Association of the human Lewis blood group Le(a-b-c-d-) with the failure of expression of alpha-3-L fucosyltransferase

Two unrelated individuals are reported who lack alpha-3-L-fucosyltransferase activity in their serum and saliva. Both were blacks, one from the United States and the other from South Africa. No other of the tested members of their families lacked this enzyme. A survey of more than 2000 serum samples from both black and white South African blood donors, black United States donors and white United Kingdom donors failed to disclose another example of a serum deficient in alpha-3-L-fucosyltransferase activity. The two individuals lacking in alpha-3-L-fucosyltransferase activity both had the Lewis blood group phenotype Le(a-b-c-d-). No other persons with this phenotype have been reported. The absence of Lec activity in the two individuals who are deficient in alpha-3-L-fucosyltransferase is consistent with the interpretation that alpha-3-linked L-fucose is an essential part of the antigenic determinant recognised by the anti-Lec reagent used in this investigation.     

Homozygosity mapping to chromosome 5p15 of a gene responsible for Hartnup disorder

Hartnup disorder is an autosomal recessive phenotype involving a transporter for monoamino-monocarboxylic acids. Genetic analysis of the mouse model mapped its locus to human chromosome 11q13 (8). We report here the results of linkage analysis in two Japanese first cousin-marriage families. In the first family, the proband had Hartnup disorder and his deceased older brother was reported to have had typical Hartnup symptoms. The younger brother of the proband was shown to have decreased tryptophan absorption by oral loading test. In the second family, a 6-year-old girl, the proband, had specific hyperaminoaciduria. DNA was isolated from either blood samples or umbilical cord stumps. Genome-wide screening by homozygosity mapping was conducted. Taking into account that the older brother was affected and the younger brother was a carrier in the first family, homozygosity mapping (LOD score = 3.55) and GENEHUNTER (LOD score = 3.28) locates the locus of the Hartnup disorder on 5p15.     

Neutral alpha-D-mannosidase activity in human granulocytes

The presence of neutral soluble alpha-D-mannosidase activity was shown in human granulocytes. For detection of the enzyme different methods were used: addition of stabilizing agents; sorption of acid alpha-D-mannosidase on concanavalin A-sepharose; inhibition of acid alpha-D-mannosidase; determination of neutral alpha-D-mannosidase in granulocytes of patients with inherited defect of acid alpha-D-mannosidase (mannosidosis). The specific activity of neutral alpha-D-mannosidase in granulocytes of donors calculated in nmol/min/mg of protein was near to the activity in lymphocytes. However the activity in granulocytes calculated in nmol/min/10(8) of cells was approximately 3 times lower than that in lymphocytes. The activity of neutral alpha-D-mannosidase in immature myeloid cells of a patient with chronic myeloid leukaemia was 10 times higher than in natural granulocytes of the same patient. This high activity may be in connection with the process of cell differentiation or the result of malignant transformation.     

Reproduction characteristics and crow’s index in different groups of yevpatoria population

According to the obstetric history of Yevpatoria residents of postreproductive age, the parameters of the differential fertility as components of the natural selection (index Crow) in Slavic (Russian and Ukrainian) and non-Slavic individuals have been calculated. It is shown that, in the studied population, in one generation, the index of total selection decreased from 0.3 to 0.32 by reducing the value I _m. For Slavic females, the average number of pregnancies is 5.26, while the number of offspring is 1.75, and the index of total selection equals 0.31. For non-Slavic women, these ratings were 4.84, 2.09, and 0.46. In non-Slavic women, natural reproductive losses occur more frequently than in Slavic women, which may be associated with inbreeding, the level of which is usually higher in members of the Muslim faith. The average number of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the non-Slavic families is 0.759, while for Slavic families, it is 0.503. Reproductive problems were observed in 36.4% of Slavic families and 44.8% of non-Slavic families. The index of total selection in non-Slavs (0.46) is 1.5 times higher than in Slavs (0.31). The difference is due to the selection component, coupled with differential fertility (0.36 and 0.23, respectively). Interethnic differences in the rate of natural increase can change the ethnic and denominational composition of the city, leading to an increase in the Muslim component.     

Serologic polymorphism of the HLA Class 2 antigens in the Russian population]

Two hundred and thirty Russian Moscovities (108 healthy individuals and 122 cadaver kidney donors) were typed for antigens HLA-DR1-DRw10, HLA-DRw52-DRw53, and HLA-DQw1 and DQw3. HLA-DR1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 were investigated in all individuals, the other having been only studied in portions of the material. The HLA class 2 antigens' polymorphism in Russian population has been shown to have features common to all Caucasians. Most widely distributed antigen is DR2 (phenotype frequency is 36%). Antigens DRw8, DR9 and DRw10 are rare. DR allele distribution demonstrated perfect fits to Hardy--Weinberg expectations. Antigens DR5 and DR4 are considered most difficult to define at early stage of the study.     

