In planta analysis of protein–protein interactions related to light signaling by bimolecular fluorescence complementation

The determination of protein-protein interactions is becoming more and more important in the molecular analysis of signal transduction chains. To this purpose the application of a manageable and simple assay in an appropriate biological system is of major concern. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) is a novel method to analyze protein-protein interactions in vivo. The assay is based on the observation that N- and C-terminal subfragments of the yellow-fluorescent protein (YFP) can only reconstitute a functional fluorophore when they are brought into tight contact. Thus, proteins can be fused to the YFP subfragments and the interaction of the fusion proteins can be monitored by epifluorescence microscopy. Pairs of interacting proteins were tested after transient cotransfection in etiolated mustard seedlings, which is a well characterized plant model system for light signal transduction. BiFC could be demonstrated with the F-box protein EID1 (empfindlicher im dunkelroten Licht 1) and the Arabidopsis S-phase kinase-related protein 1 (ASK1). The interaction of both proteins was specific and strictly dependent on the presence of an intact F-box domain. Our studies also demonstrate that etiolated mustard seedlings provide a versatile transient assay system to study light-induced subcellular localization events.     

Disorders of agency in schizophrenia correlate with an inability to compensate for the sensory consequences of actions

Psychopathological symptoms in schizophrenia patients suggest that the concept of self might be disturbed in these individuals [1]. Delusions of influence make them feel that someone else is guiding their actions, and certain kinds of their hallucinations seem to be misinterpretations of their own inner voice as an external voice, the common denominator being that self-produced information is perceived as if coming from outside. If this interpretation were correct, we might expect that schizophrenia patients might also attribute the sensory consequences of their own eye movements to the environment rather than to themselves, challenging the percept of a stable world. Indeed, this seems to be the case because we found a clear correlation between the strength of delusions of influence and the ability of schizophrenia patients to cancel out such self-induced retinal information in motion perception. This correlation reflects direct experimental evidence supporting the view that delusions of influence in schizophrenia might be due to a specific deficit in the perceptual compensation of the sensory consequences of one's own actions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6].     

White biotechnology: ready to partner and invest in

It needs three factors to build an industry: market demand, product vision and capital. White biotechnology already produces high volume products such as feed additive amino acids and specialty products like enzymes for enantioselective biocatalysis. It serves large and diverse markets in the nutrition, wellness, pharmaceutical, agricultural and chemical industry. The total volume adds up to $ 50 billion worldwide. In spite of its proven track record, white biotechnology so far did not attract as much capital as red and even green biotechnology. However, the latest finance indicators confirm the continuously growing attractiveness of investment opportunities in white biotechnology. This article discusses white biotechnology's position and potential in the finance market and success factors.     

Biological effect of mono- and dinuclear alkylamine platinum(II) compounds on human lymphoma cells

The effects of the mononuclear chloro[meso-1,2-bis(4-fluorophenyl)ethylenediamine][hexylamine]platinum(II) chloride HACl and the dinuclear di[meso-1,2-bis(4-fluorophenyl)ethylenediamine]dichloro(mu-1,n-diaminoalkane-N:N')diplatinum(II)dichloride complexes DAHCl (alkane:hexane), DANCl (alkane:nonane) and DADCl (alkane:dodecane) with different alkyl chain length (n) were investigated on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell lines. All compounds showed an antiproliferative effect on the NHL cell lines RAJI and U-937 accompanied in the case of DANCl, DAHCl, HACl and cisplatin by an increase in apoptosis. The growth of another NHL (JEKO-1) and one CML cell line (K-562) was decreased only by cisplatin. In contrast to HACl, DAHCl, DANCl and cisplatin, DADCl induced necrosis, suggesting toxicity because cell viability decreased. Similar effects were observed when bone marrow-derived lymphoma cells from a patient with high-grade B-NHL were incubated with the platinum complexes.     

10-nonacosanol,sitosterol and nonacosanediols in Juniperus pinchotii

GC of juniper leaf non-saponifiables gave three peaks of sterol-triterpenes which were identified as 10-nonacosanol, sitosterol and a mixture of nonacosanediols.     

Hydrolysis of exogenous ATP by isolated frog gastric mucosa.

ATP, added to the solution bathing the nutrient (serosal) surface of isolated frog gastric mucosa, was found to break down rapidly to ADP, inorganic phosphate and other products. This activity is due to an ectoenzyme, i.e. to an enzyme system easily accessible to the bathing solution. This conclusion follows from experiments which showed that penetration of ATP into the mucosal cells occurred at a much slower rate: leakage of inorganic phosphate and adenine nucleotides from mucosal cells was also minor. The surface ATPase may reflect the operation of a mechanism at the nutrient surface involved in acid secretion.