Visualization of myosin in living cells

Myosin light chains labeled with rhodamine are incorporated into myosin-containing structures when microinjected into live muscle and nonmuscle cells. A mixture of myosin light chains was prepared from chicken skeletal muscle, labeled with the fluorescent dye iodoacetamido rhodamine, and separated into individual labeled light chains, LC-1, LC-2, and LC-3. In isolated rabbit and insect myofibrils, the fluorescent light chains bound in a doublet pattern in the A bands with no binding in the cross-bridge-free region in the center of the A bands. When injected into living embryonic chick myotubes and cardiac myocytes, the fluorescent light chains were also incorporated along the complete length of the A band with the exception of the pseudo-H zone. In young myotubes (3-4 d old), myosin was localized in aperiodic as well as periodic fibers. The doublet A band pattern first appeared in 5-d-old myotubes, which also exhibited the first signs of contractility. In 6-d and older myotubes, A bands became increasingly more aligned, their edges sharper, and the separation between them (I bands) wider. In nonmuscle cells, the microinjected fluorescent light chains were incorporated in a striated pattern in stress fibers and were absent from foci and attachment plaques. When the stress fibers of live injected cells were disrupted with DMSO, fluorescently labeled myosin light chains were present in the cytoplasm but did not enter the nucleus. Removal of the DMSO led to the reformation of banded, fluorescent stress fibers within 45 min. In dividing cells, myosin light chains were concentrated in the cleavage furrow and became reincorporated in stress fibers after cytokinesis. Thus, injected nonmuscle cells can disassemble and reassemble contractile fibers using hybrid myosin molecules that contain muscle light chains and nonmuscle heavy chains. Our experiments demonstrate that fluorescently labeled myosin light chains from muscle can be readily incorporated into muscle and nonmuscle myosins and then used to follow the dynamics of myosin distribution in living cells.

Cytochrome P450 in Cancer Susceptibility and Treatment

Cytochrome 450 (CYP450) designates a group of enzymes abundant in smooth endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes and epithelial cells of small intestines. The main function of CYP450 is oxidative catalysis of various endogenous and exogenous substances. CYP450 are implicated in phase I metabolism of 80% of drugs currently in use, including anticancer drugs. They are also involved in synthesis of various hormones and influence hormone-related cancers. CYP450 genes are highly polymorphic and their variants play an important role in cancer risk and treatment. Association studies and meta-analyses have been performed to decipher the role of CYP450 polymorphisms in cancer susceptibility. Cancer treatment involves multimodal therapies and evaluation of CYP450 polymorphisms is necessary for pharmacogenetic assessment of anticancer therapy outcomes. In addition, CYP450 inhibitors are being evaluated for improved pharmacokinetics and oral formulation of several anticancer drugs.

Visualization of intermediate filaments in living cells using fluorescently labeled desmin

Fluorescently labeled desmin was incorporated into intermediate filaments when microinjected into living tissue culture cells. The desmin, purified from chicken gizzard smooth muscle and labeled with the fluorescent dye iodoacetamido rhodamine, was capable of forming a network of 10-nm filaments in solution. The labeled protein associated specifically with the native vimentin filaments in permeabilized, unfixed interphase and mitotic PtK2 cells. The labeled desmin was microinjected into living, cultured embryonic skeletal myotubes, where it became incorporated in straight fibers aligned along the long axis of the myotubes. Upon exposure to nocodazole, microinjected myotubes exhibited wavy, fluorescent filament bundles around the muscle nuclei. In PtK2 cells, an epithelial cell line, injected desmin formed a filamentous network, which colocalized with the native vimentin intermediate filaments but not with the cytokeratin networks and microtubular arrays. Exposure of the injected cells to nocadazole or acrylamide caused the desmin network to collapse and form a perinuclear cap that was indistinguishable from vimentin caps in the same cells. During mitosis, labeled desmin filaments were excluded from the spindle area, forming a cage around it. The filaments were partitioned into two groups either during anaphase or at the completion of cytokinesis. In the former case, the perispindle desmin filaments appeared to be stretched into two parts by the elongating spindle. In the latter case, a continuous bundle of filaments extended along the length of the spindle and appeared to be pinched in two by the contracting cleavage furrow. In these cells, desmin filaments were present in the midbody where they gradually were removed as the desmin filament network became redistributed throughout the cytoplasm of the spreading daughter cells.

