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International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2023There are a variety of methods employed by laboratories for quantifying extracellular vesicles isolated from bacteria. As a result, the ability to compare results across...
There are a variety of methods employed by laboratories for quantifying extracellular vesicles isolated from bacteria. As a result, the ability to compare results across published studies can lead to questions regarding the suitability of methods and buffers for accurately quantifying these vesicles. Within the literature, there are several common methods for vesicle quantification. These include lipid quantification using the lipophilic dye FM 4-64, protein quantification using microBCA, Qubit, and NanoOrange assays, or direct vesicle enumeration using nanoparticle tracking analysis. In addition, various diluents and lysis buffers are also used to resuspend and treat vesicles. In this study, we directly compared the quantification of a bacterial outer membrane vesicle using several commonly used methods. We also tested the impact of different buffers, buffer age, lysis method, and vesicle diluent on vesicle quantification. The results showed that buffer age had no significant effect on vesicle quantification, but the lysis method impacted the reliability of measurements using Qubit and NanoOrange. The microBCA assay displayed the least variability in protein concentration values and was the most consistent, regardless of the buffer or diluent used. MicroBCA also demonstrated the strongest correlation to the NTA-determined particle number across a range of vesicle concentrations. Overall, these results indicate that with appropriate diluent and buffer choice, microBCA vs. NTA standard curves could be generated and the microBCA assay used to estimate the particle number when NTA instrumentation is not readily available.
Topics: Reproducibility of Results; Extracellular Vesicles; Organic Chemicals; Gram-Negative Bacteria
PubMed: 37894776
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242015096 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Dec 2022The exchange of bacterial extracellular vesicles facilitates molecular exchange between cells, including the horizontal transfer of genetic material. Given the...
The exchange of bacterial extracellular vesicles facilitates molecular exchange between cells, including the horizontal transfer of genetic material. Given the implications of such transfer events on cell physiology and adaptation, some bacterial cells have likely evolved mechanisms to regulate vesicle exchange. Past work has identified mechanisms that influence the formation of extracellular vesicles, including the production of small molecules that modulate membrane structure; however, whether these mechanisms also modulate vesicle uptake and have an overall impact on the rate of vesicle exchange is unknown. Here, we show that membrane-binding molecules produced by microbes influence both the formation and uptake of extracellular vesicles and have the overall impact of increasing the vesicle exchange rate within a bacterial coculture. In effect, production of compounds that increase vesicle exchange rates encourage gene exchange between neighboring cells. The ability of several membrane-binding compounds to increase vesicle exchange was demonstrated. Three of these compounds, nisin, colistin, and polymyxin B, are antimicrobial peptides added at sub-inhibitory concentrations. These results suggest that a potential function of exogenous compounds that bind to membranes may be the regulation of vesicle exchange between cells. The exchange of bacterial extracellular vesicles is one route of gene transfer between bacteria, although it was unclear if bacteria developed strategies to modulate the rate of gene transfer within vesicles. In eukaryotes, there are many examples of specialized molecules that have evolved to facilitate the production, loading, and uptake of vesicles. Recent work with bacteria has shown that some small molecules influence membrane curvature and induce vesicle formation. Here, we show that similar compounds facilitate vesicle uptake, thereby increasing the overall rate of vesicle exchange within bacterial populations. The addition of membrane-binding compounds, several of them antibiotics at subinhibitory concentrations, to a bacterial coculture increased the rate of horizontal gene transfer via vesicle exchange.
Topics: Bacteria; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Extracellular Vesicles; Membranes; Eukaryota
PubMed: 36342184
DOI: 10.1128/aem.01346-22 -
Comparative Biochemistry and... Jun 2022For amphibian species that display external fertilization in an aquatic environment, hypoosmotic shock to sperm cells can quickly result in damage to cellular structure...
For amphibian species that display external fertilization in an aquatic environment, hypoosmotic shock to sperm cells can quickly result in damage to cellular structure and function. This study sought to determine how fertilization media osmolality, temperature, and time impact the stability of the mitochondrial vesicle's association with the sperm head and thus motility and quality of forward progression. The presence of the mitochondrial vesicle and its relationship with sperm motility and quality of forward progression were analyzed in sperm samples from the Fowler's toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) (n = 10) when held for six hours under two temperatures and four osmolalities. Results indicated that the presence of the mitochondrial vesicle is needed for sperm motility over time (p < 0.001), where higher osmolalities (p < 0.001) and lower temperatures (p < 0.001) correlated with maintaining the vesicle attachment to the spermatozoa. The higher osmolality of spermic urine was the most important factor for maintaining higher quality of forward progressive motility (p < 0.01) of spermatozoa. Sperm samples held at 4 °C and 40 mOsm/kg had the longest half-life for motility (540 min) and quality of forward progression (276 min), whereas sperm held at 22 °C and 2.5 mOsm/kg had the shortest half-life for motility (7 min) and quality of forward progression (18 min). Special attention should be given to the osmolality and temperature of fertilization solutions, or breeding tank water, when developing cold storage protocols for toad sperm or reproducing animals to ensure the retention of the mitochondrial vesicle for maximum fertilization capability.
