Oomycete Soil Diversity Associated with Betula and Alnus in Forests and Urban Settings in the Nordic-Baltic Region.

This study aimed to determine the differences and drivers of oomycete diversity and community composition in alder- and birch-dominated park and natural forest soils of the Fennoscandian and Baltic countries of Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. For this, we sequenced libraries of PCR products generated from the DNA of 111 soil samples collected across a climate gradient using oomycete-specific primers on a PacBio high-throughput sequencing platform. We found that oomycete communities are most affected by temperature seasonality, annual mean temperature, and mean temperature of the warmest quarter. Differences in composition were partly explained by the higher diversity of Saprolegniales in Sweden and Norway, as both total oomycete and Saprolegniales richness decreased significantly at higher longitudes, potentially indicating the preference of this group of oomycetes for a more temperate maritime climate. None of the evaluated climatic variables significantly affected the richness of Pythiales or Peronosporales. Interestingly, the relative abundance and richness of Pythiales was higher at urban sites compared to forest sites, whereas the opposite was true for Saprolegniales. Additionally, this is the first report of Phytophthora gallica and P. plurivora in Estonia. Our results indicate that the composition of oomycetes in soils is strongly influenced by climatic factors, and, therefore, changes in climate conditions associated with global warming may have the potential to significantly alter the distribution range of these microbes, which comprise many important pathogens of plants.

Controlling the regioselectivity and stereospecificity of FAD-dependent polyamine oxidases with the use of amine-attached guide molecules as conformational modulators.

Enzymes generally display strict stereospecificity and regioselectivity for their substrates. Here by using FAD-dependent human acetylpolyamine oxidase (APAO), human spermine (Spm) oxidase (SMOX) and yeast polyamine oxidase (Fms1), we demonstrate that these fundamental properties of the enzymes may be regulated using simple guide molecules, being either covalently attached to polyamines or used as a supplement to the substrate mixtures. APAO, which naturally metabolizes achiral N1-acetylated polyamines, displays aldehyde-controllable stereospecificity with chiral 1-methylated polyamines, like (R)- and (S)-1-methylspermidine (1,8-diamino-5-azanonane) (1-MeSpd). Among the novel N1-acyl derivatives of MeSpd, isonicotinic acid (P4) or benzoic acid (Bz) with (R)-MeSpd had Km of 3.6 ± 0.6/1.2 ± 0.7 µM and kcat of 5.2 ± 0.6/4.6 ± 0.7 s-1 respectively, while N1 -AcSpd had Km 8.2 ± 0.4 µM and kcat 2.7 ± 0.0 s-1 On the contrary, corresponding (S)-MeSpd amides were practically inactive (kcat < 0.03 s-1) but they retained micromole level Km for APAO. SMOX did not metabolize any of the tested compounds (kcat < 0.05 s-1) that acted as non-competitive inhibitors having Ki ≥ 155 µM for SMOX. In addition, we tested (R,R)-1,12-bis-methylspermine (2,13-diamino-5,10-diazatetradecane) (R,R)-(Me2Spm) and (S,S)-Me2Spm as substrates for Fms1. Fms1 preferred (S,S)- to (R,R)-diastereoisomer, but with notably lower kcat in comparison with spermine. Interestingly, Fms1 was prone to aldehyde supplementation in its regioselectivity, i.e. the cleavage site of spermidine. Thus, aldehyde supplementation to generate aldimines or N-terminal substituents in polyamines, i.e. attachment of guide molecule, generates novel ligands with altered charge distribution changing the binding and catalytic properties with polyamine oxidases. This provides means for exploiting hidden capabilities of polyamine oxidases for controlling their regioselectivity and stereospecificity.

Overexpression of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase impairs osteoblastogenesis and alters mouse bone phenotype.