Insect taxonomic diversity in the Russian Far East

The insect fauna of the Russian Far East comprises 634 families from 31 orders. The estimated species number is 31500. The largest orders are Hymenoptera (76 families, 9000 estimated species), Diptera (120 families, 8000 estimated species), Coleoptera (114 families, 5500 estimated species), and Lepidoptera (81 families, 5000 estimated species). The fractions of the main insect orders in the fauna of the Russian Far East correspond to those in the Holarctic temperate zone. The high biodiversity of insects in the Russian Far East results from the position of this region extending across several climatic zones. There are four levels of diversity both for the families and for the species, corresponding to the tundra, taiga, the transitional area between taiga and broadleaved forests, and the broadleaved forest zone. The number of insect families increases by 3 times while that of species increases by 20 times from the tundra to the broadleaved forests. Differentiation of the insect fauna of the Russian Far East results from the recent climatic situation (the influence of the Pacific monsoon) and the geologic history (broadleaved forest refugia resulting from the absence of complete ice cover during Pleistocenic glaciation in the south of the Russian Far East); it reflects deep faunistic connections of the eastern Palaearctic with the Nearctic and Oriental Regions. The mountain areas in the North Pacific are the refugia of the Mesozoic and Tertiary insect faunas. The Pacific may have substantially reduced the Cenozoic aridization in the northern hemisphere, which was one of the important factors of formation of the recent biota in the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions.     

Glycoproteins from Russian wheat aphid infested wheat induce defence responses

Elicitors are molecules which can induce the activation of plant defence responses. Elicitor activity of intercellular wash fluid from Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko) infested resistant (cv Tugela DN), and susceptible (cv Tugela), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), was investigated. Known Russian wheat aphid resistance related responses such as peroxidase and beta-1,3-glucanase activities were used as parameters of elicitor activity. The intercellular wash fluid from infested resistant plants contains high elicitor activity while that from infested susceptible plants contains no or very little elicitor activity. After applying C-18 reverse phase and concanavalin A Sepharose chromatography, elicitor active glycoproteins were isolated from the intercellular wash fluid of Russian wheat aphid infested resistant wheat. The elicitor-active glycoproteins separated into three polypeptides during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The isolated glycoproteins elicited peroxidase activity to higher levels in resistant than in susceptible cultivars. It was evident that the glycoproteins were probably a general elicitor of plant origin. Information gained from these studies is valuable for the development of plant activators to enhance the defence responses of plants.     

Seed paternity in flowering plants: an evolutionary perspective

The ultimate importance of paternal contributions to fitness and of post-pollination selection in flowering plants have remained elusive, largely because of the technical difficulty of assigning paternity. I review empirical studies that use heritable markers to investigate per-fruit seed paternity in natural populations and after experimental multiple-donor pollination. Thirty-one studies covering 23 species from 16 plant families document that in natural populations seeds from a single fruit are often fathered by multiple pollen donors (5 species from 5 families), that donors can differ significantly in seed-siring success (8 species from 6 families), that variation in pollen tube growth rates can be heritable (n = 1 out of 4 studies), that donor and recipient genotypes can simultaneously affect paternity (n = 2), and that temporal order of pollen deposition (n = 1) and environmental effects(n = 2) affect the outcome of pollen competition. These studies also investigate the role of post-pollination selection in the avoidance of inbreeding and for species boundaries. Most studies of male reproductive success in plants to date base on isozyme electrophoresis. The availability in the last decade of highly polymorphic molecular markers such as microsatellite DNA has been expected to open new possibilities to investigate competition and selection during the gametophytic phase. Yet, to date, there is still need for greater data wealth on seed paternity to test theories of sex allocation and to gain deeper understanding of floral trait evolution and of the evolutionary consequences of post-pollination selection in flowering plants.     

