Disruption of the 5' and 3' splice sites flanking the major latency-associated transcripts of herpes simplex virus type 1: evidence for alternate splicing in lytic and latent infections.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) latency-associated transcripts (LATs) are the only viral gene products expressed within latently infected neurones. The most abundant (major) LATs consist of two collinear nuclear polyA- RNAs of 2 kb and 1.5 kb which it has been suggested represent stable introns derived from a less abundant primary transcript (minor LAT).

Selenium and iodine deficiencies: effects on brain and brown adipose tissue selenoenzyme activity and expression.

Adequate dietary iodine supplies and thyroid hormones are needed for the development of the central nervous system (CNS) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) function. Decreases in plasma thyroxine (T4) concentrations may increase the requirement for the selenoenzymes types I and II iodothyronine deiodinase (ID-I and ID-II) in the brain and ID-II in BAT to protect against any fall in intracellular 3,3',5 tri-iodothyronine (T3) concentrations in these organs. We have therefore investigated selenoenzyme activity and expression and some developmental markers in brain and BAT of second generation selenium- and iodine-deficient rats.

Experimental reproduction of iodine deficiency in cattle.

The role of iodine deficiency in stillbirth/perinatal weak calf syndrome was investigated in pregnant heifers. Five heifers were fed an iodine deficient diet (mean [sd] iodine concentration 0.06 [0.

Formyl peptide receptors are coupled to multiple mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades by distinct signal transduction pathways: role in activation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase.

Formyl peptide receptor activation of three mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), N-terminal kinases (JNKs), and p38 MAPK was examined in differentiated HL-60 granulocytes. FMLP stimulated a concentration- and time-dependent increase in ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK activities, all of which were dependent on a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein. Pharmacologic inhibitors were used to examine the roles of tyrosine kinases, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, protein kinase C, and phospholipase C.

Protection conferred by selenium deficiency against aflatoxin B1 in the rat is associated with the hepatic expression of an aldo-keto reductase and a glutathione S-transferase subunit that metabolize the mycotoxin.

Fischer 344 rats fed on a diet that is deficient in selenium are more resistant to the hepatocarcinogen aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) than those fed on a selenium-sufficient diet. Hepatic cytosol from either selenium-deficient Fischer 344 rats or Hooded Lister rats possesses a marked increase in both reductase activity toward AFB1-dialdehyde and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity toward AFB(1)-8,9-epoxide than hepatic cytosol from selenium-sufficient rats. The elevation in hepatic AFB1-aldehyde reductase (AFAR) activity in selenium-deficient animals is accompanied by an increase of 11- and 15-fold in the levels of AFAR protein in liver cytosol from Fischer 344 and Hooded Lister rats, respectively.

Selenium and iodine deficiencies and selenoprotein function.

This paper reviews some recent findings on the interactions between selenium deficiency and iodine deficiency. Both micronutrients can control the levels of selenoprotein mRNAs, particularly in the thyroid and brain. When selenium and iodine supplies are limiting the compensatory mechanisms work to minimise adverse effects on thyroid hormone metabolism and thus neurological development.

The effects of truncations of the small subunit on m-calpain activity and heterodimer formation.

In order to study subunit interactions in calpain, the effects of small subunit truncations on m-calpain activity and heterodimer formation have been measured. It has been shown previously that active calpain is formed by co-expression of the large subunit (80 kDa) of rat m-calpain with a delta 86 form (21 kDa) of the small subunit. cDNA for the full-length 270 amino acid (28.

Specific coupling of a cation-sensing receptor to G protein alpha-subunits in MDCK cells.

Extracellular cations such as Ca2+ stimulate a G protein-coupled, cation-sensing receptor (CaR). We used microphysiometry to determine whether an extracellular cation-sensing mechanism exists in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. The CaR agonists Ca2+ and Gd3+ caused cellular activation in a concentration-dependent manner.

Structure of a calpain Ca(2+)-binding domain reveals a novel EF-hand and Ca(2+)-induced conformational changes.

The crystal structure of a Ca(2+)-binding domain (dVI) of rat m-calpain has been determined at 2.3 A resolution, both with and without bound Ca2+. The structures reveal a unique fold incorporating five EF-hand motifs per monomer, three of which bind calcium at physiological calcium concentrations, with one showing a novel EF-hand coordination pattern.

Selenium status of a group of Scottish adults.

Objective: To examine dietary selenium intake and indices of selenium status (plasma and red blood cell selenium and glutathione peroxidase activities) in apparently healthy Scottish individuals.

Design And Subjects: One hundred subjects, aged between 40 and 60 y, completed a seven day weighed food intake and provided blood samples for selenium status analysis.

Setting: Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Autolysis, Ca2+ requirement, and heterodimer stability in m-calpain.

The roles of N-terminal autolysis of the large (80 kDa) and small (28 kDa) subunits in activation of rat m-calpain, in lowering its Ca2+ requirement, and in reducing its stability have been investigated with heterodimeric recombinant calpains containing modified subunits. Both autolysis and [Ca2+]0.5 were influenced by the ionic strength of the buffers, which accounts for the wide variations in previous reports.

Induction of nitric oxide synthase in the neointima induced by a periarterial collar in rabbits.

