177,535 research outputs found
Positiones annuae ex theologia dogmatica
No full textquas sub auspiciis reverendissimi... Benedicti Pfiffer ... publice defendendas susceperunt R. P. Xaverius Hecht, & R. F. Emericus Mahler ..., praeside P. Antonio Ronca ... anno MDCCLXXIX., die 15. Aug.Disp., Kloster St. Urban, 177
SEPARATION OF EPSILON-CARBOXYMETHYL-LYSINE FROM METHIONINE ON 60-CM COLUMNS OF ION-EXCHANGE RESINS
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Genus-specific salivary proteins as serological markers of human exposure to mosquito bites
No full textSalivary proteins injected by mosquitoes into hosts play an essential blood feeding role by counteracting hemostasis, inflammation and immunity; however, they also elicit an immune response with production of anti-saliva antibodies. Several experimental observations support the concept that this antibody response to saliva may be exploited to assess human exposure to vectors and, therefore, may represent a helpful tool to evaluate disease risk and efficacy of anti-vector control interventions. In the last years we analyzed the salivary repertoires of Anopheles gambiae, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus and identified genus-specific salivary proteins, i.e. proteins that are found in Anopheles but not in Aedes or Culex saliva, and viceversa. These proteins, if immunogenic, could be ideal markers of exposure to mosquito vectors. Based on this information we have recently shown that the antibody response to the Anopheles-specific salivary protein gSG6 is a promising marker to evaluate human exposure to Afrotropical malaria vectors.
The wide spread of the tiger mosquito in Italy/Europe, as well as the recent Chikungunja and Dengue cases in Italy and France, highlighted the need for both effective control interventions and tools to evaluate their efficacy. In this respect the development of recombinant salivary antigens as markers of human exposure to Ae. albopictus could be extremely useful. Such a tool may allow to directly monitor, through simple serological measures, the effect of mosquito control interventions on human exposure to Aedes mosquito bites. To this end we selected seven different Ae. albopictus salivary proteins (which are absent in the saliva of Anopheles and Culex species) and cloned corresponding cDNAs in suitable E. coli expression vectors. Optimization of conditions for their expression and purification is currently in progress
Adenosine binding sites in pig ventricular sarcolemma and interaction with calcium channels
No full textDynamic mechanical behavior of PMMA based bone cements in wet environment
No full textThe mechanical properties of three wet commercial bone cements, namely Braxel (from Bioland(R)), Simplex-P (from Howmedica(R)) and CMW1-G (from DePuy(R)) are investigated by means of stress relaxation and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The geometry of loading that was used is the three point bending method (ASTM D790); all the tests were performed in a water chamber by means of temperature sweeps between 17 and 57degreesC and spanning four frequency decades. The results show that viscoelastic properties are strongly dependent on specimen conditioning (i.e. water uptake and heat treatment).
The results also show that all the cements that were analyzed show mechanical properties which are intermediate between the ones of the cancellous bone and of the metals of which prostheses are normally made. As a consequence, the cement is able to reduce the stress concentrations due to the interfacing of materials which have very different stiffnesses. Moreover, the results of the DMA, particularly the ones concerning the damping factor (tan delta), indicate that at body temperature the bone cements tested show an increased capacity of dissipation, the higher is the loading frequency, thus displaying shock absorbing properties
Effect of Propionyl Carnitine on Cardiac Energy Metabolism Evaluated by the Release of Purine Catabolites
No full textThe assessment of purine release in perfusion fluid is a new method (Zucchi et al.) which allows a continuous evaluation of energy metabolism in isolated perfused rat heart. Purine release in fact is related to the imbalance between ATP formed and utilized in myocytes. With this method we have investigated the effect of propionyl carnitine, carnitine and propionate on the working heart. The presence of millimolar concentrations of propionyl carnitine decreases purine release and improves cardiac performance as measured by cardiac output and double product (product of heart rate and aortic systolic pressure). Propionate has no effect, while carnitine slightly decreases purine release. The property shown by propionyl carnitine in decreasing the imbalance between ATP production and utilization and in improving cardiac performance is due to its ability to improve the energy metabolism of cardiomyocytes. This compound supplies oxidizable substrates and intermediates to the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In the presence of propionyl carnitine the myocardium therefore responds better to the sudden requirements of overwork and shows better functional efficiency for longer periods
Detoxification of aromatic aldehydes in the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is regulated by a Mar-like transcription factor.
No full textINTRODUCTION: Investigation of mechanisms underlying transcriptional regulation of Sso2536, encoding for an alcohol dehydrogenase gene (adh) in the crenarchaeon S. solfataricus has shown an active 5’ flanking region responsive to physiologically relevant DNA binding proteins. In particular, one DNA binding protein, Bald16 (Sso1352), has been identified whose levels are higher when cells are grown in the presence of the toxic benzaldehyde, substrate of the ADH enzyme; it has been proposed that this protein could act as a transcriptional activator triggering adh expression to protect cells from an environmental stress due to phenolic-derived aldehydes. Bald16 encodes for a putative transcriptional regulator, which has a bacterial homologue belonging to the Mar (Multiple Antibiotic Resistance) family of regulators involved in the control of gene expression of aromatic compound metabolism and antibiotic resistance. To better investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying transcriptional regulation in S.solfataricus, with greater attention with respect to defense response upon chemical stress, we analyzed the expression of the bald16 gene in the presence of aromatic aldehydes. Furthermore, recombinant Bald16 has been obtained in E. coli and characterized for its DNA binding activity.
MATERIALS AND METHODS S. solfataricus cultures were grown in different conditions among which DSM182 medium supplemented with 1 mM benzaldehyde, 1mM veratrylaldehyde, 0,35 mM cynnamaldehyde and harvested at exponential or stationary phase. mRNA and crude extracts were prepared according to conventional procedures to perform Northern and Western blot analyses, respectively. Recombinant Bald16 was obtained by PCR amplification of the Sso1352 ORF and cloning in the pTrc99A vector and purified by thermal precipitation and three chromatographic steps. Functional analysis has been performed essentially by band shift analysis and DNAseI footprinting using synthetic double stranded oligonucleotides designed on the sequences of the adh or bald16 promoter and DNA fragments prepared by endonuclease restriction of the 5’ flanking regions upstream of the adh or bald16 gene.
RESULTS Transcriptional analysis of the Bald16 gene allowed the identification of a new a mar-like locus in S. solfataricus composed of a putative multidrug transporter and the transcriptional regulator downstream (Sso1351, Sso1352). The genes are transcribed as a polycistronic unit whose expression is sensitive to the addition to the cell growth medium of different aromatic aldehydes. The gene encoding for the transcriptional regulator, has been overexpressed in E. coli and the recombinant protein purified to homogeneity. The protein is indeed a DNA binding protein, which binds site-specifically to both the adh and Bald16 promoters, reasonably strengthening the hypothesis of a coordinate expression in response to stress determined by phenolic-derived materials
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