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The brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum uses an extracellular hydroquinone-quinone redox cycle to reduce Fe 3؉ and produce H 2 O 2 . These reactions generate extracellular Fenton reagent, which enables G. trabeum to degrade a wide variety of organic compounds. We found that G. trabeum secreted two quinones, 2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (2,5-DMBQ) and 4,5-dimethoxy-1,2-benzoquinone (4,5-DMBQ), that underwent iron-dependent redox cycling. Experiments that monitored the iron-and quinone-dependent cleavage of polyethylene glycol by G. trabeum showed that 2,5-DMBQ was more effective than 4,5-DMBQ in supporting extracellular Fenton chemistry. Two factors contributed to this result. First, G. trabeum reduced 2,5-DMBQ to 2,5-dimethoxyhydroquinone (2,5-DMHQ) much more rapidly than it reduced 4,5-DMBQ to 4,5-dimethoxycatechol (4,5-DMC). Second, although both hydroquinones reduced ferric oxalate complexes, the predominant form of Fe 3؉ in G. trabeum cultures, the 2,5-DMHQ-dependent reaction reduced O 2 more rapidly than the 4,5-DMC-dependent reaction. Nevertheless, both hydroquinones probably contribute to the extracellular Fenton chemistry of G. trabeum, because 2,5-DMHQ by itself is an efficient reductant of 4,5-DMBQ.

Previous reports have shown that in avian and rodent isolated skeletal muscle cells and cultured myoblast cell lines, vitamin D 3 metabolites, such as 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 (25(OH)D 3 ) and 1␣,25(OH) 2 D 3 , influence cellular calcium and phosphorus uptake, cellular growth, differentiation, and the expression of a limited number of genes (14 -19). Many reports suggest that the vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed in skeletal muscle (20 -24), and VDR deletion in mice results in alterations in muscle function and strength (25,26). Treatment of vitamin D-deficient humans with cholecalciferol improves muscle phosphocreatine recovery after exercise (27), suggesting that vitamin D 3 or its metabolites alter skeletal muscle oxidative capacity.To assess the mechanism of action of the active metabolite of vitamin D 3 , 1␣,25(OH) 2 D 3 , in human skeletal muscle cells, we examined changes in mitochondrial oxygen consumption (OCR), mitochondrial dynamics, mitochondrial OXPHOS proteins, pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphorylation, and nuclear gene expression using whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing (WTSS, RNA-seq) of messenger RNAs and micro-RNAs Tables 1 and 2

Human centrin-2 plays a key role in centrosome function and stimulates nucleotide excision repair by binding to the xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein. To determine the structure of human centrin-2 and to develop an understanding of molecular interactions between centrin and xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein, we characterized the crystal structure of calcium-loaded full-length centrin-2 complexed with a xeroderma pigmentosum group C peptide. Our structure shows that the carboxyl-terminal domain of centrin-2 binds this peptide and two calcium atoms, whereas the amino-terminal lobe is in a closed conformation positioned distantly by an ordered ␣-helical linker. A stretch of the amino-terminal domain unique to centrins appears disordered. Two xeroderma pigmentosum group C peptides both bound to centrin-2 also interact to form an ␣-helical coiled-coil. The interface between centrin-2 and each peptide is predominantly nonpolar, and key hydrophobic residues of XPC have been identified that lead us to propose a novel binding motif for centrin.Human centrin-2 (HsCen-2) 2 is a Ca 2ϩ -binding protein of the calmodulin-parvalbumin EF-hand superfamily (2, 3). HsCen-2 and two other human centrins (4) are best known for functions outside the nucleus. Centrins have essential roles in the duplication and segregation of microtubule organizing centers (5, 6). Much research has focused on these functions, because abnormal centrosome duplication may lead to chromosomal instability and then cancer, an idea supported by discovery of supernumerary abnormal centrosomes in different human tumor cells (7-10). In addition to its role in centrosome function, HsCen-2 is found as a stabilizing component of xeroderma pigmentosum complement protein C (XPC) and HRad23B complexes (11,12). The XPCcontaining heterotrimer is involved in recognition of DNA lesions and initiation of global genome nucleotide excision repair. Global genome nucleotide excision repair is an important DNA repair pathway for damage caused by UV radiation, carcinogens, and chemotherapeutic agents, and impairment of XPC function is associated with the genetic disorder xeroderma pigmentosum. HsCen-2 appears to promote DNA binding by XPC both in vivo and in vitro and increases the specificity of the heterotrimer for damaged DNA (12, 13). The mechanism by which HsCen-2 binds to XPC is not understood.Centrins are also involved in cilia function (14). Moreover, Ca 2ϩ -triggered assembly of HsCen-1 and transducin appears to regulate transducin translocation through the connecting cilium of vertebrate photoreceptors (15)(16)(17)(18). Whereas the first centrin, also known as caltractin (Cdc31p), was found in fibers linking the flagellar apparatus to the nuclei of Tetraselmis striata green alga (19), homologs have since been identified in many organisms, including fungi, plants, and higher eukaryotes. Functional similarities between centrins from various species seem likely. For example, Ca 2ϩ -induced contractions of a fiber formed by caltractin and Sfi1p are thought to play ...

