XIP-I and TAXI-I are wheat (Triticum aestivum L) grain proteins that inhibit microbial xylanases used in food processing. Although their biochemical properties and structural features were ...established recently, very little is known about their expression and their family members in wheat plants. To clarify the role of these xylanase inhibitor proteins in plant defense, we examined the expression of the XIP-type genes in response to a variety of biotic and abiotic signals. Although Xip-I was not expressed in flowering spikelets inoculated with Fusarium graminearum, transcription of Xip-I was greatly enhanced in Erysiphe graminis-infected leaves. Thus, unlike Taxi-I, Xip-I is pathogen-inducible, and unlike Taxi-III and Taxi-IV, its expression depends on the type of the pathogen and/or infected tissue. Xip-I was expressed when the leaves were wounded, and its expression was significantly elevated by treatment with Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA). The different expression profiles of XIP- and TAXI-type genes suggest distinct roles in plant defense.
A novel member of the human UDP-
N-acetyl-
d-galactosamine:polypeptide
N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (pp-GalNAc-T) gene family was cloned and designated pp-GalNAc-T14. This type II membrane ...protein contains all motifs that are conserved in the pp-GalNAc-T family proteins and forms a subfamily with pp-GalNAc-T2 on the phylogenetic tree. Quantitative real time PCR analysis revealed significantly high expression of the pp-GalNAc-T14 transcript in kidney, although the transcripts were ubiquitously expressed in all tissues examined. Furthermore, the recombinant pp-GalNAc-T14 transferred GalNAc to a panel of mucin-derived peptide substrates such as Muc2, Muc5AC, Muc7, and Muc13 (-58). Our results provide evidence that pp-GalNAc-T14 is a new member of the pp-GalNAc-T family and suggest that pp-GalNAc-T14 may be involved in the O-glycosylation in kidney.
Since ethacrynic acid (EA), an SH modifier as well as glutathione S‐transferase (GST) inhibitor, has been suggested to induce apoptosis in some cell lines, its effects on a human colon cancer cell ...line DLD‐1 were examined. EA enhanced cell proliferation at 20–40 μM, while it caused cell death at 60–100 μM. Caspase inhibitors did not block cell death and DNA ladder formation was not detected. Poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase, however, was cleaved into an 82‐kDa fragment, different from an 85‐kDa fragment that is specific for apoptosisis. The 82‐kDa fragment was not recognized by antibody against PARP fragment cleaved by caspase 3. N‐Acetyl‐l‐cysteine (NAC) completely inhibited EA‐induced cell death, but 3(2)‐t‐butyl‐4‐hydroxyanisole or pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate ammonium salt did not. Glutathione (GSH) levels were dose‐dependently increased in cells treated with EA and this increase was hardly affected by NAC addition. Mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase (MEK) 1, extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) 1 and GST P1‐1 were increased in cells treated with 25–75 μM EA, while c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) 1 and p38 MAPK were markedly decreased by 100 μM EA. NAC repressed EA‐induced alterations in these MAPKs and GST P1‐1. p38 MAPK inhibitors, SB203580 and FR167653, dose‐dependently enhanced EA‐induced cell death. An MEK inhibitor, U0126, did not affect EA‐induced cell death. These studies revealed that EA induced cell death concomitantly with a novel PARP fragmentation, but without DNA fragmentation. p38 MAPK was suggested to play an inhibitory role in EA‐induced cell death.
Aims: Rare actinomycete strains were isolated from mountain soils and island soil collected in Thailand. They were screened for antimicrobial activity and characterized for their secondary ...metabolites.Methodology and results: The strains were isolated by the standard dilution technique using starch casein nitrate agar. They were identified and characterized based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic characteristics. The chemotaxonomic characteristics of ten isolates coincided with those of the genus Micromonospora. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences and DNA-DNA relatedness, they were divided into 6 Groups, ASC19-2-1 (Group A) was identified as Micromonospora marina; AL8-8 and AL10-3 (Group B) were M. aurantiaca; AL7-5 (Group C) was M. chalcea; AL3-16 and AL9-20 (Group D) were identified as M. chokoriensis; AL9-13 and AL9-22 (Group E) were M. tulbaghiae; and AL1-15-2 and AL1-16B (Group F) were M. chersina. On the primary screening, only the isolate AL7-5 (Group C) could inhibit Kocuria rhizophila ATCC 9341. This isolate produced rakicidin when cultivated on A3M, A11M and A16 media and produced compound BU4664L only on A16 medium.Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The isolation and characterization of the rare actinomycetes from Thai soils will be useful for the taxonomic study and for the discovery of bioactive metabolites that are active against microorganisms.
Mesoporous materials of anatase-TiO2 with different surface area and mesopore size were successfully synthesized by bicontinuous microemulsion-aided processes. The electrochemical ...lithium-intercalation into the mesoporous anatase-TiO2 was dependent on the surface area, crystallite size and mesopore size. The increase in surface area of mesoporous TiO2 resulted in an increase in the lithium-intercalation capacity. A mesoporous TiO2 with large mesopore size showed a relatively large lithium-intercalation capacity even at high charging rate.
Recently, recombinant antibodies have been dissected into antigen-binding regions and rebuilt into multivalent high-avidity formats. These new structural designs are expected to improve in vivo ...pharmacokinetics and efficacy in clinical use. Here, we designed effective recombinant bispecific antibody (BsAb) formats based on hEx3, a humanized bispecific diabody with epidermal growth factor receptor and CD3 retargeting. The bispecific and bivalent IgG-like antibodies engineered from hEx3 (or its single-chain form, hEx3-scDb) and the human Fc region showed stronger binding to each target cell than did monovalent diabody formats, and their affinity was identical to that of the corresponding parent IgG. The bivalent effect of the constructed IgG-like BsAbs resulted in cell cytotoxicity 10 times that of monovalent diabodies, and further, the fusion of Fc portion contributed intense cytotoxicity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by the induction of the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. The growth-inhibition effects of IgG-like BsAbs were superior to those of the approved therapeutic antibody cetuximab, which recognizes the same epidermal growth factor receptor antigen, even when peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used as effector cells. We thus demonstrated a critical improvement in the effect of hEx3 by the bottom-up construction of IgG-like BsAbs; in adoptive immunotherapy, monotherapy without supplemental molecules may be able to induce antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.
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