Articles

An autoradiographic study of cellular proliferaton, DNA synthesis and cell cycle variability in the rat liver caused by phenobarbital-induced oxidative stress: The protective role of melatonin

The protective effect of melatonin against phenobarbital-induced oxidative stress in the rat liver was measured based on lipid peroxidation levels (malondialedyde and 4-hydroxyalkenals). Cellular proliferation...

Authors: Gamal H. El-Sokkary

Phylogenetic analyses within three sections of the genus Vicia

The averaged genomic similarities based on multilocus randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were calculated for eight species representing three sections of the genus Vicia: faba, bithynica and narbonensis. T...

Authors: Tomasz Sakowicz and Tomasz Cieślikowski

Schistosoma japonicum: The design and experimental evaluation of a multivalent DNA vaccine

The aim of this study was to construct and evaluate the immunity efficacy of the DNA multivalent vaccine pVIVO₂SjFABP-23. The vaccine was constructed and produced as follows. Forty BALB/c mice were divided into f...

Authors: Chunyan Li, Longjiang Yu, Zhi Liu, Lu Zhu, Yuan Hu, Min Zhu, Xiaohua Zhu, Youen Shi and Sijin Meng

A new method for the preperative and analytical electrophoresis of cells

In this paper, a new method is described for the horizontal electrophoresis of cells on a density cushion under near-isopycnic conditions. When cell sedimentation is minimized, the electrophoresis of red blood...

Authors: Anna Wilk, Kinga Rośkowicz and Włodzimierz Korohoda

Helicobacter pylori infection can modulate the susceptibility of gastric mucosa cells to MNNG

The pathogenesis of stomach cells can be associated with their susceptibility to exogenous dietary irritants, like nitrosamines such as dimethylnitrosamines (DMNA), and to the effects of non-dietary factors, i...

Authors: Michał Arabski, Paweł Kazmierczak, Maria Wiśniewska-Jarosińska, Zbigniew Morawiec, Alina Morawiec-Bajda, Grażyna Klupińska, Józef Drzewoski, Jan Chojnacki and Janusz Błasiak

AtGRP7 is involved in the regulation of abscisic acid and stress responses in arabidopsis

The Arabidopsis AtGRP7 gene, encoding a glycine-rich RNA-binding protein, has been shown to be involved in the regulation of a circadian-regulated negative feedback loop. However, little is known about the role o...

Authors: Shuqing Cao, Li Jiang, Shiyong Song, Ran Jing and Guosheng Xu

Osteoblast differentiation of NIH3T3 fibroblasts is associated with changes in the IGF-I/IGFBP expression pattern

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) are essential regulators for osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. It has been reported that Dexamethasone (Dex), an active glucocor...

Authors: Basem M. Abdallah

A comparative gene-expression analysis of CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells grown in static and stirred culture systems

Authors: Qunliang Li, Qiwei Liu, Haibo Cai and Wen-Song Tan

Plant dehydrins — Tissue location, structure and function

Dehydrins (DHNs) are part of a large group of highly hydrophilic proteins known as LEA (Late Embryogenesis Abundant). They were originally identified as group II of the LEA proteins. The distinctive feature of...

Authors: Tadeusz Rorat

Is a genetic defect in Fkbp6 a common cause of azoospermia in humans?

FK506-binding protein 6 (Fkbp6) is a member of a gene family containing a prolyl isomerase/FK506-binding domain and tetratricopeptide protein-protein interaction domains. Recently, the targeted inactivation of Fk...

Authors: Toshinobu Miyamato, Hisashi Sato, Leah Yogev, Sandra Kleiman, Mikio Namiki, Eitetsu Koh, Naoko Sakugawa, Hiroaki Hayashi, Mutsuo Ishikawa, Dolores J. Lamb and Kazuo Sengoku

A comparative gene-expression analysis of CD34⁺ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells grown in static and stirred culture systems

Static and stirred culture systems are widely used to expand hematopoietic cells, but differential culture performances are observed between these systems. We hypothesize that these differential culture outcom...

Authors: Qunliang Li, Qiwei Liu, Haibo Cai and Wen-Song Tan

Current concepts in apoptosis: The physiological suicide program revisited

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death (PCD), involves a complex network of biochemical pathways that normally ensure a homeostatic balance between cellular proliferation and turnover in nearly all tissues. Apopt...

Authors: Indrajit Chowdhury, Binu Tharakan and Ganapathy K. Bhat

Endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis

Cell death is an essential event in normal life and development, as well as in the pathophysiological processes that lead to disease. It has become clear that each of the main cellular organelles can participa...

Authors: Jitka Faitova, Daniel Krekac, Roman Hrstka and Borivoj Vojtesek

A comparison of the in vitro antimicrobial activity of liposomes containing meropenem and gentamicin

The antimicrobial activity of eight cationic, two neutral and three anionic liposome compositions containing meropenem and gentamicin was tested in vitro in broth and serum medium. The cationic formulations showe...

