Comparison of the Size and Properties of the Cytochrome c/Cardiolipin Nanospheres in a Sediment and Non-polar Medium.

Apoptosis, as the major type of programmed cell death, plays an important role in the organism renewal and removal of defective and transformed cells, including cancer cells. One of the earliest apoptotic events is lipid peroxidation in the inner mitochondrial membrane catalyzed by a complex of cytochrome c (CytC) with the mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin (CL). It was shown that mixing CytC and CL solutions results in the formation of CytC/CL complexes (Cyt-CL nanospheres) with a diameter of 11-12 nm composed of the molten globule protein molecule and a CL monolayer. Using the methods of dynamic light scattering for the Cyt-CL chloroform solution and small-angle X-ray scattering for the Cyt-CL sediment, it was found that in both cases, Cyt-CL formed nanospheres with a diameter of 8 and 11 nm, which corresponded to the earlier determined lipid/protein ratios of 13-14 and 35-50, respectively. These results showed that the Cyt-CL nanospheres can form not only during crystallization but also in a hydrophobic medium. CytC in the complex exists as a molten globule, as evidenced by the emergence of tryptophan and tyrosine fluorescence (absent in the native protein) due to the Förster resonance transfer of the electron excitation energy onto the heme. At the same time, the coordinate bond between the heme iron and the sulfur atom of methionine 80 in Cyt-CL is disrupted (the absorption band at ~700 nm disappears). Similar disruption of the iron-sulfur bond in Cyt-CL was observed in 50% methanol. These changes were reversible, which corroborates the conclusion on the CytC transition to the molten globule conformation in methanol-containing solutions.

Combined treatment of nonresectable cholangiocarcinoma complicated by obstructive jaundice.

BACKGROUND: The five-year survival rate for successful surgical treatment of cholangiocellular cancer is only 20-40%, and in the case of an unresectable tumor, the life expectancy does not usually exceed 6 months. Survival decreases with the presence of jaundice, due to the spread of the tumor process along the bile ducts, leading to their obstruction. We report outcomes of patients with nonresectable bile duct carcinoma complicated by obstructive jaundice treated with Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). METHODS: Combined diagnosis and treatment included percutaneous cholangiostomy, intraductal video fluorescence diagnostics, photodynamic therapy, and bile duct stenting. All patients were treated at the Sechenov University Oncology Center in Moscow. The results of treatment of 33 patients have been presented. The intraductal diagnosis of malignant bile duct lesions was performed after cholangiostomy using the endovideofluorescence module for minimally invasive surgery and endoscopy. With the use of this method, it is the first time in Russia that it has become possible to obtain a videofluorescent image of the tumor and to determine the high level of photosensitizer accumulation in all cholangiocarcinoma patients. The preparations Photolon, Radachlorin, and Photosens were employed as photosensitizers (PS). Intraductal photodynamic therapy was used to achieve the antitumor effect. Laser power density was about 200 mW/cm2. RESULTS: We present initial results, improved the diagnostic possibilities in this difficult localization of carcinoma, and demonstrated the feasibility of prolongation of life without significant deterioration of its quality. The average survival time in the treatment group is 9.5 months. CONCLUSION: The treatment of patients with nonresectable cholangiocarcinoma with Photodynamic Therapy should be an available option. In this context, the additional use of intraductal endovideofluorescence diagnostics is a highly specific technique that allows reliable detection of the photosensitizer accumulation predominantly by the tumor tissue and appears promising. As shown by our experience, flourescent localization followed by Photodynamic Therapy, enabled us to improve diagnostic techniques and treat the tumor with improved outcome.

[Tanning lamp radiation-induced photochemical retinal damage].

On the basis of original clinical research a rare case of bilateral retinal damage due to tanning lamp radiation exposure is presented. Along with significant decrease of visual acuity and light sensitivity of central visual field as well as color vision impairment, bilateral macular dystrophy was found during an ophthalmoscopy and confirmed by optical coherent tomography and fluorescent angiography. Intensive retinoprotective, vascular, and antioxidant therapy was effective and led to functional improvement and stabilization of the pathologic process associated with photochemical retinal damage. A brief review of literature compares mechanisms of retinal damage by either short or long-wave near visible radiation.

