Expression of Dixdc1 and its Role in Astrocyte Proliferation after Traumatic Brain Injury.

DIX domain containing 1 (Dixdc1), a positive regulator of Wnt signaling pathway, is recently reported to play a role in the neurogenesis. However, the distribution and function of Dixdc1 in the central nervous system (CNS) after brain injury are still unclear. We used an acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) model in adult rats to investigate whether Dixdc1 is involved in CNS injury and repair. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry showed a time-dependent up-regulation of Dixdc1 expression in ipsilateral cortex after TBI. Double immunofluorescent staining indicated a colocalization of Dixdc1 with astrocytes and neurons. Moreover, we detected a colocalization of Ki-67, a cell proliferation marker with GFAP and Dixdc1 after TBI. In primary cultured astrocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, we found enhanced expression of Dixdc1 in parallel with up-regulation of Ki-67 and cyclin A, another cell proliferation marker. In addition, knockdown of Dixdc1 expression in primary astrocytes with Dixdc1-specific siRNA transfection induced G0/G1 arrest of cell cycle and significantly decreased cell proliferation. In conclusion, all these data suggest that up-regulation of Dixdc1 protein expression is potentially involved in astrocyte proliferation after traumatic brain injury in the rat.

Solution NMR structures provide first structural coverage of the large protein domain family PF08369 and complementary structural coverage of dark operative protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase complexes.

High-quality NMR structures of the C-terminal domain comprising residues 484-537 of the 537-residue protein Bacterial chlorophyll subunit B (BchB) from Chlorobium tepidum and residues 9-61 of 61-residue Asr4154 from Nostoc sp. (strain PCC 7120) exhibit a mixed α/ß fold comprised of three α-helices and a small ß-sheet packed against second α-helix. These two proteins share 29% sequence similarity and their structures are globally quite similar. The structures of BchB(484-537) and Asr4154(9-61) are the first representative structures for the large protein family (Pfam) PF08369, a family of unknown function currently containing 610 members in bacteria and eukaryotes. Furthermore, BchB(484-537) complements the structural coverage of the dark-operating protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase.

Evidence of protein collective motions on the picosecond timescale.

We investigate the presence of structural collective motions on a picosecond timescale for the heme protein, cytochrome c, as a function of oxidation and hydration, using terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. The THz response dramatically increases with oxidation, with the largest increase for lowest hydrations, and highest frequencies. For both oxidation states the THz response rapidly increases with hydration saturating above ∼25% (g H(2)O/g protein). Quasiharmonic vibrational modes and dipole-dipole correlation functions were calculated from molecular dynamics trajectories. The collective mode density of states alone reproduces the measured hydration dependence, providing strong evidence of the existence of these motions. The large oxidation dependence is reproduced only by the dipole-dipole correlation function, indicating the contrast arises from diffusive motions consistent with structural changes occurring in the vicinity of buried internal water molecules. This source for the observed oxidation dependence is consistent with the lack of an oxidation dependence in nuclear resonant vibrational spectroscopy measurements.

Functional-State Dependence of Picosecond Protein Dynamics.

We examine temperature-dependent picosecond dynamics of two benchmarking proteins lysozyme and cytochrome c using temperature-dependent terahertz permittivity measurements. We find that a double Arrhenius temperature dependence with activation energies E1 ∼ 0.1 kJ/mol and E2 ∼ 10 kJ/mol fits the folded and ligand-free state response. The higher activation energy is consistent with the so-called protein dynamical transition associated with beta relaxations at the solvent-protein interface. The lower activation energy is consistent with correlated structural motions. When the structure is removed by denaturing, the lower-activation-energy process is no longer present. Additionally, the lower-activation-energy process is diminished with ligand binding but not for changes in the internal oxidation state. We suggest that the lower-energy activation process is associated with collective structural motions that are no longer accessible with denaturing or binding.

Effects of comprehensive nursing on negative emotion and prognosis of patients with sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of comprehensive nursing on negative emotion and prognosis of patients with sepsis. METHODS: As a prospective study, 104 patients with sepsis were randomized into the observation group (n=52) and the control group (n=52). The patients in the control group underwent routine nursing, whereas the patients in the observation group underwent comprehensive nursing care in addition to routine nursing. The level of negative emotions, patients' prognosis, quality of life (QOL), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) ll score, clinical indicators, and patient satisfaction with nursing were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the observation group had lower Self-Rating Anxiety Scale score, Self-Rating Depression Scale score, and APACHE ll score (all P<0.001). The scores of physical functioning, general health perceptions, social role functioning, emotional role functioning, and mental health of the observation group were all higher than those of the control group (all P<0.01). The duration of mechanical ventilation, hospitalization expenses, and the length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.01). Moreover, the observation group had a lower total incidence of shock, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, and death and higher patient satisfaction with the nursing care than the control group (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Comprehensive nursing care can alleviate anxiety and depression in patients with sepsis and can improve the prognosis and QOL of patients. Also, it can shorten the length of stay in the ICU, lower treatment costs, and improve patient satisfaction; all of which can be recommended for clinical application.

lncRNA HAND2­AS1 mediates the downregulation of ROCK2 in hepatocellular carcinoma and inhibits cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion.

