Individual alpha activity of electroencephalogram and nonverbal creativity

The main objective of present correlational investigation was to clarify relationships between nonverbal creativity indices and individual electroencephalogram alpha activity indices: individual alpha peak frequency, alpha band width, magnitude of alpha desynchronization and alpha spindle indices such as duration, amplitude, variability and skewness. The EEG was recorded in 98 healthy male right-handed subjects. Scores of nonverbal creativity (i. e., fluency, originality, and flexibility) were assessed using the Torrance test of nonverbal performance. The study showed that fluency in creative performance was associated with individual alpha peak frequency and alpha spindles duration, whereas originality and plasticity--with individual alpha band width and spindle amplitude variability. The findings also show that both highest and lowest individual alpha peak frequency indices are associated with enhanced scores of originality. It is suggested that individual alpha activity indices could be presented as individual predictors of fluency, plasticity and originality of nonverbal creativity.     

Distribution of anticancer antibiotic daunomycin in the rat heart and kidney revealed by immunocytochemistry using monoclonal antibodies

Two monoclonal antibodies (ADM-1-11 and 79-31 mAbs) were raised against daunomycin (DM) conjugated to bovine serum albumin via the cross-linker N-(gamma-maleimidobutyryloxy)succinimide. The monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specifically detected DM as well as its analogs doxorubicin and epirubicin, but did not react with other anticancer antibiotics, including pepleomycin, mitomycin C, and actinomycin D. The mAbs reacted strongly with glutaraldehyde-conjugated DM in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) used as a model system for immunocytochemistry as well as in appropriately pretreated sections of tissues from animals injected with DM. No staining occurred in tissues from uninjected animals. In order to perform DM ICC a number of tissue treatment conditions critical to the detection of low molecular weight substances were employed. Uptake of DM was studied in rats after a single i.v. or i.p. administration of the drug. In the heart, accumulation of DM occurred in nuclei and in the cytoplasm. In the kidney, DM immunoreactivity accumulated in all segments of the nephron except for the proximal tubules. Since the proximal tubules are known to be where a variety of transport systems including P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs) in drug interactions occur, the absence of DM accumulation in these segments may reflect a transport phenomenon depending upon such transporters. The availability of methods to study sites of accumulation of DM offers possibilities for understanding toxic side effects of this drug on the heart and kidney. Moreover, the immunocytochemical methodology developed may prove useful for the localization of other low molecular weight drugs that can be fixed in situ by glutaraldehyde.     

Improved immunocytochemical detection of daunomycin

Improved immunocytochemical (ICC) detection of the anthracycline anticancer antibiotic daunomycin (DM) has been achieved by use of hydrogen peroxide oxidation prior to ICC staining for DM. The new method greatly enhanced the localization of DM accumulation in cardiac, smooth and skeletal muscle of rats after a single i.v. dose of the drug. DM accumulated in the nuclei as well as in the sarcoplasm, where it occurred in the form of small granules, which were particularly evident in cardiac muscle cells. The distribution of the granules coincided with that of mitochondria. Uptake of DM in nuclei and mitochondria of heart muscle cells may help to improve our understanding of the cardiac toxicity of DM and related anthracyclin antibiotics. A number of ELISA tests were carried out in order to elucidate the mechanims of H₂O₂−assisted antigen retrieval. A possible mechanism is that DM is reduced and converted to its semiquinone and/or hydroquinone derivative in vivo. Oxidation by hydrogen peroxide acts to convert these derivatives back to the native antigen. The improved ICC methodology using oxidation to recreate native antigens from reduced metabolites may be helpful also with respect to the localization of other drugs.     

Arrested maturation of Neisseria-containing phagosomes in the absence of the lysosome-associated membrane proteins, LAMP-1 and LAMP-2

Mature, microbicidal phagosomes are rich in the lysosome-associated membrane proteins, LAMP-1 and LAMP-2, two highly glycosylated proteins presumed to form a protective barrier lining the phagosomal membrane. Pathogenic Neisseria secrete a protease that selectively cleaves LAMP-1, suggesting a critical role for LAMP proteins in the microbicidal competence of phagosomes. To determine the requirement for LAMP proteins in bacterial phagocytosis, we employed embryonic fibroblasts isolated from knockout mice lacking lamp-1, lamp-2 or both genes, as well as small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of LAMP expression in a human epithelial cell line. Like wild-type cells, those lacking either LAMP-1 or LAMP-2 alone formed phagosomes that gradually acquired microbicidal activity and curtailed bacterial growth. In contrast, LAMP-1 and LAMP-2 double-deficient fibroblasts failed to kill engulfed Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In these cells, maturation was arrested prior to the acquisition of Rab7. As a result, the Rab7-interacting lysosomal protein (RILP, a Rab7 effector) was not recruited to the phagosomes, which were consequently unable to undergo dynein/dynactin-mediated centripetal displacement along microtubules and remained in a predominantly peripheral location. The inability of such phagosomes to migrate towards lysosomes likely contributed to their incomplete maturation and inability to eliminate bacteria. These findings suggest that neisserial degradation of LAMP-1 is not sufficient to affect its survival within the phagosome, and establish LAMP proteins as critical components in the process whereby phagosomes acquire microbicidal capabilities.     

