Zinc Gluconate Induces Potentially Cancer Chemopreventive Activity in Barrett's Esophagus: A Phase 1 Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Chemopreventive effects of zinc for esophageal cancer have been well documented in animal models. This prospective study explores if a similar, potentially chemopreventive action can be seen in Barrett's esophagus (BE) in humans. AIMS: To determine if molecular evidence can be obtained potentially indicating zinc's chemopreventive action in Barrett's metaplasia. METHODS: Patients with a prior BE diagnosis were placed on oral zinc gluconate (14 days of 26.4 mg zinc BID) or a sodium gluconate placebo, prior to their surveillance endoscopy procedure. Biopsies of Barrett's mucosa were then obtained for miRNA and mRNA microarrays, or protein analyses. RESULTS: Zinc-induced mRNA changes were observed for a large number of transcripts. These included downregulation of transcripts encoding proinflammatory proteins (IL32, IL1ß, IL15, IL7R, IL2R, IL15R, IL3R), upregulation of anti-inflammatory mediators (IL1RA), downregulation of transcripts mediating epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) (LIF, MYB, LYN, MTA1, SRC, SNAIL1, and TWIST1), and upregulation of transcripts that oppose EMT (BMP7, MTSS1, TRIB3, GRHL1). miRNA arrays showed significant upregulation of seven miRs with tumor suppressor activity (-125b-5P, -132-3P, -548z, -551a, -504, -518, and -34a-5P). Of proteins analyzed by Western blot, increased expression of the pro-apoptotic protein, BAX, and the tight junctional protein, CLAUDIN-7, along with decreased expression of BCL-2 and VEGF-R2 were noteworthy. CONCLUSIONS: When these mRNA, miRNA, and protein molecular data are considered collectively, a cancer chemopreventive action by zinc in Barrett's metaplasia may be possible for this precancerous esophageal tissue. These results and the extensive prior animal model studies argue for a future prospective clinical trial for this safe, easily-administered, and inexpensive micronutrient, that could determine if a chemopreventive action truly exists.

Lipid analysis of mitochondrial membranes from the yeast Pichia pastoris.

Here we describe for the first time isolation and biochemical characterization of highly purified mitochondrial inner and outer membranes from Pichia pastoris and systematic lipid analysis of submitochondrial fractions. Mitochondria of this yeast are best developed during growth on glycerol or sorbitol, but also on methanol or fatty acids. To obtain organelle membranes at high quality, methods of isolation and subfractionation of mitochondria originally developed for Saccharomyces cerevisiae were adapted and employed. A characteristic feature of the outer mitochondrial membrane of P. pastoris is the higher phospholipid to protein ratio and the lower ergosterol to phospholipid ratio compared to the inner membrane. Another marked difference between the two mitochondrial membranes is the phospholipid composition. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine are major phospholipids of both membranes, but the inner membrane is enriched in cardiolipin, whereas the outer membrane contains a high amount of phosphatidylinositol. The fatty acid composition of both mitochondrial membranes is similar. Variation of the carbon source, however, leads to marked changes of the fatty acid pattern both in total and mitochondrial membranes. In summary, our data are the first step to understand the P. pastoris lipidome which will be prerequisite to manipulate membrane components of this yeast for biotechnological purposes.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate: a regulator of arterial lesions.

Sphingosine-1 phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid that is critical in the development of blood vessels, and in the adult regulates vascular functions including vascular tone, endothelial integrity, and angiogenesis. Further, S1P may regulate arterial lesions in disease and after injury by controlling leukocyte recruitment and smooth muscle cell functions.

Phospholipids: synthesis, sorting, subcellular traffic - the yeast approach.