Mechanism of adaptive response: Estimation of human lymphocyte adaptive response to radiation using various criteria

Blood lymphocytes of 15 healthy donors have been investigated for their ability to reduce radiosensitivity after low-dose irradiation-radio-induced adaptive response (AR). The frequency of unstable chromosome aberrations was used to evaluate cell radiosensitivity after the irradiation of cells in low adaptive (5 cGy) and high challenge (1 Gy) doses in comparison with the effect of challenge irradiation only. Three indexes have been used, i.e., (A) the frequency of cells with aberrations per total analyzed cell, (B) the number of chromosome aberrations per one cell, (C) and the number of chromosome aberrations per one aberrant cell. It was found that the donors can be divided in the four following groups: 1. AR was not estimated any of the indexes used; 2. AR was estimated with indexes A and B, but not C; 3. AR was shown by indexes B and C; 4. AR was evident with all three indexes. The generally accepted AR repair model only explains the appearance of group-3 and-4 donors, but not group-2. For the purpose of understanding the AR mechanisms and the difference in AR estimations with various criteria, the metaphase distribution by the number of chromosome aberrations has been analyzed for each donor. It was shown that, in group-2 donors, the number of cells without aberrations after adaptive and challenge irradiations was significantly higher than after irradiation with a challenge dose only. Thus, in this group, AR is formed as a result of the changed frequency of cells in the 0 class (population shift). A similar shift is observed in the metaphase distribution in the donors of group 4, but not in group 3. The data obtained show that AR is probably a result of several processes, including the activation of the reparation of premutational genome damages, population shifts evident in the frequency of undamaged cells, and, possibly, the activation of apoptotic cell death. The complex character of AR is reflected to different degrees in each criterion of radiosensitivity.     

Cellular transfer of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in Lewis rats: Effects of different sensitization regimens on in vitro reactivity of donor spleen cells to concanavalin A

Splenocytes from Lewis rats sensitized to guinea pig spinal cord (GPSC) and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or to myelin basic protein (MBP)-CFA plus pertussis vaccine were less effective than spleen cells from MBP-CFA sensitized donors in transferring EAE to syngeneic recipients following culture with concanavalin A (Con A). Moreover, splenocytes from rats sensitized to GPSC-CFA plus pertussis vaccine showed no EAE transfer activity following culture with Con A. Diminished EAE transfer activity occurred in parallel with decreased proliferative responses of primed splenocytes to Con A. These effects were due, at least in part, to the use of pertussis vaccine and to Con A activation of a suppressive adherent cell subpopulation in sensitized donor spleens. Proliferative responses and EAE transfer activity were restored upon removal of plastic-adherent cells from splenocytes of rats sensitized to MBP-CFA plus pertussis vaccine prior to Con A activation of the non adherent lymphoid cells. Deletion of plastic-adherent cells from splenocytes of donors sensitized to GPSC-CFA plus pertussis vaccine prior to activation with Con A, however, had no effect on proliferative responses or EAE transfer activity. Furthermore, EAE transfer activity of Con A-activated splenocytes from MBP-CFA-sensitized donors was lost when such cells were cultured with splenocytes from donors sensitized to GPSC-CFA plus pertussis vaccine.     

Negative Correlation between Natural Human Antibodies Directed to Glycotopes Galβ1-3GlcNAc and Galβ1-4GlcNAc

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - In a cohort of 106 donors, we analyzed correlations in the binding of natural antibodies to human glycans in a composition of the glycan array. Along with...     

Concanavalin A: a useful ligand for glycoenzyme immobilization--a review.

Concanavalin A is finding increasing applications as a useful ligand in glycoenzyme immobilization. An attempt therefore, has been made to summarize the work available in the area. Glycoenzymes that are recalcitrant to immobilization procedures involving covalent coupling to solid supports can be immobilized in high yields by binding to matrices precoupled with concanavalin A. In addition, glycoenzymes associated with concanavalin A matrices usually exhibit high retention of activity and enhanced stability against various forms of inactivation. Binding of the glycoenzymes on the concanavalin A supports, being noncovalent, can be reversed by incubating the preparation with a high concentration of sugars/glycosides or at acidic pH. The association can be, however, rendered covalent by crosslinking the preparations with bifunctional reagents like glutaraldehyde. Crosslinking may be accompanied by further increase in stability, albeit at the expense of the loss of some enzyme activity. Several laboratory-size reactors containing concanavalin A matrix-bound glycoenzyme have been successfully operated for reasonably long durations with only small losses in catalytic activity. Insoluble glycoenzyme preparation can also be obtained by precipitating them from solution as concanavalin A complexes. Such complexes have small particle dimensions but can be successfully used in column reactors after a subsequent immobilization step. Insoluble concanavalin A-flocculates containing various microorganisms and glycoenzymes that successfully carry out multistep transformations have also been obtained by several investigators.     

Implication of protein aromatic amino acids in concanavalin A-carbohydrate interactions. A radiolytic study.