Topics: Animals; Bufonidae; Cryopreservation; Male; Osmolar Concentration; Sperm Motility; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 35321851
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.111191 -
The Journal of Physiology Oct 2018Synaptic transmission relies on the recruitment of neurotransmitter-filled vesicles to presynaptic release sites. Increased intracellular calcium buffering slows the...
KEY POINTS
Synaptic transmission relies on the recruitment of neurotransmitter-filled vesicles to presynaptic release sites. Increased intracellular calcium buffering slows the recovery from synaptic depression, suggesting that vesicle recruitment is a calcium-dependent process. However, the molecular mechanisms of vesicle recruitment have only been investigated at some synapses. We investigate the role of calcium in vesicle recruitment at the cerebellar mossy fibre to granule cell synapse. We find that increased intracellular calcium buffering slows the recovery from depression following physiological stimulation. However, the recovery is largely resistant to perturbation of the molecular pathways previously shown to mediate calcium-dependent vesicle recruitment. Furthermore, we find two pools of vesicles with different recruitment speeds and show that models incorporating two pools of vesicles with different calcium-independent recruitment rates can explain our data. In this framework, increased calcium buffering prevents the release of intrinsically fast-recruited vesicles but does not change the vesicle recruitment rates themselves.
ABSTRACT
During sustained synaptic transmission, recruitment of new transmitter-filled vesicles to the release site counteracts vesicle depletion and thus synaptic depression. An elevated intracellular Ca concentration has been proposed to accelerate the rate of vesicle recruitment at many synapses. This conclusion is often based on the finding that increased intracellular Ca buffering slows the recovery from synaptic depression. However, the molecular mechanisms of the activity-dependent acceleration of vesicle recruitment have only been analysed at some synapses. Using physiological stimulation patterns in postsynaptic recordings and step depolarizations in presynaptic bouton recordings, we investigate vesicle recruitment at cerebellar mossy fibre boutons. We show that increased intracellular Ca buffering slows recovery from depression dramatically. However, pharmacological and genetic interference with calmodulin or the calmodulin-Munc13 pathway, which has been proposed to mediate Ca -dependence of vesicle recruitment, barely affects vesicle recovery from depression. Furthermore, we show that cerebellar mossy fibre boutons have two pools of vesicles: rapidly fusing vesicles that recover slowly and slowly fusing vesicles that recover rapidly. Finally, models adopting such two pools of vesicles with Ca -independent recruitment rates can explain the slowed recovery from depression upon increased Ca buffering. Our data do not rule out the involvement of the calmodulin-Munc13 pathway during stronger stimuli or other molecular pathways mediating Ca -dependent vesicle recruitment at cerebellar mossy fibre boutons. However, we show that well-established two-pool models predict an apparent Ca -dependence of vesicle recruitment. Thus, previous conclusions of Ca -dependent vesicle recruitment based solely on increased intracellular Ca buffering should be considered with caution.
Topics: Action Potentials; Animals; Calcium; Calmodulin; Cerebellar Cortex; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; Female; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Nerve Fibers; Presynaptic Terminals; Synapses; Synaptic Transmission; Synaptic Vesicles
PubMed: 29928766
DOI: 10.1113/JP275911 -
Histochemistry and Cell Biology Apr 2018Bone mineralization is initiated by matrix vesicles, small extracellular vesicles secreted by osteoblasts, inducing the nucleation and subsequent growth of calcium... (Review)
Review
Bone mineralization is initiated by matrix vesicles, small extracellular vesicles secreted by osteoblasts, inducing the nucleation and subsequent growth of calcium phosphate crystals inside. Although calcium ions (Ca) are abundant throughout the tissue fluid close to the matrix vesicles, the influx of phosphate ions (PO4) into matrix vesicles is a critical process mediated by several enzymes and transporters such as ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1), ankylosis (ANK), and tissue nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP). The catalytic activity of ENPP1 in osteoblasts generates inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) intracellularly and extracellularly, and ANK may allow the intracellular PPi to pass through the plasma membrane to the outside of the osteoblasts. Although the extracellular PPi binds to growing hydroxyapatite crystals to prevent crystal overgrowth, TNSALP on the osteoblasts and matrix vesicles hydrolyzes PPi into PO4 monomers: the prevention of crystal growth is blocked, and PO4 monomers are supplied to matrix vesicles. In addition, PHOSPHO1 is thought to function inside matrix vesicles to catalyze phosphocoline, a constituent of the plasma membrane, consequently increasing PO4 in the vesicles. Accumulation of Ca and PO4 inside the matrix vesicles then initiates crystalline nucleation associated with the inner leaflet of the matrix vesicles. Calcium phosphate crystals elongate radially, penetrate the matrix vesicle's membrane, and finally grow out of the vesicles to form calcifying nodules, globular assemblies of needle-shaped mineral crystals retaining some of those transporters and enzymes. The subsequent growth of calcifying nodules appears to be regulated by surrounding organic compounds, finally leading to collagen mineralization.
