The ATP-binding-cassette transmembrane transporters (ABC transporters)
known from vertebrates belong to four major subfamilies: (1) the P-
glycoproteins (Pgp); (2) the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance
regulators (CFTR); (3) the Tap proteins encoded with the major
histocompatibility complex of mammals; and (4) the peroxisomal membrane
proteins. Both Pgp and CFTR have a structure suggesting a past internal
gene duplication; a phylogenetic analysis indicated that these duplications
occurred independently, while an independent tandem gene duplication
occurred in the case of the Tap family. Both the Pgp and Tap proteins show
evidence of relationship to bacterial ABC transporters lacking internal
duplication, and both are significantly more closely related to the HlyB
and MsbA families of transporters from purple bacteria than they are to ABC
transporters from nonpurple bacteria. The simplest hypothesis to explain
this observation is that eukaryotic Pgp and Tap genes are descended from a
mitochondrial gene or genes that were subsequently translocated to the
nuclear genome. The Pgp genes of eukaryotes are characterized by a
remarkable degree of convergent evolution between the ATP-binding cassettes
of their N- terminal and C-terminal halves, whereas no such convergence is
seen between the two halves of CFTR genes or between the duplicated Tap
genes. Exon 13 of the CFTR gene, which encodes a putative regulatory domain
not found in other ABC transporters apart from CFTR, showed high levels of
both synonymous and nonsynonymous difference in comparisons among different
mammalian species, suggesting that this region is a mutational hot spot.
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Streptomyces glaucescens is shown to possess -lactamase activity which is inhibitable by clavulanate. This is important in regard to its use as a cloning host for enzymes of \-lactam biosynthesis. 相似文献
In 2016, an outbreak of anthrax killing thousands of reindeer and affecting dozens of humans occurred on the Yamal peninsula, Northwest Siberia, after 70 years of epidemiological situation without outbreaks. The trigger of the outbreak has been ascribed to the activation of spores due to permafrost thaw that was accelerated during the summer heat wave. The focus of our study is on the dynamics of local environmental factors in connection with the observed anthrax revival. We show that permafrost was thawing rapidly for already 6 years before the outbreak. During 2011–2016, relatively warm years were followed by cold years with a thick snow cover, preventing freezing of the soil. Furthermore, the spread of anthrax was likely intensified by an extremely dry summer of 2016. Concurrent with the long-term decreasing trend in the regional annual precipitation, the rainfall in July 2016 was less than 10% of its 30-year mean value. We conclude that epidemiological situation of anthrax in the previously contaminated Arctic regions requires monitoring of climatic factors such as warming and precipitation extremes.
The Shear-slip Mesh Update Method (SSMUM) is being used in flow simulations involving large but regular displacements of one or more boundaries of the computational domain. We follow up the earlier discussion of the method with notes on practical implementation aspects. In order to establish a benchmark problem for this class of flow problems, we define and report results from a two-dimensional viscous flow around a rotating stirrer in a square chamber. The application potential of the method is demonstrated in the context of biomedical design problem, as we perform an analysis of blood flow in a centrifugal left ventricular assist device, or blood pump, which involves a rotating impeller in a non-axisymmetric housing. 相似文献
In inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), genetic susceptibility together with environmental factors disturbs gut homeostasis producing chronic inflammation. The two main IBD subtypes are Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). We present the to-date largest microarray gene expression study on IBD encompassing both inflamed and un-inflamed colonic tissue. A meta-analysis including all available, comparable data was used to explore important aspects of IBD inflammation, thereby validating consistent gene expression patterns.
Methods
Colon pinch biopsies from IBD patients were analysed using Illumina whole genome gene expression technology. Differential expression (DE) was identified using LIMMA linear model in the R statistical computing environment. Results were enriched for gene ontology (GO) categories. Sets of genes encoding antimicrobial proteins (AMP) and proteins involved in T helper (Th) cell differentiation were used in the interpretation of the results. All available data sets were analysed using the same methods, and results were compared on a global and focused level as t-scores.
Results
Gene expression in inflamed mucosa from UC and CD are remarkably similar. The meta-analysis confirmed this. The patterns of AMP and Th cell-related gene expression were also very similar, except for IL23A which was consistently higher expressed in UC than in CD. Un-inflamed tissue from patients demonstrated minimal differences from healthy controls.
Conclusions
There is no difference in the Th subgroup involvement between UC and CD. Th1/Th17 related expression, with little Th2 differentiation, dominated both diseases. The different IL23A expression between UC and CD suggests an IBD subtype specific role. AMPs, previously little studied, are strongly overexpressed in IBD. The presented meta-analysis provides a sound background for further research on IBD pathobiology. 相似文献
To help ensure the ethical conduct of research, many have recommended educational efforts in research ethics to investigators and members of research ethics committees (RECs). One type of education activity involves multi‐day workshops in research ethics. To be effective, such workshops should contain the appropriate content and teaching techniques geared towards the learning styles of the targeted audiences. To ensure consistency in content and quality, we describe the development of a curriculum guide, core competencies and associated learning objectives and activities to help educators organize research ethics workshops in their respective institutions. The curriculum guide is divided into modular units to enable planners to develop workshops of different lengths and choose content materials that match the needs, abilities, and prior experiences of the target audiences. The content material in the curriculum guide is relevant for audiences in the Middle East, because individuals from the Middle East who participated in a Certificate Program in research ethics selected and developed the training materials (e.g., articles, powerpoint slides, case studies, protocols). Also, many of the activities incorporate active‐learning methods, consisting of group work activities analyzing case studies and reviewing protocols. The development of such a workshop training curriculum guide represents a sustainable educational resource to enhance research ethics capacity in the Middle East. 相似文献
There are 10 gene families that have members on both human chromosome 6
(6p21.3, the location of the human major histocompatibility complex [MHC])
and human chromosome 9 (mostly 9q33-34). Six of these families also have
members on mouse chromosome 17 (the mouse MHC chromosome) and mouse
chromosome 2. In addition, four of these families have members on human
chromosome 1 (1q21-25 and 1p13), and two of these have members on mouse
chromosome 1. One hypothesis to explain these patterns is that members of
the 10 gene families of human chromosomes 6 and 9 were duplicated
simultaneously as a result of polyploidization or duplication of a
chromosome segment ("block duplication"). A subsequent block duplication
has been proposed to account for the presence of representatives of four of
these families on human chromosome 1. Phylogenetic analyses of the 9 gene
families for which data were available decisively rejected the hypothesis
of block duplication as an overall explanation of these patterns. Three to
five of the genes on human chromosomes 6 and 9 probably duplicated
simultaneously early in vertebrate history, prior to the divergence of
jawed and jawless vertebrates, and shortly after that, all four of the
genes on chromosomes 1 and 9 probably duplicated as a block. However, the
other genes duplicated at different times scattered over at least 1.6
billion years. Since the occurrence of these clusters of related genes
cannot be explained by block duplication, one alternative explanation is
that they cluster together because of shared functional characteristics
relating to expression patterns.
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