Einbau von 14C-mevalonsäurelacton in hopfenbitterstoffe

Labeled mevalonate is incorporated into terpenes and hop bitter compounds by Humulus lupulus. The role of mevalonate as a precursor for the prenyl (3-methyl-but-2-enyl) side chain of the hop bitter compounds is discussed.     

Configurational assignments of C-nitromethyl-C-hydroxy branched-chain carbohydrate derivatives by use of a europium shift-reagent in 1 H-N.M.R. spectroscopy

Configurational assignments for the tertiary alcoholic centers of four branched-chain 3-C-nitromethylglycopyranosides, namely, methyl 2-benzamido-4,6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-3-C-nitromethyl-α-D-allopyranoside (1), benzyl 2-acetamido-4,6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-3-C-nitromethyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (4), benzyl 2-acetamido-4,6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-3-C-nitromethyl-α-D-allopyranoside (5), and methyl 4,6-O-benzylidene-3-C-nitromethyl-2-O-p-tolylsulfonyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (8), were made on the basis of the downfield chemical shifts of their identifiable protons per molar equivalent of added Eu(fod)₃, as compared with those of model compounds, of known configuration, having a close structural relationship. In some cases, the assignments were corroborated by the position of the acetyl resonances in the unshifted 60-MHz p.m.r. spectra of the corresponding O-acetyl derivatives.     

A family with a high risk of segregation for an autosomal unbalanced reciprocal translocation

Summary A family with autosomal reciprocal translocation t(4;13) (q25;q31) with a sibship comprising 2 children with unbalanced karyotypes, der(13) partial trisomy 4q, 1 child with the balanced translocation, and 2 abortions were studied. The segregation risk of unbalanced derivation in reciprocal translocations is discussed. The clinical picture of the 2 children with partial trisomy 4q is compared with similar cases.     

Prevalence of Edwards' syndrome. Clustering and seasonal variation?

Summary The incidence of Edwards' syndrome was found to be 1 per 4857 newborn children of 34000 consecutively newborn children in two Danish counties. Six of the 7 cases were born during the months of February through April.The incidence was high compared with the expected incidence of Edwards' syndrome of approximately 1 per 10000. This might be due to clustering in the area studied during the period 1967 to 1973.The finding of variations in incidence of children with Edwards' syndrome in different parts of the world, as well as the finding of seasonal variation in birth of such children, indicates that some of the etiological factors of nondisjunction of chromosome 18 are of an environmental nature.     

6种草本植物对干旱胁迫和CO2浓度升高交互作用的生长响应

以CO2浓度升高为主要标志的全球气候变化及由其引起的极端气候变化对陆地生态系统产生了重要的影响。利用步入式CO2生长室模拟研究了CO2浓度变化(400和700μL/L)和干旱胁迫(水分充足CK:100%FC(田间持水量);中度干旱MS:40%FC;重度干旱SS:20%FC)的交互作用对草本植物网果酸模(Rumex chalepensis)、野豌豆(Vicia sepium)、泥胡菜(Hemmistepta lyrata)、风轮菜(Clinopodium chinense)、藜(Chenopodium album)和玉米石(Sedum album)生长特性的影响。结果表明:CO2浓度升高总体上刺激了网果酸模、野豌豆、泥胡菜、风轮菜和藜这5种C3植物在任何水分条件下的生长,也刺激了玉米石在水分条件较好下的生长;干旱胁迫总体上抑制了所有6种植物的生长,但中度干旱胁迫有刺激CAM植物玉米石生长的趋势。CO2浓度升高能否缓解干旱的负面影响具有明显的种间差异:CO2浓度升高减缓了干旱胁迫对泥胡菜和风轮菜的负面影响,这种缓解作用在网果酸模和野豌豆中显著降低,对藜没有明显的促进作用,对干旱下的玉米石的生长却起到了抑制作用。CO2浓度升高总体上增加了根质量分数和干物质含量;干旱胁迫明显提高了6种草本植物的根生物量的分配比例,降低了干物质含量;但CO2浓度升高和干旱胁迫的交互作用可导致不同的物种产生不同的响应,说明植物能够通过调节生物量分配和植株本身的水分含量保持能力来适应CO2浓度和干旱胁迫的交互影响,这种调节能力取决于植物在碳的吸收和水分散失之间的平衡"trade-off"。研究结果有助于增进草本植物对未来气候变化的适应性理解,为评估和预测全球气候和水文变化对植物的生理生态影响提供理论依据。     

Ceramide levels in blood plasma correlate with major depressive disorder severity and its neutralization abrogates depressive behavior in mice

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe disease of unknown pathogenesis that will affect ∼10% of people during their lifetime. Therapy for MDD requires prolonged treatment and often fails, predicating a need for novel treatment strategies. Here, we report increased ceramide levels in the blood plasma of MDD patients and in murine stress-induced models of MDD. These blood plasma ceramide levels correlated with the severity of MDD in human patients and were independent of age, sex, or body mass index. In addition, intravenous injection of anti-ceramide antibodies or neutral ceramidase rapidly abrogated stress-induced MDD, and intravenous injection of blood plasma from mice with MDD induced depression-like behavior in untreated mice, which was abrogated by ex vivo preincubation of the plasma with anti-ceramide antibodies or ceramidase. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that ceramide accumulated in endothelial cells of the hippocampus of stressed mice, evidenced by the quantitative measurement of ceramide in purified hippocampus endothelial cells. We found ceramide inhibited the activity of phospholipase D (PLD) in endothelial cells in vitro and in the hippocampus in vivo and thereby decreased phosphatidic acid in the hippocampus. Finally, we show intravenous injection of PLD or phosphatidic acid abrogated MDD, indicating the significance of this pathway in MDD pathogenesis. Our data indicate that ceramide controls PLD activity and phosphatidic acid formation in hippocampal endothelial cells and thereby mediates MDD. We propose that neutralization of plasma ceramide could represent a rapid-acting targeted treatment for MDD.     

Engagement of TRAIL triggers degranulation and IFNγ production in human natural killer cells

NK cells utilize a large array of receptors to screen their surroundings for aberrant or virus‐infected cells. Given the vast diversity of receptors expressed on NK cells we seek to identify receptors involved in the recognition of HIV‐1‐infected cells. By combining an unbiased large‐scale screening approach with a functional assay, we identify TRAIL to be associated with NK cell degranulation against HIV‐1‐infected target cells. Further investigating the underlying mechanisms, we demonstrate that TRAIL is able to elicit multiple effector functions in human NK cells independent of receptor‐mediated induction of apoptosis. Direct engagement of TRAIL not only results in degranulation but also IFNγ production. Moreover, TRAIL‐mediated NK cell activation is not limited to its cognate death receptors but also decoy receptor I, adding a new perspective to the perceived regulatory role of decoy receptors in TRAIL‐mediated cytotoxicity. Based on these findings, we propose that TRAIL not only contributes to the anti‐HIV‐1 activity of NK cells but also possesses a multifunctional role beyond receptor‐mediated induction of apoptosis, acting as a regulator for the induction of different effector functions.