The comparative characteristics of the pathogenic action of Vibrio cholerae of the non-O1 group O139 serovar and of the O1 group on the intestinal APUD system of suckling rabbits

The comparative study of the enteropathogenic action of V. cholerae strains of group non-O1, serovar O139, and group O1 with different virulence on the APUD system of the intestine of suckling rabbits after intraenteral infection revealed that V. cholerae of group non-O1 induced inflammatory changes in the intestine and the pronounced toxic lesion of parenchymal organs. This was accompanied by a decrease in the number of apudocytes and an increase in the functional tension of the APUD system. After the infection of the animals with V. cholerae of group O1 changes in the APUD system and internal organs directly depended on the virulence of the microbes and the infective dose.     

Long non‐coding RNAs in melanoma

Melanoma is the most lethal cutaneous cancer with a highly aggressive and metastatic phenotype. While recent genetic and epigenetic studies have shed new insights into the mechanism of melanoma development, the involvement of regulatory non‐coding RNAs remain unclear. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a group of endogenous non‐protein‐coding RNAs with the capacity to regulate gene expression at multiple levels. Recent evidences have shown that lncRNAs can regulate many cellular processes, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and invasion. In the melanoma, deregulation of a number of lncRNAs, such as HOTAIR, MALAT1, BANCR, ANRIL, SPRY‐IT1 and SAMMSON, have been reported. Our review summarizes the functional role of lncRNAs in melanoma and their potential clinical application for diagnosis, prognostication and treatment.     

Protective effect of bixin on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Background

The liver is an important organ for its ability to transform xenobiotics, making the liver tissue a prime target for toxic substances. The carotenoid bixin present in annatto is an antioxidant that can protect cells and tissues against the deleterious effects of free radicals. In this study, we evaluated the protective effect of bixin on liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) in rats.

Results

The animals were divided into four groups with six rats in each group. CCl₄ (0.125 mL kg^-1 body wt.) was injected intraperitoneally, and bixin (5.0 mg kg^-1 body wt.) was given by gavage 7 days before the CCl₄ injection. Bixin prevented the liver damage caused by CCl₄, as noted by the significant decrease in serum aminotransferases release. Bixin protected the liver against the oxidizing effects of CCl₄ by preventing a decrease in glutathione reductase activity and the levels of reduced glutathione and NADPH. The peroxidation of membrane lipids and histopathological damage of the liver was significantly prevented by bixin treatment.

Conclusion

Therefore, we can conclude that the protective effect of bixin against hepatotoxicity induced by CCl₄ is related to the antioxidant activity of the compound.     

Comparative pathomorphological assessment of the action of Vibrio cholerae serogroups 01 and 0139

The pathomorphological picture of experimental infection caused by the infective agent of cholera was shown to have some specific features observed in infections caused by vibrios belonging to the serogroups under study. Infection caused by V. cholerae of serogroup O139 induced some morphological changes in the gastrointestinal tract which were quite characteristic of this disease, but inflammatory changes with the prevalence of proliferative infiltrative processes came to the foreground simultaneously with less developed processes of edema and dystrophic lesions of enterocytes. These specific morphological features in animals infected with V. cholerae of serogroup O139 appeared to be probably due to the production of new surface structures by these strains.     

Apudocytes in experimental cholera vaccination

The morphofunctional state of apudocytes in the gastrointestinal tract and immunocompetent organs (spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes) of mice immunized with chemical bivalent cholera vaccine was studied. The study revealed that the APUD system of the intestine and the argyrophil elements of the immunocompetent organs of white mice gave a response to the oral administration of commercial cholera vaccine. The reaction of the APUD system of the gastrointestinal tract was manifested by a significant increase in the number of apudocytes and their greater synthesizing activity in the immunized animals during the period of maximum immunological transformation of the macroorganism. The immunization of mice with Vibrio cholerae facilitated the maintenance of homeostasis in the macroorganism and prevented appearance of morphological disturbances in its organs and system after subsequent challenge with V. cholerae.     

