Chemical structure and physico-chemical properties of agar

Advances in the chemistry and physico-chemical properties of agar since the review of Araki at the Fifth International Seaweed Symposium in 1965 are discussed. These advances are essentially the result of better separation techniques of the heterogeneous family of polysaccharides known as agar, the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the use of agarases and, particularly, the use of combinations of the three approaches. Although physico-chemical methods have evolved, particularly molecular-weight determinations, X-ray diffraction data and molecular modelling of agar, correlations between chemical and functional properties of agar and agarose and their gelation mechanisms remain to be studied.     

鹅细小病毒和番鸭细小病毒核酸疫苗重组质粒的构建及表达

将鹅细小病毒（GPV）和番鸭细小病毒（MPV）主要结构蛋白（VP2－VP3）基因克隆到核酸疫苗质粒pIRESlneo载体上,构建了核酸疫苗重组质粒pIGVP1和pIMVP,通过脂质体转染法分别将重组质粒到鹅胚成纤维细胞和番鸭胚成纤维细胞中,核酸疫苗重组质粒pIGVP1和pIMVP分别转染鹅胚成纤维细胞和番鸭成纤维细胞中,于转染后72h收取细胞,细胞裂解液裂解后,经Western blot检测其表达产物可出现特异性反应带,证明表达产物具有很好的反应原性。     

Surface properties of fibrinogen and fibrin

By contact angle measurements on layers of fibrinogen and fibrin, it can be shown that the transformation from fibrinogen to fibrin is accompanied by a change in surface properties from very hydrophilic (fibrinogen) to moderately but definitely hydrophobic (fibrin). It is also shown that, contrary to serum albumin and gamma globulin, fibrinogen does not become more hydrophobic upon drying.     

Multidomain structure of fibrinogen and its transformations

Generalized concepts of some structural peculiarities of fibrinogen, its transformation into fibrin and assembly have been considered on the basis of author's and published data. The role of local conformational changes in different areas of fibrinogen molecule and of separate reaction centers in formation of single- and double-stranded rod-like equilibrium fibrin oligomers and flexible branched copolymers of fibrinogen with fibrin E fragment has been considered. The mechanism of compactization has been discussed.     

Some mechanical properties of goose femoral cortical bone

The ultimate compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of femoral cortical bone from adult geese (Anser anser), were determined by sex and by quadrant by compressing small right circular cylinders which were 2.4 mm in height and 0.8 mm in diameter. The average ultimate compressive strength was 183 +/- 29 MPa. The average modulus of elasticity was 13.2 +/- 3.4 GPa. The bending strength and bending modulus of elasticity were determined by a three point bend test on rectangular prisms which had the approximate dimensions 0.75 mm X 0.75 mm X 25 mm. The average bending strength was 263 +/- 44 MPa while the average bending modulus was 19.6 +/- 3.1 GPa. The calcium content was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and no correlation was found with the mechanical properties. The histology of the cortical bone was examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. A unique type of Haversian bone is described. Goose bone was found to be morphologically similar to adolescent human bone and to have mechanical properties similar to those of adult human bone.     

The effect of “aging” of fibrinogen molecule on the structure and properties of fibrin gel

The effect of molecular “aging” of fibrinogen stimulated by preincubation in solution on the fibrin three-dimensional architecture, its ability to crosslink fibrin-stabilizing factor, and the sensitivity of fibringel to plasmin hydrolysis have been studied. The method of elastic light scattering was used to demonstrate that fibrin generated from “defective” fibrinogen had a coarser structure with a higher mean mass-length ratio of polymeric fibers compared to native fibrinogen (2.24 × 10⁹ and 1.46 × 10⁹ g/(mol cm), respectively). Crosslinking had no effect on the architecture of both control and experimental fibrin samples. Spectrophotometric and electrophoretic analysis has shown a higher sensitivity of coarse fibrin gels to plasmin. A close correlation between spontaneous local conformational reconstructions in fibrinogen molecule and its functional activity is concluded.     

Terminal plasmin degradation products D and E of duck fibrinogen and their effect on polymerization of fibrin

Duck fibrinogen (Mr 320 000) treated with streptokinase-activated human plasminogen in the presence of calcium ions was hydrolysed to terminal core fragments D and E. They were isolated from the digest by: (1) ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, (2) gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, and (3) affinity chromatography with the use of fibrin monomers coupled to CNBr-activated Sepharose. When the native D fragment, D1 was additionally digested by plasmin in the presence of EDTA, more degraded forms D2 and D3 appeared. Molecular weight of D1, D2, D3 and E estimated on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is 100 000, 89 000, 80 000 and 50 000, respectively. It was found that after reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol the fragments D1 and D3 consisted each of three polypeptide chains: alpha, beta, gamma: the gamma-chain of D3 remnant was more degraded (Mr 24 000) as compared with the gamma-chain of D1 remnant (Mr 42 000). Polymerization of both duck and pig fibrin monomers was inhibited by fragments D1 but not by D3.     

Primary structure of Beijing duck apolipoprotein A-1

The primary structure of Beijing duck apolipoprotein A-1 was determined by sequencing peptide fragments derived from tryptic and endoproteinase Asp-N digestion of the protein, and alignment with homologous chicken apo A-1. All of the peptide fragments were isolated by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a Vydac C18 column using a trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) buffer system. The N-terminus of the protein was determined to be aspartic acid by directly sequencing 52 residues of the intact protein. The C-terminus was alanine. The protein contains 240 amino acid residues. By analysis of the whole protein and its tryptic peptides, a six amino acid (Arg-Tyr-Phe-Trp-Gln-His) prosegment was determined. No cross-reactivity between duck and human apo A-1 with a goat antiserum against human apo A-1 was found. Sequence analysis of apo A-1 of other species indicates that amino acid substitutions in rat are more extensive than in other mammals. Isoleucine residues in apo A-1 are inversely correlated to the homology of human to other species, except dog.