High level of divergence of male-reproductive-tract proteins, between Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species, D. simulans

We compared male-reproductive-tract polypeptides of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Approximately 64% of male-reproductive-tract polypeptides were identical between two randomly chosen isofemale lines from these two species, compared with 83% identity for third-instar imaginal wing-disc polypeptides. Qualitatively similar differences were found between reproductive tracts and imaginal discs when D. sechellia was compared with D. melanogaster and with D. simulans. When genic polymorphism was taken into account, approximately 10% of male- reproductive-tract polypeptides were apparently fixed for different alleles between D. melanogaster and D. simulans; this proportion is the same as that found for soluble enzymes by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Strikingly, approximately 20% of male-reproductive- tract polypeptides of either D. melanogaster or D. simulans had no detectable homologue in the other species. We propose that proteins of the Drosophila male reproductive tract may have diverged more extensively between species than have other types of proteins and that much of this divergence may involve large changes in levels of polypeptide expression.      

Screening of mentally retarded persons for "fragile" X-chromosome]

112 mentally weak persons aged from 2 to 18 with different degree of oligophrenia have been examined. Cultivation of blood lymphocytes was performed on medium 199 containing 5% of cattle serum. 9 persons with "fragile" X-chromosome are revealed. High frequency of autosomes fragility among the examined contingent of patients is found. A supposition is advanced on interrelation between homozygosity of "fragile" parts of autosomes and oligophrenia.     

Characterization of Opioid Receptors in Cultured Neurons

The appearance of mu-, delta-, and kappa-opioid receptors was examined in primary cultures of embryonic rat brain. Membranes prepared from striatal, hippocampal, and hypothalamic neurons grown in dissociated cell culture each exhibited high-affinity opioid binding sites as determined by equilibrium binding of the universal opioid ligand (-)-[3H]bremazocine. The highest density of binding sites (per mg of protein) was found in membranes prepared from cultured striatal neurons (Bmax = 210 +/- 40 fmol/mg protein); this density is approximately two-thirds that of adult striatal membranes. By contrast, membranes of cultured cerebellar neurons and cultured astrocytes were devoid of opioid binding sites. The opioid receptor types expressed in cultured striatal neurons were characterized by equilibrium binding of highly selective radioligands. Scatchard analysis of binding of the mu-specific ligand [3H]D-Ala2,N-Me-Phe4,Gly-ol5-enkephalin to embryonic striatal cell membranes revealed an apparent single class of sites with an affinity (KD) of 0.4 +/- 0.1 nM and a density (Bmax) of 160 +/- 20 fmol/mg of protein. Specific binding of (-)-[3H]bremazocine under conditions in which mu- and delta-receptor binding was suppressed (kappa-receptor labeling conditions) occurred to an apparent single class of sites (KD = 2 +/- 1 nM; Bmax = 40 +/- 15 fmol/mg of protein). There was no detectable binding of the selective delta-ligand [3H]D-Pen2,D-Pen5-enkephalin. Thus, cultured striatal neurons expressed mu- and kappa-receptor sites at densities comparable to those found in vivo for embryonic rat brain, but not delta-receptors.     

Microelectrode studies of the active Na transport pathway of frog skin

When the outer surface of short-circuited frog skin was penetrated with microelectrodes, stable negative potentials that averaged near -100 mV were recorded consistently, confirming the results of Nagel (W. Nagel. 1975. Abstracts of the 5th International Biophysics Congress, Copenhagen. P-147.). The appearance of these stable potentials, V(O), concurrent with the observations that (a) a high resistance outer barrier R(O) accounting for approximately 75 percent or more of the transcellular resistance of control skins had been penetrated and that (b) 10(-5) M amiloride and reduced [Na] outside caused the values of V(O) to increase towards means value near -130 mV while the values of percent R(O) increased to more than 90 percent. It was of relationships were the same as the values of E(1) observed in studies of the current-voltage relationships were the same as the values of E’(1) defined as the values of voltage at the inner barrier when the V(O) of the outer barrier was reduced to zero by voltage clamping of the skins. Accordingly, these data are interpreted to mean that the values of E(1), approximately 130 mV, represent the E(Na) of the sodium pump at the inner barrier. 2,4-DNP was observed to decrease the values of transepithelial voltage less than E(1) the V(O) was negative. These data can be interpreted with a simple electrical equivalent circuit of the active sodium transport pathway of the frog skin that includes the idea that the outer membrane behaves as an electrical rectifier for ion transport.     

Role of metal ions in Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase. A study of the metal-water interaction by nuclear relaxation rate measurements on water protons.

