Safety of TNF-blocking agents in rheumatic patients with serology suggesting past hepatitis B state: results from a cohort of 21 patients

Introduction  

Reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients with past infection has been described in 5% to 10% of individuals undergoing immunosuppressive therapies. No data are available to date on the outcome of patients treated by tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) inhibitors for chronic arthritis with a serological pattern of past HBV infection. The aim of our study was to monitor HBV markers in HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative/anti-HBcAb-positive patients treated with a TNFα inhibitor for inflammatory arthritides.     

Short-term temperature impact on soil heterotrophic respiration in limed agricultural soil samples

This study sought to investigate the hourly and daily timescale responses of soil CO₂ fluxes to temperature in a limed agricultural soil. Observations from different incubation experiments were compared with the results of a model combining biotic (heterotrophic respiration) and abiotic (carbonate weathering) components. Several samples were pre-incubated for 8–9 days at three temperatures (5, 15 and 25 °C) and then submitted to short-term temperature (STT) cycles (where the temperature was increased from 5 to 35 °C in 10 °C stages, with each stage being 3 h long). During the temperature cycles (hourly timescale), the soil CO₂ fluxes increased significantly with temperature under all pre-incubation temperature (PIT) treatments. A hysteresis effect and negative fluxes during cooling phases were also systematically observed. At a given hourly timescale temperature, there was a negative relationship of the CO₂ fluxes with the PIT. Using the combined model allowed the experimental results to be clearly described, including the negative fluxes and the hysteresis effect, showing the potentially large contribution of abiotic fluxes to total fluxes in limed soils, after STT changes. The fairly good agreement between the measured and simulated flux results also suggested that the biotic flux temperature sensitivity was probably unaffected by timescale (hourly or daily) or PIT. The negative relationship of the CO₂ fluxes with the PIT probably derived from very labile soil carbon depletion, as shown in the simulations. This was not, however, confirmed by soil carbon measurements, which leaves open the possibility of adaptation within the microbial community.     

Lutte biologique et intégrée dans les vergers de citrus en zone méditerranéenne

Les problèmes posés par les ravageurs des Citrus ont pris une importance considérable au cours de ces 3 dernières décennies et cela pour plusieurs raisons:

The green tea compound, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate downregulates N-cadherin and suppresses migration of bladder carcinoma cells

Green tea has been reported as potential dietary protection against numerous cancers and has been shown to have activity in bladder tumor inhibition in different animal models. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG-the major phytochemical in green tea) on growth inhibition and behavior of human bladder carcinoma cells and to identify the altered signaling pathway(s) underlying the response to EGCG exposure. EGCG inhibited the in vitro growth of invasive bladder carcinoma cells with an IC(50) range of 70-87 microM. At a concentration of 20 microM, EGCG decreased the migratory potential of bladder carcinoma cells with concomitant activation of p42/44 MAPK and STAT3 and inactivation of Akt. Using biochemical inhibitors of MAPK/ERK, and siRNA to knockdown STAT3 and Akt, inhibition of migration was recorded associated with Akt but not MAPK/ERK or STAT3 signaling in bladder cells. In addition, EGCG downregulated N-cadherin in a dose-dependent manner where reduction in N-cadherin expression paralleled declining migratory potential. Continuous feeding of EGCG to mice prior to and during the establishment of bladder carcinoma xenografts in vivo revealed >50% reduction in mean final tumor volume (P 相似文献   

“Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (but Were Afraid to Ask)” in Leishmania after Two Decades of Laboratory and Field Analyses

Leishmaniases remain a major public health problem today (350 million people at risk, 12 million infected, and 2 million new infections per year). Despite the considerable progress in cellular and molecular biology and in evolutionary genetics since 1990, the debate on the population structure and reproductive mode of Leishmania is far from being settled and therefore deserves further investigation. Two major hypotheses coexist: clonality versus sexuality. However, because of the lack of clear evidence (experimental or biological confirmation) of sexuality in Leishmania parasites, until today it has been suggested and even accepted that Leishmania species were mainly clonal with infrequent genetic recombination (see [1] for review). Two recent publications, one on Leishmania major (an in vitro experimental study) and one on Leishmania braziliensis (a population genetics analysis), once again have challenged the hypothesis of clonal reproduction. Indeed, the first study experimentally evidenced genetic recombination and proposed that Leishmania parasites are capable of having a sexual cycle consistent with meiotic processes inside the insect vector. The second investigation, based on population genetics studies, showed strong homozygosities, an observation that is incompatible with a predominantly clonal mode of reproduction at an ecological time scale (∼20–500 generations). These studies highlight the need to advance the knowledge of Leishmania biology. In this paper, we first review the reasons stimulating the continued debate and then detail the next essential steps to be taken to clarify the Leishmania reproduction model. Finally, we widen the discussion to other Trypanosomatidae and show that the progress in Leishmania biology can improve our knowledge of the evolutionary genetics of American and African trypanosomes.     

