Poor physical fitness is independently associated with mild cognitive impairment in elderly Koreans

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between physical fitness and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in elderly Koreans. This was a cross-sectional study that involved 134 men and 299 women aged 65 to 88 years. Six senior fitness tests were used as independent variables: 30 s chair stand for lower body strength, arm curl for upper body strength, chair-sit-and-reach for lower body flexibility, back scratch for upper body flexibility, 8-ft up-and-go for agility/dynamic balance, and 2-min walk for aerobic endurance. Global cognitive function was assessed using the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Potential covariates such as age, education levels, blood lipids, and insulin resistance (IR) markers were also assessed. Compared to individuals without MMSE-based MCI, individuals with MMSE-based MCI had poor physical fitness based on the senior fitness test (SFT). There were significant positive trends observed for education level (p=0.001) and MMSE score (p<0.001) across incremental levels of physical fitness in this study population. Individuals with moderate (OR=0.341, p=0.006) and high (OR=0.271, p=0.007) physical fitness based on a composite score of the SFT measures were less likely to have MMSE-based MCI than individuals with low physical fitness (referent, OR=1). The strength of the association between moderate (OR=0.377, p=0.038) or high (OR=0.282, p=0.050) physical fitness and MMSE-based MCI was somewhat attenuated but remained statistically significant even after adjustment for the measured compounding factors. We found that poor physical fitness was independently associated with MMSE-based MCI in elderly Koreans.     

Evolution of anaerobic ciliates from the gastrointestinal tract: phylogenetic analysis of the ribosomal repeat from Nyctotherus ovalis and its relatives

The 18S and 5.8S rDNA genes and the internal transcribed spacers ITS-1 and ITS-2 of ciliates living in the hindgut of frogs, millipedes, and cockroaches were analyzed in order to study the evolution of intestinal protists. All ciliates studied here belong to the genus Nycrotherus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these ciliates from a monophyletic group that includes the distantly related anaerobic free-living heterotrichous ciliates Metopus palaeformis and Metopus contortus. The intestinal ciliates from the different vertebrate and invertebrate hosts are clearly divergent at the level of their rDNA repeats. This argues for the antiquity of the associations and a predominantly vertical transmission. This mode of transmission seems to be controlled primarily by the behavior of the host. The different degrees of divergence between ciliates living in different strains of one and the same cockroach species most likely reflect the different geographical origins of the hosts. In addition, host switches must have occurred during the evolution of cockroaches, since identical ciliates were found only in distantly related hosts. These phenomena prevent the reconstruction of potential cospeciation events.      

Concanavalin A distorts the beta-GlcNAc-(1-->2)-Man linkage of beta- GlcNAc-(1-->2)-alpha-Man-(1-->3)-[beta-GlcNAc-(1-->2)-alpha-Man- (1-- >6)]-Man upon binding

Carbohydrate recognition by proteins is a key event in many biological processes. Concanavalin A is known to specifically recognize the pentasaccharide core (beta-GlcNAc-(1-->2)-alpha- Man-(1-->3)-[beta- GlcNAc-(1-->2)-alpha-Man-(1-->6)]-Man) of N-linked oligosaccharides with a Ka of 1.41 x 10(6 )M-1. We have determined the structure of concanavalin A bound to beta-GlcNAc-(1-->2)-alpha-Man-(1-->3)-[beta- GlcNAc-(1-->2)-alpha-Man- (1-->6)]-Man to 2.7A. In six of eight subunits there is clear density for all five sugar residues and a well ordered binding site. The pentasaccharide adopts the same conformation in all eight subunits. The binding site is a continuous extended cleft on the surface of the protein. Van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds anchor the carbohydrate to the protein. Both GlcNAc residues contact the protein. The GlcNAc on the 1-->6 arm of the pentasaccharide makes particularly extensive contacts and including two hydrogen bonds. The binding site of the 1-->3 arm GlcNAc is much less extensive. Oligosaccharide recognition by Con A occurs through specific protein carbohydrate interactions and does not require recruitment of adventitious water molecules. The beta-GlcNAc-(1-->2)-Man glycosidic linkage PSI torsion angle on the 1-->6 arm is rotated by over 50 degrees from that observed in solution. This rotation is coupled to disruption of interactions at the monosaccharide site. We suggest destabilization of the monosaccharide site and the conformational strain reduces the free energy liberated by additional interactions at the 1-->6 arm GlcNAc site.      

