NMR metabolic profiling of follicular fluid for investigating the different causes of female infertility: a pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: Several metabolomics studies have correlated follicular fluid (FF) metabolite composition with oocyte competence to fertilization, embryo development and pregnancy but there is a scarcity of research examining the metabolic effects of various gynaecological diseases. OBJECTIVES: In this study we aimed to analyze and correlate the metabolic profile of FF from women who were following in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments with their different infertility pathologies. METHODS: We selected 53 women undergoing IVF who were affected by: tubal diseases, unexplained infertility, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). FF of the study participants was collected at the time of oocytes retrieval. Metabolomic analysis of FF was performed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. RESULTS: FF presents some significant differences in various infertility pathologies. Although it was not possible to discriminate between FF of control participants and women with tubal diseases and unexplained infertility, comparison of FF metabolic profile from control women with patients with endometriosis and PCOS revealed significant differences in some metabolites that can be correlated to the causes of infertility. CONCLUSION: NMR-based metabolic profiling may be successfully applied to find diagnostic biomarkers for PCOS and endometriosis and it might be also used to predict oocyte developmental potential and subsequent outcome.

NMR metabolomics study of follicular fluid in women with cancer resorting to fertility preservation.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible application of metabolomics to identify follicular fluid changes in cancer patients undergoing fertility preservation. Although metabolomics have been applied already in cancer studies, this is the first application on follicular fluid of cancer patients. METHODS: We selected for the study ten patients with breast cancer and lymphoma who resorted to oocyte cryopreservation to preserve fertility and ten healthy women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatments. Follicular fluid was collected at the time of oocytes retrieval. Metabolomic analysis of follicular fluids was performed by 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis to interpret the spectral data. Univariate statistical analysis was applied to find correlations between patients' features and metabolites identified by NMR. RESULTS: Partial least squares discriminant analysis allowed to discriminate samples from cancer patients and healthy controls. Univariate statistical analysis found significant correlations between patients' features and metabolites identified by NMR. This finding allowed to identify biomarkers to differentiate both healthy controls from cancer patients and the two different classes of oncological patients. CONCLUSION: The follicular fluids of cancer patients display significant metabolic alterations in comparison to healthy subjects. NMR-based metabolomics could be a valid prognostic tool for identifying and selecting the best cryopreserved oocytes and improving the outcome prediction in cancer women undergoing in vitro fertilization.

Dysregulation of gene expression in ABCC6 knockdown HepG2 cells.

ABCC6 protein is an ATP-dependent transporter that is mainly found in the basolateral plasma membrane of hepatocytes. ABCC6 deficiency is the primary cause of several forms of ectopic mineralization syndrome. Mutations in the human ABCC6 gene cause pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), an autosomal recessive disease characterized by ectopic calcification of the elastic fibers in dermal, ocular and vascular tissues. Mutations in the mouse ABCC6 gene were also associated with dystrophic cardiac calcification. Reduced levels of ABCC6 protein were found in a ß-thalassemic mouse model. Moreover, some cases of generalized arterial calcification in infancy are due to ABCC6 mutations. In order to study the role of ABCC6 in the pathogenesis of ectopic mineralization, the expressions of genes involved in this process were evaluated in HepG2 cells upon stable knockdown of ABCC6 by small hairpin RNA (shRNA) technology. ABCC6 knockdown in HepG2 cells causes a significant upregulation of the genes promoting mineralization, such as TNAP, and a parallel downregulation of genes with anti-mineralization activity, such as NT5E, Fetuin A and Osteopontin. Although the absence of ABCC6 has been already associated with ectopic mineralization syndromes, this study is the first to show a direct relationship between reduced ABCC6 levels and the expression of pro-mineralization genes in hepatocytes.

Structural characterization of the L0 cytoplasmic loop of human multidrug resistance protein 6 (MRP6).

ABCC6 is a member of the C subfamily of ATP-binding cassette transporters whose mutations are correlated to Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, an autosomal recessive, progressive disorder characterized by ectopic mineralization and fragmentation of elastic fibers. Structural studies of the entire protein have been hindered by its large size, membrane association, and domain complexity. Studies previously performed have contributed to shed light on the structure and function of the nucleotide binding domains and of the N-terminal region. Here we report the expression in E. coli of the polypeptide E205-G279 contained in the cytoplasmic L0 loop. For the first time structural studies in solution were performed. Far-UV CD spectra showed that L0 is structured, assuming predominantly α-helix in TFE solution and turns in phosphate buffer. Fluorescence spectra indicated some flexibility of the regions containing aromatic residues. 1H NMR spectroscopy identified three helical regions separated by more flexible regions.

The P-glycoprotein inhibitor diltiazem-like 8-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-methyl-8-[(2Z)-pent-2-en-1-yloxy]-8H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[3,4-c][1,4]thiazin-3-one inhibits esterase activity and H3 histone acetylation.

