Structural basis of chimpanzee APOBEC3H dimerization stabilized by double-stranded RNA.

APOBEC3H (A3H) is a mammal-specific cytidine deaminase that potently restricts the replication of retroviruses. Primate A3Hs are known to exert key selective pressures against the cross-species transmission of primate immunodeficiency viruses from chimpanzees to humans. Despite recent advances, the molecular structures underlying the functional mechanisms of primate A3Hs have not been fully understood. Here, we reveal the 2.20-Å crystal structure of the chimpanzee A3H (cpzA3H) dimer bound to a short double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which appears to be similar to two recently reported structures of pig-tailed macaque A3H and human A3H. In the structure, the dsRNA-binding interface forms a specialized architecture with unique features. The analysis of the dsRNA nucleotides in the cpzA3H complex revealed the GC-rich palindrome-like sequence preference for dsRNA interaction, which is largely determined by arginine residues in loop 1. In cells, alterations of the cpzA3H residues critical for the dsRNA interaction severely reduce intracellular protein stability due to proteasomal degradation. This suggests that cpzA3H stability is regulated by the dsRNA-mediated dimerization as well as by unknown cellular machinery through proteasomal degradation in cells. Taken together, these findings highlight unique structural features of primate A3Hs that are important to further understand their cellular functions and regulation.

Crassulacean Acid Metabolism Induction in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Can Be Estimated by Non-Photochemical Quenching upon Actinic Illumination During the Dark Period.

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, which switches the mode of photosynthesis from C3 to crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) upon high salt stress, was shown here to exhibit diurnal changes in not only the CO2 fixation pathway but also Chl fluorescence parameters under CAM-induced conditions. We conducted comprehensive time course measurements of M. crystallinum leaf Chl fluorescence using the same leaf throughout the CAM induction period. By doing so, we were able to distinguish the effect of CAM induction from that of photoinhibition and avoid the possible effects of differences in foliar age. We found that the diurnal change in the status of electron transfer could be ascribed to the formation of a proton gradient across thylakoid membranes presumably resulting from diurnal changes in the ATP/ADP ratio reported earlier. The electron transport by actinic illumination thus became limited at the step of plastoquinol oxidation by the Cyt b6/f complex in the 'night' period upon CAM induction, resulting in high levels of non-photochemical quenching. The actinically induced non-photochemical quenching in the 'night' period correlated well with the degree of CAM induction. Chl fluorescence parameters, such as NPQ or qN, could be used as a simple indexing system for the CAM induction.

Dynamic neighbouring participation of nitrogen lone pairs on the chromogenic behaviour of trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Pt(ii) coordination platforms.

The participation of neighbouring nitrogen lone pairs in the chromogenic control of trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Pt(ii) platforms was examined, using newly designed Pt analogues bearing salicylaldehyde hydrazone ligands. A series of non-vaulted and vaulted Pt complexes (1-5) with salicylaldehyde hydrazones as trans-coordinated bidentate ligands were synthesized and characterized with regard to the chromogenic behaviour of the trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Pt(ii) coordination platforms. X-ray diffraction and 2D NMR data demonstrated that, in the case of the non-vaulted N-monomethyl complexes 1, there was significant participation of neighbouring N(2) lone pairs in the d-π conjugation of the trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Pt(ii) platforms owing to conformational fixation arising from intramolecular hydrogen bonding. In contrast, the lone pairs of the N,N-dimethyl analogues 2 made a much less significant contribution to the extension of the d-π conjugation, due to their high conformational mobility. Complexes 1-5 were found to have structure-dependent chromogenic properties in the solution state, such that the absorption spectra of the N-methyl, short-vaulted complexes 1 and 3 exhibited significant hypsochromic shifts relative to the N,N-dimethyl, long-vaulted analogues 2 and 5, which had spectra very similar to that of the trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Pt(ii) complex 6. The introduction of MeO groups at the 3- and 5 positions on the aromatic rings of 1 and 2 gave rise to significant hypsochromic and bathochromic shifts, respectively. In addition, νmax - ET(30) plots for various solvents revealed that complexes 1-5 exhibit negative solvatochromism, in which the data obtained in alcoholic solvents are hypsochromically separated from those in non-alcoholic solvents for 1 and 3, an effect that is not observed for 2 and 5. Complexes 1-5 also exhibit emission enhancement upon addition of excess CH3SO3H in dimethyl sulfoxide, and a significant effect of the linker on quantum yields (Φ77 K) was observed in the case of the vaulted complexes. Density functional theory calculations (B3LYP/6-31G*, LanL2DZ) determined that the structure dependence of the chromogenic behaviour of these non-vaulted and polymethylene-vaulted hydrazone complexes can be attributed to variations in the participation of neighbouring nitrogen lone pairs in the d-π conjugation on the trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Pt(ii) coordination platforms.

Activation of fast sleep spindles at the premotor cortex and parietal areas contributes to motor learning: a study using sLORETA.

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined whether slow and/or fast sleep spindles are related to visuomotor learning, by examining the densities of current sleep spindle activities. METHODS: Participants completed a visuomotor task before and after sleep on the learning night. This task was not performed on the non-learning night. Standard polysomnographic recordings were made. After the amplitudes of slow and fast spindles were calculated, sLORETA was used to localize the source of slow and fast spindles and to investigate the relationship between spindle activity and motor learning. RESULTS: Fast spindle amplitude was significantly larger on the learning than on the non-learning nights, particularly at the left frontal area. sLORETA revealed that fast spindle activities in the left frontal and left parietal areas were enhanced when a new visuomotor skill was learned. There were no significant learning-dependent changes in slow spindle activity. CONCLUSIONS: Fast spindle activity increases in cortical areas that are involved in learning a new visuomotor skill. The thalamocortical network that underlies the generation of fast spindles may contribute to the synaptic plasticity that occurs during sleep. SIGNIFICANCE: Activity of fast sleep spindles is a possible biomarker of memory deficits.

Fast sleep spindle (13-15 hz) activity correlates with sleep-dependent improvement in visuomotor performance.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The relationship between memory enhancement and fast (13-16 Hz) versus slow (10-13 Hz) spindle activity during sleep was investigated. DESIGN: Standard polysomnographic recordings were conducted during an adaptation, control nonlearning, and learning night. Automatic spindle detection and measurement was utilized with visual confirmation. SETTING: Participants slept in individual, temperature-controlled bedrooms in a sleep laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Twelve healthy student volunteers (9 women and 3 men, mean age: 22.3 years) participated. INTERVENTIONS: On the learning night, participants completed a presleep learning session on a modified version of mirror-tracing task followed by a postsleep test session. No learning or test sessions were performed on the adaptation and nonlearning nights. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Tracing time was reduced by 6.4 seconds (20.6% +/- 2.07%) from the presleep to the postsleep session. Mean amplitude and duration of fast spindles was greater on the learning night than on the nonlearning night (both P values < 0.05). Skill improvement and fast-spindle activity were positively correlated (density [r = 0.76, P < 0.01], amplitude [r = 0.69, P < 0.05], and duration [r = 0.67, P <0.05]). Significant correlations between fast-spindle activity and mirror-tracing performance were also evident for the nonlearning night. There was no significant relationship between mirror-tracing performance and slow-spindle activity on any night. CONCLUSIONS: The thalamocortical network underlying fast-spindle generation may contribute to or reflect plasticity during sleep.