Topics: Animals; Calcification, Physiologic; Calcium; Extracellular Matrix; Humans; Phosphates; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases
PubMed: 29411103
DOI: 10.1007/s00418-018-1646-0 -
PLoS Computational Biology Feb 2021Biomineralization is the process by which organisms use minerals to harden their tissues and provide them with physical support. Biomineralizing cells concentrate the...
Biomineralization is the process by which organisms use minerals to harden their tissues and provide them with physical support. Biomineralizing cells concentrate the mineral in vesicles that they secret into a dedicated compartment where crystallization occurs. The dynamics of vesicle motion and the molecular mechanisms that control it, are not well understood. Sea urchin larval skeletogenesis provides an excellent platform for investigating the kinetics of mineral-bearing vesicles. Here we used lattice light-sheet microscopy to study the three-dimensional (3D) dynamics of calcium-bearing vesicles in the cells of normal sea urchin embryos and of embryos where skeletogenesis is blocked through the inhibition of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (VEGFR). We developed computational tools for displaying 3D-volumetric movies and for automatically quantifying vesicle dynamics. Our findings imply that calcium vesicles perform an active diffusion motion in both, calcifying (skeletogenic) and non-calcifying (ectodermal) cells of the embryo. The diffusion coefficient and vesicle speed are larger in the mesenchymal skeletogenic cells compared to the epithelial ectodermal cells. These differences are possibly due to the distinct mechanical properties of the two tissues, demonstrated by the enhanced f-actin accumulation and myosinII activity in the ectodermal cells compared to the skeletogenic cells. Vesicle motion is not directed toward the biomineralization compartment, but the vesicles slow down when they approach it, and probably bind for mineral deposition. VEGFR inhibition leads to an increase of vesicle volume but hardly changes vesicle kinetics and doesn't affect f-actin accumulation and myosinII activity. Thus, calcium vesicles perform an active diffusion motion in the cells of the sea urchin embryo, with diffusion length and speed that inversely correlate with the strength of the actomyosin network. Overall, our studies provide an unprecedented view of calcium vesicle 3D-dynamics and point toward cytoskeleton remodeling as an important effector of the motion of mineral-bearing vesicles.
Topics: Actomyosin; Animals; Biomineralization; Calcium; Computational Biology; Cytoskeleton; Developmental Biology; Diffusion; Ectoderm; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Endocytosis; Fluoresceins; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Kinetics; Motion; Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor; Sea Urchins
PubMed: 33617532
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008780 -
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 2014The trigger for synaptic vesicle exocytosis is Ca(2+), which enters the synaptic bouton following action potential stimulation. However, spontaneous release of... (Review)
Review
The trigger for synaptic vesicle exocytosis is Ca(2+), which enters the synaptic bouton following action potential stimulation. However, spontaneous release of neurotransmitter also occurs in the absence of stimulation in virtually all synaptic boutons. It has long been thought that this represents exocytosis driven by fluctuations in local Ca(2+) levels. The vesicles responding to these fluctuations are thought to be the same ones that release upon stimulation, albeit potentially triggered by different Ca(2+) sensors. This view has been challenged by several recent works, which have suggested that spontaneous release is driven by a separate pool of synaptic vesicles. Numerous articles appeared during the last few years in support of each of these hypotheses, and it has been challenging to bring them into accord. We speculate here on the origins of this controversy, and propose a solution that is related to developmental effects. Constitutive membrane traffic, needed for the biogenesis of vesicles and synapses, is responsible for high levels of spontaneous membrane fusion in young neurons, probably independent of Ca(2+). The vesicles releasing spontaneously in such neurons are not related to other synaptic vesicle pools and may represent constitutively releasing vesicles (CRVs) rather than bona fide synaptic vesicles. In mature neurons, constitutive traffic is much dampened, and the few remaining spontaneous release events probably represent bona fide spontaneously releasing synaptic vesicles (SRSVs) responding to Ca(2+) fluctuations, along with a handful of CRVs that participate in synaptic vesicle turnover.
