Phytoalexins from Brassicaceae: News from the front

The chemical structures, syntheses, metabolism and biological activities of the cruciferous phytoalexins discovered to date, with particular focus on the latest results dealing with their biosynthesis and detoxification are reviewed.     

Fatty acids from the sponge Halichondria panicea from the Sea of Japan

The fatty acid (FA) composition of total lipids isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria panicea inhabiting Peter the Great Bay of Sea of Japan was studied. GC and GC-MS techniques helped identify 63 FAs, with the main attention being paid to FAs with 14-22 carbon atoms. 4, 8, 12-Trimethyl-13:0 FA was for the first time identified as the main saturated FA along with the branched FAs br-25:1, br-27:1, and br-27:2. The contents of arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and the major demospongic acids [26:3(5, 9, 19), 26:3(5, 9, 17), 27:3(5, 9, 20), and 28:3(5, 9, 21)] considerably differed from those previously found for H. panicea, which may be due to seasonal changes in the species composition of organisms consumed by the sponge.     

Letter from the Editor

The field of monoclonal antibody (mAb) development seems poised to undergo rapid change. The current circumstances recall an extraordinary 10 month period between November 1997 and September 1998 when six mAbs, rituximab, trastuzumab, infliximab, daclizumab, basiliximab, and palivizumab, were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At the time, these therapeutics represented important advances in the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases including lymphoma, breast cancer, Crohn disease, prevention of kidney transplant rejection, and prevention of respiratory syncytial viral infection. We are in similar circumstances with regard to the numbers, with five mAbs currently undergoing FDA review for anticancer, immunological and antiviral indications, and one under review for treatment of bone disorders. The candidates in review are ofatumumab, tocilizumab, ustekinumab, golimumab, motavizumab and denosumab. Brief reviews of the clinical development of several of these candidates are included in this issue of mAbs.     

Structure of the O-polysaccharide from the lipopolysaccharide from Vibrio cholerae O6

The O-polysaccharide from Vibrio cholerae O6 was isolated from the LPS by mild-acid hydrolysis and has been investigated by sugar and methylation analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The polysaccharide was also depolymerized with aqueous hydrofluoric acid to give the repeating unit and multiples thereof. The O-polysaccharide had the following tetrasaccharide repeating unit. Two O-acetyl groups are present, one of them making the GlcNAc residue fully substituted and the steric crowding considerable at the branching residue.     

编者寄语(英文)

<正>Everybody at the age of 88 years old is called 米寿("Mi-shou" in Chinese pronunciation)in China.May 28,2013 will be Prof.Richard P.Korf's 88th birthday.Prof.Korf first visited the Department of Mycology,Institute of Microbiology,Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)in 1981 after he attended the International Botanical Congress in Sydney,Australia.He     

Letter from the Editor

With annual healthcare expenditures on the order of $2 trillion, the US leads the world in spending but has done relatively little research on the effective use of those funds. Other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) have instituted various types of health technology assessment or evaluation. Sweden was an early adopter with the establishment in 1987 of the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care. UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which includes the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, followed in 1999. Economic modeling of cost effectiveness is integral to NICE’s assessment of new medical technologies. The US has not lagged other countries in principle – the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) had a medical treatments effectiveness program as early as 1989 - but funding levels for such programs have been low in the past, and comparative effectiveness research (CER) results have generally not had a notable impact on medical or reimbursement policies, in part because Congress has not allowed CER outcomes to impact coverage decisions.     

Onward from the cradle

This essay records a voyage of discovery from the “cradle of cell biology” to the present, focused on the biology of the oldest known cell organelle, the cilium. In the “romper room” of cilia and microtubule (MT) biology, the sliding MT hypothesis of ciliary motility was born. From the “summer of love,” students and colleagues joined the journey to test switch-point mechanisms of motility. In the new century, interest in nonmotile (primary) cilia, never lost from the cradle, was rekindled, leading to discoveries relating ciliogenesis to autophagy and hypotheses of how molecules cross ciliary necklace barriers for cell signaling.     

View from the boundary

Re-implementing biological mechanisms on robots not only has technological application but can provide a unique perspective on the nature of sensory processing in animals. To make a robot work, we need to understand the function as part of an embodied, behaving system. I argue that this perspective suggests that the terms "representation" and "information processing" can be misleading when we seek to understand how neurobiological mechanisms carry out perceptual processes. This argument is presented here with reference to a robot model of cricket behavior, which has demonstrated competence comparable to that of the insect, but utilizes surprisingly simple central processing. Instead it depends on sensory interfaces that are well matched to the task, and on the link between environment, action, and perception.     

Cuburbitacins from the cruciferae

The distribution of cucurbitacins in seeds and growing plants of Iberis umbellata L. has been investigated. The testas of 'Giant Pink', 'Purple', 'Crimson' and 'Iceberg' (Dutch) strains of Iberis umbellata contain Cucurbitacin B with traces of D and E. Seeds of 'Iceberg' (Danish) strain were exceptional in containing cucurbitacins E and I but no B, and this strain was also distinguished by larger redder seeds and by testas which were not readily separable into two layers. Cucurbitacins are rare in other crucifers but they are present in I. gibraltarica L., I. sempervirens L. and Lepidium sativum L.     

