Angeli's salt induces neurotoxicity in dopaminergic neurons in vivo and in vitro

In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that the pro-oxidative properties of Angeli's salt (AS), a nitroxyl anion (HNO/NO -) releasing compound, cause neurotoxicity in dopaminergic neurons. The pro-oxidative properties were demonstrated in vitro by measuring hydroxylation products of salicylate and peroxidation of lipids under various redox conditions. AS (0-1000 μM) released high amounts of hydroxylating species in a concentration dependent manner. AS also increased lipid peroxidation in brain homogenates at concentrations below 100 μM, while inhibiting it at 1000 μM concentration. The AS induced pro-oxidative effects were completely suppressed by copper (II), which converts nitroxyl anion to nitric oxide, as well as by a potent nitroxyl anion scavenger glutathione. Neurotoxicity towards dopaminergic neurons was tested in rat nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in vivo and by using primary mesencephalic dopaminergic neuronal cultures in vitro . Intranigral infusion of AS (0-400 nmol) caused neurotoxicity reflected as a dose dependent decrease of striatal dopamine seven days after treatment. The effect of the 100 nmol dose was more pronounced when measured 50 days after the infusion. Neurotoxicity was also confirmed as a decrease of tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons in the substantia nigra. Neither sulphononoate, a close structural analog of AS, nor sodiumnitrite caused changes in striatal dopamine, thus reflecting lack of neurotoxicity. In primary dopaminergic neuronal cultures AS reduced [ 3 H] dopamine uptake with concentrations over 200 μM confirming neurotoxicity. In line with the quite low efficacy to increase lipid peroxidation in vitro , infusion of AS into substantia nigra did not cause increased formation of fluorescent products of lipid peroxidation. These results support the hypothesis that AS derived species oxidize critical thiol groups, rather than membrane lipids, potentially leading to protein oxidation/dysfunction and demonstrated neurotoxicity. These findings may have pathophysiological relevance in case of excess formation of nitroxyl anion.     

Type I and II β-turns prediction using NMR chemical shifts

A method for predicting type I and II β-turns using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts is proposed. Isolated β-turn chemical-shift data were collected from 1,798 protein chains. One-dimensional statistical analyses on chemical-shift data of three classes β-turn (type I, II, and VIII) showed different distributions at four positions, (i) to (i + 3). Considering the central two residues of type I β-turns, the mean values of C_ο, C_α, H_N, and N_H chemical shifts were generally (i + 1) > (i + 2). The mean values of C_β and H_α chemical shifts were (i + 1) < (i + 2). The distributions of the central two residues in type II and VIII β-turns were also distinguishable by trends of chemical shift values. Two-dimensional cluster analyses on chemical-shift data show positional distributions more clearly. Based on these propensities of chemical shift classified as a function of position, rules were derived using scoring matrices for four consecutive residues to predict type I and II β-turns. The proposed method achieves an overall prediction accuracy of 83.2 and 84.2 % with the Matthews correlation coefficient values of 0.317 and 0.632 for type I and II β-turns, indicating that its higher accuracy for type II turn prediction. The results show that it is feasible to use NMR chemical shifts to predict the β-turn types in proteins. The proposed method can be incorporated into other chemical-shift based protein secondary structure prediction methods.     

Determination of protein complex stoichiometry through multisignal sedimentation velocity experiments

Determination of the stoichiometry of macromolecular assemblies is fundamental to an understanding of how they function. Many different biophysical methodologies may be used to determine stoichiometry. In the past, both sedimentation equilibrium and sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation have been employed to determine component stoichiometries. Recently, a method of globally analyzing multisignal sedimentation velocity data was introduced by Schuck and coworkers. This global analysis removes some of the experimental inconveniences and inaccuracies that could occur in the previously used strategies. This method uses spectral differences between the macromolecular components to decompose the well-known c(s) distribution into component distributions c_k(s); that is, each component k has its own c_k(s) distribution. Integration of these distributions allows the calculation of the populations of each component in cosedimenting complexes, yielding their stoichiometry. In our laboratories, we have used this method extensively to determine the component stoichiometries of several protein-protein complexes involved in cytoskeletal remodeling, sugar metabolism, and host-pathogen interactions. The overall method is described in detail in this work, as are experimental examples and caveats.     

