Functional Effects of Adiponectin on Endothelial Progenitor Cells

Adiponectin is an adipokine whose plasma levels are inversely correlated to metabolic syndrome components. Adiponectin protects against atherosclerosis and decreases risks in myocardial infarction. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are a heterogeneous population of circulating cells involved in vascular repair and neovascularization. EPCs number is reduced in patients with cardiovascular disease. We hypothesize that the positive effects of adiponectin against atherosclerosis are explained in part by its interactions with EPCs. Cells were obtained from healthy volunteers' blood by mononuclear cell isolation and plating on collagen‐coated dishes. Three sub‐populations of EPCs were identified and characterized using flow cytometry. EPCs' expression of adiponectin receptors, AdipoR1, and AdipoR2 was evaluated by quantitative PCR. The effects of recombinant adiponectin on EPCs' susceptibility to apoptosis were assessed. Finally, expression of neutrophil elastase by EPCs and activity of this enzyme on adiponectin processing were assessed. Quantitative PCR analysis of EPCs mRNAs showed that AdipoR1 mRNA is expressed at higher levels than AdipoR2. Expression of AdipoR1 protein was confirmed by western blot. Adiponectin significantly increased survival of two sub‐populations of EPCs in conditions of serum deprivation. Such effect could not be demonstrated in the third EPCs sub‐population. We also demonstrated that EPCs, particularly one sub‐population, express neutrophil elastase. Neutrophil elastase activity was confirmed in EPCs' conditioned media. Adiponectin protects some EPCs sub‐populations against apoptosis and therefore could modulate EPCs ability to induce repair of vascular damage. Neutrophil elastase activity of EPCs could locally modulate adiponectin activity by its involvement in the generation of the globular form of adiponectin.     

On the classification of Calligonum juochiangense and C. pumilum (Polygonaceae)

After observing specimens of Calligonum pumilum Losinsk. and C. juochiangense Y. X. Liou in both the field and in herbarium collections, it was found that the morphological characters of these two species are quite different, especially with respect of the twisted direction of fruit ribs, number of bristle rows along each rib, rigidity and degree of interweaving of bristles, as well as their geographic distribution. Therefore, it is concluded that C. pumilum and C. juochiangense should be accepted as two independent species.     

Engineering of Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase Lip: creation of novel biocatalyst for efficient biosynthesis of chiral intermediate of Pregabalin

Efficient and highly enantioselective hydrolysis of 2-carboxyethyl-3-cyano-5-methylhexanoic acid ethyl ester (CNDE) is the most crucial step in chemoenzymatic synthesis of Pregabalin. By using site-saturation mutagenesis and high-throughput screening techniques, lipase Lip from Thermomyces lanuginosus DSM 10635 was engineered to improve its activity towards CNDE. The triple mutant, S88T/A99N/V116D exhibited a 60-fold improvement in specific activity for CNDE (2.35 U/mg) over the wild-type Lip (0.039 U/mg). Modeling and docking studies demonstrated that the mutant could more effectively stabilize oxygen anions in transition states and the lid of Lip in the open conformation. Additionally, the kinetic resolution of CNDE catalyzed by Escherichia coli cell overexpressing S88T/A99N/V116D mutant afforded (3S)-2-carboxyethyl-3-cyano-5-methylhexanoic acid in 42.4 % conversion and 98 % ee within 20 h with a substrate loading of 1 M (255 g/l). These results demonstrated that a novel and promising biocatalyst was created for efficient chemoenzymatic manufacturing of Pregabalin.     

Farms,pastures and woodlands: the fine‐scale distribution of Palearctic Culicoides spp. biting midges along an agro‐ecological gradient

The spatial epidemiology of Bluetongue virus (BTV) at the landscape level relates to the fine‐scale distribution and dispersal capacities of its vectors, midges belonging to the genus Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Although many previous researches have carried out Culicoides sampling on farms, little is known of the fine‐scale distribution of Culicoides in the landscape immediately surrounding farms. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of Culicoides populations at increasing distances from typical dairy farms in north‐west Europe, through the use of eight Onderstepoort‐type black‐light traps positioned along linear transects departing from farms, going through pastures and entering woodlands. A total of 16 902 Culicoides were collected in autumn 2008 and spring 2009. The majority were females, of which more than 97% were recognized as potential vectors. In pastures, we found decreasing numbers of female Culicoides as a function of the distance to the farm. This pattern was modelled by leptokurtic models, with parameters depending on season and species. By contrast, the low number of male Culicoides caught were homogeneously distributed along the transects. When transects entered woodlands, we found a higher abundance of Culicoides than expected considering the distance of the sampling sites to the farm, although this varied according to species.     

The Effect of TCM-Induced HAMP on Key Enzymes in the Hydrolysis of AD Model Cells

Neurochemical Research - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) process is characterized classically by two hallmark pathologies: β-amyloid (Aβ) plaque deposition and neurofibrillary tangles of...     

Involvement of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases BcPtpA and BcPtpB in Regulation of Vegetative Development,Virulence and Multi-Stress Tolerance in Botrytis cinerea

Tyrosine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation have emerged as fundamentally important mechanisms of signal transduction and regulation in eukaryotic cells, governing many processes, but little has been known about their functions in filamentous fungi. In this study, we deleted two putative protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) genes (BcPTPA and BcPTPB) in Botrytis cinerea, encoding the orthologs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ptp2 and Ptp3, respectively. Although BcPtpA and BcPtpB have opposite functions in conidiation, they are essential for sclerotial formation in B. cinerea. BcPTPA and BcPTPB deletion mutants ΔBcPtpA-10 and ΔBcPtpB-4 showed significantly increased sensitivity to osmotic and oxidative stresses, and to cell wall damaging agents. Inoculation tests showed that both mutants exhibited dramatically decreased virulence on tomato leaves, apples and grapes. In S. cerevisiae, it has been shown that Ptp2 and Ptp3 negatively regulate the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway and the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway. Although both BcPtpA and BcPtpB were able to inactive Hog1 and Mpk1 in S. cerevisiae, in contrast to S. cerevisiae, they positively regulate phosphorylation of BcSak1 (the homologue of Hog1) and BcBmp3 (the homologue of Mpk1) in B. cinerea under stress conditions. These results demonstrated that functions of PTPs in B. cinerea are different from those in S. cerevisiae, and BcPtpA and BcPtpB play important roles in regulation of vegetative development, virulence and in adaptation to oxidative, osmotic and cell-wall damage stresses in B. cinerea.