Activation of complement by trypanosomes

Summary Factors exhibiting anti-complementary activity released from trypanosomes after incubation at 20°C were described. The active material was shown to consume the first component of bovine complement. While the anticomplementary factor(s) from T. lewisi could activate bovine, human and guinea pig complement, the factor(s) from T. congolense was observed to activate bovine complement, but not guinea pig and only slightly human complement. The roles of complement activating factor(s) of trypanosomes in the pathology of the disease are discussed.This project is supported by National Research Council of Canada grant A 0068 and a grant from the International Development Research Centre.     

The exudative diathesis produced by torula yeast

Zusammenfassung Die exsudative Diathese, welche bei Küken durch Verfütterung einer Vitamin-E-freien Nahrung mit Torulahefe als Proteinquelle hervorgerufen wird, wird mit dem nicht unbeträchtlichen Gehalt dieser Hefe an leicht oxydierbaren Fettsäuren in Verbindung gesetzt.Die Vitamin-E-freie Torula-Hefe-Nahrung führt zu Peroxydation des Körperfettes, wie es früher in entsprechenden Versuchen mit Kasein-Lebertran-Nahrungen gefunden wurde.Die von amerikanischen Forschern gefundene Schutzwirkung von Selen gegen exsudative Diathese wird bestätigt.Das Auftreten von Encephalomalacie wurde durch Selen nicht verhindert.

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We are grateful to Lake States Yeast Corporation, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, for supply of the torula yeast used in these experiments.     

Structure of the HP1 chromodomain bound to histone H3 methylated at lysine 9

Specific modifications to histones are essential epigenetic markers---heritable changes in gene expression that do not affect the DNA sequence. Methylation of lysine 9 in histone H3 is recognized by heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1), which directs the binding of other proteins to control chromatin structure and gene expression. Here we show that HP1 uses an induced-fit mechanism for recognition of this modification, as revealed by the structure of its chromodomain bound to a histone H3 peptide dimethylated at Nzeta of lysine 9. The binding pocket for the N-methyl groups is provided by three aromatic side chains, Tyr21, Trp42 and Phe45, which reside in two regions that become ordered on binding of the peptide. The side chain of Lys9 is almost fully extended and surrounded by residues that are conserved in many other chromodomains. The QTAR peptide sequence preceding Lys9 makes most of the additional interactions with the chromodomain, with HP1 residues Val23, Leu40, Trp42, Leu58 and Cys60 appearing to be a major determinant of specificity by binding the key buried Ala7. These findings predict which other chromodomains will bind methylated proteins and suggest a motif that they recognize.     

Hedgehog is an early and late mediator of pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis

Hedgehog signalling--an essential pathway during embryonic pancreatic development, the misregulation of which has been implicated in several forms of cancer--may also be an important mediator in human pancreatic carcinoma. Here we report that sonic hedgehog, a secreted hedgehog ligand, is abnormally expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and its precursor lesions: pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN). Pancreata of Pdx-Shh mice (in which Shh is misexpressed in the pancreatic endoderm) develop abnormal tubular structures, a phenocopy of human PanIN-1 and -2. Moreover, these PanIN-like lesions also contain mutations in K-ras and overexpress HER-2/neu, which are genetic mutations found early in the progression of human pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, hedgehog signalling remains active in cell lines established from primary and metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Notably, inhibition of hedgehog signalling by cyclopamine induced apoptosis and blocked proliferation in a subset of the pancreatic cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. These data suggest that this pathway may have an early and critical role in the genesis of this cancer, and that maintenance of hedgehog signalling is important for aberrant proliferation and tumorigenesis.     

西咪替丁的线性扫描极谱法测定

用线性扫描极谱法研究了西咪替丁的电化学行为.在0.16 mol·L-1Na2HPO4-KH2PO4缓冲溶液(pH6.65)中,西咪替丁于-1.903V(vs.SCE)处产生一灵敏的吸附波,其一次线性扫描极谱峰电流与西咪替丁浓度在4.0 mg·L-1-200.0 mg·L-1范围内呈良好的线性关系,相关系数r=0.9935(n=10),检出限为2.0 mg·L-1.对80.0 mg·L-1西咪替丁溶液进行6次平行试验,RSD为0.86%,回收率在94.7%-99.4%之间.本方法操作简便、准确、结果重现性好,可用于胶囊中西咪替丁含量的测定.