Parasite-based screening and proteome profiling reveal orlistat, an FDA-approved drug, as a potential anti Trypanosoma brucei agent

Trypanosoma brucei is a parasite that causes African sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock and is transmitted by the tsetse fly. There is an urgent need for the development of new drugs against African trypanosomiasis due to the lack of vaccines and effective drugs. Orlistat (also called tetrahydrolipstatin or THL) is an FDA-approved antiobesity drug targeting primarily the pancreatic and gastric lipases within the gastrointestinal tract. It shows potential activities against tumors, mycobacteria, and parasites. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of an expanded set of orlistat-like compounds, some of which showed highly potent trypanocidal activities in both the bloodstream form (BSF) and the procyclic form (PCF) of T. brucei. Subsequent in situ parasite-based proteome profiling was carried out to elucidate potential cellular targets of the drug in both forms. Some newly identified targets were further validated by the labeling of recombinantly expressed enzymes in Escherichia coli lysates. Bioimaging experiments with a selected compound were carried out to study the cellular uptake of the drug in T. brucei. Results indicated that orlistat is much more efficiently taken up by the BSF than the PCF of T. brucei and has clear effects on the morphology of mitochondria, glycosomes, and the endoplasmic reticulum in both BSF and PCF cells. These results support specific effects of orlistat on these organelles and correlate well with our in situ proteome profiling. Given the economic challenges of de novo drug development for neglected diseases, we hope that our findings will stimulate further research towards the conversion of orlistat-like compounds into new trypanocidal drugs.     

Evaluation of low trans fat edible oils by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography: a comparison of analytical approaches

Current interest by the food industry in exploring reformulation options that lower the content of trans fat in edible fats and oils requires methods to accurately measure low levels of trans fat. In the present study, the quantitation of trans fat in 25 edible fat and oil samples was evaluated using two current analytical approaches, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) according to Official Methods of the American Oil Chemists' Society. Significant differences between the ATR-FTIR and reference GC-FID quantitations were found for samples with a trans fat content <2% of total fat. These discrepancies could be explained, in part, by the presence of certain oil constituents (e.g., vitamins, carotenoids, high levels of saturated fat) that produced absorbance bands at or near 966 cm(-1) in the ATR-FTIR spectra, a region that was previously identified as being characteristic of isolated trans double bonds. Results demonstrate that the natural content of such oil constituents could result in significant overestimations of trans fat when ATR-FTIR is used to analyze edible fats and oils with a trans fat content <2% of total fat.     

New organoruthenium complexes with bioactive thiosemicarbazones as co-ligands: potential anti-trypanosomal agents

In the search for new therapeutic tools against neglected diseases produced by trypanosomatid parasites, and particularly against African Trypanosomiasis, whose etiological agent is Trypanosoma brucei, organoruthenium compounds with bioactive nitrofuran containing thiosemicarbazones (L) as co-ligands were obtained. Four ruthenium(II) complexes with the formula [Ru(2)(p-cymene)(2)(L)(2)]X(2), where X = Cl or PF(6), were synthesized and the crystal structures of two of them were solved by X-ray diffraction methods. Two of the complexes show significant in vitro growth inhibition activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei and are highly selective towards trypanosomal cells with respect to mammalian cells (J774 murine macrophages). These promising results make the title organoruthenium compounds good lead candidates for further developments towards potential antitrypanosomal organometallic drugs.     

Proton Coupled Electron Transfer and Redox Active Tyrosines: Structure and Function of the Tyrosyl Radicals in Ribonucleotide Reductase and Photosystem II

Proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions are important in many biological processes. Tyrosine oxidation/reduction can play a critical role in facilitating these reactions. Two examples are photosystem II (PSII) and ribonucleotide reductase (RNR). RNR is essential in DNA synthesis in all organisms. In E. coli RNR, a tyrosyl radical, Y122(?), is required as a radical initiator. Photosystem II (PSII) generates molecular oxygen from water. In PSII, an essential tyrosyl radical, YZ(?), oxidizes the oxygen evolving center. However, the mechanisms, by which the extraordinary oxidizing power of the tyrosyl radical is controlled, are not well understood. This is due to the difficulty in acquiring high-resolution structural information about the radical state. Spectroscopic approaches, such as EPR and UV resonance Raman (UVRR), can give new information. Here, we discuss EPR studies of PCET and the PSII YZ radical. We also present UVRR results, which support the conclusion that Y122 undergoes an alteration in ring and backbone dihedral angle when it is oxidized. This conformational change results in a loss of hydrogen bonding to the phenolic oxygen. Our analysis suggests that access of water is an important factor in determining tyrosyl radical lifetime and function. TOC graphic.     

