MILLAYA GEN. N., AN UPPER PALEOZOIC GENUS OF MARATTIALEAN SYNANGIA

Anatomically preserved fertile marattialean pinnules from the Lower Permian (Wolfcampian) Bursum Formation in Tularosa, New Mexico, and isolated synangia from the Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian) Stanton Formation near Tyro, Kansas, are described. The sessile synangia are partially sunken into the pinnule lamina and arranged abaxially in a single row on each side of the midrib. Comparisons are made with other fossil and modern marattialeans and the evolutionary significance considered.     

Induction of humoral and CD8+ T cell responses are required for protection against lethal Ebola virus infection

Ebola virus (EBOV)-like particles (eVLP), composed of the EBOV glycoprotein and matrix viral protein (VP)40 with a lipid membrane, are a highly efficacious method of immunization against EBOV infection. The exact requirements for immunity against EBOV infection are poorly defined at this time. The goal of this work was to determine the requirements for EBOV immunity following eVLP vaccination. Vaccination of BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice with eVLPs in conjunction with QS-21 adjuvant resulted in mixed IgG subclass responses, a Th1-like memory cytokine response, and protection from lethal EBOV challenge. Further, this vaccination schedule led to the generation of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) IFN-gamma(+) T cells recognizing specific peptides within glycoprotein and VP40. The transfer of both serum and splenocytes, but not serum or splenocytes alone, from eVLP-vaccinated mice conferred protection against lethal EBOV infection in these studies. B cells were required for eVLP-mediated immunity to EBOV because B cell-deficient mice vaccinated with eVLPs were not protected from lethal EBOV challenge. We also found that CD8(+), but not CD4(+), T cells are absolutely required for eVLP-mediated protection against EBOV infection. Further, eVLP-induced protective mechanisms were perforin-independent, but IFN-gamma-dependent. Taken together, both EBOV-specific humoral and cytotoxic CD8(+) T cell responses are critical to mediate protection against filoviruses following eVLP vaccination.     

Induced coalescence of cations through low-temperature Poisson-Boltzmann calculations

The computational determination of preferred binding regions of divalent counterions to nucleic acids is either inaccurate (standard Poisson-Boltzmann approaches) or extremely time-consuming (Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics simulations). A novel "selective low-temperature" Poisson-Boltzmann method is introduced that, although approximate in nature, qualitatively accounts for ion correlation and charge-transfer effects and allows for the rapid determination of such regions through an "induced coalescence" of divalent ions. The method is illustrated here for the binding of Mg(2+) to a double-helical sequence of B-form DNA (CGCGAATTCGCG) but the technique is readily applicable to locating divalent cations in other systems such as DNA-endonuclease complexes and ribozymes.     

The triplex-hairpin transition in cytosine-rich DNA

We present a theoretical study of the self-complementary single-stranded 30-mer d(TC*TTC*C*TTTTCCTTCTC*CCGAGAAGGTTTT) (PDB ID: 1b4y) that was designed to form an intramolecular triplex by folding back twice on itself. At neutral pH the molecule exists in a duplex hairpin conformation, whereas at acidic pH the cytosines labeled by an asterisk (*) are protonated, forming Hoogsteen hydrogen bonds with guanine of a GC Watson-Crick basepair to generate a triplex. As a first step in an investigation of the energetics of the triplex-hairpin transition, we applied the Bashford-Karplus multiple site model of protonation to calculate the titration curves for the two conformations. Based on these data, a two-state model is used to study the equilibrium properties of transition. Although this model properly describes the thermodynamics of the protonation-deprotonation steps that drive the folding-unfolding of the oligomer, it cannot provide insight into the time-dependent mechanism of the process. A series of molecular dynamics simulations using the ff94 force field of the AMBER 6.0 package was therefore run to explore the dynamics of the folding/unfolding pathway. The molecular dynamics method was combined with Poisson-Boltzmann calculations to determine when a change in protonation state was warranted during a trajectory. This revealed a sequence of elementary protonation steps during the folding/unfolding transition and suggests a strong coupling between ionization and folding in cytosine-rich triple-helical triplexes.     

