Sleep and Biological Rhythms - To examine the psychometric properties of the Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI) using different psychometric approaches [including classical test theory, Rasch models,... 相似文献
Calprotectin (CP) is widely considered to have diverse roles including growth inhibitory and apoptosis induction in a number of tumor cell lines and antimicrobial activities. As CP has been proposed to bind metal ions with high affinity, we have studied its functional and primarily its structural behavior upon Zn2+ and Mn2+ chelation solely and along with Ca2+. We employed fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism to determine the resulting modifications. Based upon our findings it is clear that treating CP with ions effectively weakened its natural growth inhibitory activity. Moreover, structural analysis of Zn2+ and Mn2+-treated CPs indicated remarkable alterations in the regular secondary structures in favor of irregular structures while Zn2+ and Mn2+ treatment of CP after incubation with Ca2+ displayed no remarkable shifts. Tertiary structure investigation using fluorescence spectroscopy showed that CP undergoes conformational changes upon Zn2+ and Mn2+ treatment whereby Trp residues of protein is slightly exposed to the hydrophilic environment, compactness of CP is compromised, whereas in Ca2+-treated CP, the tertiary structure integrity is intact upon Zn2+ and Mn2+ chelation. Interestingly, CP structural modifications upon Zn2+ and Mn2+ treatment was significantly comparable, probably due to similar radii and charges of ions. Taken all together, we have concluded that CP maintains its normal nature in Ca2+-loaded state when treated with Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions. It can be suggested that Ca2+ not only stabilize CP structure but also helps CP to keep its structure upon metal ions chelation which is involved in host organism defense system. 相似文献
In this study, the effects of cadmium toxicity and the protective effects of l-carnitine on spermatogenesis in Sprague–Dawley rat were evaluated. Animals were subdivided into five groups. Cadmium chloride
(1-mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally during 16 days at intervals of 48 h between subsequent treatments. l-Carnitine (500 mg/kg b.w., IP) was pretreated in both of control and cadmium-injected rats. Animals were killed on day 17
after the first treatment. The left cauda epididymis was removed and immediately immersed into Hank’s balanced salt solution
for evaluation of sperm count and viability. Following contamination with cadmium, a decrease in the number and viability
of cauda epididymis sperm, the number of cell proliferation, and Johnsen Scores in the seminiferous tubules was observed.
Consequently, l-carnitine treatment caused an increase in the number and viability of cauda epididymis sperm, the number of cell proliferation,
and Johnsen Scores in the cadmium-induced group. 相似文献
Pathogenesis-related protein-10 (PR10) is a ubiquitous small plant protein induced by microbial pathogens and abiotic stress
that adversely contributes to the allergenic potency of many fruits and vegetables, including carrot. In this plant, two highly
similar genes encoding PR10 isoforms have been isolated and designated as allergen Dau c 1.01 and Dau c 1.02. The aim of the
study was to generate PR10-reduced hypoallergenic carrots by silencing either one of these genes in transgenic carrots by
means of RNA interference (RNAi). The efficiency of gene silencing by stably expressed hairpin RNA (hnRNA) was documented
by means of quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) and immunoblotting. Quantification of the residual protein revealed that PR10 accumulation
was strongly decreased compared with untransformed controls. Treatment of carrot plants with the PR protein-inducing chemical
salicylic acid resulted in an increase of PR10 isoforms only in wild-type but not in Dau c 1-silenced mutants. The decrease
of the allergenic potential in Dau c 1-silenced plants was sufficient to cause a reduced allergenic reactivity in patients
with carrot allergy, as determined with skin prick tests (SPT). However, simultaneous silencing of multiple allergens will
be required to design hypoallergenic carrots for the market. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of creating low-allergenic
food by using RNAi. This constitutes a reasonable approach to allergen avoidance. 相似文献
The bacterial superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is a potent inducer of cytotoxic T-cell activity and cytokine
production in vivo. We investigated the possibility of the therapeutic application of SEB in patients with fibrosarcoma. The
anti-tumor effect of SEB in mice with inoculated fibrosarcoma (WEHI-164) was examined by intravenous (IV) and intratumoral
(IT) injection and the sizes of the inoculated tumors, IFN-γ production, and CD4+/CD8+ T cell infiltration were determined.
The inoculated tumors were also examined histologically. In the mice in the IV-injected group, a significant reduction (P < 0.02) of tumor size was observed in comparison with mice in the IT-injected and control groups. Furthermore, the mice in
the IV-injected group showed significantly higher levels of IFN-γ (P < 0.009) and CD4+/CD8+ T cell infiltration when compared with the other groups (P < 0.02). A significantly higher frequency of necrosis in tumor tissues was also observed in mice in the IV-injected group
(P < 0.05). Our present findings suggest that tumor cell death is caused by increased cytotoxic T-cell activity and cytokine
levels in response to the IV injection of SEB and that SEB may be a good option for use as a novel therapy in patients with
fibrosarcoma.
