Effect of adenovirus and influenza virus infection on obesity

The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the effects of adenovirus and influenza virus infections on obesity in various experimental models. We reviewed studies that were conducted within the past 10 years and were related to virus infection and obesity prevalence. Here, we discuss a different causal relationship between adenovirus and influenza infections with obesity. Adenovirus infection can cause obesity, whereas obesity can be a risk factor for increasing influenza virus infection and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of obesity due to adenovirus infections may be due to an increase in glucose uptake and reduction in lipolysis caused by an increase in corticosterone secretion. Adenovirus infections may lead to increases in appetite by decreasing norepinephrine and leptin levels and also cause immune dysfunction. The relationship between obesity and influenza virus infection could be summarized by the following features: decreases in memory T-cell functionality and interferon (IFN)-α, IFN-β, and IFN-γ mRNA expression, increases in viral titer and infiltration, and impaired dendritic cell function in obese individuals. Moreover, leptin resistance may play an important role in increasing influenza virus infections in obese individuals. In conclusion, prevention of adenovirus infections could be a good approach for reducing obesity prevalence, and prevention of obesity could reduce influenza virus infections from the point of view of viral infections and obesity.     

Mechanism of How Salt-Gradient-Induced Charges Affect the Translocation of DNA Molecules through a Nanopore

Experiments using nanopores demonstrated that a salt gradient enhances the capture rate of DNA and reduces its translocation speed. These two effects can help to enable electrical DNA sequencing with nanopores. Here, we provide a quantitative theoretical evaluation that shows the positive net charges, which accumulate around the pore entrance due to the salt gradient, are responsible for the two observed effects: they reinforce the electric capture field, resulting in promoted molecule capture rate; and they induce cationic electroosmotic flow through the nanopore, thus significantly retarding the motion of the anionic DNA through the nanopore. Our multiphysical simulation results show that, during the polymer trapping stage, the former effect plays the major role, thus resulting in promoted DNA capture rate, while during the nanopore-penetrating stage the latter effect dominates and consequently reduces the DNA translocation speed significantly. Quantitative agreement with experimental results has been reached by further taking nanopore wall surface charges into account.     

Purification and characterization of RNA polymerase I from a higher plant.

RNA polymerase I was purified from chromatin isolated from auxin-treated soybean hypocotyl. Purification was achieved by using Agarose A-1.5m gel filtration, DEAE-cellulose, CM-sephadex, and phosphocellulose chromatography, and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. With denatured calf thymus DNA as template, the enzyme has a high specific activity (200-300 nmol/mg/30 min at 28 degrees C) which is comparable to other RNA polymerase I enzymes purified from animals and yeast. While the gel profiles indicate that purification to homogeneity (greater than 90%) may not have been achieved, the enzyme appears to be composed of possibly 7 subunits, several of which are similar to the subunits of yeast RNA polymerase I. The putative subunits and molar ratios are 183 000 (1), 136 000 (1), 50 000 (0.5), 46 000 (0.5), 40 000 (0.5), 33 000 (0.2), and 28 000 (2). The purified enzyme strongly prefers a completely denatured template such as poly(dC).     

PYCNOGENOL chewing gum minimizes gingival bleeding and plaque formation.

PYCNOGENOL is an antioxidant phytochemical shown to have antiinflammatory activity in both the in vitro and in vivo models. This study compared the effects of chewing gums with and without PYCNOGENOL on gingival bleeding and plaque formation in 40 human subjects. In this double-blind study, subjects were assigned randomly to receive either control gums without PYCNOGENOL or experimental gums containng 5 mg PYCNOGENOL. Subjects used chewing gums for 14 days. Gingival bleeding and plaque scores were taken before and after the experiment. PYCNOGENOL chewing gums significantly reduced gingival bleeding, while no changes were noted in bleeding indexes in control subjects who used regular chewing gums. Subjects using regular control gums had significant increases of dental plaque accumulation during the two-week period. No increases in plaque accumulation were noted in subjects using PYCNOGENOL chewing gums. The data of this study suggest that the use of Pycnogenol chewing gums can minimize gingival bleeding and plaque accumulation.     