Spermidine/spermine N (1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT) is a catabolic regulator of polyamines, ubiquitous molecules essential for cell proliferation and differentiation. In pathological conditions, the increased polyamine catabolism has been shown to mediate its cellular functions not only by changed polyamine levels but also by the availability of metabolites shared with other metabolic pathways or by production of toxic compounds. Our previous results showed that mice overexpressing SSAT (SSAT mice) developed a myeloproliferative disease and the bone marrow microenvironment partly contributed to its development. In this study, the physiological role of SSAT and polyamines in bone remodeling was characterized. Skeletal development of the SSAT mice appeared outwardly similar to wild-type mice until maturity, after which the SSAT mice developed kyphosis. With aging, the SSAT overexpression elicited increased bone perimeter with strikingly thinned cortical bone, decreased trabecular thickness and increased trabecular number in mice. In vitro studies showed that the maturation of SSAT overexpressing osteoblasts was impaired and the expression of bone formation marker genes was dramatically decreased. The polyamine pattern in osteoblasts of SSAT mice was distorted in comparison with wild-type mice. However, treatment of osteoblasts with a SSAT-inducing functional polyamine analogue suggested that defective osteoblastogenesis resulted rather from other consequences of enhanced SSAT activity than lowered levels of the higher polyamines. In comparison to SSAT overexpressing mice, SSAT deficiency led to opposite changes in osteoblastogenesis and differences in bone phenotype in mice. In conclusion, the level of SSAT enzyme activity affected osteoblastogenesis and hence influenced bone remodeling and the bone phenotype in mice. Furthermore, our results suggest the contribution of the catabolic part of the polyamine cycle, other than polyamine depletion, in pathophysiological processes of bone remodeling.

Spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase activity associates with white blood cell count in myeloid leukemias.

The metabolism of polyamines, the cationic small molecules essential for cell proliferation and differentiation, is altered in cancer cells and can be exploited in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT), which regulates intracellular levels of polyamines by catabolizing spermidine and spermine, has a controversial role in the development of cancers. In this study, the polyamine metabolism and function of SSAT were characterized in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and acute lymphoid leukemia patient samples. Also, mice overexpressing SSAT and having a myeloproliferative phenotype were analyzed for their response to decitabine and histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A. The presence of epigenetic factors in the bone marrow cells of SSAT mice was analyzed. Elevated levels of spermidine and spermine, as well as increased activity of SSAT, were detected in AML, CML, and acute lymphoid leukemia patients compared with the controls. However, we found SSAT activity to be associated with white blood cell count only in AML and CML patients. Decitabine treatment brought the peripheral blood and bone marrow cell counts of SSAT mice to the level of wild-type mice. Spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase mice had increased histone methylation and an increased level of histone deacetylase 1 in their bone marrow cells. The study suggests that SSAT influences the development of myeloid malignancies, and epigenetic factors partly contribute to the SSAT overexpression-induced myeloproliferative disease in mice.

Systemic overexpression of antizyme 1 in mouse reduces ornithine decarboxylase activity without major changes in tissue polyamine homeostasis.

Polyamines, spermidine, spermine and their precursor putrescine, are ubiquitous cell components essential for normal cell growth. Increased polyamine levels and enhanced biosynthesis have been associated with malignant transformation and tumor formation, and thus, the polyamines have been considered to be a meaningful target to cancer therapies. However, clinical cancer treatment trials using inhibitors of polyamine synthesis have been unsuccessful probably due to compensatory uptake of polyamines from extracellular sources. The antizyme proteins regulate both polyamine biosynthesis and transport, and thus, the antizymes could provide an efficient approach to control cellular proliferation compared to the mere inhibition of biosynthesis. To define the role of antizymes in proliferative processes associated with the whole animal, we have generated transgenic mice overexpressing mouse antizyme 1 gene under its own regulatory sequences. Antizyme 1 protein was abundantly expressed in various organs and the expressed antizyme protein was functional as ornithine decarboxylase activity was significantly reduced in all tissues analyzed. However, antizyme 1 overexpression caused only minor changes in tissue polyamine levels demonstrating the challenges in using the "antizyme approach" to deplete polyamines in a living animal. Neither were there any changes in cellular proliferation in the proliferative tissues of transgenic animals. Interestingly though, there was occurrence of abnormally high level of apoptosis in the non-proliferating part of the colon epithelia. Otherwise, the transgenic founder mice appeared healthy and out of seven founders six were fertile. However, none of the founders could transmit the transgene suggesting that the antizyme 1 overexpression may be deleterious to transgenic gametes.

