Resolution of synthetic att-site Holliday structures by the integrase protein of bacteriophage lambda

Site-specific recombination of the bacteriophage lambda genome into and out of the host bacterial genome is postulated to involve the formation of Holliday structure intermediates by reciprocal single-strand exchanges. Synthetic analogues of the predicted recombination intermediates are resolved in vitro by the protein product of the lambda int gene. Some of the structural features and reaction conditions for this genetic recombination can now be defined.     

Leukocyte accumulation promoting fibrin deposition is mediated in vivo by P-selectin on adherent platelets.

The glycoprotein P-selectin is a cell adhesion molecule of stimulated platelets and endothelial cells, which mediates the interaction of these cells with neutrophils and monocytes. It is a membrane component of cell storage granules, and is a member of the selectin family which includes E-selectin and L-selectin. P-selectin recognizes both lineage-specific carbohydrate ligands on monocytes and neutrophils, including the Lewis x antigen, sialic acid, and a protein component. In inflammation and thrombosis, P-selectin may mediate the interaction of leukocytes with platelets bound in the region of tissue injury and with stimulated endothelium. To evaluate the role of P-selectin in platelet-leukocyte adhesion in vivo, the accumulation of leukocytes within an experimental thrombus was explored in an arteriovenous shunt model in baboons. A Dacron graft implanted within an arteriovenous shunt is thrombogenic, accumulating platelets and fibrin within its lumen. These bound platelets express P-selectin. Here we show that antibody inhibition of leukocyte binding to P-selectin expressed on platelets immobilized on the graft blocks leukocyte accumulation and inhibits the deposition of fibrin within the thrombus. These results indicate that P-selectin is an important adhesion molecule on platelets, mediating platelet-leukocyte binding in vivo, that the presence of leukocytes in thrombi is mediated by P-selectin, and that these leukocytes promote fibrin deposition.     

Response of murine spermatocytes to the metaphase-arresting effect of several mitotic arrestants

Summary Three mitotic arrestants, colchicine, Colcemid and vinblastine, were evaluated for their effects on producing meiotic arrest in the laboratory mouse. Colchicine is the most effective and its effect is both dose- and time-dependent. Treatment of mice with 40 mg/kg of colchicine for 3 h resulted in drastic improvement of the yield and quality of M-II figures. This treatment did not appear to increase the aneuploidy frequency in M-II's.Supported in part by research grant R-808582 from the US Environmental Protection Agency and research grant RR5511-21 from the National Institute of Health.     

Mutational hotspot in the p53 gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas.

Human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) from patients in Qidong, an area of high incidence in China, in which both hepatitis B virus and aflatoxin B1 are risk factors, were analysed for mutations in p53, a putative tumour-suppressor gene. Eight of the 16 HCC had a point mutation at the third base position of codon 249. The G----T transversion in seven HCC DNA samples and the G----C transversion in the other HCC are consistent with mutations caused by aflatoxin B1 in mutagenesis experiments. No mutations were found in exons 5,6,8 or the remainder of exon 7. These results contrast with p53 mutations previously reported in carcinomas and sarcomas of human lung, colon, oesophagus and breast; these are primarily scattered over four of the five evolutionarily conserved domains, which include codon 249 (refs 4-9). We suggest that the mutant p53 protein may be responsible for a selective clonal expansion of hepatocytes during carcinogenesis.     