MARCH6 and TRC8 facilitate the quality control of cytosolic and tail‐anchored proteins

Misfolded or damaged proteins are typically targeted for destruction by proteasome‐mediated degradation, but the mammalian ubiquitin machinery involved is incompletely understood. Here, using forward genetic screens in human cells, we find that the proteasome‐mediated degradation of the soluble misfolded reporter, mCherry‐CL1, involves two ER‐resident E3 ligases, MARCH6 and TRC8. mCherry‐CL1 degradation is routed via the ER membrane and dependent on the hydrophobicity of the substrate, with complete stabilisation only observed in double knockout MARCH6/TRC8 cells. To identify a more physiological correlate, we used quantitative mass spectrometry and found that TRC8 and MARCH6 depletion altered the turnover of the tail‐anchored protein heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1). These E3 ligases associate with the intramembrane cleaving signal peptide peptidase (SPP) and facilitate the degradation of HO‐1 following intramembrane proteolysis. Our results highlight how ER‐resident ligases may target the same substrates, but work independently of each other, to optimise the protein quality control of selected soluble and tail‐anchored proteins.     

OntologyWidget – a reusable,embeddable widget for easily locating ontology terms

Background  

Biomedical ontologies are being widely used to annotate biological data in a computer-accessible, consistent and well-defined manner. However, due to their size and complexity, annotating data with appropriate terms from an ontology is often challenging for experts and non-experts alike, because there exist few tools that allow one to quickly find relevant ontology terms to easily populate a web form.     

How origin,packaging and seasonality determine the environmental impact of apples,magnified by food waste and losses

Purpose

Using apple consumption in Belgium as a case study, this study examines the environmental impacts associated with Belgian (BE) and New Zealand (NZ) apples, how impacts evolve throughout the year and how packaging affects this impact. Additionally, impacts associated with food losses and food waste along the chain are assessed. The study aims to delineate the most important factors in determining environmental impacts associated with apple.

Methods

The environmental impacts are calculated using the ILCD (International Reference Life Cycle Data System) approach. The functional unit is 1 kg of apples purchased by a consumer in the supermarket. Primary data was collected through players along the chain. Various scenarios are analysed for both the BE and NZ apples, based on the moment of purchase and packaging method. Food loss and waste impacts are assessed by splitting the impacts along the chain into three categories: apples lost along the supply chain, apples purchased and eaten by the consumer and apples purchased and wasted by the consumer.

Results and discussion

For all impact categories assessed, NZ apples come at a higher environmental cost than BE ones due to overseas transport. For both BE and NZ apples, minimum impacts are found for bulk apples at the beginning of the season, whereas maximum values are found for pre-packed apples at the end of the season. For BE apples, the choice of packaging method highly affects the impact, while it is negligible relative to shipping impacts for NZ apples. Altering secondary packaging materials of BE apples allows for impact reductions up to 50%. In the case of climate change, food waste and losses contribute up to 25% or 15% for BE or NZ apples, respectively, as all lost food travels in vain through the food chain and needs to be disposed of.

Conclusions

The study shows the importance of origin and packaging, whereas the moment of purchase hardly affects the environmental impact of apples. From a supply chain perspective, there is room for improvement as altering the use of secondary packaging greatly reduces impacts along the chain. The study further highlights how impacts are magnified by food waste and losses.

     

Molecular docking analysis of glycogen phosphorylase with inhibitors from Cissampelos pareira Linn.

Cissampelos pareira Linn. is a climbing herb known in Indian traditional medicine as laghupatha. It belongs to the Menispermaceae family. The enzyme glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is a promising target for the treatment of type-2 diabetes (T2DM). A variety of natural product inhibitors with both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical potential have been reported in the search for powerful, selective and drug-like GP inhibitors that could lead to hypoglycemic medicines. Therefore, it is of interest to document the molecular docking analysis data of glycogen phosphorylase with compounds from Cissampelos pareira Linn. We report the optimal binding features of 4 compounds namely Trans-N-feruloyltyramine, Coclaurine, Magnoflorine, and Curine with the target protein for further consideration in the context of T2DM.