Enzymatic activity of Cyathus olla during solid state fermentation of canola roots

Le Cyathus olla, une nidulaire, est étudié comme agent de lutte biologique contre les maladies du canola véhiculées par le chaume. Dans cette étude, notre but est de détecter et d'identifier des enzymes produites par le C. olla lors de la fermentation, en milieu solide, de racines de canola et capables de dégrader les parois cellulaires de plantes. Nous avons trouvé des activités laccase et manganèse peroxydase après 1 et 4 semaines d'incubation, et une activité aryl alcool oxydase après 4 semaines d'incubation. Des extraits bruts dans du tampon ont été testés pour la présence de cellulases et de polygalacturonase, mais seulement la polygalacturonase a été détectée. Nous en concluons que le C. olla possède des enzymes pour dégrader la lignine et qu'il pourrait être utilisé comme inoculant pour accélérer la décomposition du chaume.Cyathus olla, a bird's nest fungus, is being studied as a biological control agent of stubble-borne diseases of canola. Our objectives in this study were to detect and identify plant cell wall degrading enzymes produced by C. olla during solid state fermentation of canola roots. We identified laccase and manganese peroxidase in both 1- and 4-week incubations, and aryl-alcohol oxidase was detected following 4 weeks of incubation. Crude buffer extracts were assayed for cellulases and polygalacturonase, but only the latter was detected. We conclude that C. olla has enzymes to degrade lignin and that it may have use as an inoculant to accelerate stubble decomposition

Kinetics of Binding of Caldesmon to Actin

The time course of interaction of caldesmon with actin may be monitored by fluorescence changes that occur upon the binding of 12-(N-methyl-N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-l,3-diazol-4-yl))-labeled caldesmon to actin or to acrylodan actin. The concentration dependence of the observed rate of caldesmon-actin binding was analyzed to a first approximation as a single-step reaction using a Monte Carlo simulation. The derived association and dissociation rates were 107 M-1 s-1 and 18.2 s-1, respectively. Smooth muscle tropomyosin enhances the binding of caldesmon to actin, and this was found to be due to a reduction in the rate of dissociation to 6.3 s -1. There is no evidence from this study for a different mechanism of binding in the presence of tropomyosin. The fluorescence changes that occurred with the binding of 12-(N-methyl-N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-l,3-diazol-4-yl))-labeled caldesmon to actin or actin-tropomyosin were reversed by the addition of myosin subfragment 1 as predicted by a competitive binding mechanism. Originally published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 270, No. 17, 1995

Phasic Phosphorylation of Caldesmon and ERK 1/2 during Contractions in Human Myometrium

Human myometrium develops phasic contractions during labor. Phosphorylation of caldesmon (h-CaD) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2) has been implicated in development of these contractions, however the phospho-regulation of these proteins is yet to be examined during periods of both contraction and relaxation. We hypothesized that protein phosphorylation events are implicated in the phasic nature of myometrial contractions, and aimed to examine h-CaD and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation in myometrium snap frozen at specific stages, including; (1) prior to onset of contractions, (2) at peak contraction and (3) during relaxation. We aimed to compare h-CaD and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation in vitro against results from in vivo studies that compared not-in-labor (NIL) and laboring (L) myometrium. Comparison of NIL (n = 8) and L (n = 8) myometrium revealed a 2-fold increase in h-CaD phosphorylation (ser-789; P = 0.012) during onset of labor in vivo, and was associated with significantly up-regulated ERK2 expression (P = 0.022), however no change in ERK2 phosphorylation was observed (P = 0.475). During in vitro studies (n = 5), transition from non-contracting tissue to tissue at peak contraction was associated with increased phosphorylation of both h-CaD and ERK 1/2. Furthermore, tissue preserved at relaxation phase exhibited diminished levels of h-CaD and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation compared to tissue preserved at peak contraction, thereby producing a phasic phosphorylation profile for h-CaD and ERK 1/2. h-CaD and ERK 1/2 are phosphorylated during myometrial contractions, however their phospho-regulation is dynamic, in that h-CaD and ERK 1/2 are phosphorylated and dephosphorylated in phase with contraction and relaxation respectively. Comparisons of NIL and L tissue are at risk of failing to detect these changes, as L samples are not necessarily preserved in the midst of an active contraction

Binding of Clostridium difficile toxins to human milk oligosaccharides

The binding of recombinant fragments of the C-terminal cell-binding domains of the two large exotoxins, toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB), expressed by Clostridium difficile and a library consisting of the most abundant neutral and acidic human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) was examined quantitatively at 25°C and pH 7 using the direct electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ES-MS) assay. The results of the ES-MS measurements indicate that both toxin fragments investigated, TcdB-B1 and TcdA-A2, which possess one and two carbohydrate binding sites, respectively, bind specifically to HMOs ranging in size from tri- to heptasaccharides. Notably, five of the HMOs tested bind to both toxins: Fuc(α1-2)Gal(β1-4)Glc, Gal(β1-3)GlcNAc(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc, Fuc(α1-2)Gal(β1-3)GlcNAc(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc, Gal(β1-3)[Fuc(α1-4)]GlcNAc(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc and Gal(β1-4)[Fuc(α1-3)]GlcNAc(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc. However, the binding of the HMOs is uniformly weak, with apparent affinities ≤103 M−1. The results of molecular docking simulations, taken together with the experimental binding data, suggest that a disaccharide moiety (lactose or lactosamine) represents the core HMO recognition element for both toxin fragments. The results of a Verocytotoxicity neutralization assay reveal that HMOs do not significantly inhibit the cytotoxic effects of TcdA or TcdB. The absence of protection is attributed to the very weak intrinsic affinities that the toxins exhibit towards the HMOs

Functional domain of caldesmon

AbstractLimted proteolysis of caldesmon has been used in studying the structure-function relationship of this protein. Digestion with α-chymotrypsin yields three major fragments of 110, 80 and 40 kDa. Only the 40 kDa fragment preserves functional properties of the parent molecule: it binds to F-actin, causes inhibition of actomyosin ATPase and binds to calmodulin in a Ca2+-dependent manner. Its further degradation produces an 18 kDa polypeptide that also retains all these properties. Neither F-actin nor calmodulin binding induces dramatic changes in susceptibility to chymotryptic cleavage and the sites of cleavage of caldesmon

Potentiation of actomyosin ATPase activity by filamin

AbstractIt was found that thin filaments from chicken gizzard muscle activate skeletal muscle myosin Mg2+-ATPase to a greater extent than does the complex of chicken gizzard actin and tropomyosin. The protein factor responsible for this additional activation has been now identified as the high Mr actin binding protein, filamin

Caldesmon-induced inhibition of ATPase activity of actomyosin and contraction of skinned fibres of chicken gizzard smooth muscle

AbstractCaldesmon induces inhibition of MG2+-ATPase activity of actomyosin and relaxation of skinned fibers of chicken gizzard smooth muscle without influencing the level of myosin light chain-1 phosphorylation. Both these effects are reversed by calmodulin at a high molar excess over caldesmon in the presence of Ca2+