Combined extracellular matrix cross-linking activity of the peroxidase MLT-7 and the dual oxidase BLI-3 is critical for post-embryonic viability in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>

The nematode cuticle is a protective collagenous extracellular matrix that is modified, cross-linked, and processed by a number of key enzymes. This Ecdysozoan-specific structure is synthesized repeatedly and allows growth and development in a linked degradative and biosynthetic process known as molting. A targeted RNA interference screen using a cuticle collagen marker has been employed to identify components of the cuticle biosynthetic pathway. We have characterized an essential peroxidase, MoLT-7 (MLT-7), that is responsible for proper cuticle molting and re-synthesis. MLT-7 is an active, inhibitable peroxidase that is expressed in the cuticle-synthesizing hypodermis coincident with each larval molt. mlt-7 mutants show a range of body morphology defects, most notably molt, dumpy, and early larval stage arrest phenotypes that can all be complemented with a wild type copy of mlt-7. The cuticles of these mutants lacks di-tyrosine cross-links, becomes permeable to dye and accessible to tyrosine iodination, and have aberrant collagen protein expression patterns. Overexpression of MLT-7 causes mutant phenotypes further supporting its proposed enzymatic role. In combination with BLI-3, an H2O2-generating NADPH dual oxidase, MLT-7 is essential for post-embryonic development. Disruption of mlt-7, and particularly bli-3, via RNA interference also causes dramatic changes to the in vivo cross-linking patterns of the cuticle collagens DPY-13 and COL-12. This points toward a functionally cooperative relationship for these two hypodermally expressed proteins that is essential for collagen cross-linking and proper extracellular matrix formation

1,3-Benzothia­zole-2(3H)-selone

The title compound, C7H5NSSe, is the product of the reaction of 2-chloro­benzothia­zole with sodium hydro­selenide. The mol­ecule is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.018 Å) owing to the presence of the long chain of conjugated bonds (Se=C—N—C=C—C=C—C=C). The geometrical parameters correspond well to those of the analog N-methyl­benzothia­zole-2(3H)-selone, demonstrating that the S atom does not take a significant role in the electron delocalization within the mol­ecule. In the crystal, mol­ecules form centrosymmetric dimers by means of inter­molecular N—H⋯Se hydrogen bonds. The dimers have a nonplanar ladder-like structure. Furthermore, the dimers are linked into ribbons propagating in [010] by weak attractive Se⋯S [3.7593 (4) Å] inter­actions

Non-conventional forms of HLA-B27 are expressed in spondyloarthritis joints and gut tissue

AbstractObjectivesHuman leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 (B27) is the strongest genetic factor associated with development of Ankylosing Spondylitis and other spondyloarthropathies (SpA), yet the role it plays in disease pathogenesis remains unclear. We investigated the expression of potentially pathogenic non-conventional heavy chain forms (NC) of B27 in synovial and intestinal tissues obtained from SpA patients. We also determined the presence of NC-B27 in joints, lymphoid and gastrointestinal tissue from B27 transgenic (TG1) rats with M.tuberculosis-induced SpA.MethodsExpression of NC-B27 in human SpA joints and gut and in (21-3 × 283-2)F1 HLA-B27/Huβ2m rat tissue was determined by immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and confocal microscopy analysis using HC10 and HD6 antibodies.ResultsBoth HC10- and HD6-reactive HLA molecules were present in synovial tissue from SpA patients. Both NC-B27 and KIR3DL2, a ligand for NC-B27, were expressed in inflamed terminal ileal tissues in patients with early SpA. Infiltrating cells in inflamed joint tissues isolated from B27 TG1 rats expressed high levels of NC-B27. NC-B27 were also expressed in joint-resident cells from ankle and tail joints of B27 TG1 rats prior to clinical arthritis. The expression of NC-B27 on B27 TG1 rat CD11b/c+, CD8α+, cells from spleens and LNs increased with animal age and disease progression.ConclusionsNon-conventional HLA class 1 molecules are expressed on resident and infiltrating cells in both synovial and GI tissues in human SpA. NC-B27 expression in joints and lymphoid tissues from B27 TG1 rats prior to the onset of arthritis is consistent with the hypothesis that they play a pathogenic role in SpA

The Specificity of Peptides Bound to Human Histocompatibility Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-B27 Influences the Prevalence of Arthritis in HLA-B27 Transgenic Rats

Human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen B27 is highly associated with the rheumatic diseases termed spondyloarthropathies, but the mechanism is not known. B27 transgenic rats develop a spontaneous disease resembling the human spondyloarthropathies that includes arthritis and colitis. To investigate whether this disease requires the binding of specific peptides to B27, we made a minigene construct in which a peptide from influenza nucleoprotein, NP383-391 (SRYWAIRTR), which binds B27 with high affinity, is targeted directly to the ER by the signal peptide of the adenovirus E3/gp19 protein. Rats transgenic for this minigene, NP1, were made and bred with B27 rats. The production of the NP383-391 peptide in B27+NP1+ rats was confirmed immunologically and by mass spectrometry. The NP1 product displaced ∼90% of the 3H-Arg-labeled endogenous peptide fraction in B27+NP1+ spleen cells. Male B27+NP1+ rats had a significantly reduced prevalence of arthritis, compared with B27+NP− males or B27+ males with a control construct, NP2, whereas colitis was not significantly affected by the NP1 transgene. These findings support the hypothesis that B27-related arthritis requires binding of a specific peptide or set of peptides to B27, and they demonstrate a method for efficient transgenic targeting of peptides to the ER

Polymorphisms in the F pocket of HLA-B27 subtypes strongly impact on assembly, chaperone interactions and heavy chain misfolding

Objective - HLA-B27 is associated with the inflammatory spondyloarthropathies (SpAs). Of significance, subtypes HLA-B*27:06 and HLA-B*27:09 are not associated with the SpAs. These subtypes primarily differ from the HLA-B*27:05 disease associated allele at residues 114 and 116 of the heavy chain, part of the F pocket of the antigen-binding groove. Dimerisation of HLA-B27 during assembly has been implicated in disease onset. This study investigated the factors influencing differences in dimerisation between disease associated and non-associated HLA-B27 alleles. Methods – HLA-B*27:05 and mutants resembling the HLA-B*27:06 and 09 subtypes were expressed in the rat C58 T cell line, the human CEM T cell line and its calnexin deficient variant CEM.NKR. Immunoprecipitation, pulse chase, flow cytometry and immunoblotting were performed to study the assembly kinetics, heavy chain dimerisation and chaperone associations. Results - By expressing HLA-B*27:05, 06-like and 09 alleles on a restrictive rat TAP peptide transporter background, we demonstrate that a tyrosine expressed at p116 or together with an aspartic acid residue at p114 inhibited HLA-B27 dimerisation and increased the assembly rate. F pocket residues alter the associations with chaperones of the early MHC class I folding pathway. Calnexin was demonstrated to participate in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress mediated degradation of dimers, whereas the oxidoreductase ERp57 does not appear to influence dimerization. Conclusion - Residues within the F pocket of the peptide-binding groove differing between disease-associated and non-disease-associated HLA-B27 subtypes can influence the assembly process and heavy chain dimerisation, events which have been linked to the initiation of disease pathogenesis