Etiological structure of viral hepatitis in the area about one of the cities in Gorki Province

The etiological structure of viral hepatitides (VH) in one of the towns of the Gorky region was studied with the use of specific methods for diagnosing hepatitis A (detection of IgM to hepatitis A virus) and hepatitis B (detection of HBsAg in the passive hemagglutination test). The study revealed that hepatitis A was the major nosological from in the structure of VH among children and adults in the area under survey, which was documented by the detection of IgM to hepatitis A virus. The form, second in importance among VH cases, was hepatitis B. The ratio of these two forms of VH was determined by the epidemiological situation in the area. The proportion of hepatitis B cases increased at the period between epidemics. Nondifferentiated hepatitis constituted 6.8% of all cases of sporadic hepatitis among adults. In 90% of cases clinical diagnosis coincided with the serological one.     

Monitoring ATP release from individual cells with a biosensor

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator in both central and peripheral nervous systems. Particularly in the taste bud, a peripheral taste organ, ATP serves as an afferent neurotransmitter. To examine the mechanism that mediates ATP secretion in taste cells, we elaborated an approach for monitoring ATP in an extracellular medium by employing a biosensor, that is, cells responsive to ATP. Two lines of ATP-sensitive cells, HEK-293 and COS-1, which endogenously express P2Y receptors, were employed. In addition, HEK-293 cells transfected with P2X₃ receptors were also used. By most relevant parameters (threshold response, inactivation kinetics of ATP responses, and refractory period), COS-1 cells were more suitable as an ATP sensor than HEK-293 cells, both native and transfected. For the HEK-293 cell-based biosensor, one of pitfalls was that they were highly responsive to mechanical disturbances, e.g., solution flux elicited by application of a chemical stimulus, owing to the expression of mechanosensitive Ca²⁺-permeable cation channels. In COS-1 cells, ATP-dependent Ca²⁺ transients were generated mostly due to Ca²⁺ release, the feature allowing one to control the activity of ATP-releasing cells electrophysiologically and to monitor the ATP secretion by Ca²⁺ responses of the ATP-biosensor. By using this technique, it was demonstrated that individual taste cells of a mouse released ATP in response to membrane depolarization.     

Structure of the O-polysaccharide of Providencia alcalifaciens O21 containing 3-formamido-3,6-dideoxy-D-galactose

The O-polysaccharide (O-antigen) of Providencia alcalifaciens O21 was obtained by mild acid degradation of the lipopolysaccharide and studied by chemical methods and NMR spectroscopy. It was found that the polysaccharide is built up of branched pentasaccharide repeating units with a terminal residue of 3-formamido-3,6-dideoxy-D-galactose (D-Fuc3NFo) and has the following structure: [structure: see text]. Anti-P. alcalifaciens O21 serum cross-reacted with the O-antigen of Proteus vulgaris O47, which contains a GalNAc trisaccharide similar to that present in the P. alcalifaciens O21 O-polysaccharide.     

Full Structure of the Lipopolysaccharide of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Immunotype 5

The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa immunotype 5 was delipidated by mild acid hydrolysis, and the products were separated by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography and analyzed by ESI MS and NMR spectroscopy. LPS species of three types were found, including those with an unsubstituted core and the core substituted with one O-polysaccharide repeating unit or with an O-polysaccharide of a variable number of repeating units. The core region is highly phosphorylated, the major species containing two monophosphate groups and one ethanolamine diphosphate group. Based on these and published data on the O-polysaccharide structure, the full structure of the LPS of P. aeruginosa immunotype 5 was established.     

Structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of Providencia alcalifaciens O16 containing N-acetylmuramic acid

The O-specific polysaccharide of Providencia alcalifaciens O16 was obtained by mild-acid degradation of the lipopolysaccharide and studied by chemical methods and NMR spectroscopy, including 2D 1H,(1)H COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, and 1H,(13)C HSQC experiments. It was found that the polysaccharide contains N-acetylmuramic acid, which was isolated by solvolysis with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and identified by the specific optical rotation and NMR spectroscopy. The following structure of the trisaccharide repeating-unit of the polysaccharide was established:     

Relationship between the structure of diamine platinum(II) complexes and their cytostatic activity as measured on plant roots

The amine substituent effect in compounds [Pt(diamine)Cl₂] on inhibition of maize and cucumber root growth and branching has been investigated. The diamines used were ethylenediamine (en),N-methylethylenediamine (men),N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (N,N-dmen),N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (N,N-dmen),N,N,N,N-tetramethylethylenediamine (tmen), 1,2-propanediamine (1,2-pn), 2-methyl-1,2-propanediamine (ibn), 2,3 dimethyl-2,3-butanediamine (C-tmen), 1,3-propanediamine (1,3-pn), 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine (C₂-dm-1,3 pn),N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine (N,N-dm-1,3-pn). Increased substitution of hydrogen atoms of the amine part with CH₃ groups reduces the cytostatic activity of complexes. The substitution of hydrogen atoms of NH₂ and vicinal CH₂ groups displays similar results. C-2 dimethylation (C-dm-1,3-pn) does not change the activity of the complex compared with (1,3-pn). It was observed that maize and cucumber roots differ in their relative sensitivity to various complexes. All complexes containing pn and their substituted analogs inhibited cucumber root growth weaker than that in maize. A comparison of obtained data with earlier published results concerning antitumor activity of complexes shows that they correlate in a similar manner with increased substitution of amino groups. Therefore, roots may be used as cheap test objects for primary screening of cytostatics. The general tendency of a decrease in cytostatic activity goes parallel with the number of Nor vicinal C-methyl groups and seems to arise from a decrease in hydrogen-bonding potential; however, some other possible reasons are also discussed. The activity discrimination by different species in our experiments and clearly different results forN,N-dimethylation depending on the chelate ring size (en and pn derivatives) on maize cannot be attributed to slower ligand-exchange kinetics from methylation. It is possible to assume that the major role in cytostatic activity of platinum complexes belongs to a cell repair system, i.e. the ability to eliminate platinum diamine fragments from DNA, depending on the number and strength of hydrogen bonds formed by thecis-diamine fragment.     

Structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of Citrobacter braakii O7a,3b,1c.

The following structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of Citrobacter braakii O7a,3b,1c was established using sugar and methylation analyses and NMR spectroscopy, including 2D COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, and 1H, 13C heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (HSQC) experiments: (struture: see text). The main D-mannan chain of the polysaccharide studied has the same structure as the O-specific polysaccharide of Escherichia coli O9, Klebsiella pneumoniae O3, and Hafnia alvei PCM 1223.