Oxidative decarboxylation of tris-(p-carboxyltetrathiaaryl)methyl radical EPR probes by peroxidases and related hemeproteins: intermediate formation and characterization of the corresponding cations.

Tris(p-carboxyltetrathiaaryl)methyl radicals (TAM*) are good EPR probes for measurement of dioxygen concentration in biological systems and for EPR imaging. It has been previously reported that these radicals are efficiently oxidized by superoxide, O2*(-), or alkylperoxyl radicals, ROO*, and by liver microsomes via an oxidative decarboxylation mechanism leading to the corresponding quinone-methides (QM). This article shows that peroxidases, such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP), lactoperoxidase (LPO) and prostaglandin synthase (PGHS), and other hemeproteins, such as methemoglobin (metHb), metmyoglobin (metMb) and catalase, also efficiently catalyze the oxidation of TAM* radicals to QM by H2O2 or alkylhydroperoxides. These reactions involve the intermediate formation of the corresponding cations TAM(+) that have also been cleanly generated by K2Ir(IV)Cl6 and characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, and through their reactions with ascorbate or H2O2. Labelling experiments on HRP-catalyzed oxidation of TAM* to QM using H2(18)O or (18)O2 in the presence of glucose and glucose oxidase (GOX) showed that the oxygen atom incorporated into QM came both from O2 and from H2O. Mechanisms for these reactions in agreement with those data were proposed. Oxidative decarboxylation of TAM* to QM is a new reaction catalyzed by peroxidases. Such reactions should be considered when using TAM* as EPR oximetry probes in vivo or in vitro in complex biological media.

Increased signaling by the autism-related Engrailed-2 protein enhances dendritic branching and spine density, alters synaptic structural matching, and exaggerates protein synthesis.

Engrailed 1 (En1) and 2 (En2) code for closely related homeoproteins acting as transcription factors and as signaling molecules that contribute to midbrain and hindbrain patterning, to development and maintenance of monoaminergic pathways, and to retinotectal wiring. En2 has been suggested to be an autism susceptibility gene and individuals with autism display an overexpression of this homeogene but the mechanisms remain unclear. We addressed in the present study the effect of exogenously added En2 on the morphology of hippocampal cells that normally express only low levels of Engrailed proteins. By means of RT-qPCR, we confirmed that En1 and En2 were expressed at low levels in hippocampus and hippocampal neurons, and observed a pronounced decrease in En2 expression at birth and during the first postnatal week, a period characterized by intense synaptogenesis. To address a putative effect of Engrailed in dendritogenesis or synaptogenesis, we added recombinant En1 or En2 proteins to hippocampal cell cultures. Both En1 and En2 treatment increased the complexity of the dendritic tree of glutamatergic neurons, but only En2 increased that of GABAergic cells. En1 increased the density of dendritic spines both in vitro and in vivo. En2 had similar but less pronounced effect on spine density. The number of mature synapses remained unchanged upon En1 treatment but was reduced by En2 treatment, as well as the area of post-synaptic densities. Finally, both En1 and En2 elevated mTORC1 activity and protein synthesis in hippocampal cells, suggesting that some effects of Engrailed proteins may require mRNA translation. Our results indicate that Engrailed proteins can play, even at low concentrations, an active role in the morphogenesis of hippocampal cells. Further, they emphasize the over-regulation of GABA cell morphology and the vulnerability of excitatory synapses in a pathological context of En2 overexpression.

STED microscope with spiral phase contrast.

Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy enables superresolution imaging of fluorescently marked nano-structures in vivo. Biological investigations are often hindered by the difficulty of relating super-resolved structures to other non-labeled features. Here we demonstrate that the similarity in optical design of Spiral Phase Contrast (SPC) and STED microscopes allows straightforward implementation of a phase contrast channel into a STED microscope in widefield and scanning modes. This method allows dual imaging and overlay in two contrast modes in fixed and in living specimens, in which double labeling is especially challenging. Living GFP- and YPF-stained neurons are imaged in one label-free phase contrast and one high-resolution STED channel. Furthermore, we implement SPC in widefield and scanning modes demonstrating that scanning confocal SPC yields the highest optical contrast. The latter configuration can provide contour detection or highlights and shadows reminiscent of differential interference contrast.