Conjugated dienes in lipids of apolipoprotein B containing lipoproteins of normal and type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.

Conjugated dienes present in the fatty acyl chains of cholesterol esters and triglycerides associated with plasma apolipoprotein B containing lipoproteins of normal and Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients (n = 17) have been analysed using second derivative electronic absorption spectroscopy. Characteristic spectral patterns for both normal subjects and Type 2 diabetic patients were observed. Cis, trans and trans, trans conjugated dienes in cholesterol esters of lipoprotein B of Type 2 patients and normal subjects were found to be 41.74 +/- 0.51 mg/litre, 8.20 +/- 0.20 mg/litre (p less than 0.01) and 24.70 +/- 0.33 mg/litre, 9.22 +/- 0.06 mg/litre (p less than 0.01), respectively. Levels of these dienes in triglyceride fraction were 21.21 +/- 0.52 mg/litre, 7.72 +/- 0.02 mg/litre (p greater than 0.05) and 15.49 +/- 0.36 mg/litre, 7.91 +/- 0.11 mg/litre (p greater than 0.05), respectively.     

Purification and characterization of a wound-induced ω-hydroxyfatty acid:NADP oxidoreductase from potato tuber disks (Solanum tuberosum L.)

ω-Hydroxyfatty acid dehydrogenase (ω-hydroxyfatty acid:NADP oxidoreductase) catalyzes the reaction ω-hydroxyfatty acid + NADP ? ω-oxofatty acid + NADPH +H⁺. In wound-healing potato tuber disks, the ω-oxofatty acid generated by this enzyme is further oxidized to the corresponding dicarboxylic acid by a separate enzyme, ω-oxofatty acid dehydrogenase. ω-Hydroxy acid dehydrogenase, but not ω-oxo acid dehydrogenase, was found to be induced by wounding potato tubers. ω-Hydroxy acid dehydrogenase has been purified 600-fold to near homogeneity from wound-healing potato tuber disks by a combination of gel filtration, anion-exchange, and hydroxylapatite chromatography followed by NADP-Sepharose affinity chromatography, in about 1% yield. The molecular weight and Stokes radius of this enzyme as determined by gel exclusion chromatography are 60,000 and 31 Å, respectively. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis gave a molecular weight of 31,000, indicating that the deydrogenase is a dimer with subunits of similar molecular weight. The pH optima for the reaction in the forward and reverse directions are 9.5 and 8.5, respectively, and V in the forward and reverse directions are 140 and 3200 nmol/min/mg, respectively. Apparent K_m values for NADP, 16-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid, NADPH, and 16-oxohexadecanoic acid are 100, 20, 5, and 7 μm respectively. The equilibrium constant of the reaction at pH 9.5 and 30 °C is 1.4 × 10^?9m. The enzyme preparation did not show any stereospecificity for hydride transfer from NADPH to 16-oxohexadecanoic acid.     

Chemistry of the true cedars

Four species of Cedus, designated as “True Cedars”, are widely distributed over the Asian subcontinent and are well known for their wood and medicinal properties. Consequently they have been investigated extensively over the last three decades. A review of the chemical constituents in various parts of these species and the biological activities reported in these investigations is presented.     

Chloroquine delivery to erythrocytes inPlasmodium berghei-infected mice using antibody-bearing liposomes as drug vehicles

Suitability of anti-erythrocyte F_(ab’)2-bearing liposomes as vehicles for chloroquine in the treatment of chloroquine resistantPlasmodium berghei infections in mice has been examined. Free chloroquine or chloroquine encapsulated in antibody-free liposomes failed to show much effect on the resistant infections, but the same doses of this drug after being encapsulated in antibody-bearing liposomes exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on this infection. These results indicate that chloroquine delivery in antibody targeted liposomes may help in the successful treatment of the chloroquine resistant malarial infections. CDRI Communication No. 4705.     

