Finite element modeling and testing of a deformable carbon fiber reinforced polymer mirror.

Thin-shelled composite mirrors have been recently proposed for use as deformable mirrors in optical systems. Large-diameter deformable composite mirrors can be used in the development of active optical zoom systems. We present the fabrication, testing, and modeling of a prototype 0.2 m diameter carbon fiber reinforced polymer mirror for use as a deformable mirror. In addition, three actuation techniques have been modeled and will be presented.

Kinetin--a multiactive molecule.

Cytokinins are important adenine derivatives that serve as hormones to control many processes in plants. They were discovered as factors that promote cell division in tobacco tissue cultures and have been shown also to regulate several other developmental events. Kinetin which was isolated 50 years ago for the first time as a plant hormone, as well as other cytokinins isopentenyladenine, zeatin and benzylaminopurine induce callus (clusters of dedifferentiated plant cells) to redifferentiate into adventitious buds. Because of some similarities in the biological phenotypes of cancer and callus cells, cytokinins and especially kinetin, affect the differentiation of human cells through a common signal transduction system. Therefore, cytokinins found their way to use in molecular medicine.

Phage-displayed antibodies for the detection of glycated proteasome in aging cells.

Accumulation of posttranslationally damaged proteins during aging could explain the decline of cell performance with age. N(epsilon)-carboxymethyllysine (CML) is the major glycation product on damaged proteins, causing dysfunction and cross-linking. The proteasome, a multicatalytic degradation complex, is one of the pathways for eliminating damaged proteins, and thus regulating their accumulation within the cell. However, the proteinase activities of the proteasome decline during aging. This may be due to posttranslational modifications of the subunits forming the proteasome complex. Using phage display technology, we have selected 16 single-chain variable fragments (scFv) recognizing the CML-modified alpha7 subunit of the proteasome. Using one of them, Ab3, we have observed a five-fold increase of CML-alpha7 in old human skin fibroblasts in comparison with young fibroblasts and telomerase-immortalized bone marrow cells (hTERT-BMCs).

Understanding and modulating ageing.

Ageing is characterized by a progressive accumulation of molecular damage in nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. The inefficiency and failure of maintenance, repair and turnover pathways is the main cause of age-related accumulation of damage. Research in molecular gerontology is aimed at understanding the genetic and epigenetic regulation of survival and maintenance mechanisms at the levels of transcription, post-transcriptional processing, post-translational modifications, and interactions among various gene products. Concurrently, several approaches are being tried and tested to modulate ageing in a wide variety of organisms. The ultimate aim of such studies is to improve the quality of human life in old age and prolong the health-span. Various gerontomodulatory approaches include gene therapy, hormonal supplementation, nutritional modulation and intervention by free radical scavengers and other molecules. A recent approach is that of applying hormesis in ageing research and therapy, which is based on the principle of stimulation of maintenance and repair pathways by repeated exposure to mild stress. A combination of molecular, physiological and psychological modulatory approaches can realize "healthy ageing" as an achievable goal in the not-so-distant future.

Deconstructing PTI-1: PTI-1 is a truncated, but not mutated, form of translation elongatin factor 1A1, eEF1A1.

The prostate tumor-inducing gene 1 (PTI-1) transcript is detected in various human carcinoma cells. PTI-1 is reported to consist of a 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) homologous to mycoplasma 23S rRNA and a coding region corresponding to a truncated and mutated form of the translation elongation factor 1A, eEF1A. We have found that the PTI-1 transcript may encode a truncated, but not mutated, form of the human isoform eEF1A1. Additionally, the 5' UTR sequence of PTI-1 from genomic DNA of different cell lines and blood samples varies from the original sequence. This 5' -UTR region of PTI-1 presents a fusion of E. coli and Mycoplasma hyorhinis 23S rRNA. We have overexpressed the potential PTI-1 protein in E. coli and various human cell lines. The resulting protein could be detected by western blotting using anti-eEF1A antibodies. However, we were unable to detect the PTI-1 protein in LNCaP cell extracts. The potential roles of the PTI-1 protein in carcinogenesis and the origin of the PTI-1 gene in the human genome are discussed.

Mild heat stress stimulates 20S proteasome and its 11S activator in human fibroblasts undergoing aging in vitro.

