Life and death in a civitas capital: Metabolic disease and trauma in the children from late Roman Dorchester,Dorset

The impact that “Romanization” and the development of urban centers had on the health of the Romano‐British population is little understood. A re‐examination of the skeletal remains of 364 nonadults from the civitas capital at Roman Dorchester (Durnovaria) in Dorset was carried out to measure the health of the children living in this small urban area. The cemetery population was divided into two groups; the first buried their dead organized within an east–west alignment with possible Christian‐style graves, and the second with more varied “pagan” graves, aligned north–south. A higher prevalence of malnutrition and trauma was evident in the children from Dorchester than in any other published Romano‐British group, with levels similar to those seen in postmedieval industrial communities. Cribra orbitalia was present in 38.5% of the children, with rickets and/or scurvy at 11.2%. Twelve children displayed fractures of the ribs, with 50% of cases associated with rickets and/or scurvy, suggesting that rib fractures should be considered during the diagnosis of these conditions. The high prevalence of anemia, rickets, and scurvy in the Poundbury children, and especially the infants, indicates that this community may have adopted child‐rearing practices that involved fasting the newborn, a poor quality weaning diet, and swaddling, leading to general malnutrition and inadequate exposure to sunlight. The Pagan group showed no evidence of scurvy or rib fractures, indicating difference in religious and child‐rearing practices but that both burial groups were equally susceptible to rickets and anemia suggests a shared poor standard of living in this urban environment. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

马传染性贫血病毒弱毒疫苗株跨膜蛋白截短突变对其体外复制特性影响

马传染性贫血病毒(EIAV)减毒疫苗是世界首例慢病毒疫苗,但其作用机理尚不明了.研究发现,EIAV疫苗株EIAVFDDV12的跨膜蛋白gp45在马体内发生高频率261W位点翻译终止突变,使该蛋白质C端出现154个氨基酸的截短.为了探讨该截短对EIAV疫苗株生物学特性的作用,以EIAV弱毒疫苗株感染性克隆为骨干,构建了gp45截短型感染性病毒株,检测该截短突变对EIAV疫苗株在体外培养的马外周血单核细胞由来的巨噬细胞(MDM)、驴MDM和驴胎皮细胞(FDD)中的复制.实验结果表明,gp45截短型毒株在马和驴MDM中复制能力比未截短型毒株显著降低(P<0.01),特别是在马MDM中此差异更明显.相反,截短型毒株在FDD中的复制能力则显著高于未截短型毒株(P<0.01).此外,结果显示gp45截短型毒株在马MDM中的低水平复制降低了EIAV对其靶细胞诱导的凋亡.以上结果提示,EIAV疫苗的gp45截短型毒株是适应在体外FDD细胞中传代致弱的变异,该变异导致疫苗株在EIAV体内主要靶细胞巨噬细胞中复制能力的降低,导致毒力进一步减弱.     

EXO5-DNA structure and BLM interactions direct DNA resection critical for ATR-dependent replication restart

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Influence of hydrocarbon-stapling on membrane interactions of synthetic antimicrobial peptides

Cyclization has been recognized as a valuable technique for increasing the efficacy of small molecule and peptide therapeutics. Here we report the application of a hydrocarbon staple to a rationally-designed cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAP) that acquires increased membrane targeting and interaction vs. its linear counterpart. The previously-described CAP, 6K-F17 (KKKKKK-AAFAAWAAFAA-NH₂) was used as the backbone for incorporation of an i to i?+?4 helical hydrocarbon staple through olefin ring closing metathesis. Stapled versions of 6K-F17 showed an increase in non-selective membrane interaction, where the staple itself enhances the degree of membrane interaction and rate of cell death while maintaining high potency against bacterial membranes. However, the higher averaged hydrophobicity imparted by the staple also significantly increases toxicity to mammalian cells. This deleterious effect is countered through stepwise reduction of the stapled 6K-F17’s backbone hydrophobicity through polar amino acid substitutions. Circular dichroism assessment of secondary structure in various bacterial membrane mimetics reveals that a helical structure may improve – but is not an absolute requirement for – antimicrobial activity of 6K-F17. Further, phosphorus-31 static solid state NMR spectra revealed that both non-toxic stapled and linear peptides bind bacterial membranes in a similar manner that does not involve a detergent-like mechanism of lipid removal. The overall results suggest that the technique of hydrocarbon stapling can be readily applied to membrane-interactive CAPs to modulate how they interact and target biological membranes.     