Late quaternary sediments,minerals, and inferred geochemical history of Didwana Lake,Thar Desert,India

Variations in clastic sediment texture, mineralogy of both evaporites formed at the surface and precipitates formed below the lake floor, and the relative chemical activities of the major dissolved components of the chemical precipitates, have allowed reconstruction of the history of salinity and water-level changes in Didwana Lake, Thar Desert, India. Hypersaline conditions prevailed at about the Last Glacial Maximum, with little evidence of clastic sediments entering the lake. Between ca. 13,000 and 6000 B.P. the lake level fluctuated widely, the lake alternately hypersaline and fresh, and clastic sediments were delivered to the lake at a low rate. Deep-water conditions occurred ca. 6000 B.P. and clastic influx increased abruptly. The water level dropped towards 4000 B.P. when the lake dried briefly. Since 4000 B.P. the lake has been ephemeral with a lowered rate of sedimentation and mildly saline conditions rather like those of today. This sequence of changes documented in the lake parallels changes in vegetation recorded in published pollen diagrams from both the Thar and the Arabian Sea. Correlation of the various lines of evidence suggests that the climate of the Last Glacial Maximum at Didwana was dry and windy with a weak monsson circulation. The monsson was re-established between ca. 13,000 and a little before 6000 B.P., and, when winter rainfall increased ca. 6000 B.P., the lake filled to its maximum depth.     

In vitro clonal propagation and genetic fidelity of the regenerants of Spilanthes calva DC. using RAPD and ISSR marker

An efficient in vitro protocol has been established for clonal propagation of elite plant of Spilanthes calva DC., an important source of spilanthol, an antimalarial larvicidal compound. Nodal explants excised from field grown plant of S. calva DC. when reared on Murashige and Skoog’s medium augmented with different cytokinins, viz. N⁶-Benzyladenine (BA), N⁶-(2-isopentenyl) adenine (2iP) and 6-furfuryl aminopurine (Kn), differentiated multiple shoots from the axils. BA at 10 μM proved optimum for elicitation of multiple shoots in 91.6 % cultures with an average of 7.12 shoots per explant within 6 weeks. The excised shoots rooted on half strength Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with 0.1 μM IBA. Micropropagated plants were hardened and transferred to field for acclimatization, where 95 % plants survived and were phenotypically similar to the donor plant. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were employed to evaluate the genetic fidelity amongst the regenerants. Eleven individuals, randomly chosen amongst a population of 120 regenerants were compared with the donor plant. A total of 71 scorable bands, ranging in size from 100 bp to 1,100 bp were generated by a combination of the two markers in the aforesaid plants. All banding profiles from micropropagated plants were monomorphic and similar to those of mother plant. The similarity values amongst the aforesaid plants varied from 0.967 to 1.000. The dendrogram generated through UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with arithmetic mean) analysis revealed 98 % similarity amongst them, thus confirming the genetic fidelity of the in vitro clones.     

One known and an unknown species of the genus Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952, infecting Sperata aor (Hamilton, 1822): comparison with species from China,on molecular basis

Sperata aor commonly called as long- whiskered cat fish or “Bada Tengan” in local fish markets harboured one new and one previously known species of genus Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952, along with two species of Cornudiscoides Kulkarni, 1969, infesting gills. Thaparocleidus aori (Rizvi, 1971) Lim, 1996, was earlier described by Rizvi therefore was briefly recorded in the present study, except the egg. The newly found species Thaparocleidus susanae n.sp was characterized by the structure of its peculiar copulatory organ. Phylogenetic relationship of the two species under study, along with 14, reterived from GenBank was established using the sequences of 28S rDNA region (Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 taken as an out group).     

Synthesis,Biophysical Properties,and Stability Studies of Mixed Backbone Oligonucleotides Containing Novel Non-Ionic Linkages

Abstract

Mixed backbone oligonucleotides (MBOs) (containing ionic and non-ionic internucleotidic linkages) in which the non-ionic segments are either methylphosphotriester (PO-OMe) or primary phosphoramidate (PO-NH₂) linkages have been prepared using the recently described N-pent-4-enoyl (PNT) nucleoside phosphoramidates and H-phosphonates. Biophysical properties and stability studies suggest that these MBOs are novel antisense molecules.