Bilirubin present in diverse angiosperms

Loss of Biliverdin Reductase Increases Oxidative Stress in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002

Oxygenic photosynthesis requires metal-rich cofactors and electron-transfer components that can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are highly toxic to cyanobacterial cells. Biliverdin reductase (BvdR) reduces biliverdin IXα to bilirubin, which is a potent scavenger of radicals and ROS. The enzyme is widespread in mammals but is also found in many cyanobacteria. We show that a previously described bvdR mutant of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 contained a secondary deletion mutation in the cpcB gene. The bvdR gene from Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 was expressed in Escherichia coli, and recombinant BvdR was purified and shown to reduce biliverdin to bilirubin. The bvdR gene was successfully inactivated in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, a strain that is naturally much more tolerant of high light and ROS than Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The bvdR mutant strain, BR2, had lower total phycobiliprotein and chlorophyll levels than wild-type cells. As determined using whole-cell fluorescence at 77 K, the photosystem I levels were also lower than those in wild-type cells. The BR2 mutant had significantly higher ROS levels compared to wild-type cells after exposure to high light for 30 min. Together, these results suggest that bilirubin plays an important role as a scavenger for ROS in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. The oxidation of bilirubin by ROS could convert bilirubin to biliverdin IXα, and thus BvdR might be important for regenerating bilirubin. These results further suggest that BvdR is a key component of a scavenging cycle by which cyanobacteria protect themselves from the toxic ROS byproducts generated during oxygenic photosynthesis.

Bilirubin is produced nonenzymatically in plants to maintain chloroplast redox status

Bilirubin, a potent antioxidant, is a product of heme catabolism in heterotrophs. Heterotrophs mitigate oxidative stress resulting from free heme by catabolism into bilirubin via biliverdin. Although plants also convert heme to biliverdin, they are generally thought to be incapable of producing bilirubin because they lack biliverdin reductase, the enzyme responsible for bilirubin biosynthesis in heterotrophs. Here, we demonstrate that bilirubin is produced in plant chloroplasts. Live-cell imaging using the bilirubin-dependent fluorescent protein UnaG revealed that bilirubin accumulated in chloroplasts. In vitro, bilirubin was produced nonenzymatically through a reaction between biliverdin and reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate at concentrations comparable to those in chloroplasts. In addition, increased bilirubin production led to lower reactive oxygen species levels in chloroplasts. Our data refute the generally accepted pathway of heme degradation in plants and suggest that bilirubin contributes to the maintenance of redox status in chloroplasts.

Roles of aryl hydrocarbon receptor in endothelial angiogenic responses†

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a transcription factor, which can be activated by a plethora of structure-diverse ligands. Historically, AhR is known for its involvements in regulation of metabolism of xenobiotics. However, normal physiological roles of AhR have been defined in other essential biological processes, including vascular growth and function, reproduction, and immunoresponses. In contrast, aberrant expression and activation of the AhR signaling pathway occur in a variety of human diseases, many of which (e.g., preeclampsia, atherosclerosis, and hypertension) could be associated with endothelial dysfunction. Indeed, emerging evidence has shown that either exogenous or endogenous AhR ligands can induce endothelial dysfunction in either an AhR-dependent or AhR-independent manner, possibly reliant on the blood vessel origin (artery and vein) of endothelial cells. Given that the AhR signaling pathway has broad impacts on endothelial and cardiovascular function, AhR ligands, AhR, and their downstream genes could be considered novel therapeutic targets for those endothelial-related diseases. This review will discuss the current knowledge of AhR's mediation on endothelial function and potential mechanisms underlying these actions with a focus on placental endothelial cells.

Defining the eco-enzymological role of the fungal strain Coniochaeta sp. 2T2.1 in a tripartite lignocellulolytic microbial consortium

Coniochaeta species are versatile ascomycetes that have great capacity to deconstruct lignocellulose. Here, we explore the transcriptome of Coniochaeta sp. strain 2T2.1 from wheat straw-driven cultures with the fungus growing alone or as a member of a synthetic microbial consortium with Sphingobacterium multivorum w15 and Citrobacter freundii so4. The differential expression profiles of carbohydrate-active enzymes indicated an onset of (hemi)cellulose degradation by 2T2.1 during the initial 24 hours of incubation. Within the tripartite consortium, 63 transcripts of strain 2T2.1 were differentially expressed at this time point. The presence of the two bacteria significantly upregulated the expression of one galactose oxidase, one GH79-like enzyme, one multidrug transporter, one laccase-like protein (AA1 family) and two bilirubin oxidases, suggesting that inter-kingdom interactions (e.g. amensalism) take place within this microbial consortium. Overexpression of multicopper oxidases indicated that strain 2T2.1 may be involved in lignin depolymerization (a trait of enzymatic synergism), while S. multivorum and C. freundii have the metabolic potential to deconstruct arabinoxylan. Under the conditions applied, 2T2.1 appears to be a better degrader of wheat straw when the two bacteria are absent. This conclusion is supported by the observed suppression of its (hemi)cellulolytic arsenal and lower degradation percentages within the microbial consortium.

