Structural models and surface equation of state for pulmonary surfactant monolayers

A simple surface equation of state is proposed to describe pi-A isotherms of pulmonary surfactant monolayers. The monolayer is considered as undergoing three characteristic states during the compression: the disordered liquid-expanded (LE) state, the ordered liquid-condensed (LC) state and the collapse state. Structural models of pure protein (SP-B and SP-C) monolayer are proposed to interpret the behavior characteristics of monolayer in the states. The area, ALC, is defined as an instantaneous LC-state area when the monolayer is under the complete LC state. The area, At, is defined as a transition area from the ordered LC state to the collapse state. And the collapse pressure, pi(max), is defined as the maximum surface pressure that the monolayer can bear before collapse. The ideal equation of state is revised by ALC, At and pi(max), and a new equation of state is obtained, which is applicable for pure components of pulmonary surfactant. The theoretical pi-A isotherms described by the equation of state are compared with the experimental ones for SP-B, SP-C, DPPC and DPPG, and good agreements are obtained. The equation of state is generalized to protein-lipid binary mixtures by introducing mixing rules. The predicted pi-A isotherms agree with the experimental ones for various pulmonary surfactant components and the average deviation is about 9.2%.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Sporotalea propionica</Emphasis> gen. nov. sp. nov., a hydrogen-oxidizing,oxygen-reducing,propionigenic firmicute from the intestinal tract of a soil-feeding termite

An unusual propionigenic bacterium was isolated from the intestinal tract of the soil-feeding termite Thoracotermes macrothorax. Strain TmPN3 is a motile, long rod that stains gram-positive, but reacts gram-negative in the KOH test. It forms terminal endospores and ferments lactate, glucose, lactose, fructose, and pyruvate to propionate and acetate via the methyl-malonyl-CoA pathway. Propionate and acetate are formed at a ratio of 2:1, typical of most propionigenic bacteria. Under a H₂/CO₂ atmosphere, the fermentation product pattern of glucose, fructose, and pyruvate shifts towards propionate formation at the expense of acetate. Cell suspensions reduce oxygen with lactate, glucose, glycerol, or hydrogen as electron donor. In the presence of oxygen, the product pattern of lactate fermentation shifts from propionate to acetate production. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain TmPN3 is a firmicute that clusters among the Acidaminococcaceae, a subgroup of the Clostridiales comprising obligately anaerobic, often endospore-forming bacteria that possess an outer membrane. Based on phenotypic differences and less than 92% sequence similarity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of its closest relative, the termite hindgut isolate Acetonema longum, strain TmPN3^T is proposed as the type species of a new genus, Sporotalea propionica gen. nov. sp. nov. (DSM 13327^T, ATCC BAA-626^T).     

Knockout of the gene (<Emphasis Type="Italic">ste15</Emphasis>) encoding a glycosyltransferase and its function in biosynthesis of exopolysaccharide in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces</Emphasis> sp. 139

Streptomyces sp. 139 produces a novel exopolysaccharide (EPS) designated Ebosin which has antagonistic activity for IL-1R in vitro and remarkable anti-rheumatic arthritis activity in vivo. We previously identified a ste (Streptomyces eps) gene cluster consisting of 27 ORFs responsible for Ebosin biosynthesis. The gene product of ste15 shows high homology to known glycosyltransferases (GTFs). To elucidate its function in Ebosin biosynthesis, the ste15 gene was knocked out with a double crossover via homologous recombination. Our analysis of monosaccharide composition for EPS-m produced by the mutant strain Streptomyces sp. 139 (ste15 ⁻) showed that glucose was significantly diminished compared to its natural counterpart Ebosin. This derivative of Ebosin lost the antagonistic activity for IL-1R in vitro and its molecular mass was smaller than Ebosin. These results have demonstrated that the ste15 gene codes for a GTF for glucose, which is functionally involved in Ebosin biosynthesis.     

