First molecular phylogeny of the circumtropical bivalve family Pinnidae (Mollusca, Bivalvia): evidence for high levels of cryptic species diversity.

The family Pinnidae Leach, 1819, includes approximately 50 species of large subtidal and coastal marine bivalves. These commercially important species occur in tropical and temperate waters around the world and are most frequently found in seagrass meadows. The taxonomy of the family has been revised a number of times since the early 20th Century, the most recent revision recognizing 55 species distributed in three genera: Pinna, Atrina and Streptopinna, the latter being monotypic.

Comparative proteomic characterization of articular cartilage tissue from normal donors and patients with osteoarthritis.

Objective: To identify potential molecular mediators and biomarkers for osteoarthritis (OA), through comparative proteomic analysis of articular cartilage tissue obtained from normal donors without OA (n = 7) and patients with OA (n = 7).

Methods: The proteomic analyses comprised extraction of soluble proteins from cartilage, separation of the protein mixtures by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by in-gel digestion, and subsequent nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis in conjunction with a database search for protein identification and semiquantitation.

Results: A total of 814 distinct proteins were identified with high confidence from 14 samples; 420 of these proteins were detected with > or = 3 unique peptides in at least 4 samples from the same group.