Enhanced polyamine catabolism disturbs hematopoietic lineage commitment and leads to a myeloproliferative disease in mice overexpressing spermidine/spermine N¹-acetyltransferase.

Spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT) regulates intracellular polyamine levels by catabolizing spermidine and spermine which are essential for cell proliferation and differentiation. Hematological characterization of SSAT overexpressing mice (SSAT mice) revealed enhanced myelopoiesis and thrombocytopoiesis leading to increased amounts of myeloid cells in bone marrow, peripheral blood, and spleen compared to wild-type animals. The level of SSAT activity in the bone marrow cells was associated with the bone marrow cellularity and spleen weight which both were significantly increased in SSAT mice. The result of bone marrow transplantations indicated that both the intrinsic SSAT overexpression of bone marrow cells and bone marrow microenvironment had an impact on the observed hematopoietic phenotype. The Lineage-negative Sca-1(+) c-Kit(+) hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment in SSAT mice, showed enhanced proliferation, increased proportion of long-term HSCs and affected expression of transcription factors associated with lineage priming and myeloid differentiation. The proportions of common myeloid and megakaryocytic/erythroid progenitors were decreased and the proportion of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors was increased in SSAT bone marrow. The data suggest that SSAT overexpression and the concomitantly accelerated polyamine metabolism in hematopoietic cells and bone marrow microenvironment affect lineage commitment and lead to the development of a mouse myeloproliferative disease in SSAT mice.

Pivotal Advance: Arginase-1-independent polyamine production stimulates the expression of IL-4-induced alternatively activated macrophage markers while inhibiting LPS-induced expression of inflammatory genes.

In macrophages, basal polyamine (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) levels are relatively low but are increased upon IL-4 stimulation. This Th2 cytokine induces Arg1 activity, which converts arginine into ornithine, and ornithine can be decarboxylated by ODC to produce putrescine, which is further converted into spermidine and spermine. Recently, we proposed polyamines as novel agents in IL-4-dependent E-cadherin regulation in AAMs. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that several, but not all, AAM markers depend on polyamines for their IL-4-induced gene and protein expression and that polyamine dependency of genes relies on the macrophage type. Remarkably, Arg1-deficient macrophages display rather enhanced IL-4-induced polyamine production, suggesting that an Arg1-independent polyamine synthesis pathway may operate in macrophages. On the other side of the macrophage activation spectrum, LPS-induced expression of several proinflammatory genes was increased significantly in polyamine-depleted CAMs. Overall, we propose Arg1 independently produced polyamines as novel regulators of the inflammatory status of the macrophage. Indeed, whereas polyamines are needed for IL-4-induced expression of several AAM mediators, they inhibit the LPS-mediated expression of proinflammatory genes in CAMs.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced anti-inflammatory acute phase response is enhanced in spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) overexpressing mice.

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an effective activator of the components of innate immunity. It has been shown that polyamines and their metabolic enzymes affect the LPS-induced immune response by modulating both pro- and anti-inflammatory actions. On the other hand, LPS causes changes in cellular polyamine metabolism. In this study, the LPS-induced inflammatory response in spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase overexpressing transgenic mice (SSAT mice) was analyzed. In liver and kidneys, LPS enhanced the activity of the polyamine biosynthetic enzyme ornithine decarboxylase and increased the intracellular putrescine content in both SSAT overexpressing and wild-type mice. In survival studies, the enhanced polyamine catabolism and concomitantly altered cellular polyamine pools in SSAT mice did not affect the LPS-induced mortality of these animals. However, in the acute phase of LPS-induced inflammatory response, the serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1ß and interferon-γ were significantly reduced and, on the contrary, anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 was significantly increased in the sera of SSAT mice compared with the wild-type animals. In addition, hepatic acute-phase proteins C-reactive protein, haptoglobin and α(1)-acid glycoprotein were expressed in higher amounts in SSAT mice than in the wild-type animals. In summary, the study suggests that SSAT overexpression obtained in SSAT mice enhances the anti-inflammatory actions in the acute phase of LPS-induced immune response.

