| 1. |
- Becquart, Cécile, et al.
(author)
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Intracellular Absolute Quantification of Oligonucleotide Therapeutics by NanoSIMS
- 2022
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In: Analytical Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0003-2700 .- 1520-6882. ; 94:29, s. 10549-10556
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)-based therapeutics hold great potential for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Therefore, a better understanding of cellular delivery, uptake, and trafficking mechanisms of ASOs is highly important for early-stage drug discovery. In particular, understanding the biodistribution and quantifying the abundance of ASOs at the subcellular level are needed to fully characterize their activity. Here, we used a combination of electron microscopy and NanoSIMS to assess the subcellular concentrations of a 34S-labeled GalNAc-ASO and a naked ASO in the organelles of primary human hepatocytes. We first cross-validated the method by including a 127I-labeled ASO, finding that the absolute concentration of the lysosomal ASO using two independent labeling strategies gave matching results, demonstrating the strength of our approach. This work also describes the preparation of external standards for absolute quantification by NanoSIMS. For both the 34S and 127I approaches used for our quantification methodology, we established the limit of detection (5 and 2 μM, respectively) and the lower limit of quantification (14 and 5 μM, respectively).
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| 2. |
- Bost, Jeremy P., et al.
(author)
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Novel endosomolytic compounds enable highly potent delivery of antisense oligonucleotides
- 2022
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 5:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The therapeutic and research potentials of oligonucleotides (ONs) have been hampered in part by their inability to effectively escape endosomal compartments to reach their cytosolic and nuclear targets. Splice-switching ONs (SSOs) can be used with endosomolytic small molecule compounds to increase functional delivery. So far, development of these compounds has been hindered by a lack of high-resolution methods that can correlate SSO trafficking with SSO activity. Here we present in-depth characterization of two novel endosomolytic compounds by using a combination of microscopic and functional assays with high spatiotemporal resolution. This system allows the visualization of SSO trafficking, evaluation of endosomal membrane rupture, and quantitates SSO functional activity on a protein level in the presence of endosomolytic compounds. We confirm that the leakage of SSO into the cytosol occurs in parallel with the physical engorgement of LAMP1-positive late endosomes and lysosomes. We conclude that the new compounds interfere with SSO trafficking to the LAMP1-positive endosomal compartments while inducing endosomal membrane rupture and concurrent ON escape into the cytosol. The efficacy of these compounds advocates their use as novel, potent, and quick-acting transfection reagents for antisense ONs.
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| 3. |
- Harris, Kurt L., et al.
(author)
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Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction of a Cytochrome P450 Family Involved in Chemical Defense Reveals the Functional Evolution of a Promiscuous, Xenobiotic-Metabolizing Enzyme in Vertebrates
- 2022
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In: Molecular biology and evolution. - : NLM (Medline). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 39:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The cytochrome P450 family 1 enzymes (CYP1s) are a diverse family of hemoprotein monooxygenases, which metabolize many xenobiotics including numerous environmental carcinogens. However, their historical function and evolution remain largely unstudied. Here we investigate CYP1 evolution via the reconstruction and characterization of the vertebrate CYP1 ancestors. Younger ancestors and extant forms generally demonstrated higher activity toward typical CYP1 xenobiotic and steroid substrates than older ancestors, suggesting significant diversification away from the original CYP1 function. Caffeine metabolism appears to be a recently evolved trait of the CYP1A subfamily, observed in the mammalian CYP1A lineage, and may parallel the recent evolution of caffeine synthesis in multiple separate plant species. Likewise, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist, 6-formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ) was metabolized to a greater extent by certain younger ancestors and extant forms, suggesting that activity toward FICZ increased in specific CYP1 evolutionary branches, a process that may have occurred in parallel to the exploitation of land where UV-exposure was higher than in aquatic environments. As observed with previous reconstructions of P450 enzymes, thermostability correlated with evolutionary age; the oldest ancestor was up to 35 °C more thermostable than the extant forms, with a 10T50 (temperature at which 50% of the hemoprotein remains intact after 10 min) of 71 °C. This robustness may have facilitated evolutionary diversification of the CYP1s by buffering the destabilizing effects of mutations that conferred novel functions, a phenomenon which may also be useful in exploiting the catalytic versatility of these ancestral enzymes for commercial application as biocatalysts.
