Apolipophorin-III expression and low density lipophorin formation during embryonic development of the silkworm,Bombyx mori

We examined the expression of apolipophorin-III (apoLp-III) during embryonic development of the silkworm Bombyx mori. ApoLp-III mRNA was first expressed 24 h after oviposition, which corresponds to the time of germ band formation. The amount of apoLp-III in the eggs increased from day 2, peaked on day 4, and then gradually decreased until hatching (on day 9.5). ApoLp-III was apparently synthesized during early embryogenesis, as radioactive amino acids were incorporated into newly synthesized apoLp-III in three-day-old eggs. Moreover, radioactive apoLp-III was found only in the embryo and not in the extraembryonic tissue. KBr density gradient ultracentrifugation of egg homogenates showed that apoLp-III was associated with low-density lipophorin (LDLp). These results suggest that LDLp is required for the delivery of lipids for organogenesis during embryogenesis.     

Alternating lateralization of plasma catecholamines and nasal patency in humans

The nose receives both sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation that is manifested by the alternating dominance of sympathetic activity on one side with concurrent parasympathetic dominance on the other. This ultradian rhythm of autonomic function, known as the nasal cycle, averages 2-3 hours in length. Previous experiments have shown that the nasal cycle is correlated in an inversely coupled fashion to the alternating dominance of activity in the two cerebral hemispheres, suggesting a common mechanism of regulation. Here we show that there is an alternation in catecholamine levels of blood drawn from anticubital veins that may also correlate with the nasal cycle. Radioenzymatic measurement of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine in blood sampled simultaneously from both arms every 7.5 minutes for periods of 3-6 hours demonstrated alternating high levels of catecholamine in one of the two arms. This alternating lateralization of neurotransmitters was observed in 7 out of 7 experiments using resting human male subjects. The ratio of norepinephrine in the two arms also parallels the pattern of airflow in the nasal cycle. This study suggests that the autonomic nervous system may alternate in activity through paired structures.     

Induction of glycolate oxidase by SO2 in Nicotiana tabacum

In contrast to the inhibitory action of sulfite on glycolate oxidase, the specific activity of the enzyme in tobacco leaves exposed to SO₂ for 18 hr increases in proportion to the SO₂ concentration. This increase is strongly reduced by pretreatment with cycloheximide. As a consequence of induced de novo synthesis of glycolate oxidase the glycolate content of the leaves is markedly reduced after 18 hr exposure to SO₂.     

Towards a harmonised framework methodology for the environmental assessment of food and drink products

Introduction

??Food and drink?? products are the basis of life. However, it is recognised that their supply also contributes to the environmental impacts associated with production and consumption. Recently, an increasing number of food chain partners and public authorities have introduced a widening range of initiatives to provide information about the environmental performance of food and drink products. These initiatives show a high degree of diversity in terms of their chosen scope, assessment methodologies and means of communication, which has the potential to confuse or even mislead consumers and other stakeholders. In this context, the European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Round Table was launched by food supply chain partners and the European Commission with the vision of promoting a science-based, coherent approach to sustainable consumption and production in the European food sector.

Objectives

This article presents this European initiative by introducing its Guiding Principles and summarizing the proceedings of the scientific workshop held in Ispra on 14?C15 June 2010. The aim of the workshop was to identify scientific inputs for developing the harmonised framework methodology for assessing the environmental issues of food and drink products. In this context, the main purpose was to provide a common understanding of what is involved in reliable and robust environmental assessments of the food chain, current limitations, and how to go from detailed assessments to more focused criteria, guidance and tools.

Conclusion

The current experiences presented in the workshop demonstrate that much advancement has already been made towards the measurement and management of the environmental performance of food and drink products. Detailed methodologies and tools are already being used by various players. According to the workshop speakers, the definition of methodological choices concerning the functional unit, system boundaries, cut-off criteria, allocation rules and environmental impact categories are some of the key issues to be fixed in the harmonised framework methodology. The Round Table process has the potential to make a substantial contribution to the sustainable consumption and production of food and drink products. This model might be proposed and reiterated for other sectors as well.     

Pathway analysis of NAD+ metabolism

NAD(+) is well known as a crucial cofactor in the redox balance of metabolism. Moreover, NAD(+) is degraded in ADP-ribosyl transfer reactions, which are important components of multitudinous signalling reactions. These include reactions linked to DNA repair and aging. In the present study, using the concept of EFMs (elementary flux modes), we established all of the potential routes in a network describing NAD(+) biosynthesis and degradation. All known biosynthetic pathways, which include de novo synthesis starting from tryptophan as well as the classical Preiss-Handler pathway and NAD(+) synthesis from other vitamin precursors, were detected as EFMs. Moreover, several EFMs were found that degrade NAD(+), represent futile cycles or have other functionalities. The systematic analysis and comparison of the networks specific for yeast and humans document significant differences between species with regard to the use of precursors, biosynthetic routes and NAD(+)-dependent signalling.     

