Optimization of nutritional and environmental conditions for pyocyanin production by urine isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a highly pathogenic bacteria involved in numerous diseases among which, are urinary tract infections (UTIs). The pyocyanin secreted as a virulence factor by this bacterium has many beneficial applications but its high cost remains an obstacle for its widespread use. In this study, a total of fifty urine isolates were identified as P. aeruginosa. All strains produced pyocyanin pigment with a range of 1.3–31 µg/ml. The highest producer clinical strain P21 and the standard strain PA14 were used in optimization of pyocyanin production. Among tested media, king’s A fluid medium resulted in the highest yield of pyocyanin pigment followed by nutrient broth. Growth at 37 °C was superior in pyocyanin production than growth at 30 °C. Both shaking and longer incubation periods (3–4 days) improved pyocyanin production. The pyocyanin yield was indifferent upon growth of P21 at both pH 7 and pH 8. In conclusion, the optimum conditions for pyocyanin production are to use King’s A fluid medium of pH 7 and incubate the inoculated medium at 37 °C with shaking at 200 rpm for a period of three to four days.     

Role of Drosophila gene dunc-115 in nervous system

Axonal guidance signals are transduced through growth cone surface receptors to the interior leading to changes of actin dynamics and actin binding proteins, which are critical in determining the outcome of actin cytoskeleton reorganization. We report here the characterization of the Drosophila actin binding protein abLIM/Unc-115 homolog Dunc-115 and its role in the nervous system. Three Dunc-115 isoforms are identified as Dunc-115L, M and S, respectively. While Dunc-115L is a canonical homolog of Unc-115 with four LIM domains and one villin headpiece domain, Dunc-115M and S are novel isoforms without counterparts in other species. Our molecular modeling shows Dunc-115L is likely to bind to actin. Mutant analysis reveals that Dunc-115 is involved in axonal projection in both the visual and central nervous system.     

Naphthalene biodegradation from non-aqueous-phase liquids in batch and column systems: comparison of biokinetic rate coefficients

The kinetics of microbial degradation of naphthalene from a two-component non-aqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) coated onto uniformly sized nonporous particles were evaluated in a completely mixed batch reactor (CMBR) system and in flow-through column systems to examine the differences in the biodegradation kinetic coefficients, micro(max), the maximum specific growth rate coefficient, and K(s), the half saturation constant in the two systems. The values of these coefficients were estimated by nonlinear least-squares regression of the naphthalene mineralization profiles obtained from both CMBR and column biodegradation experiments. The results show that the range of values for micro(max) and K(s) obtained from column systems are very similar to the range of values obtained from CMBR systems. This suggests that coefficients estimated from CMBR or column systems are equally applicable for modeling studies. The presence of microorganisms and the development of biofilms at the NAPL-water interface reduced the mass transfer rates of naphthalene from the NAPL by 60% in CMBR and by 70% in column systems. If such changes in mass transfer coefficients are not accounted for, significantly erroneous values of biokinetic coefficients may be obtained.     

Malaria sporozoite antigen‐directed genome‐wide response in transgenic Drosophila

Malaria kills a million people annually. Understanding the relationship between a causative parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the mosquito vector might suggest novel prevention approaches. We created and transformed into Drosophila two genes encoding, thrombospondin‐related adhesive protein (TRAP) and circumsporozoite protein (CSP), found on the cell surface of Plasmodium sporozoites. To understand a model insect's response, we induced these proteins separately and together, performing whole genome microarray analysis measuring gene expression changes. Gene ontology classification of responding genes reveals that TRAP and CSP strongly and differentially influence Drosophila genes involved with cell motility and gene regulation, respectively; however, the most striking effects are on the immune system. While immune‐related genes are but modestly elevated compared with responses to sepsis, there is a marked repression of the Toll pathway. This suggests: (1) how Plasmodium infection of the mosquito might use TRAP and CSP to modulate the host insect's physiology to promote sporozoite survival and transmission to man and (2) that approaches to elevate expression of the mosquito's Toll pathway might lead to novel methods of malaria prevention. genesis 47:196–203, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Formation and dynamic alterations of horizontal microdomains in sperm membranes during progesterone-induced acrosome reaction

