A Blue-Purple Pigment-Producing Bacterium Isolated from the Vezelka River in the City of Belgorod.

Violacein is a biotechnologically significant secondary metabolite due to its antibacterial, antifungal, and other properties. Isolation, research, and identification of violacein producing strains are of interest for the development of biotechnological processes, in order to enhance the biosynthesis of this compound. The purpose of the present work was to study the properties of a newly isolated bacterium capable of synthesizing blue-purple pigment.

[The First Russian Consensus on the Multilevel Abobotulinumtoxin A Injections in Spastic Forms of Cerebral Palsy].

Spasticity treatment is one of the key aspects of the contemporary cerebral palsy (CP) rehabilitation that influences on the effectiveness of other methods. The paper presents the first Russian document that unites the recommendations for the BTA treatment of CP and could be used as the guideline for the multilevel injections. The Russian consensus on the multilevel botulinum toxin A (BTA) treatment of spastic CP is based on the international data and the results of national studies.

[The results of single-event multilevel orthopedic surgeries and the early rehabilitation used in complex with botulinum toxin treatment in patients with spastic forms of cerebral palsy].

Objective: To evaluate motor possibilities of patients with children spastic palsy (CSP) one year after single-event multilevel orthopedic low extremity surgeries in combination with early rehabilitation treatment including botulinum toxin treatment.

Material And Methods: Authors studied the results of operative orthopedic treatment in 55 patients with CSP, aged from 5 to 17 years (mean 11.9 ± 2.

dlk acts as a negative regulator of Notch1 activation through interactions with specific EGF-like repeats.

The protein dlk, encoded by the Dlk1 gene, belongs to the Notch epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like family of receptors and ligands, which participate in cell fate decisions during development. The molecular mechanisms by which dlk regulates cell differentiation remain unknown. By using the yeast two-hybrid system, we found that dlk interacts with Notch1 in a specific manner.

A dominant negative mutant beta 2-microglobulin blocks the extracellular folding of a major histocompatibility complex class I heavy chain.

The major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC1) molecule plays a crucial role in cytotoxic lymphocyte function. beta 2-Microglobulin (beta 2m) has been demonstrated to be both a structural component of the MHC1 complex and a chaperone-like molecule for MHC1 folding. beta 2m binding to an isolated alpha 3 domain of MHC1 heavy chain at micromolar concentrations has been shown to accurately model the biochemistry and thermodynamics of beta 2m-driven MHC1 folding.

Organ-specific cytokine polarization induced by adoptive transfer of transgenic T cells.

There are two distinct phenotypes of T cell cytokine responses that lead to different effector functions and different outcomes in disease processes. Although evidence suggests a possible role of the local microenvironment in the differentiation or localization of T cells with these phenotypes, there are no examples of divergent T cell cytokine phenotypes with the same Ag specificity concurrently existing in different tissue compartments. Using a CD8(+) T cell adoptive transfer model for graft-vs-host disease, we demonstrate that a potent type 2 cytokine response develops in the spleen while a potent type 1 cytokine response simultaneously develops in the testis.

dlk modulates mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling to allow or prevent differentiation.

The EGF-like membrane protein dlk plays a crucial role in the control of cell differentiation. Overexpression of the protein prevents, whereas inhibition of its expression increases, adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells in response to Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-1) or insulin. We have investigated whether dlk modulates the signaling pathways known to control this process.

CD43 polarization in unprimed T cells can be dissociated from raft coalescence by inhibition of HMG CoA reductase.

Movement of T-lymphocyte cell surface CD43 is associated with both antigen activation of T-cell clones and chemokine induction of T-lymphocyte motility. Here, we demonstrate that CD43 movement away from the site of T-cell receptor ligation occurs in unprimed CD4(+) T cells as well as T-cell clones. The T-cell receptor (TCR)-dependent movement of CD43 in unprimed T cells is associated with a polarized morphology and CD43 accumulation at the uropods of the cells, unlike that reported for primed T cells.

The EGF-like homeotic protein dlk affects cell growth and interacts with growth-modulating molecules in the yeast two-hybrid system.

Levels of dlk, an EGF-like homeotic protein, are critical for several differentiation processes. Because growth and differentiation are, in general, exclusive of each other, and increasing evidence indicates that Dlk1 expression changes in tumorigenic processes, we studied whether dlk could also affect cell growth. We found that, in response to glucocorticoids, Balb/c 3T3 cells with diminished levels of dlk expression develop foci-like cells that have lost contact inhibition, display altered morphology, and grow faster than control cell lines.

Specific regions of the extracellular domain of dlk, an EGF-like homeotic protein involved in differentiation, participate in intramolecular interactions.

The level of expression of dlk, an EGF-like protein possessing six EGF-like repeats in its extracellular region, is critical for 3T3-L1 fibroblasts to differentiate into adipocytes in response to IGF1. The mechanism of action of dlk is not well understood, but its localization on the cell membrane suggests that dlk may function as a receptor, as a ligand or as a regulatory protein modulating the binding, the signaling, or the expression of other molecules involved in cell differentiation and growth. In this work, we demonstrate, by using the Yeast Two-Hybrid system, that dlk interacts with itself through specific regions of its extracellular domain.

betac cytokine receptor-induced stimulation of cAMP response element binding protein phosphorylation requires protein kinase C in myeloid cells: a novel cytokine signal transduction cascade.

