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Two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging of intracellular chloride in cockroach salivary glands
(2009)
In humans, the L-cysteine desulfurase NFS1 plays a crucial role in the mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis and in the thiomodification of mitochondrial and cytosolic tRNAs. We have previously demonstrated that purified NFS1 is able to transfer sulfur to the C-terminal domain of MOCS3, a cytosolic protein involved in molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis and tRNA thiolation. However, no direct evidence existed so far for the interaction of NFS1 and MOCS3 in the cytosol of human cells. Here, we present direct data to show the interaction of NFS1 and MOCS3 in the cytosol of human cells using Forster resonance energy transfer and a split-EGFP system. The colocalization of NFS1 and MOCS3 in the cytosol was confirmed by immunodetection of fractionated cells and localization studies using confocal fluorescence microscopy. Purified NFS1 was used to reconstitute the lacking molybdoenzyme activity of the Neurospora crassa nit-1 mutant, giving additional evidence that NFS1 is the sulfur donor for Moco biosynthesis in eukaryotes in general.
First studies of electron transfer in [N]phenylenes were performed in bimolecular quenching reactions of angular [3]- and triangular [4]phenylene with various electron acceptors. The relation between the quenching rate constants k(q) and the free energy change of the electron transfer (Delta G(CS)(0)) could be described by the Rehm- Weller equation. From the experimental results, a reorganization energy lambda of 0.7 eV was derived. Intramolecular electron transfer reactions were studied in an [N]phenylene bichomophore and a corresponding reference compound. Fluorescence lifetime and quantum yield of the bichromophor display a characteristic dependence on the solvent polarity, whereas the corresponding values of the reference compound remain constant. From the results, a nearly isoenergonic charge separation process can be determined. As the triplet quantum yield is nearly independent of the polarity, charge recombination leads to the population of the triplet state.
Efficient triplet exciton emission has allowed improved operation of organic light-emitting diodes (LEDs). To enhance the device performance, it is necessary to understand what governs the motion of triplet excitons through the organic semiconductor. Here, we have investigated triplet diffusion using a model compound that has weak energetic disorder. The Dexter-type triplet energy transfer is found to be thermally activated down to a transition temperature T- T, below which the transfer rate is only weakly temperature dependent. We show that above the transition temperature, Dexter energy transfer can be described within the framework of Marcus theory. We suggest that below T-T, the nature of the transfer changes from phonon-assisted hopping to quantum-mechanical tunneling. The lower electron-phonon coupling and higher electronic coupling in the polymer compared to the monomer results in an enhanced triplet diffusion rate.
Lahn M, Dosche C, Hille C. Two-photon microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging reveal stimulus-induced intracellular Na+ and Cl- changes in cockroach salivary acinar cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 300: C1323-C1336, 2011. First published February 23, 2011; doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00320.2010.-The intracellular ion homeostasis in cockroach salivary acinar cells during salivation is not satisfactorily understood. This is mainly due to technical problems regarding strong tissue autofluorescence and ineffective ion concentration quantification. For minimizing these problems, we describe the successful application of two-photon (2P) microscopy partly in combination with fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to record intracellular Na+ and Cl- concentrations ([Na+](i), [Cl-](i)) in cockroach salivary acinar cells. Quantitative 2P-FLIM Cl- measurements with the dye N-(ethoxycarbonylmethyl)-6-methoxy-quinolinium bromide indicate that the resting [Cl-](i) is 1.6 times above the Cl- electrochemical equilibrium but is not influenced by pharmacological inhibition of the Na+-K+-2Cl(-) cotransporter (NKCC) and anion exchanger using bumetanide and 4,4'-diisothiocyanatodihydrostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid disodium salt. In contrast, rapid Cl- reuptake after extracellular Cl- removal is almost totally NKCC mediated both in the absence and presence of dopamine. However, in physiological saline [Cl-](i) does not change during dopamine stimulation although dopamine stimulates fluid secretion in these glands. On the other hand, dopamine causes a decrease in the sodium-binding benzofuran isophthalate tetra-ammonium salt (SBFI) fluorescence and an increase in the Sodium Green fluorescence after 2P excitation. This opposite behavior of both dyes suggests a dopamine-induced [Na+](i) rise in the acinar cells, which is supported by the determined 2P-action cross sections of SBFI. The [Na+](i) rise is Cl- dependent and inhibited by bumetanide. The Ca2+-ionophore ionomycin also causes a bumetanide-sensitive [Na+](i) rise. We propose that a Ca2+-mediated NKCC activity in acinar peripheral cells attributable to dopamine stimulation serves for basolateral Na+ uptake during saliva secretion and that the concomitantly transported Cl- is recycled back to the bath.
We studied two pathways that involve the transfer of persulfide sulfur in humans, molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis and tRNA thiolation. Investigations using human cells showed that the two-domain protein MOCS3 is shared between both pathways. MOCS3 has an N-terminal adenylation domain and a C-terminal rhodanese-like domain. We showed that MOCS3 activates both MOCS2A and URM1 by adenylation and a subsequent sulfur transfer step for the formation of the thiocarboxylate group at the C terminus of each protein. MOCS2A and URM1 are beta-grasp fold proteins that contain a highly conserved C-terminal double glycine motif. The role of the terminal glycine of MOCS2A and URM1 was examined for the interaction and the cellular localization with MOCS3. Deletion of the C-terminal glycine of either MOCS2A or URM1 resulted in a loss of interaction with MOCS3. Enhanced cyan fluorescent protein and enhanced yellow fluorescent protein fusions of the proteins were constructed, and the fluorescence resonance energy transfer efficiency was determined by the decrease in the donor lifetime. The cellular localization results showed that extension of the C terminus with an additional glycine of MOCS2A and URM1 altered the localization of MOCS3 from the cytosol to the nucleus.