GLP-1 signaling suppresses menin's transcriptional block by phosphorylation in ß cells.

Both menin and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) pathways play central yet opposing role in regulating ß cell function, with menin suppressing, and GLP-1 promoting, ß cell function. However, little is known as to whether or how GLP-1 pathway represses menin function. Here, we show that GLP-1 signaling-activated protein kinase A (PKA) directly phosphorylates menin at the serine 487 residue, relieving menin-mediated suppression of insulin expression and cell proliferation. Mechanistically, Ser487-phosphorylated menin gains increased binding affinity to nuclear actin/myosin IIa proteins and gets sequestrated from the Ins1 promoter. This event leads to reduced binding of repressive epigenetic histone modifiers suppressor variegation 3-9 homologue protein 1 (SUV39H1) and histone deacetylases 1 (HDAC1) at the locus and subsequently increased Ins1 gene transcription. Ser487 phosphorylation of menin also increases expression of proproliferative cyclin D2 and ß cell proliferation. Our results have uncovered a previously unappreciated physiological link in which GLP-1 signaling suppresses menin function through phosphorylation-triggered and actin/myosin cytoskeletal protein-mediated derepression of gene transcription.

The self-limiting dynamics of TGF-ß signaling in silico and in vitro, with negative feedback through PPM1A upregulation.

The TGF-ß/Smad signaling system decreases its activity through strong negative regulation. Several molecular mechanisms of negative regulation have been published, but the relative impact of each mechanism on the overall system is unknown. In this work, we used computational and experimental methods to assess multiple negative regulatory effects on Smad signaling in HaCaT cells. Previously reported negative regulatory effects were classified by time-scale: degradation of phosphorylated R-Smad and I-Smad-induced receptor degradation were slow-mode effects, and dephosphorylation of R-Smad was a fast-mode effect. We modeled combinations of these effects, but found no combination capable of explaining the observed dynamics of TGF-ß/Smad signaling. We then proposed a negative feedback loop with upregulation of the phosphatase PPM1A. The resulting model was able to explain the dynamics of Smad signaling, under both short and long exposures to TGF-ß. Consistent with this model, immuno-blots showed PPM1A levels to be significantly increased within 30 min after TGF-ß stimulation. Lastly, our model was able to resolve an apparent contradiction in the published literature, concerning the dynamics of phosphorylated R-Smad degradation. We conclude that the dynamics of Smad negative regulation cannot be explained by the negative regulatory effects that had previously been modeled, and we provide evidence for a new negative feedback loop through PPM1A upregulation. This work shows that tight coupling of computational and experiments approaches can yield improved understanding of complex pathways.

Transcriptional profiling of mouse uterus at pre-implantation stage under VEGF repression.

Uterus development during pre-implantation stage affects implantation process and embryo growth. Aberrant uterus development is associated with many human reproductive diseases. Among the factors regulating uterus development, vascular remodeling promoters are critical for uterus function and fertility. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as one of the major members, has been found to be important in endothelial cell growth and blood vessel development, as well as in non-endothelial cells. VEGF mediation in reproduction has been broadly studied, but VEGF-induced transcriptional machinery during implantation window has not been systematically studied. In this study, a genetically repressed VEGF mouse model was used to analyze uterus transcriptome at gestation 2.5 (G2.5) by Solexa/Illumina's digital gene expression (DGE) system. A number of 831 uterus-specific and 2398 VEGF-regulated genes were identified. Gene ontology (GO) analysis indicated that genes actively involved in uterus development were members of collagen biosynthesis, cell proliferation and cell apoptosis. Uterus-specific genes were enriched in activities of phosphatidyl inositol phosphate kinase, histone H3-K36 demethylation and protein acetylation. Among VEGF-regulated genes, up-regulated were associated with RNA polymerase III activity while down-regulated were strongly related with muscle development. Comparable numbers of antisense transcripts were identified. Expression levels of the antisense transcripts were found tightly correlated with their sense expression levels, an indication of possibly non-specific transcripts generated around the active promoters and enhancers. The antisense transcripts with exceptionally high or low expression levels and the antisense transcripts under VEGF regulation were also identified. These transcripts may be important candidates in regulation of uterus development. This study provides a global survey on genes and antisense transcripts regulated by VEGF in the pre-implantation stage. Results will contribute to further study the candidate genes and pathways in regulating implantation process and related diseases.

A new abietane diterpene from Glyptostrobus pensilis.

