Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The highly regulated intracellular concentration of calcium (Ca2+) is a well-described regulator of diverse cellular events, including cell cycle control. In the present study we have addressed the regulation of cytosolic Ca2+ in differentiation events in the life cycle of the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Bloodstream form (BSF) trypanosomes include the mitotically active long slender forms (LS) which differentiate to two nondividing stages--intermediate (INT) which transform into short stumpy (SS) forms. An axenic in vitro culture system was used to cultivate LS to a density greater than 1.0 x 10(6) cells/ml/day. Populations of the intermediate BSF (INT) and SS were derived from cultured LS by treatment with difluoromethyl ornithine (DFMO, 100 microM) for 2 and 4 days, respectively. A semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-coupled polymerase chain reaction protocol (SQ-RT-PCR) was developed to objectively distinguish the three BSF by monitoring the relative levels of stage-specific mRNAs--cytochrome oxidase II (COXII), variant surface glycoprotein, and procyclin during the differentiation of LS to SS, showing an increase in COXII and procyclin mRNA expression during this process of differentiation. Basal cytosolic Ca2+ levels [Ca2+]i of populations of LS, INT, and SS were studied using Indo-1 dual emission fluorometry. [Ca2+]i was maximal in dividing LS cells and was shown to decrease coincidentally with early events in the process of differentiation to INT and SS. Thapsigargin (1 microM), reported to cause the release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum, elevated [Ca2+]i by about 30-60 nM in all BSF; however, the total thapsigargin-releasable stores decreased in parallel with the decrease in basal [Ca2+]i. Control treatments verified that elevations in [Ca2+]i in response to thapsigargin were intracellular in origin. These results may reflect the cessation of cytosolic Ca2+ transients involved in the regulation of mitosis as the parasite exits from the cell cycle and differentiates from rapidly dividing LS to the nondividing SS.
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PMID:Trypanosoma brucei: analysis of cytoplasmic Ca2+ during differentiation of bloodstream stages in vitro. 865 42

1. Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by muscle fatigue and pain at rest, symptoms which are usually exacerbated with exercise. Although various studies have shown minor, non-specific morphological and biochemical changes in muscle of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, no consistent defect has been identified. Some have suggested that an enteroviral infection in muscle may cause the chronic muscle fatigue seen in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, with acute infection directly and irreversibly impairing mitochondrial function, and persistent infection depressing muscle protein synthesis and metabolism. 2. To clarify the involvement of enterovirus infection in chronic fatigue syndrome, muscle biopsies from a group of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were examined for the presence of enteroviral RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction techniques in relation to functional studies of muscle mitochondria and the muscle RNA/DNA ratio. 3. Fifty-eight percent of patients reported an uncharacterized 'viral infection' before the onset of their illness, but none of the muscle samples from 34 patients contained detectable amounts of enteroviral RNA. Muscle tissue had a general reduction in the RNA/DNA ratio and mitochondrial enzyme activities with no specific abnormality in the activity of enzymes encoded partially on the mitochondrial genome (cytochrome-c oxidase) or nuclear genome (citrate synthase, succinate reductase). 4. These data provide no evidence of an enteroviral infection in muscle of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, although this does not exclude a role of enterovirus in initiating the disease process. The general reduction in RNA/DNA ratio and mitochondrial enzyme activities is consistent with a general reduction in habitual activity.
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PMID:Investigation by polymerase chain reaction of enteroviral infection in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. 877 36

The complete nucleotide sequence of the Chlamydomonas eugametos (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyceae, sensu Mattox and Stewart) mitochondrial genome has been determined (22,897 bp, 34.6% G + C). The genes identified in this circular-mapping genome include those for apocytochrome b, subunit 1 of the cytochrome oxidase complex, subunits 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 of the NADH dehydrogenase complex, discontinuous large and small subunit ribosomal rRNAs and three tRNAs whose anticodons CAU, CCA and UUG are specific for methionine, tryptophan and glutamine, respectively. The C. eugametos mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), therefore, shares almost the same reduced set of coding functions and similar unusual features of rRNA gene organization with the linear 15.8 kb mtDNA of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the only other completely sequenced chlamydomonadalean mtDNA. However, sequence analysis of the C. eugametos mtDNA has revealed the following distinguishing features relative to those of C. reinhardtii: (1) the absence of a reverse transcriptase-like gene homologue, (2) the presence of an additional gene for tRNA(met) that may be a pseudogene, (3) a completely different gene order, (4) transcription of all genes from the same mtDNA strand, (5) a lower G + C content, (6) less pronounced bias in codon usage, and (7) nine group I introns, several of which contain open reading frames coding for potential maturases/endonucleases and two have a nucleotide at the 5' or 3' splice site of the deduced precursor RNAs that deviates from highly conserved nucleotides reported in other group I introns. The features of mitochondrial genome organization and gene content shared by C. eugametos and C. reinhardtii contrast with those of other green algal mtDNAs that have been characterized in detail. The deep evolutionary divergence between these two Chlamydomonas taxa within the Chlamydomonadales suggests that their shared features of mitochondrial genome organization evolved prior to the origin of this group.
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PMID:Complete sequence of the mitochondrial DNA of Chlamydomonas eugametos. 948 40

