Phytic acid as a potential treatment for alzheimer's pathology: evidence from animal and in vitro models.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes progressive, age-dependent cortical and hippocampal dysfunction leading to abnormal intellectual capacity and memory. We propose a novel protective treatment for AD pathology with phytic acid (inositol hexakisphosphate), a phytochemical found in food grains and a key signaling molecule in mammalian cells. We evaluated the protective and beneficial effects of phytic acid against amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology in MC65 cells and the Tg2576 mouse model.

DNA sequence conservation between the Bacillus anthracis pXO2 plasmid and genomic sequence from closely related bacteria.

Background: Complete sequencing and annotation of the 96.2 kb Bacillus anthracis plasmid, pXO2, predicted 85 open reading frames (ORFs). Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis isolates that ranged in genomic similarity to B.

Bacillus anthracis pXO1 plasmid sequence conservation among closely related bacterial species.

The complete sequencing and annotation of the 181.7-kb Bacillus anthracis virulence plasmid pXO1 predicted 143 genes but could only assign putative functions to 45. Hybridization assays, PCR amplification, and DNA sequencing were used to determine whether pXO1 open reading frame (ORF) sequences were present in other bacilli and more distantly related bacterial genera.