It is well established that the formation of episodic memories requires multiple hippocampal mechanisms operating on different time scales. Early mechanisms of memory formation (synaptic consolidation) have been extensively characterized. However, delayed mechanisms, which maintain hippocampal activity as memories stabilize in cortical circuits, are not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Long-term head-down bed rest (HDBR) results in musculoskeletal losses similar to those observed during long-term space flight. Agents such as testosterone, in addition to regular exercise, are effective countermeasures for reducing loss of skeletal muscle mass and function.
Objective: We investigated the skeletal muscle proteome of healthy men in response to long term HDBR alone (CON) and to HDBR with exercise (PEX) or exercise plus testosterone (TEX) countermeasures.
Macrophages (M) play a central role in coordinating host response to pathogens, cellular injury, and environmental stimuli. Herein, we report multidimensional, nuclear proteomic analyses of protein expression and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) that control biological processes during M activation. For this, M were incubated with IFN-/LPS and IL-4, and their differentiation to proinflammatory (M1) and anti-inflammatory (M2a, referred as M2 for simplicity throughtout the manuscript) phenotypes was confirmed by detection of CD64 and CD206 surface markers and TNF-, arginase I, and iNOS-dependent nitrite levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe thiol moieties of cysteinyl residues in proteins undergo a number of modifications including nitrosylation, oxidation, persulfidation, sulfenylation, and others. These protein modifications may influence gain as well as loss of function in biological and disease conditions. Herein, we describe a quantitative approach that combines accurate, sensitive fluorescence modification of cysteinyl-S-nitrosyl (SNOFlo) groups that leaves electrophoretic mobility unaffected and offers the measurement of changes in S-nitrosylation (SNO) status relative to protein abundance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFinfection causes Chagas disease (ChD) presented by dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. During infection, oxidative and nitrosative stresses are elicited by the immune cells for control the pathogen; however, excess nitric oxide and superoxide production can result in cysteine S-nitrosylation (SNO) of host proteins that affects cellular homeostasis and may contribute to disease development. To identify the proteins with changes in SNO modification levels as a hallmark of ChD, we obtained peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from seronegative, normal healthy (NH, = 30) subjects, and from seropositive clinically asymptomatic (ChD CA, = 25) or clinically symptomatic (ChD CS, = 28) ChD patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSome individuals, here referred to as Non-Demented with Alzheimer's Neuropathology (NDAN), retain their cognitive function despite the presence of amyloid plaques and tau tangles typical of symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD). In NDAN, unlike AD, toxic amyloid-β oligomers do not localize to the postsynaptic densities (PSDs). Synaptic resistance to amyloid-β in NDAN may thus enable these individuals to remain cognitively intact despite the AD-like pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chronic alcohol abuse, a major risk factor for such diseases as hepatitis and cirrhosis, impairs hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH; key ethanol [EtOH]-metabolizing enzyme). Therefore, differentially altered hepatic and plasma proteomes were identified in chronic EtOH feeding model of hepatic ADH-deficient (ADH ) deer mice to understand the metabolic basis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD).
Methods: ADH deer mice were fed 3.
Activated eosinophils contribute to airway dysfunction and tissue remodeling in asthma and thus are considered to be important factors in asthma pathology. We report here comparative proteomic and phosphoproteomic changes upon activation of eosinophils using eight cytokines individually and in selected cytokine combinations in time-course reactions. Differential protein and phosphoprotein expressions were determined by mass spectrometry after 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE) and by LC-MS/MS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed proteins in the pancreatic tissue of hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase-deficient deer mice fed ethanol to understand metabolic basis and mechanism of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis.
Methods: Mice were fed liquid diet containing 3.5 g% ethanol daily for 3 months, and differentially expressed pancreatic proteins were identified by protein separation using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identification by mass spectrometry.
Properly performed, biomarker discovery can lead to effective candidates that can ultimately serve as predictors of disease, medical condition, define therapeutic parameters, and many other applications in medicine. Preferably, biomarkers comprise a panel of indicators, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWithin the context of this section, biomarkers are defined as a panel of proteins and peptides that are predictive of the risk for developing a pathological condition. It is important to note here that the use of the descriptor 'panel' is purposeful in that single "biomarkers" are rarely sufficient to permit accurate prediction of a pathological condition. More specifically, the primary application of a biomarker panel is that it serves as a molecular indicator of the severity of a disease or its early response to treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTherapeutic manipulation of the gasotransmitter hydrogen sulfide (HS) has recently been proposed as a novel targeted anticancer approach. Here we show that human lung adenocarcinoma tissue expresses high levels of hydrogen sulfide (HS) producing enzymes, namely, cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), cystathionine gamma lyase (CSE) and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST), in comparison to adjacent lung tissue. In cultured lung adenocarcinoma but not in normal lung epithelial cells elevated HS stimulates mitochondrial DNA repair through sulfhydration of EXOG, which, in turn, promotes mitochondrial DNA repair complex assembly, thereby enhancing mitochondrial DNA repair capacity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitric oxide (NO) protects the heart against ischemic injury; however, NO- and superoxide-dependent S-nitrosylation (S-NO) of cysteines can affect function of target proteins and play a role in disease outcome. We employed 2D-GE with thiol-labeling FL-maleimide dye and MALDI-TOF MS/MS to capture the quantitative changes in abundance and S-NO proteome of HF patients (versus healthy controls, n = 30/group). We identified 93 differentially abundant (59-increased/34-decreased) and 111 S-NO-modified (63-increased/48-decreased) protein spots, respectively, in HF subjects (versus controls, fold-change | ≥1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Aims: Esophageal eosinophilia (EE) can be caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), proton-pump inhibitor-responsive EE (PPI-REE) or eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). This study quantified protein expression and S-nitrosylation (SNO) post-translational modifications in EE to elucidate potential disease biomarkers.
