A flavanone glycoside from Diplazium esculentum

We report in this paper the isolation and identification of a new glycoside, f-riodietyol 5-O- methyl ether 7-O-β-D-xylosyigalactoside from whole plant of the fern Diplazium esculentum.     

Craniofacial pattern profile (CFPP) evaluation of facial dysmorphology in a familial syndrome with corneal anesthesia and multiple congenital anomalies

Roentgencephalometric findings are presented for a family with an unusual facial morphology. Twenty measurements defining the size and shape of major anatomic areas of the head and face were taken. The measurements were transformed into Z-scores. Using the sigma z (i.e., standard deviation of the Z-scores) value, an estimate of craniofacial pattern deviation from the norms was made for each family member. All members of this family have highly aberrant, i.e., dysmorphic, craniofacial pattern profiles. Familial as well as syndromic craniofacial similarities vs. dissimilarities between Z-score values of pairs of family members were assessed by the Pearson's correlation coefficient rz. Results of correlation coefficients demonstrate a high level (far in excess of the expected value of rz 0.50) of craniofacial pattern profile (CFPP) similarity between sibs and between sibs and their mother. This strongly suggests that the two sibs and their mothers are the carrier of the same genetic syndrome.     

Characterization of the In Vitro HIV-1 Capsid Assembly Pathway

During the morphogenesis of mature human immunodeficiency virus-1 cores, viral capsid proteins assemble conical or tubular shells around viral ribonucleoprotein complexes. This assembly step is mimicked in vitro through reactions in which capsid proteins oligomerize to form long tubes, and this process can be modeled as consisting of a slow nucleation period, followed by a rapid phase of tube growth. We have developed a novel fluorescence microscopy approach to monitor in vitro assembly reactions and have employed it, along with electron microscopy analysis, to characterize the assembly process. Our results indicate that temperature, salt concentration, and pH changes have differential effects on tube nucleation and growth steps. We also demonstrate that assembly can be unidirectional or bidirectional, that growth can be capped, and that proteins can assemble onto the surfaces of tubes, yielding multiwalled or nested structures. Finally, experiments show that a peptide inhibitor of in vitro assembly also can dismantle preexisting tubes, suggesting that such reagents may possess antiviral effects against both viral assembly and uncoating. Our investigations help establish a basis for understanding the mechanism of mature human immunodeficiency virus-1 core assembly and avenues for antiviral inhibition.