Cerebrospinal Fluid from Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients Induces Mitochondrial and Lysosomal Dysfunction.

In our laboratory, we have developed (1) an in vitro model of sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (sALS) involving exposure of motor neurons to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from sALS patients and (2) an in vivo model involving intrathecal injection of sALS-CSF into rat pups. In the current study, we observed that spinal cord extract from the in vivo sALS model displayed elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Quantitative proteomic analysis of sub-cellular fractions from spinal cord of the in vivo sALS model revealed down-regulation of 35 mitochondrial proteins and 4 lysosomal proteins. Many of the down-regulated mitochondrial proteins contribute to alterations in respiratory chain complexes and organellar morphology. Down-regulated lysosomal proteins Hexosaminidase, Sialidase and Aryl sulfatase also displayed lowered enzyme activity, thus validating the mass spectrometry data. Proteomic analysis and validation by western blot indicated that sALS-CSF induced the over-expression of the pro-apoptotic mitochondrial protein BNIP3L. In the in vitro model, sALS-CSF induced neurotoxicity and elevated ROS, while it lowered the mitochondrial membrane potential in rat spinal cord mitochondria in the in vivo model. Ultra structural alterations were evident in mitochondria of cultured motor neurons exposed to ALS-CSF. These observations indicate the first line evidence that sALS-CSF mediated mitochondrial and lysosomal defects collectively contribute to the pathogenesis underlying sALS.

Development of a liquid-phase blocking ELISA based on foot-and-mouth disease virus empty capsid antigen for seromonitoring vaccinated animals.

In foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control programme, liquid-phase blocking ELISA (LPBE) is widely used to assay vaccine-induced seroconversion. Currently, the assay utilizes inactivated FMD virus antigen for the detection of antibodies in serum samples. To develop a non-infectious substitute for the antigen in LPBE, we expressed the structural polypeptide of FMDV (serotype A) using a baculovirus expression system, and show that inclusion of viral 3C with reduced protease activity resulted in a higher yield of structural proteins. Structural proteins expressed in insect cells assembled into empty virus-like particles (VLPs) and showed antigenicity comparable to chemically inactivated FMDV. Screening of serum samples from FMD-vaccinated cattle showed that the test performance of VLP-LPBE had a correlation of 0.89 with conventional inactivated virus antigen LPBE. The VLP-LPBE developed here demonstrates the diagnostic application of recombinant FMDV VLPs in monitoring seroconversion following FMD vaccination.

Division of the Salmonella-containing vacuole and depletion of acidic lysosomes in Salmonella-infected host cells are novel strategies of Salmonella enterica to avoid lysosomes.

Salmonella has evolved several strategies to counteract intracellular microbicidal agents like reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. However, it is not yet clear how Salmonella escapes lysosomal degradation. Some studies have demonstrated that Salmonella can inhibit phagolysosomal fusion, whereas other reports have shown that the Salmonella-containing vacuole (SCV) fuses/interacts with lysosomes. Here, we have addressed this issue from a different perspective by investigating if the infected host cell has a sufficient quantity of lysosomes to target Salmonella. Our results suggest that SCVs divide along with Salmonella, resulting in a single bacterium per SCV. As a consequence, the SCV load per cell increases with the division of Salmonella inside the host cell. This demands more investment from the host cell to counteract Salmonella. Interestingly, we observed that Salmonella infection decreases the number of acidic lysosomes inside the host cell both in vitro and in vivo. These events potentially result in a condition in which an infected cell is left with insufficient acidic lysosomes to target the increasing number of SCVs, which favors the survival and proliferation of Salmonella inside the host cell.

Delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase from Plasmodium falciparum: indigenous versus imported.

The heme biosynthetic pathway of the malaria parasite is a drug target and the import of host delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALAD), the second enzyme of the pathway, from the red cell cytoplasm by the intra erythrocytic malaria parasite has been demonstrated earlier in this laboratory. In this study, ALAD encoded by the Plasmodium falciparum genome (PfALAD) has been cloned, the protein overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and then characterized. The mature recombinant enzyme (rPfALAD) is enzymatically active and behaves as an octamer with a subunit Mr of 46,000. The enzyme has an alkaline pH optimum of 8.0 to 9.0. rPfALAD does not require any metal ion for activity, although it is stimulated by 20-30% upon addition of Mg2+. The enzyme is inhibited by Zn2+ and succinylacetone. The presence of PfALAD in P. falciparum can be demonstrated by Western blot analysis and immunoelectron microscopy. The enzyme has been localized to the apicoplast of the malaria parasite. Homology modeling studies reveal that PfALAD is very similar to the enzyme species from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but manifests features that are unique and different from plant ALADs as well as from those of the bacterium. It is concluded that PfALAD, while resembling plant ALADs in terms of its alkaline pH optimum and apicoplast localization, differs in its Mg2+ independence for catalytic activity or octamer stabilization. Expression levels of PfALAD in P. falciparum, based on Western blot analysis, immunoelectron microscopy, and EDTA-resistant enzyme activity assay reveals that it may account for about 10% of the total ALAD activity in the parasite, the rest being accounted for by the host enzyme imported by the parasite. It is proposed that the role of PfALAD may be confined to heme synthesis in the apicoplast that may not account for the total de novo heme biosynthesis in the parasite.