Use of an inducible reporter gene system for the analysis of auxin distribution in the moss<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Physcomitrella patens</Emphasis>

The plant hormone auxin plays a major role in a variety of growth and developmental responses, even in the more ancient plants-for example, cell differentiation in mosses. Nevertheless, almost nothing is known about the distribution of auxin during moss development. To address this question, we characterised auxin distribution in the moss Physcomitrella patens using auxin-inducible reporter gene systems. Stable transgenic Physcomitrella plants were produced expressing the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene driven by the auxin-inducible promoters GH3 and DR5, respectively. Both fusions showed remarkable differences with respect to auxin-induced promoter strength and expression kinetics. A detailed characterisation of the GUS expression pattern in different developmental stages revealed that the highest auxin concentrations were in dividing and ontogenetic young cells.     

Multicenter evaluation of the phosphorylcholine-coated biodivYsio stent in short de novo coronary lesions: The SOPHOS study

AIMS: The BiodivYsio trade mark stent (Biocompatibles Ltd, Farnham, UK) is coated with a phosphorylcholine (PC)-containing copolymer to confer biocompatibility. The SOPHOS (Study Of PHosphorylcholine coating On Stents) study was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of this novel coronary stent and by indirect comparison to indicate equivalence with other formal stent studies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with angina and a single short (#x2A7F;12 mm) de novo lesion in a native coronary artery of >/=2.75 mm diameter were included. A total of 425 patients were allocated in 24 centers. Clinical data were collected at one-, six- and nine-month follow-up. Angiography was performed before and after the stent implantation. In addition, in the first 200 patients (SOPHOS A) angiography was routinely performed at six months. The following 225 patients (SOPHOS B) were merely followed up clinically. The primary end-point of the study, the six-month MACE-rate (MACE = Major Adverse Cardiac Events) was 13.4% (two cardiac death; five Q-wave/nine non-Q-wave myocardial infarctions (MI); nine CABG and 32 target lesion revascularization (TLR), which is similar to the calculated 15% MACE-rate in comparable reference studies. Secondary end-points included among others restenosis at six months in the SOPHOS A population. The target vessel diameter was 2.98 +/- 0.48 mm. Minimal lumen diameter pre/post procedure and at follow-up was 1.00 +/- 0.32, 2.69 +/- 0.37, 1.91 +/- 0.71 mm, respectively. The binary restenosis rate (>/=50% diameter stenosis at follow-up) was 17.7%. CONCLUSION: The coronary BiodivYsio stent is safe and effective as a primary device for the treatment of native coronary artery lesions in patients with stable or unstable angina pectoris. Clinical and angiographic results are in the statistical range of equivalence with comparable studies with other current stents.     

The Structure of Uncommon Lipid A from the Marine Bacterium <Emphasis Type="Italic">Marinomonas communis</Emphasis> ATCC 27118<Superscript>T</Superscript>

Lipid A was obtained in a high yield (27%) by the hydrolysis of lipopolysaccharide from the marine gamma proteobacterium Marinomonas communis ATCC 27118^T with 1% AcOH. Using chemical analysis and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometric methods, it was shown to be β-1′,6-linked D-glucosaminobiose 1-phosphate acylated with (R)-3-dodecanoyl- or (R)-3-decanoyloxydecanoic acid, (R)-3-{(R)-3-hydroxydecanoyloxy)]decanoic acid and (R)-3-hydroxydecanoic acid at the C2, C2′ and C3 positions, respectively. Uncommon structural peculiarities (a low acylation and phosphorylation degree) of the M .communis lipid A in comparison with those of terrestrial bacteria may be of pharmacological interest. The potential physiological meaning of this lipid A and compounds of similar structure are discussed.__________Translated from Bioorganicheskaya Khimiya, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2005, pp. 404–413.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Vorob’eva, A. Dmitrenok, P. Dmitrenok, Isakov, Krasikova, Solov’eva.The article was translated by the authors.     

Interactions of Platinum and Ruthenium Coordination Complexes with Pancreatic Phospholipase A2 and Phospholipids Investigated by MALDI TOF Mass Spectrometry

Phospholipase A₂ is involved in propagation of inflammatory processes and carcinogenesis through its role in phospholipid metabolism, and release of arachidonic acid and lysophospholipids. Recent findings on correlation between elevated PLA₂ activity and metastatic cancer render this enzyme an attractive target for cancer therapy. On the other hand, due to a broad range of oxidation states under physiological conditions and a high affinity for protein binding, platinum and ruthenium coordination complexes are promising candidates for PLA₂ inhibitors. In this article, we discuss the interactions of Pt and Ru coordination complexes with PLA₂ and phospholipids, as well as the application of MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry for screening PLA₂ inhibitors. Owing to the ability of this technique to simultaneously detect and monitor changes in substrate and product concentrations, the inhibitor mechanisms of both Pt and Ru complexes with various ligands were determined.     

