Isolation of viral coat protein mutants with altered assembly and aggregation properties

A method was developed to screen bacteria for synthesis of mutant proteins with altered assembly and solubility properties using bacteriophage MS2 coat protein as a model self-associating protein. Colonies expressing coat protein from a plasmid were covered with an agarose overlay under conditions that caused the lysis of some of the cells in each colony. The proteins thus liberated diffused through the overlay at rates depending on their molecular sizes. After transfer of the proteins to a nitrocellulose membrane, probing with coat protein-specific antiserum revealed spots whose sizes and intensities were related to the aggregation state of coat protein. The method was employed in the isolation of assembly defective mutants and to find soluble variants of an aggregation-prone coat protein mutant.     

Determination of 8-oxoguanine in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A highly sensitive and selective method for determining 8-oxoguanine in plasma and urine was developed by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The compound was separated by gradient elution on a C₁₈ reversed-phase column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile and 0.1 M sodium acetate, pH 5.2. 8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine was used as internal standard. 8-Oxoguanine was detected electrochemically by setting the potential to +300 mV vs. Pd reference. The sensitivity of the assay was 22 ng/ml with a signal-to-noise ratio of 7:1. The within-day relative standard deviations for 8-oxoguanine quality control samples with concentrations of 3340, 1340 and 84 ng/ml were 3.6, 4.3 and 5.7% for plasma, and 4.1, 4.6 and 6.2% for urine, respectively. The day-to-day relative standard deviations for the same samples were 3.8, 6.8 and 7.1% for plasma, and 3.9, 7.0 and 7.9% for urine, respectively. The method is designed to study the pharmacokinetics and metabolic fate of O⁶-benzylguanine in a phase I clinical trial. Previously, O⁶-benzyl-8-oxoguanine was identified as the primary metabolite of O⁶-benzylguanine in humans. We now demonstrate that 8-oxoguanine is a further metabolite of O⁶-benzylguanine.     

A neural-network system for control of eye movements: basic mechanisms

This paper presents a neural-network-based system that can generate and control movements of the eyes. It was inspired by a number of experimental observations on the saccadic and gaze systems of monkeys and cats. Because of the generality of the approach undertaken, the system can be regarded as a demonstration of how parallel distributed processing principles, namely learning and attractor dynamics, can be integrated with experimental findings, as well as a biologically inspired controller for a dexterous robotic orientation device. The system is composed of three parts: a dynamic motor map, a push-pull circuitry, and a plant. The dynamics of the motor map is generated by a multi-layer network that was trained to compute a bidimensional temporal-spatial transformation. Simulation results indicate (1) that the system is able to reproduce some of the properties observed in the biological system at the neural and movement levels and (2) that the dynamics of the motor map remains stereotyped even when the motor map is subject to abnormal stimulation patterns. The latter result emphasizes the role of the topographic projection that connects the motor map to the push-pull circuitry in determining the features of the resulting movements.     

Apigenin 7-glucoside diacetates in ligulate flowers of Matricaria chamomilla

From ligulate flowers of Matricaria chamomilla was isolated a mixture of apigenin 7-O-β-glucoside diacetates, which was shown to be based on (2″, 3″)- and (3″, 4″)-diacetates.     

黑曲霉脯氨酸蛋白内肽酶基因的克隆与序列分析

以黑曲霉(A.niger)TCCC41013的总RNA作为模板,通过RT-PCR扩增出含自身信号肽的脯氨酸蛋白内肽酶基因,将其插入pUCm-T载体上,经PCR和酶切鉴定后进行测序并分析.所克隆的PEP基因全长为1 581bp,编码526个氨基酸残基,成熟肽为504个氨基酸残基.与GeneBank中已报道的A.niger CBS513.88的PEP序列同源性最高,达到99.75%.脯氨酸蛋白内肽酶是一种新型的丝氨酸蛋白酶,黑曲霉PEP与已克隆的其他菌种的PEP同源性不高.     

Pedunculopontine Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Improves Gait Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Neurochemical Research - Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) has been proposed as a treatment strategy for gait disorder in patients with Parkinson’s disease...     

Focal adhesion regulation of cell behavior

Focal adhesions lie at the convergence of integrin adhesion, signaling and the actin cytoskeleton. Cells modify focal adhesions in response to changes in the molecular composition, two-dimensional (2D) vs. three-dimensional (3D) structure, and physical forces present in their extracellular matrix environment. We consider here how cells use focal adhesions to regulate signaling complexes and integrin function. Furthermore, we examine how this regulation controls complex cellular behaviors in response to matrices of diverse physical and biochemical properties. One event regulated by the physical structure of the ECM is phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) at Y397, which couples FAK to several signaling pathways that regulate cell proliferation, survival, migration, and invasion.     

Colonization of endophyte Acremonium sp. D212 in Panax notoginseng and rice mediated by auxin and jasmonic acid

Endophytic fungi can be beneficial to plant growth. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying colonization of Acremonium spp. remain unclear.In this study, a novel endophytic Acremonium strain was isolated from the buds of Panax notoginseng and named Acremonium sp. D212. The Acremonium sp. D212 could colonize the roots of P. notoginseng,enhance the resistance of P. notoginseng to root rot disease, and promote root growth and saponin biosynthesis in P. notoginseng. Acremonium sp. D212 could secrete indole-3-acetic acid(IAA) and jasmonic acid(JA), and inoculation with the fungus increased the endogenous levels of IAA and JA in P. notoginseng. Colonization of the Acremonium sp. D212 in the roots of the rice line Nipponbare was dependent on the concentration of methyl jasmonate(Me JA)(2–15 μmol/L) and 1-naphthalenacetic acid(NAA)(10–20 μmol/L). Moreover, the roots of the JA signaling-defective coi1-18 mutant were colonized by Acremonium sp. D212 to a lesser degree than those of the wild-type Nipponbare and mi R393 boverexpressing lines, and the colonization was rescued by Me JA but not by NAA. It suggests that the cross-talk between JA signaling and the auxin biosynthetic pathway plays a crucial role in the colonization of Acremonium sp. D212 in host plants.     

Toward a theory for diversity gradients: the abundance–adaptation hypothesis

The abundance–adaptation hypothesis argues that taxa with more individuals and faster generation times will have more evolutionary ‘experiments’ allowing expansion into, and diversification within, novel habitats. Thus, as older taxa have produced more individuals over time, and smaller taxa have higher population sizes and faster generation times, the Latitudinal Diversity Gradients (LDGs) of these clades should show shallower slopes. We describe the LDGs for archaea, bacteria, fungi, invertebrates and trees from six North American forests. For three focal groups – bacteria, ants, and trees – older taxa had shallower LDG slopes than the more recent, terminal taxa. Across 12 orders of magnitude of body mass, LDG slopes were steeper in larger taxa. The slopes of LDGs vary systematically with body size and clade age, underscoring the non‐canonical nature of LDGs. The steepest LDG slopes were found for the largest organisms while the smallest, from bacteria to small litter‐soil invertebrates, have shallower‐ to zero‐slope LDGs. If tropical niche conservatism is the failure of clades to adapt to, and diversify in temperate habitats, then the steep LDGs of chordates and plants likely arise from the decreased ability of clades with large individuals to adapt to the multiple challenges of extra‐tropical life.