Worship and Creation. Some Remarks on Concepts of Prayer in the Ancient Gnosis

In the diverse and heterogeneous traditions, groups, movements and pseudo- or anonymous writings—that could be labelled as ancient Gnostic literature from the second and third Christian centuries—prayer was obviously a characteristic feature and their prayer practices likewise had a fundamental place and role in their devotional life. The paper explores the relevant selected texts that exemplify prayer, its spherical and earthly practices, that also imply the concepts of creation or the created, physical world, with the purpose of investigating their negative view and hostility exhibited towards the creator and the created order

Eve in the Desert. History of Reception and of Theology in the early monastic traditions

1. Introduction. 2. Typological exegesis; 2.1 A source? 2.2 A parallel? 3.Literary exegesis; 4. Spiritual allegory; 4.1 Evagrius; 4.2 Terms; 4.3 Adam, Eve and Christ; 4.4 Gen 1.26-27; 4.6 The paradise and the tree of life; 4.7 The paradise II; 4.8 The creation and the contemplation; 4.9 The contemplations; 4.10 Contemplation and exegesis; 4.11 The chapter; 4.12 Isaiah of Scetis; 5. Conclusio

Creation and Epiphany? Theological Symbolism in the Creation Narrative of On the Origin of the World (NHC II 5)

In the creation narrative of The Tractate without Title on the Origin of the World there is a short passage (108.28-109.1) that gives an unusual interpretation of the creation of the world. The relevant sentences belong to the unit of the appearance and effect of Pistis Sophia’s likeness after the vain claim of the first archon, Jaldabaoth, and refer to the purification of earth and of water. In order to explain what happened in the creation story, the author quotes a semi-logion from an unknown source and says: ‘‘the holy water’, since it gives life to all and purifies it’. The purpose of this article is to find answers for two questions: why does the author use this symbolic language and how does he adapt it to the theological system of the tractate. To achieve this twofold aim I examine first the passage and then I turn to the symbols of the text and make an attempt to show the possible Christian sources and parallels. The questions that I raise are not entirely new, distinguished scholars have commented to various extent on the presence of baptismal imagery in the tractate. I do not attempt to fully reconstruct the concept of baptism of the tractate, but like to demonstrate the centrality of baptismal imagery in this sentences

Filozófia, teológia és tudomány a késői antikvitásban = Philosophy, Theology and Science in Late Antiquity

80 százalékban elkészült Boethius Institutio Musica című kézikönyvének magyar fordítása. Monográfia és tanulmányok készültek és jelentek meg Lactantius dualista teológiájáról, teodiceájáról. Tanulmány készült és jelent meg, egy másik pedig készülőben van Szent Ágoston akaratfelfogásáról és kegyelemtanáról. Egy tanulmány készült és látott napvilágot a patrisztikus filozófiára vonatkozó kutatásokról a hetvenes években. Megjelenés előttt áll egy tanulmánykötet Kendeffy Gábor és Heidl György szerkesztésében a patrisztikus teremtésfelfogásról és bibliamagyarázatról. Tanulmányok készültek és jelentek meg a gnosztikus kozmogóniáról és annak forrásairól, a démiurgosz alakról a Nag Hammadi iratokban, a gnoszticizmus kutatástörténetéről. Két tanulmány készült és áll megjelenés előtt Aquileiai Szent Chromatius munkásságáról és a püspök Máté-kommentárjában alkalmazott egzegetikai eszközökről. | A Hungarian translation of the greatest part of Boethius’Institutio Musica has been made. A monography and papers have reached completion on Lactantius’dualistic theology and his teodicy. An essay has been written and another is under preparation on Saint Augustine’s conception of God and his doctrine of grace. A further minor publication is related to the history of Patristic researches in Hungary. A collection of essays edited by G. Kendeffy and Gy. Heidl on the cosmological and exegetical ideas of the Church Fathers is forthcoming. Essays have been published and are forthcoming on Gnostic cosmogony (especially on the figure of Demmurge) in some Nag Hammadi writings and on the potential sources of Gnostic cosmological conceptions. Papers dealing with the history of Hungarian and international Gnostic studies have been also completed and published. An essay has been been completed and is forthcoming on the ecclesiastic and literary activity of Saint Chromatius of Aquieia, and an other dealing with the exegetical methods followed in his Commentary on Matthew is also accepted for publication

