Antimicrobial activity in the skin of the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus: characterization of broad-spectrum histone-like antimicrobial proteins

BACKGROUND: A major reduction in the energy demand of the myocardium results from the electromechanical arrest, and cooling contributes to a lesser degree to this reduction. It is from this assumption that strategies of myocardial protection, utilizing warm blood cardioplegic induction, followed by cold cardioplegia with terminal warm reperfusion before removal of the aortic cross clamp, became established as optimal myocardial protection. Continuous normothermic perfusion 'closed the loop' by avoiding myocardial ischemia and linking warm induction and terminal reperfusion. A series of laboratory and clinical data confirmed the benefits of warm heart surgery on myocardial function and metabolism. The disadvantages of continuous warm blood cardioplegia including disturbance of the operative field, led surgeons to administer warm hyperkalaemic blood intermittently as a new cardioplegic strategy. METHODS: This review examines the laboratory and clinical data with reference to the intermittent warm blood cardioplegia, to establish its experimental basis and place in clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Experimental observation and clinical application have established intermittent warm blood cardioplegia as a practical, effective and cheap myocardial protection technique, particularly with reference to coronary artery surgery.     

Risk factors for cognitive impairment in epilepsy.

The literature suggests that seizure disorders are associated with an increased likelihood of intellectual problems, prompting researchers to investigate risk factors of cognitive impairment in epileptic patients. This study examined the contribution of certain variables (age of seizure onset, duration, etiology, seizure location and laterality, sex, handedness, and cerebral speech pattern) to cognitive outcome in patients with medically refractory seizures. Seizure location (temporal or extratemporal), age of onset of seizures, and handedness proved to be the best indicators of general intellectual ability. There was a relatively diverse pattern of relationships when neuropsychological tests of language, visuospatial ability, and memory were considered individually. However, a factor analytic approach revealed a simpler pattern in which location of dysfunction, age at seizure onset, hand preference, cerebral speech dominance, and gender were relevant and independent indicators of verbal and nonverbal ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determination of 6s-trans conformation of retinal chromophore in sensory rhodopsin I and phoborhodopsin

8,16-Ethanoretinal 3 was synthesized from 2-methylcyclohexanone. From the binding experiments of 3 and 8,18-ethanoretinal 2 with apoproteins of sensory rhodopsin I and phoborhodopsin, it was found that retinal was incorporated as 6s-trans conformation in the both proteins.     

Therapeutic effects of prostacyclin analog on crescentic glomerulonephritis of rat

Prostacyclin (PGI2) is known to have a relaxative action on vascular smooth muscle, an inhibitory action against platelet activation and neutrophil function. Previous studies showed the preventive effects of PGI2 on lupus nephritis and Thy-1 nephritis, although the mechanism has not been clarified. Glomerular endothelial expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is up-regulated in experimental and human glomerular diseases, and is known to facilitate leukocyte infiltration into the glomeruli, which ultimately induces the various glomerular injuries. In the present study, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of PGI2 on a rat model for crescentic glomerulonephritis and investigated its putative mechanism in relation to ICAM-1-mediated leukocyte recruitment. Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were injected with nephrotoxic serum and received continuous intraperitoneal infusion of PGI2. PGI2 dramatically decreased proteinuria (123.0 +/- 18.8 vs. 31.6 +/- 4.5), crescent formation and deposition of fibrinogen in the glomeruli, while the deposition of rabbit IgG, rat IgG and rat C3 along the capillary walls was not changed. Furthermore, intraglomerular expression of ICAM-1 and infiltration of macrophages were significantly suppressed by administration with PGI2. In contrast, influx of CD4 or CD8 positive cells was not altered. The present results suggest that PGI2 shows the preventive effects on experimental crescentic glomerulonephritis by inhibiting intraglomerular coagulation and ICAM-1-mediated macrophage-glomerular endothelial cell adhesive pathway.     

Evolutionary history of free-swimming and sessile lifestyles in urochordates as deduced from 18S rDNA molecular phylogeny

Whether the ancestral chordates were free-swimming or sessile is a longstanding question that remains to be settled. Vertebrates and amphioxi are free-swimming, but the most basal chordate subphylum (the urochordates) includes both sessile and free-swimming species. Here, 1 report molecular phylogenetic analyses of 18S rDNA of urochordates to deduce which lifestyle is ancestral. This revealed a close relationship between salps and doliolids and paraphyly of the ascidians. An early divergence of larvaceans, which show a tadpole-like body plan throughout life, is also supported by the analyses. Based on this phylogeny, a free-swimming ancestor for chordates is more parsimonious than a sessile ancestor. The evolutionary history of various lifestyles of chordates from this ancestral form is proposed.     

