Polypeptides of cerebral subcellular fractions of differentially-housed mice

Summary The difference in protein of cerebral nerve-ending fractions caused by differential housing of male mice is of a quantitative nature and might reflect a change in the number of nerve-endings.This work was supported in part by Centro Nacional Ramón y Cajal (de la Seguridad Social) and Fundación Juan March and was conducted in part at the Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milan Italy, while Dr F. P. Conde was on a research fellowship. Thanks are due to Mr Riccardo Gelati for technical assistance and to Mr Mario Azzini for the photography.     

Distributed biological computation with multicellular engineered networks

Ongoing efforts within synthetic and systems biology have been directed towards the building of artificial computational devices using engineered biological units as basic building blocks. Such efforts, inspired in the standard design of electronic circuits, are limited by the difficulties arising from wiring the basic computational units (logic gates) through the appropriate connections, each one to be implemented by a different molecule. Here, we show that there is a logically different form of implementing complex Boolean logic computations that reduces wiring constraints thanks to a redundant distribution of the desired output among engineered cells. A practical implementation is presented using a library of engineered yeast cells, which can be combined in multiple ways. Each construct defines a logic function and combining cells and their connections allow building more complex synthetic devices. As a proof of principle, we have implemented many logic functions by using just a few engineered cells. Of note, small modifications and combination of those cells allowed for implementing more complex circuits such as a multiplexer or a 1-bit adder with carry, showing the great potential for re-utilization of small parts of the circuit. Our results support the approach of using cellular consortia as an efficient way of engineering complex tasks not easily solvable using single-cell implementations.     

Studies on the modification of Escherichia coli ribosomal protein L7/L12 by succinic anhydride

Lysine modification by increasing quantities of succinic anhydride in the Escherichia coli ribosomal protein L7/L12 produces loss of its ability in reconstitution of elongation-factor-G-dependent GTP hydrolysis and polyphenylalanine synthesis activities, showing lower antigenicity and loss of antigenic determinants.     

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition are associated with several chronic conditions, including obesity and inflammatory diseases. The microbiota of older people displays greater inter-individual variation than that of younger adults. Here we show that the faecal microbiota composition from 178 elderly subjects formed groups, correlating with residence location in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. However, clustering of subjects by diet separated them by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. The separation of microbiota composition significantly correlated with measures of frailty, co-morbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water. The individual microbiota of people in long-stay care was significantly less diverse than that of community dwellers. Loss of community-associated microbiota correlated with increased frailty. Collectively, the data support a relationship between diet, microbiota and health status, and indicate a role for diet-driven microbiota alterations in varying rates of health decline upon ageing.     

Studies on the modification ofEscherichia coli ribosomal protein L7/L12 by succinic anhydride

Summary Lysine modification by increasing quantities of succinic anhydride in theEscherichia coli ribosomal protein L7/L12 produces loss of its ability in reconstitution of elongation-factor-G-dependent GTP hydrolysis and polyphenylalanine synthesis activities, showing lower antigenicity and loss of antigenic determinants.This study was supported in part by Fondo de investigaciones sanitarias del INSALUD.     

几种有机化合物的激光喇曼光谱研究

本文报道了由实验测定的丙酮、乙醇、乙二醇、异丙醇、甲苯、乙醚、正丁醇和甲酰胺等8个有机化合物在200-3500cm-1范围内的激光喇曼光谱,发现了一些新的正则振动模,并讨论了这些振动模的性质.     

Exome sequencing identifies recurrent mutations of the splicing factor SF3B1 gene in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Here we perform whole-exome sequencing of samples from 105 individuals with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most frequent leukemia in adults in Western countries. We found 1,246 somatic mutations potentially affecting gene function and identified 78 genes with predicted functional alterations in more than one tumor sample. Among these genes, SF3B1, encoding a subunit of the spliceosomal U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP), is somatically mutated in 9.7% of affected individuals. Further analysis in 279 individuals with CLL showed that SF3B1 mutations were associated with faster disease progression and poor overall survival. This work provides the first comprehensive catalog of somatic mutations in CLL with relevant clinical correlates and defines a large set of new genes that may drive the development of this common form of leukemia. The results reinforce the idea that targeting several well-known genetic pathways, including mRNA splicing, could be useful in the treatment of CLL and other malignancies.     

Whole-genome sequencing identifies recurrent mutations in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), the most frequent leukaemia in adults in Western countries, is a heterogeneous disease with variable clinical presentation and evolution. Two major molecular subtypes can be distinguished, characterized respectively by a high or low number of somatic hypermutations in the variable region of immunoglobulin genes. The molecular changes leading to the pathogenesis of the disease are still poorly understood. Here we performed whole-genome sequencing of four cases of CLL and identified 46 somatic mutations that potentially affect gene function. Further analysis of these mutations in 363 patients with CLL identified four genes that are recurrently mutated: notch 1 (NOTCH1), exportin 1 (XPO1), myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MYD88) and kelch-like 6 (KLHL6). Mutations in MYD88 and KLHL6 are predominant in cases of CLL with mutated immunoglobulin genes, whereas NOTCH1 and XPO1 mutations are mainly detected in patients with unmutated immunoglobulins. The patterns of somatic mutation, supported by functional and clinical analyses, strongly indicate that the recurrent NOTCH1, MYD88 and XPO1 mutations are oncogenic changes that contribute to the clinical evolution of the disease. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive analysis of CLL combining whole-genome sequencing with clinical characteristics and clinical outcomes. It highlights the usefulness of this approach for the identification of clinically relevant mutations in cancer.