Defects in cellular sorting and retroviral assembly induced by GGA overexpression

Background  

We previously demonstrated that overexpression of Golgi-localized, γ-ear containing, Arf-binding (GGA) proteins inhibits retrovirus assembly and release by disrupting the function of endogenous ADP ribosylation factors (Arfs). GGA overexpression led to the formation of large, swollen vacuolar compartments, which in the case of GGA1 sequestered HIV-1 Gag.     

Investigation of Synaptic Tagging/Capture and Cross-capture using Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rodents

Synaptic tagging and capture (STC) and cross-tagging are two important mechanisms at cellular level that explain how synapse-specificity and associativity is achieved in neurons within a specific time frame. These long-term plasticity-related processes are the leading candidate models to study the basis of memory formation and persistence at the cellular level. Both STC and cross-tagging involve two serial processes: (1) setting of the synaptic tag as triggered by a specific pattern of stimulation, and (2) synaptic capture, whereby the synaptic tag interacts with newly synthesized plasticity-related proteins (PRPs). Much of the understanding about the concepts of STC and cross-tagging arises from the studies done in CA1 region of the hippocampus and because of the technical complexity many of the laboratories are still unable to study these processes. Experimental conditions for the preparation of hippocampal slices and the recording of stable late-LTP/LTD are extremely important to study synaptic tagging/cross-tagging. This video article describes the experimental procedures to study long-term plasticity processes such as STC and cross-tagging in the CA1 pyramidal neurons using stable, long-term field-potential recordings from acute hippocampal slices of rats.     

Degradation of isomeric monochlorobenzoates and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid by a constructed Pseudomonas sp.

Summary A 4-chlorobenzoate-degrading Pseudomonas sp. US1 was mated with a strain of Escherichia coli JMP 397 (harbouring the plasmid pJP4). An ex-conjugant designated Pseudomonas sp. US1 ex that could utilize all the isomeric monochlorobenzoates and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate was obtained. The ex-conjugant released stoichiometric amounts of chloride when grown on these chloroaromatics as sole sources of carbon and energy.     

Commodity scale production of sugars from starches.

The production of sugars from starch sources is an industry that exists in its present form due to the application of industrial enzymology to solve process related problems. As the industry matures, the demand for more efficient enzymes leading to higher quality products and lower production costs for the starch processor has increased. Researchers are now finding or tailoring enzymes for specific operational needs of the processor using a combination of tools such as protein engineering, directed evolution and improved accessing of natural diversity.     

Comparative analysis of the immunomodulatory potential of caprine fetal adnexa derived mesenchymal stem cells

Molecular Biology Reports - The caprine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from fetal adnexa are highly proliferative. These cells possess tri-lineage differentiation potential and express MSC...     

Studies on groundnut proteins. VI. Isolation, characterisation and hydrogen ion titration of conarachin II.

A method is described for isolating conarachin II in a homogeneous form by the techniques of DEAE-cellulose chromatography, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and sedimentation velocity. The protein contains 0.72% carbohydrate and no phosphate. Hydrogen ion titration curve indicated that the sidechain carboxyl, imidazol and epsilon-amino groups titrated with normal pK Int values and their number agreed with the analytical values obtained from amino acid analysis. However, tyrosine phenolic groups had abnormal pK Int of 10.5.     

Energy compensated synthetic aperture focusing technique for photoacoustic microscopy

We report an adaptive energy-compensated synthetic aperture focusing technique (eC-SAFT) for improving the imaging performance of photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) in terms of depth of field (DOF), spatial resolution (both axial and lateral), and SNR. In addition to coherency and time-delay (in conventional SAFT), our beamforming-based reconstruction algorithm takes into account acoustic energy loss—a primary physical parameter in acoustic wave propagation—following Beer-Lambert's law. Experimental validation studies were performed in tissue-mimicking (Agar) phantoms, complex leaf veins, and chicken breast tissues. Results demonstrate that our proposed eC-SAFT+CF outperforms conventional SAFT+CF to improve axial resolution (up to $\sim 5\%$), lateral resolution (up to $\sim 5\%$), SNR (up to $\sim 6\%$) and CR (up to $\sim 8\%$).     

Antimicrobial studies,synthesis and characterization of novel 1-nitro-10H-phenothiazine bearing sulfone/nucleoside moieties

The current research article involves one pot synthesis of novel substituted 1-nitro-10H-phenothiazines via Smiles rearrangement. These substituted phenothiazines undergo oxidation to yield 10H-phenothiazine-5,5-dioxides (sulfones) while on treatment with β-D-ribofuranose-1-acetate-2,3,5-tribenzoate yield ribofuranosides. These compounds were screened for their antimicrobial vitalities (in vitro) against selected strains of bacteria and fungi. The characterization of synthesized compounds was done by elemental and spectral studies.