A subcloned human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line with low thrombomodulin expression showed increased invasiveness compared with a high thrombomodulin-expressing clone--thrombomodulin as a possible candidate for an adhesion molecule of squamous cell carcinoma

Inside-out vesicles of plasma membranes prepared from a plant source were used as models to investigate effects of centrifugal forces on separations of early and late endosome populations by aqueous two-phase partition. Endosome subpopulations were resolved readily by preparative free-flow electrophoresis where acidification of the interiors of late endosomes occurred upon addition of ATP to activate a proton translocating ATPase. The resultant increased diffusion potential provided for a surface difference between late and early endosomes to permit electrophoretic separation. With the plant membranes, unincubated inside-out plasma membrane vesicles modeled early endosomes, whereas inside-out vesicles incubated with 1 mM ATP modeled late endosomes. A latent, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)-(auxin)-stimulated NADH:protein disulfide reductase measured spectrophotometrically was used as an enzymatic marker for both populations of inside-out vesicles. Phase partition behavior of each population was quantitated using total protein as the parameter.     

An AlGaAs/GaAs short-cavity laser and its monolithic integration using microcleaved facets (MCF) process

This paper describes the microcleaved facets (MCF) process developed for AlGaAs/GaAs laser fabrication which can avoid the previous substrate cleavage and therefore be applicable to preparing both discrete short-cavity lasers and optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC's). An AlGaAs/GaAs double heterostructure ridge-waveguide laser with an extremely short cavity length, namely 20 μm, was first realized by this process. A threshold current as low as 20 mA and a single longitudinal mode lasing were achieved. The usefulness of this process for integrating a laser and a monitoring photodiode on a GaAs substrate is also demonstrated.     

Specific isoprenyl group linked to transducin gamma-subunit is a determinant of its unique signaling properties among G-proteins

Among 11 subtypes of heterotrimeric G-protein gamma-subunit, gamma1 (rod), gamma8 (cone) and gamma11 are modified with farnesyl while the others are modified with geranylgeranyl at the C-terminus. To understand the role of specific isoprenylation (farnesylation) of retinal transducin, we examined how and to what extent the type of isoprenyl group affects transducin-beta gamma (beta1 gamma1) functions such as interactions with membranes, Galpha/receptor, and effectors. To this end, the C-terminal farnesylation signal sequence (CVIS) of gamma1 was replaced by a geranylgeranylation signal (CVIL), and the resultant mutant (S74L) or wild-type (WT) gamma1 was coexpressed with beta1 in the baculovirus-Tn5 insect cell system. Both gamma1WT and gamma1S74L expressed as a beta gamma complex were mixtures modified with farnesyl and geranylgeranyl groups. The ratio of farnesyl to geranylgeranyl in preparations of beta1 gamma1WT and beta1 gamma1S74L purified from the Tn5 cell membrane fraction was about 1:2 and 1:6, respectively. These two forms of recombinant beta1 gamma1 and retinal beta1 gamma1 were different in their abilities to associate with rod outer segment membranes with the following rank order: beta1 gamma1S74L > beta1 gamma1WT > retinal beta1 gamma1. Functionally, beta1 gamma1S74L was the most potent to promote pertussis toxin-catalyzed ADP ribosylation of transducin-alpha (Talpha), to stimulate metarhodopsin II-catalyzed GTPgammaS-binding reaction to Talpha and to modulate adenylyl cyclase and phospholipase C activities. All of the beta1 gamma1 functions absolutely required the isoprenylation of the gamma-subunit. As for the interaction with Goalpha and adenylyl cyclase, predominantly geranylgeranylated beta1 gamma1S74L was less effective than geranylgeranylated beta1 gamma2 purified from bovine brain. These results demonstrate that the properties of Gbeta gamma are strongly affected by the type of functionally indispensable isoprenylation in addition to the amino acid sequence of Ggamma. The relative contribution of the two factors depends on proteins with which Gbeta gamma interacts.