Overexpression of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase or treatment with N1-N11-diethylnorspermine attenuates the severity of zinc-induced pancreatitis in mouse.

Depletion of pancreatic intracellular polyamine pools has been observed in acute pancreatitis both in the animal models and in humans. In this study, the wild-type mice, polyamine catabolic enzyme spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase overexpressing (SSAT mice) and SSAT-deficient mice were used to characterize the new zinc-induced acute pancreatitis mouse model and study the role of polyamines and polyamine catabolism in this model. Intraperitoneal zinc injection induced acute necrotizing pancreatitis in wild-type mice as well as in SSAT-overexpressing and SSAT-deficient mice. Serum α-amylase activity was significantly increased in all zinc-treated mice compared with the untreated controls. However, the α-amylase activities in SSAT mice were constantly lower than those in the other groups. Histopathological examination of pancreatic tissue revealed edema, acinar cell necrosis and necrotizing inflammation, typical for acute pancreatitis. Compared with the other zinc-treated mice less damage according to the histopathological analysis was observed in the pancreatic tissue of SSAT mice. Levels of intracellular spermidine, and occasionally spermine, were significantly decreased in pancreases of all zinc-treated animals and SSAT enzyme activity was enhanced both in wild-type and SSAT mice. Interestingly, a spermine analog, N(1), N(11)-diethylnorspermine (DENSpm), enhanced the proliferation of pancreatic cells and reduced the severity of zinc-induced pancreatitis in wild-type mice. The results show that in mice a single intraperitoneal zinc injection causes acute necrotizing pancreatitis accompanied by decrease of intracellular polyamine pools. The study supports the important role of polyamines for the integrity and function of the pancreas. In addition, the study suggests that whole body overexpression of SSAT obtained in SSAT mice reduces inflammatory pancreatic cell injury.

The activation of hepatic and muscle polyamine catabolism improves glucose homeostasis.

The mitochondrial biogenesis and energy expenditure regulator, PGC-1α, has been previously reported to be induced in the white adipose tissue (WAT) and liver of mice overexpressing spermidine/spermine N (1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT). The activation of PGC-1α in these mouse lines leads to increased number of mitochondria, improved glucose homeostasis, reduced WAT mass and elevated basal metabolic rate. The constant activation of polyamine catabolism produces a futile cycle that greatly reduces the ATP pools and induces 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which in turn activates PGC-1α in WAT. In this study, we have investigated the effects of activated polyamine catabolism on the glucose and energy metabolisms when targeted to specific tissues. For that we used a mouse line overexpressing SSAT under the endogenous SSAT promoter, an inducible SSAT overexpressing mouse model using the metallothionein I promoter (MT-SSAT), and a mouse model with WAT-specific SSAT overexpression (aP2-SSAT). The results demonstrated that WAT-specific SSAT overexpression was sufficient to increase the number of mitochondria, reduce WAT mass and protect the mice from high-fat diet-induced obesity. However, the improvement in the glucose homeostasis is achieved only when polyamine catabolism is enhanced at the same time in the liver and skeletal muscle. Our results suggest that the tissue-specific targeting of activated polyamine catabolism may reveal new possibilities for the development of drugs boosting mitochondrial metabolism and eventually for treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Tissue-specific alternative splicing of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase.

