Al-ATP as an intracellular carrier of Al(III) ion

Hydrotropic function of ATP in the crystalline lens

The hypothesis proposed herein is presented to explain the unexpectedly high concentration of ATP and provide evidence to support its hydrotropic function in the crystalline lens determined using ³¹P NMR. The lens, historically considered to be a metabolically quiescent organ, has the requisite machinery to synthesize ATP, such that the homeostatic level is maintained at about 3 mM. This relatively high concentration of ATP has been found to be consistent among multiple mammalian species including humans. This millimolar quantity is many times greater than the micromolar amounts required for the other known functions of ATP. The recent postulation that ATP at millimolar concentrations functions as a hydrotrope in various cell/tissue homogenates preventing protein aggregation coupled with observations presented herein, provide support for extending the hypothesis that ATP functions as a hydrotrope not only in homogenates but in an intact functioning organ, the crystalline lens. Concentrations of ATP of this magnitude are hypothesized to be required to maintain protein solubility and effectively prevent protein aggregation. This concept is important considering protein aggregation is the etiology for age-related cataractogenesis. ATP is a common ubiquitous intracellular molecule possessing the requisite hydrotropic properties for maintaining intracellular proteins in a fluid, non-aggregated state. It is proposed that the amphiphilic ATP molecule shields the hydrophobic regions on intralenticular fiber cell protein molecules and provides a hydrophilic interfacial surface comprised of the ATP negatively charged triphosphate side chain. Evidence is presented that this side chain is exposed to and has been reported to organize intracellular interstitial water to form an interfacial rheologically dynamic water layer. Such organization of water is substantiated with the effect of deuterium oxide (heavy water) on ATP line widths of the side chain phosphates measured ex vivo by ³¹P NMR. A novel model is presented to propose how this water layer separates adjacent lens fiber cell proteins, keeping them from aggregating. This hypothesis proposes that ATP can prevent protein aggregation in normal intact lenses, and with declining concentrations can be related to the disease process in age-related cataractogenesis, an affliction that affects every older human being.

Aluminum-induced oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in grass carp (Cyprinidae--Ctenopharingodon idella)

Aluminum is used in a large number of anthropogenic processes, leading to aquatic ecosystems pollution. Diverse studies show that in mammals this metal may produce oxidative stress, is neurotoxic, and is involved in the development of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzhaimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Nevertheless, there are only few studies with respect to Al-induced neurotoxicity on aquatic fauna, particularly on fishes of economical interest, such as the grass carp (Ctenopharingodon idella). This study evaluates Al-induced toxicity on the grass carp C. idella. Specimens were exposed to the maximum concentration allowed in order to protect aquatic life (0.1 mg L⁻¹), for 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. After the exposure time, lipid peroxidation degree, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity, as well as dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline levels were evaluated. Al concentration in organisms and water was also measured, in order to determine the bioconcentration factor. Results show that Al bioconcentrates in grass carp inducing oxidative stress (increment of 300 and 455 percent on lipid peroxidation degree and SOD activity, and decrement of 49 percent on CAT activity) and neurotoxicity (increment of 55 and 155 percent on dopamine and adrenaline levels and decrement of 93 percent on noradrenaline level).

Effect of chronic exposure to aluminium on isoform expression and activity of rat (Na+/K+)ATPase

