Non-Phosphorus Lipids As New Antitumor Drug Prototypes

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - The main classes of antitumor drugs (antimetabolites, anthracyclines, taxanes, and alkylating agents) act via DNA damage, inhibit DNA synthesis, and/or...     

The basic causes of death in hoofed mammals in the ussuri reserve and in the adjacent territory

The basic causes of death in hoofed mammals in the Urruri reserve and in the adjacent territory during the period from 1974 to 2011 are hunting and poaching, tiger predation, and exhaustion. The sika deer has accounted for the largest number of the established deaths since the 1990s, because this species has become dominant in the fauna of hoofed animals in the reserve as a result of acclimatization. Before the 1980s, the main prey for tigers were the red deer (52%) and wild boar (44%): the share of the sika deer in the prey was 4%. During the most recent 10 years, the share of the sika deer, wild boar, and red deer in the tiger-prey trophic link at separate stations of the reserve has been 68%, 20.6%, and 6.9%, respectively.     

Contribution of the Endogenous Opioid System to Regulation of Heart Resistance to the Arrhythmogenic Effect of Short-term Ischemia and Reperfusion

Preliminary selective blockade of µ, δ₁, δ₂, κ₁, and κ₂ opioid receptors proved to have no effect on the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias during a 10-min coronary occlusion and subsequent reperfusion in ket-amine-anesthetized rats. We propose that the endogenous opioid system has no considerable role in regulation of heart resistance to the arrhythmogenic effect of short-term local ischemia and subsequent reperfusion.__________Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya, No. 4, 2005, pp. 453–459.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Maslov, Lishmanov, Budankova, Stakheev, Solenkova, Barzakh, Oeltgen, Gross, Chang.     

The polarity of editing within a multiple gRNA-mediated domain is due to formation of anchors for upstream gRNAs by downstream editing.

Seventeen kinetoplast minicircle-encoded and nine maxicircle-encoded gRNA genes have been identified. Six overlapping minicircle-encoded gRNAs mediate editing for the 5'-pan-edited MURF4 gene and two for the 5'-edited COIII gene. The pan-edited RPS12 mRNA is edited by seven minicircle-encoded gRNAs and one maxicircle-encoded gRNA. The 3'-most gRNA in each domain forms an anchor with unedited mRNA, whereas upstream gRNAs form anchors only with edited mRNA, thereby explaining the observed 3' to 5' polarity of editing within an editing domain. We suggest that a role of G-U base pairs is to allow breathing of the edited mRNA-gRNA hybrid and formation of the upstream anchor hybrid.     

The use of a method for the quantitative determination of HIV-1 RNA for assessing the severity and prognosis of the development of the disease

The informatory role of a new marker of HIV infection, characterizing the content of HIV-1 RNA in the biological fluids of the patient's body, is evaluated. The quantitative determination of HIV-1 RNA, carried out in a single assay, was made in the blood of 25 HIV-infected patients. These studies confirmed that the determination of the level of RNA in the plasma (viral load) was a reliable criterion indicating the severity and progress of the disease. The viral load of more than 100,000 copies/ml was a sign prognosticating the future pronounced progress of the disease in spite of moderate clinical manifestations and relatively high values of CD4 cells in the patient's blood at the moment of testing.     

Assessment of the functional state of the cerebral cortex in rabbits according to electroencephalographic findings using a computer diagnostic system]

Computer estimation of the current functional state of the cerebral cortex in rabbits by the EEG data permitted to distinguish its peculiarities in dark and light adaptation of different duration under the action of nembutal; individual peculiarities of the cerebral cortex activity were revealed in various rabbits. The automatic converter system and that of recording and analysis of multiprocess information (apromin system) and computer diagnostic system (mds) were used in complex for the multistage processing of the multiprocess information. Final results are presented on the plane as points reflecting multidimentional images of the current functional states of the cerebral cortex in animals.     

The role of mu- and delta-opiate receptors in resistance of the myocardium to free radical damage]

I.v. administration of the delta-opioid (OR) receptors' agonists DSLET or DTLET prevented creatine kinase leakage from the rat isolated heart in oxidative stress damage and abolished an increase in myocardial levels of conjugated diens and malondialdehyde. The agonists also prevented a stress-induced augmentation of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. All protective effects of delta-receptor stimulation was completely abolished by the delta OR antagonist ICI 174,864. The data obtained suggest that the cardioprotective effect of the delta OR stimulation in vivo is not mediated via direct cardiac delta OR activation but, probably, rather via some unknown indirect circulating humoral factor(s).