Modeling the Effect on a Novel Fungal Peptaibol Placed in an All-Atom Bacterial Membrane Mimicking System via Accelerated Molecular Dynamics Simulations

We previously reported on a novel peptaibol, named Tripleurin XIIc (TPN), an 18-residue long sequence produced by the fungus Trichoderma pleuroti. We elucidated its 3D structure via classical and accelerated molecular dynamics simulation (aMD) methods and reported the folding dynamics of TPN in water and chloroform solvents. Peptaibols, in general, are insoluble in water, as they are amphipathic and may prefer hydrophobic environments like transmembrane regions. In this study, we attempted to use aMD simulations to model an all-atom bacterial membrane system while placing a TPN molecule in its vicinity. The results highlighted that TPN was able to introduce some disorder into the membrane and caused lipid clustering. It could also enter the transmembrane region from the water-bilayer interface. The structural dynamics of TPN in the transmembrane region revealed a single energetically stable conformation similar to the one obtained from water and chloroform solvent simulations reported by us previously. However, this linear structure was found to be at the local energy minimum (stable) in water but at a metastable intermediate state (higher energy) in chloroform. Therefore, it could be said that the water solvent can be successfully used for folding simulations of peptaibols

What have we learned from two-pore potassium channels? Their molecular configuration and function in the human heart

Two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P) control excitability, stabilize the resting membrane potential below firing threshold, and accelerate repolarisation in different cells. Until now, fifteen different genes for the six K2P channel subfamily were cloned. The pore-forming part is translated from two genes and they are built up from a dimer of two two-unit transmembrane domains functioning with a wide spectrum of physiological profiles. K2P ion channels were discovered in the last two decades and gave novel opportunity to recognize the complex molecular mechanism of the potassium ion flux, and may lead to the design of individual drug targeting in the future. In this review, we summarise the structure, function, channelopathies and pharmacological silhouette of the two-pore potassium channels in the human tissues. In addition, we present the computer model of the partially reconstructed wild type K2P1/TWIK1 lacking the intracellular C and N terminal loop

Neuropeptidek radioaktív jelölése = Radioactive labelling of neuropeptides

Új jelölési módszereket fejlesztettünk ki neuropeptidek tríciummal való jelölésére. A módszerekhez új aminosavak és új neuropeptid prekurzorokra volt szükségünk. Aliciklikus béta-aminosavakat és ezek telítetlen analógjait szintetizáltunk vagy vásároltunk, racém vagy optikailag aktív formában. Az új aminosavakat felhasználtuk prekurzor peptidek szintéziséhez. A diasztereomer peptidek elválasztása radioaktív vagy nem radioaktív formában HPLC-vel történt. A radiojelölés általában trícium gázzal kettős kötés telítésével vagy dehalogénezéssel történt Pd katalizátorok jelenlétében. Az új módszerek között van a diszulfid kötést tartalmazó peptidek előállítása, valamint alaninban és valinban történő jelölés. Az aliciklikus béta-aminosavak radioaktív jelölése az első alkalommal valósult meg a jelöléstechnikában így ez a módszerünk úttörőnek tekinthető. Az így nyert radioaktív peptidek sokkal stabilabbak mint a természetes peptidek a biológiai rendszerekben. A 13 új radioaktív peptidünk (opioid peptidek, Substance P (1-7), Arg-vazopresszin) közül 3 peptidünk (Try-3H-ACPC-Phe-Phe-NH2, Dmt-3H-Pro-Phe-Phe-NH2, 3HDmt-DArg-Phe-Lys-NH2) kereskedelmi termék lett, ezen túlmenően radioaktív peptidjeink nemzetközi kutatási együttműködéseket és nemzetközi pályázatot is eredményezett. | Novel tritium labeling methods were developed for labeling of neuropeptides. New unnatural amino acids and neuropeptide precursors were needed for the labeling methods. Alicyclic-beta-amino acids and their analogues with unsaturated bond were synthesized or bought in raceme or optical pure forms. The new amino acids were used to the synthesis of the precursor peptides. The radio labeling occurred with tritium gas using catalytic saturation or dehalogenation methods using Pd catalyst. The diastereomer peptides in radioactive or no radioactive form were separated by HPLC. Among the new methods was the preparation of peptide containing disulphide bridge and radioactive labeling of peptides where the labels were in the alanine or valine residue. Pioneer method was developed when the label was introduced into the alicyclic beta-amino acids. These peptides were more stable than natural peptides in biological systems. Our 3 radioactive peptides (Dmt-DArg-Phe-Lys-NH2, Dmt-Pro-Phe-Phe-NH2, Tyr-Acpc-Phe-Phe-NH2) among 13 new peptides (opioid peptides, Substance P (1-7, 8Arg-vasopressin) became commercial product . Our radioactive peptides resulted in international research cooperation and international project

