Cell Cycle Control by Optogenetically Regulated Cell Cycle Inhibitor Protein p21.

The progression through the cell cycle phases is driven by cyclin-dependent kinases and cyclins as their regulatory subunits. As nuclear protein, the cell cycle inhibitor p21/CDKN1A arrests the cell cycle at the growth phase G1 by inhibiting the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases. The G1 phase correlates with increased cell size and cellular productivity. Here, we applied an optogenetic approach to control the subcellular localization of p21 and its nuclear functions. To generate light-controllable p21, appropriate fusions with the blue light switch cryptochrome 2/CIBN and the AsLOV-based light-inducible nuclear localization signal, LINuS, were used. Both systems, p21-CRY2/CIB1 and p21-LINuS, increased the amounts of cells arrested in the G1 phase correlating with the increased cell-specific productivity of the reporter-protein-secreted alkaline phosphatase. Varying the intervals of blue LED light exposure and the light dose enable the fine-tuning of the systems. Light-controllable p21 implemented in producer cell lines could be applied to steer the uncoupling of cell proliferation and cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase optimizing the production of biotherapeutic proteins.

Pleiotropic Functions of Nitric Oxide Produced by Ascorbate for the Prevention and Mitigation of COVID-19: A Revaluation of Pauling's Vitamin C Therapy.

Linus Pauling, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, suggested that a high dose of vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid) might work as a prevention or treatment for the common cold. Vitamin C therapy was tested in clinical trials, but clear evidence was not found at that time. Although Pauling's proposal has been strongly criticized for a long time, vitamin C therapy has continued to be tested as a treatment for a variety of diseases, including coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19). The pathogen of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, belongs to the ß-coronavirus lineage, which includes human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). This review intends to shed new light on vitamin C antiviral activity that may prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection through the chemical production of nitric oxide (NO). NO is a gaseous free radical that is largely produced by the enzyme NO synthase (NOS) in cells. NO produced by upper epidermal cells contributes to the inactivation of viruses and bacteria contained in air or aerosols. In addition to enzymatic production, NO can be generated by the chemical reduction of inorganic nitrite (NO2-), an alternative mechanism for NO production in living organisms. Dietary vitamin C, largely contained in fruits and vegetables, can reduce the nitrite in saliva to produce NO in the oral cavity when chewing foods. In the stomach, salivary nitrite can also be reduced to NO by vitamin C secreted from the epidermal cells of the stomach. The strong acidic pH of gastric juice facilitates the chemical reduction of salivary nitrite to produce NO. Vitamin C contributes in multiple ways to the host innate immune system as a first-line defense mechanism against pathogens. Highlighting chemical NO production by vitamin C, we suggest that controversies on the therapeutic effects of vitamin C in previous clinical trials may partly be due to less appreciation of the pleiotropic functions of vitamin C as a universal bioreductant.

Nucleocytoplasmic transport rates are regulated by cellular processes that modulate GTP availability.

Nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT), the facilitated diffusion of cargo molecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), enables numerous fundamental eukaryotic cellular processes. Ran GTPase uses cellular energy in the direct form of GTP to create a gradient across the nuclear envelope (NE) that drives the majority of NCT. We report here that changes in GTP availability resulting from altered cellular physiology modulate the rate of NCT, as monitored using synthetic and natural cargo, and the dynamics of Ran itself. Cell migration, cell spreading and/or modulation of the cytoskeleton or its connection to the nucleus alter GTP availability and thus rates of NCT, regulating RNA export and protein synthesis. These findings support a model in which changes in cellular physiology that alter GTP availability can regulate the rate of NCT, impacting fundamental cellular processes that extensively utilize NCT.

Optogenetic Control for Investigating Subcellular Localization of Fyn Kinase Activity in Single Live Cells.

Previous studies with various Src family kinase biosensors showed that the nuclear kinase activities are much suppressed compared to those in the cytosol, suggesting that these kinases are regulated differently in the nucleus and in the cytosol. In this study, using Fyn as an example, we first engineered a Fyn biosensor with a light-inducible nuclear localization signal to demonstrate that the Fyn kinase activity is significantly lower in the nucleus than in the cytosol. To understand how different equilibrium states between Fyn and the corresponding phosphatases are maintained in the cytosol and nucleus, we further engineered a Fyn kinase domain with light-inducible nuclear localization signal. The results revealed that the Fyn kinase can be actively transported into the nucleus upon light activation and upregulate the biosensor signals in the nucleus. Our results suggest that there is limited transport or diffusion of Fyn kinase between the cytosol and nucleus in the cells, which is important for the maintenance of different equilibrium states of Fyn in situ.

