Non-allosteric regulation of the uridine kinase from seeds of Zea mays.

Uridine kinase (ATP: uridine 5'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.48) has been partially purified from ungerminated hybrid corn seed. It is associated with a soluble high molecular weight fraction from which it apparently cannot be dissociated without loss of activity. The stability of the enzyme is enhanced by the addition of dithiothreitol, glycerol and nucleotide substrate. The nucleoside specificity of the enzyme is limited to nucleosides containing pyrimidine and ribose moieties, such as uridine and cytidine. High concentrations of nucleosides cause substrate inhibition, however. The Km values for uridine and cytidine are 53 muM and 125 muM, respectively, and under subsaturating conditions uridine is phosphorylated about five times faster than cytidine. The reaction follows an ordered Bi Bi kinetic pattern, with ATP and ADP in competition for the free form of the enzyme. Purine, but not pyrimidine, nucleoside triphosphates serve as phosphate donors without regard to the sugar moiety. However, all of these triphosphates appear to compete for the same site on the enzyme. (Km ATP equals 590 muM, Km (app) GTP equals 61 muM, and CTP and UTP are linear competitive inhibitors against ATP, with Ki values of 60 muM and 240 muM, respectively.) Therefore, end product control of uridine kinase apparently does not involve allosteric sites, but instead is envisioned as simple competition between relatively effective or ineffective phosphate donors for a position on the enzyme.     

The Relationship between Cerebral Glucose Metabolism and Age: Report of a Large Brain PET Data Set

Cerebral glucose metabolism is a reliable index of neural activity and may provide evidence for brain function in healthy adults. We studied the correlation between cerebral glucose metabolism and age under the resting-state in both sexes with position emission tomography. Statistical test of age effect on cerebral glucose metabolism was performed using the statistical parametric mapping software with a voxel-by-voxel approach ( family wise error corrected, -voxel threshold). The subjects consisted of 108 females (mean S.D. = 4510 years) and 126 males (mean S.D. = 4911 years). We showed here that brain activity in the frontal and temporal lobes in both sexes decreased significantly with normal aging. The glucose metabolism in the caudate bilaterally showed a negative correlation with age in males, but not in females. Few regions in males were shown with an increased glucose metabolism with age. Although the mechanisms of brain aging are still unknown, a map of brain areas susceptible to age was described in this report.     

基于InVEST模型的疏勒河流域碳储量时空变化研究

研究区域土地利用方式与生态系统服务碳储量的关系，对于区域生态系统保护及经济社会可持续发展具有重要意义。利用InVEST模型碳储量模块和CA-Markov模型，探究并预测疏勒河流域1990-2015及2015-2040年流域生态系统碳储量时空变化特征及其与土地利用方式之间的关系。结果表明：疏勒河流域1990、1995、2000、2005、2010、2015年碳储量分别为7.994×10⁸、7.996×10⁸、7.998×10⁸、8.038×10⁸、8.064×10⁸、8.071×10⁸t，呈逐年增加趋势，累计增加7.7×10⁶t。土地利用类型变化是导致生态系统碳储量变化的主要因素，未利用地向耕地和草地转化有利于碳储量增加，而草地向耕地和未利用地的转化则导致碳储量减少。疏勒河流域碳储量存在显著的空间格局，碳储量较高区域呈现"北部点状-中部带状-南部点状片状"特征，这种分布格局与流域土地利用类型紧密联系。预测表明至2040年疏勒河流域碳储量为9.128×10⁸t，较2015年增加13.1%，主要原因是草地、耕地和林地面积较大幅度增长，提高了流域内的碳储量。     

Adaptive Admixture of HLA Class I Allotypes Enhanced Genetically Determined Strength of Natural Killer Cells in East Asians

Human natural killer (NK) cells are essential for controlling infection, cancer, and fetal development. NK cell functions are modulated by interactions between polymorphic inhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) and polymorphic HLA-A, -B, and -C ligands expressed on tissue cells. All HLA-C alleles encode a KIR ligand and contribute to reproduction and immunity. In contrast, only some HLA-A and -B alleles encode KIR ligands and they focus on immunity. By high-resolution analysis of KIR and HLA-A, -B, and -C genes, we show that the Chinese Southern Han (CHS) are significantly enriched for interactions between inhibitory KIR and HLA-A and -B. This enrichment has had substantial input through population admixture with neighboring populations, who contributed HLA class I haplotypes expressing the KIR ligands B*46:01 and B*58:01, which subsequently rose to high frequency by natural selection. Consequently, over 80% of Southern Han HLA haplotypes encode more than one KIR ligand. Complementing the high number of KIR ligands, the CHS KIR locus combines a high frequency of genes expressing potent inhibitory KIR, with a low frequency of those expressing activating KIR. The Southern Han centromeric KIR region encodes strong, conserved, inhibitory HLA-C-specific receptors, and the telomeric region provides a high number and diversity of inhibitory HLA-A and -B-specific receptors. In all these characteristics, the CHS represent other East Asians, whose NK cell repertoires are thus enhanced in quantity, diversity, and effector strength, likely augmenting resistance to endemic viral infections.