[Genetic aspects of digestive diseases. Part 1].

The paper presents the data available in the literature on mutations in known genes in pancreatitis, such as cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1), pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI/SPINK1), cystic fibrosis (CFTR), and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genes, as well as the new candidate gene--chymotrypsinogen (CTRC). It also gives the results of the authors studies estimating the spread of the mutations in the PRSS1 (2.5%), PSTI/SPINK1 (3.

DFT study of nitroxide radicals: explicit modeling of solvent effects on the structural and electronic characteristics of 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-N-oxyl.

An explicit DFT modeling of water surroundings on the electron paramagnetic resonance properties of 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-N-oxyl (TA) has been performed. A stepwise hydration of TA is accompanied with certain changes in geometrical parameters (bond lengths and angles) and redistribution of partial electric charges in TA. An aqueous cluster of 45 water molecules can be considered as an appropriate model for a complete aqueous shell around TA, although most of the structural and electronic characteristics of TA already converge at about 10 water molecules.

Ancient DNA analyses exclude humans as the driving force behind late Pleistocene musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) population dynamics.

The causes of the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions are poorly understood. Different lines of evidence point to climate change, the arrival of humans, or a combination of these events as the trigger. Although many species went extinct, others, such as caribou and bison, survived to the present.

Monodisperse, high refractive index, highly charged ZnS colloids self assemble into crystalline colloidal arrays.

We developed an efficient synthesis of monodisperse, highly surface charged, high refractive index ZnS spherical particles by using a gel-sol method. Concentrated solutions of zinc-ammonia-NTA (nitrilotriacetic acid) were reacted with thioacetamide in the presence of gelatin which stabilized the growing particles. We dramatically increased the particle surface charge density by condensing silica and silylated phosphonate groups on the particle surface.

Charge stabilized crystalline colloidal arrays as templates for fabrication of non-close-packed inverted photonic crystals.

We developed a straightforward method to form non-close-packed highly ordered fcc direct and inverse opal silica photonic crystals. We utilize an electrostatically self assembled crystalline colloidal array (CCA) template formed by monodisperse, highly charged polystyrene particles. We then polymerize a hydrogel around the CCA (PCCA) and condense silica to form a highly ordered silica impregnated (siPCCA) photonic crystal.

MccE provides resistance to protein synthesis inhibitor microcin C by acetylating the processed form of the antibiotic.

The heptapeptide-nucleotide microcin C (McC) is a potent inhibitor of enteric bacteria growth. McC is excreted from producing cells by the MccC transporter. The residual McC that remains in the producing cell can be processed by cellular aminopeptidases with the release of a non-hydrolyzable aspartyl-adenylate, a strong inhibitor of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase.

[Lithogenicity of bile and serum lipoproteins (A) in cholelitiasis in women].

Blood serum Lp (a) level's increasing accompanied significant rising of gallbladder bile lithogenicity in the women with gallstone disease (GSD) with verified cholesterol gallstones. Apolipoprotein (a) (Apo (a)) isoforms B, S1 (most atherogenic) frequency in the women with GSD was significantly higher, and isoforms Apo (a) 0, S4 - significantly lower than in the women in control group without GSD. Gallbladder bile was significantly more lithogenic in the women with GSD who had Apo (a) B and S1 isoforms than in women with GSD with isoforms Apo (a) 0 and S4.

[pH-dependent regulation of electron transport in chloroplasts. Computer simulation investigation].

A mathematical model for the description of the key stages of photosynthetic electron transport and transmembrane proton transfer in chloroplasts is presented. Numerical modeling of electron and proton transport with due regard for regulatory processes on the donor and acceptor sites of photosystem I (PS I) was performed. The influence of pH-dependent activation of the Calvin cycle enzymes and energy dissipation in PS II (nonphotochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence) on the kinetics of light-reduced redox transients of P700, plastoquinone and NADPH, as well as intrathylakoid pH(in), and ATP was studied.

[Slow fluorescence induction and CO2-exchange in bean leaves treated with Reynoutria sachalinensis extract].

It has been shown that the treatment of bean seedlings with a water extract of Reynoutria sachalinensis increases visible photosynthesis and the activity of dark respiration of plants. The increase in CO2-uptake under relatively high light illumination (10000 1x) correlates with an increase in the fluorescence parameter (F(M) - F(T))/F(T).

[F1-ATPase as a self-excited oscillatory system].

A mathematical model for F1-type ATPase is presented, which shows that this enzyme can operate as a self-excited oscillatory system.

[Lipoprotein(a)--a new independent cholelithiasis risk factor?].

Aim: To study the level of lipoprotein(a)--Lp(a) in the blood serum and incidence of isoforms of apolipoprotein(a)--apo(a) in males and females with cholelithiasis and free of it in population of Novosibirsk; to assess possible correlations between Lp(a) level in the blood, apo(a) isoforms and bile lithogenicity in females with cholesterol cholelithiasis.

Material And Methods: Examination of the representative samples of 870 females aged 25-64 years and 405 males aged 35-54 years has detected cholelithiasis in 91 females and 19 males.

Results: Serum levels of Lp(a) are associated with cholelithiasis.

Ion-size effect at the surface of a silica hydrosol.

Using synchrotron x-ray reflectivity, I studied the ion-size effect for alkali ions (Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), and Cs(+)), with densities as high as 4x10(18)-7x10(18) m(-2), suspended above the surface of a colloidal solution of silica nanoparticles in the field generated by the surface electric-double layer. I found that large alkali ions preferentially accumulate and replace smaller ones at the surface of the hydrosol, a result qualitatively agreeing with the dependence of the Kharkats-Ulstrup single-ion electrostatic free energy on the ion's radius.

