Trace elements in hair of blackfoot disease

Blackfoot disease is a peripheral vascular disease resulting in gangrene of the lower extremities. Though extensive epidemiological study has implicated that high arsenic content in artesian well water of the endemic area, bears some important connection with the disease, the etiology of the disease is still unknown. In this study, attention is paid to multielement determination in order to find out whether the trace elements in hair of Blackfoot disease patients are different from those of the controls. Experimental results indicate that the concentrations of As and Se in hair of patients are significantly higher than those of the controls, but Ca and Zn are significantly lower than those of the controls. The possible connection of these elements with the etiology of the disease is discussed.     

Autophosphorylation-dependent protein kinase predominantly phosphorylates Ser115, thein vivo site in brain myelin basic protein

In a previous report [Yanget al., (1987a),J. Biol Chem. 262, 7034–7040], a cyclic-AMP- and calcium-independent brain kinase which requires autophosphorylation for activity was identified as a very potent myelin basic protein (MBP) kinase. In this report, the phosphorylation sites of MBP by this autophosphorylation-dependent protein kinase (autokinase) are further determined by two-dimensional electrophoresis/thin-layer chromatography, phosphoamino acid analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography, tryptic peptide mapping, sequential manual Edman degradation, and direct peptide sequencing. Autokinase phosphorylates MBP on both threonine and serine residues. Three major tryptic phosphopeptide peaks were resolved by C₁₈-reversed phase highper-formance liquid chromatography. Sequential manual Edman degradation together with direct sequence analysis revealed that FS(p)WGAEGQKPGFGYGGR is the phosphorylation site sequence (molar ratio ～1.0) for the first major phosphopeptide peak. When mapping with bovine brain MBP sequence, we finally demonstrate Ser¹¹⁵, one of thein vivo phosphorylation sites in MBP, as the major site phosphorylated by autokinase, implicating a physiologically relevant role of autokinase in the regulation of brain myelin function. By using the same approach, we also identified HRDT(p)GILDSLGR (molar ratio ～0.9) and TT(p)HYGSLPQK (molar ratio ～0.8) as the major phosphorylation site sequences in³²P-MBP phosphorylated by autokinase, further indicating that -Arg-XSer/Thr-(neutral amino acid)₃-(amino acid-containing hydroxyl group such as Ser/Glu/Asp)-(neutral amino acid)₂-may represent a unique consensus sequence motif specifically recognized by this autophosphorylation-dependent multisubstrate/ multifunctional protein kinase in the brain.     

“秦油2号”油菜植株内含物与萝卜蚜有翅率的关系

通过对Ｎ、Ｐ、Ｋ不同施肥条件下的“秦油２号”油菜植株内含物等与萝卜蚜有翅率关系的研究,建立了８个数学模型,结果表明可溶性糖、总Ｎ、糖与蛋白质之比和丝氨酸与萝卜蚜有翅率有密切关系,其次是天门冬氨酸、苏氨酸、谷氨酸、甘氨酸、丙氨酸、蛋氨酸、异亮氨酸、亮氨酸、酪氨酸、含水量、水溶性蛋白、酰胺氮和含Ｐ量等．     

The effect of hydration on the dynamics of trimethoprim bound to dihydrofolate reductase. A deuterium NMR study.

To determine the effect of hydration on the dynamics of a protein complex, we used deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to examine a trimethoprim (TMP)/E. coli dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) complex in its lyophilized, partially hydrated, polycrystalline, and ammonium sulfate-precipitated states. The results indicate that TMP is rigid in the lyophilized powder state. The dynamic behavior could be restored by partial rehydration. At 30 wt% hydration the deuterium spectrum of the partially hydrated sample was indistinguishable from that of the polycrystalline and ammonium sulfate-precipitated samples, suggesting that the structure of the protein/TMP complex is similar in the three physical states. Furthermore, we found that the para- and meta-methoxyl groups have very different dynamical behavior.     

