Blackleg in Cattle in the Irkutsk Region.

Blackleg is an acute, toxic, infectious, non-contagious disease of domestic and wild ruminants that occurs while the animals are pastured. This article describes an outbreak of blackleg on a farm in Siberia (Russia) in 2019. We provide a detailed description of the cases based on the results of comprehensive diagnostic and epidemiological investigations.

Risk Factors of African Swine Fever in Domestic Pigs of the Samara Region, Russian Federation.

African swine fever (ASF) is an incurable viral disease of domestic and wild pigs. A large-scale spread of ASF began in Eurasia in 2007 and has affected territories from Belgium to the Far East, occurring as both local- and regional-level epidemics. In 2020, a massive ASF epidemic emerged in the southeastern region of European Russia in the Samara Oblast and included 41 outbreaks of ASF in domestic pigs and 40 cases in wild boar.

Reindeer Anthrax in the Russian Arctic, 2016: Climatic Determinants of the Outbreak and Vaccination Effectiveness.

The Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Federation experienced a massive outbreak of anthrax in reindeer () in July-August 2016, with 2,650 (6.46% of the total susceptible population) animals infected, of which 2,350 died (case fatality rate of 88.67%).

Ecological and Socio-Economic Determinants of Livestock Animal Leptospirosis in the Russian Arctic.

Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic infectious disease caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus . Regional differences in the disease manifestation and the role of ecological factors, specifically in regions with a subarctic and arctic climate, remain poorly understood. We here explored environmental and socio-economic features associated with leptospirosis cases in livestock animals in the Russian Arctic during 2000-2019.

Retrospective Study of Isolated in the Territory of Inner Eurasia from 1947 to 1999.

Listeriosis is one of the most significant humans and animals foodborne infectious diseases. Here, we characterized 48 strains isolated in the territory of inner Eurasia during the second half of the 20th century. A total of 23 strains (52.

HIF2α-Targeted RNAi Therapeutic Inhibits Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Targeted therapy against VEGF and mTOR pathways has been established as the standard-of-care for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC); however, these treatments frequently fail and most patients become refractory requiring subsequent alternative therapeutic options. Therefore, development of innovative and effective treatments is imperative. About 80%-90% of ccRCC tumors express an inactive mutant form of the von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL), an E3 ubiquitin ligase that promotes target protein degradation.

Protease-triggered siRNA delivery vehicles.

The safe and efficacious delivery of membrane impermeable therapeutics requires cytoplasmic access without the toxicity of nonspecific cytoplasmic membrane lysis. We have developed a mechanism for control of cytoplasmic release which utilizes endogenous proteases as a trigger and results in functional delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA). The delivery approach is based on reversible inhibition of membrane disruptive polymers with protease-sensitive substrates.

Imaging of estrogen receptor-α in rat pial arterioles using a digital immunofluorescent microscope.

Many of estrogen's effects on vascular reactivity are mediated through interaction with estrogen receptors (1, 2, 3). Although two sub-types exist (estrogen receptor -α and β),estrogen receptor-α has been identified in both the smooth muscle and in endothelial cells of pial arterial segments using fluorescent staining combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy (4). Furthermore, ER-α is located in the nuclei and in the cytoplasm of rat basilar arteries (5).

Hybrid PET/CT for noninvasive pharmacokinetic evaluation of dynamic PolyConjugates, a synthetic siRNA delivery system.

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) hybrid imaging can be used to gain insights into a synthetic siRNA delivery system targeted to the liver. Either siRNA or the delivery vehicle was labeled with (64)Cu via 1, 4, 7, 10- tetraazacyclododecane- 1, 4, 7, 10- tetraacetic acid (DOTA) chelation. This study confirmed that the siRNA delivery system was successfully targeted to the liver.

A protocol comparison for the analysis of heat shock protein A1B +A1538G SNP.

Heat shock proteins act as molecular chaperones, assist in peptide maturation, and transport nascent peptides across membranes. One commonly studied single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) for one of the proteins is HSPA1B (+A1538G). However, several studies of this polymorphism have failed to achieve Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) for their sample.

Death and survival of heterozygous Lurcher Purkinje cells in vitro.

The differentiation and survival of heterozygous Lurcher (+/Lc) Purkinje cells in vitro was examined as a model system for studying how chronic ionic stress affects neuronal differentiation and survival. The Lurcher mutation in the delta2 glutamate receptor (GluRdelta2) converts an orphan receptor into a membrane channel that constitutively passes an inward cation current. In the GluRdelta2(+/Lc) mutant, Purkinje cell dendritic differentiation is disrupted and the cells degenerate following the first week of postnatal development.

