potent and selective antiproliferative efficacy in a panel of IL3RA-expressing AML and HL cell lines. In vivo, IL3RA-ADC improved survival and reduced tumor burden in IL3RA-positive human AML cell line-derived (MOLM-13 and MV-4-11) as well as in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models (AM7577 and AML11655) in mice. Furthermore, IL3RA-ADC induced complete tumor remission in 12 out of 13 mice in an IL3RA-positive HL cell line-derived xenograft model (HDLM-2). IL3RA-ADC was well-tolerated and showed no signs of thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, or liver toxicity in rats, or in cynomolgus monkeys when dosed up to 20 mg/kg. Overall, the preclinical results support the further development of BAY-943 as an innovative approach for the treatment of IL3RA-positive hematologic malignancies