Proteomic analysis of human sperm reveals changes in protamine 1 phosphorylation in men with infertility.

Objective: To perform a comprehensive assessment of protamine (P) isoforms and modifications in human sperm with the aim of identifying how P modifications and isoforms are altered in men with reduced sperm motility and low sperm count.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Academic medical center.

A Critical Evaluation of Detergent Exchange Methodologies for Membrane Protein Native Mass Spectrometry.

Membrane proteins (MPs) play many critical roles in cellular physiology and constitute the majority of current pharmaceutical targets. However, MPs are comparatively understudied relative to soluble proteins due to the challenges associated with their solubilization in membrane mimetics. Native mass spectrometry (nMS) has emerged as a useful technique to probe the structures of MPs.

Development of an Automated, High-Throughput Methodology for Native Mass Spectrometry and Collision-Induced Unfolding.

Native ion mobility mass spectrometry (nIM-MS) has emerged as a useful technology for the rapid evaluation of biomolecular structures. When combined with collisional activation in a collision-induced unfolding (CIU) experiment, nIM-MS experimentation can be leveraged to gain greater insight into biomolecular conformation and stability. However, nIM-MS and CIU remain throughput limited due to nonautomated sample preparation and introduction.

Infrared Photoactivation Enables Improved Native Top-Down Mass Spectrometry of Transmembrane Proteins.

Membrane proteins are often challenging targets for native top-down mass spectrometry experimentation. The requisite use of membrane mimetics to solubilize such proteins necessitates the application of supplementary activation methods to liberate protein ions prior to sequencing, which typically limits the sequence coverage achieved. Recently, infrared photoactivation has emerged as an alternative to collisional activation for the liberation of membrane proteins from surfactant micelles.

Collision Induced Unfolding Enables the Quantitation of Isomass Biotherapeutics in Complex Biological Matrices.

Quantitative mass spectrometry has been widely used to evaluate the concentrations of molecules within a variety of biological matrices. Typically, such quantitative mass spectrometry analyses are predicated upon the production of mass-resolved precursor or fragment ions, leading to challenges surrounding the quantification of isomeric or conformationally distinct analytes. As such, new approaches are required for the label-free quantification of isomass proteins.

BoGH13A from Bacteroides ovatus represents a novel α-amylase used for Bacteroides starch breakdown in the human gut.

Members of the Bacteroidetes phylum in the human colon deploy an extensive number of proteins to capture and degrade polysaccharides. Operons devoted to glycan breakdown and uptake are termed polysaccharide utilization loci or PUL. The starch utilization system (Sus) is one such PUL and was initially described in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt).

Performance evaluation of in-source ion activation hardware for collision-induced unfolding of proteins and protein complexes on a drift tube ion mobility-mass spectrometer.

Native ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) has emerged as an information-rich technique for gas phase protein structure characterization; however, IM resolution is currently insufficient for the detection of subtle structural differences in large biomolecules. This challenge has spurred the development of collision-induced unfolding (CIU) which utilizes incremental gas phase activation to unfold a protein in order to expand the number of measurable descriptors available for native protein ions. Although CIU is now routinely used in native mass spectrometry studies, the interlaboratory reproducibility of CIU has not been established.

Ion mobility-mass spectrometry reveals the role of peripheral myelin protein dimers in peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral myelin protein (PMP22) is an integral membrane protein that traffics inefficiently even in wild-type (WT) form, with only 20% of the WT protein reaching its final plasma membrane destination in myelinating Schwann cells. Misfolding of PMP22 has been identified as a key factor in multiple peripheral neuropathies, including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and Dejerine-Sottas syndrome. While biophysical analyses of disease-associated PMP22 mutants show altered protein stabilities, leading to reduced surface trafficking and loss of PMP22 function, it remains unclear how destabilization of PMP22 mutations causes mistrafficking.

Improving Rice Grain Quality: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects.

Rice grain quality encompasses complex interrelated traits that cover biochemical composition, cooking, eating, nutritional, and sensory properties. Because rice endosperm is composed mainly of starch, rice grain quality is traditionally defined by characterizing starch structure and composition, which is then subsequently correlated with functional properties of the grain. The current proxy tests routinely used to describe rice grain quality preferences are rather limited to the estimation of apparent amylose content, gelatinization temperature, and gel consistency.

The effect of apparent amylose content and dietary fibre on the glycemic response of different varieties of cooked milled and brown rice.

Brown rice is a good source of dietary fibre (DF) and contains higher vitamins/minerals than milled rice. The study determined the effect of amylose content (AC) and DF on glucose response (GR) from different varieties of milled and brown rice. Milled and brown rice were used as test foods.

Iron absorption from brown rice/brown rice-based meal and milled rice/milled rice-based meal.

Background: Milled rice is the staple food among Filipinos and is mostly consumed three times a day. Rice as a source of iron could therefore have an important role in the existing 37% prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia in the country. Previous iron absorption studies in Filipinos from rice and rice-based meals were carried out on milled rice but no research was done on brown rice of the same variety.

Bioavailability of zinc from cooked philippine milled, undermilled, and brown rice, as assessed in rats by using growth, bone zinc, and zinc-65 retention.

The nutritional bioavailability of zinc from cooked milled, undermilled, and brown Philippine rice (variety PSB Rc14) was evaluated in rats, comparing results based on weight gain, tibia zinc incorporation (slope ratio analyses), and zinc radiotracer retention. Milling reduced the phytic acid and mineral content of the rice, resulting in zinc concentrations of 16.5, 19.

Comparison of key aroma compounds in cooked brown rice varieties based on aroma extract dilution analyses.