Evidence for a distinct ligand binding site on tubulin discovered through inhibition by GDP of paclitaxel-induced tubulin assembly in the absence of exogenous GTP.

GDP inhibits paclitaxel-induced tubulin assembly without GTP when the tubulin bears GDP in the exchangeable site (E-site). Initially, we thought inhibition was mediated through the E-site, since small amounts of GTP or Mg(2+), which favors GTP binding to the E-site, reduced inhibition by GDP. We thought trace GTP released from the nonexchangeable site (N-site) by tubulin denaturation was required for polymer nucleation, but microtubule length was unaffected by GDP.

Variations in mitochondrial DNA copy numbers in MS brains.

The aim of this study is to determine if there is a pathology-related variation in mitochondrial (mt)DNA copy numbers in brains of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our recent study demonstrated an age-dependent but excluded a MS pathology-related increase in the proportion of cytochrome oxidase (COX)-negative cells and deleted mtDNA molecules in postmortem brain tissue specimens of patients and controls (Blokhin et al., Neuromolecular Medicine, in press, 2008).

Lack of mitochondrial DNA deletions in lesions of multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To test if mitochondrial (mt)DNA deletions accumulate in brains of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Background: Previous studies demonstrated an accumulation of oxidative damage to mtDNA and decreased activity of mitochondrial enzymes in lesions of MS, where activated immune cells produce increased amounts of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide. The unknown link between oxidative damage and decreased activity of mitochondrial enzymes may be the accumulation of deletions in mtDNA molecules.

Dynamic PolyConjugates for targeted in vivo delivery of siRNA to hepatocytes.

Achieving efficient in vivo delivery of siRNA to the appropriate target cell would be a major advance in the use of RNAi in gene function studies and as a therapeutic modality. Hepatocytes, the key parenchymal cells of the liver, are a particularly attractive target cell type for siRNA delivery given their central role in several infectious and metabolic disorders. We have developed a vehicle for the delivery of siRNA to hepatocytes both in vitro and in vivo, which we have named siRNA Dynamic PolyConjugates.

Oxidative stress, nitric oxide, and the mechanisms of cell death in Lurcher Purkinje cells.

Oxidative stress is postulated to play a role in cell death in many neurodegenerative diseases. As a model of neonatal neuronal cell death, we have examined the role of oxidative stress in Purkinje cell death in the heterozygous Lurcher mutant (+/Lc). Lurcher is a gain of function mutation in the delta2 glutamate receptor (GluRdelta2) that turns the receptor into a leaky membrane channel, resulting in chronic depolarization of +/Lc Purkinje cells starting around the first week of postnatal development.

Cerebellar Purkinje cell loss in aging Hu-Bcl-2 transgenic mice.

The number of cerebellar Purkinje cells is increased by over 40% in young transgenic mice that overexpress a human Bcl-2 transgene (Hu-Bcl-2). To determine whether the Bcl-2-mediated rescue of Purkinje cells persists through life, the numbers of Purkinje cells were estimated in 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old Hu-Bcl-2 transgenic mice and age-matched controls. In addition, the expression of four markers for Purkinje cell differentiation, calbindin (CaBP), the 67-kDa isoform of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD67), gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T), and the NMDA-R1 receptor subtype (NMDA-NR1) was analyzed in 6-month-old Hu-Bcl-2 transgenics and controls to determine whether overexpression of Bcl-2 and rescue from naturally occurring cell death affects the normal differentiation of Purkinje cells.

Cyclopropane-containing polyamine analogues are efficient growth inhibitors of a human prostate tumor xenograft in nude mice.

Polyamine analogues 7, 10, 18, 27, and 32 containing cyclopropane rings were obtained by chemical synthesis. Their antineoplastic activities were assessed against the cultured human prostate tumor cell lines DU-145, DuPro, and PC-3. Decamines 32 and 27 exhibited variable levels of cytotoxicity against all three cell lines, while 7, 10, and 18 were efficacious against DU-145 and DuPro.

Long-chain polyamines (oligoamines) exhibit strong cytotoxicities against human prostate cancer cells.

alpha N,(omega)N-bis(ethyl) octamine SL-11160, decamine SL-11159, dodecamine SL-11226, and tetradecamine SL-11175 were chemically synthesized. We called this class of compounds 'oligoamines'. In these compounds, each -NH(2)(+) residue is separated by four CH(2) residues.

Manifestations of Bridgehead-Bridgehead Interactions in the Bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane Ring System.

A series of 3-halo-substituted bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane-1-carboxylic acids 1 (Y = COOH; X = F, Cl, Br, I, and CF(3)) as well as the parent compound 1 (Y = COOH, X = H) have been prepared, and a study of some of their properties have been made.