The polyamines, spermidine and spermine, are abundant organic cations participating in many important cellular processes. We have previously shown that the rate-limiting enzyme of polyamine catabolism, spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT), has an alternative mRNA splice variant (SSATX) which undergoes degradation via nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway, and that the intracellular polyamine level regulates the ratio of the SSATX and SSAT splice variants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of SSATX level manipulation on SSAT activity in cell culture, and to examine the in vivo expression levels of SSATX and SSAT mRNA. Silencing SSATX expression with small interfering RNA led to increased SSAT activity. Furthermore, transfection of SSAT-deficient cells with mutated SSAT gene (which produced only trace amount of SSATX) yielded higher SSAT activity than transfection with natural SSAT gene (which produced both SSAT and SSATX). Blocking NMD in vivo by protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide resulted in accumulation of SSATX mRNA, and like in cell culture, the increase of SSATX mRNA was prevented by administration of polyamine analog N(1),N(11)-diethylnorspermine. Although SSATX/total SSAT mRNA ratio did not correlate with polyamine levels or SSAT activity between different tissues, increasing polyamine levels in a given tissue led to decreased SSATX/total SSAT mRNA ratio and vice versa. Taken together, the regulated unproductive splicing and translation of SSAT has a physiological relevance in modulating SSAT activity. However, in addition to polyamine level there seems to be additional factors regulating tissue-specific alternative splicing of SSAT.

Transgenic rodents with altered SSAT expression as models of pancreatitis and altered glucose and lipid metabolism.

Depletion of pancreatic acinar cell polyamines in response to activation of polyamine catabolism is associated with the development of acute pancreatitis in experimental rodent models. The disease is characterized by general hallmarks seen also in human pancreatitis, such as accumulation of intraperitoneal ascites, acinar cell necrosis, and pancreatic as well as remote organ edema and inflammation. Thus, these animals make useful models for the human disease. Determination of these hallmarks can be used to assess the severity of the disease and to evaluate the efficacy of any therapy applied. The metabolic changes seen in genetically modified mice with either accelerated or inactivated polyamine catabolism have revealed that polyamine catabolism is involved in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. The simplest method to determine the metabolic phenotype of the animal is to assess the concentrations of blood metabolites. Fasting blood glucose level is an indicator of overall glucose homeostasis, whereas fasting insulin level is a useful marker of insulin sensitivity. A more detailed analysis of glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity can be obtained by intraperitoneal glucose and insulin tolerance tests. Blood lipid levels mainly reflect triglyceride, free fatty acid, and cholesterol metabolism. Altered blood glucose and/or lipid levels are associated with several diseases, e.g., diabetes, Cushing's syndrome, hyperthyroidism, atherosclerosis, pancreatitis, and dysfunction of the liver and kidneys.

Spermidine is indispensable in differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts to adipocytes.

Impaired adipogenesis has been shown to predispose to disturbed adipocyte function and development of metabolic abnormalities. Previous studies indicate that polyamines are essential in the adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 fibroblasts. However, the specific roles of individual polyamines during adipogenesis have remained ambiguous as the natural polyamines are readily interconvertible inside the cells. Here, we have defined the roles of spermidine and spermine in adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells by using (S')- and (R')- isomers of alpha-methylspermidine and (S,S')-, (R,S)- and (R,R')-diastereomers of alpha,omega-bismethylspermine. Polyamine depletion caused by alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, prevented adipocyte differentiation by suppressing the expression of its key regulators, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha. Adipogenesis was restored by supplementation of methylspermidine isomers but not of bismethylspermine diastereomers. Although both spermidine analogues supported adipocyte differentiation only (S)-methylspermidine was able to fully support cell growth after extended treatment with alpha-DFMO. The distinction between the spermidine analogues in maintaining growth was found to be in their different capability to maintain functional hypusine synthesis. However, the differential ability of spermidine analogues to support hypusine synthesis did not correlate with their ability to support differentiation. Our results show that spermidine, but not spermine, is essential for adipogenesis and that the requirement of spermidine for adipogenesis is not strictly associated with hypusine modification. The involvement of polyamines in the regulation of adipogenesis may offer a potential application for the treatment of dysfunctional adipocytes in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Spermine analogue-regulated expression of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase and its effects on depletion of intracellular polyamine pools in mouse fetal fibroblasts.