利用单基因组扩增法对马传染性贫血病毒疫苗株异质性的分析

前期研究发现,马传染性贫血病毒（Equine infectious anemia virus EIAV）中国弱毒疫苗株并非单一病毒,而是由多种准种（quasispecies）组成的种群。阐明该疫苗株的具体构成,对于确定优势疫苗株和分析其在体内的进化具有重要意义。本研究比较了传统RNA病毒测序法（即bulk PCR）和单基因组扩增法（Single-genome Amplification, SGA）在扩增EIAV疫苗株囊膜表面蛋白gp90基因 V3~V5区序列上的差异。结果发现,利用SGA法和bulk PCR法获得的序列在组内差异率分别为1.84%和1.88%。进一步序列比较发现,SGA法扩增的序列中除了含有与bulk PCR法中同源性较高的序列外,还存在bulk PCR法未检出的含强毒株LN40特异性位点,以及单个氨基酸缺失的序列。上述序列的存在为该疫苗株“多克隆构成”假说提供了佐证。此外,在对抽样偏差分析中发现,由于疫苗株中各种病毒准种在量上的差异,使得传统bulk PCR法不能有效的扩增组成比例较低的病毒准种,而导致测得的序列组成不能完全代表实际情况。SGA法通过对单基因组分的扩增和测序,可避免bulk PCR法的以上缺陷,在分析以准种形式存在的RNA病毒序列方面具有独特的优势。     

少年游泳运动员冬训期间HbA_2百分含量的规律性变化

 本研究用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶垂直板电泳,双波长扫描仪对少年游泳运动员的HbA_2百分含量进行测定。发现大运动量训练对HbA_2水平是有影响的。经六天训练(星期二、五为大运动量训练),星期日休息一天,次周的星期一晨HbA_2百分含量升高,星期二大运动量训练后的次日晨HbA_2百分含量显著下降。运动性贫血的运动员,其HbA_2百分含量一周中的变化趋势与正常运动员相似,但HbA_2百分含量比正常运动员高。     

Regulation of the Rev1–pol ζ complex during bypass of a DNA interstrand cross‐link

DNA interstrand cross‐links (ICLs) are repaired in S phase by a complex, multistep mechanism involving translesion DNA polymerases. After replication forks collide with an ICL, the leading strand approaches to within one nucleotide of the ICL (“approach”), a nucleotide is inserted across from the unhooked lesion (“insertion”), and the leading strand is extended beyond the lesion (“extension”). How DNA polymerases bypass the ICL is incompletely understood. Here, we use repair of a site‐specific ICL in Xenopus egg extracts to study the mechanism of lesion bypass. Deep sequencing of ICL repair products showed that the approach and extension steps are largely error‐free. However, a short mutagenic tract is introduced in the vicinity of the lesion, with a maximum mutation frequency of ~1%. Our data further suggest that approach is performed by a replicative polymerase, while extension involves a complex of Rev1 and DNA polymerase ζ. Rev1–pol ζ recruitment requires the Fanconi anemia core complex but not FancI–FancD2. Our results begin to illuminate how lesion bypass is integrated with chromosomal DNA replication to limit ICL repair‐associated mutagenesis.     

