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11.
B Wilson H Arnold G Bearzi C M Fortuna R Gaspar S Ingram C Liret S Pribani? A J Read V Ridoux K Schneider K W Urian R S Wells C Wood P M Thompson P S Hammond 《Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society》1999,266(1423):1077-1083
Experimental studies have highlighted the potential influence of contaminants on marine mammal immune function and anthropogenic contaminants are commonly believed to influence the development of diseases observed in the wild. However, estimates of the impact of contaminants on wild populations are constrained by uncertainty over natural variation in disease patterns under different environmental conditions. We used photographic techniques to compare levels of epidermal disease in ten coastal populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) exposed to a wide range of natural and anthropogenic conditions. Epidermal lesions were common in all populations (affecting > 60% of individuals), but both the prevalence and severity of 15 lesion categories varied between populations. No relationships were found between epidermal disease and contaminant levels across the four populations for which toxicological data were available. In contrast, there were highly significant linear relationships with oceanographic variables. In particular, populations from areas of low water temperature and low salinity exhibited higher lesion prevalence and severity. Such conditions may impact on epidermal integrity or produce more general physiological stress, potentially making animals more vulnerable to natural infections or anthropogenic factors. These results show that variations in natural environmental factors must be accounted for when investigating the importance of anthropogenic impacts on disease in wild marine mammals. 相似文献
12.
Winnie CW Chu Wynnie MW Lam Bobby KW Ng Lam Tze-ping Kwong-man Lee Xia Guo Jack CY Cheng R Geoffrey Burwell Peter H Dangerfield Tim Jaspan 《Scoliosis》2008,3(1):1-24
There is no generally accepted scientific theory for the causes of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). As part of its mission to widen understanding of scoliosis etiology, the International Federated Body on Scoliosis Etiology (IBSE) introduced the electronic focus group (EFG) as a means of increasing debate on knowledge of important topics. This has been designated as an on-line Delphi discussion. The Statement for this debate was written by Dr WCW Chu and colleagues who examine the spinal cord to vertebral growth interaction during adolescence in scoliosis. Using the multi-planar reconstruction technique of magnetic resonance imaging they investigated the relative length of spinal cord to vertebral column including ratios in 28 girls with AIS (mainly thoracic or double major curves) and 14 age-matched normal girls. Also evaluated were cerebellar tonsillar position, somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), and clinical neurological examination. In severe AIS compared with normal controls, the vertebral column is significantly longer without detectable spinal cord lengthening. They speculate that anterior spinal column overgrowth relative to a normal length spinal cord exerts a stretching tethering force between the two ends, cranially and caudally leading to the initiation and progression of thoracic AIS. They support and develop the Roth-Porter concept of uncoupled neuro-osseous growth in the pathogenesis of AIS which now they prefer to term ' asynchronous neuro-osseous growth'. Morphological evidence about the curve apex suggests that the spinal cord is also affected, and a 'double pathology' is suggested. AIS is viewed as a disorder with a wide spectrum and a common neuroanatomical abnormality namely, a spinal cord of normal length but short relative to an abnormally lengthened anterior vertebral column. Neuroanatomical changes and/or abnormal neural function may be expressed only in severe cases. This asynchronous neuro-osseous growth concept is regarded as one component of a larger concept. The other component relates to the brain and cranium of AIS subjects because abnormalities have been found in brain (infratentorial and supratentorial) and skull (vault and base). The possible relevance of systemic melatonin-signaling pathway dysfunction, platelet calmodulin levels and putative vertebral vascular biology to the asynchronous neuro-osseous growth concept is discussed. A biomechanical model to test the spinal component of the concept is in hand. There is no published research on the biomechanical properties of the spinal cord for scoliosis specimens. Such research on normal spinal cords includes movements (kinematics), stress-strain responses to uniaxial loading, and anterior forces created by the stretched cord in forward flexion that may alter sagittal spinal shape during adolescent growth. The asynchronous neuro-osseous growth concept for the spine evokes controversy. Dr Chu and colleagues respond to five other concepts of pathogenesis for AIS and suggest that relative anterior spinal overgrowth and biomechanical growth modulation may also contribute to AIS pathogenesis. 相似文献
13.
Ying J Nie Mo Y Mok Godfrey CF Chan Albert W Chan Ou Jin Sushma Kavikondala Albert KW Lie Chak S Lau 《Arthritis research & therapy》2010,12(3):R91
Introduction
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by autoreactive T and B cells, which are believed to be secondary to deficient dendritic cells (DCs). However, whether DC abnormalities occur during their development in the bone marrow (BM) or in the periphery is not known. 相似文献14.
