[How Histone Deacetylase 3 Controls Hepcidin Expression and Hepatitis C Virus Replication].

The key role of histone deacetylases (HDAC) in the regulation of the cellular response to infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was first demonstrated in 2008. When studying the metabolism of iron in the liver tissues of patients with chronic hepatitis C, the authors found that the expression of the hepcidin gene (HAMP), a hormone regulator of iron export, is markedly reduced in hepatocytes under conditions of oxidative stress caused by viral infection. HDAC were involved in the regulation of hepcidin expression through the control of acetylation level of histones and transcription factors, primarily STAT3, associated with the HAMP promoter. The purpose of this review was to summarize current data on the functioning of the HCV-HDAC3-STAT3-HAMP regulatory circuit as an example of a well-characterized interaction between the virus and the epigenetic apparatus of the host cell.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of Evernia prunastri extracts and their isolates.

Lichens are symbiotic organisms formed by a fungus and one or more photosynthetic partners which are usually alga or cyanobacterium. Their diverse and scarcely studied metabolites facilitate adaptability to extreme living conditions. We investigated Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach., a widely distributed lichen, for its antimicrobial and antioxidant potential. E. prunastri was sequentially extracted by hexane (Hex), dichloromethane (DCM) and acetonitrile (ACN) that were screened for their antioxidant and antimicrobial (against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans) activities. The Hex extract possessed the highest antioxidant capacity (87 mg ascorbic acid/g extract) corresponding to the highest content of phenols (73 mg gallic acid/g extract). The DCM and Hex extracts were both active against S. aureus (MICs of 4 and 21 µg/ml, respectively) but were less active against Gram-negative bacteria and yeast. The ACN extract exhibited activity on both S. aureus (MIC 14 µg/ml) and C. albicans (MIC 38 µg/ml) and was therefore further fractionated by silica gel column chromatography. The active compound of the most potent fraction was subsequently characterized by 1H and 13C-NMR spectroscopy and identified as evernic acid. Structural similarity analyses were performed between compounds from E. prunastri and known antibiotics from different classes. The structural similarity was not present. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of E. prunastri extracts originate from multiple chemical compounds; besides usnic acid, most notably evernic acid and derivatives thereof. Evernic acid and its derivatives represent possible candidates for a new class of antibiotics.

PTPN22 gene regulates natural killer cell proliferation during in vitro expansion.

The protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene is expressed in hematopoietic tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells including natural killer (NK) cells. The rs2476601 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the PTPN22 gene is an important susceptibility marker for autoimmunity but its role in NK cell biology is not yet clear. The aim of the current study was to evaluate in a cohort of healthy individuals, whether allelic variants of the rs2476601 SNP are associated with NK cell expansion in vitro. The CT genotype of the rs2476601 SNP was significantly (P = 0.0013) associated with reduced NK cell CD3(-) CD56(+) fraction in culture. The current study shows that the T variant of the rs2476601 SNP could alter NK vs T-cell balance in vitro and suggests that the PTPN22 gene might have an important immune regulatory role in NK cell function which needs further investigation.

[Method for the determination of the biological age and aging rate in man].

Multiple linear regression was used to develop a mathematical model of biological age in healthy subjects. Aging rate was found to slow down in elderly persons compared with young and middle-aged ones. In men below 60 years, it was lower than in women. The aging rate increased in patients with coronary heart disease and hypertensive disease.

[Differentiation of capripoxvirus species and strains by polymerase chain reaction].

A fast and simple method for capripoxvirus species identification has been developed. The method is based on multiplex polymerase chain reaction (MPCR) with species-specific primers and does not require nucleotide sequencing or restriction analysis of PCR products. To differentiate vaccine stains used in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union from epizootic isolates of sheep pox virus, a method based on restriction analysis of the ankyrin-repeat protein gene fragment amplified by PCR has been developed. Being highly specific, both methods may be used for routine diagnosis of capripoxvirus-associated diseases.

Anchorage of oligonucleotide hybridization by tethered phenazine nucleoside analogue.

UV absorption and fluorescence techniques with a thermal denaturation procedure were used in studies of the anchorage of an oligonucleotide hybridization by a covalently tethered nucleoside analogue of an intercalating imidazophenazine derivative (Pzn). The formation by the (dT)(10)Pzn conjugate of the duplex complex with (dA)(15) and the triplex complex with (dA)(15) or poly(dA).poly(dT) was studied in buffered solutions with 0.11 and/or 1M sodium ions at the oligomer strand concentration of 10 microM. Because of the Pzn emission sensitivity to the interaction with adenine bases, a fluorescence technique was found to be effective in the detection of melting transitions. The attached Pzn substantially enhanced the thermal stability of complexes formed by (dT)(10) because of the intercalation mechanism, which increased the temperature of half-dissociation of the duplex by 10-12 degrees C and of the triplexes by approximately 13 degrees C. With the assumption of a two-state model of transition, the thermodynamic parameters for duplex formations were derived. The investigated variant of conjugation has a certain advantage over the widely used attachment via a flexible linker, consisting of a predetermined location of the Pzn chromophore in target sequences that makes it useful as a fluorescent reporter of the hybridization correctness. Molecular modeling was used to construct the geometries of the intercalation sites that turned out to be in conformity with the behavior of the Pzn fluorescence.

