Vol 7, No 1 (2015)

Senescence has been the focus of research for many centuries. Despite significant progress in extending average human life expectancy, the process of aging remains largely elusive and, unfortunately, inevitable. In this review, we attempted to summarize the current theories of aging and the approaches to understanding it.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionarily ancient factors of the innate immune system that serve as a crucial first line of defense for humans, animals, and plants against infection. This review focuses on the structural organization, biosynthesis, and biological functions of AMPs that possess a β-hairpin spatial structure. Representatives of this class of AMPs are among the most active antibiotic molecules of animal origin. Due to their wide spectrum of activity and resistance to internal environmental factors, natural β-hairpin AMPbased compounds might become the most promising drug candidates.

It has been shown by an X-ray structural analysis that the amino acid residues Ala198, which are located in the coenzyme-binding domain of NAD+-dependent formate dehydrogenases (EC 1.2.1.2., FDH) from bacteria Pseudomonas sp.101 and Moraxella sp. C-1 (PseFDH and MorFDH, respectively), have non-optimal values of the angles ψ and φ. These residues were replaced with Gly by site-directed mutagenesis. The mutants PseFDH A198G and MorFDH A198G were expressed in E.coli cells and obtained in active and soluble forms with more than 95% purity. The study of thermal inactivation kinetics showed that the mutation A198G results in a 2.5- fold increase in stability compared to one for the wild-type enzymes. Kinetic experiments indicate that A198G replacement reduces the K M NAD+ value from 60 to 35 and from 80 to 45 μM for PseFDH and MorFDH, respectively, while the K M HCOO- value remains practically unchanged. Amino acid replacement A198G was also added to the mutant PseFDH D221S with the coenzyme specificity changed from NAD + to NADP +. In this case, an increase in thermal stability was also observed, but the influence of the mutation on the kinetic parameters was opposite: KM increased from 190 to 280 μM and from 43 to 89 mM for NADP + and formate, respectively. According to the data obtained, inference could be drawn that earlier formate dehydrogenase from bacterium Pseudomonas sp. 101 was specific to NADP +, but not to NAD +.

Integration of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) DNA into the genome of an infected cell is one of the key steps in the viral replication cycle. The viral enzyme integrase (IN), which catalyzes the integration, is an attractive target for the development of new antiviral drugs. However, the HIV-1 therapy often results in the IN gene mutations inducing viral resistance to integration inhibitors. To assess the impact of drug resistance mutations on the activity of IN of HIV-1 subtype A strain FSU-A, which is dominant in Russia, variants of the consensus IN of this subtype containing the primary resistance mutations G118R and Q148K and secondary compensatory substitutions E138K and G140S were prepared and characterized. Comparative study of these enzymes with the corresponding mutants of IN of HIV-1 subtype B strains HXB-2 was performed. The mutation Q148K almost equally reduced the activity of integrases of both subtypes. Its negative effect was partially compensated by the secondary mutations E138K and G140S. Primary substitution G118R had different influence on the activity of proteins of the subtypes A and B, and the compensatory effect of the secondary substitution E138K also depended on the viral subtype. Comparison of the mutants resistance to the known strand transfer inhibitors raltegravir and elvitegravir, and a new inhibitor XZ-259 (a dihydro-1H-isoindol derivative), showed that integrases of both subtypes with the Q148K mutation were insensitive to raltegravir and elvitegravir but were effectively inhibited by XZ-259. The substitution G118R slightly reduced the efficiency of IN inhibition by raltegravir and elvitegravir and caused no resistance to XZ_259.

We have developed and synthesized nanobiocomposite materials based on graphene, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), and glucose oxidase immobilized on the surface of various nanomaterials (gold nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes) of different sizes (carbon nanotubes of different diameters). Comparative studies of the possible influence of the nanomaterial’s nature on the bioelectrocatalytic characteristics of glucose-oxidizing bioanodes in a neutral phosphate buffer solution demonstrated that the bioelectrocatalytic current densities of nanocomposite-based bioanodes are only weakly dependent on the size of the nanomaterial and are primarily defined by its nature. The developed nanobiocomposites are promising materials for new bioelectronic devices due to the ease in adjusting their capacitive and bioelectrocatalytic characteristics, which allows one to use them for the production of dual-function electrodes: i.e., electrodes which are capable of generating and storing electric power simultaneously.

Optimization of the chemical structure of antitumor photosensitizers (PSs) is aimed at increasing their affinity to a transport protein, albumin and irreversible light-induced tumor cell damage. Bacteriopurpurinimide derivatives are promising PSs thanks to their ability to absorb light in the near infrared spectral region. Using spectrophotometry, we show that two new bacteriopurpurinimide derivatives with different substituents at the N atoms of the imide exocycle and the pyrrole ring A are capable of forming non-covalent complexes with human serum albumin (HSA). The association constant (calculated with the Benesi-Hildebrand equation) for N-ethoxybacteriopurpurinimide ethyloxime (compound 1) is higher than that for the methyl ether of methoxybacteriopurpurinimide (compound 2) (1.18×10 5 M-1 vs. 1.26×10 4 M -1, respectively). Molecular modeling provides details of the atomic interactions between 1 and 2 and amino acid residues in the FA1 binding site of HSA. The ethoxy group stabilizes the position of 1 within this site due to hydrophobic interaction with the protein. The higher affinity of 1 for HSA makes this compound more potent than 2 in photodynamic therapy for cultured human colon carcinoma cells. Photoactivation of 1 and 2 in cells induces rapid (within a few minutes of irradiation) necrosis. This mechanism of cell death may be efficient for eliminating tumors resistant to other therapies.

A plasmid based on pET-40b was constructed to synthesize recombinant α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase of the marine bacterium Arenibacter latericius KMM 426 T (α-AlNaGal) in Escherichia coli cells. The yield of α-Al-NaGal attains 10 mg/ml with activity of 49.7 ± 1.3 U at 16°C, concentration of inductor 2 mM, and cultivation for 12 h. Techniques such as anion exchange, metal affinity and gel filtration chromatography to purify α-AlNaGal were applied. α-AlNaGal is a homodimer with a molecular weight of 164 kDa. This enzyme is stable at up to 50°C with a temperature range optimum activity of 20-37°C. Furthermore, its activity is independent of the presence of metal ions in the incubation medium. 1H NMR spectroscopy revealed that α-AlNaGal catalyzes the hydrolysis of the O-glycosidic bond with retention of anomeric stereochemistry and possesses a mechanism of action identical to that of other glycoside hydrolases of the 109 family. α-AlNaGal reduces the serological activity of A erythrocytes at pH 7.3. This property of α-AlNaGal can potentially be used for enzymatic conversion of A and AB erythrocytes to blood group O erythrocytes.