Effects of 2-bromoethanamine on TonEBP expression and its possible role in induction of renal papillary necrosis in mice

Osmolytes resist against harsh osmolarity: Something old something new

From the halophilic bacteria to human, cells have to survive under the stresses of harsh environments. Hyperosmotic stress is a process that triggers cell shrinkage, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis and it potentially contributes to a number of human diseases. Remarkably, by high salts and organic solutes concentrations, a variety of organisms struggle with these conditions. Different strategies have been developed for cellular osmotic adaptations among which organic osmolyte synthesis/accumulation is a conserved once. Osmolytes are naturally occurring solutes used by cells of several halophilic (micro) organisms to preserve cell volume and function. In this review, the osmolytes diversity and their protective roles in harsh hyperosmolar environments from bacteria to human cells are highlighted. Moreover, it provides a close look at mammalian kidney osmoregulation at a molecular level. This review provides a concise view on the recent developments and advancements on the applications of osmolytes. Identification of disease-related osmolytes and their targeted-delivery may be used as a therapeutic measurement for treatment of the pathological conditions and the inherited diseases related to protein misfolding and aggregation. The molecular and cellular aspects of cell adaptation against harsh environmental osmolarity will benefit the development of effective drugs for many diseases.

Evolutionary history and metabolic insights of ancient mammalian uricases

Uricase is an enzyme involved in purine catabolism and is found in all three domains of life. Curiously, uricase is not functional in some organisms despite its role in converting highly insoluble uric acid into 5-hydroxyisourate. Of particular interest is the observation that apes, including humans, cannot oxidize uric acid, and it appears that multiple, independent evolutionary events led to the silencing or pseudogenization of the uricase gene in ancestral apes. Various arguments have been made to suggest why natural selection would allow the accumulation of uric acid despite the physiological consequences of crystallized monosodium urate acutely causing liver/kidney damage or chronically causing gout. We have applied evolutionary models to understand the history of primate uricases by resurrecting ancestral mammalian intermediates before the pseudogenization events of this gene family. Resurrected proteins reveal that ancestral uricases have steadily decreased in activity since the last common ancestor of mammals gave rise to descendent primate lineages. We were also able to determine the 3D distribution of amino acid replacements as they accumulated during evolutionary history by crystallizing a mammalian uricase protein. Further, ancient and modern uricases were stably transfected into HepG2 liver cells to test one hypothesis that uricase pseudogenization allowed ancient frugivorous apes to rapidly convert fructose into fat. Finally, pharmacokinetics of an ancient uricase injected in rodents suggest that our integrated approach provides the foundation for an evolutionarily-engineered enzyme capable of treating gout and preventing tumor lysis syndrome in human patients.