Foliicole Flechten aus der Kolchis (West-Transkaukasien,UdSSR)

This paper deals with 19 species of foliicolous lichens collected in the summer months of 1977 to 1980 during several excursions to the vicinity of the spas Sochi, Gagra and Sukhumi on the east shores of the Black Sea (part of the Colchis). Some new taxa and one new combination are proposed:Raciborskiella minor Vězda (sp. n.),Porina colchica Vězda (sp. n.),Gyalectidium caucasicum (Elenk. etWoronich.)Vězda (comb. n.),G. colchicum Vězda (sp. n.),Bacidia vasakii Vězda (sp. n.). Taxonomical, ecological and plant geographical notes to all species are given.     

Enhanced ubiquitin-proteasome activity in calreticulin deficient cells: a compensatory mechanism for cell survival

Calreticulin is a lectin chaperone essential for intracellular calcium homeostasis. Deletion of calreticulin gene compromises the overall quality control within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leading to activation of the unfolded protein response. However, the ER structure of calreticulin deficient cells (crt-/-) is not altered due to accumulation of misfolded proteins. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is activated in crt-/- cells as a compensatory mechanism for cell survival. Here we show a significant increase in the expression of genes involved in ER associated degradation and activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in crt-/- cells. We also demonstrated that the ubiquitination of two proteins processed in ER, connexin 43 and A1AT NHK (alpha1-antitrypsin mutant) are increased in crt-/- cells. Furthermore, we showed that the increased proteasome activity in the crt-/- cells could be rescued upon re-introduction of calreticulin or calsequestrin (a muscle calcium binding protein). We also illustrated that increased cytosolic Ca2+ enhances the proteasome activity. Interestingly, suppression of calnexin function using siRNA further elevated the proteasome activity in crt-/- cells. This is the first report to show that loss of calreticulin function enhances the ubiquitin-proteasome activity which could function as a compensatory mechanism for cell survival.     

Endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation: exceptions to the rule

Quality control mechanisms in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) ensure that misfolded proteins are recognized and targeted for degradation. According to the current view of ER-associated degradation (ERAD), the degradation does not occur in the ER itself but requires the retrotranslocation of the proteins to the cytosol where they are degraded by proteasomes. Although this model appears to be valid for many different proteins a number of exceptions from this rule suggest that additional proteasome-independent ERAD pathways may exist. In this review, we will summarize what is known about these alternative ERAD pathways.     

A comparative study of ex vivo skin optical clearing using two‐photon microscopy

Multiphoton tomography (MPT) is a prospective tool for imaging the skin structure. Aiming to increase the probing depth, a comparative ex vivo study of optical clearing of porcine ear skin was performed by using two optical clearing agents (OCAs), i.e., glycerol and iohexol (Omnipaque^TM) at different concentrations, which exhibit different osmotic properties. The results show that a topical application of glycerol or Omnipaque^TM solutions onto the skin for 60 min significantly improved the depth and contrast of the MPT signals. By utilizing 40%, 60% and 100% glycerol, and 60% and 100% Omnipaque^TM it was demonstrated that both agents improve autofluorescence and SHG (second harmonic generation) signals from the skin. At the applied concentrations and agent time exposure, glycerol is more effective than Omnipaque^TM. However, tissue shrinkage and cell morphology changes were found for highly concentrated glycerol solutions. Omnipaque^TM, on the contrary, increases the safety and has no or minimal tissue shrinkage during the optical clearing process. Moreover Omnipaque^TM allows for robust multimodal optical/X‐ray imaging with automatically matched optically cleared and X‐ray contrasted tissue volumes. These findings make Omnipaque^TM more prospective than glycerol for some particular application.

