Red blood cell (RBC) membrane proteomics — Part I: Proteomics and RBC physiology

Membrane proteomics is concerned with accurately and sensitively identifying molecules involved in cell compartmentalisation, including those controlling the interface between the cell and the outside world. The high lipid content of the environment in which these proteins are found often causes a particular set of problems that must be overcome when isolating the required material before effective HPLC-MS approaches can be performed. The membrane is an unusually dynamic cellular structure since it interacts with an ever changing environment. A full understanding of this critical cell component will ultimately require, in addition to proteomics, lipidomics, glycomics, interactomics and study of post-translational modifications. Devoid of nucleus and organelles in mammalian species other than camelids, and constantly in motion in the blood stream, red blood cells (RBCs) are the sole mammalian oxygen transporter. The fact that mature mammalian RBCs have no internal membrane-bound organelles, somewhat simplifies proteomics analysis of the plasma membrane and the fact that it has no nucleus disqualifies microarray based methods. Proteomics has the potential to provide a better understanding of this critical interface, and thereby assist in identifying new approaches to diseases.     

Dicyanamido-metal(II) complexes. Part 4: Synthesis, structure and magnetic characterization of polynuclear Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes bridged by μ-1,5-dicyanamide

The one pot aqueous reaction of M(ClO₄)₂ (M = Cu²⁺ or Ni²⁺) with N-methylbis[2-(2-pyridylethyl)]amine (MeDEPA) and N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (bpmen) and 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) in presence of sodium dicyanamide (Nadca) yielded dicyanamido-bridged polynuclear complex {[Cu(MeDEPA)(μ-1,5-dca)]ClO₄}_n (1), and two dinuclear complexes [Cu₂(bpmen)₂(μ-1,5-dca)]₂(ClO₄)₅dca (2) and [Ni(cyclen)(μ-1,5-dca)]₂(ClO₄)₂ (3). These complexes were characterized by IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Room temperature single-crystal X-ray studies have confirmed that the Cu(II) centers in 1 and 2 adopt geometries that are more close to trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) in 1 and close to square pyramidal (SP) in 2, whereas in 3, the Ni(II) centers are located in octahedral environment with doubly bridged μ-1,5-dca bonding mode. The intermolecular M···M distances in these complexes are in the range of 7.3-8.6 Å. Variable temperature magnetic susceptibility studies have confirmed that the dca-bridges mediate very weak antiferromagnetic interaction between the M(II) centers with J values of −0.35, −0.18 and −0.43 cm⁻¹ for 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The results are compared and discussed in the light of other related bridged μ-1,5-dca Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes.     

Genome Sequence of “Candidatus Mycoplasma haemolamae” Strain Purdue,a Red Blood Cell Pathogen of Alpacas (Vicugna pacos) and Llamas (Lama glama)

We report the complete genome sequence of “Candidatus Mycoplasma haemolamae,” an endemic red-cell pathogen of camelids. The single, circular chromosome has 756,845 bp, a 39.3% G+C content, and 925 coding sequences (CDSs). A great proportion (49.1%) of these CDSs are organized into paralogous gene families, which can now be further explored with regard to antigenic variation.     

PERIPHERAL ARTERIOSCLEROSIS—Arterial Grafting Procedures—Indications and Results—Part II: Arteriosclerotic Arterial Occlusion

Arteriosclerotic thrombotic lesions involving the arteries to the lower extremities may be conveniently grouped into three categories. Lesions of the aorta-common-iliac level (Category I) appear to be most satisfactorily treated by thromboendarterectomy. Lesions in the femoral artery (Category II) are particularly amenable to bypass arterial grafts. Advanced lesions (Category III) involving both areas may be treated by one or the other method or a combination of both. Aortography is a necessary prerequisite in the selection of patients for operation and the determination of the method of surgical approach.     

Red Blood Cell Fatty Acids and Incident Diabetes Mellitus in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study

Context

The relations between dietary and/or circulating levels of fatty acids and the development of type 2 diabetes is unclear. Protective associations with the marine omega-3 fatty acids and linoleic acid, and with a marker of fatty acid desaturase activity delta-5 desaturase (D5D ratio) have been reported, as have adverse relations with saturated fatty acids and D6D ratio.

Objective

To determine the associations between red blood cell (RBC) fatty acid distributions and incident type 2 diabetes.

Design

Prospective observational cohort study nested in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study.

Setting

General population.

Subjects

Postmenopausal women.

Main Outcome Measures

Self-reported incident type 2 diabetes.

Results

There were 703 new cases of type 2 diabetes over 11 years of follow up among 6379 postmenopausal women. In the fully adjusted models, baseline RBC D5D ratio was inversely associated with incident type 2 diabetes [Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81–0.95) per 1 SD increase. Similarly, baseline RBC D6D ratio and palmitic acid were directly associated with incident type 2 diabetes (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.04–1.25; and HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.14–1.35, respectively). None of these relations were materially altered by excluding incident cases in the first two years of follow-up. There were no significant relations with eicosapentaenoic, docosahexaenoic or linoleic acids.

Conclusions

Whether altered fatty acid desaturase activities or palmitic acid levels are causally related to the development of type 2 diabetes cannot be determined from this study, but our findings suggest that proportions of certain fatty acids in RBC membranes are associated with risk for type 2 diabetes.     

Foundations of modeling in cryobiology—II: Heat and mass transport in bulk and at cell membrane and ice-liquid interfaces

Modeling coupled heat and mass transport in biological systems is critical to the understanding of cryobiology. In Part I of this series we derived the transport equation and presented a general thermodynamic derivation of the critical components needed to use the transport equation in cryobiology. Here we refine to more cryobiologically relevant instances of a double free-boundary problem with multiple species. In particular, we present the derivation of appropriate mass and heat transport constitutive equations for a system consisting of a cell or tissue with a free external boundary, surrounded by liquid media with an encroaching free solidification front. This model consists of two parts–namely, transport in the “bulk phases” away from boundaries, and interfacial transport. Here we derive the bulk and interfacial mass, energy, and momentum balance equations and present a simplification of transport within membranes to jump conditions across them. We establish the governing equations for this cell/liquid/solid system whose solution in the case of a ternary mixture is explored in Part III of this series.     

Synthesis and characterization of β-diketiminate germanium(II) and tin(II) bromides

The equimolar reaction of a β-diketiminate lithium salt LLi(OEt₂) [L = HC(CMeNAr)₂; Ar = 2,6-iPr₂C₆H₃] with either GeBr₂ or SnBr₂ in diethyl ether affords the synthetically useful monomeric β-diketiminate-element halides LGeBr (1) and LSnBr (2), respectively. Both are soluble in hydrocarbon solvents, stable in inert atmosphere, and have been characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.