Leveraging the ATP-P2X7 receptor signalling axis to alleviate traumatic CNS damage and related complications

The P2X7 receptor is an exceptional member of the P2X purinergic receptor family, with its activation requiring high concentrations of extracellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) that are often associated with tissue damage and inflammation. In the central nervous system (CNS), it is highly expressed in glial cells, particularly in microglia. In this review, we discuss the role and mechanisms of the P2X7 receptor in mediating neuroinflammation and other pathogenic events in a variety of traumatic CNS damage conditions, which lead to loss of neurological and cognitive functions. We raise the perspective on the steady progress in developing CNS-penetrant P2X7 receptor-specific antagonists that leverage the ATP-P2X7 receptor signaling axis as a potential therapeutic strategy to alleviate traumatic CNS damage and related complications.

Structural basis for the functional properties of the P2X7 receptor for extracellular ATP

The P2X7 receptor, originally known as the P2Z receptor due to its distinctive functional properties, has a structure characteristic of the ATP-gated ion channel P2X receptor family. The P2X7 receptor is an important mediator of ATP-induced purinergic signalling and is involved the pathogenesis of numerous conditions as well as in the regulation of diverse physiological functions. Functional characterisations, in conjunction with site-directed mutagenesis, molecular modelling, and, recently, structural determination, have provided significant insights into the structure–function relationships of the P2X7 receptor. This review discusses the current understanding of the structural basis for the functional properties of the P2X7 receptor.

Methods to account for movement and flexibility in cryo-EM data processing

Recent advances in direct electron detectors and improved CMOS cameras have been accompanied by the development of a range of software to take advantage of the data they produce. In particular they allow for the correction of two types of motion in cryo electron microscopy samples: motion correction for movements of the sample particles in the ice, and differential masking to account for heterogeneity caused by flexibility within protein complexes. Here we provide several scripts that allow users to move between RELION and standalone motion correction and centring programs. We then compare the computational cost and improvements in data quality with each program. We also describe our masking procedures to account for conformational flexibility. For the different elements of this study we have used three samples; a high symmetry virus, flexible protein complex (∼1 MDa) and a relatively small protein complex (∼550 kDa), to benchmark four widely available motion correction packages. Using these as test cases we demonstrate how motion correction and differential masking, as well as an additional particle re-centring protocol can improve final reconstructions when used within the RELION image-processing package.

Enzymes of type II fatty acid synthesis and apicoplast differentiation and division in Eimeria tenella

Apicomplexan parasites, Eimeria tenella, Plasmodium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii, possess a homologous plastid-like organelle termed the apicoplast, derived from the endosymbiotic enslavement of a photosynthetic alga. However, currently no eimerian nuclear encoded apicoplast targeted proteins have been identified, unlike in Plasmodium spp. and T. gondii. In this study, we demonstrate that nuclear encoded enoyl reductase of E. tenella (EtENR) has a predicted N-terminal bipartite transit sequence, typical of apicoplast-targeted proteins. Using a combination of immunocytochemistry and EM we demonstrate that this fatty acid biosynthesis protein is located in the apicoplast of E. tenella. Using the EtENR as a tool to mark apicoplast development during the Eimeria lifecycle, we demonstrate that nuclear and apicoplast division appear to be independent events, both organelles dividing prior to daughter cell formation, with each daughter cell possessing one to four apicoplasts. We believe this is the first report of multiple apicoplasts present in the infectious stage of an apicomplexan parasite. Furthermore, the microgametes lacked an identifiable apicoplast consistent with maternal inheritance via the macrogamete. It was found that the size of the organelle and the abundance of EtENR varied with developmental stage of the E. tenella lifecycle. The high levels of EtENR protein observed during asexual development and macrogametogony is potentially associated with the increased synthesis of fatty acids required for the rapid formation of numerous merozoites and for the extracellular development and survival of the oocyst. Taken together the data demonstrate that the E. tenella apicoplast participates in type II fatty acid biosynthesis with increased expression of ENR during parasite growth. Apicoplast division results in the simultaneous formation of multiple fragments. The division mechanism is unknown, but is independent of nuclear division and occurs prior to daughter formation.