We have recently shown that IL-3R occupancy activates a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C, and the sustained diacylglycerol accumulation subsequently activates protein kinase C (PKC). In human IL-3-dependent myeloid cells (TF-1), the novel PKCepsilon isoform regulates bcl-2 expression and cell survival. The report of a PKC activatable cAMP response element (CRE) in the bcl-2 promoter and a role for PKC in bcl-2 expression in B cells led us to the hypothesis that PKC phosphorylation activates transcription factor CREB after IL-3R engagement.

Kinetics and thermodynamics of beta 2-microglobulin binding to the alpha 3 domain of major histocompatibility complex class I heavy chain.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecule plays a crucial role in cytotoxic lymphocyte function. Functional class I MHC exists as a heterotrimer consisting of the MHC class I heavy chain, an antigenic peptide fragment, and beta2-microglobulin (beta2m). beta2m has been previously shown to play an important role in the folding of the MHC heavy chain without continued beta2m association with the MHC complex.

ICAM-1 enhances MHC-peptide activation of CD8(+) T cells without an organized immunological synapse.

In addition to the TCR-ligand interaction, other receptor-ligand pairs, such as LFA-1 and ICAM-1, play a major role in the activation of T cells. Recent studies of T cell activation suggest a coordinated movement of LFA-1 and ICAM-1 in forming a defined zone in the immunological synapse. It is unclear from these studies whether the organized molecular geometry of the immunological synapse is necessary for ICAM-1 enhancement of T cell activation.

[Metabolic effects of berlipril-5 in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension].

Aim: To study metabolic effects of berlipril-5 (enalapril) in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and arterial hypertension (AH).

Materials And Methods: 24 patients with NIDDM and AH were divided into three groups by the level of basal C-peptide: > 2 ng/ml (group 1), 2-4 ng/ml (group 2) and < 4 ng/ml (group 3).

Results: A correlation was found between the level of basal C-peptide and duration of AH (r = 0.

[Effect of brerlipril in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and mild or moderate arterial hypertension as indicated by 24-h blood pressure monitoring].

Aim: To study a hypotensive effect of berlipril, an ACE inhibitor, using 24-h BP monitoring in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) combined with stable mild or moderate arterial hypertension (AH).

Materials And Methods: 22 NIDDM patients with mild or moderate AH were treated with berlipril. 24-h monitoring of BP was made in all the patients before and 3 months after the treatment.

A phosphatidylcholine phospholipase C inhibitor, D609, blocks interleukin-3 (IL-3)-induced bcl-2 expression but not c-myc expression in human IL-3-dependent cells.

Activation of the interleukin-3 (IL-3) receptor is required for the induction of cell proliferation and suppression of apoptosis in primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells. A rapid activation of tyrosine kinases and a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C has been observed in these cells in response to IL-3. The signal transduction cascades regulating cell proliferation and the suppression of apoptosis are poorly understood.

Overexpression of protein kinase C isoform epsilon but not delta in human interleukin-3-dependent cells suppresses apoptosis and induces bcl-2 expression.

Hematopoietic progenitor cells die by apoptosis after removal of the appropriate colony-stimulating factor (CSF). Recent pharmacologic data have implicated protein kinase C (PKC) in the suppression of apoptosis in interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF-dependent human myeloid cells. Because IL-3 and GM-CSF induce increases in diacylglycerol without mobilizing intracellular Ca++, it seemed that one of the novel Ca++ independent isoforms of PKC was involved.

[Elaboration of a rapid method of determining the sensitivity of Brucella to antibiotics].

Optimal conditions were developed for determination of antibiotic sensitivity in Brucella by using enzyme immunoassay directly in the primary cultures of the material tested. The Brucella concentration in the material tested should be not lower than 1.10(6) microbial cells/ml and the time of culture incubation be 24 hours at 37 degrees C.

[The possibility of creating a vaccinal strain of Brucella abortus 19-BA with multiple antibiotic resistance].

The possibility of preparing B. abortus vaccine strain 19-BA with multiresistance to antibiotics was shown. The strain was obtained by the spontaneous induction of resistance to rifampicin with the subsequent transformation of nonconjugative hybrid plasmid pOVI which, in addition to rifampicin resistance, governed the resistance of brucellae to tetracycline, doxycycline, ampicillin, and streptomycin.

[A rapid immunofluorescent method of determining the antibiotic sensitivity of brucella].

Optimal conditions for rapid assay of Brucella antibiotic sensitivity with the immunofluorescent method were developed. With this method high sensitivity of the main Brucella species to tetracycline, doxycycline and rifampicin was confirmed. It was found actually possible to use the immunofluorescent method for rapid assay of Brucella antibiotic sensitivity in practice.

[Trial of different nutrient media in studying the antibiotic sensitivity of brucellae].

The possible use of the Unimicon-s nutrient medium for determination of antibiotic sensitivity of Brucella by the methods of serial dilutions in dishes and agar diffusion with paper disks was studied. Previously this method was not used in manipulations with Brucella. The results indicated that the dry Unimicon-s nutrient medium was applicable for determination of Brucella antibiotic sensitivity.

[Use of acidic rose bengal antigen in the plate agglutination test for brucellosis in humans].

The results obtained in the study of the activity of an antigen stained with rose bengale in the plate agglutination test are presented. The analysis of 1309 serum samples from healthy persons and brucellosis patients has shown the high specificity and diagnostic sensitivity of the rose bengale test. The evaluation of the positive result of the rose bengale test should be differentiated in accordance with the degree of agglutination observed in the test.