Pulse radiolysis and 60Co gamma-radiolysis have been used to study the effects of ionizing radiation on the glycogen-precipitating activity of the protein concanavalin A. Both eaq- and OH. react extremely rapidly with the protein and contribute to the observed loss of concanavalin A activity. Evidence is also presented that (Br)2-. and (SCN)2-. react with with tyrosine and tryptophan residues in concanavalin A, which is also accompanied by loss of glycogen precipitation activity.     

Possible pharmaceutical applications can be developed from naturally occurring phenanthroindolizidine and phenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids

Naturally occurring phenanthroindolizidine and phenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids (PIAs and PQAs) are two small groups of herbal metabolites sharing a similar pentacyclic structure with a highly oxygenated phenanthrene moiety fused with a saturated or an unsaturated N-heterocycle (indolizidine/quinolizidine moieties). Natural PIAs and PQAs only could be obtained from finite plant families (such as Asclepiadaceae, Lauraceae and Urticaceae families, etc.). Up to date, more than one hundred natural PIAs, while only nine natural PQAs had been described. PIA and PQA analogues have been applied to the development of potent anticancer agents all along because of their excellent cytotoxic activity. However, in the last two decades, other great biological properties, such as anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities were revealed successively by different pharmacological assays. Especially because of their potent antiviral activity against coronavirus (TGEV, SARS CoV and MHV) and tobacco mosaic virus, PIA and PQA analogues have attracted much pharmaceutical attention again, some of them have been used to present interesting targets for total or semi synthesis, and structure–activity relationship (SAR) study for the development of antiviral agents. In this review, natural PIA and PQA analogues obtained in the last two decades with their herbal origins, key spectroscopic characteristics for structural identification, biological activity with possible SARs and application prospects were systematically summarized. We hope this paper can stimulate further investigations on PIA and PQA analogues as an important source for potential drug discovery.

     

Genetic analyses of correlated solids, flavor, and health-enhancing traits in onion (Allium cepa L.)

Onion possesses organosulfur compounds and carbohydrates that provide unique flavor and health-enhancing characteristics. Significant phenotypic correlations have been reported among soluble solids content (SSC), total dry matter, pungency, and onion-induced in vitro antiplatelet activity. A genetic map and segregating F3M families derived from a cross between two inbred populations were used to identify and estimate the effects of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling these traits at 30 and 90 days postharvest. In vitro antiplatelet activities among different onion populations were consistent across six human blood donors. Most of the populations showed in vitro antiplatelet activities; however, for some donors, one of the parental lines and two F3M families had pro-aggregatory effects under our experimental conditions. SSC, dry matter, pungency, and in vitro antiplatelet activity showed significant positive phenotypic and genetic correlations. A chromosome region on linkage group E accounted for a significant amount of the phenotypic variation for all of these traits. The correlations among these traits may be due to linkage or pleiotropy of genes controlling solids content. Our results indicate that it will be difficult to develop onion populations with lower pungency and high in vitro antiplatelet activity; however, the strong genetic and phenotypic correlations between high in vitro antiplatelet activity and high SSC are beneficial for the health functionality of onion.     

Proteinaceous alpha-amylase inhibitors

Proteins that inhibit alpha-amylases have been isolated from plants and microorganisms. These inhibitors can have natural roles in the control of endogenous alpha-amylase activity or in defence against pathogens and pests; certain inhibitors are reported to be antinutritional factors. The alpha-amylase inhibitors belong to seven different protein structural families, most of which also contain evolutionary related proteins without inhibitory activity. Two families include bifunctional inhibitors acting both on alpha-amylases and proteases. High-resolution structures are available of target alpha-amylases in complex with inhibitors from five families. These structures indicate major diversity but also some similarity in the structural basis of alpha-amylase inhibition. Mutational analysis of the mechanism of inhibition was performed in a few cases and various protein engineering and biotechnological approaches have been outlined for exploitation of the inhibitory function.     

Should we neglect or nurture replacement blood donors in sub-Saharan Africa?

Lack of blood is common in SSA but quantification of the overall shortfall is hampered by a lack of evidence-based targets for blood collection. Despite recommendations that all blood donors should be voluntary and non-remunerated, replacement donors are common throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Voluntary donors are generally recruited through centralised systems whereas replacement donors are recruited by families and donate through hospitals. Blood from a centralised service is more expensive than from a hospital-based service due to the higher costs of donor recruitment, quality assurance processes and the maintenance of distribution networks.Information about the contribution of replacement donors to the blood supply is scanty and inconsistent but it is likely that they currently provide over half of the blood in SSA. WHO's guidelines for transfusion services deal exclusively with voluntary donors and neglect the substantial contribution made by replacement donors. Examples of how the supply and quality of blood from the replacement donors can be improved have been published but need to be evaluated and disseminated. Political will and open-mindedness to innovative ways to improve supply and safety of blood from all types of donors are essential to promote more evidence-based approaches to blood transfusion practice in low-income countries.     

