A Yeast-Based Functional Assay to Study Plant N-Degron - N-Recognin Interactions.

The N-degron pathway is a branch of the ubiquitin-proteasome system where amino-terminal residues serve as degradation signals. In a synthetic biology approach, we expressed ubiquitin ligase PRT6 and ubiquitin conjugating enzyme 2 (AtUBC2) from Arabidopsis thaliana in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with mutation in its endogenous N-degron pathway. The two enzymes re-constitute part of the plant N-degron pathway and were probed by monitoring the stability of co-expressed GFP-linked plant proteins starting with Arginine N-degrons. The novel assay allows for straightforward analysis, whereas in vitro interaction assays often do not allow detection of the weak binding of N-degron recognizing ubiquitin ligases to their substrates, and in planta testing is usually complex and time-consuming.

An electrochemiluminescence based assay for quantitative detection of endogenous and exogenously applied MeCP2 protein variants.

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a multifunctional chromosomal protein that plays a key role in the central nervous system. Its levels need to be tightly regulated, as both deficiency and excess of the protein can lead to severe neuronal dysfunction. Loss-of-function mutations affecting MeCP2 are the primary cause of Rett syndrome (RTT), a severe neurological disorder that is thought to result from absence of functional protein in the brain. Several therapeutic strategies for the treatment of RTT are currently being developed. One of them is the use of stable and native TAT-MeCP2 fusion proteins to replenish its levels in neurons after permeation across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here we describe the expression and purification of various transactivator of transcription (TAT)-MeCP2 variants and the development of an electrochemiluminescence based assay (ECLIA) that is able to measure endogenous MeCP2 and recombinant TAT-MeCP2 fusion protein levels in a 96-well plate format. The MeCP2 ECLIA produces highly quantitative, accurate and reproducible measurements with low intra- and inter-assay error throughout a wide working range. To underline its broad applicability, this assay was used to analyze brain tissue and study the transport of TAT-MeCP2 variants across an in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier.

Classical toy models for the monopole shift and the quadrupole shift.

The penetration of s- and p(1/2)-electrons into the atomic nucleus leads to a variety of observable effects. The presence of s-electrons inside the nucleus gives rise to the isotope shift in atomic spectroscopy, and to the isomer shift in Mössbauer spectroscopy. Both well-known phenomena are manifestations of the more general monopole shift. In a recent paper (Koch et al., Phys. Rev. A, 2010, 81, 032507), we discussed the existence of the formally analogous quadrupole shift: a tensor correction to the electric quadrupole interaction due to the penetration of relativistic p(1/2)-electrons into the nucleus. The quadrupole shift is predicted to be observable by high-accuracy molecular spectroscopy on a set of 4 molecules (the quadrupole anomaly). The simple physics behind all these related phenomena is easily obscured by an elaborate mathematical formalism that is required for their derivation: a multipole expansion in combination with perturbation theory, invoking quantum physics and ideally relativity. In the present paper, we take a totally different approach. We consider three classical 'toy models' that can be solved by elementary calculus, and that nevertheless contain all essential physics of the monopole and quadrupole shifts. We hope that this intuitive (yet exact) analysis will increase the understanding about multipole shift phenomena in a broader community.

Deconjugation and degradation of flavonol glycosides by pig cecal microbiota characterized by Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

As the bioavailability of flavonoids is influenced by intestinal metabolism, we have investigated the microbial deconjugation and degradation of several flavonols and flavonol glycosides using the pig cecum in vitro model system developed in our group. For this model system the microbiota was directly isolated from the cecal lumen of freshly slaughtered pigs. The characterization of the cecal microbiota by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with 16S rRNA-based oligonucleotide probes confirmed the suitability of the model system for studying intestinal metabolism by the human microbiota. We have investigated the microbial degradation of quercetin-3-O-beta-d-rutinoside 1, quercetin-3-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside 2, quercetin-4'-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside 3, quercetin-3-O-beta-d-galactopyranoside 4, quercetin-3- O-beta-d-rhamnopyranoside 5, quercetin-3- O-[alpha-l-dirhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-(1-->6)-beta-d-glucopyranoside 6, kaempferol-3-O-[alpha-l-dirhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-(1-->6)-beta-d-glucopyranoside 7, apigenin 8, apigenin-8- C-glucoside (vitexin) 9, and feruloyl-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside 10 (100 microM), representing flavonoids with different aglycones, sugar moieties, and types of glycosidic bonds. The degradation rate was monitored using HPLC-DAD. The flavonol O-glycosides under study were almost completely metabolized by the intestinal microbiota within 20 min and 4 h depending on the sugar moiety and the type of glycosidic bond. The degradation rates of the quercetin monoglycosides showed a clear dependency on the hydroxyl pattern of the sugar moiety. The degradation of 2 with all hydroxyl groups of the glucose in the equatorial position was the fastest. The intestinal metabolism of di- and trisaccharides was much slower compared to the monoglycosides. The structure of the aglycone has not much influence on the intestinal metabolism; however, the type of glycosidic bond ( C- or O-glycoside) has substantial influence on the degradation rate. The liberated aglycones were completely metabolized within 8 h. Phenolic compounds such as 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid 12, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid 13, and phloroglucinol 18 were detected by GC-MS as main degradation products.