Most of the enzymes and genes required for lipid biosynthesis and degradation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have now been identified and the global mechanisms that regulate their activity are being established. Synthesis of phospholipids is restricted to specific subcellular compartments, and the lipids migrate from their site of formation to their final destination. In addition to synthesis, remodelling and degradation of phospholipids controls the content of the lipid portion of cellular membranes, while highly specific phospholipases catalyse the release of lipid-based second messengers. In this review, we describe the current understanding of the organization and regulation of phospholipid metabolism in yeast, and discuss the mechanisms that have been proposed for intracellular lipid transport.

Multiple genes are required for proper insertion of secretory proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum in yeast.

Genes that function in translocation of secretory protein precursors into the ER have been identified by a genetic selection for mutant yeast cells that fail to translocate a signal peptide-cytosolic enzyme hybrid protein. The new mutants, sec62 and sec63, are thermosensitive for growth and accumulate a variety of soluble secretory and vacuolar precursors whose electrophoretic mobilities coincide with those of the corresponding in vitro translated polypeptides. Proteolytic sensitivity of precursor molecules in extracts of mutant cells confirms that polypeptide translocation is blocked. Some form of interaction among the SEC61 (Deshaies, R. J., and R. Schekman. 1987. J. Cell Biol. 105:633-645), SEC62 and SEC63 gene products is suggested by the observation that haploid cells containing any pair of the mutations are inviable at 24 degrees C and show a marked enhancement of the translocation defect. The translocation defects of two mutants (sec62 and sec63) have been reproduced in vitro. sec63 microsomes display low and thermolabile translocation activity for prepro-alpha-factor (pp alpha F) synthesized with a cytosol fraction from wild type yeast. These gene products may constitute part of the polypeptide recognition or translocation apparatus of the ER membrane. Pulse-chase analysis of the translocation-defective mutants demonstrates that insertion of pp alpha F into the ER can proceed posttranslationally.

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) analysis of the lipid molecular species composition of yeast subcellular membranes reveals acyl chain-based sorting/remodeling of distinct molecular species en route to the plasma membrane.

Nano-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (nano-ESI-MS/MS) was employed to determine qualitative differences in the lipid molecular species composition of a comprehensive set of organellar membranes, isolated from a single culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Remarkable differences in the acyl chain composition of biosynthetically related phospholipid classes were observed. Acyl chain saturation was lowest in phosphatidylcholine (15.4%) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE; 16.2%), followed by phosphatidylserine (PS; 29.4%), and highest in phosphatidylinositol (53.1%). The lipid molecular species profiles of the various membranes were generally similar, with a deviation from a calculated average profile of approximately +/- 20%. Nevertheless, clear distinctions between the molecular species profiles of different membranes were observed, suggesting that lipid sorting mechanisms are operating at the level of individual molecular species to maintain the specific lipid composition of a given membrane. Most notably, the plasma membrane is enriched in saturated species of PS and PE. The nature of the sorting mechanism that determines the lipid composition of the plasma membrane was investigated further. The accumulation of monounsaturated species of PS at the expense of diunsaturated species in the plasma membrane of wild-type cells was reversed in elo3Delta mutant cells, which synthesize C24 fatty acid-substituted sphingolipids instead of the normal C26 fatty acid-substituted species. This observation suggests that acyl chain-based sorting and/or remodeling mechanisms are operating to maintain the specific lipid molecular species composition of the yeast plasma membrane.

The ins and outs of Raf kinases.

Raf kinases are signal-integrating enzymes that have the ability to switch tyrosine kinase signalling to serine/threonine phosphorylation and connect growth factor receptors with transcription factors. The connection involves a cascade of protein kinases that is essential for cellular proliferation and differentiation of species ranging from worms to humans. This cascade also mediates transformation by most oncogenes.

Dynamics of neutral lipid storage and mobilization in yeast.

