Pulmonary Toxocariasis Mimicking Invasive Aspergillosis in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis

A 45-year-old-male who had underlying ulcerative colitis and presented with fever and dry cough. Initially, the patient was considered to have invasive aspergillosis due to a positive galactomannan assay. He was treated with amphotericin B followed by voriconazole. Nevertheless, the patient deteriorated clinically and radiographically. The lung biopsy revealed eosinophilic pneumonia, and ELISA for Toxocara antigen was positive, leading to a diagnosis of pulmonary toxocariasis. After a 10-day treatment course with albendazole and adjunctive steroids, the patient recovered completely without any sequelae. Pulmonary toxocariasis may be considered in patients with subacute or chronic pneumonia unresponsive to antibiotic agents, particularly in cases with eosinophilia.     

DNA Methyltransferase 1-associated Protein (DMAP1) Is a Co-repressor That Stimulates DNA Methylation Globally and Locally at Sites of Double Strand Break Repair

Correction of double strand DNA breaks proceeds in an error-free pathway of homologous recombination (HR), which can result in gene silencing of half of the DNA molecules caused by action by DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) (Cuozzo, C., Porcellini, A., Angrisano, T., Morano, A., Lee, B., Di Pardo, A., Messina, S., Iuliano, R., Fusco, A., Santillo, M. R., Muller, M. T., Chiariotti, L., Gottesman, M. E., and Avvedimento, E. V. (2007) PLoS Genet. 3, e110). To explore the mechanism that leads to HR-induced silencing, a genetic screen was carried out based on the silencing of a GFP reporter to identify potential partners. DMAP1, a DNMT1 interacting protein, was identified as a mediator of this process. DMAP1 is a potent activator of DNMT1 methylation in vitro, suggesting that DMAP1 is a co-repressor that supports the maintenance and de novo action of DNMT1. To examine critical roles for DMAP1 in vivo, lentiviral shRNA was used to conditionally reduce cellular DMAP1 levels. The shRNA transduced cells grew poorly and eventually ceased their growth. Analysis of the tumor suppressor gene p16 methylation status revealed a clear reduction in methylated CpGs in the shRNA cells, suggesting that reactivation of a tumor suppressor gene pathway caused the slow growth phenotype. Analysis of HR, using a fluorescence-based reporter, revealed that knocking down DMAP1 also caused hypomethylation of the DNA repair products following gene conversion. DMAP1 was selectively enriched in recombinant GFP chromatin based on chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. The picture that emerges is that DMAP1 activates DNMT1 preferentially at sites of HR repair. Because DMAP1 depleted cells display enhanced HR, we conclude that it has additional roles in genomic stability.     

Developmental partitioning of SYK and ZAP70 prevents autoimmunity and cancer

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Equine antisperm antibodies (EASA): Preliminary study of the clinical response following breeding in immunized mares

Maiden mares (n=6), previously injected with stallion sperm cells (SC group, N=2), stallion seminal plasma (SP group, N=2), or phosphate-buffered saline as a control (C group, N=2) were followed through 5 consecutive estrous cycles to evaluate their clinical response when exposed to stallion sperm cells via breeding. Management was similar to that expected on typical breeding farms. The mares were teased daily and bred by artificial insemination (AI) in all 5 cycles. Differences in serum and uterine flushing equine antisperm antibody (EASA) levels, endometrial culture and cytology results, endometrial biopsy score and fertility were evaluated between treatment groups. An enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was used to determine serum and uterine IgG and IgA levels specific for sperm cell or seminal plasma antigens. Serum IgG specific for sperm cell antigen was higher in the SC group than in the SP and C groups following exposure to sperm cells via breeding (P<0.05). All other EASA levels were not different between groups (P>0.05); however, uterine IgA levels in one of the SC treated mares did rise over all 5 cycles. No differences were detected in culture, cytology, biopsy or fertility results between groups (P>0.05). Changes in EASA levels were detected after breeding mares previously immunized with stallion sperm cells, however an associated clinical response was not apparent.     

A Novel Electrochemically Active and Fe(III)-reducing Bacterium Phylogenetically Related to Clostridium butyricum Isolated from a Microbial Fuel Cell

An obligatory anaerobic bacterium was isolated from a mediator-less microbial fuel cell using starch processing wastewater as the fuel and designated as EG3. The isolate was Gram-positive, motile and rod (2.8–3.0 μm long, 0.5–0.6 μm wide). The partial 16S rRNA gene sequence and analysis of the cellular fatty acids profile suggested that EG3 clusters with Clostridium sub-phylum and exhibited the highest similarity (98%) with Clostridium butyricum. The temperature and pH optimum for growth were 37°C and 7.0, respectively. The major products of glucose and glucose/Fe(O)OH metabolism were lactate, formate, butyrate, acetate, CO₂and H₂. Growth was faster at the initial phase and the cell yield was higher when the medium was supplemented with Fe(O)OH than without Fe(O)OH. These results suggest that Fe(III) ion is utilised as an electron sink. Cyclic voltammetry showed that Clostridium butyricum EG3 cells were electrochemically active. It is a novel characteristic of strict anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria.     

Effects of NaCl stress on germination, antioxidant responses, and proline content in two rice cultivars

We investigated the physiological and biochemical bases for salt tolerance in two rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars — relatively salt-tolerant ‘Dongjin’ and salt-sensitive ‘Kumnam’. Salinized hydroponic cultures were studied at the germination and seedling stages. NaCI inhibited germination more severely in ‘Kumnam’ than in ‘Dongjin’. Increasing the salt concentration also deterred growth to a larger extent in the former. Moreover, the leaves of ‘Kumnam’ exhibited greater increases in lipid peroxidation and Na⁺ accumulation than those of ‘Dongjin’ under stress. The activities of constitutive and salt-induced superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and ascorbate peroxidase (AP, EC 1.11.1.11) were also higher in ‘Kumnam’, while only catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) activity was slightly higher in stressed plants of ‘Dongjin’. The positive correlation between leaf proline levels and NaCI concentration was more evident in ‘Kumnam’. However, ‘Dongjin’ seeds, which had higher germinability in the presence of NaCI, also contained more proline. These results suggest that the higher salt tolerance in ‘Dongjin’ seedlings could be ascribed to their lower NaCI accumulations in the leaves. This presumably is due to reductions in the uptake or transport rates of saline ions to the shoots from the roots. Finally, we believe that the higher germination rate by ‘Dongjin’ is caused by its higher seed proline content.