Extensive antibody cross-reactivity among infectious gram-negative bacteria revealed by proteome microarray analysis.

Antibodies provide a sensitive indicator of proteins displayed by bacteria during sepsis. Because signals produced by infection are naturally amplified during the antibody response, host immunity can be used to identify biomarkers for proteins that are present at levels currently below detectable limits. We developed a microarray comprising approximately 70% of the 4066 proteins contained within the Yersinia pestis proteome to identify antibody biomarkers distinguishing plague from infections caused by other bacterial pathogens that may initially present similar clinical symptoms.

Sequencing the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth.

In 1994, two independent groups extracted DNA from several Pleistocene epoch mammoths and noted differences among individual specimens. Subsequently, DNA sequences have been published for a number of extinct species. However, such ancient DNA is often fragmented and damaged, and studies to date have typically focused on short mitochondrial sequences, never yielding more than a fraction of a per cent of any nuclear genome.

Oxygen as an alternative electron acceptor in the photosynthetic electron transport chain of C3 plants.

This study deals with effects of oxygen on the kinetics of P(700) photoinduced redox transitions and on induction transients of chlorophyll fluorescence in leaves of C(3) plants Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and Vicia faba. It is shown that the removal of oxygen from the leaf environment has a conspicuous effect on photosynthetic electron transport. Under anaerobic conditions, the concentration of oxidized P700 centers in continuous white light was substantially lower than under aerobic conditions.

[Molecular genetic analysis of wild soybean (Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.) population structure in anthropogenic and natural landscapes of Primorskii krai].

The data are presented on genetic population structure of wild soybean growing in natural and anthropogenically disturbed landscapes of Primorskii krai of the Russian Federation. Comparative analysis showed that wild soybean populations exposed to anthropogenic influence exhibited lower genetic diversity than natural populations. Recommendations on conservation of the wild plant gene pools using comparative data on population genetic structures are made.

Analysis of the human immune response to vaccinia by use of a novel protein microarray suggests that antibodies recognize less than 10% of the total viral proteome.

Control of smallpox by mass vaccination was one of the most effective public health measures ever employed for eradicating a devastating infectious disease. However, new methods are needed for monitoring smallpox immunity within current vulnerable populations, and for the development of replacement vaccines for use by immunocompromized or low-responding individuals. As a measure for achieving this goal, we developed a protein microarray of the vaccinia virus proteome by using high-throughput baculovirus expression and purification of individual elements.

Out of America: ancient DNA evidence for a new world origin of late quaternary woolly mammoths.

Although the iconic mammoth of the Late Pleistocene, the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), has traditionally been regarded as the end point of a single anagenetically evolving lineage, recent paleontological and molecular studies have shown that successive allopatric speciation events must have occurred within Pleistocene Mammuthus in Asia, with subsequent expansion and hybridization between nominal taxa [1, 2]. However, the role of North American mammoth populations in these events has not been adequately explored from an ancient-DNA standpoint. To undertake this task, we analyzed mtDNA from a large data set consisting of mammoth samples from across Holarctica (n = 160) and representing most of radiocarbon time.

Intraspecific phylogenetic analysis of Siberian woolly mammoths using complete mitochondrial genomes.

We report five new complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes of Siberian woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), sequenced with up to 73-fold coverage from DNA extracted from hair shaft material. Three of the sequences present the first complete mtDNA genomes of mammoth clade II. Analysis of these and 13 recently published mtDNA genomes demonstrates the existence of two apparently sympatric mtDNA clades that exhibit high interclade divergence.

Light diffraction from colloidal crystals with low dielectric constant modulation: Simulations using single-scattering theory.

We theoretically characterized the diffraction properties of both closed-packed and non-closed-packed crystalline colloidal array (CCA) photonic crystals. A general theory based on single-scattering kinematic approach was developed and used to calculate the diffraction efficiency of CCA of different sphere diameters at different incident light angles. Our theory explicitly relates the scattering properties of individual spheres (calculated by using Mie theory) comprising a CCA to the CCA diffraction efficiency.

Spin-probes designed for measuring the intrathylakoid pH in chloroplasts.

Nitroxide radicals are widely used as molecular probes in different fields of chemistry and biology. In this work, we describe pH-sensitive imidazoline- and imidazolidine-based nitroxides with pK values in the range 4.7-7.

Molecular ordering and phase behavior of surfactants at water-oil interfaces as probed by X-ray surface scattering.

Surfactants have their primary utility, both scientific and industrial, at the liquid-liquid interface. We review recent X-ray surface scattering experiments that probe the molecular ordering and phase behavior of surfactants at the water-oil interface. The presence of the oil modifies the interfacial ordering in a manner that cannot be understood simply from analogies with studies of Langmuir monolayers of surfactants at the water-vapor interface or from the traditional view that the solvent is fully mixed with the interfacial surfactants.

[Effects of light-induced changes in pH of stroma and lumen on the kinetics of electron transport in chloroplasts. A mathematical model].

A mathematical model for the description of electron and proton transport in chloroplasts of higher plants has been developed. The model takes into account the light-induced changes in the pH values of stroma (pH(o)) and intrathylakoid lumen (pH(i)), electron transport from photosystem 2 (PS2) to NADP+, a terminal electron acceptor of photosystem 1 (PS1), ATP synthesis from ADP and P(i) coupled to the transmembrane proton flow, and the consumption of NADPH and ATP in the Calvin cycle reactions. The effects of the light-induced changes in the values of pH(i) and pH(o) on the rates of electron flow on the plastoquinone segment of electron transport chain and on the acceptor side of PS1 allowed us to describe some peculiarities of the complex kinetics of electron transport in intact chloroplasts.