A new abietane diterpene, glypensin A (1) and four known compounds, 12-acetoxy-ent-labda-8(17), 13E-dien-15-oic acid (2), quercetin 3-O-α-L-arabinofuranoside (3), quercetin 3-O-ß-D-galactopyranoside (4), ß-sitosterol (5) were isolated from the branches and leaves of Glyptostrobus pensilis (Staut.) Koch. Their structures were determined by MS, 1D- and 2D-NMR means. Compound 1 showed cytotoxicity on human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 (IC(50) = 21.2µM).

Cell-delivery therapeutics for liver regeneration.

For acute, chronic, or hereditary diseases of the liver, cell transplantation therapies can stimulate liver regeneration or serve as a bridge until liver transplantation can be performed. Recently, fetal hepatocytes, stem cells, liver progenitor cells, or other primitive and proliferative cell types have been employed for cell transplantation therapies, in an effort to improve the survival, proliferation, and engraftment of the transplanted cells. Reviewing earlier studies, which achieved success by transplanting mature hepatocytes, we propose that there is a switch-like regulation of liver regeneration that changes state according to a stimulus threshold of extracellular influences such as cytokines, matrices and neighboring cells. Important determinants of a successful clinical outcome include sufficient quantities and functional levels of the transplanted cells (even for short periods to alter the environment), rather than just engraftment levels or survival durations of the exogenously transplanted cells. The relative importance of these determining factors will impact future choices of cell sources, delivery vehicles, and sites of cell transplantation to stimulate liver regeneration for patients with severe liver diseases.

Natural inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase I with cytotoxicities.

DNA Topoisomerase I can cause DNA breaks and play a key role during cell proliferation and differentiation. It is an important target for anticancer agents. While screening for anticancer compounds, seven natural compounds, 1-7, showed potent cytotoxicities against a panel of ten cancer cell lines. Moreover, an inhibition assay demonstrated that they are also DNA topoisomerase I inhibitors, in which inhibitors 1-5 are new ones.

Chamobtusin A, a novel skeleton diterpenoid alkaloid from Chamaecyparis obtusa cv. tetragon.

The novel diterpenoid alkaloid chamobtusin A (1) was isolated from the branches and leaves of Chamaecyparis obtusa cv. tetragon. Its structure and relative stereochemistry were mainly determined by MS, 2D NMR, and X-ray methods. The methanol extracts, total alkaloids of C. obtusa cv. tetragon, and chamobtusin A were tested for their cytotoxicities against A549 and K562 human tumor cell lines.

Amentoflavone and its derivatives as novel natural inhibitors of human Cathepsin B.

Cathepsin B (CatB) is a member of the papain superfamily of cysteine proteases and has been implicated in the pathology of numerous diseases, including arthritis and cancer. Amentoflavone is found in a number of plants with medicinal properties, including Ginkgo biloba and Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort). Herein, we report the structure-activity relationship (SAR) and binding mechanism of three biflavones, amentoflavone (AMF1), 4'''-methylamentoflavone (AMF2) and 7'',4'''-dimethylamentoflavone (AMF3), isolated from Taxodium mucronatum by us as novel natural inhibitors of human CatB with strong inhibitory activities at IC50 values of 1.75, 1.68 and 0.55muM, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) method was applied to optimize the geometry structures of AMF1, AMF2 and AMF3 at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. FlexX was explored to dock the three biflavones to the binding sites of CatB, and to get a better understanding of vital interactions between these biflavones and CatB. A good correlation between the calculated quantum descriptors and the experimental inhibitory activities suggested that quantum model of these potential inhibitors is reliable. Through geometry and electron structure analysis of AMFs, it was observed that the CH3 substitute at 7'' and 4''' positions could not vary the difference in geometry structure significantly, but increase the electron density of A-ring, HOMO energy, hydrophobic property, and improve inhibitory activity. Structural and energetic analysis of AMFs and AMFs-CatB complexes showed that the electron-donor site is the A-ring, which shows the highest HOMO energy distribution, and the electron-acceptor site is the F-ring, which shows the highest LUMO energy distribution in AMFs, and the pi-pi interaction between A-ring and residue Trp221, two hydrogen bonds (O5 and Trp221; O4 and Gln23 ), hydrophobic interaction between the C-ring and residue Cys29 and CH3 substitutes at 7'' and 4''' might play a crucial role in the inhibition of AMFs on CatB. Results indicated that AMFs are new natural reversible inhibitors that would be useful in developing potent inhibitors of CatB.