Binding and distribution of fluorescently labeled filamin in permeabilized and living cells

This study reports the first development of a fluorescently labeled filamin. Smooth muscle filamin was labeled with fluorescent dyes in order to study its interaction with stress fibers and myofibrils, both in living cells and in permeabilized cells. The labeled filamin bound to the Z bands of isolated cross-striated myofibrils and to the Z bands and intercalated discs in both permeabilized embryonic cardiac myocytes and in frozen sections of adult rat ventricle. In permeabilized embryonic chick myotubes, filamin bound to early myotubes but was absent at later stages. In living embryonic chick myotubes, the fluorescently labeled filamin was incorporated into the Z bands of myofibrils during early and late stages of development but was absent during an intermediate stage. In living cardiac myocytes, filamin-IAR was incorporated into nascent as well as fully formed sarcomeres throughout development. In permeabilized nonmuscle cells, labeled filamin bound to attachment plaques and foci of polygonal networks and to the dense bodies in stress fibers. The periodic bands of filamin in stress fibers had a longer spacing in fibroblasts than in epithelial cells. When injected into living cells, filamin was readily incorporated into stress fibers in a striated pattern. The fluorescent filamin bands were broader in injected cells, however, than they were in permeabilized cells. We have interpreted these results from living and permeabilized cells to mean that native filamin is distributed along the full length of the actin filaments in the stress fibers, with a higher concentration present in the dense bodies. A sarcomeric model is presented indicating the position of filamin with respect to other proteins in the stress fiber.

Expression of desmin cDNA in PtK2 cells results in assembly of desmin filaments from multiple sites throughout the cytoplasm

The assembly of intermediate filaments into a cytoplasmic network was studied by microinjecting into the nuclei and cytoplasms of PtK2 cells, plasmids that contained a full length desmin cDNA and an RSV promoter. Immunofluorescence was used to monitor the expression of desmin and its integration into the cells' vimentin intermediate filament network. We found that the expressed desmin co-localized with filaments of vimentin just as it does with fluorescently labelled desmin is microinjected into the cytoplasm of PtK2 cells. As early as two hours after microinjection of the plasmids, small discrete dots and short fragments of desmin could be detected throughout the cytoplasm of the cells. This initial distribution of desmin was superimposed on the filamentous pattern of vimentin in the cells. At 8 hours after microinjection of the plasmids, some of the desmin was present in long filaments that were coincident with vimentin filaments. By 18 hours, most of the desmin was in a filamentous network co-localizing with vimentin. There was no indication that desmin assembly began in the perinuclear region and proceeded toward the cell periphery. In some cells, excessively high levels of desmin were expressed. In these cases, overexpression led to clumping of desmin filaments as well as to an accumulation of diffusely distributed desmin protein in the center of the cells. This effect was apparent at approximately 18 hours after introduction of the plasmid. The native vimentin filaments in such cells were also aggregated around the nucleus, co-localizing with desmin. The microtubule networks in all injected cells appeared normal; microtubules were extended in typical arrays out to the periphery of the cells.

Targeting the hedgehog pathway for gallbladder cancer therapy?

Gallbladder carcinoma is a fatal malignancy of hepatobiliary tract that is generally diagnosed at advanced stages of cancer because of its asymptomatic nature. Advanced GBC tumors are unresectable with poor prognosis. Improvement in GBC patient care requires better understanding of the biological signaling pathways and application of newly discovered drugs for cancer therapy. Herein, we discuss the possibilities and challenges in targeting the hedgehog pathway in gallbladder cancer therapy based on recent developments in the area.

