The repertoire of iron superoxide dismutases from Leishmania infantum as targets in the search for therapeutic agents against leishmaniasis.

Species of Leishmania and Trypanosoma genera are the causative agents of relevant parasitic diseases. Survival inside their hosts requires the existence of a potent antioxidant enzymatic machinery. Four iron superoxide dismutases have been described in trypanosomatids (FeSODA, FeSODB1, FeSODB2, and FeSODC) that hold a potential as therapeutic targets. Nonetheless, very few studies have been developed that make use of the purified enzymes. Moreover, FeSODC remains uncharacterised in Leishmania. In this work, for the first time, we describe the purification and enzymatic activity of recombinant versions of the four Leishmania FeSOD isoforms and establish an improved strategy for developing inhibitors. We propose a novel parameter [(V*cyt. c - Vcyt. c)/Vcyt. c] which, in contrast to that used in the classical cytochrome c reduction assay, correlates linearly with enzyme concentration. As a proof of concept, we determine the IC50 values of two ruthenium carbosilane metallodendrimers against these isoforms.

Techniques for Detecting Reactive Oxygen Species in Pulmonary Vasculature Redox Signaling.

Redox signaling plays important roles in regulating pulmonary vasculature function. Aberrant redox signaling, e.g., overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that exceeds the capability of cellular antioxidant mechanisms, has been found to alter vasculature function and remodel blood vessel structure, thus contributes to pathological processes of pulmonary vasculature. The regulation of pulmonary vasculature via ROS is a very complicated process with various biological events involved, however, the specific effect of individual ROS and the underlying mechanism still remain unclear. Most of ROS are present as free radical forms with extremely short lifetime, which makes it very difficult to detect the ROS and investigate their bioactivities. Therefore, developing specific and sensitive methods to detect ROS in complex biological system is essential for us to advance our knowledge in pulmonary vasculature regulation. In this chapter, we introduce several commonly used techniques for the detection of ROS in vitro and in vivo, including chemiluminescence-based assay, fluorescence-based assay, cytochrome c reduction method, genetically encoded fluorescent probes, as well as ESR spin trapping technique. We also discuss the advantages, limitations, and recent technical advances of each individual technique as well as their applications in pulmonary vasculature studies. We believe that technical advance in the detection of ROS will provide us with a better understanding on how to maintain normal pulmonary vasculature functions under oxidative stress.

Silver(I) complexes with phenolic Schiff bases: Synthesis, antibacterial evaluation and interaction with biomolecules.

Novel Ag(I) complexes (2a-2c) with phenolic Schiff bases were synthesized using 4,6-di-tert-butyl-3-(((5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)imino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (1a), 4,6-di-tert-butyl-3-(((4-mercaptophenyl)imino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (1b), and 4,6-di-tert-butyl-3-(((3-mercaptophenyl)imino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (1c). They were examined by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV-Vis, 1H-NMR spectroscopy, XRD, cyclic voltammetry, conductivity measurements, and biological methods. The complexes are characterized by distorted geometry of the coordination cores AgN2S2 (2c), AgNS (2b) and AgS2 (2a). These stable complexes were not typified by the intramolecular redox reaction in organic solvents resulting in the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Antibacterial activity of 1a-1c and 2a-2c was evaluated in comparison with AgNPs and commonly used antibiotics. All the complexes were more active than the ligands against the bacteria tested (14), but they were less active than AgNPs and commonly used antibiotics. Both 1a-1c and their complexes 2a-2c exhibited the capability for the bovine heart Fe(III)-Cyt c reduction. The ligands 1b and 1c were characterized by the highest reduction rate among the compounds under study, and they showed a higher reducing ability (determined by cyclic voltammetry) as compared with that of their Ag(I) complexes 2b and 2c.

Impacts of vesicular environment on Nox2 activity measurements in vitro.

BACKGROUND: The production of superoxide anions (O2•-) by the phagocyte NADPH oxidase complex has a crucial role in the destruction of pathogens in innate immunity. Majority of in vitro studies on the functioning of NADPH oxidase indirectly follows the enzymatic reaction by the superoxide reduction of cytochrome c (cyt c). Only few reports mention the alternative approach consisting in measuring the NADPH consumption rate. When using membrane vesicles of human neutrophils, the enzyme specific activity is generally found twice higher by monitoring the NADPH oxidation than by measuring the cyt c reduction. Up to now, the literature provides only little explanations about such discrepancy despite the critical importance to quantify the exact enzyme activity. METHODS: We deciphered the reasons of this disparity in studying the role of key parameters, including. cyt c and arachidonic acid concentrations, in conjunction with an ionophore, a detergent and using Clark electrode to measure the O2 consumption rates. RESULTS: Our results show that the O2•- low permeability of the vesicle membrane as well as secondary reactions (O2•- and H2O2 disproportionations) are strong clues to shed light on this inconsistency. CONCLUSION AND GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: These results altogether indicate that the cyt c reduction method underestimates the accurate Nox2 activity.

Measurement of Respiratory Burst Products, Released or Retained, During Activation of Professional Phagocytes.

Activation of professional phagocytes, potent microbial killers of our innate immune system, is associated with an increased cellular consumption of molecular oxygen (O2). The O2 molecules consumed are reduced by electrons delivered by a membrane localized NADPH-oxidase that initially generate one- and two electron reduced superoxide anions (O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), respectively. These oxidants can then be processed into other highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can kill microbes, but that may also cause tissue destruction and drive other immune cells into apoptosis. The development of basic techniques to measure and quantify ROS generation by phagocytes is of great importance, and a large number of methods have been used for this purpose. A selection of methods (including chemiluminescence amplified by luminol or isoluminol, absorbance change following reduction of cytochrome c, and fluorescence increase upon oxidation of PHPA) are described in detail in this chapter with special emphasis on how to distinguish between ROS that are released extracellularly, and those that are retained within intracellular organelles. These techniques can be valuable tools in research spanning from basic phagocyte biology to diagnosis of diseases linked to the NADPH-oxidase and more clinically oriented research on innate immune mechanisms and inflammation.