Study of the microbial diversity in a full-scale UASB reactor treating domestic wastewater

The microorganisms diversity in a full-scale UASB reactor treating domestic sewage was studied by molecular techniques, with the objective of identifying the population differences associated with the specific methanogenic activity (SMA) of the sludges. Samples were collected at levels A (0.8 m; bottom), B (1.3 m), C (1.8 m), D (2.3 m) and E (2.8 m). Actinobacteria was dominant at the three lower points and should have been primarily responsible for the degradation of organic matter. DNA sequences belonging to Methanomicrobiales order of Archaea domain was detected in all five levels with the majority producing methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Points A and E showed similar bacteria variety. The SMA of point A was the highest (0.374 g COD-CH₄/g SSV.d); however, the point E showed much lower value, probably due to the predominance of Proteobacteria phylum, including sulfate-reducing bacteria. In the overall, the results obtained can be considered important because data from full-scale UASB reactors treating domestic sewage remain scarce.     

Use of surface plasmon resonance to study the elongation kinetics and the binding properties of the highly amyloidogenic Aβ(1-42) peptide, synthesized by depsi-peptide technique

A wide variety of human diseases are associated with the formation of highly organized protein aggregates termed amyloid fibrils, whose growth (elongation) is due to the assembly of the basic molecular units (monomers) in a sequential polymerization process. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology has been proposed as a powerful approach to study in detail the fibril elongation of some amyloidogenic peptides. In particular, the injection of monomers over immobilized fibrils allows to follow in real time, and on a very short time-scale, the kinetics of fibril growth. In the present study we confirmed and extended this application of SPR to Aβ(1-42), hampered till now by the very pronounced aggregation propensity of this peptide, involved in Alzheimer disease. We took advantage of a new synthetic strategy ("depsi-peptide" technique) which allows to obtain reliable seed-free solutions (monomers) as well as fibrils of Aβ(1-42). SPR data were consistent with a "dock-and-lock" mechanism underlying Aβ(1-42) elongation process. The setup of an assay monitoring the elongation kinetics is very useful for investigating potential anti-amyloidogenic compounds. Moreover, the possibility to reliably immobilize both Aβ(1-42) monomers and fibrils allows to measure the binding affinities of putative ligands for these different species. The approach applied here to Aβ(1-42) might well be also applied to the study of other fibrillogenic peptides/proteins or to the study of polymerization reactions in general.     

Cardiac resynchronization therapy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background

Studies of cardiac resynchronization therapy in addition to an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in patients with mild to moderate congestive heart failure had not been shown to reduce mortality until the recent RAFT trial (Resynchronization/Defibrillation for Ambulatory Heart Failure Trial). We performed a meta-analysis including the RAFT trial to determine the effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without an implantable defibrillator on mortality.

Methods

We searched electronic databases and other sources for reports of randomized trials using a parallel or crossover design. We included studies involving patients with heart failure receiving optimal medical therapy that compared cardiac resynchronization therapy with optimal medical therapy alone, or cardiac resynchronization therapy plus an implantable defibrillator with a standard implantable defibrillator. The primary outcome was mortality. The optimum information size was considered to assess the minimum amount of information required in the literature to reach reliable conclusions about cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Results

Of 3071 reports identified, 12 studies (n = 7538) were included in our meta-analysis. Compared with optimal medical therapy alone, cardiac resynchronization therapy plus optimal medical therapy significantly reduced mortality (relative risk [RR] 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62–0.85). Compared with an implantable defibrillator alone, cardiac resynchronization therapy plus an implantable defibrillator significantly reduced mortality (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.72–0.96). This last finding remained significant among patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I or II disease (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67–0.96) but not among those with class III or IV disease (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.69–1.07). Analysis of the optimum information size showed that the sequential monitoring boundary was crossed, which suggests no need for further clinical trials.