We make use of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a flexible experimental system to investigate coordinate pathways of neutral lipid synthesis, storage and mobilization with special emphasis on the role of different organelles in these processes. Recently, a number of new gene products involved in triacylglycerol (TAG) and steryl ester (STE) metabolism were identified in our laboratory and by other groups. STE are synthesized by the two STE synthases Are1p and Are2p, whereas TAG are formed mainly through the action of the two TAG synthases Dga1p and Lro1p with minor contributions of Are1p and Are2p. Once formed, TAG and STE are stored in so-called lipid particles. A dga1Deltalro1Deltaare1Deltaare2Delta quadruple mutant which lacks neutral lipid synthesis and is consequently devoid of lipid particles turned out to be a valuable tool for studying the physiological role of storage lipids and lipid particles. Mobilization of neutral lipid depots occurs through catalysis of TAG lipases and STE hydrolases. Three TAG lipases named Tgl3p, Tgl4p and Tgl5p, and three STE hydrolases named Tgl1p, Yeh1p and Yeh2p were recently identified at the molecular level. Although these hydrolases exhibit overlapping function within the enzyme families, they are specific for TAG and STE, respectively. With the exception of Dga1p, whose activity is partially localized to lipid particles, TAG and STE forming enzymes are restricted to the endoplasmic reticulum. TAG lipases and STE hydrolases are components of lipid particles with the exception of Yeh2p, which is plasma membrane located. Thus, neutral lipid metabolism is not only regulated at the enzyme level but also by the distribution of the components to organelles. The fact that neutral lipid homeostasis is linked to a number of cell biological processes confirms the important role of this class of lipids as cellular modulators or effectors.

Roles of phosphatidylethanolamine and of its several biosynthetic pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Three different pathways lead to the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) in yeast, one of which is localized to the inner mitochondrial membrane. To study the contribution of each of these pathways, we constructed a series of deletion mutants in which different combinations of the pathways are blocked. Analysis of their growth phenotypes revealed that a minimal level of PtdEtn is essential for growth. On fermentable carbon sources such as glucose, endogenous ethanolaminephosphate provided by sphingolipid catabolism is sufficient to allow synthesis of the essential amount of PtdEtn through the cytidyldiphosphate (CDP)-ethanolamine pathway. On nonfermentable carbon sources, however, a higher level of PtdEtn is required for growth, and the amounts of PtdEtn produced through the CDP-ethanolamine pathway and by extramitochondrial phosphatidylserine decarboxylase 2 are not sufficient to maintain growth unless the action of the former pathway is enhanced by supplementing the growth medium with ethanolamine. Thus, in the absence of such supplementation, production of PtdEtn by mitochondrial phosphatidylserine decarboxylase 1 becomes essential. In psd1Delta strains or cho1Delta strains (defective in phosphatidylserine synthesis), which contain decreased amounts of PtdEtn, the growth rate on nonfermentable carbon sources correlates with the content of PtdEtn in mitochondria, suggesting that import of PtdEtn into this organelle becomes growth limiting. Although morphological and biochemical analysis revealed no obvious defects of PtdEtn-depleted mitochondria, the mutants exhibited an enhanced formation of respiration-deficient cells. Synthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins is also impaired in PtdEtn-depleted cells, as demonstrated by delayed maturation of Gas1p. Carboxypeptidase Y and invertase, on the other hand, were processed with wild-type kinetics. Thus, PtdEtn depletion does not affect protein secretion in general, suggesting that high levels of nonbilayer-forming lipids such as PtdEtn are not essential for membrane vesicle fusion processes in vivo.

Dual localization of squalene epoxidase, Erg1p, in yeast reflects a relationship between the endoplasmic reticulum and lipid particles.

