Algae of Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan as a source of lectins

Algae of Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan) were for the first time bioassayed as a source of lectins. From 28 algal species of three orders, only some extracts from brown (Phaeophyta) and red (Rhodophyta) seaweeds were found to cause agglutination of human erythrocytes. The hemagglutinating activity of extracts from three species of brown algae and the red alga Tichocarpus crinitus was caused by lectins; for a majority of extracts from the investigated algae, this activity was due to the presence of substances of non-lectin nature.     

Prolongation of oxidative stress by long-lived reactive protein species induced by X-ray radiation and their genotoxic action

Abstract The formation of long-lived reactive protein species of bovine serum albumin (BSA), ovalbumin, casein and casein hydrolyzate with a half-life of 3-5 hours was shown using chemiluminescence induced by X-ray radiation. It was found that long-lived reactive protein species are capable of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) (H(2)O(2), OH(?), HO(2)(?, 1)O(2)) in the aquatic environment over a long period of time in vitro. The interaction of X-ray-irradiated BSA with DNA in vitro led to the formation of 8-oxoguanine (8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine), a biomarker of oxidative damage to DNA. Some natural antioxidants are effective scavengers of ROS (inosine, tryptophan, methionine and ascorbate). They protect DNA from the action of long-lived reactive protein species leading to ROS generation and the formation of 8-oxoguanine. The intravenous injection of X-ray radiation-induced, long-lived reactive protein species to rats, as well as the peroral and intraperitoneal administration of these products to mice, gave rise to cytogenetic injuries in the cells of their red bone marrow through the formation of micronuclei in polychromatophilic erythrocytes. The administration of the same natural antioxidants used for in vitro experiments soon after irradiation made it possible to effectively eliminate the genotoxic action of oxidative stress caused by radiation-induced, long-lived reactive protein species. Our data represent clear evidence that the oxidative damage to proteins induced by X-rays is directly involved in the induction of a response to DNA damage in rodents.     

L1 (LINE-1) retrotransposable elements provide a "fossil" record of the phylogenetic history of murid rodents

The single most difficult problem in phylogenetic analysis is deciding whether a shared taxonomic character is due to common ancestry or one that appeared independently due to convergence, parallelism, or reversion to an ancestral state. Mammalian L1 retrotransposons undergo periodic amplifications in which multiple copies of the elements are interspersed in the genome. Because these elements apparently are transmitted only by inheritance and are retained in the genome, a shared L1 amplification event can only be an inherited ancestral character. We propose that L1 amplification events can be an excellent tool for analyzing mammalian evolution and demonstrate here how we addressed several refractory problems in rodent systematics using L1 DNA as a taxonomic character.      

New principles in determining the biological value of proteins

Some new principles are suggested in determination of the protein biological values that take into account the amino acid composition and the processes occurring in the course of protein assimilation. Food proteins have a significant effect on the protein-amino acid metabolism of the organism by reducing oxidative catabolism of essential amino acids which are deficient in the utilized protein, i.e. they have a compensating effect on the deficiency of exogenous essential amino acids. The understanding of the process allowed the author to approach the solution of the problem of the replacement of the amino acid score with the biological value. For this purpose two new parameters which determine the quality and the second phase of protein assimilation have been introduced, i.e. potential biological value (BVp) and compensation coefficient (C), respectively. The experimental biological value (BV) is determined as the sum of the two parameters: BV = BVp + C.     

Influence of clinorotation on embryoid body morphology

The compensatory effects of gravitation at early stages of embryonic development have been investigated using the slow clinorotation of embryoid bodies generated from R1 mouse embryonic stem cells. An analysis of semithin sections (1–2μm) and an electron microscopy study of embryoid bodies revealed cells at different stages of maturation. A significant decrease (compared to the control) in embryonic stem cells undergoing apoptosis, as well as in noticeably reduced hollow areas, were found in clinorotated embryonic bodies. We propose that the lack of large cysts may be caused by the delay in initial differentiation and morphogenesis stages associated with autophagy processes in embryonic bodies.     

