Pelodera (syn. Rhabditis) strongyloides as a cause of dermatitis – a report of 11 dogs from Finland

Background  

Pelodera (Rhabditis) strongyloides is a small saprophytic nematode that lives in decaying organic matter. On rare occasions, it can invade the mammalian skin, causing a pruritic, erythematous, alopecic and crusting dermatitis on skin sites that come into contact with the ground. Diagnosis of the disease is based on case history (a dog living outdoors on damp straw bedding) with characteristic skin lesions and on the demonstration of typical larvae in skin scrapings or biopsy. Pelodera (rhabditic) dermatitis cases have been reported mainly from Central European countries and the United States.     

The nature of amino acid substitution in antigenic drift of hemagglutinin N3 and neuraminidase N2 from the influenza virus

The nature of amino acid replacements in 16 drift variants of hemagglutinin H3 subtype and 5 drift variants of neuraminidase N2 subtype of the influenza A virus were studied. The dependences of relative replacement frequencies and relative quantities of frequent replacements upon differences of properties of substituted residues are plotted. In contrast to most of the known proteins, amino acid replacements in hemagglutinin and neuraminidase depend weakly on the physico-chemical parameters of amino acids. For the antigenic determinants studied the replacement frequencies were compared to those calculated according to two models: one for conservative replacements and the other for accidental mutation of the genetic code. The differences in the nature of amino acid replacements are found in four antigenic determinants of hemagglutinin. The replacements in experimentally selected proteins are shown to go beyond limitations of natural variants. The explanations of the reasons of low epidemicity of some strains and ineffective attempt to imitate the natural antigenic drift of viruses by using experimental selection are proposed. The causes of time-limited circulation of H3N2 influenza virus subtype are discussed.     

Agr2‐interacting Prod1‐like protein Tfp4 from Xenopus laevis is necessary for early forebrain and eye development as well as for the tadpole appendage regeneration

The Agr family genes, Ag1, Agr2, and Agr3, encode for the thioredoxin domain containing secreted proteins and are specific only for vertebrates. These proteins are attracting increasing attention due to their involvement in many physiological and pathological processes, including exocrine secretion, cancer, regeneration of the body appendages, and the early brain development. At the same time, the mode by which Agrs regulate intracellular processes are poorly understood. Despite that the receptor to Agr2, the membrane anchored protein Prod1, has been firstly discovered in Urodeles, and it has been shown to interact with Agr2 in the regenerating limb, no functional homologs of Prod1 were identified in other vertebrates. This raises the question of the mechanisms by which Agrs can regulate regeneration in other lower vertebrates. Recently, we have identified that Tfp4 (three‐fingers Protein 4), the structural and functional homolog of Prod1 in Anurans, interacts with Agr2 in Xenopus laevis embryos. In the present work we show by several methods that the activity of Tfp4 is essential for the tadpole tail regeneration as well as for the early eye and forebrain development during embryogenesis. These data show for the first time the common molecular mechanism of regeneration regulation in amphibians by interaction of Prod1 and Agr2 proteins.     

Algorithm and computer program Pro--Anal for analysis of relationship between structure and activity in a family of proteins or peptides

In this paper we introduce a computer algorithm and programPro—Anal for analysis of the structure-activity relationshipin a family of evolutionarily related (and/or artificially mutated)proteins/peptides. The program uses aligned amino acid sequenceswith data of their activity (pK, K_m, ED₅₀ or any other) andsearches for correlations between data on activity and variousphysico-chemical characteristics of different regions in primarystructures. In automatic mode, the program generates and verifieshypotheses on the disposition of a sequential modulating regionin a protein, and key characteristics of the region. In manualmode, users can generate and analyze their own hypotheses. Theprogram is implemented on IBM PC or compatible computers. Itis designed to be easily handled by the occasional computeruser and yet it is powerful enough for experienced professionals.Pro—Anal operation is demonstrated on the example of findingmodulating centers in a family of disintegrins—proteinsfrom snake venoms which inhibit fibrinogen interaction withplatelet receptors. In another example it is shown that theimmunogenicity of peptides is connected with their positivecharge.     

Bases and spaces: resources on the web for accessing the draft human genome - II - After publication of the draft

The volume of human genome sequence and the variety of web-based tools to access it continue to grow at an impressive rate, but a working knowledge of certain key resources can be sufficient to get the most from your genome. This article provides an update to Genome Biology 2000, 1(4):reviews2001.1-2001.5.