Relationships Between Structure and Activity in the α-Amylase Family of Starch-metabolising Enzymes

α-Amylases are known to be multidomain proteins, i.e., the molecules consist of several folding units. Each α-amylase is believed, however, to have a catalytic domain consisting, of a barrel of eight parallel α-strands surrounded by eight α-strands. with an extra helix inserted after the sixth γ-strands. The α-strands and helices alternate along the polypeptide chain and are linked together by irregular loops. Amino acid residues situated on the loops joining the C-terminal end of each α-strand to the N-terminal end of the following helix make up the active site of the enzymes. A similar structure has been found in cyclodextrin glucanotransfcrases and it is now believed that such a (α/α)8-barrel also constitutes the catalytic domain of enzymes active on α-1.6-glucosidic bonds, and of enzymes with dual specificity for both α-1.4- and α-1.6- bonds. Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of α-amylases and cyclodextrin glucanotransferase has made possible identification of structural features important for enzymic activity and specificity. By analogy, some general conclusions are reached concerning pullulanase, isoamylase. oligo-1,6-glucosidase, neopullulanase and branching enzymes.     

Environmentally Smart Design: Designing for Social Wellbeing Across the City and in the Workplace

Sustainable need not mean more expensive. Health problems caused by sedentary lifestyles, pollution and injuries from road accidents come at great financial cost — not just for individuals, but also for employers and indeed national governments. Built environments designed to keep people active and away from harm are thus economically beneficial, too. Alisdair McGregor, Ann Marie Aguilar and Victoria Lockhart of Arup cite some of the company's recent schemes in New York and London that have successfully encouraged cycling, strolling and other healthy behaviours, while also avoiding contributing to climate change.     

Narrating emotional events in schizophrenia.

Research has indicated that schizophrenia patients report similar amounts of experienced emotion in response to emotional material compared with nonpatients. However, less is known about how schizophrenia patients describe and make sense of their emotional life events. We adopted a narrative approach to investigate schizophrenia patients' renderings of their emotional life experiences. In Study 1, patients' (n = 42) positive and negative narratives were similarly personal, tellable, engaged, and appropriate. However, negative narratives were less grammatically clear than positive narratives, and positive narratives were more likely to involve other people than negative narratives. In Study 2, emotional (positive and negative) narratives were less tellable and detached, yet more linear and social compared with neutral narratives for both schizophrenia patients (n = 24) and healthy controls (n = 19). However, patients' narratives about emotional life events were less appropriate to context and less linear, and patients' narratives, whether emotional or not, were less tellable and more detached compared with controls' narratives. Although schizophrenia patients are capable of recounting life events that trigger different emotions, the telling of these life events is fraught with difficulty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preliminary Evidence Supporting the Ability of Hermatypic Corals to Affect Adversely Larvae and Early Settlement Stages of Hard Coral Competitors

Crude, aqueous extracts of five species of hermatypic coral from three scleractinian families were assayed for bioactivity against the early life stages of scleractinian corals. At concentrations between 62.5 and 250 μg/ml, extracts of all species were lethal to at least three of the five species of coral planulae larvae tested. To test for behavioral changes, extracts from four species were tested on planulae of the scleractinian Pocillopora damicornis. All four caused immediate but reversible behavioral aberrations in the larvae at concentrations as low as 7.8 μg/ml. To determine the effects on newly settled corals, postmetamorphosis juveniles (spat) of P. damicornis were exposed to extracts from four hermatypic species. They were either killed or suffered a reduction in growth rates. If released under natural conditions, substances with lethal or sublethal activities against the early life stages of other scleractinians could allow hermatypic corals to influence patterns of scleractinian recruitment, thus playing a role in ordering coral communities.     

High-Resolution Chromosome Ideogram Representation of Currently Recognized Genes for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Recently, autism-related research has focused on the identification of various genes and disturbed pathways causing the genetically heterogeneous group of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The list of autism-related genes has significantly increased due to better awareness with advances in genetic technology and expanding searchable genomic databases. We compiled a master list of known and clinically relevant autism spectrum disorder genes identified with supporting evidence from peer-reviewed medical literature sources by searching key words related to autism and genetics and from authoritative autism-related public access websites, such as the Simons Foundation Autism Research Institute autism genomic database dedicated to gene discovery and characterization. Our list consists of 792 genes arranged in alphabetical order in tabular form with gene symbols placed on high-resolution human chromosome ideograms, thereby enabling clinical and laboratory geneticists and genetic counsellors to access convenient visual images of the location and distribution of ASD genes. Meaningful correlations of the observed phenotype in patients with suspected/confirmed ASD gene(s) at the chromosome region or breakpoint band site can be made to inform diagnosis and gene-based personalized care and provide genetic counselling for families.     

Reduced secretion of triacylglycerol in CaCo-2 cells transfected with intestinal fatty acid-binding protein

The fatty acid-binding proteins are hypothesized to be involved in cellular fatty acid transport and trafficking. We established CaCo-2 cells stably transfected with intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) and examined how the expression of this protein may influence fatty acid metabolism. I-FABP expression was detectable in I-FABP-transfected cells, whereas parent CaCo-2 cells as well as mock-transfected cells failed to express detectable levels of I-FABP mRNA or protein at any stage of differentiation. For studies of lipid metabolism, cells were incubated with [¹⁴C]oleic acid in taurocholate micelles containing monoolein, and distribution of labeled fatty acid in cellular and secreted lipids was examined. In one transfected cell clone, expressing the highest level of I-FABP, labeled cellular triacylglycerol increased approximately twofold as compared to control cells. The level of intracellular triacylglycerol in two other I-FABP-transfected clones resembled that of control cells. However, secretion of triacylglycerol was markedly reduced in all the I-FABP-expressing cell lines. Our data suggest that increased expression of I-FABP leads to reduced triacylglycerol secretion in intestinal cells.