Receptor-mediated targeting of fluorescent probes in living cells. (1/933)

A strategy was developed to label specified sites in living cells with a wide selection of fluorescent or other probes and applied to study pH regulation in Golgi. cDNA transfection was used to target a single-chain antibody to a specified site such as an organelle lumen. The targeted antibody functioned as a high affinity receptor to trap cell-permeable hapten-fluorophore conjugates. Synthesized conjugates of a hapten (4-ethoxymethylene-2-phenyl-2-oxazolin-5-one, phOx) and fluorescent probes (Bodipy Fl, tetramethylrhodamine, fluorescein) were bound with high affinity (approximately 5 nM) and specific localization to the single-chain antibody expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and plasma membrane of living Chinese hamster ovary cells. Using the pH-sensitive phOx-fluorescein conjugate and ratio imaging microscopy, pH was measured in the lumen of Golgi (pH 6.25 +/- 0.06). Measurements of pH-dependent vacuolar H+/ATPase pump activity and H+ leak in Golgi provided direct evidence that resting Golgi pH is determined by balanced leak-pump kinetics rather than the inability of the H+/ATPase to pump against an electrochemical gradient. Like expression of the green fluorescent protein, the receptor-mediated fluorophore targeting approach permits specific intracellular fluorescence labeling. A significant advantage of the new approach is the ability to target chemical probes with custom-designed spectral and indicator properties.  (+info)

Endocytic sorting of lipid analogues differing solely in the chemistry of their hydrophobic tails. (2/933)

To understand the mechanisms for endocytic sorting of lipids, we investigated the trafficking of three lipid-mimetic dialkylindocarbocyanine (DiI) derivatives, DiIC16(3) (1,1'-dihexadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate), DiIC12(3) (1,1'- didodecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate), and FAST DiI (1,1'-dilinoleyl-3,3,3', 3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate), in CHO cells by quantitative fluorescence microscopy. All three DiIs have the same head group, but differ in their alkyl tail length or unsaturation; these differences are expected to affect their distribution in membrane domains of varying fluidity or curvature. All three DiIs initially enter sorting endosomes containing endocytosed transferrin. DiIC16(3), with two long 16-carbon saturated tails is then delivered to late endosomes, whereas FAST DiI, with two cis double bonds in each tail, and DiIC12(3), with saturated but shorter (12-carbon) tails, are mainly found in the endocytic recycling compartment. We also find that DiOC16(3) (3,3'- dihexadecyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate) and FAST DiO (3, 3'-dilinoleyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate) behave similarly to their DiI counterparts. Furthermore, whereas a phosphatidylcholine analogue with a BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) fluorophore attached at the end of a 5-carbon acyl chain is delivered efficiently to the endocytic recycling compartment, a significant fraction of another derivative with BODIPY attached to a 12-carbon acyl chain entered late endosomes. Our results thus suggest that endocytic organelles can sort membrane components efficiently based on their preference for association with domains of varying characteristics.  (+info)

Orientation of the pore-forming peptide GALA in POPC vesicles determined by a BODIPY-avidin/biotin binding assay. (3/933)

We determined the orientation of a biotinylated version of the pore-forming peptide GALA (WEAALAEALAEALAEHLAEALAEALEALAA) at pH 5.0 in large unilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles, using the enhancement of BODIPY-avidin fluorescence subsequent to its irreversible binding to a biotin moiety. GALA and its variants were biotinylated at the N- or C-terminus. BODIPY-avidin was either added externally or was pre-encapsulated in vesicles to assess the fraction of liposome-bound biotinylated GALA that exposed its labeled terminus to the external or internal side of the bilayer, respectively. Under conditions where most of the membrane-bound peptides were involved in transmembrane aggregates and formed aqueous pores (at a lipid/bound peptide molar ratio of 2500/1), the head-to-tail (N- to C-terminus) orientation of the membrane-inserted peptides was such that 3/4 of the peptides exposed their N-terminus on the inside of the vesicle and their C-terminus on the outside. Under conditions resulting in reduced pore formation (at higher lipid/peptide molar ratios), we observed an increase in the fraction of GALA termini exposed to the outside of the vesicle. These results are consistent with a model (Parente et al., Biochemistry, 29:8720, 1990) that requires a critical number of peptides (M) in an aggregate to form a transbilayer structure. When the peptides form an aggregate of size i, with i < M = 4 to 6, the orientation of the peptides is mostly parallel to the membrane surface, such that both termini of the biotinylated peptide are exposed to external BODIPY-avidin. This BODIPY-avidin/biotin binding assay should be useful to determine the orientation of other membrane-interacting molecules.  (+info)

Synthesis of 5-substituted 2'-deoxycytidine 5'-(alpha-P-borano)triphosphates, their incorporationinto DNA and effects on exonuclease. (4/933)

