The transient and constitutive inflammatory signaling in tumorigenesis

Comment on: Rokavec M, et al. Mol Cell 2012; 45:777-89.     

Flood Risk Analysis Based on Information Diffusion Theory

Due to the fact that the flood data series of small drainage basins is relatively short, available data are often not sufficient for flood risk analysis. This presents the problem of risk analysis using very small data samples. One method that can be applied is to regard the available small samples as fuzzy information and optimize them using information diffusion technology to yield analytical results with greater reliability. In this article a risk analysis method based on information diffusion theory is applied to create a new flood risk analysis model. Application of the model is illustrated taking the Jinhuajiang and Qujiang drainage basins as examples. This is a new attempt at applying information diffusion theory in flood risk analysis. Computations based on this analytical flood risk model can yield an estimated flood damage value that is relatively accurate. This study indicates that the aforementioned model exhibits fairly stable analytical results, even when using a small set of sample data. The results also indicate that information diffusion technology is highly capable of extracting useful information and therefore improves system recognition accuracy. This method can be easily applied and the analytical results produced are easy to understand. Results are accurate enough to act as a guide in disaster situations.     

Evidence for the signaling role of methyl jasmonate, methyl salicylate and benzothiazole between poplar (Populus simonii × P. pyramidalis ‘Opera 8277’) cuttings

Interplant communication has been widely demonstrated in plants, especially in herbaceous plants. In this study, mechanical damage was shown to affect the levels of pyrochatechol, chlorogenic acid, gallic acid and p-hydroxyl benzoic acid in poplar (Populus simonii × P. pyramidalis ‘Opera 8277’) cuttings, indicating the activation of defense response. In neighboring intact cuttings, the levels of those phenolics also varied when compared to the control, suggesting the interplant communication between poplar cuttings. Three volatiles, methyl jasmonate, methyl salicylate and benzothiazole, were detected in volatiles emitted from mechanically damaged poplar cuttings. All of them can induce changes in the levels of four phenolics. Therefore, they could act as airborne signals between P. simonii × P. pyramidalis ‘Opera 8277’ cuttings. The different change patterns of phenolic contents induced by different volatiles imply that the defense response activated in neighboring plants may be regulated by multiple signaling pathways. The results also suggest that the entire defense response of plants involves a variety of airborne signals in wound-induced volatiles.     

A split-pot experiment with sorghum to test a root water uptake partitioning model

Correct modeling of root water uptake partitioning over depth is an important issue in hydrological and crop growth models. Recently a physically based model to describe root water uptake was developed at single root scale and upscaled to the root system scale considering a homogeneous distribution of roots per soil layer. Root water uptake partitioning is calculated over soil layers or compartments as a function of respective soil hydraulic conditions, specifically the soil matric flux potential, root characteristics and a root system efficiency factor to compensate for within-layer root system heterogeneities. The performance of this model was tested in an experiment performed in two-compartment split-pot lysimeters with sorghum plants. The compartments were submitted to different irrigation cycles resulting in contrasting water contents over time. The root system efficiency factor was determined to be about 0.05. Release of water from roots to soil was predicted and observed on several occasions during the experiment; however, model predictions suggested root water release to occur more often and at a higher rate than observed. This may be due to not considering internal root system resistances, thus overestimating the ease with which roots can act as conductors of water. Excluding these erroneous predictions from the dataset, statistical indices show model performance to be of good quality.     

A truncated protein kinase domain of the large subunit of herpes simplex virus type 2 ribonucleotide reductase (ICP10) expressed in Escherichia coli.

The amino-terminal domain of the large subunit of herpes simplex virus type 2 ribonucleotide reductase (ICP10) contains a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that has characteristics of a growth factor receptor (Chung, T. D., Wymer, J. P., Smith, C. C., Kulka, M., and Aurelian, L. (1989) J. Virol. 63, 3389-3398; Chung, T. D., Wymer, J. P., Kulka, M. Smith, C. C., and Aurelian, L. (1990) Virology 179, 168-178). To characterize this protein kinase (PK) domain further we constructed a bacterial expression vector (pJL11) containing DNA sequences encoding ICP10 amino acid residues 1-445. Bacteria containing pJL11 were induced to express a 29-kDa protein (designated pp29la1) that represents a truncated portion of the ICP10-PK domain (includes PK catalytic motifs I-V) as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation with antibodies that recognize different antigenic domains, competition studies with extracts of ICP10-positive eukaryotic cells, and peptide mapping.pp29la1 has autophosphorylating and transphosphorylating activity for calmodulin. The enzyme is activated by Mn2+ but not by Mg2+ ions, and autophosphorylation is inhibited by histone. It differs from the authentic ICP10-PK in that phosphorylation is specific only for threonine.     

Comparison of the three-dimensional structure of two human rhinoviruses (HRV2 and HRV14)

An attempt has been made to build a model of human rhinovirus 2 (HRV2) based on the known human rhinovirus 14 (HRV14) structure. HRV2 was selected because its amino acid sequence is known and because it belongs to the minor rhinovirus receptor class as compared to HRV14, which belongs to the major class. Initial alignment of HRV2 with HRV14 based on the primary sequence and the knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of HRV14 showed that the most probable position of the majority of insertions and deletions occurred in the vicinity of the neutralizing immunogenic sites (NIm). Out of a total of 855 amino acids present in one copy of each of the capsid proteins VP1 through VP4 of HRV14, 411 are different between the two viruses. There are also 6 amino acid residues inserted and 14 residues deleted in HRV2 relative to HRV14. Examination of amino acid interactions showed several cases of conservation of function, e.g., salt bridges or the filling of restricted space. The largest variation amongst the residues lining the canyon, the putative receptor binding site, was in the carboxy-terminal residues of VP1.