Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Control Encoding and Retrieval of Associative Recognition Memory through Plasticity in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

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Length–weight relationship of five commercially important freshwater fish species in the Kashmir Valley,India

Length–weight relationships were analysed for five commercially important freshwater fishes, namely, Bangana diplostoma (Heckel, 1838), Schizopyge niger (Heckel, 1838), Schizothorax curvifrons (Heckel, 1838), Schizothorax plagiostomus (Heckel, 1838) and Glyptosternon reticulatum (McClelland, 1842) from different water bodies in the Kashmir Valley, India. A total of 610 samples were collected between October 2013 and May 2015 using various indigenous cast nets. Of these five species, Schizopyge niger has a new maximum length record for the FishBase LWR database.     

Chemical and Genetic Comparative Analysis of Gentiana crassicaulis and Gentiana macrophylla

Gentiana crassicaulis Duthie ex Burk . and Gentiana macrophylla Pall . are two main sources of Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae (Qinjiao) available in markets, which has a wide range of anti‐inflammatory effects and has been extensively used for fighting rheumatoid arthritis. However, they vary in terms of chemical compositions, pharmacological activities, and biomass. In this study, a combined chemical and genetic (HPLC and DNA barcoding) approach was used to compare these two plants. Four predominant bioactive compounds, namely, gentiopicroside, loganic acid, swertiamarin, and sweroside, were used to assess the chemical variations. Based on chemical variations, 15 samples were clustered into two groups through PCA analyses. DNA barcoding utilizing the variable nuclear ITS2 regions were sequenced, aligned, and compared. Together with 61 sequences collected from GenBank, 76 batches of Qinjiao were clustered in two groups according to species origin. The genetic relationships indicated by the ITS2‐based NJ tree were consistent with the chemical variations. Thus, the chemical profiles determined by HPLC and DNA profiles obtained from ITS2 region could be applied for the quality control of Qinjiao.     

Anaerobic metabolism of 2-amino-3-methyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) by human fecal flora

Incubation of the heterocyclic cooked food mutagen IQ with mixed human fecal microflora under anaerobic conditions yielded 2-amino-3,6-dihydro-3-methyl-7H-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline-7-one (2) as the major detectable metabolite.     

16-epi-19-S-vindolinine,an indoline alkaloid from Catharanthus roseus

Studies on the alkaloids of Catharanthus roseus have resulted in the isolation of a new alkaloid, to which the structure of 16-epi-19-S-vindolinine has been assigned.     

A 3-bp deletion in the rhodopsin gene in a family with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.

Autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP) has recently been linked to locus D3S47 (probe C17), with no recombination, in a single large Irish family. Other ADRP pedigrees have shown linkage at zero recombination, linkage with recombination, and no linkage, demonstrating genetic heterogeneity. The gene encoding rhodopsin, the rod photoreceptor pigment, is closely linked to locus D3S47 on chromosome 3q. A point mutation changing a conserved proline to histidine in the 23d codon of the gene has been demonstrated in affected members of one ADRP family and in 17 of 148 unrelated ADRP patients. We have sequenced the rhodopsin gene in a C17-linked ADRP family and have identified in the 4th exon and in-frame 3-bp deletion which deletes one of the two isoleucine monomers at codons 255 and 256. This mutation was not found in 30 other unrelated ADRP families. The deletion has arisen in the sequence TCATCATCAT, deleting one of a run of three x 3-bp repeats. The mechanism by which this occurred may be similar to that which creates length variation in so-called mini- and microsatellites. Thus ADRP is an extremely heterogeneous disorder which can result from a range of defects in rhodopsin and which can have a locus or loci elsewhere in the genome.     

Model-assisted formate dehydrogenase-O (fdoH) gene knockout for enhanced succinate production in Escherichia coli from glucose and glycerol carbon sources

Succinic acid is an important platform chemical that has broad applications and is been listed as one of the top twelve bio-based chemicals produced from biomass by the US Department of Energy. The metabolic role of Escherichia coli formate dehydrogenase-O (fdoH) under anaerobic conditions in relation to succinic acid production remained largely unspecified. Herein we report, what are to our knowledge, the first metabolic fdoH gene knockout that have enhanced succinate production using glucose and glycerol substrates in E. coli. Using the most recent E. coli reconstruction iJO1366, we engineered its host metabolism to enhance the anaerobic succinate production by deleting the fdoH gene, which blocked H⁺ conduction across the mutant cell membrane for the enhanced succinate production. The engineered mutant strain BMS4 showed succinate production of 2.05 g l^?1 (41.2-fold in 7 days) from glycerol and .39 g l^?1 (6.2-fold in 1 day) from glucose. This work revealed that a single deletion of the fdoH gene is sufficient to increase succinate production in E. coli from both glucose and glycerol substrates.     

Tissue Matching and Early Rejection of Cadaveric-Donor Renal Allografts: The Importance of Unidentified Donor Antigens

Tissue typing has been reviewed in a series of 100 technically successful cadaveric-donor kidney grafts. The criterion of transplant failure was immunological rejection causing total loss of function within three months of operation.No significant correlation was observed between matching grade and graft failure due to early acute rejection. This is attributed to the failure to detect at least one “LA” or “4” antigen (as defined in our laboratory), representing a potential incompatibility, in 89% of the grafts, and in the remaining 11% to the lack of an available recipient with identical “LA” and “4” typing. Undetected antigens on the donor are usually incompatible, and probably these incompatibilities unfavourably influence early graft survival.If the results of cadaveric-donor renal transplantation are to equal those of transplantation from well-matched living related donors it will be necessary to type with sera which can recognize individually all HL-A antigens, including those not yet identified, and to create an international pool of over 1,000 potential recipients.     

Nitric oxide in blood. The nitrosative-oxidative disequilibrium hypothesis on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease

There is growing evidence that altered production and/or spatio-temporal distribution of reactive oxidant species and reactive nitrosative species in blood creates oxidative and/or nitrosative stresses in the failing myocardium and endothelium. This contributes to the abnormal cardiac and vascular phenotypes that characterize cardiovascular disease. These derangements at the system level can now be interpreted at the integrated cellular and molecular levels in terms of effects on signaling elements in the heart and vasculature. The end results of nitric oxide/redox disequilibrium have implications for cardiac and vascular homeostasis and may result in the development of atherosclerosis, myocardial tissue remodelling and hypertrophy. Reactive oxygen species/reactive nitrogen species generation is also attributed to the transit from hypertrophic to apoptotic phenotypes, a possible mechanism of myocardial failure. In this review, we highlight the possible roles of altered production and/or spatio-temporal distribution of reactive oxidant species and reactive nitrosative species in blood on the pathogenesis of the failing cardiovascular system.