ATP-dependent DNA ligase from Thermococcus sp. 1519 displays a new arrangement of the OB-fold domain.

DNA ligases join single-strand breaks in double-stranded DNA by catalyzing the formation of a phosphodiester bond between adjacent 5'-phosphate and 3'-hydroxyl termini. Their function is essential for maintaining genome integrity in the replication, recombination and repair of DNA. High flexibility is important for the function of DNA ligase molecules. Two types of overall conformations of archaeal DNA ligase that depend on the relative position of the OB-fold domain have previously been revealed: closed and open extended conformations. The structure of ATP-dependent DNA ligase from Thermococcus sp. 1519 (LigTh1519) in the crystalline state determined at a resolution of 3.02 Šshows a new relative arrangement of the OB-fold domain which is intermediate between the positions of this domain in the closed and the open extended conformations of previously determined archaeal DNA ligases. However, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements indicate that in solution the LigTh1519 molecule adopts either an open extended conformation or both an intermediate and an open extended conformation with the open extended conformation being dominant.

Adlayers of palladium particles and their aggregates on porous polypropylene hollow fiber membranes as hydrogenization contractors/reactors.

Principal approaches for the preparation of catalytic membrane reactors based on polymer membranes containing palladium nanoparticles and for the description of their characteristics are presented. The method for the development of adlayers composed of palladium nanoparticles and their aggregates on the surface of hydrophobic polypropylene porous hollow fiber membranes is proposed, and their comprehensive study is performed. Various regimes of the deposition of palladium on individual fibers and on membrane surface inside membrane modulus are considered. The sizes of primary Pd particles range from 10 to 500 nm, and dimensions of their aggregates vary from 200 nm to tens of microns. The sizes of primary particles in a free state and in their aggregates are estimated by the methods of X-ray analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The proposed approach is used for the preparation of catalytic membrane contactors/reactors for the removal of dissolved oxygen from water. In the systems under study, the limiting stage of dissolved oxygen removal is concerned with diffusion-controlled delivery of oxygen to the surface of catalytic particles.

[Present-day battle injury to the eye and principles of delivery of specialized ophthalmological care to victims].

The paper considers the armament development ultimately resulting in the predominance of using minor blasting assemblies and accordingly to a drastic prevalence (as high as 80%) of mine explosion injuries among other battle injuries to the eye. The particular severity of these injuries requires their efficient subdivision into types and severity, which is alleviated by the introduction of a new classification of mechanical injuries into the eyeball. It is obligatory for each ophthalmologist to know this classification. It is the ophthalomologist who may be the first specialist to start rendering an aid to the victim. In terms of the highest level of development of modern ophthalmological diagnosis and intraocular eye surgery, delivery of a patient to a specialized eye traumatological center where he/she will be given a comprehensive aid, including an intraocular one, in 3-7 days rather than the promptest surgical debridement (generally as just wound closure) is a master link in obviating the losses associated with eye injury. There is evidence that the same interregional centers as the army centers that have operated in Kabul and Rostov-on-Don should be set up preferably on the basis of multidisciplinary hospitals in the civil health care system. They could become an original testing area for researches of explosive injuries to the eye and a source of materials for making the centralized national register of eye injury.

Escherichia coli SecA shape and dimensions.

SecA shape and conformational flexibility in solution were studied by small angle X-ray scattering. Dimeric SecA is a very elongated molecule, 15 nm long and 8 nm wide. SecA is therefore four times as long as the membrane is wide. The two globular protomers are distinctly separated and share limited surface of intermolecular contacts. ATP, ADP or adenylyl-imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP) binding does not alter the SecA radius of gyration. A SecA mutant that catalyzes multiple rounds of ATP hydrolysis does not undergo conformational changes detectable by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). We conclude that SecA conformational alterations observed biochemically during nucleotide interaction are only small-scale and localized. The ramifications of these findings on SecA/SecYEG interaction are discussed.

[Contusion ruptures of the ocular capsule along postoperative corneo-limbic scars]. / Kontuzionnye razryvy kapsuly glaza vdol' posle posleoperatsionnykh rogovichno-limbal'nykh rubtsov.