The mechanisms of adaptive response. Estimation of capacity of human blood lymphocytes to radiation adaptive response using different criteria

Blood lymphocytes of 15 healthy donors have been investigated for the ability to decrease their radiosensitivity after treatment with low dose irradiation named radioinduced adaptive response (AR). The unstable chromosome aberrations were used to evaluate the radiosensitivity change after irradiation of cells with low adaptive dose (5 cGy) and subsequent high challenge dose (1.0 Gy) in comparison with the effect of challenge irradiation only. Three indexes were used: the frequency of cells with aberrations in all analyzed cells (A), the number of chromosome aberrations per cell (B) and the number of chromosome aberrations per one aberrant cell (C). It has been discovered that all donors examined can be divided into four groups: 1--individuals which cells did not show AR by all indexes used; 2--individuals which cells showed AR by indexes A and B, but not C; 3--AR was demonstrated by indexes B and C; 4--AR was confirmed by all three indexes. Generally accepted repair model for AR formation explains only the case of donor groups 3 and 4, but can not explain the mechanism leading to the case of group 2. For understanding this mechanism, the distribution of metaphases by the number of chromosome aberrations per cell was analyzes for each donor. It was shown that the part of cells without aberrations in group 2 donors increased significantly after treatment with the adaptive and challenge irradiation in comparison with that after irradiation with challenge dose only. The conclusion is that in this case AR is formed as a result of change in the frequency 0 cell class--population shift. The analogous shift was observed in the distributions of metaphases for all donors of the group 4, but was absent in the group 3 donors. The data obtained suggest that AR of blood lymphocytes might be a result of several processes: activation of submutational genome damage repair; population shifts manifested by the change in the part of undamaged cells; and, possibly, activation of apoptotic cell death. The complex nature of AR affects each of radiosensitivity evaluation criteria to a different extent.     

Physiology in the mirror of systematic catalogue of Russian Academy of Sciences Library

Representation of general human and animal physiology publications in the systematic catalogue of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences is considered. The organization of the catalogue as applied to the problems of physiology, built on the basis of library-bibliographic classification used in the Russian universal scientific libraries is described. The card files of the systematic catalogue of the Library contain about 8 million cards. Topics that reflect the problems of general physiology contain 39 headings. For the full range of sciences including physiology the tables of general types of divisions were developed. They have been marked by indexes using lower-case letters of the Russian alphabet. For further detalizations of these indexes decimal symbols are used. The indexes are attached directly to the field of knowledge index. With the current relatively easy availability of network resources value and relevance of any catalogue are reduced. However it concerns much more journal articles, rather than reference books, proceedings of various conferences, bibliographies, personalities, and especially the monographs contained in the systematic catalogue. The card systematic catalogue of the Library remains an important source of information on general physiology issues, as well as its magistral narrower sections.     

Study of the HLA-DQ system by the complement fixation test on lymphocytes stimulated by phytohemagglutinin. Existence of HLA-DQX allele(s)

The complement fixation microtechnique against PHA blasts has been used to study HLA-DQw1, 2, 3 specificities with sera from multiple transfused patients and/or from multiparous women. Several sera (6 or 7) have been used to define each DQ specificity. The sera have been chosen because of their reactivity with cells from HLA-DR 1, 2 or w6 donors (for DQw1), DR3 or 7 donors (for DQw2,) DR4 or 5 donors (for DQw3). Correlation coefficients between DQ and DR specificities were from 0.56 to 0.91. Correlation coefficients between sera were from 0.51 to 0.92 in each cluster of sera. The segregation of DQw1, 2, 3 specificities has been studied in 46 families with 234 children. This study showed haplotypes lacking DQw1, 2, 3 specificities. The segregation of such 11 DQX haplotypes has been observed in 38 children from 8 families; 5 children were DQX/DQX homozygotes. Up to now, no serological reagent defining the specificity (or specificities) corresponding to DQX has been found. No preferential association was observed between DQX and DR specificities. The gene frequencies observed in 170 haplotypes in these 46 families were as follows: DQw1: 0.400; DQw2: 0.252; DQw3: 0.282; DQX: 0.065. Detecting DQ specificities seems easier by CF on PHA blasts than by lymphocytotoxicity microtechnique against B lymphocytes and monocytes from pheripheral blood. This suggests that PHA blasts express larger quantities of DQ molecules than B lymphocytes and monocytes. The results confirm that complement fixation microtechnique against PHA blasts is efficient for HLA-DQw typing.