Effects of social and inanimate enrichment on the behavior of yearling rhesus monkeys

Certain types of inanimate environmental enrichment have been shown to positively affect the behavior of laboratory primates, as has housing them in appropriate social conditions. While social housing is generally advocated as an important environmental enhancement, few studies have attempted to measure the influence of social conditions on the effects of inanimate enrichment or to compare the relative merits of social and inanimate enhancements. In the present study, inanimate enrichment (predominately physical and feeding enhancements) resulted in increased species-typical behavior for socially restricted subjects. However, social enrichment (living in groups) appeared to be more beneficial for young rhesus monkeys, leading to increased species-typical activities and decreased abnormal activities. The behavior of one cohort of yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) housed in small peer groups was compared with the behavior of four yearling cohorts housed in single cages. Half the animals in each cohort received a three-phase enrichment program and the rest served as controls. Group-housed yearlings spent significantly more time feeding and exploring and significantly less time behaving abnormally, self-grooming, and drinking than did singly housed yearlings. Enriched subjects spent significantly more time playing by themselves, and significantly less time self-grooming and exploring than did controls. Among group-housed subjects only, there were no differences between enriched and control monkeys. Captive primates should be housed socially, whenever appropriate, as the first and most important step in an enrichment program, with the provision of inanimate enhancements being considerably less important. Limited resources for inanimate enrichment programs instead should be focused on those individuals who can not be housed socially. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The calcium-free form of atorvastatin inhibits amyloid-β(1–42) aggregation in vitro

Alzheimer''s disease is characterized by the presence of extraneuronal amyloid plaques composed of amyloid-beta (Aβ) fibrillar aggregates in the brains of patients. In mouse models, it has previously been shown that atorvastatin (Ator), a cholesterol-lowering drug, has some reducing effect on the production of cerebral Aβ. A meta-analysis on humans showed moderate effects in the short term but no improvement in the Alzheimer''s Disease Assessment Scale—Cognitive Subscale behavioral test. Here, we explore a potential direct effect of Ator on Aβ42 aggregation. Using NMR-based monomer consumption assays and CD spectroscopy, we observed a promoting effect of Ator in its original form (Ator-calcium) on Aβ42 aggregation, as expected because of the presence of calcium ions. The effect was reversed when applying a CaCO₃-based calcium ion scavenging method, which was validated by the aforementioned methods as well as thioflavin-T fluorescence assays and transmission electron microscopy. We found that the aggregation was inhibited significantly when the concentration of calcium-free Ator exceeded that of Aβ by at least a factor of 2. The ¹H–¹⁵N heteronuclear single quantum correlation and saturation-transfer difference NMR data suggest that calcium-free Ator exerts its effect through interaction with the ¹⁶KLVF¹⁹ binding site on the Aβ peptide via its aromatic rings as well as hydroxyl and methyl groups. On the other hand, molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that the increasing concentration of Ator is necessary for the inhibition of the conformational transition of Aβ from an α-helix-dominant to a β-sheet-dominant structure.     

Ethno-cultural heritage of the peoples of west Pamir

The paper presents a study on the West Pamir communities (Badakhshan, Tajikistan) based on language data of the Pamir languages of East-Iranian origin. At present, the ethnic groups of the West Pamir: Shughni, Rushani, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Khufi, Ishkashimi and Wakhi are communities of the Ismaili Shia Islam faith. The underlying concept of the paper is that ethnic and cultural key-concepts take place in the origin of the traditional beliefs and rituals and can be reliably reconstructed from the vocabulary of a particular community. Pamir languages vocabulary of the Pamir ethnic communities that uses East and West Iranian culturally significant terms may serve as a basis for understanding the genesis of Pamir Ismailism, its particular way of absorbing external cultures, and its present specific form. The purely linguistic criteria, like temporal dimension (linguistic chronology), and geographic dispersion and mobility, are believed to be critical for linking etymology to broader socio-cultural development context of the Pamir communities socio-historical and cultural life. Contemporary social and linguistic dynamics in the relations between nation, religion and language in Tajikistan needs systematic research, and reasonable interpretation.     

