[Cytokines and their role in pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy].

The role of cytokines is estimated in development of diabetic retinopathy. Titer of cytokines is compared in healthy subjects and patients with impaired glucose metabolism. Fundus examination and specific cytokines level assessment allowed us to conclude that cytokines directly take part in pathogenesis of retinopathy before clinical manifestation. It provides rational to use cytokine level as a predictor of early manifestation of diabetic retinopathy, its timely treatment and prevention of progressing till end stages.

[The Arkhangelsk society of physicians--one of the first public medical organizations in Russia].

The Arkhangelsk society of physicians was officially opened in 1863. The purposes and tasks of the organization were the following: to one another with mutual education, information about important cases and news; to follow the development of medical sciences by means of journals and books subscription; to study sanitary hygienic conditions in Arkhangelskaya gubernia. The society supported in Arkhangelsk the organization of the feldsher midwife and veterinary schools (1876); the organization of the congress of physicians of Arkhangelskaya guberina (1907); the organization of spearheads to lecture the population (1911); the organization of public group "The drop of milk" $ participated in the Red Cross actions "White flower" and "Yellow flower". The activities of society played an important role in the consolidation of physicians of Arkhangelskaya guberina, promoted the enhancement of their professional qualification and the development of health care in Russian North.

Genomic Sequence of the Strain Enterococcus faecium ICIS 18.

We report here the draft genome sequence of Enterococcus faecium strain ICIS 18, which was isolated from human feces. Analysis of the E. faecium ICIS 18 genome revealed genes encoding resistance to metals, fluoroquinolones, and beta-lactam antibiotics.

[Antithyroid antibodies of varying specificity in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of autoimmune thyroid diseases].

AIM: To compare the possible pathogenetic and clinicodiagnostic value of antithyroid autoantibodies (autoAB) different in specificity, such as monospecific ones to thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase (anti-TG and anti-TPO autoAB) and bispecific ones to thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase simultaneously (anti-TGPO autoAB), in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sera from 240 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and from 124 with diffuse toxic goiter (DTG) were examined. The sera from 40 healthy donors served as a control. The sera were screened for anti-TG and anti-TPO autoAB, anti-TGPO autoAB, by employing enzyme immunoassay and/or radioimmunoassay. The results were statistically processed using the variation statistics-based programs. RESULTS: The specific features of an autoantigenic component to thyroid tissues were found in the sera of patients with AIT and DTG. An association was established between the progression of disease and the phasic change of autoAB populations or their combinations. CONCLUSION: The procedure for evaluating seropositivity for antithyroid autoAB, which is referred to as non-invasive studies, can be considered as a criterion test in the diagnosis and prediction of the course of AIT and DTG.

Correction: New ferrocene-based 2-thio-imidazol-4-ones and their copper complexes. Synthesis and cytotoxicity.

Correction for 'New ferrocene-based 2-thio-imidazol-4-ones and their copper complexes. Synthesis and cytotoxicity' by D. A. Guk et al., Dalton Trans., 2018, DOI: 10.1039/c8dt03164a.

New ferrocene-based 2-thio-imidazol-4-ones and their copper complexes. Synthesis and cytotoxicity.

Synthesis, characterization (HRMS, NMR, EPR, XANES, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and electrochemistry), DNA and BSA binding and in vitro biological screening of two new ferrocene-incorporated thiohydantoin derivatives (5 and 6) and their copper coordination compounds are reported. The ferrocene-based thiohydantoin derivatives were prepared by copper-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition reactions between alkynyl ferrocenes and 5-(Z)-3-(2-azidoethyl)-2-(methylthio)-5-(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)-1H-imidazol-4H-one. Alkynyl ferrocenes necessary for these syntheses were prepared by new procedures. Intermolecular redox reactions between the ferrocene fragment and copper(+2) coordinated ions were studied by different methods to determine the mechanism and kinetic constants of redox processes. Ferrocene-containing imidazolones (5 and 6) and their copper complexes were also tested for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and A-549 carcinoma cells, and also against the noncancerous cell line Hek-293. The results showed modest cytotoxicity against the subjected cancer cell line compared with cisplatin. The ability of the obtained compounds to cause DNA degradation and cell apoptosis was investigated, and the distribution of cytosol/pellets was studied by AAS.

Endomembranes and vesicle trafficking.

Over the past year extensive analyses of the accumulated data on the structural and functional organisation of the endomembrane system and vesicular trafficking in higher plants have shown it to be far more complex than previously anticipated. The availability of molecular tools combined with new opportunities to visualise endomembrane dynamics in vivo will allow better understanding of the fundamental processes underlying the complexity of endomembrane behaviour and vesicular trafficking.