Repeated mild heat shock (RMHS) has been shown to have several beneficial hormetic effects on human skin fibroblast undergoing aging in vitro. Because an age-related decline in proteasome activity is 1 of the reasons for the accumulation of abnormal proteins during aging, we have investigated the effects of RMHS on the 20S proteasome, which is the major proteolytic system involved in the removal of abnormal and oxidatively damaged proteins. Serially passaged human skin fibroblasts exposed to RMHS at 41 degrees C for 60 minutes twice a week had increased 3 proteasomal activities by 40% to 95% in early- and midpassage cultures. RMHS-treated cells also contained a 2-fold higher amount of the proteasome activator 11S, and the extent of the bound activator was double in early- and midpassage cells only. Furthermore, there was no difference in the content of the 19S proteasome regulator in the stressed and the unstressed cells. Therefore, RMHS-induced proteasome stimulation in early- and midpassage fibroblasts appears to be due to an induction and enhanced binding of 11S proteasome activators. In contrast to this, the proteasomal system in late-passage senescent cells appears to be less responsive to the stimulatory effects of mild heat shock.

Qbeta-phage resistance by deletion of the coiled-coil motif in elongation factor Ts.

Elongation factor Ts (EF-Ts) is the guanine-nucleotide exchange factor of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), which promotes the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to the mRNA-programmed ribosome in prokaryotes. The EF-Tu.EF-Ts complex, one of the EF-Tu complexes during protein synthesis, is also a component of RNA-dependent RNA polymerases like the polymerase from coliphage Qbeta. The present study shows that the Escherichia coli mutant GRd.tsf lacking the coiled-coil motif of EF-Ts is completely resistant to phage Qbeta and that Qbeta-polymerase complex formation is not observed. GRd.tsf is the first E. coli mutant ever described that is unable to form a Qbeta-polymerase complex while still maintaining an almost normal growth behavior. The phage resistance correlates with an observed instability of the mutant EF-Tu.EF-Ts complex in the presence of guanine nucleotides. Thus, the mutant EF-Tu.EF-Ts is the first EF-Tu.EF-Ts complex ever described that is completely inactive in the Qbeta-polymerase complex despite its almost full activity in protein synthesis. We propose that the role of EF-Ts in the Qbeta-polymerase complex is to control and trap EF-Tu in a stable conformation with affinity for RNA templates while unable to bind aminoacyl-tRNA.

Functional effects of deleting the coiled-coil motif in Escherichia coli elongation factor Ts.

Elongation factor Ts (EF-Ts) is the guanine nucleotide-exchange factor for elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) that is responsible for promoting the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to the mRNA-programmed ribosome. The structure of the Escherichia coli EF-Tu-EF-Ts complex reveals a protruding antiparallel coiled-coil motif in EF-Ts, which is responsible for the dimerization of EF-Ts in the crystal. In this study, the sequence encoding the coiled-coil motif in EF-Ts was deleted from the genome in Escherichia coli by gene replacement. The growth rate of the resulting mutant strain was 70-95% of that of the wild-type strain, depending on the growth conditions used. The mutant strain sensed amino acid starvation and synthesized the nucleotides guanosine 5'-diphosphate 3'-diphosphate and guanosine 5'-triphosphate 3'-diphosphate at a lower cell density than the wild-type strain. Deletion of the coiled-coil motif only partially reduced the ability of EF-Ts to stimulate the guanine nucleotide exchange in EF-Tu. However, the concentration of guanine nucleotides (GDP and GTP) required to dissociate the mutant EF-Tu-EF-Ts complex was at least two orders of magnitude lower than that for the wild-type complex. The results show that the coiled-coil motif plays a significant role in the ability of EF-Ts to compete with guanine nucleotides for the binding to EF-Tu. The present results also indicate that the deletion alters the competition between EF-Ts and kirromycin for the binding to EF-Tu.

Caspase-1 and caspase-8 cleave and inactivate cellular parkin.

Lesions in the parkin gene cause early onset Parkinson's disease by a loss of dopaminergic neurons, thus demonstrating a vital role for parkin in the survival of these neurons. Parkin is inactivated by caspase cleavage, and the major cleavage site is after Asp126. Caspases responsible for parkin cleavage were identified by several experimental paradigms. Transient coexpression of caspases and wild type parkin in HEK-293 cells identified caspase-1, -3, and -8 as efficient inducers of parkin cleavage whereas caspase-2, -7, -9, and -11 did not induce cleavage. A D126A parkin mutation abrogates cleavage induced by caspase-1 and -8, but not by caspase-3. In anti-Fas-treated Jurkat T cells, parkin cleavage was inhibited by caspase inhibitors hFlip and CrmA (but not by X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP)), indicating that caspase-8 (but not caspase-3) is responsible for the parkin cleavage in this model. Moreover, induction of apoptosis in caspase-3-deficient MCF7 cells, either by caspase-1 or -8 overexpression or by tumor necrosis factor-alpha treatment, led to parkin cleavage. These results demonstrate that caspase-1 and -8 can directly cleave parkin and suggest that death receptor activation and inflammatory stress can cause loss of the ubiquitin ligase activity of parkin, thus causing accumulation of toxic parkin substrates and triggering dopaminergic cell death.