The aroma compounds present in cooked brown rice of the three varieties Improved Malagkit Sungsong (IMS), Basmati 370 (B 370), and Khaskhani (KK), and of the variety Indica (German supermarket sample), were identified on the basis of aroma extract dilution analyses (AEDA). A total of 41 odor-active compounds were identified, of which eleven are reported for the first time as rice constituents. 2-Amino acetophenone (medicinal, phenolic), which was up to now unknown in rice aroma, exhibited the highest flavor dilution (FD) factor among the 30 to 39 odor-active compounds detected in all four varieties.

Classification of cultivated rices into indica and japonica types by the isozyme, RFLP and two milled-rice methods.

Four methods for classifying cultivated rices (Oryza sativa L.) (including IR varieties) into indica and japonica types - waxy gene product in endosperm starch, glutelin α3 molecular weight in milled rice, RFLP polymorphism at the Wx locus and Glaszmann's isozyme method - were compared. On the basis of the two endosperm traits and the RFLP method Glaszmann's group 1 (indica) was classified as mainly indica and intermediate groups 2, 3 and 4 as exclusively indica.

Protein and lysine digestibility and protein quality of cooked Filipino rice diets and milled rice in growing rats.

The protein quality of typical rice-based menu of Filipino preschool child and adult and cooked milled rice was assessed for true digestibility (TD), biological value (BV) and net protein utilization (NPU) in growing rats. Lysine and energy digestibilities were also determined. For the preschool child diet, TD was 88.

Rice varieties with similar amylose content differ in starch digestibility and glycemic response in humans.

Three high-amylose rice varieties, IR42, IR36, and IR62, with similar chemical composition including amylose content (26.7-27.0%), were cooked under the same conditions and tested for in vitro digestibility as well as blood glucose and insulin responses in healthy human volunteers.

Olfactory sensitivity of two sympatric species of rice leaf folders (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to plant volatiles.

Electroantennograms (EAGs) were recorded from male and female moths of two sympatric leaf folder species,Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Gue-née) andMarasmia patnalis Bradley (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to 91 volatile chemicals of plant origin. Responses of both leaf folder species were similar to all compounds except to three monoterpenes-β-myrcene, menthone, and isomenthone- and two sesquiterpenes-cis-nerolidol and isophytol. Response ofM.

Effects of nitrogen fertilizer treatment and source and season on grain quality of IR64 rice.

The effects of nitrogen fertilizer treatment and source (prilled urea, urea supergranule, fresh azolla, rice straw or sesbania or rice straw compost and their combinations) on grain quality were studied in the 1987 crops of variety IR64 at IRRI. Although fertilizer application improved grain yield, it improved protein content only in the case of urea supergranule, azolla and rice straw. Lysine contents of brown rice protein were similar in samples with no N fertilizer and those with the highest protein content in both seasons.

Effect of saline soil on grain quality of rices differing in salinity tolerance.

Four varieties of rice, differing in salinity tolerance and grown in saline soil (electrical conductivity 5-6 dS/m) at Sadhoke, Punjab, Pakistan, had lighter grain and higher Na content than control samples. Grains of three out of the four rices grown on saline soils had higher brown rice protein (higher nutritional value), less translucent grain, lower starch and amylose content, and lower K than their control samples, but these differences were not related to salinity tolerance. Alkali spreading value and gel consistency were not affected by culture in saline soil.

Grain quality characteristics of rice in Madagascar retail markets.

A survey of rice in retail markets of Madagascar with emphasis on the surplus regions of Marovoay and Lac Alaotra and the deficient area, Antananarivo City showed rices of Madagascar to be predominantly medium-long, medium-shaped, with high apparent amylose content, low gelatinization temperature, and soft, hard or medium gel consistency. Mean protein content was 7.5%.

Grain quality of rices grown in irrigated and upland cultures.

Upland culture of nine varieties at Ivory Coast resulted in decreases in grain weight, brown and milled rice translucency, Chroma meter L* of rough rice, Chroma meter L* and b* of milled rice, milled rice protein, and Amylograph peak viscosity, and in increases in total phenolics of hull and brown rice, and Chroma meter a* of rough, brown, and milled rice of 5 to 8 of the varieties as compared with irrigated culture. Upland culture had no consistent effect on grain resistance to Angoumois grain moth (Sitotraga cerealella).

Properties of Thai cooked rice and noodles differing in glycemic index in noninsulin-dependent diabetics.

Glycemic index responses of two cooked rices and six types of cooked noodles consumed by eight noninsulin-dependent diabetics correlated positively with in vitro starch digestibility of food slurry and negatively with amylose content of the food. Glutinous (waxy) rice had the highest values, and mung bean noodles the lowest.

Variability in contents of thiamine and riboflavin in brown rice, crude oil in brown rice and bran-polish, and silicon in hull of IR rices.

Among 30 IR varieties, variety had greater effect on thiamine content of brown rice than season. Both season and variety affected riboflavin content. Purple- and red-pericarped Philippines rices had higher riboflavin and crude protein contents than IR rices.

Genetic analysis of waxy locus in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Inheritance of waxy locus was studied in crosses of a waxy variety with four non-waxy parents having high-, intermediate-, low- or very low-amylose content. The analysis for amylose content was done on a single grain basis in parents, F1, F2, B1F1, and B2F1 seeds. The waxy parent lacking synthesis of amylose content was found to differ from the ones having high-, intermediate-, low- or very low-amylose content by one gene with major effect.

Protein and energy utilization of boiled rice-legume diets and boiled cereals in growing rats.

In growing rats, boiled milled rice-legume diets (2:1 N ratio) had lower energy digestibility than boiled milled rice and equal if not better true digestibility, biological value, and net protein utilization (NPU). Rice-soybean diets showed better NPU than the other rice-legume diets. Boiled whole-grain corn and sorghum had lower digestible energy and NPU than boiled milled rice.