Identification of the cellulose-binding domain of the cellulosome subunit S1 from Clostridium thermocellum YS

The 3' region of a gene designated cipB, which shows strong homology with cipA that encodes the cellulosome SL subunit of Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405, was isolated from a gene library of C. thermocellum strain YS. The truncated S1 protein encoded by the cipB derivative bound tightly to cellulose. The cellulose-binding domain in this polypeptide consisted of a C-terminal proximal 167 residue sequence which showed complete identity with residues 337-503 of mature SL from C. thermocellum strain ATCC 27405. The cellulose-binding domain interacted with both crystalline and amorphous cellulose, but not with xylan.     

What do hospital consultants value about their jobs? A discrete choice experiment

Objective To examine the strength of hospital consultants'' preferences for various aspects of their work.Design Questionnaire survey including a discrete choice experiment.Setting NHS Scotland.Participants 2923 hospital consultants in Scotland.Main outcome measures Monetary valuations or prices for each job characteristic, based on consultants'' willingness to pay and willingness to accept extra income for a change in each job characteristic, calculated from regression coefficients.Results The response rate was 61% (1793 resspondents). Being on call was the most important attribute, as consultants would need to be compensated up to £18 000 (30% of their average net income) (P < 0.001) for a high on-call workload. Compensation of up to £9700 (16% of their net income) (P < 0.001) would be required for consultants to forgo opportunities to undertake non-NHS work. Consultants would be willing to accept £7000 (12% of net income) (P < 0.001) in compensation for fair rather than good working relationships with staff, and £6500 (11% of net income) (P < 0.001) to compensate them for a shortage of staff. The least important characteristic was hours of work, with £562 per year (0.9% of their net income) (P < 0.001) required to induce consultants to work one extra hour per week. These preferences also varied among specific subgroups of consultants.Conclusions Important information on consultants'' strength of preferences for characteristics of their job should be used to help to address recruitment and retention problems. Consultants would require increased payment to cover more intensive on-call commitments. Other aspects of working conditions would require smaller increases.     

Loss of PTPN12 Stimulates Progression of ErbB2-Dependent Breast Cancer by Enhancing Cell Survival,Migration, and Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

PTPN12 is a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) reported to be a tumor suppressor in breast cancer, through its capacity to dephosphorylate oncogenic receptor protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs), such as ErbB2. However, the precise molecular and cellular impact of PTPN12 deficiency in breast cancer progression remains to be fully clarified. Here, we addressed this issue by examining the effect of PTPN12 deficiency on breast cancer progression in vivo, in a mouse model of ErbB2-dependent breast cancer using a conditional PTPN12-deficient mouse. Our studies showed that lack of PTPN12 in breast epithelial cells accelerated breast cancer development and lung metastases in vivo. PTPN12-deficient breast cancer cells displayed enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of the adaptor Cas, the adaptor paxillin, and the kinase Pyk2. They exhibited no detectable increase in ErbB2 tyrosine phosphorylation. PTPN12-deficient cells were more resistant to anoikis and had augmented migratory and invasive properties. Enhanced migration was corrected by inhibiting Pyk2. PTPN12-deficient breast cancer cells also acquired partial features of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a feature of more aggressive forms of breast cancer. Hence, loss of PTPN12 promoted tumor progression in a mouse model of breast cancer, supporting the notion that PTPN12 is a tumor suppressor in human breast cancer. This function was related to the ability of PTPN12 to suppress cell survival, migration, invasiveness, and EMT and to inhibit tyrosine phosphorylation of Cas, Pyk2, and paxillin. These findings enhance our understanding of the role and mechanism of action of PTPN12 in the control of breast cancer progression.     

Evaluation of porcine corpora lutea during organ culture: A histological,ultrastructural and hormonal assessment

Porcine corpora lutea (CL) were cultured for 5 days using an organ culture technique which had previously been used for human CL. Progesterone levels in the media declined continuously throughout culture and closer examination demonstrated no synthesis of progesterone during the culture period but merely leakage into the media. Although light microscopy showed the cells to be maintained to the same extent as the human tissue, an ultrastructural study indicated that extensive cell death had occurred.     

Comparison of a novel thin-layer chromatographic—fluorescence detection method with a spectrofluorometric method for the determination of 7-hydroxycoumarin in human urine

A novel method for the determination of 7-hydroxycoumarin in human urine which combines thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with fluorescence detection (FD) has been devised. The limit of detection (1 ng/ml) enables determination of 7-hydroxycoumarin after both administration of coumarin and environmental exposure to this fragrance material. When compared to a spectroflourometric method of analysis, the TLC—FD method proved to be more selective for the analysis of 7-hydroxycoumarin in human urine.