小孢子链格孢endoPG基因核苷酸序列分析及系统发育研究

对供试小孢子链格孢菌株的内聚半乳糖醛酸酶(endoPG)基因进行扩增,大部分菌株都可获得PCR产物。核苷酸和氨基酸序列比较表明:不同种小孢子链格孢endoPG基因核苷酸序列存在明显差异,甚至表现在氨基酸水平,这些差异可以作为一些种如梨黑斑链格孢、长柄链格孢区分的分子性状。利用邻近结合法构建系统发育树,所有菌株被分为8个聚类组。在系统发育树上,链格孢的一些不同分离物被聚在不同组中,而细极链格孢、链格孢的部分菌株、苹果链格孢、柑橘链格孢、粗柠檬褐斑链格孢、橘树链格孢被聚为一组,显示根据形态学特征划分的这些种与分子性状的不一致性。endoPG基因核苷酸序列富于变化,为小孢子链格孢系统发育研究提供了一种有用的手段。     

Adventitial fibroblasts are activated in the early stages of atherosclerosis in the apolipoprotein E knockout mouse

The role of the adventitia in vascular function and vascular lesion formation has been largely ignored. This study observed the activation of the adventitia and specifically the fibroblasts in the development of atherosclerosis in the apoE(-/-) mouse. The results showed a gradual increase in expression of collagen types I and III after 2, 4, and 8 weeks of hyperlipidic diet. The earliest expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) protein and mRNA was detected in the adventitial fibroblast before the formation of intimal lesions. Proliferation, too, was first found in the adventitial fibroblasts. We hypothesize that the adventitial fibroblast is activated in the early stage of atherosclerosis. Adventitial inflammation may be an early event in the development of atherosclerotic lesions.     

Genetic Polymorphisms of DNA Repair Gene: XRCC1 Pro206Pro and Gln632Gln in a Chinese Han Population

DNA repair genes are increasingly studied because of their critical role in maintaining genome integrity. The base excision repair (BER) pathway is a DNA repair pathway that operates on small lesions, such as oxidized or reduced bases, fragmented or nonbulky adducts, or those produced by methylating agents. The XRCC1 polymorphic system is the key gene of the BER pathway. In this study, polymorphisms of XRCC1 Pro206Pro on exon 7 and Gln632Gln on exon 17 were analyzed in a northeastern Chinese Han population. Genomic DNA extracted from 303 unrelated individuals and the PCR-RFLP technique were used to identify variants. The allele frequencies were 0.90 (A) and 0.10 (G) for XRCC1 Pro206Pro and 0.88 (G) and 0.12 (A) for XRCC1 Gln632Gln. The genotype frequencies were 0.797 (AA), 0.203 (AG), and 0 (GG) for XRCC1 Pro206Pro and 0.007 (AA), 0.222 (AG), and 0.771 (GG) for XRCC1 Gln632Gln. The expected heterozygosity and PIC were 18 and 16.38% for Pro206Pro and 21.12 and 18.89% for Gln632Gln. The two polymorphisms were in strong linkage disequilibrium (D' = 0.921, r (2) = 0.735). The results are compared with those of other reported populations. They showed marked ethnic group differences. This study provides the first analysis of the distribution of allele frequency for XRCC1 Pro206Pro and Gln632Gln in a Chinese population.     

Homochiral metal-organic coordination networks from l-typtophan

Three homochiral metal-organic coordination networks [Co₂(l-Trp)₂(Py)₆] · Py · (ClO₄)₂ (1), [Ni(l-Trp)(Py)₃] · H₂O · ClO₄ (2) and [Co₂(l-Trp)(INT)₂(H₂O)₂(ClO₄)] (3), all containing natural amino acid l-HTrp (l-typtophan), were hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized. The compounds 1 and 2 crystallize in the orthorhombic space group C222₁, with a = 10.731(2) Å, b = 19.709(4) Å, c = 27.365(6) Å and Z = 4 for 1 and a = 10.710(10) Å, b = 20.088(18) Å, c = 27.63(3) Å and Z = 8 for 2, respectively. The compound 3 has the monoclinic space group P2₁, with a = 8.1934(14) Å, b = 13.209(2) Å, c = 12.464(2) Å, β = 104.107(3)° and Z = 2. Both 1 and 2 consist of 1D helical chains. Compound 3 is composed of 2D networks, which further assemble into a 3D supramolecular structure via weak interlayer interactions. The optically pure amino acid l-HTrp plays an important role leading to homochiral structures reported here.     

