Biography
Antonella Caforio has completed her Bachelor and Master studies at the age of 24 years at the University of Parma (Italy) and she is now at the final stage of her PhD in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). Up to know she has published three papers in scientific journals and one is still under reviewing
Abstract
The membrane lipid composition of Archaea differs from Bacteria and Eukarya in having an ether-linked, isoprenoid hydrocarbon chain with enantiomer sn-glycerol-1-phosphate backbone. This unique structure is believed to be vital for the adaptation of these organisms to extreme environments and it reflects an evolutionary marker that distinguishes archaea from bacteria and eukaryotes. The aim of this project is to functionally introduce the archaeal ether-lipid biosynthetic pathway into Escherichia coli to create an Archeabacterium with improved tolerance to toxic compounds, to study the archaeal lipid biosynthesis and the evolutionary aspects associated with the lipid divide. Using a synthetic biology approach, upstream and downstream modules of the pathway were designed that consist of enzymes involved in the flux of the carbon source for the synthesis of the isoprenoid hydrocarbon chain and to synthesize CDP archaeol, the precursor for polar head group attachment. The latter ether-lipid is produced by a recent discovered gene encoding for CDP-archaeol synthase. The bacterial enzymes involved in the attachment of the L-serine and glycerol as polar head groups were examined due to their promiscuity in recognizing either archaeal or bacterial substrates. In vivo and in vitro assays were performed to access the enzymatic activities using chromatography and mass-spectrometry techniques in order to identify the archaeal ether lipids archaeatidylethanolamine (AE) and archaetidylglycerlol (AG). Using a combination of mutated bacterial and archaeal enzymes, these two archaeal lipids were produced in E. coli. Moreover, their formation can be reconstituted in vitro from basic building blocks and a set of purified enzymes
Biography
Kylie Connolly is a PhD student at CQUniversity, Australia, currently researching the prevention of cardiovascular dysfunction in animal models of obesity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome using the polyphenolic flavonoid epicatechin in comparison with the traditional ACE inhibitor perindopril
Abstract
Background: Consumption of high-fat-high-carbohydrate (HFHC) diets increases the risk of developing obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Hallmarks of such conditions include increased triglycerides, cholesterol, inflammation and oxidative stress in addition to increases in procollagen type 1 content that leads to remodelling of cardiac tissue. This study aimed to assess metabolic paramaters associated with HFHC diet induced obesity in a spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) model of metabolic syndrome. Method: Male SHR and WKY rats aged 16 weeks were fed a HFHC (23.9% fat, 51.5% carb) diet or standard chow (SC) for 20 weeks. Body weights and food intake were recorded weekly. After eutnanisation at 36 weeks of age, blood samples were taken for analysis of interleukin-6, nitric oxide, 8-isoprostane, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, total cholesterol and procollagen type 1. Results: Serum LDL (mg/dL) was increased in SHR-HFHC rats (123.06±8.32) compared to SC rats (54.44±3.50), as were triglyceride levels (mg/dL) (SHR-HFHC 1370.51±75.57; SC 181.30±21.04) and total cholesterol (SHR-HFHC 411.91±28.88; SC 137.01±4.26). HDL levels (mg/dL) were increased in WKY-HFHC rats (64.68±7.90) compared to SC rats (46.31±5.06) but decreased in SHR-HFHC rats (21.10±4.47). Procollagen type 1 concentration (mU) was increased in SHR-HFHC rats (0.860±0.030) compared to SC rats (0.741±0.026). Concentration of 8-isoprostane (pg/mL) was increased in SHR-HFHC rats (228.04±10.38) compared to SC rats (119.67±17.49). No change was observed in nitric oxide levels. Conclusions: HFHC feeding induces obesity and alters lipid profile, oxidative stress status and induces cardiac remodelling in SHR and WKY rats. The adverse effects of a HFHC diet are enhanced with the co-occurrence of hypertension.