Growth hormone therapy in boy with panhypopituitarism may induce pilomatricoma recurrence: case report

Pilomatricoma is usually a solitary subcutaneous nodule. Recurrence of the nodule after surgical excision is very rare. Pilomatricoma occurrence in patients with growth hormone (GH) deficiency has not been reported, yet. We report a 14-year-old boy with pilomatricoma and panhypopituitarism. After GH therapy had been started, we observed two relapses of previously completely excised pilomatricoma in the same location and a new pilomatricoma formation on the chin.     

Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of protected N-phosphonomethylglycine dipeptides.

A series of terminally blocked dipeptides containing C-terminal N-phosphonomethylglycine (glyphosate, an extremely effective non-selective post-emergence herbicide) have been synthesized by a solution method. The presence of their two conformers, cis (syn) and trans (anti), was shown in solutions by NMR spectroscopy. Molecular structures of the peptides were also determined in the solid state by X-ray diffraction. The attempts for the selective and total removal of the groups protecting amino, carboxylic and phosphonate functions were in many cases unsuccessful due to the formation of cyclic structures and breakage of the phosphorus-to-carbon bond.     

Effect of unsaturated bonds in the sn-2 acyl chain of phosphatidylcholine on the membrane-damaging action of Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin toward liposomes

Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin degrades phosphatidylcholine (PC) in the bilayer of liposomes and destroys the membrane. The effect of the type and position of unsaturation in the fatty acyl chain of PC (18:0/18:1 PC) synthesized on the toxin-induced leakage of carboxyfluorescein (CF) from PC liposomes was examined. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the phase transition temperature (T(m)) was minimal when the triple bond was positioned at C (9) in the sn-2 acyl chain. The toxin-induced CF leakage decreased with the migration of the bond from C (9) to either end of the acyl chain in PC. The PC containing the cis-double bond had a similar T(m) to that with the triple bond, but a lower value than the PC containing the trans-double bond. Furthermore, the toxin-induced leakage from liposomes composed of PC containing the cis-double bond resembled that with PC having the triple bond and was greater than that from liposomes with PC having the trans-double bond. The binding of a H148G mutant to PC liposomes showed a reciprocal relationship in terms of the T(m) value of PC containing the triple bond. These results indicate that the toxin-induced membrane damage is closely related to membrane fluidity in liposomes.     

Synthesis of glycolipopeptidic building blocks for carbohydrate receptor discovery

A class of glycolipopeptides for use as building blocks for a new type of dynamic combinatorial library is reported. The members of the library consist of a variable carbohydrate moiety, coded amino acids, and lipoamino acids in order to convert them into amphiphiles. Glycolipopeptidic amphiphiles interact through non-covalent bonding when mixed together in aqueous phase and form micelles in dynamic close-packed fluid mosaic arrays. The head groups of amphiphiles are exposed on the micelle surface, providing entities which could be screened in biological assays to find the most potent combination of building blocks in order to identify new bioactive carbohydrate ligands.     

Silver bullets: A new lustre on an old antimicrobial agent

Silver was widely used in medicine to treat bacterial infections in the 19th and early 20th century, up until the discovery and development of the first modern antibiotics in the 1940s, which were markedly more effective. Since then, every new antibiotic introduced to the clinic has led to an associated development of drug resistance. Today, the threat of extensive bacterial resistance to antibiotics has reignited interest in alternative strategies to treat infectious diseases, with silver regaining well-deserved renewed attention. Silver ions are highly disruptive to bacterial integrity and biochemical function, with comparatively minimal toxicity to mammalian cells. This review focuses on the antimicrobial properties of silver and their use in synergistic combination therapy with traditional antibiotic drugs.     

Tetrapeptides,as small‐sized peptidic inhibitors; synthesis and their inhibitory activity against BACE1

β‐Site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is known to be involved in the production of amyloid β‐peptide in Alzheimer's disease and is a major target for current drug design. We previously reported substrate‐based peptidomimetics, KMI‐compounds as potent BACE1 inhibitors. In this study, we designed and synthesized tetrapeptides as low molecular‐sized inhibitors. These exhibited high potency against recombinant BACE1, with the highest IC₅₀ value of 34.6 nM from KMI‐927. Copyright © 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of grazing on plant species diversity and carbon partitioning in semiarid rangelands of northeastern China

Grasslands are one of the most widespread landscapes worldwide, covering approximately one-fifth of the world’s land surface, where grazing is a common practice. How carbon storage responds to grazing in steppes remains poorly understood. We quantified the effects of grazing on community composition and species diversity, and carbon storage in two typical grasslands of northeastern China, one in Horqin and the other one in Hulunbeier. In both grasslands, grazing did not influence plant species diversity. However, it substantially decreased aboveground carbon by 31% and 54% in Horqin and Hulunbeier, respectively. Fenced and grazing treatments showed a similar belowground carbon at both locations. The predominant carbon pool in the study grassland ecosystem was found in the upper 100 cm soil depth, from 98.2 to 99.1% of the total carbon storage. There were no significant effects of grazing on soil carbon neither in the whole profile nor in the uppermost 20 cm soil depth in the two study grasslands. Studies on the effects of varying rangeland management, such as region disparity and grazing systems, may have important consequences on species diversity and carbon partitioning, and thus on rangeland stability and ecosystem functioning.