Authors: Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, Jerzy Gubernator, Agata Dorotkiewicz-Jach, Włodzimierz Doroszkiewicz and Arkadiusz Kozubek

Emulsions of oil from Adenanthera pavonina L. seeds and their protective effect

In our previous study, we developed very stable formulations of submicron oil-in-water emulsions from Adenanthera pavonina L. (family Leguminosae, subfamily Mimosoideae) seed oil, stabilised with soybean lecithin...

Authors: Anna Jaromin, Robert Żarnowski and Arkadiusz Kozubek

Enhanced expression of selenocysteine lyase in acute glomerulonephritis and its regulation by AP-1

Acute glomerulonephritis can lead to chronic glomerulonephritis or resolve without permanent damage to the kidneys. Differential gene expression was studied in a model of acute and chronic glomerulonephritis t...

Authors: Claudia Jafari, Ulf Panzer, Oliver M. Steinmetz, Gunther Zahner, Rolf A.K. Stahl and Sigrid Harendza

Erk is involved in the differentiation induced by diallyl disulfide in the human gastric cancer cell line MGC803

Diallyl disulfide (DADS) is a major constituent of garlic. Previously, we found that DADS both inhibited proliferation in human gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and induced G2/M arrest. In this study, w...

Authors: Hui Ling, Liang-Yun Zhang, Qi Su, Ying Song, Zhao-Yang Luo, Xiu Tian Zhou, Xi Zeng, Jie He, Hui Tan and Jing-Ping Yuan

The bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library of the narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.)

The narrow-leafed lupin possesses valuable traits for environment-friendly agriculture and for the production of unconventional agricultural products. Despite various genetic and environmental studies, the bre...

Authors: Andrzej Kasprzak, Jan Šafář, Jaroslav Janda, Jaroslav Doležel, Bogdan Wolko and Barbara Naganowska

The atypical pattern of cell death in B16F10 melanoma cells treated with TNP-470

TNP-470 is an acknowledged anti-angiogenic factor, and was studied clinically as an anti-cancer drug. We previously reported on an additional property of this molecule: the intracellular generation of reactive...

Authors: Marcin Okrój, Dorota Stawikowska, Ewa M. Słomińska, Andrzej Myśliwski and Jacek Bigda

The effect of auxins (IAA and 4-Cl-IAA) on the redox activity and medium pH of Zea mays L. root segments

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 4-chloroindole-3-acetic acid (4-Cl-IAA) were tested at different concentrations and times for their capacity to change the redox activity and medium pH of maize root segments. Th...

Authors: Halina Lekacz and Waldemar Karcz

Genotyping of recombinant Pichia pastoris strains

A simplified amplified-fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method was used to genotype Pichia pastoris strains obtained by transformation of P. pastoris strain GS115 with a single integration vector. A total of 1...

Authors: José M. Viader-Salvadó, Eddy L. Cab-Barrera, Luis J. Galán-Wong and Martha Guerrero-Olazarán

Studies on genetic changes in rye samples (Secale cereale L.) maintained in a seed bank

The aim of this study was to identify genetic changes in rye seeds induced by natural ageing during long-term storage and consecutive regeneration cycles under gene bank conditions. Genomic DNA from four rye s...

Authors: Katarzyna J. Chwedorzewska, Piotr T. Bednarek, Renata Lewandowska, Paweł Krajewski and Jerzy Puchalski

The heterogeneity of ion channels in chromaffin granule membranes

Chromaffin granules are involved in catecholamine synthesis and traffic in the adrenal glands. The transporting membrane proteins of chromaffin granules play an important role in the ion homeostasis of these o...

Authors: Renata Hordejuk, Adam Szewczyk and Krzysztof Dołowy

Protein profiling of sickle cell versus control RBC core membrane skeletons by ICAT technology and tandem mass spectrometry

A proteomic approach using a cleavable ICAT reagent and nano-LC ESI tandem mass spectrometry was used to perform protein profiling of core RBC membrane skeleton proteins between sickle cell patients (SS) and c...

Authors: Jose Chou, Pankaj K. Choudhary and Steven R. Goodman

Camptothecin induces the transit of FasL trimers to the cell surface in apoptotic HEp-2 cells

Fas ligand (L) is a membrane protein from the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family. It induces apoptosis upon contact with its Fas/CD95/APO1 receptor. Trimerization of FasL on the surface of effector cells is es...