Delivery of antimicrobials into parasites

To eliminate apicomplexan parasites, inhibitory compounds must cross host cell, parasitophorous vacuole, and parasite membranes and cyst walls, making delivery challenging. Here, we show that short oligomers of arginine enter Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and encysted bradyzoites. Triclosan, which inhibits enoyl-ACP reductase (ENR), conjugated to arginine oligomers enters extracellular tachyzoites, host cells, tachyzoites inside parasitophorous vacuoles within host cells, extracellular bradyzoites, and bradyzoites within cysts. We identify, clone, and sequence T. gondii enr and produce and characterize enzymatically active, recombinant ENR. This enzyme has the requisite amino acids to bind triclosan. Triclosan released after conjugation to octaarginine via a readily hydrolyzable ester linkage inhibits ENR activity, tachyzoites in vitro, and tachyzoites in mice. Delivery of an inhibitor to a microorganism via conjugation to octaarginine provides an approach to transporting antimicrobials and other small molecules to sequestered parasites, a model system to characterize transport across multiple membrane barriers and structures, a widely applicable paradigm for treatment of active and encysted apicomplexan and other infections, and a generic proof of principle for a mechanism of medicine delivery.

Triclosan inhibits the growth of Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii by inhibition of apicomplexan Fab I

Fab I, enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR), is an enzyme used in fatty acid synthesis. It is a single chain polypeptide in plants, bacteria, and mycobacteria, but is part of a complex polypeptide in animals and fungi. Certain other enzymes in fatty acid synthesis in apicomplexan parasites appear to have multiple forms, homologous to either a plastid, plant-like single chain enzyme or more like the animal complex polypeptide chain. We identified a plant-like Fab I in Plasmodium falciparum and modelled the structure on the Brassica napus and Escherichia coli structures, alone and complexed to triclosan (5-chloro-2-[2,4 dichlorophenoxy] phenol]), which confirmed all the requisite features of an ENR and its interactions with triclosan. Like the remarkable effect of triclosan on a wide variety of bacteria, this compound markedly inhibits growth and survival of the apicomplexan parasites P. falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii at low (i.e. IC50 congruent with150-2000 and 62 ng/ml, respectively) concentrations. Discovery and characterisation of an apicomplexan Fab I and discovery of triclosan as lead compound provide means to rationally design novel inhibitory compounds.

Inhalation of an alkaline aerosol by subjects with mild asthma does not result in bronchoconstriction

Although it is recognized that inhalation of acid aerosols by subjects with asthma can cause bronchoconstriction, the effects of the inhalation of an alkaline aerosol are unknown. When supplemental inflatable restraints (automobile air bags) are deployed an alkaline aerosol is released. This aerosol is composed of particles of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate with some sodium hydroxide. The mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of the aerosol is approximately 1 micron, and the pH of the aerosol is 9.8 to 10.3. A group of 14 volunteer male subjects with mild asthma inhaled increasing concentrations of this aerosol for 20-min periods of mouth-only tidal ventilation. Pulmonary function tests were performed at baseline (preexposure), after inhalation of room air alone (control), and after each period of inhalation of the aerosol. A total of 5 subjects inhaled aerosols at nominal concentrations of 10, 20, and 40 mg/m3, whereas 11 subjects inhaled aerosols concentrations of approximately 30, 60, and 120 mg/m3. The mean changes in FEV1 and specific airways resistance (SRaw) for the 11 subjects who inhaled the higher concentrations (average highest concentration 126.6 +/- 7.5 mg/m3, mean +/- SEM) were -1.4 +/- 1.9 and +17.5 +/- 8.5%, respectively. Neither change in lung function was clinically or statistically significant. We conclude that the inhalation of relatively high concentrations of this alkaline aerosol by subjects with mild asthma does not result in bronchoconstriction.

Evidence for a localized conversion of endogenous tetrahydrofolate cofactors to dihydrofolate as an important element in antifolate action in murine leukemia cells