Expression, Purification, and Characterization of a [Fe2S2] Cluster Containing Ferredoxin from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

The [2Fe-2S] cluster containing ferredoxin has attracted much attention in recent years. Genetic analyses show that it has an essential role in the maturation of various iron–sulfur (Fe-S) proteins and functions as a component of the complex machinery responsible for the biogenesis of Fe-S clusters. The gene of ferredoxin from A. ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 was cloned, successfully expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified by one-step affinity chromatography to homogeneity. The MALDI-TOF MS and spectra results of the recombinant protein confirmed that the iron–sulfur cluster was correctly inserted into the active site of the protein. Site-directed mutagenesis results revealed that Cys42, Cys48, Cys51, and Cys87 were ligating with the [Fe₂S₂] cluster of the protein.     

Dendritic cells modified with 6Ckine/IFNγ fusion gene induce specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vitro

Backgroud and objective Dendritic cells play an important role in initiation and regulation of immune responses. Previous studies demonstrated that intratumoral administration of 6Ckine-modified DCs enhanced local and systemic antitumor effects. Herein we report the investigation of the specific CTL responses elicited by adenoviral 6Ckine/IFNγ fusion gene-modified DCs in vitro. Methods Human monocyte-derived DCs were modified with an adenoviral vector encoding 6Ckine/IFNγ fusion protein (Ad-6Ckine/IFNγ), and then investigated the effect of 6Ckine/IFNγ fusion protein on the maturation, cytokine and chemokine secretion of DCs, and their activities of recruiting and activating T cells in vitro were investigated. Results 6Ckine/IFNγ fusion protein induced DC maturation characterized with the upregulation of CD83 and CCR7. And it up-regulated the expression of RANTES and IL-12p70, down-regulated that of IL-10 in DCs. Additionally, 6Ckine/IFNγ markedly increased DC’s recruiting ability for naive T cells, benefiting from the enhanced expression of chemokines 6Ckine and RANTES in DCs. Fusion gene-modified DCs significantly promoted the proliferation of autologous T cells, induced Th1 differentiation by upregulating the expression of IL-2 and T-bet in T cells, and increased specific cytotoxicity of CTLs against specific tumor cells, HepG2 or LoVo cells, respectively. Conclusion Combining the effects of 6Ckine and IFNγ, Ad-6Ckine/IFNγ modified DCs induced enhanced CTL responses in vitro, which indicated that Ad-6Ckine/IFNγ modified DCs might be used as an adjuvant to trigger an effective antitumor immune response. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Gang Xue, Ran-yi Liu, Yan Li contributed equally to this work.     

Stem cell-derived Sca-1+ progenitors differentiate into smooth muscle cells, which is mediated by collagen IV-integrin alpha1/beta1/alphav and PDGF receptor pathways

Embryonic stem (ES) cells can differentiate into smooth muscle cells (SMCs) that can be used for tissue engineering and repair of damaged organs. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of differentiation in these cells. In the present study, we found collagen IV can promote ES cells to differentiate into stem cell antigen-1-positive (Sca-1⁺) progenitor cells and SMCs. Pretreatment of ES cells with antibodies against collagen IV significantly inhibited SMC marker expression. To further elucidate the effect of collagen IV on the induction and maintenance of SMC differentiation, Sca-1⁺ progenitor cells were isolated with magnetic beads, placed in collagen-IV-coated flasks, and cultured in differentiation medium with or without platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB for 6–90 days. Both immunostaining and fluorescence-activated cell sorter analyses revealed that the majority of these cells were positive for SMC-specific markers. Pretreatment of Sca-1⁺ progenitors with antibodies against integrin ₁, _v, and ₁, but not ₃, inhibited focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and paxillin phosphorylation and resulted in a marked inhibition of SMC differentiation. Various tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and specific siRNA for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) and PDGF receptor- significantly inhibited SMC marker expression. Taken together, we demonstrate for the first time that collagen IV plays a crucial role in the early stage of SMC differentiation and that integrin (₁, ₁, and _v)-FAK-PI 3-kinase-mitogen-activated protein kinase and PDGF receptor- signaling pathways are involved in SMC differentiation. progenitor cells; extracellular matrix; growth factor receptors; platelet-derived growth factor