Haematology of the australian eastern quoll,Dasyurus viverrinus

• 1.1. A variety of haematological parameters were determined in adult Dasyurus viverrinus.
• 2.2. Haemoglobin and red cell counts were high with a very low mean cell volume.
• 3.3. Basophils are absent but the eosinophils contain small numbers of basophilic granules which may indicate a dual role for this cell.
• 4.4. “Ring Form” leucocytes are present.
• 5.5. Three types of red cell picture could be identified, some animals showing large numbers of spherocytes, spicule cells, and inclusion bodies.
• 6.6. These cells resemble those found in some inherited human haemolytic anaemias but there was no evidence of haemolysis in the animals.
• 7.7. An alkali resistant haemoglobin component is present.

     

Comparative Secretome Analyses of Human and Zoonotic Staphylococcus aureus Isolates CC8, CC22, and CC398

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Highlights

• •Proteogenomics and secretome comparison of human and zoonotic Staphylococcus aureus lineages.
• •869 secreted proteins identified in eight S. aureus isolates of CC8, CC22 and CC398.
• •CC398 lower secretion of surface proteins and higher secretion of hemolysins and exoenzymes.
• •Regulatory differences in the secretomes could be linked to lower SigB activity in CC398.

     

Virulence Factors Produced by Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms Have a Moonlighting Function Contributing to Biofilm Integrity

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Highlights

• •Establishment of a flow system allowing multi-omics analysis of S. aureus biofilms.
• •Biofilm proteome profiling (intracellular and ECM) plus metabolic footprint analysis.
• •Virulence factors and ribosomal proteins stabilize the ECM as moonlighting proteins.
• •They act as electrostatic bridges between anionic cell surfaces, eDNA and metabolites.

     

Metabolic Cross-talk Between Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells and Internalized Staphylococcus aureus as a Driver for Infection*

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Highlights

• •Interplay of epithelial cells and internalized S. aureus was dissected over 96 h.
• •Surviving host cells contain nonreplicating bacteria that persists in the cytoplasm.
• •Competition over resources triggers temporal metabolic changes.
• •Metabolic adaptation of host and bacteria determines the outcome of infection.

     

Hemocyanin in Oniscus asellus (Isopoda)

• 1.1. An immunological crossreactivity, as demonstrated by Western blotting, exists between O. asellus hemocyanin and anti-keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata) hemocyanin.
• 2.2. Using the anti-keyhole limpet hemocyanin, the presence of hemocyanin was detected in the hepatopancreas.
• 3.3. The amino acid composition of the hemocyanin of O. asellus was found to be similar to that of other isopods.

     

Collapse of K+ and ionic balance during photodynamic inactivation of leukemic cells,erythrocytes and Staphylococcus aureus

• 1.1. The immediate and fast ionic fluxes in Friend erythroleukemic cells (FELC), erythrocytes and Staphylococcus aureus during short intervals of porphyrin mediated photosensitization were determined uniquely by X-ray microanalysis (XRMA) combined with electron microscopy.
• 2.2. Photodynamic inactivation of FELC was mediated by either endogenous protoporphyrin induced by 5-amino levulinic acid (5-ALA), or Photofrin-II. We describe the predominant phenomena of >85% K-loss within 2–10 min of photoactivation. However the accompanied Na inflow and the collapse of the cellular balance of elemental-composition were inconsistent and acted as a function of cell damage.
• 3.3. Erythrocytes treated with hematoporphyrin (HP) lost most of their intracellular K yet instantly gained Na. Nevertheless the K/Na molar ratio of the control erythrocytes was nearly 12/1 while after photosensitization and K loss it changed to 1/1.
• 4.4. The S. aureus bacteria photosensitized with HP showed entire K-loss as well as marked Na efflux which increased with irradiation time; this was accompanied by the decline of other cell elements.
• 5.5. The prevailing K loss in FELC, erythrocytes and bacteria during the first minutes of photosensitization is deduced to be an immediate primary consequence of the photodynamic effect, while other ionic changes are joined in order with the development of cellular damage.

     

Mapping Spatiotemporal Microproteomics Landscape in Experimental Model of Traumatic Brain Injury Unveils a link to Parkinson's Disease,

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Highlights

• •Spatiotemporal microproteomics analysis of TBI.
• •Injury site microproteomics reveal distinct phases in 10-day frame post TBI.
• •Uninjured proteomic profile is restored in TBI at 10 days post injury.
• •Substantia nigra protein post 3 days suggest link to Parkinson's disease.

     

Ion transport in crab gills: A new method using isolated half platelets of Eriocheir gills in an ussing-type chamber

• 1.1. A half platelet preparation from Chinese crab (Eriocheir sinensis) gill is described which allows electrophysiological investigations of ion transport by gill epithelial monolayer when mounted in a modified Ussing chamber.
• 2.2. The resistance of these preparations equals half that of complete gill platelets (containing the gill epithelium and cuticle twice) indicating that cell damage during preparation of half platelets is negligible.
• 3.3. The transepithelial resistance (resistance of cuticle subtracted previously) was determined to be about 140 Ω cm² when both sides are bathed with identical salines.
• 4.4. Similarities to the results obtained with perfused complete gills demonstrates the reliability of this preparation.
• 5.5. When identical salines are applied on both sides of the epithelium an outside positive transepithelial potential difference (PD_te) up to 40 mV was measured.
• 6.6. The occurrence of such a high PD_te under symmetric conditions and its sensitivity to CN⁻ suggests the PD_te to be generated by active transport processes.

