Anthropometric correlates of C-reactive protein among indigenous Siberians

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammatory marker, which at low-level elevations is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Although CRP has been extensively investigated in North American and European settings, few studies have measured CRP among non-Western groups. The present study used dried whole blood spot samples to examine high-sensitivity CRP concentrations among the Yakut (Sakha) of Siberia (85 females, 56 males; 18-58 years old). Our goals were: (1) to compare Yakut CRP concentrations with other populations; (2) to investigate sex differences; and (3) to explore anthropometric correlates of CRP. Results indicate that serum equivalent CRP concentrations are similar to those from industrializing nations, lower than US and European values, and greater than Japanese concentrations. Yakut men and women display similar CRP concentrations; however, CRP was significantly higher among men after adjustment for body fat, age, and smoking. Positive associations were documented between CRP and BMI, body fat, and central adiposity.     

4-Deoxyraputindole C induces cell death and cell cycle arrest in tumor cell lines

Several molecules extracted from natural products exhibit different biological activities, such as ion channel modulation, activation of signaling pathways, and anti-inflammatory or antitumor activity. In this study, we tested the antitumor ability of natural compounds extracted from the Raputia praetermissa plant. Among the compounds tested, an alkaloid, here called compound S4 (4-Deoxyraputindole C), showed antitumor effects against human tumor lineages. Compound S4 was the most active against Raji, a lymphoma lineage, promoting cell death with characteristics that including membrane permeabilization, dissipation of the mitochondrial potential, increased superoxide production, and lysosomal membrane permeabilization. The use of cell death inhibitors such as Z-VAD-FMK (caspase inhibitor), necrostatin-1 (receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 inhibitor), E-64 (cysteine peptidases inhibitor), and N-acetyl- L -cysteine (antioxidant) did not decrease compound S4-dependent cell death. Additionally, we tested the effect of cellular activity on adherent human tumor cells. The highest reduction of cellular activity was observed in A549 cells, a lung carcinoma lineage. In this lineage, the effect on the reduction of the cellular activity was due to cell cycle arrest, without plasma membrane permeabilization, loss of the mitochondrial potential or lysosomal membrane permeabilization. Compound S4 was able to inhibit cathepsin B and L by a nonlinear competitive (negative co-operativity) and simple-linear competitive inhibitions, respectively. The potency of inhibition was higher against cathepsin L. Compound S4 promoted cell cycle arrest at G ₀ and G ₂ phase, and increase the expression of p16 and p21 proteins. In conclusion, compound S4 is an interesting molecule against cancer, promoting cell death in the human lymphoma lineage Raji and cell cycle arrest in the human lung carcinoma lineage A549.     

Ranging behavior,group size and behavioral flexibility in Ethiopian hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas)

This study reports group size, home range size, daily path lengths, seasonal effects on ranging behavior and qualitative information on diet for a population of hamadryas baboons inhabiting the lowlands of the northern Rift Valley in central Ethiopia. The minimum home range size and daily path length for this population are similar to those reported for other populations of hamadryas baboons in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia. Group sizes, however, are much larger than those in most other hamadryas populations for which published data are available. The large group sizes in this area may be related to the abundance of one food resource in particular, doum palm nuts. Overall, this study suggests that hamadryas baboons may be more flexible in some aspects of their behavioral ecology (e.g. group size) than in others (e.g. ranging behavior).     

Classifying proteins into functional groups based on all-versus-all BLAST of 10 million proteins

To address the monumental challenge of assigning function to millions of sequenced proteins, we completed the first of a kind all-versus-all sequence alignments using BLAST for 9.9 million proteins in the UniRef100 database. Microsoft Windows Azure produced over 3 billion filtered records in 6 days using 475 eight-core virtual machines. Protein classification into functional groups was then performed using Hive and custom jars implemented on top of Apache Hadoop utilizing the MapReduce paradigm. First, using the Clusters of Orthologous Genes (COG) database, a length normalized bit score (LNBS) was determined to be the best similarity measure for classification of proteins. LNBS achieved sensitivity and specificity of 98% each. Second, out of 5.1 million bacterial proteins, about two-thirds were assigned to significantly extended COG groups, encompassing 30 times more assigned proteins. Third, the remaining proteins were classified into protein functional groups using an innovative implementation of a single-linkage algorithm on an in-house Hadoop compute cluster. This implementation significantly reduces the run time for nonindexed queries and optimizes efficient clustering on a large scale. The performance was also verified on Amazon Elastic MapReduce. This clustering assigned nearly 2 million proteins to approximately half a million different functional groups. A similar approach was applied to classify 2.8 million eukaryotic sequences resulting in over 1 million proteins being assign to existing KOG groups and the remainder clustered into 100,000 functional groups.     