A Silastic collar placed around the common carotid artery of rabbits causes the formation, within 7 days, of an atheroma-like neointima containing cells with the appearance of synthetic-phenotype smooth muscle cells. Using immunohisto-chemistry, we detected the appearance of the cytokine-inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS, or isoform II) in the neointima of rabbits that had the collar in place for 7 or 14 days. This iNOS immunofluorescence collocalized with anti-smooth muscle myosin in the intima, indicating that it is expressed in smooth muscle cells, and iNOS was also present in a few endothelial cells in collared sections.

Immunologic responses to vaccinia vaccines administered by different parenteral routes.

To develop a less reactogenic but equally immunogenic vaccine, this study of 91 human volunteers compared the safety and immunogenic potency of a new, cell culture-derived vaccinia virus vaccine administered intradermally and intramuscularly with the licensed vaccinia vaccine administered by scarification. Cutaneous pox lesions developed in a higher proportion of scarification vaccinees. Scarification and intradermal vaccine recipients who developed cutaneous pox lesions had more local reactions but also achieved significantly higher cell-mediated and neutralizing antibody responses than those who did not develop pox lesions.

A comparison of gene transfer methods in human dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for the initiation of antigen-specific T-cell activation. DCs may be highly enriched from peripheral blood-adherent leukocytes by short-term (7-day) culture in the presence of interleukin (IL)-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Various methods of gene transfer were studied, including DNA/liposome complexes, electroporation, CaPO4 precipitation, and recombinant adenovirus (AdV) vectors.

Transduction of murine and human tumors using recombinant adenovirus vectors.

Background: Most cytokine-based cancer gene therapy clinical trials have used labor-intensive, retrovirus-mediated strategies resulting in unpredictable gene expression. Recombinant AdV vectors were evaluated for easier, more reproducible gene transfer into 12 human melanoma, 2 murine fibrosarcomas, and 8 other tumor cell lines.

Methods: AdV vectors contained a reporter (Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase or firefly luciferase) or cytokine gene (human interleukin-2 [IL-2] or IL-7).

Role of the 3' untranslated region in the regulation of cytosolic glutathione peroxidase and phospholipid-hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase gene expression by selenium supply.

Selenium is an essential nutrient and synthesis of selenoproteins is affected by limited selenium supply. During selenium deficiency there is a differential regulation of selenoprotein synthesis and gene expression; for example, there is a decrease in abundance of mRNA for cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (cGSH-Px) and a preservation of mRNA for phospholipid-hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGSH-Px). This difference is not due to an alteration in the rate of transcription but might reflect differences in translation.

Interaction of aspartic acid-104 and proline-287 with the active site of m-calpain.

In an ongoing study of the mechanisms of calpain catalysis and Ca(2+)-induced activation, the effects of Asp-104-->Ser and Pro-287-->Ser large subunit mutations on m-calpain activity, the pH-activity profile, Ca(2+)-sensitivity, and autolysis were measured. The importance of these positions was suggested by sequence comparisons between the calpain and papain families of cysteine proteinases. Asp-104 is adjacent to the active-site Cys-105, and Pro-287 is adjacent to the active-site Asn-286 and probably to the active-site His-262; both Asp-104 and Pro-287 are absolutely conserved in the known calpains, but are replaced by highly conserved serine residues in the papains.

Effects of vitamin E supplementation on erythrocyte antioxidant defence mechanisms of smoking and non-smoking men.

1. During all aerobic metabolism, free radicals generated by the partial reduction of oxygen are potentially injurious to cells. Highly efficient antioxidant defence systems exist to inhibit oxidative damage to cellular lipids and proteins.

Selective control of cytosolic glutathione peroxidase and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase mRNA stability by selenium supply.

Selenium depletion of H4 hepatoma cells reduced cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (cGSH-Px) mRNA abundance but had no effect on phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGSH-Px) mRNA abundance. Actinomycin D chase experiments showed that selenium depletion had no effect on the stability of PHGSH-Px mRNA but decreased the stability of cGSH-Px mRNA. In Se-replete cells puromycin decreased the stability of both cGSH-Px and PHGSH-Px mRNAs.

Selenoenzyme expression in thyroid and liver of second generation selenium- and iodine-deficient rats.

The stimulation of thyroid hormone synthesis in iodine deficiency may increase the requirement for the selenoproteins which are involved in thyroid hormone synthesis in the thyroid gland. Selenoenzyme activity and expression were investigated in the thyroid and liver of second generation selenium-and/or iodine-deficient rats. Selenium deficiency caused substantial decreases in hepatic selenium-containing type I iodothyronine deiodinase (ID-I) and cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (cGSHPx) activities and mRNA abundances, but phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (phGSHPx) activity was only 55% of selenium-supplemented control levels, despite the absence of change in its mRNA abundance.

Investigation of the interaction of m-calpain with phospholipids: calpain-phospholipid interactions.

Phosphatidyl inositol, phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl glycerol, phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidic acid and sphingomyelin were all found to be effective at reducing the Ca2+ requirement for m-calpain autolysis. In the absence of phospholipid, pig kidney m-calpain required 1.4 mM Ca2+ for 50% autolysis under the assay conditions used.