RdgC/PP5-related phosphatases: novel components in signal transduction.

A great variety of cellular functions are regulated by protein serine/threonine phosphatases (PP). This review summarises the current knowledge of the structural features, patterns of expression and involvement in signal transduction pathways of protein serine/threonine phosphatases related to PP5 and RdgC. Designated now as PP5/RdgC subfamily by P. T. W. Cohen in her 1997 study published in Trends in Biochemical Sciences, (Vol. 22, pp. 245-251), this heterogeneous group comprises phosphatases PP5/PPT, containing regulatory domains with tetratricopeptide repeats, RdgC/PPEF, which possess Ca2+-binding EF hand-type sites, and, recently discovered in plants, PP7. PP5 is ubiquitously expressed and appears to be a multifunctional phosphatase involved in a number of different signalling pathways. In contrast, expression of RdgC/PPEF phosphatases and PP7 is confined primarily to specialised sensory cells in animals and plants, respectively, which may be indicative of their more specialised roles in sensory signal transduction.

Expression and characterization of PP7, a novel plant protein Ser/Thr phosphatase distantly related to RdgC/PPEF and PP5.

We have recently identified an Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA encoding a putative protein Ser/Thr phosphatase PP7, not closely related to any protein phosphatases in animals or fungi. Here, we describe the characterization of PP7 expressed in a bacterial system. The recombinant protein was inactive unless the longest insert in its catalytic domain was cleaved, suggesting that this insert is an autoinhibitory region. PP7 was resistant to okadaic acid, calyculin and fumonisin B1, and was stimulated by Mn2+ or Fe2+, while Ni2+ and Zn2+ were inhibitory. Polylysine stimulated PP7 activity towards p-nitrophenylphosphate but inhibited activity towards the most efficient protein substrate, myelin basic protein. A tentative model of the control of PP7 activity is proposed.

[Cloning and structural analysis of genes coding for tumor necrosis factor and lymphotoxin in rabbits]. / Klonirovanie i strukturnyi analiz genov, kodiruiushchikh faktor nekroza opukholei i limfotoksin krolika.

Genes, coding for tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and lymphotoxin (TNF-beta), have been cloned from the rabbit genomic library. The two genes are tandemly arranged and separated only by 1 kb of DNA as previously observed in human and mouse genomes. We have sequenced the entire rabbit lymphotoxin gene (LT) and calculated the amino acid sequence of the rabbit LT whose cDNA is not yet cloned. We also analyzed the upstream sequences of this gene and revealed a number of recognition sites for the known transcriptional factors. The rabbit TNF gene comprised in the cloned genomic region has been sequenced earlier.

[Ser/Thr-phosphatases from bovine retina: detection of cDNA coding for the catalytic subunit of the gamma-isoform PP2B and two homologs of rdgC/PPEF]. / Ser/Thr-fosfatazy setchatki byka: obnaruzhenie kDNK, kodiruiushchikh kataliticheskuiu sub''edinitsu gamma-izoformy PP2B i dva gomologa rdgC/PPEF.

The expression of genes for Ser/Thr phosphatases of the PP1/2A/2B class in the bovine retina was analyzed using PCR on cDNA. The mRNAs were found for the following phosphatases: PP1 (alpha- and gamma-isoforms), PP2A (alpha- and beta-isoforms), PPV, and PP2B (beta- and gamma-isoforms). Earlier, PP2B gamma-isoform was considered testis-specific. cDNAs of two phosphatases related to rdgC/PPEF were also detected. Thus, there are mRNAs of at least four phosphatases in retina that may be regulated by Ca2+.

[Nucleotide sequence of the gene psbD from barley chloroplast DNA coding for protein D2 of the photosystem II]. / Nukleotidnaia posledovatel'nost' gena psbD khloroplastnoi DNK iachmenia, kodiruiushchego belok D2 fotosistemy II.

The psbD gene for the membrane polypeptide D2 has been isolated from barley chloroplast DNA and its sequence, along with the flanking regions, has been determined. The 3'-end of the psbD gene is overlapped with a 50 bp stretch of a second open reading frame which belongs to the psbC gene encoding the P6 protein of photosystem II.

[Nucleotide sequence of the barley chloroplast DNA psbA gene coding for a herbicide-binding protein]. / Nukleotidnaia posledovatel'nost' gena psbA khloroplastnoi DNK iachmenia, kodiruiushchego gerbitsidsviazyvaiushchii belok.