Pixe analysis of reproductive fluids

An external 3.8-MeV proton beam was employed to induce X-rays in 100-mg pellets of human follicular fluids and in 4–8 mg pellets of spermatozoa. The elements Cl, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Br were quantitatively determined in follicular fluids, whereas the elements, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn were determined in the spermatozoa. Both samples had high interelement Spearman correlation coefficients. Correlations of elements in the samples were observed with several clinical parameters. The multielemental analysis of spermatozoa can be used to approximate quantities of trace elements inserted into the egg ooplasm at the time of fertilization. These elemental quantities appear to be in the femtogram (10^?15) range.     

Characterization and sequence analysis of a developmentally regulated putative cell wall protein gene isolated from soybean

A cDNA clone, pTU04, which hybridizes to two different sizes of mRNA on Northern blots was isolated from soybean suspension culture cell poly(A) RNA. Northern analysis reveals that meristematic tissue produces a 1050-nucleotide mRNA while quiescent mature cells produce primarily a 1220-nucleotide mRNA homologous to pTU04. The cDNA and its corresponding genomic clone have been partially characterized. The nucleotide sequence of the gene predicts a proline-rich protein, designated SbPRP1, which contains a signal peptide sequence and 43 repeats of a sequence consisting primarily of Pro-Pro-Val-Tyr-Lys (CCA-CCA-GTT-TAC-AAG). From nuclease S1 and hybrid-select translation analyses, the cDNA clone pTU04 appears to represent the mRNA for the mature tissue 1220-nucleotide RNA observed on Northern blots. Although there is no direct proof that the encoded protein is a cell wall protein, it has the properties similar to previously isolated cell wall proteins: 1) it is very basic with a high content of Pro, Tyr, and Lys; 2) it has similar hydropathic properties; and 3) its repeating unit shares sequence homology with that of more highly characterized cell wall proteins, generally termed extensin (Chen, J., and Varner, J. E. (1985) EMBO J. 4, 2145-2151; Smith, J. J., Muldoon, E. P., Willard, J. J., and Lamport, D. T. A. (1986) Phytochemistry 25, 1021-1030.     

l-Phenylalanyl-l-Glutamate-Stimulated, Chloride-Dependent Glutamate Binding Represents Glutamate Sequestration Mediated by an Exchange System

Stimulation of glutamate binding by the dipeptide L-phenylalanyl-L-glutamate (Phe-Glu) was inhibited by the peptidase inhibitor bestatin, suggesting that the stimulation was caused by glutamate liberated from the dipeptide and not by the dipeptide itself. It further suggests that this form of glutamate binding should be reinterpreted as glutamate sequestration and that stimulation of binding both by dipeptides and after preincubation with high concentrations of glutamate is likely to be due to counterflow accumulation. Several other criteria indicate that most of glutamate binding stimulated by chloride represents glutamate sequestration: Binding is reduced when the osmolarity of the incubation medium is increased, when membranes incubated with [3H]glutamate are lysed before filtration, and when membranes are made permeable by transient exposure to saponin. Moreover, dissociation of bound glutamate after a 100-fold dilution of the incubation medium is accelerated about 50 times by the addition of glutamate to the dilution medium. This result would be anomalous if glutamate were bound to a receptor site; it suggests instead that glutamate is transported in and out of membrane vesicles by a transport system that preferentially mediates exchange between internal and external glutamate. Glutamate binding contains a component of glutamate sequestration even when measured in the absence of chloride. Sequestration is adequately abolished only after treating membranes with detergents; even extensive lysis, sonication, and freezing/thawing may be insufficient.     

5—羟色胺对大鼠下丘脑脑薄片室旁核神经元自发电活动的作用

在20个下丘脑脑片上,用玻璃微电极细胞外记录了46个室旁核神经元的自发放电单位,观察了5-羟色胺对它们的作用。当薄片用含5-羟色胺(10~(-6)mol/L)的人工脑脊液灌流后,有16个单位放电频率明显增加,反应的潜伏期为1.21±1.21 min。这种反应可被5-羟色胺的阻断剂噻庚啶所阻断。3个单位放电频率明显减少,27个单位无明显反应。实验结果表明约1/3的下丘脑室旁核神经元能被5-羟色胺所激活。