Authors: Esteban Meza-Lamas, Juan-José Bollain-Y-Goytia, Roxana Ramírez-Sandoval, Sergio H. Sánchez-Rodríguez, Erendira López-Robles, Esperanza Avalos-Díaz and Rafael Herrera-Esparza

The DefH9-iaaM-containing construct efficiently induces parthenocarpy in cucumber

Parthenocarpy (seedless fruits) is a desirable trait that has been achieved in many plant cultivars. We generated parthenocarpic cucumber fruits by introducing the chimeric DefH9-iaaM construct into the cucumber ...

Authors: Zhimin Yin, Robert Malinowski, Agnieszka Ziółkowska, Hans Sommer, Wojciech Plcader and Stefan Malepszy

Identification of microsatellite markers in the rye genome

The rye genomic library, which consists of DNA fragments in the range of 0.5–1.1 kb, was screened for the presence of tri-and tetranucleotide and compound microsatellites. Of the 1,600,000 clones analysed, 102...

Authors: Hanna Bolibok, Monika Rakoczy-Trojanowska, Małgorzata Wyrzykowska, Magdalena Radecka and Wacław Orczyk

Decreased expression of the human carbonyl reductase 2 gene HCR2 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Altered gene expression was associated with the induction and maintenance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To determine the significance of HCR2 in HCC, here we compare the expression levels of HCR2 in carcinom...

Authors: Shan Liu, Lijie Ma, Weixue Huang, Yin Shai, Xiaona Ji, Liya Ding, Yinkun Liu, Long Yu and Shouyuan Zhao

A proteomics study of the mung bean epicotyl regulated by brassinosteroids under conditions of chilling stress

Mung bean CYP90A2 is a putative brassinosteroid (BR) synthetic gene that shares 77% identity with the Arabidopsis CPD gene. It was strongly suppressed by chilling stress. This implies that exogenous treatment wit...

Authors: Bin Huang, Chien-Hua Chu, Shu-Ling Chen, Hsueh-Fen Juan and Yih-Ming Chen

Brefeldin a decreases the activity of the general amino acid permease (GAP1) and the more specific systems for L-leucine uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Brefeldin A is a commonly used antifungal agent that reversibly blocks protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex. In this study, we aimed to characterize L-leucine uptake in Saccharomy...

Authors: Manuel Alonso, Hilda I. Burgos, Vanesa Pannunzio, Andrea Monti Hughes, James R. Mattoon and Carlos A. Stella

Co-involvement of the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in cell death induced by the novel ertargeted protein HAP

HAP (a homologue of the ASY/Nogo-B protein), a novel human apoptosis-inducing protein, was found to be identical to RTN3. In an earlier study, we demonstrated that HAP localized exclusively to the endoplasmic ...

Authors: Hua Xu, Qing Zhou, Xin Liu and Yi-Peng Qi

The breakdown of bilayer lipid membranes by dendrimers

The BLM-system for studying the electrophysical properties of bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) was applied to investigate interactions between polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers and lipid bilayers. The cationic PA...

Authors: Dzmitry Shcharbin, Alexander Drapeza, Valeri Loban, Alexej Lisichenok and Maria Bryszewska

En/Spm-like transposons in Poaceae species: Transposase sequence variability and chromosomal distribution

Belonging to Class II of transposable elements, En/Spm transposons are widespread in a variety of distantly related plant species. Here, we report on the sequence conservation of the transposase region from seque...

Authors: Ahu Altinkut, Olga Raskina, Eviatar Nevo and Alexander Belyayev

In-silico prediction and observations of nuclear matrix attachment

The nuclear matrix is a functionally adaptive structural framework interior to the nuclear envelope. The nature and function of this nuclear organizer remains the subject of widespread discussion in the epigen...

Authors: Adrian E. Platts, Amelia K. Quayle and Stephen A. Krawetz

Serum decreases the size of Metafectene-and Genejammer-DNA complexes but does not affect significantly their transfection activity in SCCVII murine squamous cell carcinoma cells

Cationic liposome-DNA (lipoplexes) or polymer-DNA (polyplexes) complexes have been used to deliver therapeutic genes, both in vitro and in vivo. However, gene transfer by these non-viral vectors is usually inhibi...

Authors: Krystyna Konopka, Nathan Overlid, Anitha C. Nagaraj and Nejat Düzgüneş

A novel recently evolved gene C19orf24 encodes a non-classical secreted protein

Secreted proteins play important roles in many crucial biological processes, and can be new agents or targets for drug therapies. Here, we report on the isolation and characterization of a novel human non-clas...

Authors: Xin-Rong Wang, Yu-Bo Zhou, Feng Liu, Ke-Sheng Wang, Yan Shen, Jian-Hua Liu and Ze-Guang Han

The assessment of DNA from marine organisms via a modified salting-out protocol

We developed a rapid, practical and non-toxic salting-out method for the extraction of DNA from marine organisms, and tested it on two representative species of Porifera and Cnidaria, both living in associatio...

