Proteins reacting with anti-spectrin antibodies are present in Chlamydomonas cells.

It was found either in Western-blot analysis or in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy that cells of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii contain polypeptides cross-reacting with antibodies directed against red blood cell spectrin. The protein could also be detected by immunoprecipitation with anti-spectrin antibodies. C. reinhardtii cells contain distinct polypeptide chains reacting with antibodies directed against either α- or β-spectrin subunits. This protein was extracted from the cells with low ionic strength solution but was not with nonionic detergent.     

The response of Grey Herons Ardea cinerea to changes in prey abundance

Capsule Herons responded to the lower abundance of a preferred fish by switching prey.

Aims To investigate how Grey Herons respond to the decline in abundance of a preferred fish, the Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus.

Methods Grey Herons Ardea cinerea breeding in the Gulf of Gdańsk area (Baltic Sea) were the study population. Regurgitated food and pellets were analysed. Biomass and abundance of fish was compared between 2000–02 (when the population of Round Goby was increasing) and 2008–09 (when the Round Goby population stabilized).

Results The abundance and biomass of Round Goby preyed upon by herons decreased from between 95 and 99% in 2000–02 to between 38 and 56% in 2008–09. Energy-rich salmonids, not recorded in 2000–02, were an important diet component in 2008–09 (42% of biomass). Small-sized fish abundance was higher in 2008–09 (37%) than in 2000–02 (9%).

Conclusions Grey Herons in 2008–09 adapted to the lower availability of Round Gobies by prey switching to other available fish – abundant but small-sized Three-spined Sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus and less abundant but more profitable salmonids (easy to catch in the case of hatchery-reared, tagged individuals). Diet composition suggests that Grey Herons in 2008–09 exploited more diverse foraging areas (dry habitats, woods, garden ponds) than in 2000–02.     

Influence of hormonal therapy on growth rate and bone age progression in patients with Turner syndrome

The efficacy of growth promoting hormonal therapy is assessed on the basis of growth rate as well as bone age progression until the patients reach their final height. The aim of our study was to investigate which hormonal therapy influences in most appropriate way height velocity and bone age progression in patients with Turner syndrome (TS) and to establish the optimal age to initiate treatment. Patients were divided into five groups according to the type of hormonal therapy: 1) 11 patients treated with growth hormone (GH); 2) 18 patients treated with GH and oxandrolone (Ox); 3) 7 patients treated with GH, Ox and estrogens (E); 4) 6 patients treated with OX and E; and the control group (Group 0) of 62 untreated patients. The patients height was expressed in hSDS calculated on the basis of growth chart for patients with TS (hSDST). Bone age (BA) was assessed according to Greulich-Pyle method. Results: The mean values of deltahSDST in the first and second year of therapy in individual groups were significantly different. The difference resulted from significantly higher value of deltahSDST in group treated with GH+Ox. Analysis of regression between deltaCA and deltaBA revealed regression coefficients alpha of equation deltaBA= alpha x deltaCA: in group 0: 0.817; group GH: 1.233; group GH+Ox: 0.861; group GH+Ox+E: 0.997; group Ox+E: 1.141. There was significant difference between regression coefficients in studied groups. It resulted from significantly higher value of alpha in group treated with GH than in a group 0 and treated with GH+Ox. Only group treated with GH+Ox showed a significant negative correlation between baseline CA and deltaBA during the therapy. We can conclude that all regimens of hormonal therapy improved height in our patients but the highest increase of height during the therapy and the smallest progression of the bone age in the same time were observed in patients treated with GH+Ox.     

Role of Salmonella and Yersinia in the pathogenesis of spondyloarthropathies and rheumatoid arthritis. II. Antibodies to Salmonella and Yersinia in sera and synovial fluids

IgA, IgG and IgM antibodies against Yersinia Yop proteins, Yersinia LPS and Salmonella LPS from different serogroups were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a 885 serum samples and 92 synovial fluids. The control group consisted of 200 healthy blood donors. Compared with control subjects, patients with arthritis showed significantly increased titres of antibodies against Yersinia Yop, Yersinia LPS and Salmonella LPS appropriately in 21.7%, 44.0% and 56.0% serum samples. The prevalence of positive antibody levels was highest in Yersinia serogroup O3 and Salmonella serogroup B and D antibodies. The IgA titres were found to be much higher in adults than in children and youngsters but IgM titres consequently decreased with age. Investigation of synovial fluids obtained from patients with arthritis showed that Yersinia and Salmonella antibodies in synovial fluid mirror those in serum by concentration, by specificity and by distribution in classes.     

