Physiological state of submitochondrial particles and their susceptibility to Triton X-100

Summary The solubilizing effect of Triton X-100 on beef heart submitochondrial particles (ETP_H) has been studied under various physiological conditions. Coupled, uncoupled and azide-inhibited ETP_H particles have been studied. Quantitative and qualitative differences are found in the proteins solubilized by the detergent from ETP_H particles under the various conditions tested.Acknowledgments: This work was supported in part by a grant from a Spanish Comisión Asesora para la Investigación Cientifica y Técnica. M.C. Barbero was recipient of a scholarship from the Basque Government.     

Physiological state of submitochondrial particles and their susceptibility to Triton X-100

The solubilizing effect of Triton X-100 on beef heart submitochondrial particles (ETPH) has been studied under various physiological conditions. Coupled, uncoupled and azide-inhibited ETPH particles have been studied. Quantitative and qualitative differences are found in the proteins solubilized by the detergent from ETPH particles under the various conditions tested.     

菜青虫(Pieris rapae)感染苏云金杆菌晶体毒素后中肠上皮细胞的免疫酶标电镜观察

用双相法提纯青虫菌(Bacillus thuringiensis var.galleriae)的晶体,碱解后免疫家兔获晶体蛋白抗体,然后用纯化的晶体感染莱青虫,半小时至1小时取中肠上皮细胞作酶标电镜观察,结果表明仅在细胞膜上看到抗原的存在。     

鲫鱼后鳃体对大白鼠血钙水平的影响

用钙离子选择电极和分光光度法研究了鲫鱼后鳃体对大白鼠血钙的影响。注射鲫鱼后鳃体匀浆2小时后引起大白鼠血钙显著降低,证明鲫鱼后鳃体对哺乳动物有降钙作用。实验表明,鲫鱼后鳃体引起的这种降钙效应,完全是离子化钙的降低。     

Large-scale genome-wide association studies in East Asians identify new genetic loci influencing metabolic traits

To identify the genetic bases for nine metabolic traits, we conducted a meta-analysis combining Korean genome-wide association results from the KARE project (n = 8,842) and the HEXA shared control study (n = 3,703). We verified the associations of the loci selected from the discovery meta-analysis in the replication stage (30,395 individuals from the BioBank Japan genome-wide association study and individuals comprising the Health2 and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Diabetes cohorts). We identified ten genome-wide significant signals newly associated with traits from an overall meta-analysis. The most compelling associations involved 12q24.11 (near MYL2) and 12q24.13 (in C12orf51) for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 2p21 (near SIX2-SIX3) for fasting plasma glucose, 19q13.33 (in RPS11) and 6q22.33 (in RSPO3) for renal traits, and 12q24.11 (near MYL2), 12q24.13 (in C12orf51 and near OAS1), 4q31.22 (in ZNF827) and 7q11.23 (near TBL2-BCL7B) for hepatic traits. These findings highlight previously unknown biological pathways for metabolic traits investigated in this study.     

Investigation of newly developed added damping and stiffness device with low yield strength steel

Energy dissipators, isolated-resistant and specific structural forms for earthquake resistance are popular topics in the research to improve shock-resistance. In this work, experimental methods were used to investigate the property of low yield strength steel. Carbon content in LYS material is lower than that in other steels; the ultimate stress is three times the yield stress. The ultimate elongation rate is about 62% and the ductility is 2-3 times that of A36 steel. In order to overcome some defects of ordinary use metallic dampers, the mechanical characteristic of low yield strength steel is used to develop added damping and stiffness for rhombic steel plate absorber. Test of the energy dissipation behavior for this newly developed device indicated that LYS could stably dissipate or absorb the input energy of earthquake. Then, the analytical model for the hysteretic behavior of this new device is proposed. Comparison of experimental data and numerical simulation results showed that this analytical model is suitable for simulating the hysteretic energy behavior of this new device.     

Controlled multiple quantum coherences of nuclear spins in a nanometre-scale device

The analytical technique of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is based on coherent quantum mechanical superposition of nuclear spin states. Recently, NMR has received considerable renewed interest in the context of quantum computation and information processing, which require controlled coherent qubit operations. However, standard NMR is not suitable for the implementation of realistic scalable devices, which would require all-electrical control and the means to detect microscopic quantities of coherent nuclear spins. Here we present a self-contained NMR semiconductor device that can control nuclear spins in a nanometre-scale region. Our approach enables the direct detection of (otherwise invisible) multiple quantum coherences between levels separated by more than one quantum of spin angular momentum. This microscopic high sensitivity NMR technique is especially suitable for probing materials whose nuclei contain multiple spin levels, and may form the basis of a versatile multiple qubit device.     

Meta-analysis identifies multiple loci associated with kidney function-related traits in east Asian populations

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), impairment of kidney function, is a serious public health problem, and the assessment of genetic factors influencing kidney function has substantial clinical relevance. Here, we report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for kidney function-related traits, including 71,149 east Asian individuals from 18 studies in 11 population-, hospital- or family-based cohorts, conducted as part of the Asian Genetic Epidemiology Network (AGEN). Our meta-analysis identified 17 loci newly associated with kidney function-related traits, including the concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, uric acid and serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate based on serum creatinine levels (eGFRcrea) (P < 5.0 × 10(-8)). We further examined these loci with in silico replication in individuals of European ancestry from the KidneyGen, CKDGen and GUGC consortia, including a combined total of ～110,347 individuals. We identify pleiotropic associations among these loci with kidney function-related traits and risk of CKD. These findings provide new insights into the genetics of kidney function.     

Sulfatide-tenascin interaction mediates binding to the extracellular matrix and endocytic uptake of liposomes in glioma cells

Tenascin-C is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, whose expression is highly restricted in normal adult tissues, but markedly up-regulated in a range of tumors, and therefore serves as a potential receptor for targeted anticancer drug or gene delivery. We describe here a liposomal carrier system in which the targeting ligand is sulfatide. Experiments with tenascin-C-expressing glioma cells demonstrated that binding of liposomes to the extracellular matrix relied essentially on the sulfatide-tenascin-C interaction. Following binding to the extracellular matrix, the sulfatide-containing liposomes were internalized via both caveolae/lipid raft- and clathrin-dependent pathways, which would ensure direct cytoplasmic release of the cargoes carried in the liposomes. Such natural lipid-guided intracellular delivery targeting at the extracellular matrix glycoproteins of tumor cells thus opens a new direction for development of more effective anticancer chemotherapeutics in future. K. Shao & Q. Hou: These authors contributed equally to this work. Received 22 September 2006; received after revision 5 December 2006; accepted 9 January 2007