Naturally occurring hemagglutinins in the hemolymph of the scorpionParuroctonus mesaensis Stahnke

Summary Lectins which bind sialic acid-containing receptors are present in the hemolymph of the scorpionParuroctonus mesaensis Stahnke. Glycoproteins like bovine submaxillary mucin, fetuin and human orosomucoid behave as strong inhibitors forParuroctonus lectins; desialylation of glycoproteins results in a drastic reduction of their inhibitory capabilities confirming that sialic acids are the terminal monosaccharides ofParuroctonus lectin receptors.We wish to thank Dr H. L. Stahnke, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, for taxonomic assistance. This work received fellowship support from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas de la República Argentina.     

Exploring oligodendrocyte guidance: ‘to boldly go where no cell has gone before’

Oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells of the central nervous system (CNS), originate early in the formation of the brain in specific foci, and migrate throughout the parenchyma. The instructional cues guiding the migration of these progenitor cells must be encoded into their developing environment. Soluble factors as well as membrane-bound cues most likely synergize to create a complex thoroughfare needed to sculpt and organize the brain into a functional organ with white and gray matter. Classically, the focus of many guidance related studies in the CNS has been limited to neuron physiology. However, It is becoming increasingly clear that their lifelong partners, oligodendrocytes, express both ligands and receptors able to both present and respond to these classical cues. In this short review, some recent findings in the Semaphorin and Eph fields will be presented with respect to oligodendrocyte expression and function.Received 4 November 2004; received after revision 1 December 2004; accepted 7 December 2004     

Phenotypic expression in E. coli of a DNA sequence coding for mouse dihydrofolate reductase.

The construction and analysis of bacterial plasmids that contain and phenotypically express a mammalian genetic sequence are described. Such plasmids specify a protein that has enzymatic properties, immunological reactivity and molecular size characteristic of the mouse dihydrofolate reductase, and render host cells resistant to the antimetabolic drug trimethoprim.     

Changing patterns of infectious disease

Despite a century of often successful prevention and control efforts, infectious diseases remain an important global problem in public health, causing over 13 million deaths each year. Changes in society, technology and the microorganisms themselves are contributing to the emergence of new diseases, the re-emergence of diseases once controlled, and to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Two areas of special concern in the twenty-first century are food-borne disease and antimicrobial resistance. The effective control of infectious diseases in the new millennium will require effective public health infrastructures that will rapidly recognize and respond to them and will prevent emerging problems.     

Targeted integration of baboon endogenous virus in the BEVI locus on human chromosome 6

The infection of cultured human cells with baboon endogenous virus (BEV) frequently leads to an association of viral DNA with a specific genetic locus (termed BEVI, for baboon endogenous virus infection) on chromosome 6. Restriction endonuclease digestion of DNA from BEV-infected human cells and their derived somatic cell clones frequently revealed a common cellular DNA sequence in the proximity of one of the junctions between cellular DNA and the integrated virus. We propose that a short cellular DNA sequence, repeated on chromosome 6 and separated by unique DNA sequences, presents a high-affinity target for the integration of BEV in human cells.     

鄂尔多斯盆地陇东地区三叠系延长组长7油层组致密砂岩沉积特征

陇东地区是鄂尔多斯盆地致密油的重要产区之一,砂体成因类型包括砂质碎屑流、浊流和滑塌。针对陇东地区长7油层组,利用X井长7全井段取心资料,分别开展了厘米级砂体成因解释(小尺度)、不同成因(期次)砂体组合解释(中尺度)和测井相解释(大尺度)。通过厘米级砂体成因解释,识别砂质碎屑流成因砂体366层,单层厚度以0.3 m以下居多;识别浊流成因砂体225层,单层厚度以0.1 m以下居多;识别滑塌成因砂体91层,单层厚度以0.15 m以下居多。通过不同成因(期次)砂体组合划分,识别砂质碎屑流成因砂体共106层,浊流成因砂体共37层,滑塌成因砂体共38层。通过测井相组合解释,砂质碎屑流成因砂体厚度范围是0.6~6.03 m,浊流成因砂体厚度范围是0.6~6.14 m,滑塌成因砂体厚度范围是0.46~1.26 m.从各尺度砂体类型(或组合)厚度和层数2方面综合分析,砂质碎屑流成因砂体是长7主要的的砂体类型。各类型砂体的发育规律与中期基准面有较好的响应关系,砂质碎屑流成因砂体在中期基准面上升早期和下降晚期发育程度最高,浊流成因砂体在中期基准面上升早期-下降早期发育程度较好,滑塌成因砂体在中期基准面上升早期和晚期较发育。     

Dissection of the protein kinase cascade by which nerve growth factor activates MAP kinases.

Mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinases (MAPKs) are a family of protein-serine/threonine kinases activated as an early intracellular response to a variety of hormones and growth factors. They are unique in requiring both serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation to become active and are the only examples of protein-serine/threonine kinases activated by tyrosine phosphorylation. Nerve growth factor (NGF) promotes differentiation of phaeochromocytoma (PC12) cells, which respond by conversion within hours from a chromaffin-like to a sympathetic neuron-like phenotype. NGF stimulation of PC12 cells increases the activity of two protein kinases by greater than 20-fold within minutes, both strikingly similar to MAPKs. They are inactivated by either protein-tyrosine phosphatases or the protein-serine/threonine phosphatase termed protein phosphatase 2A (ref. 8), they activate protein S6 kinase-II (refs 9, 10), and they phosphorylate identical threonine residues on myelin basic protein (our unpublished results) to those phosphorylated by other MAPKs. Immunological data indicate that these protein kinases, termed peak-I and peak-II (Fig. 1a) are probably ERK2 and ERK1, respectively, two widely expressed MAPK isoforms. Here we identify the 'MAP kinase kinases' (MAPKKs) in PC12 cells which are activated by NGF and report that MAPKKs are dependent on serine/threonine phosphorylation for activity and promote phosphorylation of serine/threonine and tyrosine residues on MAPKs.