Frontonasal dysplasia or the median cleft face syndrome: a case report

Frontonasal dysplasia (FND) is a condition with a more or less severe ocular hypertelorism and, sometimes, a narrowing of the palpebral fissures. The nose is broad and flattened with clefting; it may be bifid or completely divided in two halves. In extreme cases, the central nervous system is concerned and there is a mental deficiency. There is no coronal craniosynostosis in pure FND. Other malformations can be observed. Among the cases reported in the literature, most of them are sporadic but they may be familial. We report here a sporadic case of F.N.D. in which scan examination of the brain shows a possible cephalocele. The literature is briefly reviewed.     

Adaptation to cold and proteomic responses of the psychrotrophic biopreservative Lactococcus piscium strain CNCM I-4031

There is considerable interest in the use of psychrotrophic bacteria for food biopreservation and in the understanding of cold adaptation mechanisms. The psychrotrophic biopreservative Lactococcus piscium strain CNCM I-4031 was studied for its growth behavior and proteomic responses after cold shock and during cold acclimation. Growth kinetics highlighted the absence of growth latency after cold shock, suggesting a very high promptness in cold adaptation, a behavior that has never been described before for lactic acid bacteria (LAB). A comparative proteomic analysis was applied with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), and upregulated proteins were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Both cold shock and cold acclimation triggered the upregulation of proteins involved in general and oxidative stress responses and fatty acid and energetic metabolism. However, 2-DE profiles and upregulated proteins were different under both conditions, suggesting a sequence of steps in cold adaptation. In addition, the major 7-kDa Csp protein was identified in the L. piscium CNCM I-4031 genome but was not cold regulated. The implication of the identified cold shock proteins and cold acclimation proteins in efficient cold adaptation, the possible regulation of a histidyl phosphocarrier protein, and the roles of a constitutive major 7-kDa Csp are discussed.     

A New Taxane with an Opened Oxetane Ring from the Needles of Taxus cuspidata

A new taxoid metabolite was isolated from the MeOH extract of Taxus cuspidata needles. The structure was established as (2α,5α,7β,9α,10β,13α)‐10,13,20‐tris(acetyloxy)‐1,4,5,7,9‐pentahydroxytax‐11‐en‐2‐yl benzoate ( 1 ) on the basis of spectral analyses including ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR, HMQC, HMBC, and NOESY, and confirmed by HR‐FAB‐MS.     

Expression, purification and characterization of the human membrane transporter protein OATP2B1 from Sf9 insect cells

OATP2B1 is an important member of the organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATP) family and is implicated in the intestinal and hepatic disposition of endo- and xenobiotics. The purpose of this work was to produce a highly purified protein for use as a reference standard for quantification of OATP2B1 in human tissue and in vitro assay systems. Here, we report the successful expression, purification and characterization of OATP2B1 in a heterologous expression system. Protein expressed by the Sf9-baculovirus expression system is functionally active as demonstrated by saturable uptake kinetics with a K(m) of 5.9+/-0.76 microM for estrone-3-sulfate. OATP2B1 was extracted from Sf9-membranes with ABS-14-4 detergent and purified using a one-step FLAG-tag purification method. Yield of OATP2B1 from Sf9 cells was 1.1mg per liter of culture, for a final recovery of 1.8%. SDS-PAGE resolution and Western blot of purified protein displayed multiple banding of OATP2B1-specific protein, which was thoroughly investigated to confirm homogeneity of the sample. C-terminal FLAG-tag purification and immunoblot detection, together with N-terminal sequencing, confirmed the presence of only full-length protein. Treatment with endoglycosidases had little effect on the migration pattern in SDS-PAGE, suggesting that multiple banding was not due to different glycosylation states of the protein. Amino acid analysis further confirmed the homogeneity of the protein with a calculated extinction coefficient of 80,387 cm(-1) M(-1). Physical, biochemical and functional characterization show that purified human OATP2B1 is pure, homogeneous and appropriate for use as a standard to quantitate expression of OATP2B1 in in vitro systems and tissue samples.     

Energy Metabolism and Quantal Acetylcholine Release: Effects of Botulinum Toxin, l-Fluoro-2,4-Dinitrobenzene, and Diamide in the Torpedo Electric Organ

In the Torpedo electric organ, a modified nerve-muscle system, type A botulinum toxin blocked the release of acetylcholine (ACh) quanta, both neurally evoked and spontaneous. At the same time, the toxin increased the release of a class of small miniature potentials (the subminiature potentials), reduced the ATP and more the creatine phosphate content of the tissue, and impaired the activity of creatine kinase (CK). Thus, we compared this pattern of changes with those provoked by 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (FDNB), an efficient inhibitor of CK. As expected, FDNB rapidly inactivated CK, which resulted in a profound depletion of ATP whereas the stores of creatine phosphate were preserved. In addition, FDNB caused conspicuous morphological alterations of nerve endings and ACh depletion. This agent also suppressed evoked and spontaneous quantal release whereas the occurrence of subminature potentials was markedly increased. Diamide, a penetrating thiol oxidizing substance, provoked first a transient rise in quantal ACh release and then blockade of transmission with, again, production of a large number of subminiature potentials. Creatine phosphate was depleted in the tissue by diamide, the ATP content reduced, and CK activity partly inhibited. The morphology of nerve terminals did not show obvious changes with either diamide or botulinum toxin at the stage of transmission failure. Although the three poisons acted by different mechanisms, this resulted in a rather similar pattern of physiological changes: failure of quantal release and enhancement of subquantal release. These results and experiments on synaptosomes indicated that CK inhibition was probably a crucial mechanism for FDNB but not for diamide or botulinum intoxication.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Dynamics of the response of cyanobacteria to salt stress: Deciphering the molecular events

Cyanobacteria, the only prokaryotes performing oxygemc photosynthesis and probable ancestors of chloroplasts, constitute valuable models for the study of the molecular mechanisms involved in tolerance to high salinity, or to its corollary, drought, a major agricultural problem. The critical demands of cyanobacteria exposed to high salinity, i.e., accumulation of osmoprotectors and extrusion of sodium ions, are met through immediate activation and/or long term (protein synthesis-dependent) adaptation of various processes: (1) uptake and endogenous biosynthesis of osmotica, the nature and amount of which are strain- and salt concentration-dependent; (2) enhancement of P-ATPase activity and active extrusion of sodium ions; (3) probable modifications of membrane lipid composition: and (4) increased energetic capacity, at the level of cyclic electron flow around photosystem I (through routes induced under these conditions) and cytochrome c oxidase. The processes involved highlight similarities with general stress responses and with salt stress responses in plants. Deciphering the molecular and genetic events regulating these coordinated responses is presently starting in cyanobacteria.