Altered proglucagon processing in an alpha-cell line derived from prohormone convertase 2 null mouse islets

The endoproteolytic processing of proproteins in the secretory pathway depends on the expression of selected members of a family of subtilisin-like endoproteases known as the prohormone convertases (PCs). The main PC family members expressed in mammalian neuroendocrine cells are PC2 and PC1/3. The differential processing of proglucagon in pancreatic alpha-cells and intestinal L cells leads to production of distinct hormonal products with opposing physiological effects from the same precursor. Here we describe the establishment and characterization of a novel alpha-cell line (alphaTC-DeltaPC2) derived from PC2 homozygous null animals. The alphaTC-DeltaPC2 cells are shown to be similar to the well characterized alphaTC1-6 cell line in both morphology and overall gene expression. However, the absence of PC2 activity in alphaTC-DeltaPC2 leads to a complete block in the production of mature glucagon. Surprisingly, alphaTC-DeltaPC2 cells are able to efficiently cleave the interdomain site in proglucagon (KR 70-71). Further analysis reveals that alphaTC-DeltaPC2 cells, unlike alphaTC1-6 cells, express low levels of PC1/3 that lead to the generation of glicentin as well as low amounts of oxyntomodulin, GLP-1, truncated GLP-1, and N-terminally extended GLP-2. We conclude that alphaTC-DeltaPC2 cells provide additional evidence for PC2 as the major convertase in alpha-cells leading to mature glucagon production and provide a robust model for further analysis of the mechanisms of proprotein processing by the prohormone convertases.     

腺病毒载体衣壳蛋白质的遗传修饰

腺病毒载体是最早用于基因治疗研究的病毒载体之一,也是目前肿瘤基因治疗中最为常见的病毒载体之一,其主要通过靶细胞表面的天然柯萨奇腺病毒受体(coxsackie and adenovirus receptor,CAR)感染宿主细胞。由于大多数肿瘤细胞表面该受体表达水平较低,降低了腺病毒载体对靶细胞的感染效率,从而制约了腺病毒载体在肿瘤基因治疗中的应用。因此,如何提高腺病毒载体对靶细胞的感染效率是腺病毒载体应用于肿瘤基因治疗的关键。目前对腺病毒载体衣壳蛋白质(capsid protein)的遗传修饰是提高其对宿主细胞感染效率的主要途径。本文将对这一领域的主要研究进展作一综述,为该方面的研究提供有用的信息。     

Calcium Additions and Microbial Nitrogen Cycle Processes in a Northern Hardwood Forest

Evaluating, and possibly ameliorating, the effects of base cation depletion in forest soils caused by acid deposition is an important topic in the northeastern United States. We added 850 kg Ca ha⁻¹ as wollastonite (CaSiO₃) to an 11.8-ha watershed at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), a northern hardwood forest in New Hampshire, USA, in fall 1999 to replace calcium (Ca) leached from the ecosystem by acid deposition over the past 6 decades. Soil microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations, gross and potential net N mineralization and nitrification rates, soil solution and stream chemistry, soil:atmosphere trace gas (CO₂, N₂O, CH₄) fluxes, and foliar N concentrations have been monitored in the treated watershed and in reference areas at the HBEF before and since the Ca addition. We expected that rates of microbial C and N cycle processes would increase in response to the treatment. By 2000, soil pH was increased by a full unit in the Oie soil horizon, and by 2002 it was increased by nearly 0.5 units in the Oa soil horizon. However, there were declines in the N content of the microbial biomass, potential net and gross N mineralization rates, and soil inorganic N pools in the Oie horizon of the treated watershed. Stream, soil solution, and foliar concentrations of N showed no response to treatment. The lack of stimulation of N cycling by Ca addition suggests that microbes may not be stimulated by increased pH and Ca levels in the naturally acidic soils at the HBEF, or that other factors (for example, phosphorus, or Ca binding of labile organic matter) may constrain the capacity of microbes to respond to increased pH in the treated watershed. Possible fates for the approximately 10 kg N ha⁻¹ decline in microbial and soil inorganic pools include components of the plant community that we did not measure (for example, seedlings, understory shrubs), increased fluxes of N₂ and/or N storage in soil organic matter. These results raise questions about the factors regulating microbial biomass and activity in northern hardwood forests that should be considered in the context of proposals to mitigate the depletion of nutrient cations in soil.