[Paramagnetic centers of some biological media in cholecystitis patients]. / Paramagnitnye tsentry nekotorykh biologicheskikh sred bol'nykh kholetsistitami.

AIM: To study paramagnetic centers (PMC) of some biological media in cholecystitis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PMC of 81 patients with chronic acalculous cholecystitis and 29 patients with acute calculous cholecystitis were examined using 3-cm radiospectrometer "Rubin" employing low-temperature fixation of biological tissues (77K). RESULTS: Most informative for diagnosis of cholecystitis exacerbation were the following PMC: in plasma--transferrin Fe3+ and free radicals; in duodenal portion B--Cu2+, free radicals and Mn2+. CONCLUSION: Electronic paramagnetic resonance is a perspective method in diagnosis of chronic cholecystitis exacerbation and in investigations of its pathogenesis.

[Biochemical and immunologic analysis of pepsinogen I in blood serum and mucosa in patients with gastric tumors and non-tumor diseases]. / Biokhimicheskii i immunologicheskii analiz pepsinogena I syvorotki krovi i slizistoi obolochki bol'nykh opukholevymi i neopukholevymi zabolevaniiami zheludka.

The results of the biochemical and immunologic studies of pepsinogen I (PG-I) occurring in the mucosa and blood serum of patients with tumors and non-tumor conditions of the stomach are discussed. Pepsinogen I was identified in human blood serum using rabbit antibodies against PG-I. Sharp drop in blood serum-PG-I level in patients with gastric tumors has been confirmed.

[Nitrogen metabolic indices of infants fed a new milk mixture]. / Pokazateli azotistogo obmena u detei pri vskarmlivanii novoi molochnoi smes'iu.

The efficacy of utilization of the protein compound from Ladushka, a new formula mixture, was studied in infants of the first 6 months of life, starting from the neonatal period. The protein component of the mixture consisted of casein and decalcified whey proteins (1:1). Calcium content comprised 400 mg/l, and its ratio with phosphorus approached the values recommended for formula feeding. The mass volumes of accessible lysine and cystine, despite additional enrichment of the mixture with these amino acids, were considerably reduced versus the expected values, that may be explained by insufficiently sparing technology of preparation.

[Evaluation of the effectiveness of feeding infants with the new adapted products]. / Otsenka éffektivnosti vskarmlivaniia detei novymi adaptirovannymi produktami.

Feeding regimens involving the use of new foods, dry adapting additive and acidophilus mixtures of the "Malyutka" and "Malysh" types developed by the Institute of Nutrition, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, were assessed from the results of investigations carried out with 500 infants. Recommendations for improving the composition of the above foods are given with a purpose of reaching the optimal formula of breast milk substitutes.

[Physiological requirements in foodstuffs and energy of infants in the 1st year of life]. / K voprosu o fiziologicheskikh potrebnostiakh v pishchevykh veshchestvakh i énergii detei pervogo goda zhizni.

The authors report their own and literature data on requirements for infants of over 30 food factors. It is suggested that certain age periods should be differentiated and the parameters of weight and height considered while summarizing materials on recommended rates of the principal food and energy requirements for children of the first year of life.

[Biologic value of the protein component of dairy products used in infant nutrition]. / Biologicheskaia tsennost' belkovogo komponenta molochnykh produktov, ispol'zuemykh v pitanii detei grudnogo vozrasta

Chemical and biological methods were used in determining the biological value of dairy products ("Malyutka", "Malysh", B-rice, kephir and "Bebiron-I") employed in the nutrition of infants kept on artificial feeding. The results of these methods are found to accord well with each other. The highest biological value were found to possess the new Soviet-made substituents o

[Lysosomal component in the mechanism of the toxic effect of sporofusarin]. / Lizosomal'nyi komponent v mekhanizme toksicheskogo deistviia sporofuzarina

The effect of Fusarium sporotrichiella v. sporotrichioides mycotoxin (sporofusarin) on the total and non-sedimentary supernatant activity of 13 marker-enzymes of subcellular particles (2 mitochondrial enzymes-cytochrome oxidase and malate dehydrogenase; 8 lysosomal enzymes -- acid phosphatase, acid RNAase, acid DNAase, arylsulphatases A and B, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-galactosidase and beta-glucosidase; 2 microsomal enzymes -- glucose-6-phosphatase and acetylesterase; plasma membrane enzyme -- alkaline phosphatase) of the rat liver, kidney, spleen and bone-marrow was studied in in vivo experiments. The latter demonstrated that sporofusarin effects were characterized by a significant organ and organella specificity, viz. the toxin caused a sharply increased activity, mainly of lysosomes enzymes and labilization of the lysosomal membranes, primarily in the spleen and the bone-marrow. A conclusion is drawn that the discovered selective destructive action of sporofusarin on the lysosomes may be regarded as a new phenomenon that, possibly is directly related to the characterization of the mechanism responsible for a specific effect produced by sporofusarin.