Genetic diversity of endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa

Aim  Middle East brown bears ( Ursus arctos syriacus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1828) are presently on the edge of extinction. However, little is known of their genetic diversity. This study investigates that question as well as that of Middle East brown bear relationships to surrounding populations of the species.
Location  Middle East region of south-western Asia.
Methods  We performed DNA analyses on 27 brown bear individuals. Twenty ancient bone samples (Late Pleistocene to 20th century) from natural populations and seven present-day samples obtained from captive individuals were analysed.
Results  Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial sequences obtained from seven ancient specimens identify three distinct maternal clades, all unrelated to one recently described from North Africa. Brown bears from Iran exhibit striking diversity (three individuals, three haplotypes) and form a unique clade that cannot be linked to any extant one. Individuals from Syria belong to the Holarctic clade now observed in Eastern Europe, Turkey, Japan and North America. Specimens from Lebanon surprisingly appear as tightly linked to the clade of brown bears now in Western Europe. Moreover, we show that U. a. syriacus in captivity still harbour haplotypes closely linked to those found in ancient individuals.
Main conclusion  This study brings important new information on the genetic diversity of brown bear populations at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. It reveals a high level of diversity in Middle East brown bears and extends the historical distribution of the Western European clade to the East. Our analyses also suggest the value of a specific breeding programme for captive populations.     

Characterization of the amino acids involved in substrate specificity of methionine sulfoxide reductase A

Methionine sulfoxide reductases (Msrs) are ubiquitous enzymes that catalyze the thioredoxin-dependent reduction of methionine sulfoxide (MetSO) back to methionine. In vivo, Msrs are essential in protecting cells against oxidative damages on proteins and in the virulence of some bacteria. There exists two structurally unrelated classes of Msrs. MsrAs are stereo-specific toward the S epimer on the sulfur of the sulfoxide, whereas MsrBs are specific toward the R isomer. Both classes of Msrs display a similar catalytic mechanism of sulfoxide reduction by thiols via the sulfenic acid chemistry and a better affinity for protein-bound MetSO than for free MetSO. Recently, the role of the amino acids implicated in the catalysis of the reductase step of Neisseria meningitidis MsrA was determined. In the present study, the invariant amino acids potentially involved in substrate binding, i.e. Phe-52, Trp-53, Asp-129, His-186, Tyr-189, and Tyr-197, were substituted. The catalytic parameters under steady-state conditions and of the reductase step of the mutated MsrAs were determined and compared with those of the wild type. Altogether, the results support the presence of at least two binding subsites. The first one, whose contribution is major in the efficiency of the reductase step and in which the epsilon-methyl group of MetSO binds, is the hydrophobic pocket formed by Phe-52 and Trp-53, the position of the indole ring being stabilized by interactions with His-186 and Tyr-189. The second subsite composed of Asp-129 and Tyr-197 contributes to the binding of the main chain of the substrate but to a lesser extent.     

Covalent cell surface functionalization of human fetal osteoblasts for tissue engineering

The chemical functionalization of cell-surface proteins of human primary fetal bone cells with hydrophilic bioorthogonal intermediates was investigated. Toward this goal, chemical pathways were developed for click reaction-mediated coupling of alkyne derivatives with cellular azido-expressing proteins. The incorporation via a tetraethylene glycol linker of a dipeptide and a reporter biotin allowed the proof of concept for the introduction of cell-specific peptide ligands and allowed us to follow the reaction in living cells. Tuning the conditions of the click reaction resulted in chemical functionalization of living human fetal osteoblasts with excellent cell survival.