材料的相变研究及其应用

Fe-C和Fe-X-C合金马氏体相变热力学的研究成果使结构钢的Ms温度能以热力学预测。建立了铜基合金及Fe-Mn-Si基合金马氏体相变热力学,为铜基和铁基形状记忆合金的成分和工艺设计提供基础。提出了含ZrO2陶瓷Ms温度的热力学计算方法,以及其母相晶粒大小影响Ms的正确表达式,对陶瓷的生产和工业应用都具有意义。修正马氏体变温相变动力学方程,显示低碳钢中影响碳扩散系数的合金元素影响残余奥氏体量,这有利于低碳马氏体组织钢的开发。GCr15轴承钢中残余奥氏体→马氏体的等温动力学研究显示：钢经淬火后,再进行等温处理以形成很少量的等温马氏体,再作回火,提高钢件的尺寸稳定性（经1000d后与淬火-回火比较,在接触疲劳寿命并不降低的条件下（达34%。研究了Ni-Ti、Cu-Zn-Al、Fe-Mn-Si基合金及ZrO2陶瓷的马氏体相变及其逆相变特征,揭示了影响这些材料形状记忆效应（SME）的一些因素,并指出了改善SME的途径,有利于这些材料的开发应用。贝氏体相变的热力学研究,观察到生长台阶,母相强化对相变影响的研究以及内耗测量结果,均显示贝氏体相变属扩散型机制。Cu-Zn-Al中加入阻碍Zn和Al扩散的合金元素可能提高形状记忆使用寿命。揭示CeO2-ZrO2中存在贝氏体相变,并与其出现脆性有关。Cu-Zn中β相有序化研究对有序化合金的应用具有实际意义。三元合金spinodal分解判据的建立,对借spinodal分解呈现高阻尼或高强度合金的开发颇具价值。由群论导出呈现晶体学可逆性的条件为形成单变体马氏体。应用孤立子于相变的形核-长大模型初见成效。     

Multipartite matroids and secret sharing

In a secret-sharing scheme, a secret value is distributed among a set of participants by giving each participant a share. The re-quirement is that only predefined subsets of participants can recover the secret from their shares. The family of the predefined authorized subsets is called the access structure. An access structure is ideal if there exists a secret-sharing scheme realizing it in which the shares have optimal length, that is, in which the shares are taken from the same domain as the secrets. Brickell and Davenport proved that ideal access structures are induced by matroids. Subsequently, ideal access structures and access structures induced by matroids have received a lot of attention. Seymour gave the first example of an access structure induced by a matroid namely the Vamos matroid, that is non-ideal. Since every matroid is multipartite and has the associated discrete polymatroid, in this paper, by dealing with the rank functions of discrete polymatroids, we obtain a sufficient condition for a multipartite access structure to be ideal. Furthermore, we give a new proof that all access structures related to bipartite and tripartite matroids coincide with the ideal ones. Our results give new contributions to the open problem, that is, which matroids induce ideal access structures.     

Advanced materials for aqueous supercapacitors in the asymmetric design

Supercapacitors have been recognized as one of the promising energy storage devices in the future energy technology. In this perspective, rapid progress is made in the development of fundamental and applied aspects of supercapacitors. Various techniques have been developed specifically to estimate the specific capacitance. Numerous efforts have been made in the literature to increase the specific capacitance of electrode materials. Recently, researchers pay more attention on designing supercapacitors of asymmetric type with extending cell voltage and dissimilar materials with complementary working potentials. Researchers try to increase the specific energy of asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs). Conversely, it is still a challenge to find a suitable operation conditions for ASCs in various designs, especially for the one with battery type electrode. In this review, we describe our recent research works and other reports on the preparation of various nanostructured electrode materials and the performances of both symmetric and asymmetric supercapacitors. Finally, we demonstrate effects of charge balance on the capacitive performances of ASCs which consist of one electrode material of the battery type and one capacitive material. We also demonstrate how to evaluate the charge capacities of both positive and negative electrode materials for this ASC application.     

Pregnenolone stabilizes microtubules and promotes zebrafish embryonic cell movement

Embryonic cell movement is essential for morphogenesis and the establishment of body shapes, but little is known about its mechanism. Here we report that pregnenolone, which is produced from cholesterol by the steroidogenic enzyme Cyp11a1 (cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme, P450scc), functions in promoting cell migration during epiboly. Epiboly is a process in which embryonic cells spread from the animal pole to cover the underlying yolk. During epiboly, cyp11a1 is expressed in an extra-embryonic yolk syncytial layer. Reducing cyp11a1 expression in zebrafish using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides did not perturb cell fates, but caused epibolic delay. This epibolic defect was partially rescued by the injection of cyp11a1 RNA or the supplementation of pregnenolone. We show that the epibolic delay is accompanied by a decrease in the level of polymerized microtubules, and that pregnenolone can rescue this microtubule defect. Our results indicate that pregnenolone preserves microtubule abundance and promotes cell movement during epiboly.