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| 4. |
- Kvitne, Kine Eide, et al.
(author)
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Digoxin Pharmacokinetics in Patients with Obesity Before and After a Gastric Bypass or a Strict Diet Compared with Normal Weight Individuals
- 2024
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In: Clinical Pharmacokinetics. - : Springer. - 0312-5963 .- 1179-1926. ; 63:1, s. 109-120
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Objective: Several drugs on the market are substrates for P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an efflux transporter highly expressed in barrier tissues such as the intestine. Body weight, weight loss, and a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) may influence P-gp expression and activity, leading to variability in the drug response. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate digoxin pharmacokinetics as a measure of the P-gp phenotype in patients with obesity before and after weight loss induced by an RYGB or a strict diet and in normal weight individuals.Methods: This study included patients with severe obesity preparing for an RYGB (n = 40) or diet-induced weight loss (n = 40) and mainly normal weight individuals scheduled for a cholecystectomy (n = 18). Both weight loss groups underwent a 3-week low-energy diet (<1200 kcal/day) followed by an additional 6 weeks of <800 kcal/day induced by an RYGB (performed at week 3) or a very-low-energy diet. Follow-up time was 2 years, with four digoxin pharmacokinetic investigations at weeks 0, 3, and 9, and year 2. Hepatic and jejunal P-gp levels were determined in biopsies obtained from the patients undergoing surgery.Results: The RYGB group and the diet group had a comparable weight loss in the first 9 weeks (13 +/- 2.3% and 11 +/- 3.6%, respectively). During this period, we observed a minor increase (16%) in the digoxin area under the concentration-time curve from zero to infinity in both groups: RYGB: 2.7 mu g h/L [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67, 4.7], diet: 2.5 mu g h/L [95% CI 0.49, 4.4]. In the RYGB group, we also observed that the time to reach maximum concentration decreased after surgery: from 1.0 +/- 0.33 hours at week 3 to 0.77 +/- 0.08 hours at week 9 (-0.26 hours [95% CI -0.47, -0.05]), corresponding to a 25% reduction. Area under the concentration-time curve from zero to infinity did not change long term (week 0 to year 2) in either the RYGB (1.1 mu g h/L [-0.94, 3.2]) or the diet group (0.94 mu g h/L [-1.2, 3.0]), despite a considerable difference in weight loss from baseline (RYGB: 30 +/- 7%, diet: 3 +/- 6%). At baseline, the area under the concentration-time curve from zero to infinity was -5.5 mu g h/L [95% CI -8.5, -2.5] (-26%) lower in patients with obesity (RYGB plus diet) than in normal weight individuals scheduled for a cholecystectomy. Further, patients undergoing an RYGB had a 0.05 fmol/mu g [95% CI 0.00, 0.10] (29%) higher hepatic P-gp level than the normal weight individuals.Conclusions: Changes in digoxin pharmacokinetics following weight loss induced by a pre-operative low-energy diet and an RYGB or a strict diet (a low-energy diet plus a very-low-energy diet) were minor and unlikely to be clinically relevant. The lower systemic exposure of digoxin in patients with obesity suggests that these patients may have increased biliary excretion of digoxin possibly owing to a higher expression of P-gp in the liver.
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| 5. |
- Lindfors, Lina, et al.
(author)
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Is GPR146 really the receptor for proinsulin C-peptide?
- 2020
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In: Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. - : Elsevier. - 0960-894X .- 1464-3405. ; 30:13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Proinsulin C-peptide has previously been proposed to interact with a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), specifically the orphan receptor GPR146. To investigate the potential of C-peptide in treating complications of diabetes, such as kidney damage, it is necessary to understand its mode of action. We used CHO-K1 cells expressing human GPR146 to study human and murine C-peptide in dynamic mass redistribution and GPCR beta-arrestin assays, as well as with fluorescence confocal microscopy. Neither assay revealed any significant intracellular response to C-peptide at concentrations of up to 33 mu M. We observed no internalisation of C-peptide by fluorescence microscopy. Our results do not support GPR146 as the receptor for C-peptide, but suggest that further investigations of the mode of action of C-peptide should be undertaken.
