Terpene trilactones from Ginkgo biloba are antagonists of cortical glycine and GABA(A) receptors

Glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid, type A (GABA(A)) receptors are members of the ligand-gated ion channel superfamily that mediate inhibitory synaptic transmission in the adult central nervous system. During development, the activation of these receptors leads to membrane depolarization. Ligands for the two receptors have important implications both in disease therapy and as pharmacological tools. Terpene trilactones (ginkgolides and bilobalide) are unique constituents of Ginkgo biloba extracts that have various effects on the central nervous system. We have investigated the relative potency of these compounds on glycine and GABA(A) receptors. We find that most of the ginkgolides are selective and potent antagonists of the glycine receptor. Bilobalide, the single major component in G. biloba extracts, also reduces glycine-induced currents, although to a lesser extent. Both ginkgolides and bilobalide inhibit GABA(A) receptors, with bilobalide demonstrating a more potent effect. Additionally, we provide evidence that open channels are required for glycine receptor inhibition by ginkgolides. Finally, we employ molecular modeling to elucidate the similarities and differences in the structure of the terpene trilactones to account for the pharmacological properties of these compounds and demonstrate a striking similarity between ginkgolides and picrotoxinin, a GABA(A) and recombinant glycine alpha-homomeric receptor antagonist.     

7-nitroindazole reduces nitrite concentration in rat brain after intrahippocampal kainate-induced seizure

Kainic acid is an endogenous excitotoxin acting on glutamate receptors, that leads to neurotoxic damage resembling the alterations observed in some neurological disorders. Stimulation of glutamate receptors induces neuronal nitric oxide (NO) release, which in turn modulates glutamate transmission. NO may be a key mediator of excitotoxic neuronal injury in the central nervous system. We investigated the effects of 7-nitroindazole, a selective neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor in vivo, on nitrite concentration after kainic acid injection (0.6 mg/ml, pH 7.2) unilaterally into the CA3 region of the rat hippocampus. The accumulation of nitrite, the stable metabolite of NO, was measured by the Griess reaction at different times (5 min, 15 min, 2 h, 48 h and 7 days) following kainate injection in the ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampus, forebrain cortex, striatum and cerebellum homogenates. 7-Nitroindazole (100 microM) can effectively inhibit NO synthesis in rat brain after kainate-induced intrahippocampal neurotoxicity and suppressed nitrite accumulation. The present results suggest that neuronal NO synthase inhibitors may be useful in the treatment of neurological diseases where excitotoxic mechanisms play a role.     

From Serbia with Hate: A Case Study in Globalization, Trauma, and Language

This article analyzes a set of five postcards, purchased from a street stand in Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, shortly after the NATO bombing of the country took place in the spring of 1999. While the postcards obviously serve as protests against the bombing, as well as testimonies of the nation-wide trauma caused by it, they also reveal a careful negotiation between representations of trauma — keeping it displaced enough to avoid vicarious traumatization for individual survivors, but focused enough to translate it into a part of the national Serb identity and relying on the symbolism available in historical public narratives. However, since all the postcards analyzed here use English language in one form or another, they can also be read as peculiar interpretations of globalization on a local level. The article is an examination of the function of English, both in the negotiation of private/public trauma as described above, and its role in the complex reconfiguration of the phenomenon of globalization as embedded with local meaning given the context of the narrative within the Serbian popular culture. While these pop culture artifacts offer an assurance to the Serb national spirit, they also express a multifaceted national take on globalization visible in the use of English as the language of the Western ‘enemy’. Overall,the postcards can be read as a curious traumatic figuration of postmodernism which seems to be battling modernism in Belgrade's streets, while the Serb nationalism faces off with the global world in the realm of the imaginary.     

