Reproducibility of in vivo carotid intima-media thickness measurements: a review

The gyrA gene of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus, which encodes the A subunit of DNA gyrase, was cloned, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. An open reading frame of 2,586 nucleotides which encodes a polypeptide of 862 amino acids with an Mr of 96,782 was identified. C. fetus subsp. fetus GyrA is most closely related to Campylobacter jejuni GyrA, with 73% homology at the nucleotide level and 78% identity between polypeptides. The next most closely related GyrA was that from Helicobacter pylori, with both DNA homology and amino acid identity of 63%. The gyrA and gyrB (DNA gyrase B subunit) genes were located on the genomic map of C. fetus subsp. fetus ATCC 27374 and shown to be separate. A clinical isolate of C. fetus subsp. fetus and a laboratory-derived mutant of ATCC 27374, both resistant to ciprofloxacin, had identical mutations within the quinolone resistance determining region. In both mutants a G-->T transversion, corresponding to a substitution of Asp-91 to Tyr in GyrA, was linked to ciprofloxacin resistance, giving MICs of 8 to 16 micrograms/ml.     

Sex differences in ethanol-induced dopamine release in nucleus accumbens and in ethanol consumption in rats

In vivo microdialysis was used to examine changes in nucleus accumbens and striatal dopamine, dihydrophenylacetic acid (DOPAC), and homovanillic acid (HVA) following acute administration of ethanol (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 g/kg) in male and female Long-Evans rats. Following dialysis, rats were trained to bar-press for oral ethanol reinforcement. In nucleus accumbens, females showed significant increases in extracellular dopamine following 0.25 or 0.5 g/kg ethanol, but did not show significant increases over baseline at the higher doses. Males showed slight increases in dopamine at the lower doses and decreased dopamine at 2.0 g/kg. In striatum, both sexes showed increased dopamine at the lower doses and decreased dopamine at 2.0 g/kg. There were slight increases in nucleus accumbens DOPAC and HVA at some doses in both sexes, but no changes in striatal metabolite levels. In addition to showing increased responsiveness to ethanol-induced mesolimbic dopamine stimulation, females consumed more ethanol than males during behavioral testing. The pattern of both greater ethanol-induced nucleus accumbens dopamine release and greater ethanol consumption in females supports the hypothesis that ethanol reward is mediated, at least in part, by the mesolimbic dopamine system.     

Topology of Euglena chloroplast protein precursors within endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi to chloroplast transport vesicles

Euglena chloroplast protein precursors are transported as integral membrane proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus prior to chloroplast localization. All Euglena chloroplast protein precursors have functionally similar bipartite presequences composed of an N-terminal signal peptide domain and a stromal targeting domain containing a hydrophobic region approximately 60 amino acids from the predicted signal peptidase cleavage site. Asparagine-linked glycosylation reporters and presequence deletion constructs of the precursor to the Euglena light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein of photosystem II (pLHCPII) were used to identify presequence regions translocated into the ER lumen and stop transfer membrane anchor domains. An asparagine-linked glycosylation site present at amino acid 148 of pLHCPII near the N terminus of mature LHCPII was not glycosylated in vitro by canine microsomes while an asparagine-linked glycosylation site inserted at amino acid 40 was. The asparagine at amino acid 148 was glycosylated upon deletion of amino acids 46-146, which contain the stromal targeting domain, indicating that the hydrophobic region within this domain functions as a stop transfer membrane anchor sequence. Protease protection assays indicated that for all constructs, mature LHCPII was not translocated across the microsomal membrane. Taken together with the structural similarity of all Euglena presequences, these results demonstrate that chloroplast precursors are anchored within ER and Golgi transport vesicles by the stromal targeting domain hydrophobic region oriented with the presequence N terminus formed by signal peptidase cleavage in the vesicle lumen and the mature protein in the cytoplasm.     