PubMed: 25538561
DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00409 -
Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue = National Journal... Apr 2018Seminal vesicles are involved in semen accumulation in the process of ejaculation, contracting and releasing seminal vesicle fluid accounting for about 50-80% of the... (Review)
Review
Seminal vesicles are involved in semen accumulation in the process of ejaculation, contracting and releasing seminal vesicle fluid accounting for about 50-80% of the semen, and the fructose in their secretions is an indispensable nutrient for sperm maturation. Thus, seminal vesicles are important male accessary glands closely related with the quality and quantity of sperm. In the process of semen accumulation, sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves participate in the regulation of the secretory function of seminal vesicle epithelia and the contraction of the smooth muscle layer as well as the distribution of adrenonergic, cholinergic, dopaminergic and various neurotransmitter receptors in the seminal vesicle epithelia and smooth muscle layer, which play a significant role in male fertility. This review discusses the neurophysiological effects of seminal vesicles in ejaculation.
Topics: Animals; Ejaculation; Male; Semen; Semen Analysis; Seminal Vesicles; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 30168959
DOI: No ID Found -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Apr 2021Synaptophysin (syp) is a major integral membrane protein of secretory vesicles. Previous work has demonstrated functions for syp in synaptic vesicle cycling,...
Synaptophysin (syp) is a major integral membrane protein of secretory vesicles. Previous work has demonstrated functions for syp in synaptic vesicle cycling, endocytosis, and synaptic plasticity, but the role of syp in the process of membrane fusion during Ca-triggered exocytosis remains poorly understood. Furthermore, although syp resides on both large dense-core and small synaptic vesicles, its role in dense-core vesicle function has received less attention compared with synaptic vesicle function. To explore the role of syp in membrane fusion and dense-core vesicle function, we used amperometry to measure catecholamine release from single vesicles in male and female mouse chromaffin cells with altered levels of syp and the related tetraspanner protein synaptogyrin (syg). Knocking out syp slightly reduced the frequency of vesicle fusion events below wild-type (WT) levels, but knocking out both syp and syg reduced the frequency 2-fold. Knocking out both proteins stabilized initial fusion pores, promoted fusion pore closure (kiss-and-run), and reduced late-stage fusion pore expansion. Introduction of a syp construct lacking its C-terminal dynamin-binding domain in syp knock-outs (KOs) increased the duration and fraction of kiss-and-run events, increased total catecholamine release per event, and reduced late-stage fusion pore expansion. These results demonstrated that syp and syg regulate dense-core vesicle function at multiple stages to initiate fusion, control the choice of mode between full-fusion and kiss-and-run, and influence the dynamics of both initial and late-stage fusion pores. The transmembrane domain (TMD) influences small initial fusion pores, and the C-terminal domain influences large late-stage fusion pores, possibly through an interaction with dynamin. The secretory vesicle protein synaptophysin (syp) is known to function in synaptic vesicle cycling, but its roles in dense-core vesicle functions, and in controlling membrane fusion during Ca-triggered exocytosis remain unclear. The present study used amperometry recording of catecholamine release from endocrine cells to assess the impact of syp and related proteins on membrane fusion. A detailed analysis of amperometric spikes arising from the exocytosis of single vesicles showed that these proteins influence fusion pores at multiple stages and control the choice between kiss-and-run and full-fusion. Experiments with a syp construct lacking its C terminus indicated that the transmembrane domain (TMD) influences the initial fusion pore, while the C-terminal domain influences later stages after fusion pore expansion.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Catecholamines; Chromaffin Cells; Dynamins; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Exocytosis; Female; Membrane Fusion; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Pregnancy; Primary Cell Culture; Synaptic Vesicles; Synaptogyrins; Synaptophysin
PubMed: 33664131
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2833-20.2021 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2022Eukaryotic cells use microtubule-based vesicle transport to exchange molecules between compartments. Kinesin family members mediate all microtubule plus end-directed...
Eukaryotic cells use microtubule-based vesicle transport to exchange molecules between compartments. Kinesin family members mediate all microtubule plus end-directed vesicle transport. Of the 45 kinesins expressed in humans, some 20 mediate microtubule plus-end directed vesicle transport. Here we describe a technique to visualize vesicle-bound kinesins in cultured hippocampal neurons. The method involves the expression of the vesicle-binding tail domain while minimizing the cytoplasmic pool. Using this approach drastically improves vesicle labeling compared to full-length kinesins. This tool is useful for systematically comparing the localization of different kinesins in the same cell type and for identifying cargo proteins that reside in vesicles moved by a specific kinesin family member. While we describe the assay in cultured hippocampal neurons, we expect it to be easily transferable to other eukaryotic cell types.
Topics: Cytoplasmic Vesicles; Hippocampus; Humans; Kinesins; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Microtubules; Neurons; Organelles
PubMed: 35412280
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1990-2_12