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| 6. |
- Lovric, Jelena, 1980, et al.
(author)
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Nano Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Dopamine Distribution Across Nanometer Vesicles
- 2017
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In: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1936-086X .- 1936-0851. ; 11:4, s. 3446-3455
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report an approach to spatially resolve the content across nanometer neuroendocrine vesicles in nerve-like cells by correlating super high-resolution mass spectrometry imaging, NanoSIMS, with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, intracellular electrochemical cytometry at nanotip electrodes is used to count the number of molecules in individual vesicles to compare to imaged amounts in vesicles. Correlation between the NanoSIMS and TEM provides nanometer resolution of the inner structure of these organelles. Moreover, correlation with electrochemical methods provides a means to quantify and relate vesicle neurotransmitter content and release, which is used to explain the slow transfer of dopamine between vesicular compartments. These nanoanalytical tools reveal that dopamine loading/unloading between vesicular compartments, dense core and halo solution, is a kinetically limited process. The combination of NanoSIMS and TEM has been used to show the distribution profile of newly synthesized dopamine across individual vesicles. Our findings suggest that the vesicle inner morphology might regulate the neurotransmitter release event during open and closed exocytosis from dense core vesicles with hours of equilibrium needed to move significant amounts of catecholamine from the protein dense core despite its nanometer size.
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| 7. |
- Thomen, Aurélien, et al.
(author)
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Subcellular Mass Spectrometry Imaging and Absolute Quantitative Analysis across Organelles
- 2020
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In: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1936-086X .- 1936-0851. ; 14:4, s. 4316-4325
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mass spectrometry imaging is a field that promises to become a mainstream bioanalysis technology by allowing the combination of single-cell imaging and subcellular quantitative analysis. The frontier of single-cell imaging has advanced to the point where it is now possible to compare the chemical contents of individual organelles in terms of raw or normalized ion signal. However, to realize the full potential of this technology, it is necessary to move beyond this concept of relative quantification. Here we present a nanoSIMS imaging method that directly measures the absolute concentration of an organelle-associated, isotopically labeled, pro-drug directly from a mass spectrometry image. This is validated with a recently developed nanoelectrochemistry method for single organelles. We establish a limit of detection based on the number of isotopic labels used and the volume of the organelle of interest, also offering this calculation as a web application. This approach allows subcellular quantification of drugs and metabolites, an overarching and previously unmet goal in cell science and pharmaceutical development.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Zhao, Chaoyang, et al.
(author)
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A massive expansion of effector genes underlies gall-formation in the wheat pest Mayetiola destructor
- 2015
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In: Current Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-0445 .- 0960-9822. ; 25:5, s. 613-620
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gall-forming arthropods are highly specialized herbivores that, in combination with their hosts, produce extended phenotypes with unique morphologies [1]. Many are economically important, and others have improved our understanding of ecology and adaptive radiation [2]. However, the mechanisms that these arthropods use to induce plant galls are poorly understood. We sequenced the genome of the Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor; Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), a plant parasitic gall midge and a pest of wheat (Triticum spp.), with the aim of identifying genic modifications that contribute to its plant-parasitic lifestyle. Among several adaptive modifications, we discovered an expansive reservoir of potential effector proteins. Nearly 5% of the 20,163 predicted gene models matched putative effector gene transcripts present in the M. destructor larval salivary gland. Another 466 putative effectors were discovered among the genes that have no sequence similarities in other organisms. The largest known arthropod gene family (family SSGP-71) was also discovered within the effector reservoir. SSGP-71 proteins lack sequence homologies to other proteins, but their structures resemble both ubiquitin E3 ligases in plants and E3-ligase-mimicking effectors in plant pathogenic bacteria. SSGP-71 proteins and wheat Skp proteins interact in vivo. Mutations in different SSGP-71 genes avoid the effector-triggered immunity that is directed by the wheat resistance genes H6 and H9. Results point to effectors as the agents responsible for arthropod-induced plant gall formation.
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