Identification of keratinocyte-specific markers using phage display and mass spectrometry.

Specific molecular markers for various normal and pathogenic cell states and cell types provide knowledge of basic biological systems and have a direct application in targeted therapy. We describe a proteomic method based on the combination of new and improved phage display antibody technologies and mass spectrometry that allows identification of cell type-specific protein markers. The most important features of the method are (i) reduction of experimental noise originating from background binding of phage particles and (ii) isolation of affinity binders after a single round of selection, which assures a high diversity of binders. The method demonstrates, for the first time, the ability to detect, identify, and analyze both secreted and membrane-associated extracellular proteins as well as a variety of different cellular structures including proteins and carbohydrates. The optimized phage display method was applied to analysis of human skin keratinocytes resulting in the isolation of a panel of antibodies. Fourteen of these antibodies were further characterized, half of which predominantly recognized keratinocytes in a screen of a range of different cell types. Three cognate keratinocyte antigens were subsequently identified by mass spectrometry as laminin-5, plectin, and fibronectin. The combination of phage display technology with mass spectrometry methods for protein identification is a general and promising approach for proteomic analysis of cell surface complexity.

"Action-at-a distance" of a new DNA oxidative damage product 6-furfuryl-adenine (kinetin) on template properties of modified DNA.

N(6)-furfuryladenine (kinetin, K) was shown to have cytokinin activity and antiageing effects. It also appears to protect DNA against oxidative damage mediated by the Fenton reaction. Kinetin was identified as a natural component of DNA in plant extract, calf thymus DNA, fresh DNA preparations from human cell culture, as well as in human urine. A proposed mechanism of kinetin synthesis includes furfural, the oxidative damage product of a 2-deoxyribose moiety of DNA, which reacts with an adenine residue to form N(6)-furfuryladenine at DNA level. The identification of kinetin in plant cell extracts, as well as human urine, suggests its excision from DNA by repair mechanisms. Since such a bulky modification as kinetin induces conformational changes of DNA, this could lead to mutations. Therefore, it was interesting to analyze an effect of kinetin on coding properties of DNA. Chemically synthesized oligodeoxynucleotide (20-mer) containing kinetin AAAACTGCCGTCCTGAKGAT was used as a primer. It was elongated in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a template plasmid pEW1 harboring a 210-bp fragment of DNA derived from the 5' end of HIV mRNA. The PCR product of that length containing kinetin in position 17 from the 5' end was isolated and sequenced. Interestingly, DNA polymerase correctly incorporates thymine opposite of kinetin (an adenine derivative) on the complementary strand, but the misincorporations occur in a vicinity of the modified base.

Mild stress-induced stimulation of heat-shock protein synthesis and improved functional ability of human fibroblasts undergoing aging in vitro.

Repeated mild heat-shock (RMHS) treatment has anti-aging hormetic effects on human fibroblasts undergoing aging in vitro. Since heat and various other stresses induce the transcription and translation of heat-shock proteins (Hsp), it was investigated if RMHS treatment affected the basal levels of four major stress proteins Hsp27, 70, 90 and Hsc70. The basal levels of Hsp27, Hsc70, and Hsp70 increased significantly in late passage senescent cells, which is indicative of an adaptive response to cumulative intracellular stress during aging. RMHS increased the levels of these Hsp even in early passage young cells and were maintained high throughout their replicative lifespan. In comparison, the amount of Hsp90 decreased both with aging and RMHS treatment in vitro. However, whereas the difference in the levels of Hsp70 and Hsp90 was statistically significant, the levels of Hsp27 and Hsc70 were statistically similar in normal and RMHS-treated serially passaged cells. These alterations were accompanied by an improved functional and survival ability of the cells in terms of increased proteasomal activities, increased ability to decompose H(2)O(2), reduced accumulation of lipofuscin and enhanced resistance to ethanol, H(2)O(2) and UV-A radiation.

Functional improvement of antibody fragments using a novel phage coat protein III fusion system.

Functional expressions of proteins often depend on the presence of host specific factors. Frequently recombinant expression strategies of proteins in foreign hosts, such as bacteria, have been associated with poor yields or significant loss of functionality. Improvements in the performance of heterologous expression systems will benefit present-day quests in structural and functional genomics where high amounts of active protein are required. One example, which has been the subject of considerable interest, is recombinant antibodies or fragments thereof as expressions of these in bacteria constitute an easy and inexpensive method compared to hybridoma cultures. Such approaches have, however, often suffered from low yields and poor functionality. A general method is described here which enables expressions of functional antibody fragments when fused to the amino-terminal domain(s) of the filamentous phage coat protein III. Furthermore, it will be shown that the observed effect is neither due to improved stability nor increased avidity.