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De Simone G, di Masi A, Ascenzi P. Strategies of Pathogens to Escape from NO-Based Host Defense. Antioxidants (Basel) 2022; 11:2176. [PMID: 36358549 PMCID: PMC9686644 DOI: 10.3390/antiox11112176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Nitric oxide (NO) is an essential signaling molecule present in most living organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. NO participates in a wide range of biological processes including vasomotor tone, neurotransmission, and immune response. However, NO is highly reactive and can give rise to reactive nitrogen and oxygen species that, in turn, can modify a broad range of biomolecules. Much evidence supports the critical role of NO in the virulence and replication of viruses, bacteria, protozoan, metazoan, and fungi, thus representing a general mechanism of host defense. However, pathogens have developed different mechanisms to elude the host NO and to protect themselves against oxidative and nitrosative stress. Here, the strategies evolved by viruses, bacteria, protozoan, metazoan, and fungi to escape from the NO-based host defense are overviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Paolo Ascenzi
- Laboratorio Interdipartimentale di Microscopia Elettronica, Via della Vasca Navale 79, 00146 Roma, Italy
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Phuphisut O, Kobpornchai P, Chusongsang P, Limpanont Y, Kanjanapruthipong T, Ampawong S, Reamtong O, Adisakwattana P. Molecular characterization and functional analysis of Schistosoma mekongi neuroglobin homolog. Acta Trop 2022; 231:106433. [PMID: 35364046 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Schistosomes are blood-dwelling parasites that are constantly exposed to high-level oxidative stress arising from parasite-intrinsic and host defense mechanisms. To survive in their hosts, schistosomes require an antioxidant system to minimize with oxidative stress. Several schistosome antioxidant enzymes have been identified and have been suggested to play indispensable antioxidant roles for the parasite. In addition to antioxidant enzymes, non-enzymatic antioxidants including small molecules, peptides, and proteins have been identified and characterized. Neuroglobin (Ngb), a nervous system-specific heme-binding protein, has been classified as a non-enzymatic antioxidant and is capable of scavenging a variety of free radical species. The antioxidant activity of Ngb has been well-studied in humans. Ngb is involved in cellular oxygen homeostasis and reactive oxygen/nitrogen scavenging in the central and peripheral nervous systems, but its functions in schistosome parasites have not yet been characterized. In this study, we aimed to characterize the molecular properties and functions of Schistosoma mekongi Ngb (SmeNgb) using bioinformatic, biochemical, and molecular biology approaches. The amino acid sequence of Ngb was highly conserved among schistosomes as well as closely related trematodes. SmeNgb was abundantly localized in the gastrodermis, vitelline, and ovary of adult female S. mekongi worms as well as in the tegument of adult male worms. Assessment of antioxidant activity demonstrated that recombinant SmeNgb had Fe2+ chelating and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities. Intriguingly, siRNA silencing of SmeNgb gene expression resulted in tegument pathology. Understanding the properties and functions of SmNgb will help in future development of effective treatments and vaccines against S. mekongi, other schistosome parasites, and other platyhelminths.
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Rasti B, Shahangian SS. Proteochemometric modeling of the origin of thymidylate synthase inhibition. Chem Biol Drug Des 2018; 91:1007-1016. [PMID: 29251822 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 11/09/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Behnam Rasti
- Department of Microbiology; Faculty of Basic Sciences; Lahijan Branch; Islamic Azad University (IAU); Lahijan Guilan Iran
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Ascenzi P, di Masi A, Leboffe L, Fiocchetti M, Nuzzo MT, Brunori M, Marino M. Neuroglobin: From structure to function in health and disease. Mol Aspects Med 2016; 52:1-48. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2016.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2016] [Revised: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 10/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Hermes-Uliana C, Pereira-Severi LS, Luerdes RB, Franco CLM, da Silva AV, Araújo EJDA, Sant'Ana DDMG. Chronic infection with Toxoplasma gondii causes myenteric neuroplasticity of the jejunum in rats. Auton Neurosci 2010; 160:3-8. [PMID: 20932812 DOI: 10.1016/j.autneu.2010.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2010] [Revised: 08/31/2010] [Accepted: 09/02/2010] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an aetiological agent of toxoplasmosis, which commonly causes diarrhoea in a number of species. This observation and the parasite's affinity for the nervous tissue support the theory that T. gondii infection may affect the myenteric neurons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes caused by T. gondii (genotype III) in the myenteric neurons of the jejunum in rats. Fifteen rats were distributed into three groups: control (CG), inoculated for 30 days (G30) and inoculated for 90 days (G90). Rats from the G30 and G90 groups received an oral inoculum with 500 oocysts from a genotype III (M7741) T. gondii strain. At 180 days of age, all animals were anaesthetised and euthanised. Whole mounts were stained by using Giemsa (total population) and NADPH-diaphorase (nitrergic subpopulation) histochemistry. Maintenance of the width, length, area and neuronal density was observed; there was neuronal atrophy in the G30 group and a tendency to hypertrophy in the G90 group. Rats inoculated orally with sporulated oocysts did not show clinical illness or macroscopic or microscopic lesions, as do the majority of animal species. Therefore, infection was confirmed by a serum agglutination test; 30 days of infection caused increased weight gain and atrophy of myenteric neurons. At 90 days post-infection, weight gain became normal, and myenteric neurons hypertrophied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catchia Hermes-Uliana
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal, Universidade Paranaense, Paraná, Brazil
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Hendgen-Cotta UB, Flögel U, Kelm M, Rassaf T. Unmasking the Janus face of myoglobin in health and disease. J Exp Biol 2010; 213:2734-40. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.041178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