     

A study of visual pigments in the two antarctic crustaceans Orchomene plebs (Amphipoda) and Glyptonotus antarcticus (Isopoda)

• 1.1. Total chromophore contents as well as the contributions made by 11-cis retinal were determined by high pressure liquid chromatography in light- and dark-adapted eyes of Orchomene plebs and Glyptonotus antarcticus (Amphipoda and Isopoda, respectively).
• 2.2. In O. plebs the highest amount of total chromophore in pmol/eye was found to be 18.5 in 36 hr dark-adapted animals. The lowest amount (11.6 pmol/eye) was recorded in 24 hr light-adapted individuals.
• 3.3. In dark-adapted O. plebs, irrespective of whether dark-adapted for 36 or 60 hr, the percentage of 11-cis retinal was maximally 96.6%. In the light-adapted material it reached 71.2%
• 4.4. In eyes of 20 hr dark-adapted Glyptonotous antarcticus, possibly because of insufficient dark adaptation, a total chromophore content of only 3.2 pmol/eye was found. The percentage of 11-cis retinal was 55.8.
• 5.5. Porphyropsin with its testable 3-dehydroretinal (vitamin A₂-aldehyde) was not encountered in any of our samples.
• 6.6. Calculations of photopigment per gram body weight and a comparison with data from freshwater crayfish show that dark-adapted O. plebs possess approximately 20 times the relative photopigment amount of the crayfish. Absolute sensitivity of the eye of O. plebs is, therefore, expected to be very high.

     

Strontium-calcium concentration ratios in fish otoliths as environmental indicators

• 1.1. External and internal examinations of otoliths in fishes for macrostructure and microstructure has demonstated yearly, daily and population rhythmic patterns.
• 2.2. Chemical analyses (atomic absorption) of otolith carbonate from reared Fundulus heteroclitus for strontium-calcium concentration ratios demonstrated changes in chemistry related to temperature.
• 3.3. Microprobe analyses made it feasible to interpret almost daily changes in temperature to provide the temperature history of an individual fish.
• 4.4. A combination of microprobe analyses and daily increment analyses of otoliths can provide a life history profile for individual fish and can provide information on the environmental history of each fish.
• 5.5. Such information is vital to our understanding of the processes underlying recruitment and growth rates, and would make it possible to link growth and mortality rates to environmental occurrences.

     

Precision De Novo Peptide Sequencing Using Mirror Proteases of Ac-LysargiNase and Trypsin for Large-scale Proteomics

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Highlights

• •The developed Ac-LysargiNase showed higher stability and activity than before.
• •The merged spectra of the mirror peptides achieved nearly complete ion coverage.
• •pNovoM obviously increased the efficiency and accuracy of peptide sequencing.
• •The mirror enzymatic strategy achieved precision de novo sequencing on proteome scales.

     

Breast,hips, and buttocks revisited: Honest fatness for honest fitness

This paper comments on: Low, B. S., Alexander, R. D., and Noonan, K.M. Human hips, breast, and buttocks: Is fat deceptive? Ethology and Sociobiology 8: 249-247, 1987. In it I argue that:

• 1.1. Sexual selection has probably not been the most important selection pressure on
• 2.female human body shape.
• 3.2. Male humans in different cultures find different aspects of the female body attractive
• 4.and therefore are unlikely to have exerted consistent directional sexual selection on
• 5.the female body.
• 6.3. Breast size is not correlated with lactation success.
• 7.4. Visible hip width is not correlated with parturition success.
• 8.5. Women would lower their fitness if they tried to deceive men about their internal
• 9.pelvic dimensions.
• 10.6. There are many alternative hypothesis to explain the existence of fat onwomen's
• 11.breast, hips, and buttocks.

     

Characteristics of Crassostrea virginica crystalline style chitin digestion

• 1.1. Fundamental chitin digestion characteristics of Crassostrea virginica crystalline style were investigated.
• 2.2. Optimum temperature and pH were 34°C and 4.8. respectively.
• 3.3. The colloidal regenerated chitin (0.56mol/0.5 ml: GlcNAc equivalents) was saturating under all enzyme levels encountered.
• 4.4. There was no evidence of end product inhibition, even after 100 hr incubation.
• 5.5. Calculated K_m for the chitinase complex was 1.19mM when determined using a 30 min assay, but was only 0.70 mM when determined using a 4.6 hr assay.
• 6.6. Both K_m values are lower than reported for similar assays in other molluscs and for most bacteria.
• 7.7. Effect of substrate preparation on the kinetics are discussed.
• 8.8. Eight peaks of chitinase activity were resolved by DEAE-Fractogel ion exchange chromatography.

