Receptor and G-protein-dependent regulation of turkey erythrocyte phosphoinositidase C

Several lines of experimental evidence indicate the involvement of a guanine nucleotide-dependent protein (G-protein) in the hormone-stimulated hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol(4,5)-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2). However, the shortcomings of available procedures for cell-free assay of hormone-stimulated phosphoinositidase C (PIC) have limited our current understanding of the molecular and mechanistic details of PIC regulation. We recently have proposed that turkey erythrocyte membranes may provide a valuable model system for studies of G-protein-dependent PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis. The membranes can be simply prepared from [3H]inositol-labelled erythrocytes and they contain a PIC activity that hydrolyses endogenous phosphoinositides and is exquisitively sensitive to guanine nucleotides. PtdIns(4,5)P2 is the principal substrate for this enzyme, there being relatively little direct hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and no detectable hydrolysis of PtdIns. The membranes also contain a purinoceptor of the P2y subclass that is efficiently coupled to PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis both in intact cells and in the isolated membranes. 2-Methylthioadenosine trisphosphate (2-methyl-S-ATP), a specific P2y receptor agonist, has no effect upon PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis in the absence of guanine nucleotides, but greatly enhances both the potency and efficacy of PIC activation by guanine nucleotides such as GTP gamma S. GTP gamma S alone stimulates PIC activity only after a prolonged time-lag; the effect of increasing doses of 2-methyl-S-ATP is progressively to shorten this lag phase. These results suggest that the mechanism of G-protein activation involves acceleration of a nucleotide exchange reaction as has been demonstrated for the activation of adenylate cyclase in the same membrane preparation. As well as contributing valuable information on the substrate specificity of PIC and its mode of regulation by hormones, turkey erythrocytes provide a plentiful source of plasma membranes and may be useful for purification of the appropriate G-protein and PIC activities.     

Induction of high-titer neutralizing antibodies, using hybrid human immunodeficiency virus V3-Ty viruslike particles in a clinically relevant adjuvant.

The localization of neutralization determinants within the envelope glycoproteins of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been largely achieved by immunizing small animals in conjunction with Freund's adjuvant. However, for eventual use in humans, candidate HIV vaccine components must also be efficacious in a nontoxic formulation. We describe here the production of hybrid Ty viruslike particles carrying the major neutralizing domain of HIV and demonstrate the induction of high-titer virus-neutralizing antibodies and an HIV-specific T-cell proliferative response after immunization in conjunction with aluminum hydroxide. As aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate are the only adjuvants currently licensed for use in humans, these observations have implications for the development of an effective vaccine against HIV.     

Effect of Temperature on the Short Chain Fatty Acid-induced Inhibition of Lettuce Seed Germination

In lettuce, Lactuca sativa short chain fatty acids (C₆ - C₉) vary in their effectiveness as inhibitors of germination according to temperature; the higher the temperature, the greater the inhibition. A linear relationship exists between temperature and the dose causing half-maximal germination. Nonanoic (C₉) acid is the most effective.     

POCUS: mining genomic sequence annotation to predict disease genes

Here we present POCUS (prioritization of candidate genes using statistics), a novel computational approach to prioritize candidate disease genes that is based on over-representation of functional annotation between loci for the same disease. We show that POCUS can provide high (up to 81-fold) enrichment of real disease genes in the candidate-gene shortlists it produces compared with the original large sets of positional candidates. In contrast to existing methods, POCUS can also suggest counterintuitive candidates.     

Spectrometric studies on stability of tenuazonic acid (TeA) solution in organic solvents

The stability of tenuazonic acid solution at different temperatures and storage times was studied using methanol, methanol-water (8:2 v/v), benzene and benzene-acetonitrile (98:2 v/v) as solvents. Solutions were analysed by a spectrometric method TeA U.V.-spectrum was recorded. Results indicated that the optimum temperature for long-time storage period of tenuazonic acid solution in any solvent assayed is -20°C. Benzene and benzene-acetonitrile (98:2 v/v) could be advised to make tenuazonic acid solution which will be stored less than 2 months at 4°C. Methanol and methanolwater (8:2 v/v) are not recommended because a low stability of TeA solution in this solvents.