The inhibition of de novo nucleotide, serine, and methionine biosynthesis in mammalian cells treated with antifolates has been attributed generally to a reduction in the levels of tetrahydrofolate cofactors. In L1210 leukemia cells grown in tritiated folic acid (1 microM), most of the endogenous radiolabeled folates were present as formyl-substituted tetrahydrofolates (60-73%, including 10- and 5-formyl and 5,10-methenyl tetrahydrofolate), with lower levels of tetrahydrofolate (including 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate), 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate, and non-metabolized folic acid. Trimetrexate (1 microM) caused an elevation of dihydrofolate levels within 5 min following drug addition, from approximately 1 to 20% of the total folates. Whereas total reduced folates were preserved, losses in the levels of individual forms ranged from minor changes in the formyl tetrahydrofolates (approx. 10% decrease), to significant losses in the levels of tetrahydrofolate (approx. 60%) and 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate (95%). Under these conditions, the incorporations of [3H]deoxyuridine into TMP and [14C]glycine into purines or of [14C]formate into biosynthetic products were inhibited (69-95%). The majority (59-100%) of the endogenous radiolabeled folates in L1210 cells grown in various concentrations (0.2 to 3 microM) of [3H]folic acid was bound to soluble intracellular proteins when cell-free extracts were fractionated by rapid gel filtration or charcoal adsorption. Total intracellular folate levels increased in proportion to the changes in medium folic acid concentration; however, cofactor binding was saturable. At low concentrations, below that which supported maximal growth (less than 0.75 microM), all of the intracellular folates were protein-bound; only when maximal growth was achieved, could unbound folates be detected. Incubation with trimetrexate (1 or 10 microM), methotrexate (10 microM), or calcium leuvovorin (50 microM) did not alter significantly the levels of total and protein-bound [3H]folates in cells grown in 1 microM [3H]folic acid. Under all conditions, formyl tetrahydrofolates were the major intracellular derivatives; however, these forms were poorly represented in the bound fraction. Conversely, all of the other intracellular folate forms were completely bound. Tetrahydrofolate was the predominant protein-bound derivative in control cells; in antifolate-treated cells, both bound tetrahydrofolate and 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate were largely replaced by protein-bound dihydrofolate. This interconversion in drug-treated cells was independent of (i) sustained levels of [3H]formyl tetrahydrofolates, or (ii) high extracellular concentrations of unlabeled calcium leucovorin (50 microM). Hence, protein-bound tetrahydrofolates must not only be substrates for enzyme mediated reactions (i.e. TMP synthesis) but also must slowly equilibrate with unbound cofactor. In this fashion, binding of endogenous folates to soluble proteins may function to "segregate' intracellular cofactor pools.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Role for cytosolic folate-binding proteins in the compartmentation of endogenous tetrahydrofolates and the 5-formyl tetrahydrofolate-mediated enhancement of 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine antitumor activity in vitro

A major portion of the intracellular folates in L1210 cells grown in (6R,S)-5-formyltetrahydrofolate (leucovorin) was bound to cytosolic proteins when cell extracts were fractionated by rapid gel filtration or adsorption with activated charcoal. Only low levels of intracellular folates were associated with mitochondria (less than 5%). Protein-bound folates comprised 37-100% of the cytosolic cofactors following growth in 2-600 nM 5-formyltetrahydrofolate. Total intracellular folates increased in proportion to the changes in media folate concentration; however, binding was saturable. The maximum level of protein-bound folates in L1210 cells was 66 pmol/mg protein. Protein-bound folates were also detected in HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells grown in 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (maximum, 11 pmol/mg protein). For both lines, folate binding was specific for the tetrahydrofolate and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate pool, and, to a lesser extent, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. Extremely low levels of protein-bound 5-formyl-, 10-formyl-, and 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolates were measured, even though considerable amounts were detected intracellularly. Pentaglutamyl folates were the predominant cofactor forms in L1210 cells; conversely, the tetraglutamates were the most abundant protein-bound folate derivatives. Increasing media concentrations of 5-formyltetrahydrofolate potentiated 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine cytotoxicity. For L1210 cells, essentially all of the intracellular tetrahydrofolate and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate fraction was protein bound over the concentration range of 5-formyltetrahydrofolate which maximally augmented fluoropyrimidine cytotoxicity. The relative changes in the 50% inhibitory concentrations for fluorodeoxyuridine directly approximated the increases in the levels of protein-bound tetrahydrofolates in L1210 cells. There was no direct relationship between the levels of unbound folates and fluorodeoxyuridine cytotoxicity. Similar results were obtained with HT29 cells. The major folate-binding protein in L1210 cells eluted during Sephacryl S-300 chromatography with a molecular weight of approximately 200,000; a small amount of a higher molecular weight folate-binding protein (Mr 450,000) was also detected. These findings support the concept of a compartmentation of endogenous folates involving specific binding to cytosolic proteins. These associations may regulate reduced folate availability for metabolic processes, and also mediate utilization of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate for ternary complex formation with thymidylate synthase in cells treated with fluoropyrimidines. In this fashion, the levels of protein-bound tetrahydrofolates could represent an additional, previously unrecognized, determinant of fluoropyrimidine pharmacological activity toward mammalian cells.