Edible Lepidoptera in Mexico: Geographic distribution, ethnicity, economic and nutritional importance for rural people

In this paper, we reported the butterflies and moths that are consumed in Mexico. We identified 67 species of Lepidoptera that are eaten principally in their larval stage in 17 states of Mexico. These species belong to 16 families: Arctiidae, Bombycidae, Castniidae, Cossidae, Geometridae, Hepialidae, Hesperiidae, Lasiocampidae, Noctuidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Pyralidae, Saturniidae, Sesiidae, and Sphingidae. Saturniidae, Pieridae, Noctuidae and Nymphalidae were the more species consumed with 16, 11, 9, and 8 species, respectively. The genera with the largest numbers of species were: Phassus, Phoebis, Hylesia and Spodoptera, with three species. Their local distribution, corresponding to each state of Mexico, is also presented.     

Optimized labeling of bone marrow mesenchymal cells with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vivo</Emphasis> visualization by magnetic resonance imaging

Background  

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a promising addition to traditional treatments for a number of diseases. However, harnessing the therapeutic potential of stem cells requires an understanding of their fate in vivo. Non-invasive cell tracking can provide knowledge about mechanisms responsible for functional improvement of host tissue. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been used to label and visualize various cell types with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this study we performed experiments designed to investigate the biological properties, including proliferation, viability and differentiation capacity of mesenchymal cells (MSCs) labeled with clinically approved SPIONs.     

Validation of model virus removal and inactivation capacity of an erythropoietin purification process

Human erythropoietin (hEpo) production requires mammalian cells able to make complex post-translational modifications to guaranty its biological activity. As mammalian cell can be reservoir of pathogenic viruses and several animal origin components are usually used in the cultivation of mammalian cells, hEpo contamination with viruses is something of great concern. As consequence, this study investigated the viral removal and inactivation capacity of a recombinant-hEpo (rec-hEpo) purification process. Canine parvovirus, Human poliovirus type-2, Bovine viral diarrhea virus and Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 were used for measuring process viral removal and inactivation capacities. In conclusion, this study corroborated that the assessed rec-hEpo purification process has enough capacity (5.0–19.4 Logs) for removing and inactivating these model viruses and sodium hydroxide demonstrated to be a robust sanitization solution for chromatography columns (5.0 (PV-2)-6.7 (CPV) Logs).     

Discovery of 1,1-dioxo-1,2,6-thiadiazine-5-carboxamide derivatives as cannabinoid-like molecules with agonist and antagonist activity

A series of new 2-substituted 1,1-dioxo-1,2,6-thiadiazine-5-carboxylate derivatives have been prepared from monosubstituted sulfamides in order to obtain N-substituted 1,1-dioxo-1,2,6-thiadiazine-5-carboxamides as novel cannabinoid derivatives, analogues of Rimonabant (SR141716A). Their potential functional activity on cannabinoid receptors has been evaluated in vitro and in vivo in mice, showing that two compounds (37 and 39) behave as cannabinoid agonists in vitro. Their potency is lower than that of the reference compound, WIN 55,212-2, but their efficacy is similar to that of this cannabinoid agonist, although no in vivo activity is observed. Another derivative (38) behaves as a cannabinoid antagonist both in vitro and in vivo, being its efficacy and potency similar to that of the well-known antagonist SR141716A.     

Cellular colocalization and coregulation between hypothalamic pro-TRH and prohormone convertases in hypothyroidism

The prohormone convertases (PCs), PC1/3 and PC2, are involved in the tissue-specific endoproteolytic posttranslational processing of many hormonal precursors within the secretory pathway. One important prohormone, pro-thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), is expressed in both hypophysiotropic (where it regulates the secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone) and nonhypophysiotropic regions of the brain. Pro-TRH is processed at specific sites in the secretory pathway, primarily by PC1/3 followed by PC2. We hypothesized that thyroid hormone status in specific nuclei of the brain would alter pro-TRH processing by inducing changes in PC1/3 and PC2 expression. Therefore, we examined pro-TRH, PC1/3, and PC2 coexpression and coregulation in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), lateral hypothalamus (LH), and ventromedial nucleus (VMN) of hypothyroid and euthyroid rats. Our results show that 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) treatment producing hypothyroidism induced a significant increase in the expression of PC1/3, PC2, and pro-TRH in the PVN and LH, but not VMN. When confocal studies were performed, an increase in colocalization of PC1/3 or PC2 in pro-TRH was observed only in PVN, a response that was especially prominent in the ventral and medial areas of the PVN. PTU did not regulate colocalization in the VMH or LH. Regulation of colocalization of processing enzyme and prohormone expression is a novel mechanism to alter hormonal biosynthesis.     