The sequence of a stretch of the barley chloroplast DNA containing psbA gene with flanking regions and the deduced amino acid sequence of the photosystem II QB protein have been determined. Comparison of the psbA and QB sequences from barley and some dicotyledonous species shows them to be highly conserved. The sequences of the regions which flank the probable transcription initiation site for psbA gene of barley are identical to the corresponding sequences of wheat.

[Photosystem II of rye. Nucleotide sequence of the psbB, psbC, psbE, psbF, psbH genes of rye and chloroplast DNA regions adjacent to them]. / Fotosistema i iachemeniia. Nukleotidnaia posledovatel'nost' genov psbB, psbC, psbF, psbN iachmeniia i primykaiushchikh k nim oblastei khloroplastnoi DNK.

In order to determine structures of the barley photosystem II subunits, the following genes have been cloned: psbB, encoding 47 kDa chlorophyll-binding subunit; psbH, encoding 7.7 kDa phosphoprotein; psbE and psbF, encoding 9.3 and 4.4 kDa subunits of the cytochrome b559 apoprotein, respectively; and a fragment of psbC gene, encoding the 43 kDa chlorophyll-binding subunit. The nucleotide sequences of these genes and the deduced amino acid sequences of their products are highly homologous to the corresponding sequences for other plant species.

[Genes of plant Ser/Thr protein phosphatases: detection of sequences related to PPT/rdgC]. / Geny Ser/Thr-fosfataz rasteni'i: detektsiia posledovatel'noste'i, rodstvennykh PPT/rdgC.

An unknown sequence that may encode a fragment of the Ser/Thr protein phosphatase (designated PP6Zm) related to PPT/rdgC phosphatases was identified using PCR on maize genomic DNA. A dbEST search using a partial amino acid sequence of PP6Zm revealed a putative homolog of PP6Zm expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana (EMBL AT6726). A search of the SwissProt database indicated that the partial amino acid sequence of AT6726 has the highest identity (54.3%) to the rdgC phosphatase from Drosophila melanogaster. The maize phosphatase PP1Zm6, described previously as a PP1 isoform (EMBO J., 1993, vol. 12, p. 3497), was found by us to be plant homolog of mammalian PPT. In addition, six fragments of new (pseudo) genes homologous to the phosphatase genes encoding PP1, PP2A, and PPX isoforms were detected in the maize genome. The existence in maize of a multigene PP2A family, reported only for dicotyledons, and of a PP1 multigene family, found earlier in both di- and monocotyledons, was shown.

[Cloning and expression of cDNA for tobacco rab1, and structural-functional analysis of the protein]. / Klonirovanie i ékspressiia kDNK rab1 tabaka i strukturno-funktsional'nyi analiz belka.

rab1 cDNA coding for a small GTP binding protein Rab1 was isolated from cDNA library of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) leaves. The primary structure of this protein was deduced from the rab1 structure. Tobacco rab1 cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the product was purified and shown to exhibit GTPase activity. A set of Rab1 mutants with altered GTP binding and/or GTPase activities was obtained. Polyclonal antipeptide antibodies were raised against a sequence in the C-terminal region of the tobacco Rab1 capable of recognizing this protein.

Nuclear localization of the plant protein Ser/Thr phosphatase PP7.

Recently we identified novel plant Ser/Thr phosphatases, termed PP7, which belong to the PPP family and have no known close homologs in other kingdoms. We now addressed the intracellular location of Arabidopsis thaliana PP7 using GFP fusions and confocal laser scanning microscopy. PP7. GFP fusion was expressed transiently or stably in Nicotiana benthamiana. PP7. GFP was found to be a predominantly nuclear protein. Effects of cytoskeleton-disrupting drugs indicate that cytoskeleton may be required for efficient PP7. GFP delivery to the nucleus. Deletion of a potential nuclear localization signal in the first insert in the catalytic domain, as well as exposure to the dark, cold, high salinity and abscisic acid failed to prevent nuclear localization of PP7. GFP. Deletion of the 44 C-terminal amino acids resulted in a fusion protein located exclusively in the cytoplasm. The results suggest a possible similarity of the nuclear targeting signals in PP7 and the PP5/PPT subfamily.

Non-classical protein Ser/Thr phosphatases: what are they for?

Protein serine/threonine phosphatases are involved in regulation of diverse cellular functions. This review is devoted to a novel group of protein Ser/Thr phosphatases, rdgC/PP5, which has been recently discovered in animals, fungi, and plants. Their structure, location, and possible functions are discussed.