An erratum to this article can be found at 相似文献
S-containing amino acids can lead to two types of local NH···S interactions which bridge backbone NH sites to the side chain to form either intra- or inter-residue H-bonds. The present work reports on the conformational preferences of S-methyl-l-cysteine, Cys(Me), using a variety of investigating tools, ranging from quantum chemistry simulations, gas-phase UV and IR laser spectroscopy, and solution state IR and NMR spectroscopies, on model compounds comprising one or two Cys(Me) residues. We demonstrate that in gas phase and in low polarity solution, the C- and N-capped model compound for one Cys(Me) residue adopts a preferred C5–C6γ conformation which combines an intra-residue N–H···O=C backbone interaction (C5) and an inter-residue N–H···S interaction implicating the side-chain sulfur atom (C6γ). In contrast, the dominant conformation of the C- and N-capped model compound featuring two consecutive Cys(Me) residues is a regular type I β-turn. This structure is incompatible with concomitant C6γ interactions, which are no longer in evidence. Instead, C5γ interactions occur, that are fully consistent with the turn geometry and additionally stabilize the structure. Comparison with the thietane amino acid Attc, which exhibits a rigid cyclic side chain, pinpoints the significance of side chain flexibility for the specific conformational behavior of Cys(Me).
We aimed to study the relation between plasma levels of stress-induced heat shock protein 70 (HSPA1A) with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1), and HDL-C/Apo-A1 ratio. In a matched case-control study on patients with diabetes (40 patients with albuminuria and 40 without albuminuria matched for age, sex, and body mass index), we observed that plasma levels of HSPA1A and PAI-1 are increased in patients with albuminuria (0.55 ± 0.02 vs. 0.77 ± 0.04 ng/ml, p value <0.001 for HSPA1A; 25.9 ± 2 vs. 31.8 ± 2.4 ng/ml, p value <0.05 for PAI-1). There was a significant correlation between HSPA1A and PAI-1 in diabetic patients without albuminuria (r = 0.28; p value = 0.04), but not in those with albuminuria (r = 0.07; p value = 0.63). No association was found between HSPA1A and HDL-C, between HSPA1A and Apo-A1, or between HSPA1A and HDL-C/Apo-A1 ratio. We concluded that there is a direct correlation between plasma HSPA1A and PAI-1 levels in patients with diabetes, which is lost when they develop albuminuria. 相似文献
This study aimed to identify a novel disease-associated differentially co-expressed mRNA-microRNA (miRNA) that is associated with vasculogenic mimicry (VM) and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) network at different stages of melanoma. By applying weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we constructed a VM+EMT biological network with the available microarray dataset downloaded from a public database. Quantitative real-time PCR, immunohistochemical staining, and CD31-periodic acid solution dual staining were performed to confirm the expression of genes associated with EMT and VM formation in subjects with malignant melanoma (n = 18) and primary melanoma (n = 13) and in healthy subjects (n = 10). Our findings suggested that phosphatidylserine-specific phospholipase A1-alpha (PLA1A) and dermokine (DMKN) genes function as oncogenes that trigger VM and EMT processes during melanomagenesis on interaction with miR-370, miR-563, and miR-770–5p. PLA1A and DMKN genes can be considered potential VM+EMT network-based diagnostic biomarkers for distinguishing between melanoma patients. We postulate that a network with altered PLA1A/miR-563 and DMNK/miR-770–5p/miR-370 may contribute to melanomagenesis by triggering the EMT signaling pathway and VM formation. This study provides a potentially valuable approach for the early diagnosis and prognosis of melanoma progression. 相似文献
To lay the foundation of the classification of Canarium album (C. album), and C. album from Terminalia Chebula (T. chebula) in different areas of China, improved RAPD and ISSR analysis were performed to analyze polymorphism and genetic relationship. Ten samples were collected from different locations in China. A total of 221 fragments were detected by improved RAPD, out of which polymorphic fragments accounted for 82.3% with average amplification bands of 10.05 per primer. ISSR markers revealed a total of 147 alleles, where polymorphic fragments accounted for 83.5%, with average amplification bands of 7.35 per primer. The sizes of fragments ranged from 200 to 2500 bp and from 150 to 2000 bp in RAPD and ISSR markers, respectively. The similarity coefficient ranged from 0.46 to 0.86 with RAPD markers and 0.36 to 0.89 with ISSR markers. The results indicated that improved RAPD and ISSR methods are useful for genetic diversity study of C. album. Thus, this study provides us the theoretical basis for the breeding and classification of C. album in South and Southwest China. 相似文献