SSAT (Spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase, also known as SAT1), the key enzyme in the catabolism of polyamines, is turned over rapidly and there is only a low amount present in the cell. In the present study, the regulation of SSAT by spermine analogues, the inducers of the enzyme, was studied in wild-type mouse fetal fibroblasts, expressing endogenous SSAT, and in the SSAT-deficient mouse fetal fibroblasts transiently expressing an SSAT-EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) fusion gene. In both cell lines treatments with DENSpm (N(1),N(11)-diethylnorspermine), CPENSpm (N(1)-ethyl-N(11)-[(cyclopropyl)-methy]-4,8-diazaundecane) and CHENSpm (N(1)-ethyl-N(11)-[(cycloheptyl)methy]-4,8-diazaundecane) led to high, moderate or low induction of SSAT activity respectively. The level of activity detected correlated with the presence of SSAT and SSAT-EGFP proteins, the latter localizing both in the cytoplasm and nucleus. RT-PCR (reverse transcription-PCR) results suggested that the analogue-affected regulation of SSAT-EGFP expression occurred, mainly, after transcription. In wild-type cells, DENSpm increased the amount of SSAT mRNA, and both DENSpm and CHENSpm affected splicing of the SSAT pre-mRNA. Depleted intracellular spermidine and spermine levels inversely correlated with detected SSAT activity. Interestingly, the analogues also reduced polyamine levels in the SSAT-deficient cells expressing the EGFP control. The results from the present study show that the distinct SSAT regulation by different analogues involves regulatory actions at multiple levels, and that the spermine analogues, in addition to inducing SSAT, lower intracellular polyamine pools by SSAT-independent mechanisms.

Transgenic animals modelling polyamine metabolism-related diseases.

Cloning of genes related to polyamine metabolism has enabled the generation of genetically modified mice and rats overproducing or devoid of proteins encoded by these genes. Our first transgenic mice overexpressing ODC (ornithine decarboxylase) were generated in 1991 and, thereafter, most genes involved in polyamine metabolism have been used for overproduction of the respective proteins, either ubiquitously or in a tissue-specific fashion in transgenic animals. Phenotypic characterization of these animals has revealed a multitude of changes, many of which could not have been predicted based on the previous knowledge of the polyamine requirements and functions. Animals that overexpress the genes encoding the inducible key enzymes of biosynthesis and catabolism, ODC and SSAT (spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase) respectively, appear to possess the most pleiotropic phenotypes. Mice overexpressing ODC have particularly been used as cancer research models. Transgenic mice and rats with enhanced polyamine catabolism have revealed an association of rapidly depleted polyamine pools and accelerated metabolic cycle with development of acute pancreatitis and a fatless phenotype respectively. The latter phenotype with improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity is useful in uncovering the mechanisms that lead to the opposite phenotype in humans, Type 2 diabetes. Disruption of the ODC or AdoMetDC [AdoMet (S-adenosylmethionine) decarboxylase] gene is not compatible with mouse embryogenesis, whereas mice with a disrupted SSAT gene are viable and show no harmful phenotypic changes, except insulin resistance at a late age. Ultimately, the mice with genetically altered polyamine metabolism can be used to develop targeted means to treat human disease conditions that they relevantly model.

Alpha-methylated polyamines as potential drugs and experimental tools in enzymology.

We describe synthesis of alpha-methylated analogues of the natural polyamines and their use as tools in unraveling polyamine functions. Experiments with alpha-methylated spermidine and spermine revealed that the polyamines are exchangeable in supporting cellular growth. Degradation of the analogues by polyamine oxidase disclosed hidden, aldehyde-guided stereospecificity of the enzyme.

Mice with targeted disruption of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase gene maintain nearly normal tissue polyamine homeostasis but show signs of insulin resistance upon aging.