东方蝾螈繁殖生态的研究

本文报道东方蝾螈(Cynops orientalis)的繁殖生态,内容有精巢分叶、精子形态、怀卵量、性征、性比、求偶、交配、纳精、产卵及孵化等,并对产卵场中性比的周年变化、精包形态、精子存活力及与蓝尾蝾螈的种间差异进行了观察和讨论。     

Genetic transfer and expression of reconstructed yeast artificial chromosomes containing normal and translocated BCL2 proto-oncogenes.

The goal of this study was to determine whether it will be feasible to study the expression of a large, human gene, such as the BCL2 proto-oncogene, by DNA transfection. The BCL2 proto-oncogene is 230 kb in size and is deregulated in tumor cells by translocation into the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus. Yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) containing the human BCL2 gene were altered by homologous recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to yield replicas of the normal and translocated alleles. Constructions containing either allele and ranging in size from 360 to 800 kb were integrated stably into a mouse tumor line. Fifty-eight percent of the clones contained a copy of the entire YAC insert. Over 50% of these clones expressed appropriate levels of human BCL2 RNA and protein. These studies suggested that the expression of large human genes and their pathologic rearrangements can be studied by transfection techniques employing YACs propagated in S. cerevisiae.     

Structural and dynamic studies of a non-self-complementary dodecamer DNA duplex.

A non-self-complementary dodecamer duplex d(CCTAAATTTGCC).d(GGCAAATTTAGG) has been investigated in solution by high resolution 1H NMR. Almost complete resonance assignment of both non-exchangeable and exchangeable protons, has been achieved. The duplex is essentially B-type, with distortions apparent at the AT and TA steps. These distortions and their affects on dynamics have been probed by the measurement of base-pair lifetimes, and observation of water of hydration. Base-pair opening rates were derived from measurements of T1's and effects on linewidths of the T and G imino protons on addition of an exchange catalyst. Our results are generally in line with observations reported for other systems, but we see only a slight drop in the A.T base-pair lifetime on moving out from the central region. This observation is reinforced by the detection of DNA-water nOe's for residues distributed throughout the dodecamer sequence.     

在中国壮族家系中发现的一例-α~T/-α~Q复合β~0β~0珠蛋白基因型

本文报道在我国广西隆林壮族中发现一个罕見的HbQ复合α,β地中海贫血家系。先证者女,18岁,贫血面容,肝脾肿大。化学结构分析确证本Hb变异体为HbQ Thailand[α74(EF3)Asp→His]。血红蛋白组成以及α和β珠蛋白基因分析结果表明,先证者的珠蛋白基因型为-α~Q/-α~T复合β°/β°(IVSI-1G→T/Codon17A→T);先证者父的基因型为-‘α~Q/-复合β~O/β~A(IVSI-1G→T/β~A);先证母的基因型为-α~T/αα复合β~O/β~A(Codon17A→T/β~A)。     

The detection and attribution of extreme reductions in vegetation growth across the global land surface

Negative extreme anomalies in vegetation growth (NEGs) usually indicate severely impaired ecosystem services. These NEGs can result from diverse natural and anthropogenic causes, especially climate extremes (CEs). However, the relationship between NEGs and many types of CEs remains largely unknown at regional and global scales. Here, with satellite-derived vegetation index data and supporting tree-ring chronologies, we identify periods of NEGs from 1981 to 2015 across the global land surface. We find 70% of these NEGs are attributable to five types of CEs and their combinations, with compound CEs generally more detrimental than individual ones. More importantly, we find that dominant CEs for NEGs vary by biome and region. Specifically, cold and/or wet extremes dominate NEGs in temperate mountains and high latitudes, whereas soil drought and related compound extremes are primarily responsible for NEGs in wet tropical, arid and semi-arid regions. Key characteristics (e.g., the frequency, intensity and duration of CEs, and the vulnerability of vegetation) that determine the dominance of CEs are also region- and biome-dependent. For example, in the wet tropics, dominant individual CEs have both higher intensity and longer duration than non-dominant ones. However, in the dry tropics and some temperate regions, a longer CE duration is more important than higher intensity. Our work provides the first global accounting of the attribution of NEGs to diverse climatic extremes. Our analysis has important implications for developing climate-specific disaster prevention and mitigation plans among different regions of the globe in a changing climate.