鸡贫血病毒衣壳蛋白基因克隆、测序和比较

VP1 gene of chicken anemia virus in liver of infected chicken from Harbin was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and cloned into pUC18The recombinant vector was identified by restriction digestionThree clones were sequenced with sequencing kit ABI PRISM by TaKaRa CoLtdThe open reading frame of the VP1 gene is made up of 1,350bpIt encodes 449 amino acid residuesIt was found that there is an abundant Arg region from position 3 to 46Its isoelectric point is up to 107 because of its abundant basic amino acidsComparing this Harbin isolate with 26p4,Cux-1,82-2,Del-rose,A2,Connb,L-028,TR20,CIA-1,CAV15,2A9 showed there were 168 nucleoside differences which lead to 26 amino acid changes of the VP1The amino acid changes may influence the antigenic character of different VP1sIt was also found that there is a hyper-mutation region from amino acids position 139-157,its mutation frequency is up to 42% among these CAV's VP1s.It is necessary to research the function of this region     

Evaluation of Th17 related cytokines associated with clinical and laboratorial parameters in sickle cell anemia patients with leg ulcers

Leg ulcers (LUs) represent one of the main causes of morbidity in sickle cell anemia (SCA). This manifestation has been related to hemolysis, infections predisposition and inflammation that leads cytokines secretion. In this context, our study aimed to evaluate Th17 related cytokines (IL-6, IL-17A, IL-22 and IL-23) in serum and peripheral mononuclear cells culture supernatants with and without lymphoproliferative stimulation (anti-human CD3 and anti-human CD28). The cytokines levels were also correlated to clinical, hematological and biochemical parameters in SCA patients with and without LUs history (SCALU and SCAWH) as well as in healthy controls. In SCALU patients, high levels of IL-17A were associated with absence of acute chest syndrome (ACS, p = 0.0328). The other clinical parameters analyzed (osteonecrosis, stroke, priapism, splenectomy and blood transfusions history) were not significantly related with other cytokine levels. In SCALU patients was also observed that IL-17A increased levels were associated with high levels of LDH (p = 0.0130), the same association pattern was found for IL-6 (0.0160) and IL-22 (p = 0.0165) in the SCALU group. Interestingly, we did not find statistical correlations with these parameters in SCAWH group. The other hematological parameters (hemoglobin, leucocyte and reticulocyte count) and indirect bilirrubin did not show any correlation with analyzed cytokines in both groups. So, for the first time, we show that IL-17A present in SCALU patients may exert a preventive role in the ACS development. Furthermore, IL-6, IL-17A and IL-22 accompanied the LDH levels only in SCALU patients suggesting to serve as additional markers of hemolysis or to be related with immunity response against extracellular pathogens.     

Defective signal joint recombination in fanconi anemia fibroblasts reveals a role for Rad50 in V(D)J recombination

V(D)J recombination of immunoglobulin loci is dependent on the immune cell-specific Rag1 and Rag2 proteins as well as a number of ubiquitously expressed cellular DNA repair proteins that catalyze non-homologous end-joining of DNA double-strand breaks. The evolutionarily conserved Rad50/Mre11/Nibrin protein complex has a role in DNA double-strand break-repair, suggesting that these proteins, too, may participate in V(D)J recombination. Recent findings demonstrating that Rad50 function is defective in cells from patients afflicted with Fanconi anemia provide a possible mechanistic explanation for previous findings that lymphoblasts derived from these patients exhibit subtle defects in V(D)J recombination of extrachromosomal plasmid molecules. Here, we describe a series of findings that provide convincing evidence for a role of the Rad50 protein complex in V(D)J recombination. We found that the fidelity of V(D)J signal joint recombination in fibroblasts from patients afflicted with Fanconi anemia was reduced by nearly tenfold, compared to that observed in fibroblasts from normal donors. Second, we observed that antibody-mediated inhibition of the Rad50, Mre11, or Nibrin proteins reduced the fidelity of signal joint recombination significantly in wild-type cells. The latter finding was somewhat unexpected, because signal joint rejoining in cells from patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome, which results from mutations in the Nibrin gene, occurs with normal fidelity. However, introduction of anti-Nibrin antibodies into these cells reduced the fidelity of signal joint recombination dramatically. These data reveal for the first time a role for the Rad50 complex in V(D)J recombination, and demonstrate that the protein product of the disease-causing allele responsible for Nijmegen breakage syndrome encodes a protein with residual DNA double-strand break repair activity.