The APUD-system function of the intestines and the morphological changes in the internal organs of adult rabbits infected with toxigenic Vibrio cholerae

V. cholerae infection with clearly pronounced diarrhea was reproduced in adult rabbits with the use of the RITARD system. The state of the APUD system of the intestine of the animals and morphological changes in internal organs in experimental cholera were described. As noted in this study, the manifestation of changes in the intestine and other organs, as well as the reaction of apudocytes to V. cholerae infection, were linked with the intensity of diarrhea and the time of the death of the animals.     

Characterization of Vibrio cholerae eltor in the city of Kazan in 2001

Information on V. cholerae eltor isolated in the focus of cholera in Kazan in 2001 at different periods of the outbreak is presented. The identity of strains isolated from patients, vibriocarriers and environmental objects, including their antibioticograms (sensitivity to cyprofloxacin and resistance to trimethoprim--sulfamethoxazole, streptomycin, furazolidone and nalidixic acid, which may be regarded as markers), is shown. Variable tandem repetitions in the DNA of 30 isolates strains of different origin have been determined. The results of this determination make it possible to classify all these strains as one genotype, which confirms the suggestion on the circulation of one subclone of the infective agent of cholera in the focus. As revealed in this investigation, the isolated strains are labile with respect to diagnostic phage eltor, while ctx+ strains are resistant to phage eltor ctx+.     

A new species of Mesocoelium (Digenea: Mesocoeliidae) found in Rhinella marina (Amphibia: Bufonidae) from Brazilian Amazonia

Mesocoelium lanfrediaesp. nov. (Digenea: Mesocoeliidae) inhabits the small intestine of Rhinella marina (Amphibia: Bufonidae) and is described here, with illustrations provided by light, scanning electron microscopy and molecular approachs. M. lanfrediae sp. nov. presents the typical characteristics of the genus, but is morphometrically and morphologically different from the species described previously. The main diagnostic characteristics of M. lanfrediae sp. nov. are (i) seven pairs of regularly-distributed spherical papillae on the oral sucker, (ii) ventral sucker outlined by four pairs of papillae distributed in a uniform pattern and interspersed with numerous spines, which are larger at the posterior margin and (iii) small, rounded tegumentary papillae around the opening of the oral sucker, which are morphologically different from those of the oral sucker itself, some of which are randomly disposed in the ventrolateral tegumentary region of the anterior third of the body. Addionally, based on SSU rDNA, a phylogenetic analysis including Brachycoeliidae and Mesocoeliidae taxa available on GenBank established the close relationship between M. lanfrediae sp. nov. and Mesocoelium sp.     

Phosphorylation and biosynthesis of high molecular weight proteins of tumor nuclear matrix

INTRODUCTIONAsearlyasin1948wehavefr8CtionatedisolatednucleifromnormalandtumorcellsbyextractionwithiMNaCIanddilutealkali[1].Thenuclearresiduewasthenstudiedmorethoroughly[2,3].Lateron,sillillarproteinousnuclearresidueswereisolatedbyotherworkers[46]andasstud…     

Algorithms and software for support of gene identification experiments

MOTIVATION: Gene annotation is the final goal of gene prediction algorithms. However, these algorithms frequently make mistakes and therefore the use of gene predictions for sequence annotation is hardly possible. As a result, biologists are forced to conduct time-consuming gene identification experiments by designing appropriate PCR primers to test cDNA libraries or applying RT-PCR, exon trapping/amplification, or other techniques. This process frequently amounts to 'guessing' PCR primers on top of unreliable gene predictions and frequently leads to wasting of experimental efforts. RESULTS: The present paper proposes a simple and reliable algorithm for experimental gene identification which bypasses the unreliable gene prediction step. Studies of the performance of the algorithm on a sample of human genes indicate that an experimental protocol based on the algorithm's predictions achieves an accurate gene identification with relatively few PCR primers. Predictions of PCR primers may be used for exon amplification in preliminary mutation analysis during an attempt to identify a gene responsible for a disease. We propose a simple approach to find a short region from a genomic sequence that with high probability overlaps with some exon of the gene. The algorithm is enhanced to find one or more segments that are probably contained in the translated region of the gene and can be used as PCR primers to select appropriate clones in cDNA libraries by selective amplification. The algorithm is further extended to locate a set of PCR primers that uniformly cover all translated regions and can be used for RT-PCR and further sequencing of (unknown) mRNA.