Learning from the voiceless

This article is concerned with understanding what is at stake in the everyday lives of family members facing Huntington's Disease (HD). The methodological and analytical point of departure is German critical psychology, particularly the category of conduct of everyday life (Holzkamp, 1995; Dreier, 1999). Specifically, I address questions of accessing and understanding the conduct of everyday life of persons facing HD who are not visibly active with respect to this circumstance. The question of access is not merely about getting in touch with persons who are not known to the research, professional and HD communities, but also about the consequences of establishing contact with persons who have not made an entry into any of these public areanas themselves. The question of understanding is about developing an analysis from a first-person perspective on the personal conduct of everyday life that is not visibly active. The development of such an understanding has broader implications, not just for further research and health care practices, but importantly also for the prevailing moral and ethical demands made on persons living at risk of hereditary diseases.     

Antibacterial metabolites from Australian macrofungi from the genus Cortinarius

In this study, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions from 117 collections of Australian macrofungi belonging to the mushroom genus Cortinarius were screened for antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Overall, the lipophilic fractions were more active than the aqueous fractions. The ethyl acetate fractions of most or all collections of 13 species, namely Cortinarius ardesiacus, C. archeri, C. austrosaginus, C. austrovenetus, C. austroviolaceus, C. coelopus, C. [Dermocybe canaria]², C. clelandii, C. [D. kula], C. memoria-annae, C. persplendidus, C. sinapicolor, C. vinosipes and forty seven collections of un-described Cortinarius species exhibited IC₅₀ values of ?0.09 mg/mL against S. aureus. In contrast, most or all collections of only four species, namely C. abnormis, C. austroalbidus, C. [D. kula], C. persplendidus, and eleven un-described Cortinarius collections exhibited similar effects against P. aeruginosa (IC₅₀ ? 0.09 mg/mL). Anthraquinonoid pigments isolated from C. basirubescens together with emodin physcion and erythrogluacin were assessed for their antimicrobial activity. The fungal octaketides austrocortilutein, austrocortirubin, torosachrysone, physcion and emodin were found to strongly inhibit the growth of S. aureus (IC₅₀ 0.7–12 μg/mL) whereas only physcion and emodin exhibited potency against P. aeruginosa (IC₅₀ 1.5 and 2.0 μg/mL, respectively).     

Feedback from the wall

The ability of cells to perceive changes in the composition and mechanical properties of their cell wall is crucial for plants to achieve coordinated growth and development. Evidence is accumulating to show that the plant cell wall, like its yeast counterpart, is capable of triggering multiple signalling pathways. The components of the cell wall that are responsible for initiating these signal responses remain unknown; however, recent technological advances in cell wall analysis may now facilitate the identification of these components and accelerate the characterisation of changes that occur in cell wall mutants.     

Items from the Literature

Thinnest practical slices of bones or teeth are suspended at 4 C in a 10% solution of EDTA in 0.1 M tris buffer brought to pH 6.95 with KOH pellets. The solution is stirred moderately and continuously with a magnetic stirrer until specimens are demineralized. Unwashed specimens, taken directly from the demineralizing fluid, are frozen on a block of CO₂ ice, mounted on a tissue carrier and sectioned at 6 μ in a cryostat. Histochemical stains conducted on sections stored in a slide holder enclosed in a plastic bag in a refrigerator for as long as 2 wk were successful. Quantitative studies on the preservation of succinic dehydrogenase showed nearly all of it present in specimens demineralized for 2 days, and approximately 50% remaining in specimens demineralized for 7 days. Qualitative studies with other dehydrogenases indicate that several may be similarly affected.     

Letter from the Editor

The development of therapeutics is a complex and costly process with low probabilities of approval success. All stakeholders, from academic researchers to patients, have an interest in improving the efficiency of the process so that effective medicines are available. Stratified medicine, in which therapies are prescribed only to patients identified by one or more biomarkers, is one approach to achieving this end. Adoption of this approach by the pharmaceutical industry might at first appear to be unlikely because market sizes would be reduced; however, the benefits of targeting the right patient with an effective drug while potentially also reducing adverse events could outweigh the economic disadvantages of the strategy.     

Letter from the Editor

mAbs’ September/October 2009 issue highlights the promise and challenges of antibody therapeutics development. Representing promise, our mini-review series on novel antibodies currently undergoing regulatory review or recently approved continues in this issue. Previously published articles include mini-reviews of denosumab and ustekinumab (May/June 2009 issue) and ofatumumab (July/August 2009 issue). The September/October issue features articles on golimumab, tocilizumab and motavizumab. The mini-reviews present overviews of the completed and on-going clinical studies of these molecules. Anti-TNFα golimumab was approved in April 2009 by both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis; anti-IL6R tocilizumab is approved in Japan and the European Union (EU), and is currently undergoing FDA review as a treatment for RA. The juxtaposition of these two mini-reviews provides an opportunity to easily compare summaries of the available clinical results. Future issues of mAbs will include mini-reviews of catumaxomab, canakinumab and raxibacumab, as well as any additional antibodies that enter regulatory review in 2009 and beyond.