Inflammation-Modulated Metabolic Reprogramming Is Required for DUOX-Dependent Gut Immunity in Drosophila

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Discovery of Metabolic Biomarkers for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy within a Natural History Study

Serum metabolite profiling in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) may enable discovery of valuable molecular markers for disease progression and treatment response. Serum samples from 51 DMD patients from a natural history study and 22 age-matched healthy volunteers were profiled using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for discovery of novel circulating serum metabolites associated with DMD. Fourteen metabolites were found significantly altered (1% false discovery rate) in their levels between DMD patients and healthy controls while adjusting for age and study site and allowing for an interaction between disease status and age. Increased metabolites included arginine, creatine and unknown compounds at m/z of 357 and 312 while decreased metabolites included creatinine, androgen derivatives and other unknown yet to be identified compounds. Furthermore, the creatine to creatinine ratio is significantly associated with disease progression in DMD patients. This ratio sharply increased with age in DMD patients while it decreased with age in healthy controls. Overall, this study yielded promising metabolic signatures that could prove useful to monitor DMD disease progression and response to therapies in the future.     

Syntheses and NMR Analyses of Eight Geometrical Isomers of 10,12,14-Hexadecatrienyl Acetate,Sex Pheromone Candidates of the Mulberry Pyralid

Eight geometrical isomers of 10,12,14-hexadecatrienyl acetate, female sex pheromone candidates of the mulberry pyralid (Glyphodes pyloalis Walker), were synthesized by six routes. Each route consisted of reactions by which two of three double bonds were introduced stereospecifically and another rather nonspecifically, giving mainly two geometrical isomers, which were analyzed by 2D-NMR after separating by reversed-phase HPLC or by a reaction with tetracyanoethylene. The signals of the olefinic protons and carbons of each geometrical isomer were assigned by COSY spectra and by C-H COSY spectra, respectively, in addition to the signals of the allylic protons and carbons, and its chemical structure was revealed by the values of their chemical shifts and coupling constants. Furthermore, a new empirical rule concerning the chemical shift changes of these carbons by converting the configuration of the conjugated triene system is suggested.     

Protein glycosylation mutants of procyclic Trypanosoma brucei: defects in the asparagine-glycosylation pathway

We employed a genetic approach to study protein glycosylation in the procyclic form of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Two different mutant parasites, ConA 1-1 and ConA 4-1, were isolated from mutagenized cultures by selecting cells which resisted killing or agglutination by concanavalin A. Both mutant cells show reduced concanavalin A binding. However, the mutants have different phenotypes, as indicated by the fact that ConA 1-1 binds to wheat germ agglutinin but ConA 4-1 and wild type do not. A blot probed with concanavalin A revealed that many proteins in both mutants lost the ability to bind this lectin, and the blots resembled one of wild type membrane proteins treated with PNGase F. This finding suggested that the mutants had altered asparagine- linked glycosylation. This conclusion was confirmed by studies on a flagellar protein (Fla1) and procyclic acidic repetitive protein (PARP). Structural analysis indicated that the N- glycan of wild type PARP is exclusively Man5GlcNAc2 whereas that in both mutants is predominantly a hybrid type with a terminal N- acetyllactosamine. The occupancy of the PARP glycosylation site in ConA 4-1 was much lower than that in ConA 1-1. These mutants will be useful for studying trypanosome glycosylation mechanisms and function.      

AllergenPro: an integrated database for allergenicity analysis and prediction

The National Agricultural Biotechnology Information Center (NABIC) reconstructed an AllergenPro database for allergenic proteins analysis and allergenicity prediction. The AllergenPro is an integrated web-based system providing information about allergen in foods, microorganisms, animals and plants. The allergen database has the three main features namely, (1) allergen list with epitopes, (2) searching of allergen using keyword, and (3) methods for allergenicity prediction. This updated AllergenPro outputs the search based allergen information through a user-friendly web interface, and users can run tools for allergenicity prediction using three different methods namely, (1) FAO/WHO, (2) motif-based and (3) epitope-based methods.

Availability

The database is available for free at http://nabic.rda.go.kr/allergen/     

Characterization of conjugative plasmids carrying antibiotic resistance genes encoding 16S rRNA methylase, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase, and/or plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamase

In this study, we identified extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamase which were associated with 16S rRNA methylase gene on the conjugative plasmid. Among 82 clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae that carry 16S rRNA methylase gene (64 strains, armA, and 18 strains, rmtB), bla _SHV-12 was detected either alone or combined with bla _DHA-1, bla _CTX-M-3, and bla _CTX-M-14 in 30 strains carrying armA and 6 strains carrying rmtB. The bla _CTX-M-3 was detected in 13 of 64 strains carrying armA but no strains carrying rmtB. Whereas bla _CTX-M-14 was detected in 15 of 18 strains carrying rmtB but only 2 of 64 strains carrying armA. Overall, bla _SHV-12 and bla _CTX-M-14 was the most common ESBL gene which was associated with armA and rmtB, respectively. In addition, we found that bla _CTX-M-3 localized with armA on the same IncL/M plasmid and bla _CTX-M-14 localized with rmtB on the same IncA/C plasmid. Restriction fragment length polymorphism of conjugative plasmids and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic DNAs revealed that intercellular horizontal transfer of conjugative plasmid and clonal transmission have been occurred at the same time.     

A simple colorimetric method for testing antimicrobial susceptibility of biofilmed bacteria

This study introduces a simple colorimetric method which can measure the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria in biofilms using trimethyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) as an indicator of viable bacteria. The new method was utilized for the evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.