Project description:Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide for which there are only symptomatic therapies. Small molecules able to target key pathological processes in PD have emerged as interesting options for modifying disease progression. We have previously shown that a (poly)phenol-enriched fraction (PEF) of Corema album L. leaf extract modulates central events in PD pathogenesis, namely α-synuclein (αSyn) toxicity, aggregation and clearance. PEF was now subjected to a bio-guided fractionation with the aim of identifying the critical bioactive compound. We identified genipin, an iridoid, which relieves αSyn toxicity and aggregation. Furthermore, genipin promotes metabolic alterations and modulates lipid storage and endocytosis. Importantly, genipin was able to prevent the motor deficits caused by the expression of αSyn-GFP in a Drosophila melanogaster model of PD. These findings open new avenues for the exploitation of genipin for PD therapeutics.
Project description:Viscum album is known for its special mode of cellular respiration. It lacks the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase complex (complex I of the respiratory chain) and has restricted capacities to generate mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP). We here present an investigation of the V. album energy metabolism taking place in mitochondria. Mitochondria were purified from young V. album leaves and membrane bound protein complexes characterized by Blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as well as by the complexome profiling approach. Proteins were systematically identified by label-free quantitative shotgun proteomics.
Project description:Viscum album is known for its special mode of cellular respiration. It lacks the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase complex (complex I of the respiratory chain) and has restricted capacities to generate mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP). We here present an investigation of the V. album energy metabolism taking place in the chloroplasts. Thylakoids were purified from young V. album leaves and membrane bound protein complexes characterized by Blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as well as by the complexome profiling approach. Proteins were systematically identified by label-free quantitative shotgun proteomics.
Project description:Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) are spherical bodies derived from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. Fully encapsulated by membrane, these extracellular structures transport cargo, often proteins, from within the bacterium into the external environment. Although there are multiple studies of OMVs released by pathogenic bacteria, the biogenesis and physiological role of OMVs released by environmental microorganisms is less understood. From a TEM screening of 8 methanotrophs affiliated with both Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria, OMVs were only detected around cells of Methylomicrobium album BG8. OMVs were formed regardless of carbon or nitrogen source, amount of trace metal availability, or growth phase. The size and morphology of M. album BG8 OMVs were similar well-characterized OMVs from other Gram-negative bacteria. The OMVs were isolated from M. album BG8 cultures and their associated proteome revealed an abundance of membrane-associated proteins, transporters related to calcium uptake, and proteins related to Type I secretion systems (T1SS), such as TolC and RTX, suggesting mediation of cargo selection by the T1SS. This information provides clues to the biogenesis pathway and physiological function of OMVs in M. album BG8.
Project description:Recent genomic studies revealed that mitochondria from mistletoe species appear to lack a major amount of genes, indicating a possible loss of the NADH ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) which forms an essential part of the mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation System (OXPHOS). This dataset is used for profiling of the mitochondrial complexome from European mistletoe, Viscum album and gives biochemical evidence for a lack of complex I as well as a unique composition of OXPHOS in Viscum album.
Project description:Samples:
The plants were harvested from 5 different host threes: Abies alba, Malus domestica, Pinis sylvestris, Quercus sp., Ulmus carpinifolia. Samples were harvested in summer and winter seasons.V. album MT was prepared from fresh plant material according to previous methodology described by our group (Anvisa, 2011; Holandino et al., 2020). The fresh material was fragmented into parts smaller than 5 cm and submitted to an ethanolic maceration process for 21 days at room temperature shaking twice a day. The final alcoholic content ranged from 40 to 50% v/v. The mother tinctures were coded according to the respective host tree and the harvest season, as following: Viscum album subsp. abietis from Abies alba in summer (A-17) or winter (A-18), Viscum album subsp. album from Malus domestica in summer (M-17) or winter (M-18), Viscum album subsp. album from Quercus sp. in summer (Q-17) or winter (Q-18), Viscum album subsp. album from Ulmus carpinifolia in summer (U-17) or winter (U-18), Viscum album subsp. austriacum from Pinus sylvestris in summer (P-17) or winter (P-18).
2) Viscum album mother tinctures analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry:
Initially, 1.0 g of mother tincture was weighed and transferred to a 5 mL volumetric flask where a solution 9:1 acetonitrile/water with 0.1% v/v formic acid was added. After homogenization, the solution was centrifuged at 7,056 g for 15 minutes and then 200 microliters of each supernatant were removed for analysis in a DionexUltiMate 3000 liquid Chromatography coupled to a hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer (Thermo Q-Exactive Plus) equipped with an electrospray ionization source (ESI). Pooled quality control samples (QC) containing 10 microliters of each MT were also prepared. Chromatography separation was performed in a reversed-phase column (Hypersil Gold C18, 100 mm x 2.1 mm x 3.0 micrometers; Thermo Fisher Scientific). Water with 0.1% v/v of formic acid (A) and acetonitrile with 0.1% v/v of formic acid (B) were used as the mobile phases in an elution gradient of: (i) 0-1 min, 10% B; (ii) 1-16 min, 10-95% B; iii) 16-18 min, 95% B; (iv) 18-18.1 min, 95-10% B; (v) 18.1-22 min 10% B. The flow rate was 0.350 microliters/min and the injection volume 5 microliters. Mass spectra were acquired simultaneously in negative and positive ionization modes in the m/z range of 100-1000 at a resolution of 35k (FWHM) followed by sequential mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments ddMS2 top 3 (where the 3 most intense ions of each scan were fragmented automatically). The mass spectrometry conditions were the following: spray voltage 3.9 kV for ESI (+) or 3.6kV for ESI (-), ion transfer capillary 300 C, sheath, and auxiliary gases 45 and 15 arbitrary units, respectively. Data were analyzed by the Xcalibur 2.0.7 program (Thermo Scientific, Bremen, Germany) (Holandino et al., 2020).