Effect of the N-terminal hydrophobic sequence of hepatitis B virus surface antigen on the folding and assembly of hybrid beta-galactosidase in Escherichia coli

To investigate the mechanism of inclusion body formation and the effect of a hydrophobic sequence on the in vivo polypeptide folding, the aggregation caused by recombinant fusion beta-galactosidase in Escherichia coli was examined. Two plasmids were constructed: pTBG(H-) carried only the preS2 sequence of the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) in front of the beta-galactosidase gene (lacZ) while pTBG(H+) carried an additional sequence encoding the amino-terminal hydrophobic sequence of the S region of HBsAg between preS2 and lacZ. Unlike cells expressing the fusion protein not containing the hydrophobic sequence, E. coli JM109/pTBG(H+) exhibited temperature-sensitive production of beta-galactosidase. As the culture temperature increased the activity decreased dramatically. This decrease in activity was not due to a decrease in fusion polypeptide production, but rather the fusion polypeptides containing the hydrophobic sequence aggregated within the cells at high temperature. However once the fusion polypeptides folded into proper conformation at low temperature, they maintained the activity even at high temperature. The results indicate that aggregation is a consequence of incorrect folding and assembly of the polypeptides, and is not derived from the native structure. The aggregates of the pTBG(H+)-encoded fusion polypeptides did not revert to active form when the culture temperature was lowered.     

Calculation of the Second-Order Polarizability of a Warm Magnetized Plasma

An analysis is made of the general expression for the density of a nonlinear charge induced in a magnetized plasma in the interaction between two arbitrary waves. Asymptotic expressions for the nonlinear induced charge density are derived for the first time in the case where both of the interacting waves are short-scale.     

Proliferative and Differentiation Potential of Individual Clones Derived from Bone Marrow Stromal Precursor Cells

We present the results of a study on the proliferative and differentiation potential of individual clones of stromal fibroblasts growing in monolayer cultures of bone marrow cells. Each precursor cell yielding a large colony in primary culture is capable of up to 34 doublings in vitro. The transplantation of clones or monoclonal strains of stromal fibroblasts into the open system results in the formation of microenvironment consisting of the bone and reticular tissue and is suitable for the differentiation of all three lines of hemopoiesis. Evidence has been obtained that, in a closed system, individual clones are capable of differentiation into the bone, cartilaginous, and reticular tissues. In other words, the adult organism has a common cell precursor for these tissues.     

Oculomotor activities in monkeys with N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-induced syndrome of parkinsonism

In twoMacaca rhesus monkeys that received repeated N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) injections (single dose 0.2 mg/kg, i.m.; cumulative dose 11.2–13.3 mg), changes in characteristics of spontaneous saccadic eye movements and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) were evaluated. With the development of severe behavioral disturbances, amplitude of spontaneous saccadic eye movements gradually decreased. Pronounced changes in duration of saccadic eye movements, frequency of spontaneous saccades, and their pattern were observed. No changes in parameters of VOR slow component were recorded, but high total MPTP doses suppressed fast phase of the reflex.Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 184–190, May–June, 1993.     

Defatting and Clarification of Protein Hydrolysates by Using Chitosan Solutions

The possibility of the use of small amounts of chitosan for defatting and clarification of protein solutions prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis was tested. The following treatment conditions were shown to be optimal: a chitosan concentration range, from 1.0 to 1.5 gram per kilogram raw weight; pH of the precipitation medium from 8.0 to 8.5; and duration of the incubation of the protein hydrolysate solution with chitosan, less than 1 h. The hydrolysate defatting grade was found to depend on the degree of chitosan deacetylation. A possible mechanism of the chitosan-induced effects was suggested. The use of chitosan allows the mass fraction of enzyme protein hydrolysates to be reduced fourfold to fivefold.     

Conditional Maximum Likelihood Estimation Following a Group Sequential Test

We consider estimation after a group sequential test. An estimator that is unbiased or has small bias may have substantial conditional bias (Troendle and Yu, 1999, Coburger and Wassmer, 2001). In this paper we derive the conditional maximum likelihood estimators of both the primary parameter and a secondary parameter, and investigate their properties within a conditional inference framework. The method applies to both the usual and adaptive group sequential test designs. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of surfactant-associated protein-A (SP-A) on the activity of lipid extract surfactant

The properties of natural bovine surfactant and its lipid extract have been examined with a pulsating bubble surfactometer which assesses the ability of surfactant lipids to adsorb to the air/liquid interface and reduce the surface tension to near 0 dynes/cm during dynamic compression. Studies conducted at 1 mg/ml phospholipid revealed that the surface activity (i.e., the ability to produce low surface tensions) of lipid extracts could be enhanced by incubating the sample at 37 degrees C for 120 min or by addition of CaCl2. In contrast, incubation at 37 degrees C only slightly improved the biophysical activity of natural surfactant and the addition of CaCl2 had a more modest effect than with lipid extracts. With 20 mM CaCl2, the surfactant activity of lipid extract surfactant was similar to that of natural surfactant. Incubation with EDTA reduced the biophysical activity of natural surfactant. Experiments in which increasing amounts of lipid extract were replaced by natural surfactant revealed that small amounts of natural surfactant enhanced the surfactant activity of lipid extract. The biophysical activity of lipid extract surfactant was also increased by the addition of soluble surfactant-associated protein-A (SP-A) (28-36 kDa) purified from natural bovine surfactant. These results indicate that SP-A (28-36 kDa) improves the surfactant activity of lipid extracts by enhancing the rate of adsorption and/or spreading of phospholipid at the air/liquid interface resulting in the formation of a stable lipid monolayer at lower bulk concentrations of either phospholipid or calcium.     

Role of intracortical inhibition in forming homo- and heterosensory interaction in sensorimotor cortex neurons in kittens

Homo- and heterosensory interaction were investigated in sensorimotor cortex neurons before and after picrotoxin application to anesthetized and immobilized kittens belonging to three age groups (12–30 days, 31–47 days, and 2–4 months old). Only slight inhibition of response to presentation of a second stimulus was observed in a small proportion of cells in the youngest age group at test intervals of 100, 200, and 300 msec. Picrotoxin application only produced the effect of raised background activity. Numbers of neurons with partially or fully inhibited response to test stimuli (especially spaced at 100 msec intervals) rose in the middle and older age groups. The dynamics of heterosensory interaction and how this is affected by picrotoxin application gradually approximated to that observed with adult animals. The subject of the development of inhibitory mechanisms and how they contribute to the organization of homo- and heterosensory interaction during early postnatal ontogenesis is considered in the light of the results obtained.A. A. Ukhtomsii Institute of Physiology, Leningrad. A. A. Zhdanov State University, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 234–243, March–April, 1988.