The effect of exercise and rehabilitation on anterior-posterior knee displacements after anterior cruciate ligament autograft reconstruction

We studied the effect of rehabilitation strength training and return to activities on anterior-posterior knee displacements after patellar tendon autogenous anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. A total of 938 measurements were sequentially collected for 142 patients with the KT-2000 arthrometer. Rehabilitation included immediate knee motion and early weightbearing, light sports at 6 months, and competitive sports at 8 months or later. At a minimum of 2 years after surgery, 121 patients (85%) had normal displacements (less than 3 mm of increase at 134 N), 14 (10%) had 3 to 5.5 mm of increase (partial function), and 7 (5%) had more than 5.5 mm of increase (failed). There was no association found between the initial onset of the abnormal displacements in the 21 knees and either the amount of time after surgery or the rehabilitation program. Six of the seven grafts that failed did so in the 1st postoperative year. Serial displacement measurements allow early detection of graft stretching and subsequent modification of rehabilitation or delay in return to strenuous activities. These measurements showed that the rehabilitation program used in this study was not itself injurious and resulted in an acceptable failure rate of 5%.     

Effects of the E177K mutation in D-amino acid transaminase. Studies on an essential coenzyme anchoring group that contributes to stereochemical fidelity

D-Amino acid transaminase is a bacterial enzyme that uses pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) as a cofactor to catalyze the conversion of D-amino acids into their corresponding alpha-keto acids. This enzyme has already been established as a target for novel antibacterial agents through suicide inactivation by a number of compounds. To improve their potency and specificity, the detailed enzyme mechanism, especially the role of its PLP cofactor, is under investigation. Many PLP-dependent transaminases have a negatively charged amino acid residue forming a salt-bridge with the pyridine nitrogen of its cofactor that promotes its protonation to stabilize the formation of a ketimine intermediate, which is subsequently hydrolyzed in the normal transaminase reaction pathway. However, alanine racemase has a positively charged arginine held rigidly in place by an extensive hydrogen bond network that may destabilize the ketimine intermediate, and make it too short-lived for a transaminase type of hydrolysis to occur. To test this hypothesis, we changed Glu-177 into a titratable, positively charged lysine (E177K). The crystal structure of this mutant shows that the positive charge of the newly introduced lysine side chain points away from the nitrogen of the cofactor, which may be due to electrostatic repulsions not being overcome by a hydrogen bond network such as found in alanine racemase. This mutation makes the active site more accessible, as exemplified by both biochemical and crystallographic data: CD measurements indicated a change in the microenvironment of the protein, some SH groups become more easily titratable, and at pH 9.0 the PMP peak appeared around 315 nm rather than at 330 nm. The ability of this mutant to convert L-alanine into D-alanine increased about 10-fold compared to wild-type and to about the same extent as found with other active site mutants. On the other hand, the specific activity of the E177K mutant decreased more than 1000-fold compared to wild-type. Furthermore, titration with L-alanine resulted in the appearance of an enzyme-substrate quinonoid intermediate absorbing around 500 nm, which is not observed with usual substrates or with the wild-type enzyme in the presence of L-alanine. The results overall indicate the importance of charged amino acid side chains relative to the coenzyme to maintain high catalytic efficiency.     

cDNA fingerprinting of osteoprogenitor cells to isolate differentiation stage-specific genes

A cDNA fingerprinting strategy was developed to identify genes based on their differential expression pattern during osteoblast development. Preliminary biological and molecular staging of cDNA pools prepared by global amplification PCR allowed discrim-inating choices to be made in selection of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) to be isolated. Sequencing of selected ESTs confirmed that both known and novel genes can be isolated from any developmental stage of interest, e.g. from primitive progenitors, intermediate precursors or mature osteoblasts. EST expression provides insight into possible interrelated physiological functions and putative interacting molecules during differentiation. This method offers a functional genomics approach to isolate differentiation stage-specific genes in samples as small as a single cell.     

Tooth stabilization for orthodontic retention

This article reviews stability and retention of the orthodontically treated dentition. Factors and conditions that influence post-treatment stability are discussed. Methods for stabilizing and retaining the occlusion are reviewed.