Protective immune mechanisms in helminth infection

Important insights have recently been gained in our understanding of how host immune responses mediate resistance to parasitic helminths and control associated pathological responses. Although similar cells and cytokines are evoked in response to infection by helminths as diverse as nematodes and schistosomes, the components of the response that mediate protection are dependent on the particular parasite. In this Review, we examine recent findings regarding the mechanisms of protection in helminth infections that have been elucidated in murine models and discuss the implications of these findings in terms of future therapies.     

Mutation in the Scyl1 gene encoding amino-terminal kinase-like protein causes a recessive form of spinocerebellar neurodegeneration

Here, we show that the murine neurodegenerative disease mdf (autosomal recessive mouse mutant 'muscle deficient') is caused by a loss-of-function mutation in Scyl1, disrupting the expression of N-terminal kinase-like protein, an evolutionarily conserved putative component of the nucleocytoplasmic transport machinery. Scyl1 is prominently expressed in neurons, and enriched at central nervous system synapses and neuromuscular junctions. We show that the pathology of mdf comprises cerebellar atrophy, Purkinje cell loss and optic nerve atrophy, and therefore defines a new animal model for neurodegenerative diseases with cerebellar involvement in humans.     

Ubiquitous transgene expression and Cre-based recombination driven by the ubiquitin promoter in zebrafish

Molecular genetics approaches in zebrafish research are hampered by the lack of a ubiquitous transgene driver element that is active at all developmental stages. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of the zebrafish ubiquitin (ubi) promoter, which drives constitutive transgene expression during all developmental stages and analyzed adult organs. Notably, ubi expresses in all blood cell lineages, and we demonstrate the application of ubi-driven fluorophore transgenics in hematopoietic transplantation experiments to assess true multilineage potential of engrafted cells. We further generated transgenic zebrafish that express ubiquitous 4-hydroxytamoxifen-controlled Cre recombinase activity from a ubi:cre(ERt2) transgene, as well as ubi:loxP-EGFP-loxP-mCherry (ubi:Switch) transgenics and show their use as a constitutive fluorescent lineage tracing reagent. The ubi promoter and the transgenic lines presented here thus provide a broad resource and important advancement for transgenic applications in zebrafish.     

Enriched sera protein profiling for detection of non-small cell lung cancer biomarkers

Background

Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is the major cause of cancer related-death. Many patients receive diagnosis at advanced stage leading to a poor prognosis. At present, no satisfactory screening tests are available in clinical practice and the discovery and validation of new biomarkers is mandatory. Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (SELDI-ToF-MS) is a recent high-throughput technique used to detect new tumour markers. In this study we performed SELDI-ToF-MS analysis on serum samples treated with the ProteoMiner? kit, a combinatorial library of hexapeptide ligands coupled to beads, to reduce the wide dynamic range of protein concentration in the sample. Serum from 44 NSCLC patients and 19 healthy controls were analyzed with IMAC30-Cu and H50 ProteinChip Arrays.

Results

Comparing SELDI-ToF-MS protein profiles of NSCLC patients and healthy controls, 28 protein peaks were found significantly different (p < 0.05), and were used as predictors to build decision classification trees. This statistical analysis selected 10 protein peaks in the low-mass range (2-24 kDa) and 6 in the high-mass range (40-80 kDa). The classification models for the low-mass range had a sensitivity and specificity of 70.45% (31/44) and 68.42% (13/19) for IMAC30-Cu, and 72.73% (32/44) and 73.68% (14/19) for H50 ProteinChip Arrays.

Conclusions

These preliminary results suggest that SELDI-ToF-MS protein profiling of serum samples pretreated with ProteoMiner? can improve the discovery of protein peaks differentially expressed between NSCLC patients and healthy subjects, useful to build classification algorithms with high sensitivity and specificity. However, identification of the significantly different protein peaks needs further study in order to provide a better understanding of the biological nature of these potential biomarkers and their role in the underlying disease process.     

Apical-basal polarity in Drosophila neuroblasts is independent of vesicular trafficking

The possession of apical-basal polarity is a common feature of epithelia and neural stem cells, so-called neuroblasts (NBs). In Drosophila, an evolutionarily conserved protein complex consisting of atypical protein kinase C and the scaffolding proteins Bazooka/PAR-3 and PAR-6 controls the polarity of both cell types. The components of this complex localize to the apical junctional region of epithelial cells and form an apical crescent in NBs. In epithelia, the PAR proteins interact with the cellular machinery for polarized exocytosis and endocytosis, both of which are essential for the establishment of plasma membrane polarity. In NBs, many cortical proteins show a strongly polarized subcellular localization, but there is little evidence for the existence of distinct apical and basolateral plasma membrane domains, raising the question of whether vesicular trafficking is required for polarization of NBs. We analyzed the polarity of NBs mutant for essential regulators of the main exocytic and endocytic pathways. Surprisingly, we found that none of these mutations affected NB polarity, demonstrating that NB cortical polarity is independent of plasma membrane polarity and that the PAR proteins function in a cell type-specific manner.