Tortulomyces thailandicus gen. et sp. nov. and Nitschkia siamensis sp. nov. (Coronophorales,Ascomycota) from northern Thailand

Two new species collected in northern Thailand are herein described and discussed. Tortulomyces thailandicus is the type of a new genus characterized by a combination of such features as a dense subiculum, non-ostiolate ascomata, two kinds of paraphyses (filiform and bead-like), and 1-septate, brown ascospores. Nitschkia siamensis has non-ostiolate, turbinate and stalked ascomata and hyaline, often slightly curved, 1-septate ascospores.     

Acute Treatment with Docosahexaenoic Acid Complexed to Albumin Reduces Injury after a Permanent Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Docosahexaenoic acid complexed to albumin (DHA-Alb) is highly neuroprotective after temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), but whether a similar effect occurs in permanent MCAo is unknown. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (270–330 g) underwent permanent MCAo. Neurological function was evaluated on days 1, 2 and 3 after MCAo. We studied six groups: DHA (5 mg/kg), Alb (0.63 or 1.25 g/kg), DHA-Alb (5 mg/kg+0.63 g/kg or 5 mg/kg+1.25 g/kg) or saline. Treatment was administered i.v. at 3 h after onset of stroke (n = 7–10 per group). Ex vivo imaging of brains and histopathology were conducted on day 3. Saline- and Alb-treated rats developed severe neurological deficits but were not significantly different from one another. In contrast, rats treated with low and moderate doses of DHA-Alb showed improved neurological score compared to corresponding Alb groups on days 2 and 3. Total, cortical and subcortical lesion volumes computed from T2 weighted images were reduced following a moderate dose of DHA-Alb (1.25 g/kg) by 25%, 22%, 34%, respectively, compared to the Alb group. The total corrected, cortical and subcortical infarct volumes were reduced by low (by 36–40%) and moderate doses (by 34–42%) of DHA-Alb treatment compared to the Alb groups. In conclusion, DHA-Alb therapy is highly neuroprotective in permanent MCAo in rats. This treatment can provide the basis for future therapeutics for patients suffering from ischemic stroke.     

Stranding Events of Kogia Whales along the Brazilian Coast

The genus Kogia, which comprises only two extant species, Kogia sima and Kogia breviceps, represents one of the least known groups of cetaceans in the global ocean. In some coastal regions, however, stranding events of these species have been relatively common over the last decades. Stranding provides the opportunity to investigate the biology of these cetaceans and to explore the epidemiological aspects associated with the mortality of the organisms found on the beach. A number of disturbances (including pelagic fisheries, chemical pollution, boat strikes, and noise pollution) have been confirmed to pose a particular threat to the Kogia species. However, no study has yet investigated potential relationships between environmental conditions and stranding events. Here we analyse how a collection of environmental, physical, and biological variables, such as wind, sea surface temperature (SST), water depth, and chlorophyll-a, correlate to Kogia stranding events along the Brazilian coast. The results of our statistical analyses suggest that K. sima is more likely found in warm tropical waters, which provide an explanation for the high frequency of stranding in northeastern Brazilian coast. In contrast, K. breviceps appears to have a preference for temperate and productive waters. Wind speed results to be also an important factor for predicting Kogia strandings in Brazilian coast. Additionally, literature information in combination with our own data and analyses of stomach contents confirms that oceanic cephalopods constitute the primary nutritional source of both Kogia species. By using the available information as a qualitative proxy for habitat preference and feeding ecology, our study provides a novel and comprehensive assessment of Kogia stranding data in relation to environmental conditions along the Brazilian coast.     

The Src-like adaptor protein 2 regulates colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor signaling and down-regulation

Src-like adaptor protein 2 (SLAP-2) is a hematopoietic adaptor protein previously implicated as a negative regulator of T-cell antigen receptor (TCR)-mediated signaling. SLAP-2 contains an SH3 and an SH2 domain, followed by a unique carboxyl-terminal tail, which is important for c-Cbl binding. Here we describe a novel role for SLAP-2 in regulation of the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R), a receptor tyrosine kinase important for growth and differentiation of myeloid cells. SLAP-2 co-immunoprecipitates with c-Cbl and CSF-1R in primary bone marrow-derived macrophages. Using murine myeloid cells expressing CSF-1R (FD-Fms cells), we show that SLAP-2 is tyrosine-phosphorylated upon stimulation with CSF-1 and associates constitutively with both c-Cbl and CSF-1R. In addition, we show that expression of a dominant negative form of SLAP-2 impairs c-Cbl association with the CSF-1R and receptor ubiquitination. Impaired c-Cbl recruitment also correlated with changes in the kinetics of CSF-1R down-regulation and trafficking. CSF-1-mediated differentiation of FD-Fms cells and activation of downstream signaling events was also enhanced in cells stably expressing dominant negative SLAP-2. Together, these results demonstrate that SLAP-2 plays a role in c-Cbl-dependent down-regulation of CSF-1R signaling.