In saline environments, plants accumulate Na(+) in vacuoles through the activity of tonoplast Na(+)/H(+) antiporters. The first gene for a putative plant vacuolar Na(+)/H(+) antiporter, AtNHX1, was isolated from Arabidopsis and shown to increase plant tolerance to NaCl. However, AtNHX1 mRNA was up-regulated by Na(+) or K(+) salts in plants and substituted for the homologous protein of yeast to restore tolerance to several toxic cations. To study the ion selectivity of the AtNHX1 protein, we have purified a histidine-tagged version of the protein from yeast microsomes by Ni(2+) affinity chromatography, reconstituted the protein into lipid vesicles, and measured cation-dependent H(+) exchange with the fluorescent pH indicator pyranine. The protein catalyzed Na(+) and K(+) transport with similar affinity in the presence of a pH gradient. Li(+) and Cs(+) ions were also transported with lower affinity. Ion exchange by AtNHX1 was inhibited 70% by the amiloride analog ethylisopropyl-amiloride. Our data indicate a role for intracellular antiporters in organelle pH control and osmoregulation.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M105043200 | DOI Listing |
Decades after their initial observation in prion-infected brain tissues, the identities of virus-like dense particles, varicose tubules, and oval bodies containing parallel bands and fibrils have remained elusive. Our recent work revealed that a phenotype of dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), most notable for the perinuclear space (PNS), contributes to spongiform degeneration. To assess the significance of this phenotype for the etiology of prion diseases, we explored whether it can be functionally linked to other neuropathological hallmarks observed in these diseases, as this would indicate it to be a central event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Med (Lausanne)
January 2025
Eye Center of the 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Purpose: To report a singular case of cataract caused by toad venom inoculation and to scrutinize the pathological mechanisms through proteomic sequencing of the lens specimen.
Methods: A young Chinese male presented with progressively deteriorating vision in his right eye subsequent to a history of toad venom inoculation. He was diagnosed with a toxic cataract, and underwent phacoemulsification cataract surgery.
EMBO J
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-5650, USA.
Na-K-Cl cotransporters functions as an anion importers, regulating trans-epithelial chloride secretion, cell volume, and renal salt reabsorption. Loop diuretics, including furosemide, bumetanide, and torsemide, antagonize both NKCC1 and NKCC2, and are first-line medicines for the treatment of edema and hypertension. NKCC1 activation by the molecular crowding sensing WNK kinases is critical if cells are to combat shrinkage during hypertonic stress; however, how phosphorylation accelerates NKCC1 ion transport remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtremophiles
January 2025
Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Botany (DST-FIST and UGC-DRS Funded), Institute of Science, Visva-Bharati (A Central University), Santiniketan, West Bengal, 731235, India.
To fish-out novel salt-tolerance genes, metagenomic DNA of moderately saline sediments of India's largest hypersaline Sambhar Lake was cloned in fosmid. Two functionally-picked clones helped the Escherichia coli host to tolerate 0.6 M NaCl.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Physiol
January 2025
Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
A transport protein's turnover rate (TOR) is the maximum rate of substrate translocation under saturating conditions. This parameter represents the number of transporting events per transporter molecule (assuming a single transport site) per second (s). From this standpoint, a transporter's TOR is similar to an enzyme's catalytic constant.
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