Structural and functional insights of Wilson disease copper-transporting ATPase

Wilson disease is an autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism. The gene for this disorder has been cloned and identified to encode a copper-transporting ATPase (ATP7B), a member of a large family of cation transporters, the P-type ATPases. In addition to the core elements common to all P-type ATPases, the Wilson copper-transporting ATPase has a large cytoplasmic N-terminus comprised six heavy metal associated (HMA) domains, each of which contains the copper-binding sequence motif GMT/HCXXC. Extensive studies addressing the functional, regulatory, and structural aspects of heavy metal transport by heavy metal transporters in general, have offered great insights into copper transport by Wilson copper-transporting ATPase. The findings from these studies have been used together with homology modeling of the Wilson disease copper-transporting ATPases based on the X-ray structure of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium-ATPase, to present a hypothetical model of the mechanism of copper transport by copper-transporting ATPases.     

Colorimetric estimation of human glucose level using γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles: An easily recoverable effective mimic peroxidase

This article reports simple, green and efficient synthesis of γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs) (maghemite) through single-source precursor approach for colorimetric estimation of human glucose level. The γ-Fe₂O₃ NPs, having cubic morphology with an average particle size of 30 nm, exhibited effective peroxidase-like activity through the catalytic oxidation of peroxidase substrate 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of H₂O₂ producing a blue-colored solution. On the basis of this colored-reaction, we have developed a simple, cheap, highly sensitive and selective colorimetric method for estimation of glucose using γ-Fe₂O₃/TMB/glucose–glucose oxidase (GOx) system in the linear range from 1 to 80 μM with detection limit of 0.21 μM. The proposed glucose sensor displays faster response, good stability, reproducibility and anti-interference ability. Based on this simple reaction process, human blood and urine glucose level can be monitored conveniently.     

Improvement of Early Maturing and Climate Resilient Chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum</i> L.) Cultivars Suitable for Multiple Environments in Bangladesh

Ensuring food security for the rapidly increasing population and changing climatic scenarios are requisites for exploiting the genetic divergence of food crops. A study was undertaken to sort out an early maturing chickpea variety for fitting easily between rice-rice cropping systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain of Bangladesh. The trial was comprised of eight elite lines of chickpea and executed at various localities in Bangladesh from 2014– 15 to 2017–18. The result explored the chickpea genotype, BARI Chola-11 remained superior to the rest of the elite genotypes for having a short maturity period (100–106 days), and lesser days to 50% flowering (47– 55 days). The same genotype was recorded to have robust vegetative and reproductive yield attributes including plant height (49–57 cm), podsplant⁻¹ (37–50), and optimum 100 seed weight (19.5–20.6 g). Owing to better yield attributes, BARI Chola-11 resulted in the maximum seed yield (1200–1500 kg ha⁻¹ ) of chickpea and might be recommended for general adoption in the region for boosting nutritional security status through improved productivity under changing climate.     

Tropic failure of Phyllactinia corylea contributes to the mildew resistance of mulberry genotypes

Different mulberry genotypes show great variation in their resistance to the powdery mildew Phyllactinia corylea. Conidial germination and hyphal growth of P. corylea on the leaf surface of two susceptible mulberry genotypes, viz., Kanva 2 (K2) and Victory 1 (V1) varieties of Morus indica, and on two resistant species, viz., M. laevigata and M. serrata were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Conidial germination and growth of germ tubes were normal on all the leaves. The hyphae of P. coryleaidentify stomata on host leaves by their topographical features to produce the stomatopodia precisely over them. The holes and/or the grooves of stomata appear to provide the signals for the initiation of stomatopodia and similar structures are erratically developed over many local depressions or grooves on leaf surface. The abaxial surface of K2 leaf is smooth without prominent undulations of epidermal cell surface, and the stomata are flush with the leaf surface. Although successful penetration is also achieved on V1 leaf, its slightly undulated surface occasionally provides inaccurate tropic signals to the hyphae, inducing the development of stomatopodia away from the stomata. The leaf surfaces of M. laevigata and M. serrata are very rough with highly sculptured cuticle and abundant epidermal outgrowths. Stomata mostly remain sunken or hidden amidst the cuticular ornamentations and the hyphae fail to recognise the precise signals from them. As the surface architecture of the leaves provides many immense sources of tropic signals, stomatopodia are often produced over local depressions or grooves. In these cases the fungus fails to penetrate the leaf, does not develop beyond 24 h and penetration is rarely achieved on the leaves of the resistant plants. The study indicates that the stimulatory effect of the leaf surface topography of resistant varieties misleads the pathogen from successful penetration, thus contributing to the plant's resistance.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Role of extremophiles and their extremozymes in biorefinery process of lignocellulose degradation

Extremophiles - Technological advances in the field of life sciences have led to discovery of organisms that live in harsh environmental conditions referred to as extremophiles. These organisms...     

Apoptotic mechanisms of myricitrin isolated from Madhuca longifolia leaves in HL-60 leukemia cells

Molecular Biology Reports - Myricitrin, a naturally occurring flavonoid in Madhuca longifolia, possesses several medicinal properties. Even though our earlier work revealed its role against the...     

Effect of tertiary amine local anesthetics on G protein-coupled receptor lateral diffusion and actin cytoskeletal reorganization

Although widely used clinically, the mechanism underlying the action of local anesthetics remains elusive. Direct interaction of anesthetics with membrane proteins and modulation of membrane physical properties by anesthetics are plausible mechanisms proposed, although a combination of these two mechanisms cannot be ruled out. In this context, the role of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in local anesthetic action is a relatively new area of research. We show here that representative tertiary amine local anesthetics induce a reduction in two-dimensional diffusion coefficient of the serotonin_1A receptor, an important neurotransmitter GPCR. The corresponding change in mobile fraction is varied, with tetracaine exhibiting the maximum reduction in mobile fraction, whereas the change in mobile fraction for other local anesthetics was not appreciable. These results are supported by quantitation of cellular F-actin, using a confocal microscopic approach previously developed by us, which showed that a pronounced increase in F-actin level was induced by tetracaine. These results provide a novel perspective on the action of local anesthetics in terms of GPCR lateral diffusion and actin cytoskeleton reorganization.