Methods: Proximal and distal esophageal (DE) biopsy proteins in patients with EE and in controls were assayed for protein content and fluorescence-labeled with and without ascorbate treatment.
Trypanosoma cruzi (Tc) infection causes chagasic cardiomyopathy; however, why 30-40% of the patients develop clinical disease is not known. To discover the pathomechanisms in disease progression, we obtained the proteome signature of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of normal healthy controls (N/H, n = 30) and subjects that were seropositive for Tc-specific antibodies, but were clinically asymptomatic (C/A, n = 25) or clinically symptomatic (C/S, n = 28) with cardiac involvement and left ventricular dysfunction. Protein samples were labeled with BODIPY FL-maleimide (dynamic range: > 4 orders of magnitude, detection limit: 5 f-mol) and resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-GE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is an opportunistic fungal infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy for hematological malignancy, hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or other forms of immunosuppression. In this group, Aspergillus infections account for the majority of deaths due to mold pathogens. Although early detection is associated with improved outcomes, current diagnostic regimens lack sensitivity and specificity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInducible transcriptional elongation is a rapid, stereotypic mechanism for activating immediate early immune defense genes by the epithelium in response to viral pathogens. Here, the recruitment of a multifunctional complex containing the cyclin dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) triggers the process of transcriptional elongation activating resting RNA polymerase engaged with innate immune response (IIR) genes. To identify additional functional activity of the CDK9 complex, we conducted immunoprecipitation (IP) enrichment-stable isotope labeling LC-MS/MS of the CDK9 complex in unstimulated cells and from cells activated by a synthetic dsRNA, polyinosinic/polycytidylic acid [poly (I:C)].
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: XPO1 inhibitors have shown promise for cancer treatment, and yet the underlying mechanisms for the antitumor effects are not well understood. In this study, we explored the usefulness of selective inhibitors of nuclear export (SINE) compounds that are specific inhibitors of XPO1.
Experimental Design: We used proteomic analysis in XPO1 inhibitor-treated ovarian cancer cell lines and examined antitumor effects in ovarian and breast cancer mouse models.
Objectives: Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a significant risk to over a third of the human population that causes a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from sub-clinical disease to intermediate syndrome of vascular complications called dengue fever complicated (DFC) and severe, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Methods for discriminating outcomes will impact clinical trials and understanding disease pathophysiology.
Study Design: We integrated a proteomics discovery pipeline with a heuristics approach to develop a molecular classifier to identify an intermediate phenotype of DENV-3 infectious outcome.
Reductions in skeletal muscle function occur during the course of healthy aging as well as with bed rest or diverse diseases such as cancer, muscular dystrophy, and heart failure. However, there are no accepted pharmacologic therapies to improve impaired skeletal muscle function. Nitric oxide may influence skeletal muscle function through effects on excitation-contraction coupling, myofibrillar function, perfusion, and metabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProteomic investigations in general utilize varied technologies for sample preparation, separations, quantification, protein identification, and biological rationalization. Their applications range from pure discovery and mechanistic studies to biomarker discovery/verification/validation. In each specific case, the analytical strategy to be implemented is tailored to the type of sample that serves as the target of the investigations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough broadly defined in the literature, for the purpose of this section, we define systems biology as the description of the dynamic genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic processes integrated into a functional model of the cell, organelle, or tissue that is capable of accurately tracking the biological system's response to environmental perturbations. The goal of this section is to complete the tripartite description of asthma systems biology, initiated by the previous section (Section II: Genetics and Genomics of Asthma), by reviewing the recent literature-the types and methods of sample collection, processing, analysis, and instrumentation-of metabolomic and proteomic investigations, including functional proteomic studies of the asthma innate immune response and glucocorticoid (GC) receptor signaling with reference to GC resistance in severe asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTamoxifen (TMX) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that can mimic the neuroprotective effects of estrogen but lacks its systemic adverse effects. We found that TMX (1 mg/day) significantly improved the motor recovery of partially paralyzed hind limbs of male adult rats with thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI), thus indicating a translational potential for this cancer medication given its clinical safety and applicability and the lack of currently available treatments for SCI. To shed light on the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of TMX for SCI, we used proteomic analyses, Western blots and histological assays, which showed that TMX treatment spared mature oligodendrocytes/increased myelin levels and altered reactive astrocytes, including the upregulation of the water channels aquaporin 4 (AQP4), a novel finding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNoradrenaline can modulate multiple cellular functions important for cancer progression; however, how this single extracellular signal regulates such a broad array of cellular processes is unknown. Here we identify Src as a key regulator of phosphoproteomic signalling networks activated in response to beta-adrenergic signalling in cancer cells. These results also identify a new mechanism of Src phosphorylation that mediates beta-adrenergic/PKA regulation of downstream networks, thereby enhancing tumour cell migration, invasion and growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFatty liver is an early stage of alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease (ALD and NALD) that progresses to steatohepatitis and other irreversible conditions. In this study, we identified proteins that were differentially expressed in the livers of rats fed 5% ethanol in a Lieber-DeCarli diet daily for 1 and 3 months by discovery proteomics (two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry) and non-parametric modeling (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines). Hepatic fatty infiltration was significantly higher in ethanol-fed animals as compared to controls, and more pronounced at 3 months of ethanol feeding.
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