Inactivating mutations of the SOST (sclerostin) gene are associated with overgrowth and sclerosis of the skeleton. To determine mechanisms by which increased amounts of calcium and phosphorus are accreted to enable enhanced bone mineralization in the absence of sclerostin, we measured concentrations of calciotropic and phosphaturic hormones, and urine and serum calcium and inorganic phosphorus in mice in which the sclerostin (sost) gene was replaced by the β-D-galactosidase (lacZ) gene in the germ line. Knockout (KO) (sost −/− ) mice had increased bone mineral density and content, increased cortical and trabecular bone thickness, and greater net bone formation as a result of increased osteoblast and decreased osteoclast surfaces compared with wild-type (WT) mice. β-Galactosidase activity was detected in osteocytes of sost KO mice but was undetectable in WT mice. Eight-week-old, male sost KO mice had increased serum 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, decreased 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, decreased intact fibroblast growth factor 23, and elevated inorganic phosphorus concentrations compared with age-matched WT mice. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D 1α-hydroxylase cytochrome P450 (cyp27B1) mRNA was increased in kidneys of sost KO mice compared with WT mice. Treatment of cultured proximal tubule cells with mouse recombinant sclerostin decreased cyp27B1 mRNA transcripts. Urinary calcium and renal fractional excretion of calcium were decreased in sost KO mice compared with WT mice. Sost KO and WT mice had similar serum calcium and parathyroid hormone concentrations. The data show that sclerostin not only alters bone mineralization, but also influences mineral metabolism by altering concentrations of hormones that regulate mineral accretion.S clerostin, an osteocyte-derived, secreted, cystine-knot protein inhibits bone formation by interacting with and altering the activity of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), low-density lipoprotein-receptor-related protein 5 (LRP 5/6), cysteine-rich protein 61, the receptor tyrosine kinase v-erb-b2 erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 3 (erb B3), among other proteins (1-12). Inactivating mutations in the human sclerostin gene (SOST) are associated with sclerosteosis (Mendelian Inheritance in Man, MIM 269500) or van Buchem disease (MIM 239100) (6), both of which are characterized by progressive overgrowth and sclerosis of the axial and appendicular skeleton and an increase in bone mineral density (6,13,14). These results are supported by data from sost knockout mice, which have markedly increased bone density (15-17).The physiological adaptations that occur in human sclerosteosis and mouse models of the disease that permit the increased accretion of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) required for bone formation are unknown. For example, it is unknown whether sclerostin influences vitamin D metabolite concentrations, the concentrations of phosphaturic peptides such as fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), and the renal handling of calcium and phosphorus. It is important to understand the adaptations ...