Genetics of gallstone disease

Gallstone disease is a complex disorder where both environmental and genetic factors contribute towards susceptibility to the disease. Epidemiological and family studies suggest a strong genetic component in the causation of this disease. Several genetically derived phenotypes in the population are responsible for variations in lipoprotein types, which in turn affect the amount of cholesterol available in the gall bladder. The genetic polymorphisms in various genes for apo E, apo B, apo A1, LDL receptor, cholesteryl ester transfer and LDL receptor-associated protein have been implicated in gallstone formation. However, presently available information on genetic differences is not able to account for a large number of gallstone patients. The molecular studies in the animal models have not only confirmed the present paradigm of gallstone formation but also helped in identification of novel genes in humans, which might play an important role in pathogenesis of the disease. Precise understanding of such genes and their molecular mechanisms may provide the basis of new targets for rational drug designs and dietary interventions.

Genotype-phenotype correlation in Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy patients seen at Lucknow

The molecular basis of two allelic forms of muscular dystrophy, Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD), has been explained by frame shift hypothesis. In order to test this hypothesis, deletional mutations in 59 patients confirmed to have DMD and 11 BMD patients were analysed using multiplex polymerase chain reaction and Southern hybridization with dystrophin cDNA probes. Translational reading frame of the dystrophin gene was derived from 'Border type' analysis of exons flanking the intragenic deletions. The correlation between genotype (reading frame) and phenotype (clinical severity) showed higher number of DMD patients (approximately 20%) deviating from the frame shift hypothesis. The patients who deviated had deletions at the central hot spot region of the dystrophin gene. The presence of these deviations in a large number of DMD patients highlights the difficulties in predicting the clinical progression of the disease based only on DNA profile.

Effect on emergence from anesthesia following induction with diazepam and its association with CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 gene polymorphisms

Introduction & Objectives: Benzodiazepines are commonly used as adjuvants to IV anesthetic agents. Diazepam dosage varies widely depending on the desired endpoints. The rationale behind such inter-individual variability in drug responses has been attributed to genetically determined alterations in the enzyme activities. We assessed the emergence time in patients after induction of anesthesia with two different doses of diazepam and evaluated if any correlation exists between the emergence time and genetic polymorphism in drug metabolizers CYP2C19, CYP2C9, and CYP3A4 genes. Methodology: The study was conducted on randomly selected adult patients scheduled for elective surgery between 40-60 y of age with predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients were distributed into 2 groups, with group 1 receiving 0.2 mg/kg and group 2 given 0.3 mg/kg diazepam. Wake-up time after surgery was determined after a standardized verbal command played by a tape-recorder. Three ml blood in Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was collected before administering anesthesia. Results: Wake-up time between 8-18 min did not vary between the two groups. Comparatively persons having 2C19 2 took longer time to wake-up but this association was not statistically significant. However, CYP2C9 2 and 2 C9 3 and CYP3A4 genotypes had no influence on wake-up time. Conclusion: The pilot study suggests the emergence time from diazepam is longer in patients having 2C19 2 which confers slow-metabolizer phenotype. However, this study needs to be replicated in larger sample size to arrive at definitive conclusions before clinical applications. Abbreviations: BDZ- benzodiazepine; EDTA- Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; GA-General Anesthesia Key words: Diazepam; Emergence; Gene Polymorphism; Pharmacogenetics Citation: Mittal T, Badhe VK, Badhe DSD, Ahluwalia P, Mitta Bl, Mittal R. Effect on emergence from anesthesia following induction with diazepam and its association with CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 gene polymorphisms.  Anaesth. pain intensive care 2024;28(1):126-138. DOI: 10.35975/apic.v28i1.2380 Received: July 20, 2023; Reviewed: December 07, 2023; Accepted: December 07, 2023