Interpretation

The cumulative evidence is now conclusive that the addition of cardiac resynchronization to optimal medical therapy or defibrillator therapy significantly reduces mortality among patients with heart failure.Congestive heart failure is currently reaching epidemic proportions in Canada, with 500 000 Canadians affected and 50 000 new patients identified each year.¹ It accounts for more than 100 000 hospital admissions per year and has a one-year mortality ranging from 15% to 50%, depending on the severity of heart failure.² By 2050, the number of patients with heart failure is projected to increase threefold.²Advances in medical therapies have resulted in substantial reductions in mortality associated with congestive heart failure.^3–7 The use of devices has recently become an important adjuvant therapy.⁸ Cardiac resynchronization therapy involves pacing from both the right and left ventricles simultaneously to improve myocardial efficiency (see radiographs in Appendix 1, at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/cmaj.101685/DC1). Cardiac resynchronization therapy has been shown to reduce morbidity and, when compared with medical therapy alone, to reduce mortality.^9–13 Until recently, it was not shown to reduce mortality among patients who also received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Among patients receiving optimal medical therapy, the Resynchronization/Defibrillation for Ambulatory Heart Failure Trial (RAFT) showed the superiority of cardiac resynchronization therapy in addition to an implantable defibrillator over a standard implantable defibrillator in reducing mortality and the combined outcome of death from any cause or hospital admission related to heart failure.¹⁴We performed a meta-analysis to further assess the effect on mortality of cardiac resynchronization therapy with and without an implantable defibrillator among patients with mildly symptomatic and advanced heart failure.     

Inhibitor selectivity of a new class of oseltamivir analogs against viral neuraminidase over human neuraminidase enzymes

The viral neuraminidase enzyme is an established target for anti-influenza pharmaceuticals. However, viral neuraminidase inhibitors could have off-target effects due to interactions with native human neuraminidase enzymes. We report the activity of a series of known inhibitors of the influenza group-1 neuraminidase enzyme (N1 subtype) against recombinant forms of the human neuraminidase enzymes NEU3 and NEU4. These inhibitors were designed to take advantage of an additional enzyme pocket (known as the 150-cavity) near the catalytic site of certain viral neuraminidase subtypes (N1, N4 and N8). We find that these modified derivatives have minimal activity against the human enzymes, NEU3 and NEU4. Two compounds show moderate activity against NEU3, possibly due to alternative binding modes available to these structures. Our results reinforce that recognition of the glycerol side-chain is distinct between the viral and human NEU enzymes, and provide experimental support for improving the selectivity of viral neuraminidase inhibitors by exploiting the 150-cavity found in certain subtypes of viral neuraminidases.     

Circulating chemokine (CXC motif) ligand (CXCL)9 is increased in aggressive chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, in association with CXCL10

Chemokine (CXC motif) ligand (CXCL)9 (CXCL9) has been shown to be involved in autoimmune thyroid disorders, however no data are present about CXCL9 circulating levels in chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) vs controls. Serum CXCL9 (and for comparison CXCL10) has been measured in patients with AT vs normal control and nontoxic multinodular goiter, and this parameter has been related to the clinical phenotype. For this study we selected 189 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed AT, 63 euthyroid controls, 30 patients with nontoxic multinodular goiter. The three groups were similar in gender distribution and age; 26% of AT patients had subclinical hypothyroidism. Serum CXCL9 was significantly higher in AT (148±110 pg/mL) than in controls (71±34 pg/mL) or patients with multinodular goiter (87±35 pg/mL) (p<0.0001). Among AT patients, CXCL9 levels were significantly higher in patients older than 50 years, those with a hypoechoic ultrasonographic pattern or with hypothyroidism. Also CXCL10 was confirmed to be associated with AT, overall in presence of hypothyroidism. In a multiple linear regression model of CXCL9 (ln[pg/mL]) vs age, thyroid volume, TSH, AbTg, AbTPO, hypoechoic pattern, the presence of hypervascularity, and CXCL10 (ln[pg/mL]), only TSH and CXCL10 (ln[pg/mL]) were significantly related to serum CXCL9 levels. We show that circulating CXCL9 is increased in patients with aggressive thyroiditis and hypothyroidism. A strong relation between circulating CXCL9 and CXCL10 has been first shown, underlining the importance of a T helper 1 immune attack in the initiation of AT.     

