Separation of Elastin Components by Thin Layer Chromatography and Electrophoresis

Several methods are described which employ thin layer chromatography and electrophoresis for investigations into the structure and synthesis of crosslinked elastin. These procedures are more sensitive and involve less elaborate equipment than separation on paper. The methods described include an electrophoretic procedure for detecting the crosslinking amino acids in elastin hydrolysates, a method for completely separating desmosine, isodesmosine and merodesmosine in these hydrolysates, and a method for producing two-dimensional peptide maps of elastase digests of elastin.     

Cell mediated immune response of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus after PAMPs stimulation

The Mediterranean sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) is of great ecological and economic importance for the European aquaculture. Yet, most of the studies regarding echinoderm's immunological defense mechanisms reported so far have used the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus as a model, and information on the immunological defense mechanisms of Paracentrotus lividus and other sea urchins, is scarce. To remedy this gap in information, in this study, flow cytometry was used to evaluate several cellular immune mechanisms, such as phagocytosis, cell cooperation, and ROS production in P. lividus coelomocytes after PAMP stimulation. Two cell populations were described. Of the two, the amoeboid-phagocytes were responsible for the phagocytosis and ROS production. Cooperation between amoeboid-phagocytes and non-adherent cells resulted in an increased phagocytic response. Stimulation with several PAMPs modified the phagocytic activity and the production of ROS. The premise that the coelomocytes were activated by the bacterial components was confirmed by the expression levels of two cell mediated immune genes: LPS-Induced TNF-alpha Factor (LITAF) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). These results have helped us understand the cellular immune mechanisms in P. lividus and their modulation after PAMP stimulation.     

Psychosis-proneness correlates with expression levels of dopaminergic genes

Psychosis-proneness or schizotypy is a personality organisation mirroring individual risk for schizophrenia-development. Believed to be a fully dimensional construct sharing considerable geno- and phenotypal variance with clinical schizophrenia, it has become an increasingly promising tool for basic psychosis-research. Although many studies show genetic commonalities between schizotypy and schizophrenia, changes in regulation of gene expression have never been examined in schizotypy before. We therefore extracted RNA from the blood, a valid surrogate for brain tissue, of a large sample of 67 healthy male volunteers and correlated the activities of all genes relevant for dopaminergic neurotransmission with the positive schizotypy-scale of the O-LIFE. We found significant negative correlations regarding the expression of the genes COMT, MAOB, DRD4, DRD5 and FOS, indicating that increased schizotypy coincides with higher levels of dopaminergic dysregulation on the mRNA-level. Considering the advantages of this method, we suggest that it be applied more often in fundamental psychosis-research.     

血清皮质醇水平与重型肝炎预后的相关性

目的探讨重型肝炎患者血清皮质醇水平与预后的关系,为临床判断预后及探讨治疗提供理论依据。方法对临床诊断的重型肝炎患者进行血清皮质醇、TNFα含量检测;比较重型肝炎、急性肝炎和慢性肝炎患者血清皮质醇水平的差异以及重型肝炎患者中死亡组和存活组的差异;检测血清皮质醇含量与TNFα含量的相关性。结果重型肝炎患者血清皮质醇水平明显低于急、慢性肝炎患者,尤以死亡组患者更为明显;血清皮质醇水平与TNFα含量呈显著负相关。结论重型肝炎患者存在肾上腺皮质功能不全,且与患者预后密切相关。