Biology subjects

Bennett, J. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Bennett, J. A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Architecture and Assembly Mechanism of Human LACTB

Mitochondria are complex organelles that play a central role in metabolism. Dynamic membrane-associated processes regulate mitochondrial morphology and bioenergetics in response to cellular demand. In tumor cells, metabolic reprogramming requires active mitochondrial metabolism for providing key metabolites and building blocks for tumor growth and rapid proliferation. To counter this, the mitochondrial serine beta-lactamase-like protein (LACTB) alters mitochondrial lipid metabolism and potently inhibits the proliferation of a variety of tumor cells. Mammalian LACTB is localized in the mitochondrial intermembrane space, where it assembles into filaments to regulate the efficiency of essential metabolic processes. However, the structural basis of LACTB polymerization and regulation remains incompletely understood. Here, we describe how human LACTB self-assembles into micron-scale filaments that increase their catalytic activity. The electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM) structure defines the mechanism of assembly and reveals how highly ordered filament bundles stabilize the active state of the enzyme. We identify and characterize residues that are located at the filament-forming interface, and further show that mutations that disrupt filamentation reduce enzyme activity. Furthermore, our results provide evidence that LACTB filaments can bind lipid membranes. These data reveal the detailed molecular organization and polymerization-based regulation of human LACTB and provide new insights into the mechanism of mitochondrial membrane organization that modulates lipid metabolism.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2021

Crowdsourcing biocuration: the Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO)

Experimental data about known gene functions curated from the primary literature have enormous value for research scientists in understanding biology. Using the Gene Ontology (GO), manual curation by experts has provided an important resource for studying gene function, especially within model organisms. Unprecedented expansion of the scientific literature and validation of the predicted proteins have increased both data value and the challenges of keeping pace. Capturing literature-based functional annotations is limited by the ability of biocurators to handle the massive and rapidly growing scientific literature. Within the community-oriented wiki framework for GO annotation called the Gene Ontology Normal Usage Tracking System (GONUTS), we describe an approach to expand biocuration through crowdsourcing with undergraduates. This multiplies the number of high-quality annotations in international databases, enriches our coverage of the literature on normal gene function, and pushes the field in new directions. From an intercollegiate competition judged by experienced biocurators, Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO), we have contributed nearly 5000 literature-based annotations. Many of those annotations are to organisms not currently well-represented within GO. Over a ten-year history, our community contributors have spurred changes to the ontology not traditionally covered by professional biocurators. The CACAO principle of relying on community members to participate in and shape the future of biocuration in GO is a powerful and scalable model used to promote the scientific enterprise. It also provides undergraduate students with a unique and enriching introduction to critical reading of primary literature and acquisition of marketable skills. Significance StatementThe primary scientific literature catalogs the results from publicly funded scientific research about gene function in human-readable format. Information captured from those studies in a widely adopted, machine-readable standard format comes in the form of Gene Ontology annotations about gene functions from all domains of life. Manual annotations based on inferences directly from the scientific literature, including the evidence used to make such inferences, represents the best return on investment by improving data accessibility across the biological sciences. To supplement professional curation, our CACAO project enabled annotation of the scientific literature by community annotators, in this case undergraduates, which resulted in contribution of thousands of validated entries to public resources. These annotations are now being used by scientists worldwide.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2018

Acetylcholine inhibits platelet activation and regulates hemostasis

Platelets are key mediators of thrombosis. Many agonists of platelet activation are known, but there are fewer identified endogenous inhibitors of platelets, such as prostacyclin and nitric oxide (NO). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil can cause bleeding in patients, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We hypothesized that acetylcholine is an endogenous inhibitor of platelets.\n\nWe measured the effect of acetylcholine or analogues of acetylcholine upon human platelet activation ex vivo. We characterized expression of components of the acetylcholine signaling pathway in human platelets. We tested the effect of a subunit of the acetylcholine receptor, CHRNA7, on acetylcholine signaling in platelets. Acetylcholine and analogues of acetylcholine inhibited platelet activation, as measured by P-selectin translocation and GPIIbIIIA conformational changes. Conversely, we found that antagonists of the acetylcholine receptor such as pancuronium enhance platelet activation. Furthermore, drugs inhibiting acetylcholinesterase such as donepezil also inhibit platelet activation, suggesting that platelets release acetylcholine. We found that NO mediates acetylcholine inhibition of platelets. Human platelets express members of the acetylcholine signaling pathway including CHRNA2, CHRNA7, CHRNB1, and ACHE. Platelets from mice lacking Chrna7 are hyperactive when stimulated by thrombin and resistant to inhibition by acetylcholine. Furthermore, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors prolonged bleeding in wild-type mice. Knockout mice lacking Chrna7 subunits of the acetylcholine receptor display prolonged bleeding as well.\n\nOur data suggest that acetylcholine is an endogenous inhibitor of platelet activation. The cholinergic system may be a novel target for anti-thrombotic therapies.

pharmacology and toxicology↗