Fluorescence, circular dichroism, NMR, and docking studies of the interaction of the alkaloid malbrancheamide with calmodulin

A new malbrancheamide analogue, isomalbrancheamide B (3), along with three known compounds, malbrancheamide (1), isomalbrancheamide (2), and premalbrancheamide (4), were isolated in higher yields from the alkaloid fraction of the fungus Malbranchea aurantiaca. The interaction of the alkaloids 1-4 with calmodulin (CaM) was analyzed using different enzymatic, fluorescence, spectroscopic, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and molecular modelling techniques. On the basis of the enzymatic and fluorescence experiments, malbrancheamides 1-3 are classical CaM inhibitors. Compound 4, however, did not quench the extrinsic fluorescence of the CaM biosensor indicating that it could be a functional inhibitor. Circular dichroism, NMR, and molecular modelling studies revealed that 1 binds to CaM in the same hydrophobic pocket than the chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine, two classical CaM inhibitors. Thus, malbrancheamide and related monochlorinated analogues are compounds with a high potential for the development of new therapeutic agents, involving CaM as their molecular target.     

Detection of viral sequence fragments of HIV-1 subfamilies yet unknown

Background  

Methods of determining whether or not any particular HIV-1 sequence stems - completely or in part - from some unknown HIV-1 subtype are important for the design of vaccines and molecular detection systems, as well as for epidemiological monitoring. Nevertheless, a single algorithm only, the Branching Index (BI), has been developed for this task so far. Moving along the genome of a query sequence in a sliding window, the BI computes a ratio quantifying how closely the query sequence clusters with a subtype clade. In its current version, however, the BI does not provide predicted boundaries of unknown fragments.     

Expression and shedding of endothelial protein C receptor in prostate cancer cells

Background  

Increasing evidences show that beyond its role in coagulation, endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) interferes with carcinogenesis. Pro-carcinogenic effects of EPCR were linked with a raised generation of activated protein C (aPC) and anti-apoptotic signalling. This study was carried out to analyze the expression, cell surface exposition, and shedding of EPCR in normal and malignant prostate cell lines.     

Human plasma glycome in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorders

Over a half of all proteins are glycosylated, and their proper glycosylation is essential for normal function. Unfortunately, because of structural complexity of nonlinear branched glycans and the absence of genetic template for their synthesis, the knowledge about glycans is lagging significantly behind the knowledge about proteins or DNA. Using a recently developed quantitative high throughput glycan analysis method we quantified components of the plasma N-glycome in 99 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 81 child and 5 adults with autism spectrum disorder, and a total of 340 matching healthy controls. No changes in plasma glycome were found to associate with autism spectrum disorder, but several highly significant associations were observed with ADHD. Further structural analysis of plasma glycans revealed that ADHD is associated with increased antennary fucosylation of biantennary glycans and decreased levels of some complex glycans with three or four antennas. The design of this study prevented any functional conclusions about the observed associations, but specific differences in glycosylation appears to be strongly associated with ADHD and warrants further studies in this direction.     

A reversible form of axon damage in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis

In multiple sclerosis, a common inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, immune-mediated axon damage is responsible for permanent neurological deficits. How axon damage is initiated is not known. Here we use in vivo imaging to identify a previously undescribed variant of axon damage in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. This process, termed 'focal axonal degeneration' (FAD), is characterized by sequential stages, beginning with focal swellings and progressing to axon fragmentation. Notably, most swollen axons persist unchanged for several days, and some recover spontaneously. Early stages of FAD can be observed in axons with intact myelin sheaths. Thus, contrary to the classical view, demyelination-a hallmark of multiple sclerosis-is not a prerequisite for axon damage. Instead, focal intra-axonal mitochondrial pathology is the earliest ultrastructural sign of damage, and it precedes changes in axon morphology. Molecular imaging and pharmacological experiments show that macrophage-derived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) can trigger mitochondrial pathology and initiate FAD. Indeed, neutralization of ROS and RNS rescues axons that have already entered the degenerative process. Finally, axonal changes consistent with FAD can be detected in acute human multiple sclerosis lesions. In summary, our data suggest that inflammatory axon damage might be spontaneously reversible and thus a potential target for therapy.