Vol 486, No 1 (2019)

The treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana plants with exogenous cytokinin (CK) followed by heat shock (HS) activated the expression of the genes for the plastid transcription machinery but adversely affected the plant viability. Abscisic acid (ABA), conversely, promoted maintaining the resistance to HS and had differentially affected different components of the plastid transcriptional complex. This hormone suppressed the accumulation of transcripts of PEP genes and the genes encoding PAP proteins, which are involved in DNA–RNA metabolism. However, it had no effect or activated the expression of NEP genes and PAP genes, which are involved in the redox regulation, as well as the genes encoding the stress-inducible trans-factor (SIG5) and the plastid transcription Ser/Thr protein kinase (cpCK2). Thus, for the adaptation of plants to elevated temperatures, both increase and decrease in the expression of the genes for the plastid transcriptional machinery with the involvement of various regulatory systems, including phytohormones, are equally significant.

Under conditions of the experimental model of Parkinson’s disease at the preclinical (early) and clinical stage—injection of mice with the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) for 5 and 10 weeks—the toxic effects of MPTP was evaluated (the content of catecholamines and their metabolites in the heart, which receives the most extensive sympathetic innervation, was determined). The obtained data indicated the beginning of desympathization of the heart at the preclinical stage of PD and its progression at the clinical stage of the disease.

Thapsigargin (SERCA ATPase inhibitor) inhibited the S100A4 metastatic marker expression in MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells. We found that S100A4 gene transcription is regulated by Ca²⁺ signaling pathways. We found that the synthesis of S100A4 mRNA and S100A4 protein in MDA-MB231 cells was effectively suppressed by thapsigargin at a concentration of 0.4–4 μM with retaining cell viability. We assume that the change in the gene transcription in response to disturbance of Ca²⁺ homeostasis is directly involved in the remodeling of Ca²⁺ signaling pathways.

Using transgenic Drosophila model systems, we showed that four binding sites for the architectural protein dCTCF per se cannot form an effective insulator that blocks enhancers and protects against the Polycomb-dependent repression. These results suggest that, in the known Drosophila insulators, the dCTCF protein functions in cooperation with other architectural proteins.

The oxidative modification of human hemoglobin (Hb) treated with hydrogen peroxide was investigated. Using the mass spectrometry method, the oxidized amino acid residues of the hemoglobin molecule were detected: αTrp14, αTyr24, αArg31, αMet32, αTyr42, αHis45, αHis72, αMet76, αPro77, αLys90, αCys104, αTyr140, βHis2, βTrp15, βTrp37, βMet55, βCys93, βCys112, βTyr130, βLys144, and βHis146. The antioxidant potential of the Hb molecule in the intracellular space and in the blood plasma is discussed.

The aim of this work was to study the fine structure of bacterial films grown on the inner tube surface of a flow reactor. Using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) approaches, the detailed biofilm relief was visualized. The action of electrochemically reduced water (ERW) on the biofilm ultrastructure generated by the plankton form of E. coli and/or lacto bacteria was investigated. The treatment with an ERW solution destroyed the biofilm organic polymer matrix and bacterial cells embedded in the matrix.

The functioning of NAD(P)H:FMN‑oxidoreductase (Red) from Vibrio fischeri under conditions of macromolecular crowding (MMC) simulated in vitro by adding biopolymers (starch and gelatin) was studied. The dissociation rate constants and the activation energies of dissociation of Red to the subunits were calculated, and the process of denaturation of Red was analyzed. It is shown that the functioning of Red both under conditions of MMC and in diluted solutions is the same. This result refutes the common belief that the native conformation of enzymes in vivo is stabilized due to MMC as compared to the in vitro conditions.

Cardiolipin (CL) plays a central role in lipid peroxidation (LPO) of the mitochondrial inner membrane due to higher content of unsaturated fatty acids in CL in comparison with the other phospholipids. CL oxidation plays an important role in the regulation of various intracellular signaling pathways and its excessive oxidation contributes to the development of various pathologies and, possibly, participates in the aging process. Mitochondria-targeted antioxidants containing triphenylphosphonium (TPP⁺) effectively protect CL from oxidation. It is assumed that fluorescent probes on the basis of the C11-BODIPY fluorophore sensitive to LPO and containing TPP⁺ can selectively register CL oxidation. To test this possibility, we carried out a molecular dynamic simulation of such probes in a model mitochondrial membrane. It is shown that the probes are located in the membrane at the same depth as the unsaturated bonds in CL molecules sensitive to oxidation. Increasing the length of the linker that binds the fluorophore and TPP⁺ residue ha little effect on the position of the probe in the membrane. This indicates the possibility of modifying the linker to increase the selectivity of the probes to CL.

The composition of fatty acids of total lipids of the outer and parenchymal parts of the pericarp in Cydonia oblonga Mill. and Mespilus germanica L. (Maloideae, Rosaceae), growing in the Northern Caucasian mountains at altitudes of 300, 500, 700, and 1200 m above sea level in various natural zones from experimental sites, was studied for the first time. It is established that the altitude of plant growth is largely correlated with the changes in the FA composition of the outer, but not the parenchymal, part of the pericarp. The nature of this variability suggests that the adaptation of plants to the conditions of significant temperature differences in the mountains is associated with the regulation of cell membrane fluidity, based on the interaction of opposite processes of synthesis of polyunsaturated and very-long-chain fatty acids.

The results of the study of the effect of a mononuclear dinitrosyl iron complex (DNIC7) with functional sulfur-containing ligands (NO donors) on the viability of multiple myeloma cells are presented. It was shown that DNIC7 decreased cell viability and inhibited the proliferation of multiple myeloma cells, i.e., exhibits cytotoxic properties. Fluorescent analysis showed that the DNIC7 compound decreases the level of intracellular glutathione and increases the level of reactive oxygen species in multiple myeloma cells. It is assumed that DNIC7 has a therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer.