DDIT4 promotes erythroid differentiation and coordinates with SIPA1 to regulate erythroid proliferation in bone marrow of high altitude erythrocytosis.

Erythrocytosis moderately enhances the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and is considered a characteristic response of individuals adapting from low-altitude regions to high-altitude regions. Nevertheless, erythrocytosis can also turn excessive and result in maladaptive syndromes, such as high altitude polycythemia (HAPC). The increased differentiation or proliferation of erythroid cells in the bone marrow may be a crucial factor leading to accumulation of peripheral erythroid cells.

Pupillary Light Reflex and Multimodal Imaging in Patients With Central Serous Chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the corresponding alterations of the pupillary response between acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and between different disease categories.

Methods: We recruited patients with unilateral acute and chronic CSC. An eye tracker was applied to determine the pupillary light reflex (PLR) and evaluate the following PLR metrics in healthy eyes: pupil diameter, diameter changes, including relative constriction amplitude (AMP%), and re-dilation ratio (D1%).

Macular hole and vitreous hemorrhage subsequent to stereotactic hypofractionated radiotherapy for choroidal melanoma: A case report and review of the literature.

Choroidal melanoma is the leading primary intraocular tumor with potentially fatal outcomes in adults. The coexistence of choroidal melanoma and a macular hole is extremely rare, and treatment strategies and information on the prognosis of associated complications are currently lacking. We report the first case of choroidal melanoma complicated with a macular hole and vitreous hemorrhage after stereotactic hypofractionated radiotherapy in Japan, and review the relevant literature in relation to the possible mechanisms, treatment strategies, and outcomes.

Pupillary Responses Reveal Autonomic Regulation Impairments in Patients With Central Serous Chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: This study assessed the autonomic nervous system in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) by simultaneously measuring pupillary responses and heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: We recruited 33 patients with CSC and 26 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Using a pupillometry and acceleration plethysmography system, we measured the participants' pupillary light reflex and HRV simultaneously, and compared the following parameters between the two groups: the pupil diameters, diameter changes, and time and frequency domain HRV indices (high frequency power: HF; low frequency power: LF; log LF/HF ratio).

A multicentre study of the risk factors associated with recurrence of central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To investigate potential clinical and multimodal imaging factors in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) recurrence.

Methods: The study was performed at nine Japanese medical institutions for patients who had experienced an active CSC episode. Demographic data and medical history were reviewed retrospectively.

Risk factors and characteristics of central serous chorioretinopathy with later development of macular neovascularisation detected on OCT angiography: a retrospective multicentre observational study.

Objective: To identify the risk factors and characteristics of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) with subsequent macular neovascularisation (MNV) detected on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods And Analysis: We included patients from six institutions who were initially diagnosed with CSC and subsequently did or did not develop MNV detected by OCTA. Potential influencing factors were identified by evaluating the patients' baseline demographics, multimodal fundus imaging, treatment options, recurrence and outcomes in both groups.

Comparative analysis of miRNAs of two rapeseed genotypes in response to acetohydroxyacid synthase-inhibiting herbicides by high-throughput sequencing.

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), also called acetolactate synthase, is a key enzyme involved in the first step of the biosynthesis of the branched-chain amino acids valine, isoleucine and leucine. Acetohydroxyacid synthase-inhibiting herbicides (AHAS herbicides) are five chemical families of herbicides that inhibit AHAS enzymes, including imidazolinones (IMI), sulfonylureas (SU), pyrimidinylthiobenzoates, triazolinones and triazolopyrimidines. Five AHAS genes have been identified in rapeseed, but little information is available regarding the role of miRNAs in response to AHAS herbicides.

Polymorphism of flucloxacillin sodium.

The polymorphism of flucloxacillin sodium has not been discussed sufficiently so far. Flucloxacillin sodium which was crystallized with different solvents, was found to exist in amorphism and three crystal forms (I, II, III). This results were confirmed by infra-red (IR) spectra, thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and equilibrium solubility.

Mutation of a conserved tryptophan in the chitin-binding cleft of Serratia marcescens chitinase A enhances transglycosylation.

Family 18 chitinases have the signature peptide DGXDXDXE forming the fourth beta-strand in the (beta/alpha)8-barrel of their catalytic domain. The carboxyl-end glutamic acid, E315 in Serratia marcescens chitinase A, serves as the acid/base during chitin hydrolysis, and the side-chain of the preceding aspartic acid, D313, helps to position correctly the N-acetyl moiety of the glycosyl sugar undergoing hydrolysis. Chitin substrates are bound within a long cleft across the top of the barrel, whose floor consists of aromatic residues that hydrophobically stack with every other GlcNAc.

The hyperthermophile protein Sso10a is a dimer of winged helix DNA-binding domains linked by an antiparallel coiled coil rod.

Sso10a is a member of a group of DNA-binding proteins thought to be important in chromatin structure and regulation in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus. We have determined the structure of Sso10a to 1.47A resolution directly with unlabelled native crystals by a novel approach using sulfur single-wavelength anomalous scattering (SAS) from a chromium X-ray source.

High resolution crystal structure of human Rab9 GTPase: a novel antiviral drug target.

Rab GTPases and their effectors facilitate vesicular transport by tethering donor vesicles to their respective target membranes. Rab9 mediates late endosome to trans-Golgi transport and has recently been found to be a key cellular component for human immunodeficiency virus-1, Ebola, Marburg, and measles virus replication, suggesting that it may be a novel target in the development of broad spectrum antiviral drugs. As part of our structure-based drug design program, we have determined the crystal structure of a C-terminally truncated human Rab9 (residues 1-177) to 1.

Crystal structure of type IIE restriction endonuclease EcoRII reveals an autoinhibition mechanism by a novel effector-binding fold.

EcoRII is a type IIE restriction endonuclease that interacts with two copies of the DNA recognition sequence 5'CCWGG, one being the actual target of cleavage, the other serving as the allosteric effector. The mode of enzyme activation by effector binding is unknown. To investigate the molecular basis of activation and cleavage mechanisms by EcoRII, the crystal structure of EcoRII mutant R88A has been solved at 2.

Structure of an insect delta-class glutathione S-transferase from a DDT-resistant strain of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a major family of detoxification enzymes which possess a wide range of substrate specificities. Most organisms possess many GSTs belonging to multiple classes. Interest in GSTs in insects is focused on their role in insecticide resistance; many resistant insects have elevated levels of GST activity.

A single mutation of restriction endonuclease EcoRII led to a new crystal form that diffracts to 2.1 A resolution.

R88A, a mutant of the type IIE restriction endonuclease EcoRII, has been crystallized in space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 58.7, b = 92.4, c = 88.