The ability of aluminum to inhibit the (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase activity has been observed by several investigators. The (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase is characterized by a complex molecular heterogeneity that results from the expression and differential association of multiple isoforms of both catalytic (alpha) and regulatory (beta) subunits. For instance, three main alpha (alpha(1), alpha(2) and alpha(3)) and three beta (beta(1), beta(2) and beta(3)) subunit isoforms exist in vertebrate nervous tissue, whereas only alpha(1) and beta(1) have been identified in kidney. However, no studies have focused on determining the change in (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase isoforms caused by chronic exposure to aluminum and its relation with aluminum toxicity. In this study, adult male Wistar rats were submitted to chronic dietary AlCl(3) exposure (0.03 g/day of AlCl(3) for 4 months), and the activity and protein expression of (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase isozymes were studied in brain cortex synaptosomes and in kidney homogenates. The intracellular levels of adenine nucleotides, plasma membrane integrity, and aluminum accumulation were also studied in brain synaptosomes. Aluminum accumulation upon chronic dietary AlCl(3) administration significantly decreased the (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase activity measured in the presence of nonlimiting Mg-ATP concentrations, without compromising protein expression of alpha-subunit isoforms in brain and kidney. Aluminum-induced synaptosomal (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase inhibition was due to a reduction in the activity of isozymes containing alpha(1)-alpha(2) and alpha(3)-subunits. The onset of enzyme inhibition was accompanied by a decrease of the (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase sensitivity to submicromolar concentrations of ouabain, and it preceded major damage in plasma membrane integrity and energy supply, as revealed by the analysis of lactate dehydrogenase leakage and endogenous adenine nucleotides. The data suggest that, during chronic dietary exposure to AlCl(3), brain (Na(+)/K(+))ATPase activity drops, even if no significant alterations of catalytic subunit protein expression, cellular energy depletion, and changes in cell membrane integrity are observed. Implications regarding underlying mechanisms of aluminum neurotoxicity are discussed.

Aluminum binding to phosphatidylcholine lipid bilayer membranes: 27Al and 31P NMR spectroscopic studies

27Al and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies were used to investigate aluminum interactions at pH 3.4 with model membranes composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC). A solution state 27Al NMR difference assay was developed to quantify aluminum binding to POPC multilamellar vesicles (MLVs). Corresponding one-dimensional (1D) fast magic angle spinning (MAS) 31P NMR spectra showed that aluminum induced the appearance of two new isotropic resonances for POPC shifted to -6.4 ppm and -9.6 ppm upfield relative to, and in slow exchange with, the control resonance at -0.6 ppm. Correlation of the (27)Al and (31)P NMR binding data revealed a 1:2 aluminum:phospholipid stoichiometry in the aluminum-bound complex at -9.6 ppm and a 1:1 aluminum:phospholipid stoichiometry in that at -6.4 ppm. Slow MAS 31P NMR spectra demonstrated shifts in the anisotropic chemical shift tensor components of the aluminum-bound POPC consistent with a close coordination of aluminum with phosphorus. A model of the aluminum-bis-phospholipid complex is proposed on the basis of these findings.

Amyloidosis of Alzheimer's Abeta peptides: solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy studies

Aggregation cascade for Alzheimer's amyloid-beta peptides, its relevance to neurotoxicity in the course of Alzheimer's disease and experimental methods useful for these studies are discussed. Details of the solid-phase peptide synthesis and sample preparation procedures for Alzheimer's beta-amyloid fibrils are given. Recent progress in obtaining structural constraints on Abeta-fibrils from solid-state NMR and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) data is discussed. Polymorphism of amyloid fibrils and oligomers of the 'Arctic' mutant of Abeta(1-40) was studied by (1)H,(13)C solid-state NMR, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and a real-time aggregation of different polymorphs of the peptide was observed with the aid of in situ AFM. Recent results on binding of Cu(II) ions and Al-citrate and Al-ATP complexes to amyloid fibrils, as studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and solid-state (27)Al NMR techniques, are also presented.

Aluminum accumulation and membrane fluidity alteration in synaptosomes isolated from rat brain cortex following aluminum ingestion: effect of cholesterol

