Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Kengo Sakaguchi.
Biotinylated lithocholic acids have been synthesized. The compounds inhibited mammalian DNA polymerases alpha and beta with dose-dependent manner. The streptavidine columns conjugated with the synthetic biotinylated compounds chromatographed both two enzymes eluted by KCl solution at the different concentrations.
(R)-(-)-Elenic acid (R-2,4-dimethyl-22-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-docos-3(E)-enoic acid) (EA) is a DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor found in an Indonesian sponge, Plakinastrella sp. We found and report here that it is a potent inhibitor of calf DNA polymerase alpha (IC(50)=7.7 microM) and rat DNA polymerase beta (IC(50)=12.9 microM). EA did not bind to DNA directly. EA did not influence the activities of DNA polymerases such as plant DNA polymerases I and II and prokaryotic DNA polymerases such as Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, or other DNA metabolic enzymes such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase, T7 RNA polymerase and bovine deoxyribonuclease I. Interestingly, EA was also an inhibitor of DNA topoisomerases I and II, although the enzymatic characteristics including modes of action, amino acid sequences and three-dimensional structures were markedly different from those of DNA polymerases. EA could prevent the growth of NUGC-3 cancer cells, and the LD(50) value was 22.5 microM. The cells were halted at G1 and G2/M phase in the cell cycle. From these results, the action mode of EA is discussed.
Dehydroaltenusin was found to be an inhibitor of mammalian DNA polymerase alpha (pol. alpha) in vitro, but did not influence the activities of the other replicative DNA polymerases including even other vertebrate pol. alpha. In this study, we purified or synthesized various slightly modified derivatives of dehydroaltenusin, and using them, investigated the relationship between the chemical structure and the inhibitory effects, and the in vitro and in vivo effects of dehydroaltenusin to determine to what extent the pol. alpha activity inhibition influences cell proliferation. Most of the derivatives lost the enzyme species-specific inhibitory effect, suggesting that dehydroaltenusin is three-dimensionally inserted into a pocket present only in mammalian pol. alpha. Dehydroaltenusin inhibited the cell proliferation of the human gastric cancer cell line NUGC-3 by arresting the cells at G1/S-phase, and prevented the incorporation of thymidine into the cells, indicating that it blocks the primary step of in vivo DNA replication by inhibiting pol. alpha. This compound also induced apoptosis of the cells. Dehydroaltenusin is a mammalian pol. alpha-specific inhibitor useful in both of in vivo and in vitro experiments.
We found a leucine aminopeptidase (LAP; EC 3.4.11.1) to be abundant in meiotic prophase tissue of a basidiomycete, Coprinus cinereus. After direct purification of the aminopeptidase component from meiocytes, we cloned the gene by degenerate PCR using partial amino-acid sequences of the purified enzyme and 5' and 3' RACE. It was homologous to the eukaryotic leucine aminopeptidase gene. The recombinant protein possesses the characteristic activities of a Coprinus leucine aminopeptidase (CoLAP) with a molecular mass of 52.4 kDa, and forms a homohexamer. Northern blot and spatial distribution analysis by immunohistochemical staining indicated CoLAP to be abundant in meiotic prophase cells and the supporting cells around meiocytes, but scarce in mycelium cells. Interestingly, from zygotene to pachytene, CoLAP was mostly present in supporting cells around meiocytes, but from diplotene onwards, it was plentiful in meiocytes themselves, suggesting that its expression is required to control some of the biochemical events at meiotic prophase. Moreover, the strong expression of CoLAP mRNA immediately after treatment with methyl methanesulfonate in mycelium implies that CoLAP has a role in somatic DNA repair.
The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate whether DNA replication at meiotic prophase also requires replication factors, especially proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). We cloned PCNA cDNAs (CoPCNA) from a cDNA library made from basidia of the basidiomycete, Coprinus cinereus. Interestingly, although CoPCNA is a single-copy gene in the genome, two different PCNA cDNA species were isolated using degenerate primers and a meiotic cDNA library, and were designated as CoPCNA-alpha and CoPCNA-beta. CoPCNA-beta was made by truncating at specific sites in CoPCNA-alpha mRNA, 5'-AAGAAGGAGAAG-3' and 5'-GAAGAGGAAGAA-3'. Both of these sequences were present in exon IV in the genomic sequence, and interestingly the former was the same as the inverse sequence of the latter. CoPCNA-alpha was 107 amino acids larger than human PCNA, and so the 107 amino-acid sequence was inserted in a loop, the so-called D2E2 loop, in human PCNA. Northern blotting analysis indicated that CoPCNA was expressed not only at premeiotic S but also at the meiotic prophase stages such as leptotene and early zygotene, just before and when karyogamy occurs and the homologous chromosomes pair. Western blotting analysis using anti-(CoPCNA-alpha) Ig revealed that at least two CoPCNA mRNAs before and after truncation were translated at the meiotic prophase as CoPCNA-alpha and CoPCNA-beta.