The effect of cooling on the acetylcholine-induced current of identified <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helix pomatia</Emphasis> Br neuron

The Br neuron of the snail Helix pomatia, involved in neuronal regulation of various homeostatic and adaptive mechanisms, represents an interesting model for studying effects of temperature changes on neuronal activity of poikilotherms. The acetylcholine (ACh) induces a transient, inward dose-dependent current in the identified Br neuron. In the work presented, we analyses the effects of cooling on the ACh-induced inward current. The amplitude of ACh-induced inward current was markedly decreased after cooling and the speed of the decay of ACh response was decreased. Sensitivity to cooling of Ach-activated current on the Br neuron is mediated by a mechanism that does not involve change in the apparent receptor affinity or the cooperativity of binding.     

Synergistic substrates determination with biosensors

High sensitive biosensors for heterocyclic compounds determination were built using oxidases-catalyzed hexacyanoferrate(III) reduction in the presence of these compounds. As oxidases Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase and recombinant Microdochium nivale carbohydrate oxidase were used. The biosensors were build using graphite electrodes and entrapped solution of the oxidases. The sensitivity of the biosensors achieves 5.2-14.5 microA microM-1 cm-2. The detection limit of some heterocyclic compounds was 0.2 microM. The sensitivity of biosensors was 300-10,000 times larger in comparison to hexacyanoferrate(III). To background the scheme of biosensors action kinetics of synergistic substrates oxidation was investigated in homogenous solution. The measurements showed that the rate of the reduction of low reactive substrate (hexacyanoferrate(III)) increased due to synergistic action of high reactive substrates (oxidized heterocyclic compounds). The modeling revealed the limiting step of the process. The increase of hexacyanoferrate(III) reduction rate is determined by the rate of reduced enzymes interaction with oxidized heterocyclic compound. The oxidation of heterocyclic compounds (mediators) with hexacyanoferrate(III) does not limit the process. The analysis of macrokinetics of biosensors action showed that synergistic effect may be realized and high biosensors sensitivity may be achieved if diffusion module of the enzyme reaction with the oxidized mediator and of a cross reaction is larger than 0.5. The calculated relative sensitivity is about three times higher in comparison to experimentally determined that may be caused by the limited stability of oxidized heterocyclic compounds and/or some external diffusion limitation of substrates.     

Afamin is a novel human vitamin E-binding glycoprotein characterization and in vitro expression

Hydrophobic vitamins are transported in human plasma and extravascular fluids by carrier proteins. No specific protein has been described so far for vitamin E, which plays a crucial role in protecting against oxidative damage and disease. We report here the purification of a 75-kDa glycoprotein with vitamin E-binding properties by stepwise chromatography of lipoprotein-depleted human plasma and monitoring of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)-binding activity. Partial sequencing identified this protein as afamin, a previously described member of the albumin gene family with four or five potential N-glycosylation sites. Glycosylation analysis indicated that >90% of the glycans were sialylated biantennary complex structures. The vitamin E-binding properties were confirmed using recombinantly expressed afamin. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of plasma and extravascular fluids revealed an abundant presence of this protein not only in plasma (59.8+/-13.3 microg/mL) but also in extravascular fluids such as follicular (34.4+/-12.7 microg/mL) and cerebrospinal (0.28+/-0.16 microg/mL) fluids, suggesting potential roles for afamin in fertility and neuroprotection. Afamin is partly (13%) bound to plasma lipoproteins. Afamin and vitamin E concentrations significantly correlate in follicular and cerebrospinal fluids but not in plasma. The vitamin E association of afamin in follicular fluid was directly demonstrated by gel filtration chromatography and immunoprecipitation which complements the in vitro findings for purified native and recombinant afamin.     