In the present work, we studied the effect of cholesterol/phospholipid (CH/PL) molar ratio on aluminum accumulation and aluminum-induced alteration of membrane fluidity in rat brain cortex synaptosomes. We observed that sub-acute (daily supply of 1.00 g of AlCl(3) during 10 days) and chronic (daily supply of 0.03 g of AlCl(3) during 4 months) exposure to dietary aluminum leads to a synaptosomal aluminum enrichment of 45 and 59%, respectively. During chronic exposure to AlCl(3), the enhancement of aluminum content was prevented by administration of colestipol (0.31 g/day), which decreased the synaptosomal membrane CH/PL molar ratio (nmol/nmol) from 1.2 to 0.4. Fluorescence anisotropy analysis, using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 1-(4-(trimethylamino)phenyl)-6-phenylhexa-1,3,5-triene (TMA-DPH), showed that after treatment with colestipol a decrease in membrane order occurs at the level of hydrophilic lipid-water surface and deeper hydrophobic region of the synaptosomal membrane. When the rats were exposed to aluminum, it was observed a significant enhancement of membrane fluidity, which was more pronounced at the level of the membrane hydrophilic regions. Meanwhile, when chronic exposure to dietary AlCl(3) was accompanied by treatment with colestipol, the aluminum-induced decrease in membrane order was negligible when compared to TMA-DPH and DPH anisotropy values measured upon colestipol treatment. In contrast, in vitro incubation of synaptosomes (isolated from control rats) with AlCl(3) induced a concentration-dependent rigidification of this more hydrophilic membrane region. The opposite action of aluminum on synaptosomal membrane fluidity, during in vivo and in vitro experiments, appears to be explained by alteration of synaptosomal CH/PL molar ratio, since a significant reduction (approximately 80%) of this parameter occurs during in vivo exposure to aluminum. In conclusion, during in vivo exposure to aluminum, fluidification of hydrophilic regions and reduction of CH/PL molar ratio of presynaptic membranes accompany the accumulation of this cation, which appear to restrict aluminum retention in brain cortex nerve terminals.

No effect of aluminium upon the hydrolysis of ATP in the coronary circulation of the isolated working rat heart

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is now recognised as an important extracellular signalling molecule. Its action at a number of specific receptors is mediated by the activity of ectonucleotidases. We have optimised a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to allow the simultaneous determination of ATP, and the products of its hydrolysis, in the coronary effluent of an isolated working rat heart. The method is extremely sensitive allowing picomolar quantities of product to be determined. We have used this method to investigate the influence of aluminium on the hydrolysis of ATP by an ecto-ATPase located in the luminal surface of the coronary endothelium of the rat heart. Aluminium did not influence the hydrolysis of ATP by this enzyme.

A molecular mechanism of aluminium-induced Alzheimer's disease?

An abundance of research has continued to link aluminium (Al) with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (Strong et al., J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 48 (1996) 599; Savory et al., J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 48 (1996) 615). Animals loaded with Al develop both symptoms and brain lesions that are similar to those found in AD. However, these animal models of Al intoxication are not representative of human exposure to Al. They have not addressed the significance of a truly chronic exposure to Al. If Al is a cause of AD it is effective at the level of our everyday exposure to the metal and AD will be one possible outcome of the life-long presence of a low, though burgeoning, brain Al burden. Individual susceptibility to AD will be as much to do with differences in brain physiology as with changes in our everyday exposure to the metal. There will be a chemical response and indeed biochemical/physiological response in the brain to Al. The question is whether brain Al homeostasis could impact upon brain function. In reviewing the recent literature covering the neurotoxicity of Al and, in particular, of the known and probable mechanisms involved in brain Al homeostasis I have identified a mechanism through which a truly chronic exposure to Al would bring about subtle and persistent changes in neurotransmission which, in time, could instigate the cascade of events known collectively as AD. This mechanism involves the potentiation of the activities of neurotransmitters by the action of Al-ATP at adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) receptors in the brain.

