Effect of Chain Unsaturation and Temperature on Oxygen Diffusion Through Lipid Membranes from Simulations.

Rafts are nanoscale ordered domains in biological membranes that are rich in saturated phospholipids. In this study, the influence of chain unsaturation and temperature on oxygen diffusion through lipid membranes is examined using advanced computational modeling. The studied phospholipids with increasing unsaturation are: 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC).

Membrane Permeability: Characteristic Times and Lengths for Oxygen and a Simulation-Based Test of the Inhomogeneous Solubility-Diffusion Model.

The balance of normal and radial (lateral) diffusion of oxygen in phospholipid membranes is critical for biological function. Based on the Smoluchowski equation for the inhomogeneous solubility-diffusion model, Bayesian analysis (BA) can be applied to molecular dynamics trajectories of oxygen to extract the free energy and the normal and radial diffusion profiles. This paper derives a theoretical formalism to convert these profiles into characteristic times and lengths associated with entering, escaping, or completely crossing the membrane.

The effect of the native bacterial community structure on the predictability of E. coli O157:H7 survival in manure-amended soil.

Aims: The survival capability of pathogens like Escherichia coli O157:H7 in manure-amended soil is considered to be an important factor for the likelihood of crop contamination. The aim of this study was to reveal the effects of the diversity and composition of soil bacterial community structure on the survival time (ttd) and stability (irregularity, defined as the intensity of irregular dynamic changes in a population over time) of an introduced E. coli O157:H7 gfp-strain were investigated for 36 different soils by means of bacterial PCR-DGGE fingerprints.

Manure-amended soil characteristics affecting the survival of E. coli O157:H7 in 36 Dutch soils.

The recent increase in foodborne disease associated with the consumption of fresh vegetables stresses the importance of the development of intervention strategies that minimize the risk of preharvest contamination. To identify risk factors for Escherichia coli O157:H7 persistence in soil, we studied the survival of a Shiga-toxin-deficient mutant in a set of 36 Dutch arable manure-amended soils (organic/conventional, sand/loam) and measured an array of biotic and abiotic manure-amended soil characteristics. The Weibull model, which is the cumulative form of the underlying distribution of individual inactivation kinetics, proved to be a suitable model for describing the decline of E.

Wave-like distribution patterns of gfp-marked Pseudomonas fluorescens along roots of wheat plants grown in two soils.

Culturable rhizosphere bacterial communities had been shown to exhibit wave-like distribution patterns along wheat roots. In the current work we show, for the first time, significant wave-like oscillations of an individual bacterial strain, the biocontrol agent Pseudomonas fluorescens 32 marked with gfp, along 3-week-old wheat roots in a conventionally managed and an organically managed soil. Significant wave-like fluctuations were observed for colony forming units (CFUs) on selective media and direct fluorescent counts under the microscope.

Prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli stx1, stx2, eaeA, and rfbE genes and survival of E. coli O157:H7 in manure from organic and low-input conventional dairy farms.

Manure samples were collected from 16 organic (ORG) and 9 low-input conventional (LIC) Dutch dairy farms during August and September 2004 to determine the prevalence of the STEC virulence genes stx(1) (encoding Shiga toxin 1), stx(2) (encoding Shiga toxin 2), and eaeA (encoding intimin), as well as the rfbE gene, which is specific for Escherichia coli O157. The rfbE gene was present at 52% of the farms. The prevalence of rfbE was higher at ORG farms (61%) than at LIC farms (36%), but this was not significant.

DGGE fragments oscillate with or counter to fluctuations in cultivable bacteria along wheat roots.

Previously, we showed that bacterial populations oscillate in response to a moving substrate source such as a root tip, resulting in moving wavelike distributions along roots. For this article, we investigated if bacterial communities fluctuate as a whole or if there is a succession in bacterial composition from peak to peak or within peaks. Rhizosphere microbial communities along roots of wheat Triticum aestivum L.

Effects of cattle feeding regimen and soil management type on the fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium in manure, manure-amended soil, and lettuce.

Survival of the green fluorescent protein-transformed human pathogens Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was studied in a laboratory-simulated lettuce production chain. Dairy cows were fed three different roughage types: high-digestible grass silage plus maize silage (6:4), low-digestible grass silage, and straw. Each was adjusted with supplemental concentrates to high and low crude protein levels.

The effects of graded doses of 1 MeV fission neutrons or X rays on the murine hematopoietic stroma.

The acute radiosensitivity in vivo of the murine hematopoietic stroma for 1 MeV fission neutrons or 300 kVp X rays was determined. Two different assays were used: (1) an in vitro clonogenic assay for fibroblast precursor cells (CFU-F) and (2) subcutaneous grafting of femora or spleens. The number of stem cells (CFU-S) or precursor cells (CFU-C), which repopulated the subcutaneous implants, was used to measure the ability of the stroma to support hemopoiesis.

Role of endogenous thiols in protection.

Aminothiols represent the most important group of radioprotective compounds. The most effective compounds administered at an optimal dose and time before irradiation are able to provide a protection in mice with a dose reduction factor (DRF) of about 2-2.5.

The effects of x-irradiation on hematopoietic stem cell compartments in the mouse.

The sensitivity for x-irradiation of a series of hematopoietic stem cell populations has been determined. The most primitive cells identified, cells with marrow-repopulating ability (MRA), showed the highest degree of radioresistance. These MRA cells which generate many secondary day-twelve spleen colony-forming units (MRA[CFU-S-12]) or colony-forming units in culture (MRA[CFU-C]) in the marrow of primary recipients had Do values equal to 1.