Evaluation of genetic biodiversity in farm-bred and wild raccoon dogs in Poland

The aim of the study was to analyze the intra- and inter-group diversity in farm-raised and wild raccoon dogs with the use of molecular markers. Genetic differences between the particular raccoon dog groups were observed, accompanied by a relatively high intra-group genetic variation. It was noted that the wild raccoon dogs were characterized by the highest genetic diversity, compared to the three study groups of farm-bred raccoon dogs. Wild raccoon dogs and farm-bred raccoon dogs constitute separate phylogenetic groups. The results obtained suggest that farm breeding may lead to differentiation into a different phylogenetic lineage than that of the wild raccoon dogs. In each case, the genetic distance between the animals bred on the individual farms was lower than the distances between the farm-raised and wild animals. Since the Polish farm breeding is based entirely on phenotype ranking, the genotype of "native" animals is still closely related to that of wild animals.     

Degeneracy and repertoire of the human HIV-1 Gag p17(77-85) CTL response

CD8+ CTL responses are important for the control of HIV-1 infection. The immunodominant HLA-A2-restricted Gag epitope, SLYNTVATL (SL9), is considered to be a poor immunogen because reactivity to it is rare in acute infection despite its paradoxical dominance in patients with chronic infection. We have previously reported SL9 to be a help-independent epitope in that it primes highly activated CTLs ex vivo from CD8+ T cells of seronegative healthy donors. These CTLs produce sufficient cytokines for extended autocrine proliferation but are sensitive to activation-induced cell death, which may cause them to be eliminated by a proinflammatory cytokine storm. Here we identified an agonist variant of the SL9 peptide, p41 (SLYNTVAAL), by screening a large synthetic combinatorial nonapeptide library with ex vivo-primed SL9-specific T cells. p41 invariably immunized SL9-cross-reactive CTLs from other donors ex vivo and H-2Db beta2m double knockout mice expressing a chimeric HLA-A*0201/H2-Db MHC class I molecule. Parallel human T cell cultures showed p41-specific CTLs to be less fastidious than SL9-CTLs in the level of costimulation required from APCs and the need for exogenous IL-2 to proliferate (help dependent). TCR sequencing revealed that the same clonotype can develop into either help-independent or help-dependent CTLs depending on the peptide used to activate the precursor CD8+ T cells. Although Ag-experienced SL9-T cells from two patients were also sensitive to IL-2-mediated cell death upon restimulation in vitro, the loss of SL9 T cells was minimized with p41. This study suggests that agonist sequences can replace aberrantly immunogenic native epitopes for the rational design of vaccines targeting HIV-1.     

Products of Chlorophyll a Transformation by Selected Benthic Organisms in the Odra Estuary (Southern Baltic Sea)

The transformation of chlorophyll a by two benthic bivalves – Dreissena polymorpha and Mytilus edulis and, for comparison, by the chironomid Chironomus plumosus – was examined. D. polymorpha is a suspension-feeding, freshwater but very salinity-tolerant species, M. edulis a suspension-feeding marine species, and C.␣plumosus a typical detritivorous freshwater species. All three are common in the Odra Estuary. Specimens of the three species were collected from this area in the period 1999–2003. The bivalves were transferred to a compartment on land and kept in tanks filled with water (filtered and unfiltered) collected simultaneously with the organisms, under light and temperature conditions similar to those obtaining in their natural environment. Pigments in the water samples, faeces and pseudofaeces from the tanks, and in the gut content from C. plumosus, were determined with HPLC. The digestion products of the three species were mainly phaeophorbides a, generally thought to originate mainly from zooplankton grazing, and pyrophaeophytin a in minor quantities. The results indicate that the main chlorophyll a derivatives in faeces and pseudofaeces and gut content of the three species were the same as those in the sediments of the Baltic Sea, including the Odra Estuary. Our previous studies have shown that the sediments in this area are richer in phaeophorbides a than sediments from other parts of the southern Baltic Sea. All this suggests that the benthos may play an important role in the transformation of chlorophyll a in the Odra Estuary area.     

Upregulation of acetylcholine synthesis by bone morphogenetic protein 9 in a murine septal cell line.

Previous studies showed that bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP-9) induces the expression of choline acetyltransferase and the vesicular acetylcholine (ACh) transporter, and upregulates ACh synthesis in cultured primary neurons from embryonic mouse septum [I. López-Coviella, B. Berse, R. Krauss, R.S. Thies, J.K. Blusztajn, Induction and maintenance of the neuronal cholinergic phenotype in the central nervous system by BMP-9. Science 289 (2000) 313-316]. In the present studies we investigated the effects of BMP-9 on ACh synthesis in the cholinergic mouse SN56T17 septal cell line. BMP-9 increased ACh synthesis in these cells up to 2.5-fold in a time- and dose-dependent, saturable manner. The maximal effect of BMP-9 was observed after a 3-day treatment and the median effective concentration of BMP-9 was 0.5 ng/ml. These data show that SN56T17 cells are a useful model for studies of the effects of BMPs on the cholinergic phenotype.