Action of Al-ATP on the isolated working rat heart

ATP is an important extracellular messenger in the coronary vasculature of the heart. To be effective its extracellular concentration must be tightly controlled and this is achieved via ectonucleotidases located in the luminal surface of the coronary endothelium. Al-ATP is a potent inhibitor of the hydrolysis of ATP and we speculated that Al-ATP released by cells into the blood would disrupt the signalling function of extracellular ATP. We tested this hypothesis by perfusing isolated working Wistar rat hearts with buffers containing either ATP or Al-ATP. The functional parameters measured were, coronary flow, heart rate and pulsatile power. A number of control perfusions including adenosine, ATP-gamma-S and Al were used to identify those effects which might be specific to ATP and Al-ATP. Al-ATP did not appear to inhibit the function of the endothelial ectonucleotidases. Both ATP and Al-ATP produced a significant increase in coronary flow and this could be attributed to a coronary vasodilation. Interestingly, whilst the effect of ATP was reversible that of Al-ATP was not. ATP caused a reduction in heart rate which was potentiated by aluminium. The negatively chronotropic effect of Al-ATP was mediated via a mechanism which was either distinct from or in addition to the similar response known to be caused by adenosine. We have demonstrated for the first time an influence of Al-ATP on heart function. Perhaps more pertinently we present the first evidence that Al-ATP may influence the function of ATP-specific receptors.

Phospholipid profiling of sediments using phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance

A phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance method has been developed for the determination of aquatic sediment phospholipid profiles that may be generally applied to all soils and deposits containing viable cellular material. A method of scrubbing chloroform/methanol extracts with potassium acid phosphate overcomes adverse signal broadening from the mineral component, permitting eleven sediment phospholipids to be determined at the quantitative level.

Alterations of cerebral metabolism in probable Alzheimer's disease: a preliminary study

Previous in vitro and in vivo 31P MRS studies of Alzheimer's disease patients have revealed alterations in membrane phospholipid metabolism and PET studies have shown alterations in glucose and oxidative metabolism. This study of probable Alzheimer's disease patients demonstrates severity dependent alterations in measures of both high-energy phosphate and membrane phospholipid metabolism. Mildly demented Alzheimer's patients compared to the controls, have increases in the levels of phosphomonoesters, decreases in the levels of phosphocreatine and probably adenosine diphosphate, and an increased oxidative metabolic rate. As the dementia worsens, the levels of phosphocreatine and adenosine diphosphate increase, the levels of phosphomonoesters decrease, and the oxidative metabolic rate decreases. The phosphomonoester findings replicate previous findings and provide a new dimension to the molecular pathology of Alzheimer's disease, implicating basic defects in membrane metabolism. The changes in oxidative metabolic rate suggest the AD brain is under energetic stress. The changes in energy metabolites with increasing dementia could be a consequence of nerve terminal degeneration and are consistent with previous PET findings. 31P MRS provides new diagnostic and metabolic insights into this disease and would be a noninvasive method to follow the progression of the disease and the metabolic response to therapeutic interventions.

Aluminum interaction with phosphoinositide-associated signal transduction

Concerning molecular and cellular mechanisms of aluminum toxicity, recent studies support the hypothesis that interactions of aluminum ions with elements of signal transduction pathways are apparently primary events in cells. In the case of the phosphoinositide-associated signalling pathway of neuroblastoma cells, guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) and a phosphatidylinositol-4,5-diphosphate (PIP2)-specific phospholipase C are probable interaction sites for inhibitory actions of aluminum ions. Following interiorization of aluminum by the cell, metal interactions decrease the accumulation of inositol phosphates, especially that of inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3), concomitant with derangements of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. In the presence of high concentrations of Ca2+, formation of IP3 is also diminished in aluminum-pretreated cells, presumably involving a process not requiring Mg(2+)-dependent G proteins. At higher aluminum doses, metal-induced changes in the lipid milieu of the membrane-bound phospholipase may play a role. These types of primary interactions of aluminum ions with elements of cellular communication channels are probably crucial in the manifestation of the multifacetted aluminum toxicity syndrome. If present as a phosphate-like fluoro-aluminate, a stimulatory role of aluminum ions is displayed in G protein-coupled transmembrane signalling.

Algal phospholipids by 31P NMR: comparing isopropanol pretreatment with simple chloroform/methanol extraction

1. A modified Folch procedure [potassium (ethylenedinitrilo)-tetraacetic acid at pH 6 substituted for KCl] is suitable for the extraction of marine algae. 2. The quantitative 31P nuclear magnetic resonance phospholipid profiles of four marine algae, Gracilaria verrucosa, Bryothamnion triquetrum, Padina gymnospora, and Caulerpa sertularioides, were obtained from Folch and Nichols extractions of both fresh and dried algae, and essentially identical results were obtained using either extraction procedure. 3. Extracts of air-dried algae are statistically different when compared to extracts of living algae, suggesting that tissue handling is a critical factor in phospholipid extractions.

