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The regulation of intracellular pH ( pHi) is a fundamental aspect of cell physiology that has received little attention in studies of the phylum Cnidaria, which includes ecologically important sea anemones and reef-building corals. Like all organisms, cnidarians must maintain pH homeostasis to counterbalance reductions in pHi, which can arise because of changes in either intrinsic or extrinsic parameters. Corals and sea anemones face natural daily changes in internal fluids, where the extracellular pH can range from 8.9 during the day to 7.4 at night. Furthermore, cnidarians are likely to experience future CO2-driven declines in seawater pH, a process known as ocean acidification. Here, we carried out the first mechanistic investigation to determine how cnidarian pHi regulation responds to decreases in extracellular and intracellular pH. Using the anemone Anemonia viridis, we employed confocal live cell imaging and a pH-sensitive dye to track the dynamics of pHi after intracellular acidosis induced by acute exposure to decreases in seawater pH and NH4Cl prepulses. The investigation was conducted on cells that contained intracellular symbiotic algae ( Symbiodinium sp.) and on symbiont-free endoderm cells. Experiments using inhibitors and Na+-free seawater indicate a potential role of Na+/H+ plasma membrane exchangers (NHEs) in mediating pHi recovery following intracellular acidosis in both cell types. We also measured the buffering capacity of cells, and obtained values between 20.8 and 43.8 m m per pH unit, which are comparable to those in other invertebrates. Our findings provide the first steps towards a better understanding of acid-base regulation in these basal metazoans, for which information on cell physiology is extremely limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

γ-Glutamyltransferases (γ- GTs) are heterodimeric enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a γ-glutamyl group from a donor species to an acceptor molecule in a transpeptidation reaction through the formation of an intermediate γ-glutamyl enzyme. In our search for a γ- GT from a generally recognized as safe microorganism suitable for the production of γ-glutamyl derivatives with flavor-enhancing properties intended for human use, we cloned and overexpressed the γ- GT from Bacillus subtilis. In this study, we report the behavior of B. subtilis γ- GT in reactions involving glutamine as the donor compound and various acceptor amino acids. The common thread emerging from our results is a strong dependence of the hydrolase, transpeptidase and autotranspeptidase activities of B. subtilis γ- GT on pH, also in relation to the p Ka of the acceptor amino acids. Glutamine, commonly referred to as a poor acceptor molecule, undergoes rapid autotranspeptidation at elevated pH, affording oligomeric species, in which up to four γ-glutamyl moieties are linked to a single glutamine. Moreover, we found that d-glutamine is also recognized both as a donor and as an acceptor substrate. Our results prove that the B. subtilis γ- GT-catalyzed transpeptidation reaction is feasible, and the observed activities of γ-GT from B. subtilis could be interpreted in relation to the known ability of the enzyme to process the polymeric material γ-polyglutamic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transcription factor early growth response protein ( EGR)1 orchestrates a plethora of signaling cascades involved in cellular homeostasis, and its downregulation has been implicated in the development of prostate cancer. Herein, using a battery of biophysical tools, we show that the binding of EGR1 to DNA is tightly regulated by solution pH. Importantly, the binding affinity undergoes an enhancement of more than an order of magnitude with an increase in pH from 5 to 8, implying that the deprotonation of an ionizable residue accounts for such behavior. This ionizable residue is identified as His382 by virtue of the fact that its replacement by nonionizable residues abolishes the pH dependence of the binding of EGR1 to DNA. Notably, His382 inserts into the major groove of DNA, and stabilizes the EGR1- DNA interaction via both hydrogen bonding and van der Waals contacts. Remarkably, His382 is mainly conserved across other members of the EGR family, implying that histidine protonation-deprotonation may serve as a molecular switch for modulating the protein- DNA interactions that are central to this family of transcription factors. Collectively, our findings reveal an unexpected but a key step in the molecular recognition of the EGR family of transcription factors, and suggest that they may act as sensors of pH within the intracellular environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural allyl sulfur compounds show antiproliferative effects on tumor cells, but the biochemical mechanisms underlying the antitumorigenic properties of the organ sulfur compounds are not yet fully understood. Sodium 2-propenyl-thiosulfate is a garlic water-soluble organo-sulfane sulfur compound able to promote apoptosis in cancer cells, affecting the 'managing' of the redox state in the cell. Our studies show that sodium 2-propenyl-thiosulfate reacts spontaneously with reduced glutathione at physiological pH, leading to the formation of S-allyl-mercapto-glutathione, radicals and peroxyl species, which are able to induce inhibition of enzymes with cysteine in the catalytic site, such as sulfurtransferases. S-Allyl-mercapto-glutathione was purified and characterized by NMR and MS, and its cytotoxic effect at 500 μ m on HuT 78 cells was analyzed, showing activation of the p38-MAPK pathway. Many allyl sulfur compounds are also able to promote chemoprevention by induction of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes, inducing down-activation or detoxification of the carcinogens. Thus, the effects of the S-allyl-mercapto-glutathione on proteins involved in the cellular detoxification system, such as glutathione S-transferase, have been evaluated both in vitro and in HuT 78 cells. Although the antitumor properties of water-soluble sulfur compounds may arise from several mechanisms and it is likely that more cellular events occur simultaneously, a relevant role is played by the formation of both reduced glutathione conjugates and radical species that affect the activity of the thiol-proteins involved in fundamental cellular processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeriolysin O (LLO) is the major factor implicated in the escape of Listeria monocytogenes from the phagolysosome. It is the only representative of cholesterol-dependent cytolysins that exhibits pH-dependent activity. Despite intense studies of LLO pH-dependence, this feature of the toxin still remains incompletely explained. Here we used fluorescence and CD spectroscopy to show that the structure of LLO is not detectably affected by pH at room temperature. We observed slightly altered haemolytic and permeabilizing activities at different pH values, which we relate to reduced binding of LLO to the lipid membranes. However, alkaline pH and elevated temperatures caused rapid denaturation of LLO. Aggregates of the toxin were able to bind Congo red and Thioflavin T dyes and were visible under transmission electron microscopy as large, amorphous, micrometer-sized assemblies. The aggregates had the biophysical properties of amyloid. Analytical ultracentrifugation indicated dimerization of the protein in acidic conditions, which protects the protein against premature denaturation in the phagolysosome, where toxin activity takes place. We therefore suggest that LLO spontaneously aggregates at the neutral pH found in the host cell cytosol and that this is a major mechanism of LLO inactivation. Structured digital abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]