Tyrosine-specific MAPK phosphatases and the control of ERK signaling in PC12 cells

Background

Spatio-temporal control of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity, a critical determinant of the cell's response to growth factors, requires timely dephosphorylation of its regulatory tyrosine and/or threonine residue by MAPK phosphatases. We studied the physiological role of kinase interaction motif (KIM)-containing protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) in the control of EGF- and NGF-induced ERK activity in neuroendocrine PC12 cells.

Results

We found a single KIM-containing PTP to be endogenously expressed in rat PC12 cells: the transmembrane PTPRR isoform termed PCPTP1. Protein knock-down of PCPTP1, or fourfold overexpression of its mouse orthologue, PTPBR7, left EGF- and NGF-induced ERK1/2 activity in PC12 cells unaltered. Ectopic expression of cytosolic PTPRR isoforms, however, resulted in reduced EGF-induced ERK1/2 activity, an effect that was dependent on the phosphatase activity and the KIM-domain of these PTPs.

Conclusion

The finding that robust changes in tyrosine-specific MAPK phosphatase expression levels have minor effects on temporal ERK1/2 activity control in PC12 cells suggests that dual-specificity MAPK phosphatases may act as major regulators of growth factor-induced ERK1/2 signaling in these cells.     

The lipid status of young of the year mykiss <Emphasis Type="Italic">Parasalmo mykiss</Emphasis> and coho salmon <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oncorhynchus kisutch</Emphasis>

The young of the year mykiss Parasalmo mykiss and coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch which perform downstream migration and which stay in the coastal zone during the period of primary dispersion represent different phenotypic groups. They differ in weight, length, and lipid status. Such differentiation is a factor controlling the formation of intrapopulation diversity and of the life strategy of fish. It may determine the timing of smoltification in the future and, further on, of the return for spawning. There were found some analogies and differences in characteristics of lipid metabolism in the investigated species. The content of total lipids decreases by autumn in underyearlings of both species. Furthermore, changes in the content of particular lipid fractions are multidirectional and various scaled, seemingly being related to physiological preparation for the wintering.     

Transferrin receptor activity in rat mammary epithelial cells

The binding of 125I-transferrin to rat mammary cells isolated by collagenase and hyaluronidase digestion has been investigated. Surface binding was determined at 4 degrees C and total binding also at 4 degrees C but in the presence of 0.1% w/v saponin. KD values between 20 and 25 nM were obtained. Binding assays at 37 degrees C showed the internalisation of the receptor and the bound transferrin was occurring but also provided evidence for an impaired recycling of the receptors to the cell surface in the freshly isolated cells. No differences in total binding were observed in cells prepared at different stages of lactation with a mean value of 29 fmol transferrin bound/micrograms cellular DNA, equivalent to 180,000 receptors per cell.     

OmpC-like porin from outer membrane of Yersinia enterocolitica: Molecular structure and functional activity

OmpC-like porin was isolated from the outer membrane (OM) of Yersinia enterocolitica cultured at 37°C (the “warm” variant) and its physicochemical and functional properties were studied. The amino acid sequence of OmpC porin was established, and the primary structure and transmembrane topology of this protein were analyzed in comparison with the OmpF porin isolated from Y. enterocolitica cultured at 6°C (the “cold” variant). Both porins of Y. enterocolitica had a high homology degree (65%) between themselves and with OmpC and OmpF porins from OM of Escherichia coli (58 and 76% homology, respectively). The secondary structure of OmpC and OmpF porins from OM of Y. enterocolitica consists of 16 β-strands connected by short “periplasmic” and longer “extracellular” loops with disordered structure, according to the topological model developed for porins of E. coli. The molecular structures of OmpC and OmpF porins of Y. enterocolitica have significant differences in the structure of the “extracellular” loops and in the position of one of three tryptophan residues. Using the bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) technique, pores formed by OmpC porin of Y. enterocolitica were shown to differ in electrophysiological characteristics from channels of OmpF protein of this microorganism. The isolated OmpC porin reconstructed into BLM displayed functional plasticity similarly to OmpF protein and nonspecific porins of other enterobacteria. The conductivity level of the channels formed by this protein in the BLM was regulated by value of the applied potential.     

Using co-occurrence network structure to extract synonymous gene and protein names from MEDLINE abstracts

Background  

Text-mining can assist biomedical researchers in reducing information overload by extracting useful knowledge from large collections of text. We developed a novel text-mining method based on analyzing the network structure created by symbol co-occurrences as a way to extend the capabilities of knowledge extraction. The method was applied to the task of automatic gene and protein name synonym extraction.