     

Cellulose digestion by the firebrat Thermobia domestica

• 1.1. A highly efficient cellulose digestion could be demonstrated in a primitive insect species, Thermobia domestica (Thysanura:Lepismatidae), by the application of a uniformly ¹⁴C-labelled substrate.
• 2.2. Gut extracts exhibit distinct hydrolytic activities toward different cellulosic substrates (cellobiose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose and microcrystalline cellulose). Therefore, the complete cellular complex must be present.
• 3.3. Besides cellulases, several other carbohydrates occur in the digestive juice, thus reflecting the omnivorous feeding habits of the insect.
• 4.4. The crop was found to be the main site of carbohydrate digestiopn, also including cellulolysis.
• 5.5. It is very likely that the cellulolytic enzymes derive from the gut tissues of the firebrat.

     

A thioredoxin from the extreme thermophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus

• 1.1. A purification procedure for a thioredoxin from the extremophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is described.
• 2.2. The thioredoxin is active in the dithiothreitol-dependent reduction of insulin disulfide bonds.
• 3.3. The thioredoxin is a monomer of 24,800 Da; it is an acidic protein with a pi of 4.5.
• 4.4. The protein is stable to heating for 3 hr at 90°C.
• 5.5. The amino acid composition of S. solfataricus thioredoxin is reported.

     

Purification and some properties of an atypical alkaline p-nitrophenylphosphate phosphatase activity from Halobacterium halobium

• 1.1. An alkaline p-nitrophenylphosphate phosphatase has been purified 440-fold from extracts of Hatobacterium halobium.
• 2.2. The enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 24,000.
• 3.3. A K_m value for p-nitrophenylphosphate of 1.12mM has been found under optimal conditions.
• 4.4. The enzyme is selectively activated and stabilized by Mn²⁺.
• 5.5. It requires high salt concentrations for stability and maximum activity.
• 6.6. It displays an unusual restricted substrate specificity of 25 phosphate esters tested, only phosphotyrosine and casein were hydrolysed besides p-nitrophenylphosphate.

     

Locust vitellogenin receptor: an acidic glycoprotein with N- and O-linked oligosaccharides

• 1.1. The locust vitellogenin (VTG) receptor which is embedded in oocyte plasma membranes is a glycoprotein.
• 2.2. With various lectins oligosaccharide units have been identified, among them neuraminic acid linked to Gal or GalNAc, mannose chains, Gal linked to GalNAc or GlcNAc and fucose linked to GlcNAc.
• 3.3. With specific enzymes it could be shown that mannose and most other oligosaccharides are O-linked while others like fucose are N-linked.
• 4.4. Enzymatic removal of all O-linked carbohydrates resulted in a drop of the molecular mass of the receptor protein from 200,000 to 110,000.
• 5.5. A total of N- and O-linked oligosaccharides of 54% was calculated.
• 6.6. The isoelectric point of the receptor was found to be at pH 3.4 increasing slightly after removal of neuraminic acid.
• 7.7. Removal of neuraminic acids destroyed the binding ability for VTG.

     

IDentification of a microsomal retinoic acid synthase as a microsomal cytochrome P-450-linked monooxygenase system

• 1.1. To characterize an enzyme which metabolizes retinal in liver microsomes, several properties of the enzymatic reaction from retinal to retinoic acid were investigated using rabbit liver microsomes.
• 2.2. The maximum pH of the reaction in the liver microsomes was 7.6.
• 3.3. The K_m and V_max values for all-trans, 9-cis and 13-cis-retinals were determined.
• 4.4. The reaction proceeded in the presence of NADPH and molecular oxygen.
• 5.5. The incorporation of one atom of molecular oxygen into retinal was confirmed by using oxygen-18, showing that the reaction comprised monooxygenation, not dehydrogenation.
• 6.6. The monooxygenase activity was inhibited by carbon monoxide, phenylisocyanide and antiNADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase IgG, but not by anti-cytochrome b₅ IgG.
• 7.7. The enzymatic activity inhibited by carbon monoxide was photoreversibly restored by light of a wavelength of around 450 nm.
• 8.8. The retinal-induced spectra of liver microsomes with three isomeric retinals were type I spectra.
• 9.9. The microsomal monooxygenase activity induced by phenobarbital or ethanol were more effective than that by 3-methylcholanthrene, clotrimazole or β-naphthoflavone.
• 10.10. These results showed that the monooxygenase reaction from retinal to retinoic acid in liver microsomes is catalyzed by a cytochrome P-450-linked monooxygenase system.

     

Physiological responses to exercise and hypoglycaemia stress in pigs of differing adrenal responsiveness

• 1.1. Twelve Large White × Landrace male pigs, six with high adrenocortical response to ACTH, and six with low response, were subjected to mild and moderate exercise, and then to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia.
• 2.2. Plasma ACTH, cortisol, catecholamines and some haematological and plasma biochemical parameters were determined in response to exercise, and glucose and cortisol in response to insulin challenge.
• 3.3. High responders had significantly greater increases than low responders in ACTH, cortisol and catecholamines following exercise, and in cortisol following insulin challenge.
• 4.4. The results suggest that differences in adrenocortical response to exogenous ACTH are an accurate reflection of the animal's response to stressful stimuli.