15.
The catalytic domains of murine Golgi alpha1,2-mannosidases IA and IB that
are involved in N-glycan processing were expressed as secreted proteins in
P.pastoris . Recombinant mannosidases IA and IB both required divalent
cations for activity, were inhibited by deoxymannojirimycin and
kifunensine, and exhibited similar catalytic constants using
Manalpha1,2Manalpha-O-CH3as substrate. Mannosidase IA was purified as a 50
kDa catalytically active soluble fragment and shown to be an inverting
glycosidase. Recombinant mannosidases IA and IB were used to cleave
Man9GlcNAc and the isomers produced were identified by high performance
liquid chromatography and proton-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Man9GlcNAc was rapidly cleaved by both enzymes to Man6GlcNAc, followed by a
much slower conversion to Man5GlcNAc. The same isomers of Man7GlcNAc and
Man6GlcNAc were produced by both enzymes but different isomers of
Man8GlcNAc were formed. When Man8GlcNAc (Man8B isomer) was used as
substrate, rapid conversion to Man5GlcNAc was observed, and the same
oligosaccharide isomer intermediates were formed by both enzymes. These
results combined with proton-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy data
demonstrate that it is the terminal alpha1, 2-mannose residue missing in
the Man8B isomer that is cleaved from Man9GlcNAc at a much slower rate.
When rat liver endoplasmic reticulum membrane extracts were incubated with
Man9GlcNAc2, Man8GlcNAc2was the major product and Man8B was the major
isomer. In contrast, rat liver Golgi membranes rapidly cleaved
Man9GlcNAc2to Man6GlcNAc2and more slowly to Man5GlcNAc2. In this case all
three isomers of Man8GlcNAc2were formed as intermediates, but a distinctive
isomer, Man8A, was predominant. Antiserum to recombinant mannosidase IA
immunoprecipitated an enzyme from Golgi extracts with the same specificity
as recombinant mannosidase IA. These immunodepleted membranes were enriched
in a Man9GlcNAc2to Man8GlcNAc2- cleaving activity forming predominantly the
Man8B isomer. These results suggest that mannosidases IA and IB in Golgi
membranes prefer the Man8B isomer generated by a complementary mannosidase
that removes a single mannose from Man9GlcNAc2.
相似文献
16.
Anna A Georges Heba El-Swais Susanne E Craig William KW Li David A Walsh 《The ISME journal》2014,8(6):1301-1313
In this study, we used comparative metaproteomics to investigate the metabolic activity of microbial plankton inhabiting a seasonally hypoxic basin in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (Bedford Basin). From winter to spring, we observed a seasonal increase in high-affinity membrane transport proteins involved in scavenging of organic substrates; Rhodobacterales transporters were strongly associated with the spring phytoplankton bloom, whereas SAR11 transporters were abundant in the underlying waters. A diverse array of transporters for organic compounds were similar to the SAR324 clade, revealing an active heterotrophic lifestyle in coastal waters. Proteins involved in methanol oxidation (from the OM43 clade) and carbon monoxide (from a wide variety of bacteria) were identified throughout Bedford Basin. Metabolic niche partitioning between the SUP05 and ARCTIC96BD-19 clades, which together comprise the Gamma-proteobacterial sulfur oxidizers group was apparent. ARCTIC96BD-19 proteins involved in the transport of organic compounds indicated that in productive coastal waters this lineage tends toward a heterotrophic metabolism. In contrast, the identification of sulfur oxidation proteins from SUP05 indicated the use of reduced sulfur as an energy source in hypoxic bottom water. We identified an abundance of Marine Group I Thaumarchaeota proteins in the hypoxic deep layer, including proteins for nitrification and carbon fixation. No transporters for organic compounds were detected among the thaumarchaeal proteins, suggesting a reliance on autotrophic carbon assimilation. In summary, our analyses revealed the spatiotemporal structure of numerous metabolic activities in the coastal ocean that are central to carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycling in the sea. 相似文献
17.
