SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry of High-Density Lipoprotein

Background  

High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), one of the main plasma lipoproteins, serves as a docking station for proteins involved in inflammation, coagulation, and lipid metabolism.     

Biofilm reduction by a new burn gel that targets nociception

AIMS: To compare the ability of an amorphous first aid topical gel containing vinegar, citric acid and EDTA (RescuDerm(TM); RESC) and various derivative formulations to eradicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSEUD) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (STAPH) biofilms. METHODS AND RESULTS: 24-h biofilms prepared using the Minimum Biofilm Elimination Concentration (MBEC) Assay System were exposed for 4 or 24 h to the different gel formulations. Citric acid-free, acetic acid-free or acetic acid-free/sodium acetate-supplemented RESC gels reduced PSEUD and STAPH biofilm formation as effectively as RESC. Substituting the weak organic acids with equivalent concentrations of glacial acetic acid reduced the effectiveness of gel against PSEUD and STAPH biofilms by half, but viable bacterial counts still remained below 4 log(10) CFU/peg. Removal of gelling agent and/or EDTA enhanced efficacy against PSEUD but not STAPH biofilms. An acidified placebo gel formulation generated an only marginal bactericidal effect compared to that of RESC. CONCLUSIONS: RESC is a promising new antimicrobial agent. Its weak organic acid content, rather than merely acidic pH, mediates its considerable in vitro bactericidal efficacy against bacterial biofilms. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These data, taken together with the observation that RescuDerm possesses broad in vitro bactericidal activity against other pathogen species, suggest the potential usefulness of this product for controlling biofilm formation on a variety of cutaneous traumatic and surgical wounds.     

Genbank accession #: AF139098

Plant Molecular Biology -     

Simultaneous quantification of emtricitabine and tenofovir nucleotides in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using weak anion-exchange liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

Emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir (TFV) are widely used antiviral agents that require intracellular phosphorylation to become active. This article describes the development and validation of an assay for the simultaneous quantification of FTC mono-, di- and triphosphate (FTC-MP, -DP and -TP), TFV and TFV mono- and diphosphate (TFV-MP and -DP) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Reference compounds and internal standards were obtained by thermal degradation of FTC-TP, TFV-DP, stable isotope-labeled TFV-DP and stable isotope-labeled cytosine triphosphate. Cells were lysed in methanol:water (70:30, v/v) and the extracted nucleotides were analyzed using weak anion-exchange chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Calibration ranges in PBMC lysate from 0.727 to 36.4, 1.33 to 66.4 and 1.29 to 64.6 nM for FTC-MP, FTC-DP and FTC-TP and from 1.51 to 75.6, 1.54 to 77.2 and 2.54 to 127 nM for TFV, TFV-MP and TFV-DP, respectively, were validated. Accuracies were within ?10.3 and 16.7% deviation at the lower limit of quantification at which the coefficients of variation were less than 18.2%. At the other tested levels accuracies were within ?14.3 and 9.81% deviation and the coefficients of variation lower than 14.7%. The stability of the compounds was assessed under various analytically relevant conditions. The method was successfully applied to clinical samples.     

Molecular cloning of the nosiheptide resistance gene from Streptomyces actuosus ATCC 25421

An 8.5 kb BamHI DNA fragment conferring resistance to nosiheptide, a peptide antibiotic of the 'thiostrepton group', was cloned from Streptomyces actuosus ATCC 25421 in Streptomyces lividans 1326. Two BamHI fragments of S. actuosus, the 8.5 kb fragment and an additional 3.0 kb fragment, hybridized with a thiostrepton resistance gene probe (pIJ30). The 8.5 kb fragment showed a relatively low degree of homology with the thiostrepton resistance gene. The restriction map of the nosiheptide resistance gene isolated here was significantly different from the map of the thiostrepton resistance gene previously published.     

K+-transport protein TrkA of Escherichia coli is a peripheral membrane protein that requires other trk gene products for attachment to the cytoplasmic membrane

The TrkA protein, which is essential for the activity of the constitutive Trk K+-uptake system of Escherichia coli, is a peripheral membrane protein. The protein was detected in immunoblots by polyclonal antibodies to sodium dodecyl sulfate-denatured TrkA protein. In extracts from wild-type cells equal amounts of TrkA were found in the membrane and soluble fractions, suggesting that membrane binding is relatively weak. When the protein was moderately overproduced it appeared mainly in the soluble fraction; stronger overproduction led to the formation of aggregates that could not be solubilized by nonionic detergents. Mutations in the three other genes implicated in Trk activity, trkE, trkG, and trkH, reduced or abolished the binding of TrkA to the membrane. These results support the model, previously based solely on genetic data, that Trk is a multisubunit complex and implicates the products of the other trk genes in the normal binding of TrkA to the complex in the cytoplasmic membrane.