The fluorescence quenching of Ru(bipy)32+ : an application for the determination of bilirubin in biological samples

A simple, sensitive and efficient fluorescence method has been established for the quantitative analysis of bilirubin. The fluorometric determination method was based on the kinetic quenching of ruthenium(II) fluorescence. The quenching effect may be due to the complexation reaction of bilirubin with ruthenium(II). Therefore, the effects of ruthenium concentrations and different surfactants have been studied. Under the optimized experimental parameters, the fluorescence intensity decreased proportionally with the bilirubin concentration and linearity was established in the range of 3.3 × 10^-7 to 3.0 × 10^-4  M bilirubin. The detection limit calculated from the calibration graph was found to be 5.2 × 10^-8  M. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of 10 consecutive measurements of 8.0 × 10^-6  M bilirubin was 3.0%, while the recoveries of bilirubin in both human serum and urine samples were obtained in the range 94.0-99.5%. The interference study shows that the developed fluorescence based technique is fast, easy to carry out and shows negligible interference. The developed technique was successfully applied for the analysis of bilirubin in human urine and serum samples. All the experimental results and quality parameters confirmed the sensitivity and reproducibility of the proposed technique for bilirubin determination in human urine and serum samples.

A novel and sensitive assay for heme oxygenase activity

Heme oxygenase (HO) is a renoprotective protein in the microsome that degrades heme and produces biliverdin. Biliverdin is then reduced to a potent antioxidant bilirubin by biliverdin reductase in the cytosol. Because HO activity does not necessarily correlate with HO mRNA or protein levels, a reliable assay is needed to determine HO activity. Spectrophotometric measurement is tedious and requires a relatively large amount of kidney samples. Moreover, bilirubin is unstable and spontaneously oxidized to biliverdin in vitro. We developed a novel and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to quantify biliverdin to measure HO activity in mice. Biliverdin and its internal standard, a deuterated biliverdin-d4, have MS/MS fragments with m/z transitions of 583 to 297 and 587 to 299, respectively. We prepared lysates of mouse kidneys, and added excess hemin, NADPH, and bilirubin oxidase to convert all bilirubin produced to biliverdin. After 30-min incubation at 37 or 4°C, the samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The difference in the amount of biliverdin between the two temperatures is HO activity. Treating mice with cobalt protoporphyrin, which induces the expression of HO, increased HO activity as determined by biliverdin production. Measuring the production of biliverdin using LC-MS/MS is a more sensitive and specific way to determine HO activity than the spectrophotometric method and allows the detection of subtle changes in renal or other HO activity.

Primary endosymbiosis and the evolution of light and oxygen sensing in photosynthetic eukaryotes

The origin of the photosynthetic organelle in eukaryotes, the plastid, changed forever the evolutionary trajectory of life on our planet. Plastids are highly specialized compartments derived from a putative single cyanobacterial primary endosymbiosis that occurred in the common ancestor of the supergroup Archaeplastida that comprises the Viridiplantae (green algae and plants), red algae, and glaucophyte algae. These lineages include critical primary producers of freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, progenitors of which provided plastids through secondary endosymbiosis to other algae such as diatoms and dinoflagellates that are critical to marine ecosystems. Despite its broad importance and the success of algal and plant lineages, the phagotrophic origin of the plastid imposed an interesting challenge on the predatory eukaryotic ancestor of the Archaeplastida. By engulfing an oxygenic photosynthetic cell, the host lineage imposed an oxidative stress upon itself in the presence of light. Adaptations to meet this challenge were thus likely to have occurred early on during the transition from a predatory phagotroph to an obligate phototroph (or mixotroph). Modern algae have recently been shown to employ linear tetrapyrroles (bilins) to respond to oxidative stress under high light. Here we explore the early events in plastid evolution and the possible ancient roles of bilins in responding to light and oxygen.