Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are transient, highly reactive intermediates or byproducts produced during oxygen metabolism. However, when innate mechanisms are unable to cope with sequestration of surplus ROS, oxidative stress results, in which excess ROS damage biomolecules. Oxidized phosphatidylserine (PS), a proapoptotic 'eat me' signal, is produced in response to elevated ROS, yet little is known regarding its chemical composition and metabolism. Here, we report a small molecule that generates ROS in different mammalian cells. We used this molecule to detect, characterize and study oxidized PS in mammalian cells. We developed a chemical-genetic screen to identify enzymes that regulate oxidized PS in mammalian cells and found that the lipase ABHD12 hydrolyzes oxidized PS. We validated these findings in different physiological settings including primary peritoneal macrophages and brains from Abhd12(-/-) mice under inflammatory stress, and in the process, we functionally annotated an enzyme regulating oxidized PS in vivo.
Monitoring of acaricide resistance is considered as one of the important facets of integrated tick management. In an attempt of development of resistance monitoring indicators, in the present study two reference tick lines of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus maintained in the Entomology laboratory, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, India, were studied to determine the possible contributing factors involved in development of resistance to deltamethrin. Electrophoretic profiling of esterase enzymes detected high activities of EST-1 in reference resistant tick colony designated as IVRI-IV whereas it was not detectable in reference susceptible IVRI-I line of R. (B.) microplus. Esterases were further characterized as carboxylesterase or acetylcholinesterase based on inhibitor study using PMSF, eserine sulphate, malathion, TPP and copper sulphate. It was concluded that an acetylcholinesterase, EST-1, possibly plays an important role for development of deltamethrin resistance in IVRI-IV colony of R. (B.) microplus.