High-level genotypic variation and antibiotic sensitivity among Escherichia coli O157 strains isolated from two Scottish beef cattle farms

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a human pathogen that is carried and transmitted by cattle. Scotland is known to have one of the highest rates of E. coli O157 human infections in the world. Two hundred ninety-three isolates were obtained from naturally infected cattle and the environment on two farms in the Scottish Highlands. The isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with XbaI restriction endonuclease enzyme, and 19 different variations in patterns were found. There was considerable genomic diversity within the E. coli O157 population on the two farms. The PFGE pattern of one of the observed subtypes matched exactly with that of a strain obtained from a Scottish patient with hemolytic-uremic syndrome. To examine the stability of an individual E. coli O157 strain, continuous subculturing of a strain was performed 110 times. No variation from the original PFGE pattern was observed. We found three indistinguishable subtypes of E. coli O157 on both study farms, suggesting common sources of infection. We also examined the antibiotic resistance of the isolated strains. Phenotypic studies demonstrated resistance of the strains to sulfamethoxazole (100%), chloramphenicol (3.07%), and at a lower rate, other antibiotics, indicating the preservation of antibiotic sensitivity in a rapidly changing population of E. coli O157.     

Expressional patterns of chaperones in ten human tumor cell lines

BACKGROUND: Chaperones (CH) play an important role in tumor biology but no systematic work on expressional patterns has been reported so far. The aim of the study was therefore to present an analytical method for the concomitant determination of several CH in human tumor cell lines, to generate expressional patterns in the individual cell lines and to search for tumor and non-tumor cell line specific CH expression.Human tumor cell lines of neuroblastoma, colorectal and adenocarcinoma of the ovary, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, malignant melanoma, lung, cervical and breast cancer, promyelocytic leukaemia were homogenised, proteins were separated on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with in-gel digestion of proteins and MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis was carried out for the identification of CH. RESULTS: A series of CH was identified including the main CH groups as HSP90/HATPas_C, HSP70, Cpn60_TCP1, DnaJ, Thioredoxin, TPR, Pro_isomerase, HSP20, ERP29_C, KE2, Prefoldin, DUF704, BAG, GrpE and DcpS. CONCLUSIONS: The ten individual tumor cell lines showed different expression patterns, which are important for the design of CH studies in tumor cell lines. The results can serve as a reference map and form the basis of a concomitant determination of CH by a protein chemical rather than an immunochemical method, independent of antibody availability or specificity.     

Effect of passive myocardium on the compliance of porcine coronary arteries

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of passive myocardium on the coronary arteries under distension and compression. To simulate distension and compression, we placed a diastolic-arrested heart in a Lucite box, where both the intravascular pressure and external (box) pressure were varied independently and expressed as a pressure difference (DeltaP = intravascular pressure - box pressure). The DeltaP-cross-sectional area relationship of the first several generations of porcine coronary arteries and the DeltaP-volume relationship of the coronary arterial tree (vessels >0.5 mm in diameter) were determined using a video densitometric technique in the range of +150 to -150 mmHg. The vasodilated left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery of six KCl-arrested hearts were perfused with iodine and 3% Cab-O-Sil. The intravascular pressure was varied in a triangular pattern, whereas the absolute cross-sectional area of each vessel and the total arterial volume were calculated using video densitometry under different box pressures (0, 50, 100, and 150 mmHg). In the range of positive DeltaP, we found that the compliance of the proximal LAD artery in situ (4.85 +/- 3.8 x 10-3 mm2/mmHg) is smaller than that of the same artery in vitro (16.5 +/- 6 x 10-3 mm2/mmHg; P = 0.009). Hence, the myocardium restricts the compliance of the epicardial artery under distension. In the negative DeltaP range, the LAD artery does not collapse, whereas the same vessel readily collapses when tested in vitro. Hence, we conclude that myocardial tethering prevents collapse of large blood vessel under compression.     