Authors: Giovanni Battista Ferrara, Barbara Murgia, Anna Maria Parodi, Laura Valisano, Carlo Cerrano, Giulio Palmisano, Giorgio Bavestrello and Michele Sara

Structural and functional diversities in lepidopteran serine proteases

Primary protein-digestion in Lepidopteran larvae relies on serine proteases like trypsin and chymotrypsin. Efforts toward the classification and characterization of digestive proteases have unraveled a conside...

Authors: Ajay Srinivasan, Ashok P. Giri and Vidya S. Gupta

Degradation and beyond: Control of androgen receptor activity by the proteasome system

The androgen receptor (AR) is a transcription factor belonging to the family of nuclear receptors which mediates the action of androgens in the development of urogenital structures. AR expression is regulated ...

Authors: Tomasz Jaworski

Orphan nuclear hormone receptor NR4A1 interacts with HPV16 E2 regulatory protein

The human NR4A1 orphan receptor is a member of the TR3 steroid receptor superfamily, which binds DNA at the NBRE and NurRE responsive elements. The TR3 receptors are involved in the regulation of differentiati...

Authors: Agnieszka K. Olejnik-Schmidt, Marcin T. Schmidt and Anna Goździcka-Józefiak

Shape variation of bilayer membrane daughter vesicles induced by anisotropic membrane inclusions

A theoretical model of a two-component bilayer membrane was used in order to describe the influence of anisotropic membrane inclusions on shapes of membrane daughter micro and nano vesicles. It was shown that ...

Authors: Klemen Bohinc, Darko Lombardo, Veronika Kraljiglič, Miha Fošnarič, Sylvio May, Franjo Pernuš, Henry Hägerstrand and Aleš Iglič

The identification and characterization of a testis-specific cDNA during spermatogenesis

Using bioinformatics and experimental validation, we obtained a cDNA (named srsf) which was exclusively expressed in the mouse testes. RT-PCR analysis showed that srsf mRNA was not expressed in the gonad during t...

Authors: Ying Chen, Jiarui Hu, Ping Song and Wuming Gong

The specific T-cell response to antigenic peptides is influenced by bystander peptides

T lymphocytes recognize antigens in the form of peptides presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules on the cell surface. Only a small proportion of MHC class I and class II molecules are loa...

Authors: Izabela Nowak, Elżbieta Pajtasz-Piasecka, Bartosz Chmielowski, Leszek Ignatowicz and Piotr Kuśnierczyk

The transcript expression profile of the leptin receptor-coding gene assayed with the oligonucleotide microarray technique — Could this be an Anorexia nervosa marker?

Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder with the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. The DSM-IV classification differentiates two AN types: the restricting type (AN-R) and the binge-eating/...

Authors: Małgorzata Janas-Kozik, Urszula Mazurek, Irena Krupka-Matuszczyk, Małgorzata Stachowicz, Joanna Głogowska-Ligus and Tadeusz Wilczok

The influence of tin compounds on the dynamic properties of liposome membranes: A study using the ESR method

The influence of organic and inorganic compounds of tin on the dynamic properties of liposome membranes obtained in the process of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) sonication in distilled water was invest...

Authors: Dariusz Man, Marian Podolak and Grzegorz Engel

On the way to understand biological complexity in plants: S-nutrition as a case study for systems biology

The establishment of technologies for high-throughput DNA sequencing (genomics), gene expression (transcriptomics), metabolite and ion analysis (metabolomics/ionomics) and protein analysis (proteomics) carries...

Authors: Holger Hesse and Rainer Hoefgen

S-nitrosoglutathione modulates CXCR4 and ICOS expression

The expression of CXCR4, a membrane protein which is involved in the entry of HIV-1, is down-modulated from the cell surface by Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and the Ca+ ionophore, Ionomycin. Inducible...

Authors: Yoshihiko Yamamoto, Rajendra Pahwa and Savita Pahwa

Direct Rho-associated kinase inhibiton induces cofilin dephosphorylation and neurite outgrowth in PC-12 cells

Axons fail to regenerate in the adult central nervous system (CNS) following injury. Developing strategies to promote axonal regeneration is therapeutically attractive for various CNS pathologies such as traum...

Authors: Zhiqun Zhang, Andrew K. Ottens, Stephen F. Larner, Firas H. Kobeissy, Melissa L. Williams, Ronald L. Hayes and Kevin K. W. Wang

The protective effects of selenoorganic compounds against peroxynitrite-induced changes in plasma proteins and lipids

Many selenoorganic compounds play an important role in biochemical processes and act as antioxidants, enzyme inhibitors or drugs. The effects of a new selenocompound — bis(2-aminophenyl)-diselenide on oxidativ...

Authors: Paweł Nowak, Joanna Saluk-Juszczak, Beata Olas, Joanna Kołodziejczyk and Barbara Wachowicz