Optogenetic Repressors of Gene Expression in Yeasts Using Light-Controlled Nuclear Localization.

INTRODUCTION: Controlling gene expression is a fundamental goal of basic and synthetic biology because it allows insight into cellular function and control of cellular activity. We explored the possibility of generating an optogenetic repressor of gene expression in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae by using light to control the nuclear localization of nuclease-dead Cas9, dCas9. METHODS: The dCas9 protein acts as a repressor for a gene of interest when localized to the nucleus in the presence of an appropriate guide RNA (sgRNA). We engineered dCas9, the mammalian transcriptional repressor Mxi1, and an optogenetic tool to control nuclear localization (LINuS) as parts in an existing yeast optogenetic toolkit. This allowed expression cassettes containing novel dCas9 repressor configurations and guide RNAs to be rapidly constructed and integrated into yeast. RESULTS: Our library of repressors displays a range of basal repression without the need for inducers or promoter modification. Populations of cells containing these repressors can be combined to generate a heterogeneous population of yeast with a 100-fold expression range. We find that repression can be dialed modestly in a light dose- and intensity-dependent manner. We used this library to repress expression of the lanosterol 14-alpha-demethylase Erg11, generating yeast with a range of sensitivity to the important antifungal drug fluconazole. CONCLUSIONS: This toolkit will be useful for spatiotemporal perturbation of gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Additionally, we believe that the simplicity of our scheme will allow these repressors to be easily modified to control gene expression in medically relevant fungi, such as pathogenic yeasts.

Metabolic control by dehydroascorbic acid: Questions and controversies in cancer cells.

For a long time, the effect of vitamin C on cancer cells has been a controversial concept. From Linus Pauling's studies in 1976, it was proposed that ascorbic acid (AA) could selectively kill tumor cells. However, further research suggested that vitamin C has no effect on tumor survival. In the last decade, new and emerging functions for vitamin C have been discovered using the reduced form, AA, and the oxidized form, dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), independently. In this review, we summarized the latest findings related to the effects of DHA on the survival and metabolism of tumor cells. At the same time, we put special emphasis on the bystander effect and the recycling capacity of vitamin C in various cellular models, and how these concepts can affect the experimentation with vitamin C and its therapeutic application in the treatment against cancer.

The Molecular Basis of Evolution and Disease: A Cold War Alliance.

This paper extends previous arguments against the assumption that the study of variation at the molecular level was instigated with a view to solving an internal conflict between the balance and classical schools of population genetics. It does so by focusing on the intersection of basic research in protein chemistry and the molecular approach to disease with the enactment of global health campaigns during the Cold War period. The paper connects advances in research on protein structure and function as reflected in Christian Anfinsen's The molecular basis of evolution, with a political reading of Emilé Zuckerkandl and Linus Pauling's identification of molecular disease and evolution. Beyond atomic fallout, these advances constituted a rationale for the promotion of genetic surveys of human populations in the Third World, in connection with international health programs. Light is shed not only on the experimental roots of the molecular challenge but on the broader geopolitical context where the rising role of biomedicine and public health (particularly the malaria eradication campaigns) had an impact on evolutionary biology.

Linus Pauling, Roger Hayward und der Wert von Sichtbarmachungen.

Linus Pauling, Roger Hayward, and the Value of Visualizations. Linus Pauling's work was intrinsically linked to visualizations. While his use of three- and two-dimensional inscriptions has been the focus of much scholarly research, the production of visualizations remains a rather poorly studied subject. This article focuses on the cooperation between Pauling and Roger Hayward, an architect by profession who came to scientific illustration in the late 1920s. By concentrating on the papers of Pauling and Hayward I describe the workflow between scientist and illustrator. Although Hayward's visualizations were epistemically indispensable and economically profitable, they were never fully acknowledged as such. This was due to the ongoing conflicts caused by the economic strategies pursued by Pauling and his publisher, Hayward's personal style, and science's general disregard for images as epistemic instruments. I suggest that these contentious relationships between scientist, illustrator, and publisher are paradigmatic for the history of scientific visualization.