Squalene epoxidase, encoded by the ERG1 gene in yeast, is a key enzyme of sterol biosynthesis. Analysis of subcellular fractions revealed that squalene epoxidase was present in the microsomal fraction (30,000 x g) and also cofractionated with lipid particles. A dual localization of Erg1p was confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy. On the basis of the distribution of marker proteins, 62% of cellular Erg1p could be assigned to the endoplasmic reticulum and 38% to lipid particles in late logarithmic-phase cells. In contrast, sterol Delta24-methyltransferase (Erg6p), an enzyme catalyzing a late step in sterol biosynthesis, was found mainly in lipid particles cofractionating with triacylglycerols and steryl esters. The relative distribution of Erg1p between the endoplasmic reticulum and lipid particles changes during growth. Squalene epoxidase (Erg1p) was absent in an erg1 disruptant strain and was induced fivefold in lipid particles and in the endoplasmic reticulum when the ERG1 gene was overexpressed from a multicopy plasmid. The amount of squalene epoxidase in both compartments was also induced approximately fivefold by treatment of yeast cells with terbinafine, an inhibitor of the fungal squalene epoxidase. In contrast to the distribution of the protein, enzymatic activity of squalene epoxidase was only detectable in the endoplasmic reticulum but was absent from isolated lipid particles. When lipid particles of the wild-type strain and microsomes of an erg1 disruptant were mixed, squalene epoxidase activity was partially restored. These findings suggest that factor(s) present in the endoplasmic reticulum are required for squalene epoxidase activity. Close contact between lipid particles and endoplasmic reticulum may be necessary for a concerted action of these two compartments in sterol biosynthesis.

Intracellular lipid particles of eukaryotic cells.

In this review article we describe characterization of intracellular lipid particles of three different eukaryotic species, namely mammalian cells, plants and yeast. Lipid particles of all types of cells share a general structure. A hydrophobic core of neutral lipids is surrounded by a membrane monolayer of phospholipids which contains a minor amount of proteins. Whereas lipid particles from mammalian cells and plants harbor specific classes of polypeptides, mainly perilipins and oleosins, respectively, yeast lipid particles contain a more complex set of enzymes which are involved in lipid biosynthesis. Function of lipid particles as storage compartment and metabolic organelle, and their interaction with other subcellular fractions are discussed. Furthermore, models for the biogenesis of lipid particles are presented and compared among the different species.

Association of glycolytic enzymes with the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane of glioma cells.

A latex phagocytosis technique was used to prepare relatively pure plasma membranes with inside-out orientation. This method was adapted through a number of modifications in order to evaluate the association of glycolytic enzymes with the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane of C6 glial cells. As phosphorylation is strictly coupled with transport in these cells, glycolytic enzymes, especially hexokinase, could metabolize glucose in close vicinity to its transporter. Of the enzymes tested, hexokinase is present in considerable quantities on these membranes (nearly 40% of homogenate specific activity), followed by D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (10%), pyruvate kinase (8%), and 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (1%). Except for hexokinase, the enzyme pattern presented here is different from that published for other membrane preparations.

Intracellular transfer of phospholipids in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, unlike in higher eukaryotic cells, most of the reactions involved in phospholipid biosynthesis occur both in mitochondria and in the endoplasmic reticulum. Some of the key enzymes involved, however, are restricted to one compartment. Thus, the formation of phosphatidylethanolamine by decarboxylation of phosphatidylserine occurs only in mitochondria, while phosphatidylcholine synthesis via methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine is restricted to microsomes. When yeast cells were pulse labelled with [3H]serine,[3H] phosphatidylethanolamine formed in mitochondria was found not only in the organelle but also, with even higher specific radioactivity, in the endoplasmic reticulum. Translocation of phosphatidylethanolamine between organelles was blocked immediately after poisoning cells with cyanide, azide and fluoride. Part of the [3H]phosphatidylcholine formed in the endoplasmic reticulum by methylation of [3H]phosphatidylethanolamine was transferred to mitochondria. This process continued in deenergized cells, although at a lower rate as compared to metabolizing cells. This result indicates rapid movement of both phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine requires metabolic energy, but that phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipid transfer protein that has been found in saccharomyces cerevisiae (Daum, G. and Paltauf, F. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 784, 385-391). The mechanism of movement of phospholipids from internal membranes to the cell surface was studied with temperature-sensitive secretory mutants (Schekman, R. (1982) Trends Biochem. Sci. 7, 243-246) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A shift from the permissive to the restrictive temperature, which blocks the flow of vesicles involved in the secretion of proteins, had no effect on the transfer of phosphatidylinositol to the plasma membrane.

