Anthropology in Disneyworld: Rapport,Gardner, and the ‘Discipline‘ of Social Anthropology

This article examines the response by Rapport to the critique made by Gardner of his book Transcendent Individual. Rapport eschews the idea of discipline in relation to anthropology. This is connected to his distaste for any hint of social determinism, and his eulogising of the essay format as the most suitable means of conveying human contrariety. His approach necessarily leads him to embellish his accounts of what the world is like with visions of what it should be like if only everyone adopted his literary and liberal stance. A contrary ‘manifesto’ is here presented: the job of social anthropology is to explain actual historical societies, and one cannot simply appropriate the subject so that it now becomes about a kind of never‐never land. Rapport's approach, far from leading to a glorification of individuality, leads only to a monochrome vision which paints all human beings as reductively ‘aesthetic’, ignoring, and rendering impossible the explanation of all institutionalised forms of belief and practice, not least those brutal forms which, says Rapport, inspire his work.     

Combination of agrin and laminin increase acetylcholine receptor clustering and enhance functional neuromuscular junction formation In vitro

Clustering of acetylcholine receptors (AChR) at the postsynaptic membrane is a crucial step in the development of neuromuscular junctions (NMJ). During development and after denervation, aneural AChR clusters form on the sarcolemma. Recent studies suggest that these receptors are critical for guiding and initiating synaptogenesis. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of agrin and laminin‐1; agents with known AChR clustering activity; on NMJ formation and muscle maturation. Primary myoblasts were differentiated in vitro on collagen, laminin or collagen and laminin‐coated surfaces in the presence or absence of agrin and laminin. The pretreated cells were then subject to innervation by PC12 cells. The number of neuromuscular junctions was assessed by immunocytochemical co‐localization of AChR clusters and the presynaptic marker synaptophysin. Functional neuromuscular junctions were quantitated by analysis of the level of spontaneous as well as neuromuscular blocker responsive contractile activity and muscle maturation was assessed by the degree of myotube striation. Agrin alone did not prime muscle for innervation while a combination of agrin and laminin pretreatment increased the number of neuromuscular junctions formed and enhanced acetylcholine based neurotransmission and myotube striation. This study has direct clinical relevance for treatment of denervation injuries and creating functional neuromuscular constructs for muscle tissue repair. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 551–565, 2016     

A gp41 MPER-specific Llama VHH Requires a Hydrophobic CDR3 for Neutralization but not for Antigen Recognition

The membrane proximal external region (MPER) of the HIV-1 glycoprotein gp41 is targeted by the broadly neutralizing antibodies 2F5 and 4E10. To date, no immunization regimen in animals or humans has produced HIV-1 neutralizing MPER-specific antibodies. We immunized llamas with gp41-MPER proteoliposomes and selected a MPER-specific single chain antibody (VHH), 2H10, whose epitope overlaps with that of mAb 2F5. Bi-2H10, a bivalent form of 2H10, which displayed an approximately 20-fold increased affinity compared to the monovalent 2H10, neutralized various sensitive and resistant HIV-1 strains, as well as SHIV strains in TZM-bl cells. X-ray and NMR analyses combined with mutagenesis and modeling revealed that 2H10 recognizes its gp41 epitope in a helical conformation. Notably, tryptophan 100 at the tip of the long CDR3 is not required for gp41 interaction but essential for neutralization. Thus bi-2H10 is an anti-MPER antibody generated by immunization that requires hydrophobic CDR3 determinants in addition to epitope recognition for neutralization similar to the mode of neutralization employed by mAbs 2F5 and 4E10.     

Collagenolysis-dependent angiogenesis mediated by matrix metalloproteinase-13 (collagenase-3)

We have demonstrated previously that new blood vessel formation induced by angiogenic growth factors in onplants placed on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of the chick embryos is critically dependent on the cleavage of fibrillar collagen by a previously unidentified interstitial collagenase. In the present study we have used a quantitative CAM angiogenesis system to search for and functionally characterize host avian collagenases responsible for the collagen remodeling associated with angiogenesis. Among the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) identified in the CAM onplant tissue, the chicken MMP-13 (chMMP-13) was the only enzyme whose induction and expression coincided with the onset of angiogenesis and blood vessel formation. The chMMP-13 cDNA has been cloned and recombinantly expressed. The chMMP-13 protein has been purified, characterized in vitro, and examined in situ in the CAM. MMP-13-positive cells appear in the CAM shortly after angiogenic stimulation and then accumulate in the collagen onplant tissue. Morphologically, the chMMP-13-containing cells appear as hematopoietic cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage. In vitro, the chMMP-13 proenzyme is rapidly and efficiently activated through the urokinase plasminogen activator/plasminogen/plasmin cascade into a collagenase capable of cleaving native but not the (r/r) mutant collagenase-resistant collagen. Surprisingly, nanogram levels of purified chMMP-13 elicit an angiogenic response in the CAM onplants comparable with that induced by the angiogenic growth factors. The chMMP-13-mediated response was efficiently blocked by select protease inhibitors indicating that plasmin-activated chMMP-13 can function as an angiogenic factor in vivo. Altogether, the results of this study extend the physiological role of MMP-13, previously associated with cartilage/bone resorption, to the collagen remodeling involved in the angiogenic cascade.     

Complete physical map of the rfb gene cluster encoding biosynthetic enzymes for the O antigen of Salmonella typhimurium LT2.

Biosynthesis of the Salmonella typhimurium LT2 O antigen is encoded by genes which map in the rfb cluster. The cloning and restriction enzyme analysis of part of this cluster have been described previously (H. N. Brahmbhatt, N. B. Quigley, and P. R. Reeves, Mol. Gen. Genet. 203:172-176, 1986). The entire rfb gene cluster has now been cloned, and a detailed restriction enzyme map has been constructed which has enabled us to map the approximate positions of individual rfb genes.     

