Future prospects for artificial blood

Concern about potential infective agents in donated blood has stimulated the recent development of blood substitutes. Chemically cross-linked hemoglobins are already undergoing clinical trials and might soon be ready for routine use. New generations of modified hemoglobin are being prepared to modulate the effects of nitric oxide and oxygen radicals, and artificial red blood cells are also under development.     

Inhibition of 2A-mediated ‘cleavage’ of certain artificial polyproteins bearing N-terminal signal sequences

Where 2A oligopeptide sequences occur within ORFs, the formation of the glycyl–prolyl peptide bond at the C-terminus of (each) 2A does not occur. This property can be used to concatenate sequences encoding several proteins into a single ORF: each component of such an artificial polyprotein is generated as a discrete translation product. 2A and ‘2A-like’ sequences have become widely utilised in biotechnology and biomedicine. Individual proteins may also be co- and post-translationally targeted to a variety of sub-cellular sites. In the case of polyproteins bearing N-terminal signal sequences we observed, however, that the protein downstream of 2A (no signal) was translocated into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We interpreted these data as a form of ‘slipstream’ translocation: downstream proteins, without signals, were translocated through a translocon pore already formed by the signal sequence at the N-terminus of the polyprotein. Here we show this effect is, in fact, due to inhibition of the 2A reaction (formation of fusion protein) by the C-terminal region (immediately upstream of 2A) of some proteins when translocated into the ER. Solutions to this problem include the use of longer 2As (with a favourable upstream context) or modifying the order of proteins comprising polyproteins.     

A first assessment of megaherbivore subsidies in artificial waterholes in Hwange National Park,Zimbabwe

Hydrobiologia - The transfer of terrestrial organic matter by terrestrial wild and domestic animals when they urinate and defecate directly in Savanna Rivers has already been studied. However, the...     

The artificial endothelium

As the world of critical care medicine advances, extracorporeal therapies (ECC) have become commonplace in the management of the high risk intensive care patient. ECC encompasses a wide variety of technologies from hemodialysis, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and plasmapheresis, to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), extracorporeal life support (ECLS) and hepatic support. The development of internal man made organs is the next step with ventricular assist devices and artificial lungs. As we advance the technologies with smaller devices, and more intricate circuitry, we lack the keystone necessary to control the blood-biomaterial interface. For the last 50 years much has been learned about surface induced thrombosis and attempts have been made to prevent it with alternative systemic anticoagulation, circuitry surface modifications, or a combination of both. Despite these efforts, systemic or regional anticoagulation remain necessary for both laboratory and clinical application of ECC. As such, the development of an endothelial-like, biomimetic surface to reduce or perhaps even eliminate the blood activation/thrombus formation events that occur upon exposure to artificial surfaces is paramount.     

Bioactive sutures

With the first wave of bioactive sutures already in the marketplace, research is ongoing in the development of future products. Such sutures could potentially have not only antimicrobial activity but also anesthetic and antineoplastic functions. Some clinical trials have already been completed in Russia. This technology is likely to become commonplace. This article reviews the progress made to date in the development of this technology.     

Biomedical aspects of artificial gravity

Artificial gravity (AG) is the basic challenge for space biology and medicine. The importance of this problem is associated with the fact that duration of the space missions will become progressively longer, but the presently available countermeasures do not provide reason enough to predict the human health safety during space missions of any duration. The creation of AG could be an efficient method for removing the negative effects of microgravity. Two principle methods of generating AG, rotation of space system (SS) and building of short arm centrifuge (SAC), have been proposed. The purpose of the present work is to review the biomedical aspects of AG in the context of its use in long-term space missions.     

Metabolomics across the globe

This article highlights some of the larger and more recent metabolomics activities which are funded and organised at local (mostly national) level. While being just a snap-shot, and far from exhaustive, the details clearly illustrate the extent to which metabolomics has already become established and integrated in both basic fundamental and more applied research covering a wide range of organisms. Many national (service) centres for metabolomics already exist and additional ones are envisaged.     

微卫星DNA在分子遗传标记研究中的应用

随着种群遗传学的发展 ,分子遗传标记特别是微卫星标记已经成为研究种群遗传的有力工具。本文就微卫星遗传标记的研究背景、技术应用以及优势与不足等方面进行了综述。     

Engineering supramolecular artificial edifices designed for a specific function

The Langmuir-Blodgett technique and its variants (alternate layers, self-organising mixtures, the semi-amphiphilic technique, the peculiar solid state chemistry in L.B. films) are collective methods which allow physical chemists, with a very small amount of synthetic chemistry, to build up molecular assemblies exhibiting not only the properties of each of their components, but also extra properties which arise from the architecture: cooperativity, anomalous chemical properties, molecular recognition, etc. These new tailored molecular edifices are the basic “brick” of tomorrow's molecular electronics and fine chemistry. These strategies are exemplified here by two active supramolecular edifices which have been successfully designed and built up: an artificial dioxygen trap based on the same principle as hemoglobin, and one molecule thick conductors. Promising applied results have already been obtained in the field of gas sensing with these new conductors, owing to molecular architectural amplification.     