Previously, we reported the three-dimensional molecular interactions of nervonic acid (NA) with mammalian DNA polymerase beta (pol beta) [Mizushina et al. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 25599-25607]. By three-dimensional structural model analysis and comparison with the spatial positioning of specific amino acids binding to NA on pol beta (Leu11, Lys35, His51, and Thr79), we obtained supplementary information that allowed us to build a structural model of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT). In HIV-1 RT, Leu100, Lys65, His235, and Thr386 corresponded to these four amino acid residues. These results suggested that the NA binding domains of pol beta and HIV-1 RT are three-dimensionally very similar. The effects of NA on HIV-1 RT are thought to be same as those on pol beta in binding to the rhombus of the four amino acid residues. NA dose-dependently inhibited the HIV-1 RT activity. For binding to pol beta, the kinetics were competitive when the rhombus was present on the DNA binding site. However, as the rhombus in HIV-1 RT was not present in the DNA binding site, the three-dimensional structure of the DNA binding site must be distorted, and subsequently the enzyme is inhibited non-competitively.
We recently reported that 3'-sulfonoquinovosyl-1'-monoacylglycerol (designated A-5) extracted from sea urchin intestine was effective in suppressing the growth of solid tumors. Although the major fatty acid component of A-5 was a saturated C(16) acid, there were five other fatty acids, 14:0, 18:0, 14:1, 16:1, and 18:1, which constitute minor components of A-5. Therefore, it remains unclear as to which of these six fatty acid components of A-5 has the anti-tumor effect. In this study, we synthesized sulfolipids each containing only one of these six fatty acids and tested their cytotoxicity against tumor cells and in vivo anti-tumor effects on nude-mice bearing solid tumors of human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A-549. The IC(50) values of all products against tumor cells were more than 10(-5) M, suggesting weak cytotoxic activity compared with other chemotherapeutic compounds for cancer. On the other hand, in vivo anti-tumor assay showed that sulfoquinovosylmonoacylglycerols (SQMG) composed of 14:1 and 18:1 (designated SQMG(14:1) and SQMG(18:1), respectively) were significantly effective in suppressing the growth of solid tumors. Our data suggested that these two SQMGs had a substantial anti-tumor effect in vivo, and they are of interest as candidate drugs for anti-cancer treatment.
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The 26S proteasome is known to play central roles in the growth of many eukaryotes. However, little is known regarding its distribution in higher plants. Here, we report the spatial distribution pattern of Rpn3 (a regulatory PA700 subunit) and C2 (a subunit of the 20S proteasome) in rice ( Oryza sativa L.) seedlings as determined by in situ hybridization. The transcripts were abundantly co-expressed in the apical and marginal meristems of shoots and roots. Interestingly, these transcripts also accumulated in the leaf and ligule primordia of the shoot apex. Our results suggest that the 26S proteasome is spatially distributed among various tissues and may be involved not only in cell division but also in organ formation in higher plants.
Solanapyrone A, a phytotoxin and enzyme inhibitor isolated from a fungus (SUT 01B1-2) selectively inhibits the activities of mammalian DNA polymerase beta and lambda (pol beta and lambda) in vitro. The IC50 values of the compound were 30 microm for pol beta and 37 microm for pol lambda. Because pol beta and lambda are in a family and their three-dimensional structures are thought to be highly similar to each other, we used pol beta to analyze the biochemical relationship with solanapyrone A. On pol beta, solanapyrone A antagonistically competed with both the DNA template and the nucleotide substrate. BIAcore analysis demonstrated that solanapyrone A bound selectively to the N-terminal 8-kDa domain of pol beta. This domain is known to bind single-stranded DNA, provide 5'-phosphate recognition of gapped DNA, and cleave the sugar-phosphate bond 3' to an intact apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site (i.e. AP lyase activity) including 5'-deoxyribose phosphate lyase activity. Solanapyrone A inhibited the single-stranded DNA-binding activity but did not influence the activities of the 5'-phosphate recognition in gapped DNA structures and the AP lyase. Based on these results, the inhibitory mechanism of solanapyrone A is discussed.
The application of resins normally used in solid-phase organic synthesis to the affinity capture of a mammalian DNA polymerase beta (pol beta) is reported. Lithocholic acid (LCA), an inhibitor of pol beta, was immobilized on various solid supports, and the batch affinity purification of pol beta from a mixture of proteins using these LCA-immobilized resins was examined. Of the resins tested, TentaGel was the most effective at purifying pol beta and at resisting nonspecific absorption of proteins. The immobilized LCA recognized pol beta specifically, which resulted in pol beta binding to the resin. Using the LCA-immobilized resin, it was possible to purify pol beta from a mixture of proteins. Furthermore, it was possible to concentrate pol beta from a crude nuclear extract of human T lymphoma Molt4 cells. To facilitate the immobilization of compounds on TentaGel resins, we also designed and prepared photoaffinity beads containing a photoreactive group at the free termini of the TentaGel resin. The pol beta inhibitors LCA, C18-beta-SQDG, and epolactaene were immobilized on the photoaffinity beads by photoreaction. The batch affinity purification of pol beta from a protein mixture could be also achieved with these beads.