Differential display in combination with arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprinting has become one of the most powerful techniques to identify and isolate mRNAs that are differentially expressed in pairs of biological samples. However, in many cases the cDNA band corresponding to the differentially amplified product contains several cDNA species that comigrate with the cDNA of interest due to the poor resolution of the fingerprinting gels, thus hampering further analysis and identification of the desirable cDNA. To improve the electrophoretic resolution of differentially amplified cDNAs, we have utilized Resolver Gold agarose gel electrophoresis (Ingenius) as an additional step to overcome downstream problems encountered during RNA fingerprinting experiments. To illustrate the power of the modified differential display procedure we present a detailed analysis of the cDNA products differentially displayed in tumor biopsies obtained from a noninvasive (grade II, Ta) and an invasive (grade III, T2-T4) human bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Several genes that were differentially expressed in this tumor pair were identified. These included: tropomyosin 4, the protein disulfide isomerase precursor (PDI), MRP14, signal transducer CD24, keratins 8 and 13, cytochrome oxidase subunit IV (COXIV), putative transcription factor HOX-1.3, as well as two novel genes of yet unknown function. All of the identified cDNAs were shown to be truly differentially expressed by Northern blotting, reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR), and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) analysis of the corresponding lesions.
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PMID:Identification of true differentially expressed mRNAs in a pair of human bladder transitional cell carcinomas using an improved differential display procedure. 1019 29

Patients treated with nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) develop a varying degree of myopathy or neuropathy after long-term therapy. Zidovudine (AZT) causes myopathy; zalcitabine (ddC), didanosine (ddl) and lamuvidine (3TC) cause neuropathy; stavudine (d4T) and fialuridine (FIAU) cause neuropathy or myopathy and lactic acidosis. The tissue distribution of phosphorylases responsible for phosphorylation of NRTIs relates to their selective tissue toxicity. The myopathy is characterized by muscle wasting, myalgia, fatigue, weakness and elevation of CK. The neuropathy is painful, sensory and axonal. In vitro, NRTIs inhibit the gamma-DNA polymerase, responsible for replication of mtDNA, and cause mtDNA dysfunction. In vivo, patients treated with AZT, the best studied NRTI, develop a mitochondrial myopathy with mtDNA depletion, deficiency of COX (complex IV), intracellular fat accumulation, high lactate production and marked phosphocreatine depletion, as determined with in vivo MRS spectroscopy, due to impaired oxidative phosphorylation. Animals or cultured cells treated with NRTIs develop neuropathy, myopathy, or cell destruction with similar changes in the mitochondria. There is evidence that the NRTI-related neuropathy is also due to mitochondrial toxicity. The NRTIs (AZT, ddC, ddl, d4T, 3TC) contain azido groups that compete with natural thymidine triphosphate as substrates of DNA pol-gamma and terminate mtDNA synthesis. In contrast, FIAU that contains 3'-OH groups serves as an alternate substrate for thymidine triphosphate with DNA pol-gamma and is incorporated into the DNA causing permanent mtDNA dysfunction. The NRTI-induced mitochondrial dysfunction has an influence on the clinical application of these agents, especially at high doses and when combined. They have produced in humans a new category of acquired mitochondrial toxins that cause clinical manifestations resembling the genetic mitochondrial disorders.
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PMID:Peripheral neuropathy and antiretroviral drugs. 1129 2

A decreased sperm motility has been reported in men treated with nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI). Sperm motility is correlated with enzymatic activities of the sperm mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC), which may be impaired by NRTI. We compared sperm and skeletal muscle MRC and citrate synthase (CS) activities, sperm adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content and sperm motility between rats exposed to zidovudine (AZT) for 10 weeks and controls. Decreased levels of CS-normalized cytochrome c oxidase (COX, the MRC complex IV) activity were observed in the spermatozoa from AZT-treated rats, with no significant decrease in ATP content or motility. In muscle absolute COX activity increased after exposure to AZT but CS-normalized COX activity remained unchanged. These results suggest that exposure to NRTI can induce MRC dysfunction earlier in spermatozoa than in skeletal muscle.
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PMID:Deficit in cytochrome c oxidase activity induced in rat sperm mitochondria by in vivo exposure to zidovudine. 1451 Dec 19

Genomic mitochondrial intron deletion occurs frequently during the reversion of mitochondrial intronic mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The multiplicity as well as the apparent polarity of intron deletion led us to propose the implication of reverse transcription in this process. The two first introns of the COX1 (cytochrome oxidase I) gene, ai1 and ai2, are known to be homologous to viral reverse transcriptase and to encode such activity. We have tested the involvement of these introns in the deletion process by constructing three isogenic strains. They contain the same reporter mutation in the second intron of the CYTb (cytochrome b) gene but differ from each other by the presence or the absence of the ai1 and/or ai2 introns in the other gene encoding the COX1 subunit. Only the strain lacking ai1 and ai2 introns is no more able to revert by intron deletion. The strain retaining only the ai1 intron was able to revert by intron deletion. We conclude that the reverse transcriptase activity, even when encoded by only ai1 intron, can act in trans in the intron deletion process, during the reversion of intronic mutations.
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PMID:The reverse transcriptase encoded by ai1 intron is active in trans in the retro-deletion of yeast mitochondrial introns. 1592 9