Direct PCR sequencing with boronated nucleotides provides an alternative to current PCR sequencing methods. The positions of boranophosphate-modified nucleotides incorporated randomly into DNA during PCR can be revealed directly by exonuclease digestion to give sequencing ladders. Cytosine nucleotides, however, are especially sensitive to exonuclease digestion and provide suboptimal sequencing ladders. Therefore, a series of 5-substituted analogs of 2'-deoxycytidine 5'-(alpha-P-borano)triphosphates (dCTPalphaB) were synthesized with the hope of increasing the nuclease resistance of deoxycytosine residues and thereby enhancing the deoxycytosine band intensities. These dCTP analogs contain a boranophosphate modification at the alpha-phosphate group in 2'-deoxycytidine 5'-triphosphate (dCTP) as well as a 5-methyl, 5-ethyl, 5-bromo or 5-iodo substitution for the 5-hydrogen of cytosine. The two diastereomers of each new dCTP derivative were separated by reverse phase HPLC. The first eluted diastereomer (putatively Rp) of each dCTP analog was a substrate for T7 DNA polymerase (Sequenase) and had an incorporation efficiency similar to normal dCTP and dCTPalphaB, with the 5-iodo-dCTPalphaB analog being the least efficient. Substitution at the C-5 position of cytosine by alkyl groups (ethyl and methyl) markedly enhanced the dCTPalphaB resistance towards exonuclease III (5-Et-dCTPalphaB >5-Me-dCTPalphaB >dCTPalphaB approximately 5-Br-dCTPalphaB >5-I-dCTPalphaB), thereby generating DNA sequences that better define the deoxycytosine positions. The introduction of modified dCTPalphaB should increase the utility of direct DNA sequencing with boronated nucleoside 5'-triphosphates.  (+info)

Tamoxifen inhibits acidification in cells independent of the estrogen receptor. (5/933)

Tamoxifen has been reported to have numerous physiological effects that are independent of the estrogen receptor, including sensitization of resistant tumor cells to many chemotherapeutic agents. Drug-resistant cells sequester weak base chemotherapeutics in acidic organelles away from their sites of action in the cytosol and nucleus. This work reports that tamoxifen causes redistribution of weak base chemotherapeutics from acidic organelles to the nucleus in drug-resistant cells. Agents that disrupt organelle acidification (e.g., monensin, bafilomycin A1) cause a similar redistribution. Measurement of cellular pH in several cell lines reveals that tamoxifen inhibits acidification of endosomes and lysosomes without affecting cytoplasmic pH. Similar to monensin, tamoxifen decreased the rate of vesicular transport though the recycling and secretory pathways. Organellar acidification is required for many cellular functions, and its disruption could account for many of the side effects of tamoxifen.  (+info)

BOCILLIN FL, a sensitive and commercially available reagent for detection of penicillin-binding proteins. (6/933)

We describe a new, sensitive, rapid, and nonradioactive method involving the use of the commercially available BOCILLIN FL, a fluorescent penicillin, as a labeling reagent for the detection and study of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). This method allowed rapid detection of 30 ng of a purified PBP protein under UV light and of 2 to 4 ng of the protein with the aid of a FluorImager. This method also allowed rapid determination of the PBP profiles of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. The PBP profiles obtained are virtually identical to those reported previously with 3H-, 14C-, or 125I-labeled penicillin. Using this method enabled us to determine the 50% inhibitory concentrations of the penicillin-sensitive and -resistant PBP2x proteins of S. pneumoniae for penicillin G, thereby allowing a direct evaluation of their relative affinities for penicillin G. Finally, this method also allowed us to compare relative affinities of a PBP2x protein for different beta-lactam antibiotics with the aid of fluorescence polarization technology and to monitor a PBP2x protein during purification.  (+info)

cAMP-dependent mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ stores by activation of ryanodine receptors in pancreatic beta-cells. A Ca2+ signaling system stimulated by the insulinotropic hormone glucagon-like peptide-1-(7-37). (7/933)

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an intestinally derived insulinotropic hormone currently under investigation for use as a novel therapeutic agent in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In vitro studies of pancreatic islets of Langerhans demonstrated that GLP-1 interacts with specific beta-cell G protein-coupled receptors, thereby facilitating insulin exocytosis by raising intracellular levels of cAMP and Ca2+. Here we report that the stimulatory influence of GLP-1 on Ca2+ signaling results, in part, from cAMP-dependent mobilization of ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ stores. Studies of human, rat, and mouse beta-cells demonstrate that the binding of a fluorescent derivative of ryanodine (BODIPY FL-X ryanodine) to its receptors is specific, reversible, and of high affinity. Rat islets and BTC3 insulinoma cells are shown by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analyses to express mRNA corresponding to the type 2 isoform of ryanodine receptor-intracellular Ca2+ release channel (RYR2). Single-cell measurements of [Ca2+]i using primary cultures of rat and human beta-cells indicate that GLP-1 facilitates Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR), whereby mobilization of Ca2+ stores is triggered by influx of Ca2+ through L-type Ca2+ channels. In these cells, GLP-1 is shown to interact with metabolism of D-glucose to produce a fast transient increase of [Ca2+]i. This effect is reproduced by 8-Br-cAMP, but is blocked by a GLP-1 receptor antagonist (exendin-(9-39)), a cAMP antagonist ((Rp)-cAMPS), an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist (nimodipine), an antagonist of the sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (thapsigargin), or by ryanodine. Characterization of the CICR mechanism by voltage clamp analysis also demonstrates a stimulation of Ca2+ release by caffeine. These findings provide new support for a model of beta-cell signal transduction whereby GLP-1 promotes CICR by sensitizing intracellular Ca2+ release channels to the stimulatory influence of cytosolic Ca2+.  (+info)

Interaction of diphtheria toxin T domain with molten globule-like proteins and its implications for translocation. (8/933)

The transmembrane (T) domain of diphtheria toxin has a critical role in the low pH-induced translocation of the catalytic domain (A chain) of the toxin across membranes. Here it is shown that at low pH, addition of proteins in a partly unfolded, molten globule-like conformation converted the T domain from a shallow membrane-inserted form to its transmembrane form. Fluorescence energy transfer demonstrated that molten globule-like proteins bound to the T domain. Thus, the T domain recognizes proteins that are partly unfolded and may function in translocation of the A chain as a transmembrane chaperone.  (+info)

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