Graftectomiák a debreceni vesetranszplantációs programban

Absztrakt Bevezetés: A graftectomia indikációja és pontos időzítése bizonyos esetekben vita tárgya, elsősorban a tüneteket nem okozó, már nem működő graftok esetén. Célkitűzés: A szerzők átfogó képet kívántak adni a debreceni veseátültetési programban elvégzett graftectomiákról. Módszer: Retrospektív vizsgálattal elemezték a 2004. január 1. és 2015. december 31. között veseátültetett betegek adatait. Áttekintették a graftectomiák indikációit, időzítését, szövődményeit, továbbá összehasonlították a korai és késői graftectomiákat. Eredmények: A vizsgált időszakban 480 veseátültetés történt. Közülük 55 betegnél (11%) történt graftectomia. A gyakoribb indikációk a következők voltak: krónikus allograft-nephropathia (47%), artériás keringési zavar (13%), ureterszövődmények (9%). A grafteltávolítás 22 betegnél (40%) akut, 33-nál (60%) tervezett volt. A graftectomiák 24%-a a transzplantáció után 30 napon belüli, 76%-a késői volt. Korai graftectomiát túlnyomórészt artériás keringészavar (31%), a későiek többségét (62%) krónikus allograft-nephropathia miatt végezték. Következtetések: A vizsgált időszakban a graftectomiák leggyakoribb oka krónikus allograft-nephropathia volt. Az esetek döntő többségében elektív műtét történt. A szakirodalomban közöltekhez hasonlóan a szerzők a korai és késői graftectomiák jellemzőit eltérőnek találták. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(24), 964–970

Tripleurin XIIc: Peptide Folding Dynamics in Aqueous and Hydrophobic Environment Mimic Using Accelerated Molecular Dynamics

Peptaibols are a special class of fungal peptides with an acetylated N-terminus and a C-terminal 1,2-amino alcohol along with non-standard amino acid residues. New peptaibols named tripleurins were recently identified from a strain of the filamentous fungal species Trichoderma pleuroti, which is known to cause green mould disease on cultivated oyster mushrooms. To understand the mode of action of these peptaibols, the three-dimensional structure of tripleurin (TPN) XIIc, an 18-mer peptide, was elucidated using an enhanced sampling method, accelerated MD, in water and chloroform solvents. Non-standard residues were parameterized by the Restrained Electrostatic Potential (RESP) charge fitting method. The dihedral distribution indicated towards a right-handed helical formation for TPN XIIc in both solvents. Dihedral angle based principal component analysis revealed a propensity for a slightly bent, helical folded conformation in water solvent, while two distinct conformations were revealed in chloroform: One that folds into highly bent helical structure that resembles a beta-hairpin and another with an almost straight peptide backbone appearing as a rare energy barrier crossing event. The hinge-like movement of the terminals was also observed and is speculated to be functionally relevant. The convergence and efficient sampling is addressed using Cartesian PCA and Kullback-Leibler divergence methods