Clinical picture, variants of surgical treatment, and anatomic and functional outcomes of contusion ruptures of the eyeball at the site of postoperative corneolimbic cicatrices are described. Such traumas can occur even 9-10 years after keratotomy. The majority of unfavorable outcomes in such patients are due to retinal and vitreous abnormalities, such as hemophthalmia or detachment of the retina. Ruptures of corneolimbic cicatrices in patients after cataract extraction with or without implantation of intraocular lenses are more frequent during the first months after surgery; an indirect contusion is sufficient to cause them. The incidence of fibrous capsule ruptures does not depend on the localization of the cicatrice and type of suture. Ruptures of cicatrices on artiphakic eyes almost always involve falling of intraocular lenses into the wound. An intact diaphragmatic function of the iris and transparent optic media are prognostically favorable factors in such patients.

Quaternary structure of V1 and F1 ATPase: significance of structural homologies and diversities.

The V1 ATPase from the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta and the Escherichia coli F1 ATPase were characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The radii of gyration (Rg) of the complexes were 6.2 +/- 0.1 and 4.7 +/- 0.02 nm, respectively. The shape of the M. sexta V1 ATPase was determined ab initio from the scattering data showing six masses, presumed to be the A and B subunits, arranged in an alternating manner about a 3-fold axis. A seventh mass with a length of about 11.0 nm extends perpendicularly to the center of the hexameric unit. This central mass is presumed to be the stalk that connects V1 with the membrane domain (V(O)) in the intact V1V(O)-ATPase. In comparison, the shape of the F1 ATPase from E. coli possesses a quasi-3-fold symmetry over the major part of the enzyme. The overall asymmetry of the structure is given by a stem, assumed to include the central stalk subunits. The features of the V1 and F1 ATPase reveal structural homologies and diversities of the key components of the complexes.

[The diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis. The identification of the first case in Russia]. / Diagnostika akantamebnogo keratita. Vyiavlenie pervogo sluchaia v Rossii.

The first case of keratitis caused by Acanthamoeba in a 28-year-old man who was admitted to a hospital on May 17, 1991 is described in the paper. He wore soft contact lenses for correction of myopia. Acanthamoeba was not initially suspected as the pathogen and diagnosis was delayed for 20 months. Acanthamoeba keratitis was confirmed by the culture of the parasite from corneal graft after the second keratoplasty and by cysts in wet mount with 10% potassium hydroxide and on Gram and Giemsa stain smears. The potassium hydroxide mount provides a rapid diagnosis, which makes the method highly useful in the differential diagnosis in Acanthamoeba and fungal keratitis.

[Methods of treatment of exterior eye neoplasms ]. / Varianty lechebnoi taktiki pri opukholiakh naruzhnykh otdelov glaza.

The difficulty in the choice of the optimal treatment strategy is explained by a great variety of the cellular composition, site, size, type, and growth rate of tumors of the eyelids, conjunctiva, cornea, and lacrimal duct; a good choice of effective treatment modalities, such as surgical or laser excision, ionization, cold or coagulation destruction does not simplify this task. The author suggests an algorithm, facilitating the choice of the treatment strategy, with due consideration for some specific features of each case.

[Problems of scientific evaluation of the quality of the treatment of eye diseases]. / Problemy nauchnoi otsenki kachestva lecheniia glaznykh zabolevanii.

Analyzing the trends in the development of ophthalmology development in this country and abroad, the author comes to a conclusion that the market economy may result in deterioration of the quality of treatment. Development of exitology, a science of the treatment outcomes, may inhibit the development of such trends; this science is supposed to assess the known therapeutic methods basing not only on their authors' recommendations, but mainly on the basis of sociologic studies with the patients participating in these studies.

Flexible endoscope for intraocular surgery.

We describe the technical characteristics of three types of flexible ophthalmoendoscopes used for direct visual examination and for taking photographs of intraocular structures. The designs of these instruments can be used as a basis for the development of new models of thin ophthalmoendoscopes.

Flexible endoscopes. Ophthalmoendoscopic techniques and case reports.

We successfully used three types of flexible ophthalmoendoscopes for the surgical treatment of various abnormalities in the posterior ocular segments. All 23 patients had opacification of the cornea and lens, which made it difficult or even impossible to perform intravitreal surgery on the "closed" eye. All operations were performed through the pars plana. No complications were noted.