Biochemical genetic markers of squirrel monkeys and their use for pedigree validation

Family data for 14 biochemical genetic markers of squirrel monkeys (genusSaimiri) were derived from 73 pedigreed progeny and both parents of each, as well as from 16 additional progeny and one parent of each. The data for each marker and the phenotypic patterns were consistent with autosomal codominant inheritance. It was concluded from the genetic marker data that the pedigree records of seven progeny were incorrect. Retrospective investigations of colony records followed by typing of animals that might possibly have been a parent enabled five of the pedigree records to be corrected. Although five of the pedigree errors were cases of mistaken paternity, the other two apparently were the consequence of infant swapping between dams shortly after birth. Because squirrel monkeys exhibit a high degree of allomaternal behavior, infant swapping between dams may occur more frequently than in many other nonhuman primate species.This research was supported in part by NIH Grant P40 RR01254.     

Robustness and Epistasis in the C. elegans Vulval Signaling Network Revealed by Pathway Dosage Modulation

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Highlights? A phase map of cell fate patterns is built as a function of signaling pathway dose ? The vulva system can buffer a 4-fold variation in mean lin-3/egf mRNA number ? The major role of LIN-12/Notch in the vulva is to promote the 2° fate ? Inhibition of 1° fate by LIN-12 is important when lin-3 dose is mildly increased     

MicroRNAs Act as Cofactors in Bicoid-Mediated Translational Repression

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An alternative strategy for the membrane proteome analysis of the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum using blue native PAGE and 2-D PAGE on purified membranes

To avoid the specific problems concerning intrinsic membrane proteins in proteome analysis, an alternative strategy is described that is complementary to previous investigations using 2-D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) techniques. The strategy involves (a) obtaining purified preparations of the membranes from Chlorobium tepidum by washing with 2 M NaBr, which removed membrane-associated soluble proteins and membrane-associated organelles; (b) separation of membrane protein complexes using 1-D Blue-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE) after solubilization with n-dodecyl-beta-d-maltoside (DDM); (c) combination of the BN with Tricine-SDS-PAGE; (d) high-throughput mass spectrometric analysis after gel band excision, in-gel digestion, and MALDI target spotting; and (e) protein identification from mixtures of tryptic peptides by peptide mass fingerprinting. Using this approach, we identified 143 different proteins, 70 of which have not been previously reported using 2-D PAGE techniques. Membrane proteins with up to 14 transmembrane helices were found, and this procedure proved to be efficient with proteins within a wide pI range (4.4-11.6). About 54% of the identified membrane proteins belong to various functional categories like energy metabolism, transport, signal transduction, and protein translocation, while for the others, a function is not yet known, indicating the potential of the method for the elucidation of the membrane proteomes in general.     

Application of discriminant analysis and quantitative cytologic examination to gastric lesions

OBJECTIVE: To investigate of the potential value of morphometry and discriminant analysis for the classification of benign and malignant gastric cells and lesions. STUDY DESIGN: The data set consisted of 13,300 cells from 120 cases composed of 30 cases of cancer, 26 cases of gastritis and 64 cases of ulcer according to the final histologic diagnosis. The cytologic diagnosis was divided into 5 categories (gastritis, ulcer, inflammatory dysplasia, cancer and true dysplasia). Classification was attempted at 2 levels: the cell level to classify individual cells and the case level to classify individual cases. For the cellular classification the measured cells from 50% of available cases were selected as a training set to construct a model. The cells from the remaining cases were used as a test set to validate the model. Similarly for case classification, the same 50% of cases that were used for cell classification were used as a training set and the remaining cases as a test set. Images of routinely processed gastric smears stained by the Papanicolaou technique were analyzed by a customized image analysis system. RESULTS: Application of discriminant analysis on the test set gave correct classification of 98.4% of benign cells and 67.1% of malignant cells. On case classification, 100% accuracy was achieved for benign and malignant cases, both for the training and test sets. CONCLUSION: The application of discriminant analysis described in this paper could produce significant classification results at the cellular and individual case level.     

Protein and lipid composition of a vitellin isolated from eggs of Sparus aurata

The protein and lipid composition of a vitellin isolated from eggs of Sparus aurata were characterized by SDS PAGE, N-terminal sequence analysis and lipid analysis by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography. The lipoprotein complex contains proteins with apparent molecular weights of 69, 59, 23, 21 and 12 kDa and were characterized as vitellinogenin fragments by N-terminal sequencing. Lipid extraction and analysis indicate an association of cholesterol and phospholipids with the protein subunits. The phospholipids contain fatty acids with 14, 16 and 18 carbon atoms as determined by GC/MS.     

Oxidative stress biomarkers responses to physical overtraining: implications for diagnosis

Overtraining syndrome is characterized by declining performance and transient inflammation following periods of severe training with major health implications for the athletes. Currently, there is no single diagnostic marker for overtraining. The present investigation examined the responses of oxidative stress biomarkers to a resistance training protocol of progressively increased and decreased volume/intensity. Twelve males (21.3+/-2.3 years) participated in a 12-week resistance training consisting of five 3-week periods (T1, 2 tones/week; T2, 8 tones/week; T3, 14 tones/week; T4, 2 tones/week), followed by a 3-week period of complete rest. Blood/urine samples were collected at baseline and 96 h following the last training session of each period. Performance (strength, power, jumping ability) increased after T2 and declined thereafter, indicating an overtraining response. Overtraining (T3) induced sustained leukocytosis, an increase of urinary isoprostanes (7-fold), TBARS (56%), protein carbonyls (73%), catalase (96%), glutathione peroxidase, and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) (25%) and a decline of reduced glutathione (GSH) (31%), GSH/GSSG (56%), and total antioxidant capacity. Isoprostanes and GSH/GSSG were highly (r=0.764-0.911) correlated with performance drop and training volume increase. In conclusion, overtraining induces a marked response of oxidative stress biomarkers which, in some cases, was proportional to training load, suggesting that they may serve as a tool for overtraining diagnosis.