Quantification of protein deposits on silicone hydrogel materials using stable-isotopic labeling and multiple reaction monitoring

This study was designed to use multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) for accurate quantification of contact lens protein deposits. Worn lenses used with a multipurpose disinfecting solution were collected after wear. Individual contact lenses were extracted and then digested with trypsin. MRM in conjunction with stable-isotope-labeled peptide standards was used for protein quantification. The results show that lysozyme was the major protein detected from both lens types. The amount of protein extracted from contact lenses was affected by the lens material. Except for keratin-1 (0.83 ± 0.61 vs 0.77 ± 0.20, p = 0.81) or proline rich protein-4 (0.11 ± 0.04 vs 0.15 ± 0.12, p = 0.97), the amounts of lysozyme, lactoferrin, or lipocalin-1 extracted from balafilcon A lenses (12.9 ± 9.01, 0.84 ± 0.50 or 2.06 ± 1.6, respectively) were significantly higher than that extracted from senofilcon A lenses (0.88 ± 0.13, 0.50 ± 0.10 or 0.27 ± 0.23, respectively) (p < 0.05). The amount of protein extracted from contact lenses was dependent on both the individual wearer and the contact lens material. This may have implications for the development of clinical responses during lens wear for different people and with different types of contact lenses. The use of MRM-MS is a powerful analytical tool for the quantification of specific proteins from single contact lenses after wear.     

Principal Component Analysis of Time-Related Changes of Some Essential Mineral Contents of Canned Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in Different Filling Media

Biological Trace Element Research - The kinetic reaction for changes in some essential mineral contents (iron, zinc, calcium, sodium, and copper) of silver carp canned in sunflower oil, soybean...     

Timekeeping through social contacts: social synchronization of circadian locomotor activity rhythm in the carpenter ant Camponotus paria

In ant colonies a large proportion of individuals remain inside nests for most of their lives and come out only when necessary. It is not clear how, in a nest of several thousand individuals, information about local time is communicated among members of the colony. Central to this seem to be circadian clocks, which have an intrinsic ability to keep track of local time by entraining to environmental light-dark, temperature, and social cycles. Here, the authors report the results of their study aimed at understanding the role of cyclic social interactions in circadian timekeeping of a day-active species of carpenter ant Camponotus paria. The authors found that daily social interactions with visitors (worker ants) was able to synchronize the circadian locomotor activity rhythm of host worker ants and queens, in one-on-one (pair-wise) and multi-individual (group-wise) interactions. Interestingly, the outcome of cyclic social interactions was context specific; when visitor workers socially interacted with host workers one-on-one, host workers considered the time of interaction as subjective day, but when visitor workers interacted with a group of workers and queens, the hosts considered the time of interaction as subjective night. These results can be taken to suggest that members of the ant species C. paria keep track of local time by socially interacting with workers (foragers) who shuttle in and out of the colony in search of food. (Author correspondence: vsharma@jncasr.ac.in ).     

Synthesis of novel inhibitors of β-glucuronidase based on benzothiazole skeleton and study of their binding affinity by molecular docking

Benzothiazole derivatives 1-26 have been synthesized and their in vitro β-glucuronidase potential has been evaluated. Compounds 4 (IC(50)=8.9 ± 0.25 μM), 5 (IC(50)=36.1 ± 1.80 μM), 8 (IC(50)=8.9 ± 0.38 μM), 13 (IC(50)=19.4 ± 1.00 μM), 16 (IC(50)=4.23 ± 0.054 μM), and 18 (IC(50)=2.26 ± 0.06 μM) showed β-glucuronidase activity potent than the standard (d-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone, IC(50)=48.4 ± 1.25 μM). Compound 9 (IC(50)=94.0 ± 4.16 μM) is found to be the least active among the series. All active analogs were also evaluated for cytotoxicity and none of the compounds showed any cytotoxic effect. Furthermore, molecular docking studies were performed using the gold 3.0 program to investigate the binding mode of benzothiazole derivatives. This study identifies a novel class of β-glucuronidase inhibitors.     