The structure and specificity of Escherichia coli maltose acetyltransferase give new insight into the LacA family of acyltransferases

The crystallographic three-dimensional structure of the Escherichia coli maa gene product, previously identified as a maltose O-acetyltransferase (MAT) [Brand, B., and Boos, W. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 14113-14118] has been determined to 2.15 A resolution by the single anomalous dispersion method using data from a crystal cocrystallized with trimethyllead acetate. It is shown here that MAT acetylates glucose exclusively at the C6 position and maltose at the C6 position of the nonreducing end glucosyl moiety. Furthermore, MAT shows higher affinity toward artificial substrates containing an alkyl or hydrophobic chain as well as a glucosyl unit. The presence of a long hydrophobic patch near the acceptor site provides the structural explanation for this preference. The three-dimensional structure reveals the expected trimeric left-handed parallel beta-helix structure found in all other known hexapeptide repeat enzymes. In particular, the structure shows similarities both overall and at the putative active site to the recently determined structure of galactoside acetyltransferase (GAT), the lacA gene product [Wang, X.-G., Olsen, L. R., and Roderick, S. L. (2002) Structure 10, 581-588]. The structure, together with the new biochemical data, suggests that GAT and MAT are more closely related than previously thought and might have similar cellular functions. However, while GAT is specific for acetylation of galactosyl units, MAT is specific for glucosyl units and is able to acetylate maltooligosaccharides, an important property for biotechnological applications. Structural differences at the acceptor site reflect the differences in substrate specificity.     

Serp-1, a viral anti-inflammatory serpin,regulates cellular serine proteinase and serpin responses to vascular injury

Complex DNA viruses have tapped into cellular serpin responses that act as key regulatory steps in coagulation and inflammatory cascades. Serp-1 is one such viral serpin that effectively protects virus-infected tissues from host inflammatory responses. When given as purified protein, Serp-1 markedly inhibits vascular monocyte invasion and plaque growth in animal models. We have investigated mechanisms of viral serpin inhibition of vascular inflammatory responses. In vascular injury models, Serp-1 altered early cellular plasminogen activator (tissue plasminogen activator), inhibitor (PAI-1), and receptor (urokinase-type plasminogen activator) expression (p < 0.01). Serp-1, but not a reactive center loop mutant, up-regulated PAI-1 serpin expression in human endothelial cells. Treatment of endothelial cells with antibody to urokinase-type plasminogen activator and vitronectin blocked Serp-1-induced changes. Significantly, Serp-1 blocked intimal hyperplasia (p < 0.0001) after aortic allograft transplant (p < 0.0001) in PAI-1-deficient mice. Serp-1 also blocked plaque growth after aortic isograft transplant and after wire-induced injury (p < 0.05) in PAI-1-deficient mice indicating that increase in PAI-1 expression is not required for Serp-1 to block vasculopathy development. Serp-1 did not inhibit plaque growth in uPAR-deficient mice after aortic allograft transplant. We conclude that the poxviral serpin, Serp-1, attenuates vascular inflammatory responses to injury through a pathway mediated by native uPA receptors and vitronectin.     

A new dipeptide,O-phosphoserylethanolamine isolated from Agkistroden blomhoffi (mamushi)

A new dipeptide was isolated from several tissues of Agkistroden blomhoffi (mamushi: a venomous snake in Japan), using ion-exchange resins and thin-layer chromatography. It was identified as O-phosphoserylethanolamine by mass spectrometry and comparison with synthetic compounds using several methods. This compound was contained in several mamushi tissues including the liver, heart, brain, bile, and muscle. The concentrations of O-phosphoserylethanolamine in the liver, brain, muscle, skin, heart, and bile were 7.17+/-3.11,16.98+/-4.25,37.37+/-7.88,37.56+/-8.97,23.93+/-6.11, and 22.21+/-5.76 micromol/g, respectively.