17β-Estradiol-mediated increase in Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase expression in the brain: a mechanism to protect neurons from ischemia

A number of studies have demonstrated that 17β-estradiol (E(2)) protects the brain from ischemia and yet the mechanism by which this hormone brings about its protective effect is unclear. Interestingly, like E(2), overexpression of the oxidative stress response protein Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1), which plays a critical role in regulating reactive oxygen species, also protects the brain from ischemia. Because we previously showed that E(2) treatment of cultured mammary cells increases SOD1 expression, we hypothesized that E(2) might increase SOD1 expression in the brain and that this E(2)-mediated increase in SOD1 expression might help to protect the brain from ischemia. We now show that SOD1 is expressed in cortical neurons, that SOD1 expression is increased by exposure of brain slice cultures to E(2), and that the E(2)-mediated increase in SOD1 expression is further augmented by exposure of brain slice cultures to increased superoxide levels or oxygen and glucose deprivation. Importantly, when cortical neurons are exposed to increased superoxide levels and markers of protein and DNA damage, nitrotyrosine and 8-oxoguanine, respectively, are measured, both protein and DNA damage are reduced. In fact, E(2) reduces nitrotyrosine and 8-oxoguanine levels in brain slice cultures regardless of whether they have or have not been exposed to increased superoxide levels. Likewise, when brain slice cultures are treated with E(2) and deprived of oxygen and glucose, 8-oxoguanine levels are reduced. Taken together, these studies provide a critical link between E(2) treatment, SOD1 expression, and neuroprotection and help to define a mechanism through which E(2)-mediated neuroprotection may be conferred.     

Heat of reaction measurements for hydrothermal carbonization of biomass

This paper presents a set of calorimetric measurements with the aim of better understanding the calorific nature of hydrothermal carbonization. Presented values so far show an inadequately high scatter to do so, preventing a well funded assessment of the energetic feasibility of this process.The heat released during hydrothermal carbonization at 240 °C measured with the applied differential calorimetry setup is −1.06 MJ/kg_glucose,daf with a standard deviation of 14%, −1.07 MJ/kg_{cellulose,daf} with a standard deviation of 9%, and −0.76 MJ/kg_wood,daf with a standard deviation of 32%. These results are in good agreement with the theoretically derived maximum heat release. Despite the comparably high experimental standard deviation of these results, their accuracy is considerably higher than previously published results.     

Enhanced statistical tests for GWAS in admixed populations: assessment using African Americans from CARe and a Breast Cancer Consortium

While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have primarily examined populations of European ancestry, more recent studies often involve additional populations, including admixed populations such as African Americans and Latinos. In admixed populations, linkage disequilibrium (LD) exists both at a fine scale in ancestral populations and at a coarse scale (admixture-LD) due to chromosomal segments of distinct ancestry. Disease association statistics in admixed populations have previously considered SNP association (LD mapping) or admixture association (mapping by admixture-LD), but not both. Here, we introduce a new statistical framework for combining SNP and admixture association in case-control studies, as well as methods for local ancestry-aware imputation. We illustrate the gain in statistical power achieved by these methods by analyzing data of 6,209 unrelated African Americans from the CARe project genotyped on the Affymetrix 6.0 chip, in conjunction with both simulated and real phenotypes, as well as by analyzing the FGFR2 locus using breast cancer GWAS data from 5,761 African-American women. We show that, at typed SNPs, our method yields an 8% increase in statistical power for finding disease risk loci compared to the power achieved by standard methods in case-control studies. At imputed SNPs, we observe an 11% increase in statistical power for mapping disease loci when our local ancestry-aware imputation framework and the new scoring statistic are jointly employed. Finally, we show that our method increases statistical power in regions harboring the causal SNP in the case when the causal SNP is untyped and cannot be imputed. Our methods and our publicly available software are broadly applicable to GWAS in admixed populations.     

Influence of inflammation-related changes on conformational characteristics of HLA-B27 subtypes as detected by IR spectroscopy

Inflammatory processes are accompanied by the post-translational modification of certain arginine residues to yield citrulline, and a pH decrease in the affected tissue, which might influence the protonation of histidine residues within proteins. We employed isotope-edited IR spectroscopy to investigate whether conformational features of two human major histocompatibility antigen class I subtypes, HLA-B*2705 and HLA-B*2709, are affected by these changes. Both differ only in residue 116 (Asp vs. His) within the peptide-binding grooves, but are differentially associated with inflammatory rheumatic disorders. Our analyses of the two HLA-B27 subtypes in complex with a modified self-peptide containing a citrulline RRKWURWHL (U = citrulline) revealed that the heavy chain is more flexible in the HLA-B*2705 subtype than in the HLA-B*2709 subtype. Together with our previous studies of HLA-B27 subtypes complexed with the unmodified self-peptide RRKWRRWHL, these findings support the existence of subtype-specific conformational features of the heavy chains under physiological conditions, which are undetectable by X-ray crystallography and exist irrespective of the sequence of the bound peptide and its binding mode. They might thus influence antigenic properties of the respective HLA-B27 subtype. Furthermore, a decrease in the pH from 7.5 to 5.6 during the analyses had an influence only on HLA-B*2709 complexed with the unmodified self-peptide, where His116 is not contacted by any peptide side chain. This permits us to conclude that histidines, and in particular His116, influence the stability of MHC:peptide complexes. The conditions prevailing in inflammatory environments in vivo might thus also exert an impact on selected conformational features of HLA-B27:peptide complexes.     

Re(CO)(3)(H(2)O)(3)(+) binding to lysozyme: structure and reactivity

The reaction of Re(CO)(3)(H(2)O)(3)(+) with hen egg white lysozyme in aqueous solution results in a single covalent adduct. Both NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction show that the rhenium tricarbonyl cation binds to His15 via replacement of one of the coordinated water molecules. The formation of this adduct does not greatly affect the structure of the protein.