     

Non-Carrier Nanoparticles Adjuvant Modular Protein Vaccine in a Particle-Dependent Manner

Nanoparticles are increasingly used to adjuvant vaccine formulations due to their biocompatibility, ease of manufacture and the opportunity to tailor their size, shape, and physicochemical properties. The efficacy of similarly-sized silica (Si-OH), poly (D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and poly caprolactone (PCL) nanoparticles (nps) to adjuvant recombinant capsomere presenting antigenic M2e modular peptide from Influenza A virus (CapM2e) was investigated in vivo. Formulation of CapM2e with Si-OH or PLGA nps significantly boosted the immunogenicity of modular capsomeres, even though CapM2e was not actively attached to the nanoparticles prior to injection (i.e., formulation was by simple mixing). In contrast, PCL nps showed no significant adjuvant effect using this simple-mixing approach. The immune response induced by CapM2e alone or formulated with nps was antibody-biased with very high antigen-specific antibody titer and less than 20 cells per million splenocytes secreting interferon gamma. Modification of silica nanoparticle surface properties through amine functionalization and pegylation did not lead to significant changes in immune response. This study confirms that simple mixing-based formulation can lead to effective adjuvanting of antigenic protein, though with antibody titer dependent on nanoparticle physicochemical properties.     

Improved pregnancy and birth rates with routine application of nonsurgical embryo transfer

Nonsurgical embryo transfer (NSET) of blastocysts to pseudopregnant female recipients provides many benefits over surgical implantation with less distress for the mice, no anesthesia or analgesia required and a considerable reduction in implantation time per mouse. Although a disposable device to perform NSET is on the market since 2009, it is not generally used in transgenic facilities, most likely because surgical implantation is efficient and inexpensive. Here, we report that with several refinements to the original protocol, the NSET method becomes very attractive and outperforms the traditional surgical transfer on basis of pregnancy rate, birth rate and implantation-related discomfort. Furthermore, repeated use of the same NSET device on several recipient females reduces the costs to a reasonable level. The data presented covers all embryo transfers over the last 5 years at the transgenic facility of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, of which the last 2 years were performed exclusively with NSET.     

Differences in Body Fat Distribution Play a Role in the Lower Levels of Elevated Fasting Glucose amongst Ghanaian Migrant Women Compared to Men

Background

Despite higher levels of obesity, West African migrant women appear to have lower rates of type 2 diabetes than their male counterparts. We investigated the role of body fat distribution in these differences.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of Ghanaian migrants (97 men, 115 women) aged 18–60 years in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Weight, height, waist and hip circumferences were measured. Logistic regression was used to explore the association of BMI, waist and hip measurements with elevated fasting glucose (glucose≥5.6 mmol/L). Linear regression was used to study the association of the same parameters with fasting glucose.

Results

Mean BMI, waist and hip circumferences were higher in women than men while the prevalence of elevated fasting glucose was higher in men than in women, 33% versus 19%. With adjustment for age only, men were non-significantly more likely than women to have an elevated fasting glucose, odds ratio (OR) 1.81, 95% CI: 0.95, 3.46. With correction for BMI, the higher odds among men increased and were statistically significant (OR 2.84, 95% CI: 1.32, 6.10), but with consideration of body fat distribution (by adding both hip and waist in the analysis) differences were no longer significant (OR 1.56 95% CI: 0.66, 3.68). Analysis with fasting glucose as continuous outcome measure showed somewhat similar results.

Conclusion

Compared to men, the lower rates of elevated fasting glucose observed among Ghanaian women may be partly due to a more favorable body fat distribution, characterized by both hip and waist measurements.     

Enamel Matrix Derivative Inhibits Adipocyte Differentiation of 3T3-L1 Cells via Activation of TGF-βRI Kinase Activity

Enamel matrix derivative (EMD), an extract of fetal porcine enamel, and TGF-β can both suppress adipogenic differentiation. However, there have been no studies that functionally link the role of EMD and TGF-β in vitro. Herein, we examined whether TGF-β signaling contributes to EMD-induced suppression of adipogenic differentiation. Adipogenesis was studied with 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in the presence of SB431542, an inhibitor of TGF-βRI kinase activity. SB431542 reversed the inhibitory effect of EMD on adipogenic differentiation, based on Oil Red O staining and mRNA expression of lipid regulated genes. SB431542 also reduced EMD-stimulated expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), an autocrine inhibitor of adipogenic differentiation. Moreover, short interfering (si)RNAs for CTGF partially reversed the EMD-induced suppression of lipid regulated genes. We conclude that the TGF-βRI - CTGF axis is involved in the anti-adipogenic effects of EMD in vitro.