离子转运相关膜蛋白的几种研究方法

离子转运相关的膜蛋白包括离子通道（Ion channel）和转运蛋白（transporter）等。除了传统的电压钳位法和膜片钳技术外,利用酵母和拟南芥突变体的异源互补技术已成为当今研究离子转运相关膜蛋白及其基因的主要分子生物学手段。     

Regulation of sugar content in the blood during artificial hyperglycaemia in chick embryos]

Intravenous injections of glucose (8.6 mg/ml of blood) have been made 9-18 day chick embryos, 1-day chicks and adult hens. Glucose content of the blood was measured 15 and 30 min., 1,4 and 8 hours after the injection. It was shown that already 9-day embryos possess a regulatory system which restores the initial glycaemic level. During the development of the organism, the efficiency of this system increases. The data obtained may be used in theoretical studies on the sugar system of the blood.     

Mapping the whole human genome by fingerprinting yeast artificial chromosomes.

Physical mapping of the human genome has until now been envisioned through single chromosome strategies. We demonstrate that by using large insert yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) a whole genome approach becomes feasible. YACs (22,000) of 810 kb mean size (5 genome equivalents) have been fingerprinted to obtain individual patterns of restriction fragments detected by a LINE-1 (L1) probe. More than 1000 contigs were assembled. Ten randomly chosen contigs were validated by metaphase chromosome fluorescence in situ hybridization, as well as by analyzing the inter-Alu PCR patterns of their constituent YACs. We estimate that 15% to 20% of the human genome, mainly the L1-rich regions, is already covered with contigs larger than 3 Mb.     

植物基因的图位克隆

图位克隆是基因的有效方法,本文概述了植物基因图位克隆的研究进展,主要包括图位克隆的一般策略、相关技术、发展前景和其它基因组领域研究于其带来的有益借鉴。     

Effect of gamma-irradiation on lipid content and survival of human amnion cells in culture.

The neutral lipid content of Human Amnion cells in tissue culture, studied by cytophotometry, increases after irradiation with 60Co gamma-rays. Cells having an already elevated lipid content, induced by lipid pretreatments, become sensitized to irradiation as determined by cell survival and electrophoretic mobility studies.     

XI. The Living Word-Concept: Reason and the Mind

Recall Shpet's thesaurus, with which we have already become familiar: living motion, living word, living knowledge. (S.L. Frank's book Living knowledge was published in Berlin in 1923.)     

Food from fungi

If and when economic conditions and technological advances become favorable, fungi may some day be significant in furnishing human food through their protein-synthesizing capacity. The yeast, Torulopsis, has already been utilized on a commercial scale in this direction in Germany, Jamaica, South Africa, India, California and Wisconsin.     

Tick cell lines: tools for tick and tick-borne disease research

Over 40 cell lines are currently available from 13 ixodid and one argasid tick species. The successful isolation and propagation of several economically important tick-borne pathogens in tick cell lines has created a useful model to study interactions between tick cells and these viral and bacterial disease agents. Tick cell lines have already proved to be a useful tool in helping to define the complex nature of the host-vector-pathogen relationship. With the availability of genomics tools, tick cell lines will become increasingly important as a complement to tick and tick-borne disease research in vivo once genetic transformation and gene silencing using RNA interference become routine.     

植物源病毒抑制剂的研究进展

天然植物提取的活性物质对植物病毒有明显的抑制作用,已经成为当今植物病毒防治的重点。对植物源病毒抑制的活性物质及作用机理的研究现状进行了综述,并将外来入侵生物用以提取病毒抑制剂的相关生物技术提出了展望。     

Safety monitoring of disposable medical products

In 1988 medical devices have become a part of the German AMG. According to this law safety monitoring similar to the one with drugs should be introduced. In the United States the so called medical device report regulation is responsible for safety monitoring. They have demonstrated that the risks of these instrument cannot be neglected. Therefore medical organisations or technical supervising institutions in Germany should take care of safety monitoring with medical devices, because otherwise supranational organisations, which are already present in different countries, or European community authorities will become responsible after the introduction of the free European market in 1992.     

Relation between Age of Onset of Obesity and Size and Number of Adipose Cells

The size and number of adipose cells in obese children and adults were compared with control data. An increase in adipose cell size was found in all the obese subjects. The total number of adipose cells was increased in those children who had become obese already by the age of 1 year and in those adults who dated their obesity to childhood.