Lipid metabolism in inositol-deficient yeast, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis. The influence of temperature and anaerobiosis on the cellular lipid composition.

Saccharomyces carlsbergensis ATCC 9080 was grown at temperatures of 9, 25, 30 and 35 degrees C, respectively. At all temperatures inositol-deficient cells contain less phosphatidylinositol than supplemented cells. Total acylglycerols increase in supplemented cells as the temperature decreases whereas in deficient cells total acylglycerols are higher at 35 degrees C than at 9 degrees C. Temperature has little influence on the fatty acid composition of the supplemented as well as on that of the deficient cells. Under anaerobic growth conditions two major effects of inositol deficiency observed under aerobic conditions, i.e. accumulation of cellular triacylglycerols and increased production of acetoin, do not occur. Other effects of inositol deficiency, such as increased glucose utilization, increase of ethanol production, decrease of phosphatidylinositol and aggregation of cells, are observed under anaerobic conditions as well as under aerobic conditions.

The effect of cerulenin and exogenous fatty acids on triacylglycerol accumulation in an inositol-deficient yeast, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis.

Cerulenin inhibits fatty acid synthesis in yeast; supplementation with exogenous fatty acids is required to maintain cell growth. In the presence of cerulenin and exogenous fatty acids inositol-deficient cells accumulate triacylglycerols to almost the same extent as normally grown deficient cells, indicating that increased fatty acid synthesis is not primarily responsible for triacylglycerol accumulation.

Utilization of exogenous glycerophosphodiesters and glycerol 3-phosphate by inositol-starved yeast, Saccharomyces uvarum.

Inositol-starved Saccharomyces uvarum cells hydrolyse exogenous glycerophosphodiesters to glycerol 3-phosphate and the corresponding alcohol. Glycerophosphodiesterase activity is highest with glycerophosphoinositol as the substrate, followed by glycerophosphoethanolamine and glycerophosphocholine; the artificial substrate for phosphodiesterases, bis-p-nitrophenylphosphate,is hydrolysed at a similar rate as compared with glycerophosphoinositol. Competition experiments suggest that distinct phosphodiesterases are involved in the hydrolysis of the respective substrates. An Mg2+-dependent glycerophosphate phosphohydrolase with a pH-optimum around neutral cleaves glycerol 3-phosphate to glycerol and orthophosphate. The latter is taken up into cells without first entering the pool of orthophosphate present in the growth medium. Accessibility to substrates with whole cells, adhesion of enzymes to spheroplasts, and solubilization of enzymes by treatment of whole cells with Triton X-100 under mild conditions suggest that phosphodiesterases and glycerol-3-phosphate phosphohydrolase are loosely associated with the outer side of the yeast plasma membrane. Enzyme activities are only marginal in inositol-supplemented cells, but are derepressed not only by inositol deficiency, but also by starvation of orthophosphate.

Interaction of the yeast phosphatidylserine transfer protein with artificial and biological membranes.

Transfer of pyrene-labeled phosphatidylserine catalyzed by the yeast phosphatidylserine transfer protein in vitro largely depends on the membrane lipid composition of artificial unilamellar acceptor vesicles. Negatively charged phospholipids markedly decrease the rate of protein-catalyzed phosphatidylserine transfer. Although biological membranes contain a significant proportion of negatively charged phospholipids they serve more effectively as acceptors than artificial membranes with a similar phospholipid composition, but without proteins. This result indicates that proteins present in biological membranes mask negative charges of phospholipids on the surface of acceptor membrane vesicles. When proteins of the membrane surface are removed by proteinase treatment this protective effect is partially lost. A correlation between the activity of the phosphatidylserine transfer protein in yeast cytosol and the extent of membrane biogenesis during growth could not be observed.