A peptidomics approach was applied to determine the peptides in the larval central nervous system of the grey flesh fly, Neobellieria bullata. Fractions obtained by high performance liquid chromatography were analysed by MALDI-TOF and ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry. This provided biochemical evidence for the presence of 18 neuropeptides, 11 of which were novel Neobellieria peptides. Most prominently present were the FMRFamide-related peptides: 7 FMRFamides, 1 FIRFamide, and Neb-myosuppressin. The three putative capa-gene products Neb-pyrokinin and the periviscerokinins Neb-PVK-1 and -2 were detected, as well as another pyrokinin. This Neb-PK-2 was also present in the ring gland along with corazonin, Neb-myosuppressin, and Neb-AKH-GK, an intermediate processing product of the adipokinetic hormone. Furthermore, the central nervous system contained Neb-LFamide, proctolin, and FDFHTVamide, designated as Neb-TVamide. With this study, we considerably increased our knowledge of the neuropeptidome of the pest fly N. bullata, which is an important insect model for physiological research.     

Changes of Body Weight and Plasma Ghrelin Levels after Gastric Banding and Gastric Bypass

Objective: Ghrelin is an enteric peptide with strong orexigenic and adipogenic effects. Plasma ghrelin levels are decreased in obese subjects but increase after weight loss; this increase is not observed after Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Prospective and comparative data after adjustable silicone gastric banding (ASGB) have not been reported previously. Research Methods and Procedures: Overnight fasting plasma ghrelin concentration was measured in morbidly obese subjects at baseline and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after ASGB (n = 8) or RYGB (n = 5) and in nonoperated controls (n = 7). Results: After RYGB, body weight (BW) decreased by 29.5 ± 5.5 kg (mean ± SE, p < 0.001), whereas plasma ghrelin failed to increase significantly (+167 ± 119 pg/mL, not significant). In contrast, after ASGB, BW decreased less (by 22.8 ± 5.9 kg; p < 0.001), and plasma ghrelin significantly increased by 377 ± 201 pg/mL (p = 0.025). Neither BW nor plasma ghrelin changed in nonoperated controls. Plasma leptin decreased in both operated groups (similarly p < 0.05) but not in nonoperated controls. Plasma growth hormone and insulin‐like growth factor 1 were not correlated with changes in plasma ghrelin concentrations. Discussion: Plasma ghrelin levels failed to increase during substantial weight loss after RYGB, but did increase in response to lesser weight loss after ASGB. These findings suggest that the plasma ghrelin response after weight loss is impaired after exclusion of major parts of the stomach and the duodenum (RYGB), and the smaller long‐term weight loss after ASGB compared with RYGB may be due, at least in part, to an absent increase in plasma ghrelin after RYGB.     

Development of isoform selective PI3-kinase inhibitors as pharmacological tools for elucidating the PI3K pathway

Using a parallel synthesis approach to target a non-conserved region of the PI3K catalytic domain a pan-PI3K inhibitor 1 was elaborated to provide alpha, delta and gamma isoform selective Class I PI3K inhibitors 21, 24, 26 and 27. The compounds had good cellular activity and were selective against protein kinases and other members of the PI3K superfamily including mTOR and DNA-PK.     

Molecular Architecture of Spinal Cord Injury Protein Interaction Network

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with complex pathophysiological processes that follow the primary traumatic event and determine the extent of secondary damage and functional recovery. Numerous reports have used global and hypothesis-driven approaches to identify protein changes that contribute to the overall pathology of SCI in an effort to identify potential therapeutic interventions. In this study, we use a semi-automatic annotation approach to detect terms referring to genes or proteins dysregulated in the SCI literature and develop a curated SCI interactome. Network analysis of the SCI interactome revealed the presence of a rich-club organization corresponding to a “powerhouse” of highly interacting hub-proteins. Studying the modular organization of the network have shown that rich-club proteins cluster into modules that are specifically enriched for biological processes that fall under the categories of cell death, inflammation, injury recognition and systems development. Pathway analysis of the interactome and the rich-club revealed high similarity indicating the role of the rich-club proteins as hubs of the most prominent pathways in disease pathophysiology and illustrating the centrality of pro-and anti-survival signal competition in the pathology of SCI. In addition, evaluation of centrality measures of single nodes within the rich-club have revealed that neuronal growth factor (NGF), caspase 3, and H-Ras are the most central nodes and potentially an interesting targets for therapy. Our integrative approach uncovers the molecular architecture of SCI interactome, and provide an essential resource for evaluating significant therapeutic candidates.