The N(1)-acetylation of spermidine or spermine by spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT) is the ratecontrolling enzymatic step in the polyamine catabolism. We have now generated SSAT knockout (SSAT-KO) mice, which confirmed our earlier results with SSATdeficient embryonic stem (ES) cells showing only slightly affected polyamine homeostasis, mainly manifested as an elevated molar ratio of spermidine to spermine in most tissues indicating the indispensability of SSAT for the spermidine backconversion. Contrary to SSAT deficient ES cells, polyamine pools in SSAT-KO mice remained almost unchanged in response to N(1),N(11)-diethylnorspermine (DENSPM) treatment compared to a significant reduction of the polyamine pools in the wild-type animals and ES cells. Furthermore, SSATKO mice were more sensitive to the toxicity exerted by DENSPM in comparison with wild-type mice. The latter finding indicates that inducible SSAT plays an essential role in vivo in DENSPM treatmentevoked polyamine depletion, but a controversial role in toxicity of DENSPM. Surprisingly, liver polyamine pools were depleted similarly in wild-type and SSAT-KO mice in response to carbon tetrachloride treatment. Further characterization of SSAT knockout mice revealed insulin resistance at old age which supported the role of polyamine catabolism in glucose metabolism detected earlier with our SSAT overexpressing mice displaying enhanced basal metabolic rate, high insulin sensitivity and improved glucose tolerance. Therefore SSAT knockout mice might serve as a novel mouse model for type 2 diabetes.

Reproductive meristem fates in Gerbera.

Flowering plants go through several phases between regular stem growth and the actual production of flower parts. The stepwise conversion of vegetative into inflorescence and floral meristems is usually unidirectional, but under certain environmental or genetic conditions, meristems can revert to an earlier developmental identity. Vegetative meristems are typically indeterminate, producing organs continuously, whereas flower meristems are determinate, shutting down their growth after reproductive organs are initiated. Inflorescence meristems can show either pattern. Flower and inflorescence development have been investigated in Gerbera hybrida, an ornamental plant in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Unlike the common model species used to study flower development, Gerbera inflorescences bear a fixed number of flowers, and the architecture of the flowers differ in that Gerbera ovaries are inferior (borne below the perianth). This architectural difference has been exploited to show that floral meristem determinacy and identity are spatially and genetically distinct in Gerbera, and we have shown that a single SEPALLATA-like MADS domain factor controls both flower and inflorescence meristem fate in the plant. Although these phenomena have not been directly observed in Arabidopsis, the integrative role of the SEPALLATA function in reproductive meristem development may be general for all flowering plants.

Polyamine-regulated unproductive splicing and translation of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase.

Spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT), the rate-controlling enzyme in the interconversion of spermidine and spermine, is regulated by polyamines and their analogs at many levels of gene expression. Recently, SSAT pre-mRNA has been shown to undergo alternative splicing by inclusion of an exon that contains premature termination codons. In the present study, we show that alterations in the intracellular polyamine level resulted in a change in the relative abundance of SSAT transcripts. Addition of polyamines or their N-diethylated analogs reduced the amount of the variant transcript, whereas polyamine depletion by 2-difluoromethylornithine or MG-132 enhanced the exon inclusion. Experiments performed with protein synthesis inhibitors and siRNA-mediated down-regulation of Upf1 protein verified that the variant transcript was degraded by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). Interestingly, several proteins have been shown to regulate their expression by alternative splicing-coupled NMD, termed regulated unproductive splicing and translation (RUST). Our present results suggest that in the case of SSAT, RUST is mediated by polyamines, and this system functions to fine-tune the polyamine metabolism.

Genetic manipulation of polyamine catabolism in rodents.

Activation of polyamine catabolism through the overexpression of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) in transgenic rodents does not only lead to distorted tissue polyamine homeostasis, manifested as striking accumulation of putrescine, appearance N1-acetylspermidine and reduction of tissue spermidine and/or spermine pools, but likewise creates striking phenotypic changes. The latter include loss of hair, lipoatrophy and female infertility. Forced expression of SSAT modulates skin, prostate and intestinal carcinogenesis, induces acute pancreatitis and blocks early liver regeneration. Although many of these features are directly attributable to altered tissue polyamine pools, some of them are more likely related to the greatly accelerated flux of the polyamines caused by activated catabolism and compensatorily enhanced biosynthesis.