Protein-catalyzed transport of ether phospholipids.

The protein-catalyzed transfer of alkenylacyl-, alkylacyl-, or diacyl-glycerophosphocholines, carrying a pyrenedecanoyl residue as a fluorogenic acyl chain, was studied using unilamellar bilayer vesicles as donor and acceptor membranes in a fluorescence assay. Specific phospholipid transfer proteins, such as phosphatidylinositol transfer protein from yeast and phosphatidylcholine transfer protein from bovine liver showed higher transfer rates with ether lipid substrates. Transfer rates for alkylacyl- and alkenylacyl-glycerophosphocholine as compared to the diacyl analog were rather similar in the presence of non-specific lipid transfer proteins from maize or from bovine liver, respectively. When vesicles of fluorogenic compounds were titrated with the yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein, only a 15-20% higher binding affinity for alkenylacyl- and alkylacyl-glycerophosphocholine than for diacyl-glycerophosphocholine was observed. Thus the marked differences of transfer rates measured with this transfer protein cannot be attributed to different binding affinities for the respective phospholipid subclasses. A possible explanation for differences in transfer rates could be differences in the organization of the phospholipid subclasses at the hydrophobic/hydrophilic interface of bilayer membranes.

Membrane properties modulate the activity of a phosphatidylinositol transfer protein from the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A phospholipid transfer protein from yeast (Daum, G. and Paltauf, F. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 794, 385-391) was 2800-fold enriched by an improved procedure. The specificity of this transfer protein and the influence of membrane properties of acceptor vesicles (lipid composition, charge, fluidity) on the transfer activity were determined in vitro using pyrene-labeled phospholipids. The yeast transfer protein forms a complex with phosphatidylinositol or phosphatidylcholine, respectively, and transfers these two phospholipids between biological and/or artificial membranes. The transfer rate for phosphatidylinositol is 19-fold higher than for phosphatidylcholine as determined with 1:8 mixtures of phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine in donor and acceptor membrane vesicles. If acceptor membranes consist only of non-transferable phospholipids, e.g., phosphatidylethanolamine, a moderate but significant net transfer of phosphatidylcholine occurs. Phosphatidylcholine transfer is inhibited to a variable extent by negatively charged phospholipids and by fatty acids. Differences in the accessibility of the charged groups of lipids to the transfer protein might account for the different inhibitory effects, which occur in the order phosphatidylserine which is greater than phosphatidylglycerol which is greater than phosphatidylinositol which is greater than cardiolipin which is greater than phosphatidic acid which is greater than fatty acids. Although mitochondrial membranes contain high amounts of negatively charged phospholipids, they serve effectively as acceptor membranes, whereas transfer to vesicles prepared from total mitochondrial lipids is essentially zero. Ergosterol reduces the transfer rate, probably by decreasing membrane fluidity. This notion is supported by data obtained with dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine as acceptor vesicle component; in this case the transfer rate is significantly reduced below the phase transition temperature of the phospholipid.

Isolation of a phosphatidylserine transfer protein from yeast cytosol.

A phospholipid transfer protein with a broad substrate specificity was isolated from yeast cytosol. The rate of transfer catalyzed by this protein in vitro is highest for phosphatidylserine; phosphatidylethanolamine, cardiolipin, phosphatidic acid and ergosterol are transported at a lower rate. In contrast to the yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Daum, G. and Paltauf, F. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 794, 385-391) the phosphatidylserine transfer protein does not catalyze the translocation of phosphatidylinositol or phosphatidylcholine. Using chromatographic methods the phosphatidylserine transfer protein was enriched approximately 3000-fold over yeast cytosol. The protein is inactivated by heat, detergents and proteinases. Divalent cations strongly inhibit the transfer of phosphatidylserine in vitro, and EDTA at low concentrations has a stimulatory effect.