SUMMARY
For more than 100 years, myoglobin has been among the most extensively studied proteins. Since the first comprehensive review on myoglobin function as a dioxygen store by Millikan in 1939 and the discovery of its structure 50 years ago, multiple studies have extended our understanding of its occurrence, properties and functions. Beyond the two major roles, the storage and the facilitation of dioxygen diffusion, recent physiological studies have revealed that myoglobin acts as a potent scavenger of nitric oxide (NO•) representing a control system that preserves mitochondrial respiration. In addition, myoglobin may also protect the heart against reactive oxygen species (ROS), and, under hypoxic conditions, deoxygenated myoglobin is able to reduce nitrite to NO• leading to a downregulation of the cardiac energy status and to a decreased heart injury after reoxygenation. Thus, by controlling the NO• bioavailability via scavenging or formation, myoglobin serves as part of a sensitive dioxygen sensory system. In this review, the physiological relevance of these recent findings are delineated for pathological states where NO• and ROS bioavailability are known to be critical determinants for the outcome of the disease, e.g. ischemia/reperfusion injury. Detrimental and beneficial effects of the presence of myoglobin are discussed for various states of tissue oxygen tension within the heart and skeletal muscle. Furthermore, the impact of myoglobin on parasite infection, rhabdomyolysis, hindlimb and liver ischemia, angiogenesis and tumor growth are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- U. B. Hendgen-Cotta
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Angiology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - U. Flögel
- Department of Cardiovascular Physiology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - M. Kelm
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Angiology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - T. Rassaf
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Angiology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Abstract
Cellular damage occurring under oxidative conditions has been ascribed mainly to the formation of peroxynitrite (ONOOH/ONOO(-)) that originates from the reaction of NO(*) with O(2) (*-). The detrimental effects of peroxynitrite are exacerbated by the reaction with CO(2) that leads to ONOOC(O)O(-), which further decays to the strong oxidant radicals NO(2) (*) and CO(3) (*-). The reaction with CO(2), however, may redirect peroxynitrite specificity. An excessive formation of peroxynitrite represents an important mechanism contributing to the DNA damage, the inactivation of metabolic enzymes, ionic pumps, and structural proteins, and the disruption of cell membranes. Because of its ability to oxidize biomolecules, peroxynitrite is implicated in an increasing list of diseases, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disorders, inflammation, pain, autoimmunity, cancer, and aging. However, peroxynitrite displays also protective activities: (i) at high concentrations, it shows anti-viral, anti-microbial, and anti-parasitic actions; and (ii) at low concentrations, it stimulates protective mechanisms in the cardiovascular, nervous, and respiratory systems. The detrimental effects of peroxynitrite and related reactive species are impaired by (pseudo-) enzymatic systems, mainly represented by heme-proteins (e.g., hemoglobin and myoglobin). Here, we report biochemical aspects of peroxynitrite actions being at the root of its biomedical effects.
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Guimarães EV, Carvalho LD, Barbosa HS. Interaction and cystogenesis of Toxoplasma gondii within skeletal muscle cells in vitro. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2010; 104:170-4. [PMID: 19430639 DOI: 10.1590/s0074-02762009000200007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2008] [Accepted: 02/02/2009] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Infection by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is widely prevalent in humans and animals. To prevent human infection, all meat should be well cooked before consumption, since the parasite is present in skeletal muscle. In this context, the use of skeletal muscle cells (SkMCs) as a cellular model opens up new approaches to investigate T. gondii-host cell interactions. Immunofluorescent detection of proteins that are stage-specific for bradyzoites indicated that complete cystogenesis of T. gondii in in vitro cultures of SkMCs occurs after 96 h of infection. Ultrastructural analysis showed that, after 48 h of interaction, there were alterations on the parasitophorous vacuole membrane, including greater thickness and increased electron density at the inner face of the membrane. The present study demonstrates the potential use of primary cultures of SkMCs to evaluate different molecular aspects of T. gondii invasion and cystogenesis and presents a promising in vitro model for the screening of drug activities toward tissue cysts and bradyzoites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erick Vaz Guimarães
- Laboratório de Biologia Estrutural, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
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Rivero A. Nitric oxide: an antiparasitic molecule of invertebrates. Trends Parasitol 2006; 22:219-25. [PMID: 16545612 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2006.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2005] [Revised: 02/02/2006] [Accepted: 02/28/2006] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Since Furchgott, Ignarro and Murad won the Nobel prize in 1998 for their work on the role of nitric oxide (NO) as a signaling molecule, many reports have shown the seemingly limitless range of body functions controlled by this compound. In vertebrates, the role of NO as a defense against infection caused by viruses, bacteria, and protozoan and metazoan parasites has been known for several years. New evidence, however, shows that NO is also important in defending invertebrates against parasites. This discovery is a breakthrough in the understanding of how the invertebrate immune system works, and it has implications for the emerging field of invertebrate ecological immunology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rivero
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28006 Madrid, Spain and Génetique et Evolution des Maladies Infectieuses (CNRS UMR-IRD 2724), Montpellier 34394, France.
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