Optimization of cultivation conditions in spin tubes for Chinese hamster ovary cells producing erythropoietin and the comparison of glycosylation patterns in different cultivation vessels

This article describes the optimization of cultivation factor settings, that is the shaking rate and working volume in 50 mL spin tubes for a Chinese hamster ovary cell line expressing recombinant human α‐erythropoietin, using a response D‐optimal surface method. The main objectives of the research were, firstly, to determine a setting in which the product titer and product quality attributes in spin tubes are equivalent to those in 250 mL shake flasks in a seven day batch and, secondly, to find a setting in which the product titer is maximal. The model for product titer prediction as a function of shaking rate and working volume in the defined design space was successfully applied to the optimization of cultivation conditions in spin tubes for the tested cell line. Subsequently, validation experiments were carried out simultaneously in spin tubes, shake flasks and bench scale bioreactors to compare cell culture performance parameters such as growth, productivity and product quality attributes in the form of isoform profiles and glycan antennarity structures. The results of the experiments showed that similar cell culture performance and product quality could be achieved in spin tubes when compared to shake flasks. Additionally, bioreactor titers could be reproduced in spin tubes at high shaking rates and low working volumes, but with differing product quality. Cultivation at lower shaking rates in spin tubes and shake flasks produced a glycoprotein with a product quality slightly comparable to that from bioreactors, but with titers being only two thirds. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010     

A Co-Culture Model of the Developing Small Intestine Offers New Insight in the Early Immunomodulation of Enterocytes and Macrophages by Lactobacillus spp. through STAT1 and NF-kB p65 Translocation

The early establishment of a complete microbiome has been shown to play an integral part in the development and maintenance of an intact intestine and its immune system, although much remains unknown about the specific mechanisms of immune modulation in newborns. In our study we show in a co-culture model of the undeveloped small intestine that members of Lactobacillus spp. influence STAT1 and NF-kB p65 nuclear translocation in both intestinal epithelial cells as well as underlying macrophages. Moreover, by using imaging flow cytometry we were able to monitor each individual cell and create a framework of the percentage of cells in which translocation occurred in challenged versus control cell populations. We also observed a significant difference in baseline translocation in intestinal cells when cultured alone versus those in a co-culture model, underpinning the importance of 3D models over monolayer set-ups in epithelial in vitro research. In conclusion, our work offers new insights into the potential routes by which the commensal microbiome primes the early immune system to fight pathogens, and shows how strain-specific these mechanisms really are.     

DOWNY MILDEW RESISTANT 6 and DMR6‐LIKE OXYGENASE 1 are partially redundant but distinct suppressors of immunity in Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis downy mildew resistant 6 (dmr6) mutants have lost their susceptibility to the downy mildew Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis. Here we show that dmr6 is also resistant to the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae and the oomycete Phytophthora capsici. Resistance is accompanied by enhanced defense gene expression and elevated salicylic acid levels. The suppressive effect of the DMR6 oxygenase was confirmed in transgenic Arabidopsis lines overexpressing DMR6 that show enhanced susceptibility to H. arabidopsidis, P. capsici, and P. syringae. Phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily of 2‐oxoglutarate Fe(II)‐dependent oxygenases revealed a subgroup of DMR6‐LIKE OXYGENASEs (DLOs). Within Arabidopsis, DMR6 is most closely related to DLO1 and DLO2. Overexpression of DLO1 and DLO2 in the dmr6 mutant restored the susceptibility to downy mildew indicating that DLOs negatively affect defense, similar to DMR6. DLO1, but not DLO2, is co‐expressed with DMR6, showing strong activation during pathogen attack and following salicylic acid treatment. DMR6 and DLO1 differ in their spatial expression pattern in downy mildew‐infected Arabidopsis leaves; DMR6 is mostly expressed in cells that are in contact with hyphae and haustoria of H. arabidopsidis, while DLO1 is expressed mainly in the vascular tissues near infection sites. Strikingly, the dmr6‐3_dlo1 double mutant, that is completely resistant to H. arabidopsidis, showed a strong growth reduction that was associated with high levels of salicylic acid. We conclude that DMR6 and DLO1 redundantly suppress plant immunity, but also have distinct activities based on their differential localization of expression.