With the aim to reduce multidrug resistance several molecules were synthesized and tested for their ability to inhibit ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins, which are responsible for drugs transport out from cells. The compound 8-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-methyl-8-[(2Z)-pent-2-en-1-yloxy]-8H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[3,4-c][1,4]thiazin-3-one namely 2c, is structurally related to the myocardial-calcium-channel-modulator diltiazem and is considered one of the most efficient P-glycoprotein inhibitors, able to induce apoptosis at low concentrations of doxorubicin in multidrug resistant ovarian cells. In this study experiments were carried out to evaluate other biological activities of compound 2c. We verified the ability of 2c to inhibit ABC transporters do not involved in drug resistance and considering the inhibitory effect of diltiazem on recombinant human carboxylesterase, we observed its inhibitory effect on the esterase activity. Our findings demonstrated that 2c exhibits broad-spectrum activity as ABC transporters inhibitor being able to inhibit ABCC6, a protein belonging to the ABC family although poorly involved in drug resistance. 2c also inhibits cell esterase activity, acetylcholine esterase activity in vitro and cell histone H3 acetylation according to its structural homology with some known HAT inhibitors. The results obtained provide new knowledge on the biological activities of 2c and represent useful information when it is used as an inhibitor of drug resistance.

Extracellular ATP Regulates CD73 and ABCC6 Expression in HepG2 Cells.

The ATP-binding cassette sub-family C member 6 transporter (ABCC6) is an ATP dependent transporter mainly found in the basolateral plasma membrane of hepatic and kidney cells. Mutations in ABCC6 gene were associated to the Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), an autosomal recessive disease characterized by a progressive ectopic calcification of elastic fibers in dermal, ocular, and vascular tissues. It is reported that the over-expression of ABCC6 in HEK293 cells results in the cellular efflux of ATP and other nucleoside triphosphates, which in turn are rapidly converted into nucleoside monophosphates and pyrophosphate (PPi). Since PPi is an inhibitor of mineralization, it was proposed that the absence of circulating PPi in PXE patients results in the ectopic mineralization, a typical feature of PXE. In the extracellular environment, ATP is converted, not only into pyrophosphate, but also into AMP by an ectonucleosidase, which in turn is transformed into adenosine and phosphate. ABCC6 protein is thus involved in the production of extracellular adenosine and therefore it could have a role in the activation of the purinergic system. In the liver, purinergic signaling has been shown to regulate key basic cellular functions. Our previous studies showed that in ABCC6 knockdown HepG2 cells the expression of some genes, related with the calcification processes, is dysregulated. In this study, experiments have been carried out in order to verify if ABCC6, besides supplying the pyrophosphate required to prevent the mineralization of soft tissues, also plays a role in the activation of the purinergic system. For this purpose, the transport activity of ABCC6 was blocked with Probenecid and the expression of ABCC6 and NT5E was analyzed with real time PCR and western blotting. The results of this study showed that both proteins are downregulated in the presence of Probenecid and upregulated in the presence of adenosine or ATP.

Direct Detection of Membrane-Inserting Fragments Defines the Translocation Pores of a Family of Pathogenic Toxins.

Large clostridial toxins (LCTs) are a family of homologous proteins toxins that are directly responsible for the symptoms associated with a number of clostridial infections that cause disease in humans and in other animals. LCTs damage tissues by delivering a glucosyltransferase domain, which inactivates small GTPases, across the endosomal membrane and into the cytosol of target cells. Elucidating the mechanism of translocation for LCTs has been hampered by difficulties associated with identifying marginally hydrophobic segments that insert into the bounding membrane to form the translocation pore. Here, we directly measured the membrane-insertion partitioning propensity for segments spanning the putative pore-forming region using a translocon-mediated insertion assay and synthetic peptides. We identified membrane-inserting segments, as well as a conserved and functionally important negatively charged residue that requires protonation for efficient membrane insertion. We provide a model of the LCT pore, which provides insights into translocation for this enigmatic family of α-helical translocases.

Membrane insertion and topology of the amino-terminal domain TMD0 of multidrug-resistance associated protein 6 (MRP6).

The function of the ATP-binding cassette transporter MRP6 is unknown but mutations in its gene cause pseudoxanthoma elasticum. We have investigated the membrane topology of the N-terminal transmembrane domain TMD0 of MRP6 and the membrane integration and orientation propensities of its transmembrane segments (TMs) by glycosylation mapping. Results demonstrate that TMD0 has five TMs, an Nout-Cin topology and that the less hydrophobic TMs have strong preference for their orientation in the membrane that affects the neighboring TMs. Two disease-causing mutations changing the number of positive charges in the loops of TMD0 did not affect the membrane insertion efficiencies of the adjacent TMs.

Expression, purification and structural characterization of up-regulated gene 7 encoded protein.

Up-Regulated Gene 7 (URG7) is a host gene up-regulated in HBV infected hepatocytes that has been suggested to have an anti-apoptotic activity mediated by caspases 3 and 8 and an endoplasmic reticulum localization. Here we report the structural characterization of the encoded protein URG7 by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy in different solvent media: phosphate buffer and two membrane-mimetic solvents, i.e. 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) and SDS micelles. In all solvents URG7 contains substantial amounts of secondary structures. To obtain information about the structural organization and stability of URG7, its thermal denaturation in a membrane environment was studied and intermediate states of thermal unfolding were observed. Furthermore, fluorescence results in SDS micelles could be compatible with different environments for the four tryptophan residues in URG7. Preliminary NMR data indicate that URG7 in TFE solution is quite flexible and not well folded. These data are the first structural information on URG7 and might provide an insight into its structure-function relationships.