A Bioassay for the Cytotoxicity of Gemcitabine Using the Marine Ciliate Euplotes vannus

This study investigated the cytotoxicity of gemcitabine using the marine ciliate Euplotes vannus as the test organism.The median lethal concentrations(LC50 values)were determined using acute toxicity tests within an exposure time of 30 min with 0,6,12,24,and 48 mg mL^-1 gemcitabine.The median inhibition effect(IC50 value)on the growth of the ciliate cells was examined using chronic toxicity tests within 5 days(120 h)after exposure for 30 min with 0,0.7,3.5,7,and 14 mg mL^-1 gemcitabine.The 30-min LC50value was 10.66-mg mL 1.The LC50 values decreased with increasing exposure times and well fitted to the toxicity curve equation LC50=10.93+28.4e^-0.19t(R2=0.93;P<0.05,t=exposure time).The IC50 value for growth rates was 7.05 mg mL^-1,and the inhibition effect on growth rates well fitted to the model equation r%=0.8681e^-0.0782Cgem(r%means growth rate with inhibition by gemcitabine,Cgem means concentrations of gemcitabine,R^2=0.99 and P<0.05).The LC50 values of a wide range of gemcitabine concentrations could therefore be predicted for any given exposure time.These results suggest that the clinical dose of gemcitabine(20 mg mL^-1)was higher than the 30-min LC50 value,which was almost the same as the 6-min LC50 value(19.88 mg mL^-1)for E.vannus cells.The results also demonstrate that E.vannus can be used as a robust test organism for bioassays of chemotherapeutic drugs during short exposure periods.

Effect of Tb(Ⅲ) on the unfolding of ciliate Euplotes octocarinatus centrin induced by guanidine hydrochloride

To understand the unfolding of ciliate Euplotes octocarinatus centrin（EoCen）, the glycine positioned at 115, the sixth residue of the loop of the protein＇s third EF-hand, was mutated into tryptophan（Trp）.Intrinsic fluorescence and Tb（Ⅲ） binding properties of wild type EoCen and G115W mutant were monitored by fluorescence spectra in 10 mmol/L Hepes. The emission maximum of EoCen was 306 nm and mutation had no impact on the Tb（Ⅲ） binding properties. The properties of G115W were investigated by fluorescence, far-UV circular dichroism（CD） spectra and fluorescence decays in the absence or in the presence of 6 mol/L guanidine hydrochloride（GdnHCl）. For the increase in polarity of microenvironment around Trp residue, the emission maximum of apoG115 W at 343 nm is shifted to 359 nm in 6 mol/L GdnHCI. Also the secondary structure is lost nearly and fluorescence lifetime decreases in 6 mol/L GdnHCI. The unfolding of G115W induced by GdnHCI was assessed by using the model of structural element The unfolding of proteins is a sequential reaction, namely two-transition. three-state process. The first transition belongs to the unfolding of the C-terminal domain, and the second transition is assigned to the unfolding of the N-terminal domain. The ⊿〈△G_（total）~0（H_2O）〉 was used to determine the effect of Tb（Ⅲ） on the stability of apoprotein. The 〈△G_（total）~0（H_2 O）〉for Tb_2-G115 W has a less increase of0.68 kJ/mol compared with apoG115W, proving Tb（Ⅲ） situated at C-terminal has negligible impact on the stability of protein. Whereas the 〈△G_（total）~0（H_2 O）〉 for Tb_4-G115W has a rise of 1.29 kJ/mol compared with Tb_2-G115W, manifesting Tb（Ⅲ） lcocated at low affinity sites has considerable influence on protein stability. mainly stabilizing the N-terminal domain.

Comparative genome analysis of three euplotid protists provides insights into the evolution of nanochromosomes in unicellular eukaryotic organisms

One of the most diverse clades of ciliated protozoa,the class Spirotrichea,displays a series of unique characters in terms of eukaryotic macronuclear(MAC)genome,including high fragmentation that produces nanochromosomes.However,the genomic diversity and evolution of nanochromosomes and gene families for spirotrich MAC genomes are poorly understood.In this study,we assemble the MAC genome of a representative euplotid(a new model organism in Spirotrichea)species,Euplotes aediculatus.Our results indicate that:(a)the MAC genome includes 35,465 contigs with a total length of 97.3 Mb and a contig N50 of 3.4 kb,and contains 13,145 complete nanochromosomes and 43,194 predicted genes,with the majority of these nanochromosomes containing tiny introns and harboring only one gene;(b)genomic comparisons between E.aediculatus and other reported spirotrichs indicate that average GC content and genome fragmentation levels exhibit interspecifc variation,and chromosome breaking sites(CBSs)might be lost during evolution,resulting in the increase of multi-gene nanochromosome;(c)gene families associated with chitin metabolism and FoxO signaling pathway are expanded in E.aediculatus,suggesting their potential roles in environment adaptation and survival strategies of E.aediculatus;and(d)a programmed ribosomal frameshift(PRF)with a conservative motif 5′-AAATAR-3′tends to occur in longer genes with more exons,and PRF genes play an important role in many cellular regulation processes.