Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin and Derivatives in Colorectal Cancer.

Curcumin (CUR), a natural phenolic compound, has been increasingly investigated in several malignancies due to its safe profile and ability to affect a wide range of oncogenic targets. With the ability to affect metastasis, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its tolerability at high doses, CUR is an attractive target for study. However, poor bioavailability and unfavorable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have hampered CUR's efficacy in clinical trials.

TRPM7 is critical for short-term synaptic depression by regulating synaptic vesicle endocytosis.

Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) contributes to a variety of physiological and pathological processes in many tissues and cells. With a widespread distribution in the nervous system, TRPM7 is involved in animal behaviors and neuronal death induced by ischemia. However, the physiological role of TRPM7 in central nervous system (CNS) neuron remains unclear.

Phosphatidylserine is critical for vesicle fission during clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Phosphatidylserine (PS), a negatively charged phospholipid present predominantly at the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, has been widely implicated in many cellular processes including membrane trafficking. Along this line, PS has been demonstrated to be important for endocytosis, however, the involved mechanisms remain uncertain. By monitoring clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) of single vesicles in mouse chromaffin cells using cell-attached capacitance measurements that offer millisecond time resolution, we demonstrate in the present study that the fission-pore duration is reduced by PS addition, indicating a stimulatory role of PS in regulating the dynamics of vesicle fission during CME.

The juxtamembrane region of synaptotagmin 1 interacts with dynamin 1 and regulates vesicle fission during compensatory endocytosis in endocrine cells.

Synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1) is a synaptic vesicle protein that is important for the kinetics of both exocytosis and endocytosis, and is thus a candidate molecule to link these two processes. Although the tandem Ca(2+)-binding C2 domains of Syt1 have important roles in exocytosis and endocytosis, the function of the conserved juxtamembrane (jxm) linker region has yet to be determined. We now demonstrate that the jxm region of Syt1 interacts directly with the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of the endocytic protein dynamin 1.

Methods for cell-attached capacitance measurements in mouse adrenal chromaffin cell.

Neuronal transmission is an integral part of cellular communication within the brain. Depolarization of the presynaptic membrane leads to vesicle fusion known as exocytosis that mediates synaptic transmission. Subsequent retrieval of synaptic vesicles is necessary to generate new neurotransmitter-filled vesicles in a process identified as endocytosis.

Actin polymerization does not provide direct mechanical forces for vesicle fission during clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Actin polymerization is important for vesicle fission during clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME), and it has been proposed that actin polymerization may promote vesicle fission during CME by providing direct mechanical forces. However, there is no direct evidence in support of this hypothesis. In the present study, the role of actin polymerization in vesicle fission was tested by analyzing the kinetics of the endocytic tubular membrane neck (the fission-pore) with cell-attached capacitance measurements to detect CME of single vesicles in a millisecond time resolution in mouse chromaffin cells.

Synaptotagmin 1 is necessary for the Ca2+ dependence of clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

The role of Ca²⁺ in synaptic vesicle endocytosis remains uncertain due to the diversity in various preparations where several forms of endocytosis may contribute variably in different conditions. Although recent studies have demonstrated that Ca²⁺ is important for clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME), the mechanistic role of Ca²⁺ in CME remains to be elucidated. By monitoring CME of single vesicles in mouse chromaffin cells with cell-attached capacitance measurements that offer millisecond time resolution, we demonstrate that the dynamics of vesicle fission during CME is Ca²⁺ dependent but becomes Ca²⁺ independent in synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1) knock-out cells.