Liver mitochondrial toxicity induced by nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients has been associated with a wide range of liver involvement ranging from low-grade hepatotoxicity, asymptomatic lactacidemia to severe liver insufficiency, with massive steatosis and life-threatening lactic acidosis. Considerable efforts have been made in the last few years to establish clinical guidelines to avoid life-threatening NRTI-associated lactic acidosis. However, the important issue of low-grade NRTI-associated hepatotoxicity still needs to be unravelled since its natural history is largely unknown. We have recently reported a series of 13 monoinfected HIV patients with low-grade NRTI-associated toxicity. Our results outlined the heterogeneity of NRTI-induced hepatotoxicity and raised the question of its diagnosis. The present study evaluates the expression of cytochrome oxidase (COX) subunits I and IV, encoded by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, respectively, in NRTI hepatotoxicity. The aim of our study was to compare the detection rate of mitochondrial abnormalities of immunohistochemistry for COX subunit I with electron microscopy. COX subunit I and IV labeling was performed together with light microscopy and ultrastructural analysis in a series of 55 liver biopsies from HIV monoinfected and HIV-hepatitis C virus coinfected patients. Clinical data were also recorded. Our major findings were: (i) decreased COX subunit I labeling is associated with severe ultrastructural mitochondrial alterations and may represent overt NRTI-induced mitochondrial cytopathy; (ii) mild ultrastructural damage associated with normal COX subunit I labeling is of unknown clinical significance. The results of the study suggest that COX subunit I labeling may be a valuable tool for the diagnosis of mitochondrial liver disease in HIV patients.
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PMID:Alteration of cytochrome oxidase subunit I labeling is associated with severe mitochondriopathy in NRTI-related hepatotoxicity in HIV patients. 1681 Mar 13

We assessed the in vitro toxicity of tenofovir (TFV) and compared it with those of zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), ritonavir (RTV), and lopinavir (LPV) alone and in combination in human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (RPTECs). The cells were treated with various concentrations and combinations of the tested antiretrovirals for up to 22 days, and cytotoxicity was determined. In addition, we assessed the levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and cytochrome oxidase II (COII) mRNA in RPTECs treated with reverse transcriptase inhibitors. TFV alone was not associated with significant cytotoxicity. ddI showed pronounced cytotoxicity that was greater than those of AZT (P = 0.002) and TFV (P = 0.0001). The combination of 10 muM RTV and 40 muM LPV significantly reduced RPTEC viability (P < 0.0001), and TFV tended to partially reduce this effect. TFV alone affected neither mtDNA nor COII mRNA levels, whereas ddI caused a profound depletion of mtDNA and a parallel reduction in COII mRNA expression. The effects of ddI, but not those of AZT, on mtDNA and COII mRNA were further enhanced in the presence of TFV, a finding consistent with the inhibition of ddI clearance by TFV. The addition of TFV to ddI or AZT appeared to slightly increase the COII mRNA/mtDNA ratio relative to that in cells treated with ddI or AZT alone. Together, these in vitro results indicate that combination with other antiretrovirals does not significantly increase the toxic potential of TFV in RPTECs.
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PMID:In vitro cytotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity of tenofovir alone and in combination with other antiretrovirals in human renal proximal tubule cells. 1694 60

Mitochondrial toxicity limits nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. NRTI triphosphates, the active moieties, inhibit human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase and eukaryotic mitochondrial DNA polymerase pol-gamma. NRTI phosphorylation seems to correlate with mitochondrial toxicity, but experimental evidence is lacking. Transgenic mice (TGs) with cardiac overexpression of thymidine kinase isoforms (mitochondrial TK2 and cytoplasmic TK1) were used to study NRTI mitochondrial toxicity. Echocardiography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging defined cardiac performance and structure. TK gene copy and enzyme activity, mitochondrial (mt) DNA and polypeptide abundance, succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase histochemistry, and electron microscopy correlated with transgenesis, mitochondrial structure, and biogenesis. Antiretroviral combinations simulated therapy. Untreated hTK1 or TK2 TGs exhibited normal left ventricle mass. In TK2 TGs, cardiac TK2 gene copy doubled, activity increased 300-fold, and mtDNA abundance doubled. Abundance of the 17-kd subunit of complex I, succinate dehydrogenase histochemical activity, and cristae density increased. NRTIs increased left ventricle mass 20% in TK2 TGs. TK activity increased 3 logs in hTK1 TGs, but no cardiac phenotype resulted. NRTIs abrogated functional effects of transgenically increased TK2 activity but had no effect on TK2 mtDNA abundance. Thus, NRTI mitochondrial phosphorylation by TK2 is integral to clinical NRTI mitochondrial toxicity.
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PMID:Targeted transgenic overexpression of mitochondrial thymidine kinase (TK2) alters mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mitochondrial polypeptide abundance: transgenic TK2, mtDNA, and antiretrovirals. 1732 72


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