The intracellular concentration of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate is constant throughout the cell cycle of Escherichia coli

Abstract Both the intracellular and the extracellular concentration of cyclic AMP increases logarithmically in synchronously growing cultures of Escherichia coli . Thus, cyclic AMP by itself cannot regulate growth and division of the bacterium during the cell cycle.     

Nuttallia balearicae sp. n., an Avian Piroplasm from Crowned Cranes (Balearica spp.)

An avian piroplasm, Nuttallia balearicae sp. n., is described from captive Balearica p. pavonina and B. p. gibbericeps. Other avian piroplasms and their validity and taxonomic status are discussed. The possible route of transmission of these parasites is also considered.     

Probing binding mechanism of interleukin-6 and olokizumab: in silico design of potential lead antibodies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

Computer-aided antibody engineering has been successful in the design of new biologics for disease diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a well-recognized drug target for various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis, was investigated in silico to design potential lead antibodies. Here, crystal structure of IL-6 along with monoclonal antibody olokizumab was explored to predict antigen–antibody (Ag???Ab)-interacting residues using DiscoTope, Paratome, and PyMOL. Tyr56, Tyr103 in heavy chain and Gly30, Ile31 in light chain of olokizumab were mutated with residues Ser, Thr, Tyr, Trp, and Phe. A set of 899 mutant macromolecules were designed, and binding affinity of these macromolecules to IL-6 was evaluated through Ag???Ab docking (ZDOCK, ClusPro, and Rosetta server), binding free-energy calculations using Molecular Mechanics/Poisson Boltzman Surface Area (MM/PBSA) method, and interaction energy estimation. In comparison to olokizumab, eight newly designed theoretical antibodies demonstrated better result in all assessments. Therefore, these newly designed macromolecules were proposed as potential lead antibodies to serve as a therapeutics option for IL-6-mediated diseases.     

Long-term changes in growth and age at maturity of mackerel, Scomber scombrus L., from the North Sea

Mean length and mean weight at age of Atlantic mackerel in the North Sea increased significantly between 1960 and 1979, then, decreased markedly during the 1980s. In contrast, median age at maturity decreased (c. 1-1.5 years) from 1960. Median length at maturity remained stable until the 1980s, when it declined sharply. The significance of these changes is discussed in relation to variation in sea temperature, food availability and stock size. It is speculated that the changes during the 1980s resulted from immigration of western stock mackerel.     

Probing disorders of the nervous system using reprogramming approaches

The groundbreaking technologies of induced pluripotency and lineage conversion have generated a genuine opportunity to address fundamental aspects of the diseases that affect the nervous system. These approaches have granted us unrestricted access to the brain and spinal cord of patients and have allowed for the study of disease in the context of human cells, expressing physiological levels of proteins and under each patient's unique genetic constellation. Along with this unprecedented opportunity have come significant challenges, particularly in relation to patient variability, experimental design and data interpretation. Nevertheless, significant progress has been achieved over the past few years both in our ability to create the various neural subtypes that comprise the nervous system and in our efforts to develop cellular models of disease that recapitulate clinical findings identified in patients. In this Review, we present tables listing the various human neural cell types that can be generated and the neurological disease modeling studies that have been reported, describe the current state of the field, highlight important breakthroughs and discuss the next steps and future challenges.     

Getting to the heart of the matter: CCN2 plays a role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) is overexpressed in diabetes. Diabetic rats possess myocardial and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In a recent report, Wang and colleagues (Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2009 Jul 22. [Epub ahead of print]) show that CCN2 directly mediates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy as well as that induced by high glucose and fatty acid. CCN2 acted via the TrkA receptor. These data are the subject of this commentary, and emphasize that CCN2 may be an excellent target for therapy in diabetes.     

Promoting regional sustainability by eco-province construction in China: A critical assessment

The regional level has been recognized as a good scale for implementing actions towards sustainable development (SD). An important pathway to improve regional sustainability is to locally carry out long-term ecological planning. In order to reduce environmental impacts from fast economic growth, several eastern provinces of China began Ecological Province Construction (EPC) at the end of 1990s. This paper presented a case for analyzing the progress of EPC in China via both qualitative and quantitative methods. We studied Shandong Eco-province Construction (SEPC) and evaluated its outcomes with its pre-set indicators in 2003–2010. A further evaluation with eco-efficiency and de-linking indices was conducted. The results indicated the pre-set indicators could not effectively reflect of the ecological province construction. It was recommended to introduce an evaluated framework combined with eco-efficiency and de-linking indices to indicate ecological planning at the regional scale.     

Quercetin-induced yeast apoptosis through mitochondrial dysfunction under the accumulation of magnesium in Candida albicans

Latterly, the upsurge in use of antifungal drugs has brought about the emergence of several drug-resistance strains, making it skeptical to continue relying on current therapeutic regime. In the necessity of resistance-free antifungal agent, flavonoids presented possibilities of replacing existing drugs, displaying antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi. Among them, quercetin, one of the most representative flavonoids, exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans. To inspect the further understanding regarding quercetin, the antifungal mode of action of quercetin was investigated. In the initial step, the apoptosis was monitored after quercetin treatment. Moreover, intracellular levels of Mg²⁺ was assessed and was determined that Mg²⁺ increase occurred under the influence of quercetin. In addition, several features of mitochondrial dysfunction were monitored. Mitochondrial dysfunction triggers decrease in mitochondrial redox levels and leads to disruption in mitochondrial antioxidant system. Increased intracellular ROS and decreased intracellular redox levels were also displayed, indicating the occurrence of overall disruption in antioxidant systems. Sequentially, DNA fragmentation was observed and this DNA damage in turn induces apoptosis. In analyses, hexaamminecobalt(III) chloride (Cohex) was applied to inhibit Mg²⁺ transport between cytosol and mitochondria. Cohex attenuated the effects induced by quercetin, which demonstrates that the presence of Mg²⁺ is essential in quercetin-induced apoptosis.