31P NMR of Mg-ATP in dilute solutions: complexation and exchange

1. Monovalent-cation [(CH3)4N+, K(I), Na(I)] ATP, 1 mM in nucleotide, in aqueous solutions at pH 7.2, 24 degrees C, generates 2 different 31P NMR spectra, depending upon the salt content of the solution. At salt concentrations below 10 mM, the 31P NMR signals are chemically-shifted upfield (Na salt: alpha, -11.44 delta; beta, -22.91 delta; gamma, -8.36 delta) and the beta- and gamma-groups are broadened (at half-height: alpha, 3.5 Hz; beta, 9.6 Hz; gamma, 69 Hz). Above 10 mM salt, the signals are shifted downfield and are narrow (Na salt: alpha, -11.09 delta, 1.9 Hz; beta, -21.75 delta, 3.3 Hz; gamma, -6.30 delta, 3.9 Hz). 2. The Na-Mg-ATP complex, corresponding to the composition Na6Mg1ATP2, yields a single set of 31P resonances at concentrations of nucleotide of 100 mM, that upon dilution to 0.2 mM, resolve into 2 sets of ATP resonances characterized by low-field and high-field beta- and gamma-group resonance pairs. This set of ATP resonances, in contrast to the resonance set at 100 mM ATP, are broad (100 mM in ATP: alpha, -10.7 delta, 3.7 Hz; beta, -20.1 delta, 15 Hz; gamma, -5.7 delta, 7.3 Hz. 0.2 mM in ATP: alpha, -10.7 delta, 47 Hz; beta, -18.8 and -21.6 delta, 316 and 274 Hz; gamma, -5.5 and -8.7 delta, 460 and 374 Hz). 3. This new data, in combination with data derived from a survey of metal-ion-ATP studies, are interpreted in terms of ATP dimers, incorporating 2 molecules of ATP and 2 metal cations, that exist in water under the physiological conditions of neutral pH, high salt content [135 mM K(I)] and ATP concentrations in the range of 3 mM. 4. A compilation of 31P in vivo and ex vivo data compared to a reference Mg-ATP chemical shift vs Mg/ATP ratio plot indicates that ATP is not fully Mg-saturated in living systems and that 41% exists as the Mg(ATP)2 complex.

31P NMR of tissue phospholipids: competition for Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+ and K+ cations

Phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), ethanolamine plasmalogen (EPLAS), sphingomyelin (SPH), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylserine (PS), cardiolipin (CL), phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and phosphatidic acid (PA) were dispersed together in Cs(ethylenedinitrilo)tetraacetic acid-scrubbed chloroform/methanol solution, and high resolution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectra were recorded. In separate titration experiments, Mg2+ and Ca2+ were added to the dispersed phospholipid mixture to determine the relative interaction potentials of each of the phospholipids for each of the added cations. The association of cations with individual phospholipids was indicated by 31P chemical-shift changes, signal broadening, signal quenching or a combination of these. The titrations revealed that CL had the highest, and PA the next highest, interaction potential for Mg2+ cations. In contrast, PS and PA had the highest, and CL the next highest, interaction potential for Ca2+. Considering only interactions with Ca2+ ions, the phospholipids can be divided into three distinct groups: PS and PA (high interaction potential); CL, PI and PG (intermediate interaction potential); and EPLAS, PE, SPH and PC (essentially no interaction potential). The two phospholipids with the least interaction potential for either of the alkaline-earth cations were PC and SPH. Na+ and K+ ion interactions with PA, CL, PI and PG were unique and resulted in positive chemical-shift changes relative to the chemical shifts in the presence of Cs+ ions. Relative to both Cs+ and K+ ions, chemical shifts in the presence of Na+ ions were deshielded delta greater than 0.1 ppm in the order PA greater than CL greater than PI greater than PG.