alpha 1-Proteinase inhibitors (alpha 1-PIs) are members of the serpin
superfamily of proteinase inhibitors, and are important in the maintenance
of homeostasis in a wide variety of animal taxa. Previous studies have
shown that in mice (genus Mus), evolution of alpha 1-PIs is characterized
by gene amplification, region-specific concerted evolution, and rapid
accumulation of amino acid substitutions. The latter occurs primarily in
the reactive center, which is the region of the alpha 1-PI molecule that
determines the inhibitor's specificity for target proteinases. The P1
residue within the reactive center, which is methionine in so-called
orthodox alpha 1-PIs and an amino acid other than methionine in unorthodox
alpha 1-PIs, is a primary determinant of inhibitor specificity. In the
present study, we find that the expression of mRNAs encoding unorthodox
alpha 1-PIs is polymorphic within Mus species, i.e., among individuals or
inbred strains. This is in striking contrast to mRNAs that encode orthodox
alpha 1-PIs, whose concentrations are relatively invariant. The
intraspecies variations in mRNA expression represent polymorphisms in the
structure of the alpha 1- PI gene family. The results, taken together with
previously described aspects of alpha 1-PI evolution, indicate that the
dissimilar levels of polymorphism exhibited by orthodox and unorthodox
alpha 1-PIs, which likely have distinct physiological functions, may
reflect different levels of selective constraint. The significance of this
finding to the evolution of gene families is discussed.
相似文献
18.
19.
Ming Cheng Liu Firas Kobeissy Wenrong Zheng Zhiqun Zhang Ronald L Hayes Kevin KW Wang 《ASN neuro》2011,3(1)
Axonally specific microtubule-associated protein tau is an important component of neurofibrillary tangles found in AD (Alzheimer''s disease) and other tauopathy diseases such as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Such tau aggregate is found to be hyperphosphorylated and often proteolytically fragmented. Similarly, tau is degraded following TBI (traumatic brain injury). In the present study, we examined the dual vulnerability of tau to calpain and caspase-3 under neurotoxic and neurodegenerative conditions. We first identified three novel calpain cleavage sites in rat tau (four-repeat isoform) as Ser130↓Lys131, Gly157↓Ala158 and Arg380↓Glu381. Fragment-specific antibodies to target the major calpain-mediated TauBDP-35K (35 kDa tau-breakdown product) and the caspase-mediated TauBDP-45K respectively were developed. In rat cerebrocortical cultures treated with excitotoxin [NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate)], tau is significantly degraded into multiple fragments, including a dominant signal of calpain-mediated TauBDP-35K with minimal caspase-mediated TauBDP-45K. Following apoptosis-inducing EDTA treatment, tau was truncated only to TauBDP-48K/45K-exclusively by caspase. Cultures treated with another apoptosis inducer STS (staurosporine), dual fragmentation by calpain (TauBDP-35K) and caspase-3 (TauBDP-45K) was observed. Tau was also fragmented in injured rat cortex following TBI in vivo to BDPs of 45–42 kDa (minor), 35 kDa and 15 kDa, followed by TauBDP-25K. Calpain-mediated TauBDP-35K-specific antibody confirmed robust signals in the injured cortex, while caspase-mediated TauBDP-45K-specific antibody only detected faint signals. Furthermore, intravenous administration of a calpain-specific inhibitor SNJ-1945 strongly suppressed the TauBDP-35K formation. Taken together, these results suggest that tau protein is dually vulnerable to calpain and caspase-3 proteolysis under different neurotoxic and injury conditions. 相似文献
20.
Tallury SP Hilu KW Milla SR Friend SA Alsaghir M Stalker HT Quandt D 《TAG. Theoretical and applied genetics. Theoretische und angewandte Genetik》2005,111(7):1229-1237
Section Arachis is the largest of nine sections in the genus Arachis and includes domesticated peanut, A. hypogaea L. Most species are diploids (x=10) with two tetraploids and a few aneuploids. Three genome types have been recognized in this section (A, B and D), but
the genomes are not well characterized and relationships of several newly described species are uncertain. To clarify genomic
relationships in section Arachis, cytogenetic information and molecular data from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and the trnT-F plastid region were used to provide an additional insight into genome composition and species relationships. Cytogenetic
information supports earlier observations on genome types of A. cruziana, A. herzogii, A. kempff-mercadoi and A. kuhlmannii but was inconclusive about the genome composition of A. benensis, A. hoehnei, A. ipaensis, A. palustris, A. praecox and A. williamsii. An AFLP dendrogram resolved species into four major clusters and showed A. hypogaea grouping closely with A. ipaensis and A. williamsii. Sequence data of the trnT-F region provided genome-specific information and showed for the first time that the B and D genomes are more closely related
to each other than to the A genome. Integration of information from cytogenetics and biparentally and maternally inherited
genomic regions show promise in understanding genome types and relationships in Arachis. 相似文献