Time-dependent inhibition of tuberculin-induced lymphocyte DNA synthesis by a serine protease inhibitor

Diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP), a group-specific irreversible inhibitor of serine proteases, has been shown to exert time-dependent inhibition of DNA synthesis of lymphocytes stimulated by three different B lymphocyte mitogens: purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD), endotoxin protein (EP), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The time-dependent inhibition profile found in B lymphocytes is absent in concanavalin A (Con A)-stimulated T lymphocytes. Structural analogs of DFP, which have lost the phosphorylating ability, are not inhibitory. Inhibition of DNA synthesis by DFP is reversible in the first 8 hr of mitogenic stimulation. Maximal and irreversible inhibition by DFP occurs around the 16th hour of stimulation. These data support the postulate that a mitogenesis-linked protease, or proteases, in B lymphocytes is absent in the resting cells but is made available several hours before the initiation of DNA synthesis in the late G1 phase of the cell cycle.     

Targeting dipeptidyl peptidase IV (CD26) suppresses autoimmune encephalomyelitis and up-regulates TGF-beta 1 secretion in vivo

CD26 or dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DP IV) is expressed on various cell types, including T cells. Although T cells can receive activating signals via CD26, the physiological role of CD26/DP IV is largely unknown. We used the reversible DP IV inhibitor Lys[Z(NO(2))]-pyrrolidide (I40) to dissect the role of DP IV in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and to explore the therapeutic potential of DP IV inhibition for autoimmunity. I40 administration in vivo decreased and delayed clinical and neuropathological signs of adoptive transfer EAE. I40 blocked DP IV activity in vivo and increased the secretion of the immunosuppressive cytokine TGF-beta1 in spinal cord tissue and plasma during acute EAE. In vitro, while suppressing autoreactive T cell proliferation and TNF-alpha production, I40 consistently up-regulated TGF-beta1 secretion. A neutralizing anti-TGF-beta1 Ab blocked the inhibitory effect of I40 on T cell proliferation to myelin Ag. DP IV inhibition in vivo was not generally immunosuppressive, neither eliminating encephalitogenic T cells nor inhibiting T cell priming. These data suggest that DP IV inhibition represents a novel and specific therapeutic approach protecting from autoimmune disease by a mechanism that includes an active TGF-beta1-mediated antiinflammatory effect at the site of pathology.     

Cloning part of the region encoding biosynthetic enzymes for surface antigen (O-antigen) of Salmonella typhimurium

Summary The rfb gene cluster of Salmonella typhimurium encodes the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of the O-Antigen. A part of it has been cloned in plasmid vectors pBR322 and pUC9 using an adjacent, previously cloned, part of the his operon (Barnes 1981) as a molecular probe for the first clone. A detailed restriction enzyme map of 7.57 kb of rfb DNA is presented and the approximate locations of two of the genes, rfbK and rfbM have been defined.     

Proton conduction in gramicidin A and in its dioxolane-linked dimer in different lipid bilayers.

Gramicidin A (gA) molecules were covalently linked with a dioxolane ring. Dioxolane-linked gA dimers formed ion channels, selective for monovalent cations, in planar lipid bilayers. The main goal of this study was to compare the functional single ion channel properties of natural gA and its covalently linked dimer in two different lipid bilayers and HCl concentrations (10-8000 mM). Two ion channels with different gating and conductance properties were identified in bilayers from the product of dimerization reaction. The most commonly observed and most stable gramicidin A dimer is the main object of this study. This gramicidin dimer remained in the open state most of the time, with brief closing flickers (tau(closed) approximately 30 micros). The frequency of closing flickers increased with transmembrane potential, making the mean open time moderately voltage dependent (tau(open) changed approximately 1.43-fold/100 mV). Such gating behavior is markedly different from what is seen in natural gA channels. In PEPC (phosphatidylethanolamine-phosphatidylcholine) bilayers, single-channel current-voltage relationships had an ohmic behavior at low voltages, and a marked sublinearity at relatively higher voltages. This behavior contrasts with what was previously described in GMO (glycerylmonooleate) bilayers. In PEPC bilayers, the linear conductance of single-channel proton currents at different proton concentrations was essentially the same for both natural and gA dimers. g(max) and K(D), obtained from fitting experimental points to a Langmuir adsorption isotherm, were approximately 1500 pS and 300 mM, respectively, for both the natural gA and its dimer. In GMO bilayers, however, proton affinities of gA and the dioxolane-dimer were significantly lower (K(D) of approximately 1 and 1.5 M, respectively), and the g(max) higher (approximately 1750 and 2150 pS, respectively) than in PEPC bilayers. Furthermore, the relationship between single-channel conductance and proton concentration was linear at low bulk concentrations of H+ (0.01-2 M) and saturated at concentrations of more than 3 M. It is concluded that 1) The mobility of protons in gramicidin A channels in different lipid bilayers is remarkably similar to proton mobilities in aqueous solutions. In particular, at high concentrations of HCl, proton mobilities in gramicidin A channel and in solution differ by only 25%. 2) Differences between proton conductances in gramicidin A channels in GMO and PEPC cannot be explained by surface charge effects on PEPC membranes. It is proposed that protonated phospholipids adjacent to the mouth of the pore act as an additional source of protons for conduction through gA channels in relation to GMO bilayers. 3) Some experimental results cannot be reconciled with simple alterations in access resistance to proton flow in gA channels. Said differences could be explained if the structure and/or dynamics of water molecules inside gramicidin A channels is modulated by the lipid environment and by modifications in the structure of gA channels. 4) The dioxolane ring is probably responsible for the closing flickers seen in the dimer channel. However, other factors can also influence closing flickers.