DNA methylation-associated colonic mucosal immune and defense responses in treatment-na?ve pediatric ulcerative colitis

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are emerging globally, indicating that environmental factors may be important in their pathogenesis. Colonic mucosal epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, can occur in response to the environment and have been implicated in IBD pathology. However, mucosal DNA methylation has not been examined in treatment-naïve patients. We studied DNA methylation in untreated, left sided colonic biopsy specimens using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array. We analyzed 22 control (C) patients, 15 untreated Crohn’s disease (CD) patients, and 9 untreated ulcerative colitis (UC) patients from two cohorts. Samples obtained at the time of clinical remission from two of the treatment-naïve UC patients were also included into the analysis. UC-specific gene expression was interrogated in a subset of adjacent samples (5 C and 5 UC) using the Affymetrix GeneChip PrimeView Human Gene Expression Arrays. Only treatment-naïve UC separated from control. One-hundred-and-twenty genes with significant expression change in UC (> 2-fold, P < 0.05) were associated with differentially methylated regions (DMRs). Epigenetically associated gene expression changes (including gene expression changes in the IFITM1, ITGB2, S100A9, SLPI, SAA1, and STAT3 genes) were linked to colonic mucosal immune and defense responses. These findings underscore the relationship between epigenetic changes and inflammation in pediatric treatment-naïve UC and may have potential etiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic relevance for IBD.     

Molecular targets in the search for endothelium-protecting compounds

Impairment of endothelial function forms basis for many cardiovascular diseases, therefore today it becomes an independent target for therapeutic action, and the search for new compounds possessing endothelium-protective properties is one of the prospective goals of the pharmacotherapy and medicinal chemistry. An efficient instrument to solve the problem is the use of methods of molecular modeling. Application of the methods is possible only if detailed information on three-dimensional structure and function of molecular targets—receptors and enzymes responsible for signal transduction both inside and outside endothelial cells—is available. In the review we collected the data on the structure and functions of various macromolecules involved in the process of regulation of vascular tone. The structure of endothelial NO-synthase (EC 1.14.13.39) (eNOS) responsible for synthesis of nitrogen oxide and involved in the process of vascular tone regulation is described. The importance of its substrate, L-arginine, from the point of view of eNOS activity regulation is emphasized; the data on structure and functions of L-arginine transport system are presented. Also, various pathways of eNOS activity regulation are described, including activation and competitive inhibition through binding of exogenous substances in its active center and inhibition through caveolin binding at eNOS oxygenase domain among them, as well as regulation by means of phosphorylation of individual eNOS amino acid residues by protein kinases and their dephosphorylation by phosphatases. The importance of membrane receptors of endotheliocytes as targets for substances possessing endothelium-protective activity is emphasized. Receptors of endothelin, thrombocyte activation factor, prostaglandins, bradykinin, histamine, serotonin, and protein kinase-activated receptors are among them. The importance of calcium and potassium ion channels in vessel cells for endothelium protection is emphasized. Finally, the macromolecules discussed in the review are considered as targets in the search for endothelium-protective therapeutic agents by the proposed approaches and methods of molecular modeling.     

The Formation of Long-Lived Reactive Protein Species in Heat-Treated Solutions of Gelatin and Casein

Biophysics - Abstract—The formation of long-lived reactive species of gelatin, casein, and casein hydrolysate with a half-life of approximately 4 h in protein solutions subjected to moderate...     

Effect of the Water and Barrier Submersion Depths on the Characteristics of a High-Voltage Discharge Propagating over a Water Surface

This work continues the series of studies of pulsed high-voltage discharges propagating over liquid surfaces in the presence of barriers. In this work, the influence of the barrier position relative to the air electrode on the discharge voltage in the stage of the completed discharge is analyzed. The effect of the water depth and barrier submersion depth on the propagation of a pulsed discharge is studied.     

Recombinant phospholipase A<Subscript>1</Subscript> of the outer membrane of psychrotrophic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Yersinia pseudotuberculosis</Emphasis>: Expression,purification, and characterization

The pldA gene encoding membrane-bound phospholipase A₁ of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli cells. Recombinant phospholipase A₁ (rPldA) was isolated from inclusion bodies dissolved in 8 M urea by two-stage chromatography (ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography) as an inactive monomer. The molecular mass of the rPldA determined by MALDI-TOF MS was 31.7 ± 0.4 kDa. The highly purified rPldA was refolded by 10-fold dilution with buffer containing 10 mM Triton X-100 and subsequent incubation at room temperature for 16 h. The refolded rPldA hydrolyzed 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine in the presence of calcium ions. The enzyme exhibited maximal activity at 37°C and nearly 40% of maximal activity at 15°C. The phospholipase A₁ was active over a wide range of pH from 4 to 11, exhibiting maximal activity at pH 10. Spatial structure models of the monomer and the dimer of Y. pseudotuberculosis phospholipase A₁ were constructed, and functionally important amino acid residues of the enzyme were determined. Structural differences between phospholipases A₁ from Y. pseudotuberculosis and E. coli, which can affect the functional activity of the enzyme, were revealed.