Preparation of Na,K-ATPase specifically modified on the anti-fluorescein antibody-inaccessible site by fluorescein 5'-isothiocyanate

LRP1-Mediated Endocytosis May Be the Main Reason for the Difference in Cytotoxicity of Curcin and Curcin C on U2OS Osteosarcoma Cells

Curcin and Curcin C, both of the ribosome-inactivating proteins of Jatropha curcas, have apparent inhibitory effects on the proliferation of osteosarcoma cell line U20S. However, the inhibitory effect of the latter is 13-fold higher than that of Curcin. The mechanism responsible for the difference has not been studied. This work aimed to understand and verify whether there are differences in entry efficiency and pathway between them using specific endocytosis inhibitors, gene silencing, and labeling techniques such as fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeling. The study found that the internalization efficiency of Curcin C was twice that of Curcin for U2OS cells. More than one entering pathway was adopted by both of them. Curcin C can enter U2OS cells through clathrin-dependent endocytosis and macropinocytosis, but clathrin-dependent endocytosis was not an option for Curcin. The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) was found to mediate clathrin-dependent endocytosis of Curcin C. After LRP1 silencing, there was no significant difference in the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) and endocytosis efficiency between Curcin and Curcin C on U2OS cells. These results indicate that LRP1-mediated endocytosis is specific to Curcin C, thus leading to higher U2OS endocytosis efficiency and cytotoxicity than Curcin.

A method to measure hydrolytic activity of adenosinetriphosphatases (ATPases)

The detection of small amounts (nanomoles) of inorganic phosphate has a great interest in biochemistry. In particular, phosphate detection is useful to evaluate the rate of hydrolysis of phosphatases, that are enzymes able to remove phosphate from their substrate by hydrolytic cleavage. The hydrolysis rate is correlated to enzyme activity, an extremely important functional parameter. Among phosphatases there are the cation transporting adenosinetriphosphatases (ATPases), that produce inorganic phosphate by cleavage of the γ-phosphate of ATP. These membrane transporters have many fundamental physiological roles and are emerging as potential drug targets. ATPase hydrolytic activity is measured to test enzyme functionality, but it also provides useful information on possible inhibitory effects of molecules that interfere with the hydrolytic process. We have optimized a molybdenum-based protocol that makes use of potassium antimony (III) oxide tartrate (originally employed for phosphate detection in environmental analysis) to allow its use with phosphatase enzymes. In particular, the method was successfully applied to native and recombinant ATPases to demonstrate its reliability, validity, sensitivity and versatility. Our method introduces significant improvements to well-established experimental assays, which are currently employed for ATPase activity measurements. Therefore, it may be valuable in biochemical and biomedical investigations of ATPase enzymes, in combination with more specific tests, as well as in high throughput drug screening.

Divalent cation interactions with Na,K-ATPase cytoplasmic cation sites: implications for the para-nitrophenyl phosphatase reaction mechanism

The interactions of divalent cations with the adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and para-nitrophenyl phosphatase (pNPPase) activity of the purified dog kidney Na pump and the fluorescence of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled pump were determined. Sr(2+) and Ba(2+) did not compete with K(+) for ATPase (an extracellular K(+) effect). Sr(2+) and Ba(2+) did compete with Na(+) for ATPase (an intracellular Na(+) effect) and with K(+) for pNPPase (an intracellular K(+) effect). These results suggest that Ba(2+) or Sr(2+) can bind to the intracellular transport site, yet neither Ba(2+) nor Sr(2+) was able to activate pNPPase activity; we confirmed that Ca(2+) and Mn(2+) did activate. As another measure of cation binding, we observed that Ca(2+) and Mn(2+), but not Ba(2+), decreased the fluorescence of the FITC-labeled pump; we confirmed that K(+) substantially decreased the fluorescence. Interestingly, Ba(2+) did shift the K(+) dose-response curve. Ethane diamine inhibited Mn(2+) stimulation of pNPPase (as well as K(+) and Mg(2+) stimulation) but did not shift the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) for the Mn(2+)-induced fluorescence change of FITC, though it did shift the IC(50) for the K(+)-induced change. These results suggest that the Mn(2+)-induced fluorescence change is not due to Mn(2+) binding at the transport site. The drawbacks of models in which Mn(2+) stimulates pNPPase by binding solely to the catalytic site vs. those in which Mn(2+) stimulates by binding to both the catalytic and transport sites are presented. Our results provide new insights into the pNPPase kinetic mechanism as well as how divalent cations interact with the Na pump.

Multiple binding sites of fluorescein isothiocyanate moieties on myoglobin: photophysical heterogeneity as revealed by ground- and excited-state spectroscopy

Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-myoglobin conjugates were synthesized with a binding stoichiometry of one to three fluorophores per protein. FITC binding sites were determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Five lysine residues and the N-terminal amino group were identified as preferential binding sites. The ground and excited-state absorption spectra and the fluorescence decay of the conjugates in the native and denatured state of the carrier protein were analyzed. For comparison, unbound FITC and FITC covalently bound to a polysaccharide (dextran) were studied. For FITC, FITC-dextran and the FITC-myoglobin conjugates, only one FITC absorption peak was obtained in the ground state spectrum. Similarly, the excited state absorption (ESA) spectra of unbound FITC and of FITC-dextran showed only one single maximum whereas two maxima were detected for the native FITC-myoglobin conjugates. One of these sub-bands disappeared following urea treatment of the conjugate. We conclude that ESA measurements of extrinsic fluorophores on proteins can be used to monitor different micro-environments of the fluorophore and to distinguish between different conformational states of the labeled protein. This method can be a useful tool for analysing coexisting protein conformations.