Assessment of reproductive parameters in female Dwarf goat (Capra hircus) on the basis of progesterone profiles

A study was undertaken to look into the reproductive performance of female Dwarf goats reared under traditional conditions at NIAB Farm, Faisalabad, Pakistan. The serum progesterone profile was used to monitor various reproductive parameters (length of postpartum period, resumption of cyclicity, gestation period, prepartum period, parturition) in two lots of goats. Litter size, birth weight of kids and kidding interval were also observed. Most of the animals conceived within 15-59 days of postpartum period. All the does conceived at first or second estrus. During gestation period, higher levels of progesterone were maintained with wide variations falling in the range of 3-13 ng ml(-1). However, a few days before parturition a decline was noticed at 6+/-0.9 days and it reached to the basal level of 0.1 ng ml(-1) after the completion of parturition process. The length of gestation period was found to be 145.8+/-5 days in the first lot and 145.2+/-4 days in the second lot. A very short kidding interval (203.7+/-46 days) and considerably bigger litter size (1.8+/-0.8) was observed. All the parturitions were normal and a considerable weight gain (8.2+/-0.3 kg) of mothers was recorded during pregnancy. The initial birth weight of kids was averaged as 2.1+/-0.5 kg in the first and 1.6+/-0.2 kg in the second lot. It was concluded that Dwarf goat has short gestation length, postpartum period and kidding interval along with multiple births being common. Due to these factors, its reproductive efficiency can be exploited for efficient goat meat production.     

Localized Surface Plasmons of Supershape Nanoparticle Dimers

Plasmonics - In this work, the all plasmonic bands of supershape nanoparticle dimers were investigated using finite difference time domain simulations. The localized surface plasmons of dimers were...     

A replication study confirms the association of dendritic cell immunoreceptor (DCIR) polymorphisms with ACPA - negative RA in a large Asian cohort

Objectives

Dendritic cell immunoreceptor (DCIR) has been implicated in development of autoimmune disorders in rodent and DCIR polymorphisms were associated with anti-citrullinated proteins antibodies (ACPA)-negative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Swedish Caucasians. This study was undertaken to further investigate whether DCIR polymorphisms are also risk factors for the development of RA in four Asian populations originated from China and Malaysia.

Methods

We genotyped two DCIR SNPs rs2377422 and rs10840759 in Han Chinese population (1,193 cases, 1,278 controls), to assess their association with RA. Subsequently, rs2377422 was further genotyped in three independent cohorts of Malaysian-Chinese subjects (MY_Chinese, 254 cases, 206 controls), Malay subjects (MY_ Malay, 515 cases, 986 controls), and Malaysian-Indian subjects (MY_Indian, 378 cases, 285 controls), to seek confirmation of association in various ethnic groups. Meta-analysis was preformed to evaluate the contribution of rs2377422 polymorphisms to the development of ACPA-negative RA in distinct ethnic groups. Finally, we carried out association analysis of rs2377422 polymorphisms with DCIR mRNA expression levels.

Results

DCIR rs2377422 was found to be significantly associated with ACPA -negative RA in Han Chinese (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.27–2.90, P = 0.0020). Meta-analysis confirms DCIR rs2377422 as a risk factor for ACPA-negative RA across distinct ethnic groups (OR_overall = 1.17, 95% CI 1.06–1.30, P = 0.003). The SNP rs2377422 polymorphism showed significant association with DCIR mRNA expression level, i.e. RA-risk CC genotype exhibit a significant increase in the expression of DCIR (P = 0.0023, Kruskal–Wallis).

Conclusions

Our data provide evidence for association between DCIR rs2377422 and RA in non-Caucasian populations and confirm the influence of DCIR polymorphisms on RA susceptibility, especially on ACPA-negative RA.