Modeling and solving the bi-objective minimum diameter-cost spanning tree problem

The bi-objective minimum diameter-cost spanning tree problem (bi-MDCST) seeks spanning trees with minimum total cost and minimum diameter. The bi-objective version generalizes the well-known bounded diameter minimum spanning tree problem. The bi-MDCST is a NP-hard problem and models several practical applications in transportation and network design. We propose a bi-objective multiflow formulation for the problem and effective multi-objective metaheuristics: a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm and a fast nondominated sorting genetic algorithm. Some guidelines on how to optimize the problem whenever a priority order can be established between the two objectives are provided. In addition, we present bi-MDCST polynomial cases and theoretical bounds on the search space. Results are reported for four representative test sets.     

Simplicity of algebras associated to étale groupoids

We prove that the full C ^?-algebra of a second-countable, Hausdorff, étale, amenable groupoid is simple if and only if the groupoid is both topologically principal and minimal. We also show that if G has totally disconnected unit space, then the complex ^?-algebra of its inverse semigroup of compact open bisections, as introduced by Steinberg, is simple if and only if G is both effective and minimal.     

Optimal Factorization of Three-Way Binary Data Using Triadic Concepts

We present a new approach to factor analysis of three-way binary data, i.e. data described by a 3-dimensional binary matrix I, describing a relationship between objects, attributes, and conditions. The problem consists in finding a decomposition of I into three binary matrices, an object-factor matrix A, an attribute-factor matrix B, and a condition-factor matrix C, with the number of factors as small as possible. The scenario is similar to that of decomposition-based methods of analysis of three-way data but the difference consists in the composition operator and the constraint on A, B, and C to be binary. We show that triadic concepts of I, developed within formal concept analysis, provide us with optimal decompositions. We present an example demonstrating the usefulness of the decompositions. Since finding optimal decompositions is NP-hard, we propose a greedy algorithm for computing suboptimal decompositions and evaluate its performance.     

Bayesian Deconvolution

Bayesian probability has been applied to the problem of estimating the true spectral lineshape from an experimental peak with prior knowledge of the instrumental contribution. The results demonstrate that Bayesian deconvolution provides excellent estimates of the parameters defining the true spectral lineshape even from strongly overlapping or broadened peaks in the presence of significant noise levels.     

Permeation of nanocrystals across lipid membranes

Biological membranes are one of the major structural elements of cells, and play a key role as a selective barrier and substrate for many proteins that facilitate transport and signaling processes. Understanding the structural and mechanical properties of lipid membranes during permeation of nanomaterials is of prime importance in determining the toxicity of nanomaterials to living cells. It has been shown that the interaction between lipid membranes and nanomaterials and the disruption of lipid membranes are often determined by physicochemical properties of nanomaterials, such as size, shape and surface composition. In this work, molecular dynamic simulations were carried out using various sizes of nanocrystals as a probe to explore the transport of nanomaterials across dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers and the changes in the structural and mechanical properties of DPPC bilayers during the permeation. A coarse-grained model was used to provide insight at large time and length scales. In this work, an external driving force helps the nanocrystals across the lipid bilayer. The minimum forces needed to penetrate the model membrane and the interaction of nanocrystals and lipid bilayers were investigated in simulations. The elastic and dynamic properties of lipid bilayers, including the local and bulk properties during the permeation of the nanocrystals, which are of considerable fundamental interest, were also studied. The findings described will lead to better understanding of nanomaterial–lipid membrane interactions and the mechanical and dynamic properties of lipid membranes under permeation.     

Role of surface ligands in nanoparticle permeation through a model membrane: a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations study

How nanoparticles interact with biological membranes is of significant importance in determining the toxicity of nanoparticles as well as their potential applications in phototherapy, imaging and gene/drug delivery. It has been shown that such interactions are often determined by nanoparticle physicochemical factors such as size, shape, hydrophobicity and surface charge density. Surface modification of the nanoparticle offers the possibility of creating site-specific carriers for both drug delivery and diagnostic purposes. In this work, we use coarse-grained molecular dynamic simulations to explore the permeation characteristics of ligand-coated nanoparticles through a model membrane. We compare permeation behaviors of ligand-coated nanoparticles with bare nanoparticles to provide insights into how the ligands affect the permeation process. A series of simulations is carried out to validate a coarse-grained model for nanoparticles and a lipid membrane system. The minimum driving force for nanoparticles to penetrate the membrane and the mechanism of nanoparticle–membrane interaction were investigated. The potential of the mean force profile, nanoparticle velocity profile, force profile and density profiles (planar and radial) were obtained to explore the nanoparticle permeation process. The structural properties of both nanoparticles and lipid membrane during the permeation, which are of considerable fundamental interest, are also studied in our work. The findings described in our work will lead to a better understanding of nanoparticle–lipid membrane interactions and cell cytotoxicity and help develop more efficient nanocarrier systems for intracellular delivery of therapeutics.