Interferon prevents the generation of spontaneous deletions at the left terminus of vaccinia virus DNA.

In this report we have shown that Friend erythroleukemia cells persistently infected with vaccinia virus maintain the persistent infection even after 1 year of continuous interferon (IFN) treatment. The persistently infected cultures were responsive to IFN as determined by their ability to induce 2-5A synthetase, to increase the intracellular levels of 2-5A, and to cause rRNA cleavage. While large deletions at the left terminus of vaccinia DNA occurred readily in the virus population from untreated cells, IFN completely suppressed the generation of these spontaneous deletions. Removal of IFN from these cultures led to the appearance of similar deletions at the left terminus of the viral genome. The regions deleted contain more than half of the left-end inverted terminal repetition of the vaccinia genome. These findings show that IFN alters specific events associated with the generation of vaccinia DNA deletions.     

Properties and kinetics of a neutral beta-galactosidase from rabbit kidney

A neutral beta-galactosidase has been purified by concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration and hydroxylapatite chromatography. The enzyme was purified 126-fold with a yield of about 21%. This form has a neutral optimal pH (7.5) and it is located in the cytosolic fraction. It shows a wide pH stability from pH 4.5 to 8.0, but it is very unstable at low pH values. Its isoelectric point is 4.9 and this value does not change on neuraminidase treatment. The estimated molecular weight was 47 000. The neutral form shows beta-D-galactosidase, beta-D-fucosidase and beta-D-glucosidase activities, all of them associated in a single peak in all the purification steps. p-Nitrophenyl beta-D-galactosides, p-nitrophenyl beta-D-fucosides and p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucosides competed fully for a common active site in mixed-substrate experiments. Using gamma-D-galactonolactone as competitive inhibitor the Ki values were always coincident for the three activities. The effect of NaCl, methyl mannoside and some sugars (fucose, galactose and glucose) was studied.     

Sublethal damage during cryopreservation of rainbow trout sperm

Although cellular damage during cryopreservation of freshwater fish spermatozoa has been reported in several studies, there is a lack of correlation between this damage and the fertility rates of eggs using postthawed milt. The apparent lack of such correlation may be due to other undetected sublethal cryodamage, which could affect the cell functionality and viability. This may be extremely important for freshwater fish spermatozoa whose ability to fertilize the egg requires dilution in water or hypoosmotic solutions, an hazardous environment for the cells. This study tested the change in cell permeability during cryopreservation, using Hoechst 33258 to assess cell permeability. The permeability of spermatozoa at different times after dilution in several hypoosmotic media were investigated. In the first trial, fresh semen, sperm diluted in freezing media (CPT), and freeze/thawed semen were studied. Three CPT were tested (Me2SO, DMA, and methanol). In the second trial, the addition of egg yolk as a membrane stabilizer was investigated. Samples were frozen at -20 degreesC/min in a programmable cooler and thawed in a 25 degreesC water bath. Dilution in the CPTs slightly increased the susceptibility of cells to damage but freezing/thawing caused a dramatic increase in the fragility of cells, which were killed in a few seconds after their contact with the hypoosmotic solutions. Egg yolk provided a significant protection to the membrane, allowing the cells a greater and more prolonged survival in the fertilization media. Samples frozen with Me2SO displayed the best results. These results are consistent with the achieved fertility rates that demonstrated sublethal cryodamage in the function of the sperm membrane that was not detected by standard procedures. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

Slipped-strand mispairing in a plastid gene: rpoC2 in grasses (Poaceae)

An exception to the generally conservative nature of plastid gene evolution is the gene coding for the beta" subunit of RNA polymerase, rpoC2. Previous work by others has shown that maize and rice have an insertion in the coding region of rpoC2, relative to spinach and tobacco. To assess the distribution of this extra coding sequence, we surveyed a broad phylogenetic sample comprising 55 species from 17 angiosperm families by using Southern hybridization. The extra coding sequence is restricted to the grasses (Poaceae). DNA sequence analysis of 11 species from all five subfamilies within the grass family demonstrates that the extra sequence in the coding region of rpoC2 is a repetitive array that exhibits more than a twofold increase in nucleotide substitution, as well as a large number of insertion/deletion events, relative to the adjacent flanking sequences. The structure of the array suggests that slipped-strand mispairing causes the repeated motifs and adds to the mechanisms through which the coding sequence of plastid genes are known to evolve. Phylogenetic analyses based on the sequence data from grass species support several relationships previously suggested by morphological work, but they are ambiguous about broad relationships within the family.