The binding of metal to alkaline phosphatase from Escherichia coli and the binding of water and orthophosphate to the Me-2+-enzyme binary complex have been examined by water proton relaxation rate (PRR) measurements. Titration of the three paramagnetic metals, Mn2+, Cu2+, and Co2+, into apoalkaline phosphatase and the titrations of apoenzyme into metal have been carried out. Analysis of the spin-lattice relaxation rates for these titrations and of Scatchard binding curves derived from these results, as well as EPR data, show four tight manganese sites, between two and three tight copper sites, or four cobalt sites per enzyme dimer of molecular weight 80,000. The multiple sites for each metal are indistinguishable by these magnetic resonance techniques. Both the spin-lattice- and spin-spin-relaxation rates exhibit a negative temperature coefficient, showing that these processes are not exchange-limited. From a frequency dependence study of T-1 and from the T-1:T-2 ratio measured at 220 MHz, correlation times from the water-enzyme complexes have been estimated. For H20-Mn-2+-alkaline phosphatase, gamma c equals 1.55 times 10-9 s; for H20-Cu-2+ -alkaline phosphatase, gamma c equals 1.82 times 10-s; and for the cobalt complex, gamma c equals 1.0 times 10-12 s at 4 degrees. Assuming 1 water molecule bound per metal site, these correlation times correspond to the following water-metal distances: gamma (A) is 4.0 A for Mn-2+-H20, 3.4 A for Cu-2+-H20, and 2.8 A for Co-2+-H20. Thus, water is shown to bind directly to the metal atoms of alkaline phosphatase. The correlation between the length of the water-metal bond and the relative activity of the various metalloenzymes support the importance of this binding in the monophosphoesterase reaction catalyzed by alkaline phosphatase. Addition of excess orthophosphate to any of the water-metalloenzyme complexes does not displace an exchangeable water molecule from the metal site. The Mn-PO-4 distance which we have reported earlier (Zukin, R.S., Hollis, D.P., and Gray, G.A. (1973) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 53, 238) to be 7.3 A is consistent with this finding and suggests a model in which Pi binds to Mn-2+-alkaline phosphatase through a water bridge.     

Conformational dynamics of two histidine-binding proteins of Salmonella typhimurium.

The Salmonella typhimurium periplasmic histidine-binding J-protein is one of four proteins encoded by the histidine transport operon. Mutant J-protein hisJ5625 binds L-histidine, but does not transport it. The tertiary structure and conformational dynamics of native and mutant J-protein have been compared using steady state fluorescence, fluorescence polarization, and fluorescence energy transfer measurements. The two proteins have different three-dimensional structures and exhibit different responses to histidine binding. Ligand-induced conformational changes were demonstrated in both J-proteins using fluorescence energy transfer (distant reporter method) between the single tryptophan residue per mole of protein and a fluorescein-labeled methionine residue. However, the conformational change of the mutant protein is qualitatively and quantitatively different from that of the wild-type protein. Moreover, the microenvironment of the tryptophan and its distance from the labeled methionine (44A for the wild type, 60A for the mutant J-protein) are different in the two proteins. In conclusion, these results indicate that the specific conformational change induced in the wild type J-protein is a necessary requirement for the transport of L-histidine.     

A case of deletion of the short arm of the chromosome 21 (21p-) (christchurch chromosome) discovered prenatally:clinical and cytogenetic data

Results of cytogenetic research of placental villi and amniotic fluid cells culture of the 22-weeks-old fetus with multiple congenital malformations (MCM) are presented. The absence of the short arm in one of the homologue of the chromosome 21 was revealed. Cytogenetic analysis of the fetus father's blood lymphocytes determined the similar chromosome. Further research of the father's karyotype made by FISH-method using specific DNA samples had discovered the absence of subtelomeric parts in the short arm of the chromosome 21 that might be considered as a deletion. It was suggested that the effect of position and interaction of genes could play a key role in appearing of MCM in the fetus in the case when the 21p-chromosome was transferred to it from the healthy parents.     

Direct intracardiac injection of umbilical cord-derived stromal cells and umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial cells for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy

The development of new therapeutic strategies is necessary to reduce the worldwide social and economic impact of cardiovascular disease, which produces high rates of morbidity and mortality. A therapeutic option that has emerged in the last decade is cell therapy. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of transplanting human umbilical cord-derived stromal cells (UCSCs), human umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial cells (UCBECs) or a combination of these two cell types for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy (IC) in a Wistar rat model. IC was induced by left coronary artery ligation, and baseline echocardiography was performed seven days later. Animals with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≤40% were selected for the study. On the ninth day after IC was induced, the animals were randomized into the following experimental groups: UCSCs, UCBECs, UCSCs plus UCBECs, or vehicle (control). Thirty days after treatment, an echocardiographic analysis was performed, followed by euthanasia. The animals in all of the cell therapy groups, regardless of the cell type transplanted, had less collagen deposition in their heart tissue and demonstrated a significant improvement in myocardial function after IC. Furthermore, there was a trend of increasing numbers of blood vessels in the infarcted area. The median value of LVEF increased by 7.19% to 11.77%, whereas the control group decreased by 0.24%. These results suggest that UCSCs and UCBECs are promising cells for cellular cardiomyoplasty and can be an effective therapy for improving cardiac function following IC.     

Most nuclear systemic autoantigens are extremely disordered proteins: implications for the etiology of systemic autoimmunity

Patients with systemic autoimmune diseases usually produce high levels of antibodies to self-antigens (autoantigens). The repertoire of common autoantigens is remarkably limited, yet no readily understandable shared thread links these apparently diverse proteins. Using computer prediction algorithms, we have found that most nuclear systemic autoantigens are predicted to contain long regions of extreme structural disorder. Such disordered regions would generally make poor B cell epitopes and are predicted to be under-represented as potential T cell epitopes. Consideration of the potential role of protein disorder may give novel insights into the possible role of molecular mimicry in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. The recognition of extreme autoantigen protein disorder has led us to an explicit model of epitope spreading that explains many of the paradoxical aspects of autoimmunity – in particular, the difficulty in identifying autoantigen-specific helper T cells that might collaborate with the B cells activated in systemic autoimmunity. The model also explains the experimentally observed breakdown of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class specificity in peptides associated with the MHC II proteins of activated autoimmune B cells, and sheds light on the selection of particular T cell epitopes in autoimmunity. Finally, the model helps to rationalize the relative rarity of clinically significant autoimmunity despite the prevalence of low specificity/low avidity autoantibodies in normal individuals.