Long noncoding (lnc)RNA HAND2­AS1 inhibits the development of several human malignancies. The role of HAND2­AS1 was investigated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It was found that levels of HAND2­AS1 in serum were significantly lower, while serum levels of Rho­associated protein kinase 2 (ROCK2) in HCC patients were significantly increased compared with hepatitis B (HB) patients and healthy controls. Decreased HAND2­AS1 levels distinguished HCC patients but not HB patients from healthy controls. A significant negative correlation between HAND2­AS1 and ROCK2 was found in HCC patients but not in HB patients or healthy controls. HAND2­AS1 overexpression inhibited, while ROCK2 overexpression promoted HCC cell migration, proliferation and invasion. HAND2­AS1 overexpression led to downregulated ROCK2 expression. ROCK2 overexpression did not significantly affect ROCK2 expression but attenuated the inhibitory effects of HAND2­AS1 overexpression. It was therefore concluded that HAND2­AS1 might mediate the downregulation of ROCK2 in HCC to inhibit cancer cell migration, proliferation and invasion.

Inhibition of mTORC1 renders cardiac protection against lipopolysaccharide.

Sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction is a severe clinical problem. It is evident that rapamycin can protect heart from pathological injuries. However, there are no data demonstrating rapamycin reverse cardiac dysfunction induced by sepsis. In this study, Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administrated to mice and H9c2 cells. After treatment, we further determined cardiac function by echocardiography, ANP, BNP and inflammatory markers by qPCR and apoptosis by TUNEL staining. Moreover, mTORC1 signaling pathway and Akt activity were measured by Western blots. We found that rapamycin attenuated cardiac dysfunction, increase in ANP and BNP as well as apoptosis induced by LPS both in mice and in H9c2 cells. Unexpectedly, LPS did not significantly affect the mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-6. Furthermore, rapamycin further reduced the decrease in mTORC1 signaling and Akt activity induced by LPS. In conclusion, rapamycin can protect heart from LPS induced damages by inhibition mTORC1 signaling and elevation of Akt activity.

Blind testing of routine, fully automated determination of protein structures from NMR data.

The protocols currently used for protein structure determination by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) depend on the determination of a large number of upper distance limits for proton-proton pairs. Typically, this task is performed manually by an experienced researcher rather than automatically by using a specific computer program. To assess whether it is indeed possible to generate in a fully automated manner NMR structures adequate for deposition in the Protein Data Bank, we gathered 10 experimental data sets with unassigned nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) peak lists for various proteins of unknown structure, computed structures for each of them using different, fully automatic programs, and compared the results to each other and to the manually solved reference structures that were not available at the time the data were provided. This constitutes a stringent "blind" assessment similar to the CASP and CAPRI initiatives. This study demonstrates the feasibility of routine, fully automated protein structure determination by NMR.

Theory of mirrored time domain sampling for NMR spectroscopy.

A generalized theory is presented for novel mirrored hypercomplex time domain sampling (MHS) of NMR spectra. It is the salient new feature of MHS that two interferograms are acquired with different directionality of time evolution, that is, one is sampled forward from time t=0 to the maximal evolution time tmax, while the second is sampled backward from t=0 to -tmax. The sampling can be accomplished in a (semi) constant time or non constant-time manner. Subsequently, the two interferograms are linearly combined to yield a complex time domain signal. The manifold of MHS schemes considered here is defined by arbitrary settings of sampling phases ('primary phase shifts') and amplitudes of the two interferograms. It is shown that, for any two given primary phase shifts, the addition theorems of trigonometric functions yield the unique linear combination required to form the complex signal. In the framework of clean absorption mode (CAM) acquisition of NMR spectra being devoid of residual dispersive signal components, 'secondary phase shifts' represent time domain phase errors which are to be eliminated. In contrast, such secondary phase shifts may be introduced by experimental design in order to encode additional NMR parameters, a new class of NMR experiments proposed here. For generalization, it is further considered that secondary phase shifts may depend on primary phase shifts and/or sampling directionality. In order to compare with MHS theory, a correspondingly generalized theory is derived for widely used hypercomplex ('States') sampling (HS). With generalized theory it is shown, first, that previously introduced 'canonical' schemes, characterized by primary phases being multiples of π/4, afford maximal intensity of the desired absorptive signals in the absence of secondary phase shifts, and second, how primary phases can be adjusted to maximize the signal intensity provided that the secondary phase shifts are known. Third, it is demonstrated that theory enables one to accurately measure secondary phase shifts and amplitude imbalances. Application to constant time 2D [13C, 1H]-HSQC spectra recorded for a protein sample with canonical MHS/HS schemes showed that accurate CAM data acquisition can be readily implemented on modern spectrometers for experiments based on through-bond polarization transfer. Fourth, when moderate variations of secondary phase shifts with primary phase shift and/or sampling directionality are encountered, generalized theory allowed comparison of the robustness of different MHS/HS schemes for CAM data acquisition, and thus to identify the scheme best suited to suppress dispersive peak components and quadrature image peaks. Moreover, it is shown that for spectra acquired with several indirect evolution periods, the best suited scheme can be identified independently for each of the periods.

Protein dynamical transition does not require protein structure.

Terahertz time domain spectroscopy shows that the protein dynamical transition, the rapid increase in protein dynamics occurring at approximately 200 K, needs neither tertiary nor secondary structure. Further, short chain alanine studies find a dynamical transition down to penta-alanine, with no transition observed for di-alanine or tri-alanine. These results reveal the temperature dependence arises strictly from the side-chain interaction with the solvent. The lack of a transition for shorter chain peptides may indicate a qualitative change in this interaction occurs at a specific peptide chain length.