Interaction of ovomucoid from duck egg proteins with aldehydes-dextrans]

The interaction of ovomucoid proteinase inhibitor prepared from duck egg white with a dextran of a molecular weight of 70,000 preliminary treated with potassium periodate. Irrespective of the number of the sites of the ovomucoid binding to aldehyde-dextran the anti-chymotryptic activity is equal to that of the native inhibitor, while the antitryptic activity decreases proportionally to the number of ovomucoid amino groups involved in the reaction with dextran. When a few ovomucoid molecules are immobilized on the polysaccharide macromolecule the perturbing effect of the protein-protein interactions is minimal, as the rigid polymeric chain prevents from the formation of associates of proteins immobilized on this backbone.     

Endothelial Transient Receptor Potential Conical Channel (TRPC)-3 Activation Induces Vasogenic Edema Formation in the Rat Piriform Cortex Following Status Epilepticus

Transient receptor potential canonical channel (TRPC) is a nonselective cation channel permeable to Ca²⁺, which express in many cell types, including neurons. However the alterations in TRPC receptor expressions in response to status epilepticus (SE) have not been explored. Therefore, the present study was designated to elucidate the roles of TRPC3 in neuronal death and vasogenic edema within the rat piriform cortex (PC) following SE. In non-SE animals, TRPC3 immunoreactivity was abundantly detected in the PC. Following SE, TRPC3 immunoreactivity was increased in neurons. Furthermore, TRPC3 expression was detected in endothelial cells that did not contain it in non-SE animals. Loss of SMI-71 (a blood–brain barrier antigen) immunoreactivity was also observed in TRPC3 positive endothelial cells. In addition, FJB positive neurons and vasogenic edema were noticeably detected in the PC. To directly determine whether TRPC3 activation is correlated to SE-induced vasogenic edema formation and neuronal damages in the PC, the effect of Pyr-3 (a TRPC3 antagonist) on SE-induced insults were investigated. Pyr-3 infusion effectively attenuated vasogenic edema in the PC as compared to the vehicle. Therefore, our findings indicate that TRPC3 activation/overexpression induced by SE may involve BBB disruption and neuronal damages in the rat PC following SE. Therefore, the present study was TRPC3 may play an important role in SE-induced vasogenic edema formation through BBB disruptions in the rat PC.     

Polymeric systems with antithrombin activity for thermally activated targeting

Copolymers of N,N-diethylacrylamide and N-acryloylphthalimide with lower critical solution temperature (LCST) were synthesized by radical copolymerization. Polymeric systems with antithrombin activity and LCST were prepared via a reaction of amino groups of hirudin with phthalimide groups of the copolymers. On increasing hirudin content, LCST of the polymeric systems increased. The antithrombin activity of polymeric systems obtained by hirudin immobilization on copolymer carriers was inversely related to the content of the copolymer, amounting to 6% of the activity of native hirudin.     

Horizontal Transfer of Archaeal Genes into the Deinococcaceae: Detection by Molecular and Computer-Based Approaches

Members of the Deinococcaceae (e.g., Thermus, Meiothermus, Deinococcus) contain A/V-ATPases typically found in Archaea or Eukaryotes which were probably acquired by horizontal gene transfer. Two methods were used to quantify the extent to which archaeal or eukaryotic genes have been acquired by this lineage. Screening of a Meiothermus ruber library with probes made against Thermoplasma acidophilum DNA yielded a number of clones which hybridized more strongly than background. One of these contained the prolyl tRNA synthetase (RS) gene. Phylogenetic analysis shows the M. ruber and D. radiodurans prolyl RS to be more closely related to archaeal and eukaryal forms of this gene than to the typical bacterial type. Using a bioinformatics approach, putative open reading frames (ORFs) from the prerelease version of the D. radiodurans genome were screened for genes more closely related to archaeal or eukaryotic genes. Putative ORFs were searched against representative genomes from each of the three domains using automated BLAST. ORFs showing the highest matches against archaeal and eukaryotic genes were collected and ranked. Among the top-ranked hits were the A/V-ATPase catalytic and noncatalytic subunits and the prolyl RS genes. Using phylogenetic methods, ORFs were analyzed and trees assessed for evidence of horizontal gene transfer. Of the 45 genes examined, 20 showed topologies in which D. radiodurans homologues clearly group with eukaryotic or archaeal homologues, and 17 additional trees were found to show probable evidence of horizontal gene transfer. Compared to the total number of ORFs in the genome, those that can be identified as having been acquired from Archaea or Eukaryotes are relatively few (approximately 1%), suggesting that interdomain transfer is rare.     

Chemical modification of proteinsby “smart” polymers

The modification of duck ovomucoid, a proteinaceous proteinase inhibitor from egg white, by poly-N,N-diethylacrylamide possessing a low critical solution temperature (LCST) has been investigated. The free amino groups of the lysine residues and the N-terminal residue of the ovomucoid molecule were modified; as a result, the inhibitor activity towards trypsin decreased significantly and that towards chymotrypsin decreased slightly. The transformation of ovomucoid antitryptic centers into antichymotryptic centers was observed upon the heating of the solutions of the modified protein above the LCST. The hydrophobization of the lysine residues situated in the reactive centers of the inhibitor was shown to cause this phenomenon. The structure of the binding loop was not distorted and the modified lysine residues could be recognized by chymotrypsin molecules, similarly to the hydrophobic amino acid residues of the antichymotryptic center.     

On the possibility of oral treatment with protein solutions

Experiments on animals showed that native proteins may diffuse into the blood flow after oral administration of diluted protein solutions. An in vitro study led us to hypothesize that treatment with diluted solutions is accompanied by a decrease in the rate of protein proteolysis and accelerated protein diffusion through the intestinal mucosa.     

ESM-1 silencing decreased cell survival,migration, and invasion and modulated cell cycle progression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Amino Acids - Endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 (ESM-1) is a secretory proteoglycan comprising a mature polypeptide of 165 amino acids and a single dermatan sulfate. The aim of this study was to...