冬虫夏草(Cordyceps sinensis)的随机扩增多态DNA及其遗传分化

本文对来自青藏高原3个区域5个具有代表性地方的13个冬虫夏草(Cordyceps sinensis[Berk.] Sacc.)样本进行随机扩增多态DNA(RAPD)分析。19个随机引物获得的RAPD谱带清晰并呈现多态,单个引物获得的RAPD片段数在3～10个之间。该19个引物在每个样本中扩增的RAPD片段总数平均约为65个。基于遗传距离分析,受试的13个冬虫夏草样本中,来自同一地方的样本间遗传差异甚微,同一区域不同地方的样本间遗传差异较大,不同区域的样本间遗传差异最大。这说明冬虫夏草地理群体间存在着遗传分化。应用UPGMA和NJ方法构建的分子系统树显示,来自5个地方的冬虫夏草实际上可以归并为显著不同的3个组,对应于样本来源的3个区域,提示RAPD标记在冬虫夏草群体中有显著的地区特异性。我们的结果还表明,冬虫夏草地理群体间的遗传差异度与地理距离呈正相关。因此,RAPD作为有效的遗传标记,可用于研究冬虫夏草的遗传多样性、起源以及系统演化等。     

絮凝颗粒粒度分布对自絮凝酵母SPSC01乙醇耐受能力的影响

利用激光聚焦反射式颗粒测量系统, 通过调节不同的搅拌速率, 得到了分批补料培养条件下粒度分布不同的四个絮凝酵母SPSC01颗粒群体, 进而对絮凝颗粒群体分布对乙醇耐受性进行了系统研究。经过6 h、20%乙醇的冲击, 颗粒粒度为100、200、300和400 mm的自絮凝酵母SPSC01的存活率分别为3.5%、26.7%、48.8%和37.6%。这表明不同粒度分布的絮凝颗粒群体乙醇耐受性具有明显差别, 在一定粒度范围内乙醇耐受性达到最高, 乙醇耐受性最高的酵母群体的乙醇得率系数85.5%, 比乙醇耐性最低的颗粒群体提高了7.2%。粒度为100、200和300 mm的自絮凝酵母颗粒群体总麦角固醇、游离麦角固醇及海藻糖含量与粒度大小成正相关, 但在粒度为400 mm的絮凝颗粒群体中总麦角固醇、游离麦角固醇及海藻糖含量呈下降趋势, 与其乙醇耐性低于300 mm絮凝颗粒的结果相一致。对细胞膜透性的研究表明, 颗粒粒度为300 mm的絮凝酵母颗粒细胞膜通透性(P′)最低, 分别仅为颗粒粒度为100 mm和200 mm颗粒群体的43%和52%, 表明粒度分布不同的絮凝颗粒群体乙醇耐性的差别与细胞膜透性密切相关。     

Managing performance and power consumption tradeoff for multiple heterogeneous servers in cloud computing

There are typically multiple heterogeneous servers providing various services in cloud computing. High power consumption of these servers increases the cost of running a data center. Thus, there is a problem of reducing the power cost with tolerable performance degradation. In this paper, we optimize the performance and power consumption tradeoff for multiple heterogeneous servers. We consider the following problems: (1) optimal job scheduling with fixed service rates; (2) joint optimal service speed scaling and job scheduling. For problem (1), we present the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions and provide a closed-form solution. For problem (2), both continuous speed scaling and discrete speed scaling are considered. In discrete speed scaling, the feasible service rates are discrete and bounded. We formulate the problem as an MINLP problem and propose a distributed algorithm by online value iteration, which has lower complexity than a centralized algorithm. Our approach provides an analytical way to manage the tradeoff between performance and power consumption. The simulation results show the gain of using speed scaling, and also prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.     

Different antigen presentation tendencies of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor-induced bone marrow-derived macrophages and peritoneal macrophages

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-induced bone marrow-derived cells (BMCs) and primary peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) are usually used for antigen presentation in in vitro experiments. In order to expound their tendency for uptake and antigen presentation, we compared differences in the degree of phagocytosis, the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, and the activation of T lymphocytes between these two cell types. These assays used the F4/80 marker expression, as it is the general marker for macrophages. The BMC population was found to contain both F4/80(bright) and F4/80(dim) subtypes, while PECs were mainly composed of the F4/80(bright) subtype. Expression levels of cell surface co-stimulatory molecules, CD80, CD86, CD54, and CD40, were significantly higher for F4/80(+)BMCs than F4/80(+)PECs. Their expressions were further upregulated for F4/80(+)BMCs than for F4/80(+)PECs after stimulation with flagellin. F4/80(+)BMCs had a weaker ability to phagocytize microbeads than F4/80(+)PECs (P?相似文献