Survey of diagnostic and treatment practices for multiple sclerosis in Russian Federation in comparison to European data.

Introduction: The data of the survey of European (EU) neurologists on the methods of diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis in Europe were compared with the data of the similar survey of neurologists of the Russian Federation (RF).

Method: Seventy-five neurologists specialized in MS from RF completed questionnaires on radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS), clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting (RRMS), secondary progressive (SPMS), and primary progressive (PPMS) multiple sclerosis.

Results: In the case of RIS, only 46% of neurologists from the RF recommended CSF analysis for oligoclonal IgG and only 54.

[Isolation and structure of novel peptide inhibitor of HIV-1 integrase from marine polychaetes].

A homogeneous peptide with m683 Da which inhibits HIV-1 integrase with IC50 3 x 10(-5) M was separated from aqueous extracts of marine worm Eunicidae sp. by multi-stage chromatography purification. The structure Asp-Leu-Hse-His-Ala-G1n was proposed for this peptide according to the amino acid analysis, automated amino acid Edman sequencing, TLC with the witness and homoserine MS/MS fragmentation.

[Epidemiological characteristics of multiple sclerosis in Russia].

An increase in multiple sclerosis (MS) frequency was registered in several countries including Russia. This may be associated with better MS diagnosis and treatment, better data collection and real increase in MS incidence. Previous local studies sometimes were based on mainly hospital cases, so the real prevalence was underestimated.

Substitution of leucine 28 with histidine in the Escherichia coli transcription factor FNR results in increased stability of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster to oxygen.

To understand the role of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster in controlling the activity of the Escherichia coli transcription factor FNR (fumarate nitrate reduction) during changes in O(2) availability, we have characterized a mutant FNR protein containing a substitution of Leu-28 with His (FNR-L28H) which, unlike its wild type (WT) counterpart, is functional under aerobic growth conditions. The His-28 substitution appears to stabilize the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster of FNR-L28H in the presence of O(2) because air-exposed FNR-L28H did not undergo the rapid [4Fe-4S](2+) to [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster conversion or concomitant loss in site-specific DNA binding and dimerization, which are characteristic of WT-FNR under these conditions. This increased cluster stability was not a result of His-28 replacing the WT-FNR cluster ligands because substitution of any of these four Cys residues (cysteine 20, 23, 29, or 122) with Ser resulted in [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster-deficient preparations of FNR-L28H.

Iron-sulfur cluster disassembly in the FNR protein of Escherichia coli by O2: [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] conversion with loss of biological activity.

The transcription factor FNR (fumarate nitrate reduction) requires the presence of an iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster for its function as a global transcription regulator in Escherichia coli when oxygen becomes scarce. To define the oxidation state and type of Fe-S cluster present in the active form of FNR, we have studied anaerobically purified FNR with Mössbauer spectroscopy. Our data showed that this form of FNR contained a [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster (delta = 0.