Developments in modern hematology.

In the past 40 years our concepts about hemopoiesis have been changed dramatically. The results of bone marrow transplantation into lethally irradiated mice since the mid-fifties suggested the existence of a hemopoietic stem cell, which was initially identified as a spleen colony forming cell (CFU-S). Later experiments showed that the stem cell compartment is rather heterogeneous and that the most primitive stem cell, unlike the CFU-S, has the ability for long-term engraftment of an irradiated recipient.

Effects and consequences of prenatal irradiation.

After a brief introduction about the historic development of risk estimates and maximum permissible doses of ionizing radiation, the risks of prenatal irradiation are discussed. Experimental data mainly obtained with mice indicate that the most important risk exists during the period of organogenesis and concerns the induction of malformations. Although in man this period lies between about 10 and 80 days after fertilization for most organs, the main development of the brain occurs later, namely between the 8th and 15th week after conception.

Radioprotection by glutathione esters and cysteamine in normal and glutathione-depleted mammalian cells.

Monoethyl (MEE) and diethyl (DEE) esters of glutathione (GSH) had the capacity to provide some protection of normal and buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) pretreated cells against X-irradiation. Both compounds appeared to be transported through the cell membrane into the cells. MEE was intracellularly partly hydrolysed to GSH and caused a limited rise of intracellular GSH.

The influence of oxygen on the induction of radiation damage in DNA in mammalian cells after sensitization by intracellular glutathione depletion.

Treatment of mammalian cells with buthionine sulphoximine (BSO) or diethyl maleate (DEM) results in a decrease in the intracellular GSH (glutathione) and non-protein-bound SH (NPSH) levels. The effect of depletion of GSH and NPSH on radiosensitivity was studied in relation to the concentration of oxygen during irradiation. Single- and double-strand breaks (ssb and dsb) and cell killing were used as criteria for radiation damage.

Reduction of intracellular glutathione content and radiosensitivity.

The intracellular glutathione (GSH) content of HeLa, CHO and V79 cells was reduced by incubating the cells in growth medium containing buthionine sulphoximine or diethyl maleate (DEM). Clonogenicity, single-strand DNA breaks (ssb) and double-strand DNA breaks (dsb) were used as criteria for radiation-induced damage after X- or gamma-irradiation. In survival experiments, DEM gave a slightly larger sensitization although it gave a smaller reduction of the intracellular GSH.

Regulation of Respiration in the Leaves and Roots of Two Lolium perenne Populations with Contrasting Mature Leaf Respiration Rates and Crop Yields.

Measurements of O(2) uptake were made on leaves and roots of two populations of Lolium perenne L. cv S23 (GL66 and GL72), previously shown to have contrasting rates of CO(2) evolution and yields of dry matter. O(2) uptake was faster in the mature leaves of GL66 than those of GL72, but no difference was observed in the respiratory rates of meristematic leaf bases or mature roots.

Effects of BSO and DEM on thiol-level and radiosensitivity in HeLa cells.

Reduction of the intracellular GSH and NPSH levels in HeLa cells by BSO and DEM treatments was determined. The effect of a 16 to 22 hr incubation with BSO at 37 degrees C, resulting in a depletion of GSH and NPSH to about 10 and 50%, respectively, and the effect of a 50 min incubation with DEM resulting in a reduction of GSH and NPSH to about 30 and 60%, respectively, on radiation sensitivity were studied. As parameters for radiation damage, single and double strand DNA breaks (ssb and dsb) and cell killing were used.

Protection against X-irradiation by some orally administered compounds.

A number of compounds were studied that protected mice against LD50/30 after X-irradiation. For three compounds (WR 109342, WR 158490 and WR 159243) dose reduction factors between 1.7 and 1.

Short- and long-term effects of whole-body irradiation with fission neutrons or X rays on the thymus in CBA mice.

Young adult (6 weeks old) female CBA mice were exposed to whole-body irradiation with either 2.5-Gy fast fission neutrons of 1 MeV mean energy or 6.0-Gy 300 kVp X rays at centerline dose rates of 0.

Restoration of hemopoiesis by CFU-S from different backgrounds in the mouse.

Liver from 14 day-old fetuses, bone marrow, spleen, and blood from normal adult mice, and bone marrow, spleen, blood, and liver from adult endotoxin (ET)-treated mice were used for isogeneic hemopoietic restoration in lethally whole-body irradiated mice. The number of CFU-S required to prevent 50% mortality of irradiated mice was about 3 for fetal liver, 7-10 for bone marrow, 20 for normal blood and for blood, liver, and spleen of ET-treated mice, and 80 for spleen of normal mice. CFU-S growth curves in femoral bone marrow and spleen showed some variations but the differences in survival of irradiated and protected mice could not easily be explained by differences in CFU-S growth curves.

Genetic control of lipopolysaccharide-induced mobilization of CFUs. Dissociation between early and delayed mobilization of CFUs in complement C5-deficient mice and LPS non-responder mice.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mobilization of CFUs from haemopoietic tissues into the circulation has a biphasic pattern. The first rise occurs within 30 min of LPS injection, the second 4-7 days later. This second rise coincides with an increase of the CFUs number in the spleen from about 3000 to about 50,000.

Radioprotection by thiazolidines at the cellular level.

Radioprotection by a number of thiazolidine derivatives was studied in vitro. Reproductive integrity of single cells was used as a parameter for survival after irradiation. Thiazolidine itself did not protect when dissolved in culture medium, but a good protective activity was found when it was dissolved in rat blood.