БІОМОНІТОРИНГ ЕКОЛОГІЧНОГО СТАНУ ПРИРОДНИХ ВОДОЙМ

The review article analyzes an importance of water bodies monitoring to develop the appropriate measures for improving their environmental condition. It is shown that the use of chemical approaches alone to determine the quality of water as a living environment for aquatic organisms is insufficient for environmental assessment of the components of hydrosphere. It is due to the difficulties of identifying all the diversity of available anthropogenic pollutants of water environment, of assessing their interaction, migration and transformation in water and water body inhabitants. However, biological analysis methods more reflect the relationship between bioavailability of xenobiotics and other contaminants, their content in the cells of aquatic organisms and toxic effect on hydrobionts. These reasons provide the advantages of biomonitoring methods such as bioindication and biological testing, over the methods of chemical analysis of water bodies and watercourses. Application of these methods will greatly help to identify environmental risks, selecting the most promising measures for the successful implementation of water bodies management.  В обзорной статье проанализировано значение мониторинга водных объектов с целью разработки соответствующих мероприятий по улучшению их экологической состояния. Показано, что применение одних химических подходов для определения качества воды как среды обитания водных организмов недостаточно для экологической оценки компонентов гидросферы, учитывая трудности выявления всего разнообразия имеющихся в водной среде антропогенных загрязнителей, оценки их взаимодействия, миграции и трансформации в воде и в организме жителей водоемов. Зато биологические методы анализа в большей степени отражают связь между биодоступностью ксенобиотиков и других загрязнителей, их содержанием в клетках водных организмов и токсическим воздействием на гидробионтов. Это свидетельствует на преимущества использования методов биомониторинга, таких как биоиндикация и биотестирование, над химическими методами анализа водоемов и водотоков. Применение этих методов будет способствовать эффективному выявлению экологического риска, выбора перспективных мероприятий для успешного менеджмента водных объектов.В оглядовій статті проаналізовано значення моніторингу водних об’єктів з метою розробки відповідних заходів щодо його поліпшення їхнього екологічної стану. Показано, що застосування самих лише хімічних підходів для визначення якості води як середовища життя водяних організмів недостатнє для екологічної оцінки компонентів гідросфери з огляду на труднощі виявлення всієї різноманітності наявних у водному середовищі антропогенних полютантів, оцінки їхньої взаємодії, міграції й трансформації у воді та організмі мешканців водойм. Натомість біологічні методи аналізу більшою мірою віддзеркалюють зв’язок між біодоступністю ксенобіотиків та інших забруднювачів, їхнім вмістом у клітинах водяних організмів і токсичним впливом на гідробіонтів. Це зумовлює переваги використання методів біомоніторингу, таких як біоіндикація і біотестування, над хімічними методами аналізу водойм і водотоків. Застосування цих методів сприятиме ефективному виявленню екологічного ризику, вибору перспективних заходів для успішного менеджменту водних об’єктів. &nbsp

Transglutaminase 6: a protein associated with central nervous system development and motor function.

Transglutaminases (TG) form a family of enzymes that catalyse various post-translational modifications of glutamine residues in proteins and peptides including intra- and intermolecular isopeptide bond formation, esterification and deamidation. We have characterized a novel member of the mammalian TG family, TG6, which is expressed in a human carcinoma cell line with neuronal characteristics and in mouse brain. Besides full-length protein, alternative splicing results in a short variant lacking the second β-barrel domain in man and a variant with truncated β-sandwich domain in mouse. Biochemical data show that TG6 is allosterically regulated by Ca(2+) and guanine nucleotides. Molecular modelling indicates that TG6 could have Ca(2+) and GDP-binding sites related to those of TG3 and TG2, respectively. Localization of mRNA and protein in the mouse identified abundant expression of TG6 in the central nervous system. Analysis of its temporal and spatial pattern of induction in mouse development indicates an association with neurogenesis. Neuronal expression of TG6 was confirmed by double-labelling of mouse forebrain cells with cell type-specific markers. Induction of differentiation in mouse Neuro 2a cells with NGF or dibutyryl cAMP is associated with an upregulation of TG6 expression. Familial ataxia has recently been linked to mutations in the TGM6 gene. Autoantibodies to TG6 were identified in immune-mediated ataxia in patients with gluten sensitivity. These findings suggest a critical role for TG6 in cortical and cerebellar neurons

Circulating microparticles: square the circle

Background: The present review summarizes current knowledge about microparticles (MPs) and provides a systematic overview of last 20 years of research on circulating MPs, with particular focus on their clinical relevance. Results: MPs are a heterogeneous population of cell-derived vesicles, with sizes ranging between 50 and 1000 nm. MPs are capable of transferring peptides, proteins, lipid components, microRNA, mRNA, and DNA from one cell to another without direct cell-to-cell contact. Growing evidence suggests that MPs present in peripheral blood and body fluids contribute to the development and progression of cancer, and are of pathophysiological relevance for autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, hematological, and other diseases. MPs have large diagnostic potential as biomarkers; however, due to current technological limitations in purification of MPs and an absence of standardized methods of MP detection, challenges remain in validating the potential of MPs as a non-invasive and early diagnostic platform. Conclusions: Improvements in the effective deciphering of MP molecular signatures will be critical not only for diagnostics, but also for the evaluation of treatment regimens and predicting disease outcomes

Peculiarities of Electron-Phonon Interaction in Pr3+Pr^{3+} Centers of SrCl2:PrSrCl_2:Pr Single Crystals

The luminescence excitation and emission spectra of SrCl₂:Pr single crystals containing 0.2 mol. % Pr were investigated at T=10 K using vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation. From analysis of the fine structure of the low-energy excitation band of an activator, the following main frequencies associated with the local structure of the activator centers were found in the phonon spectrum of SrCl₂:Pr crystal: 194; 210; 266 and 298 cm⁻¹

Luminescence of the SrCl2:PrSrCl_{2}:Pr crystals under high-energy excitation

The present research was carried out in order to elucidate the mechanisms of energy transfer from the crystal lattice to Pr3+ ions in SrCl2. The luminescence excitation and emission spectra as well as luminescence kinetics of the SrCl2:Pr single crystals containing 0.2 mol% Pr were investigated at 300 and 10 K using the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation. The X-ray excited luminescence spectra of the SrCl2:Pr (CPr=0.2 and 0.5 mol%) and SrCl2:Pr, K (CPr=1.5 mol%; CK=1.5 mol%) crystals were studied at 294 and 80 K. Under optical excitation of the samples in the Pr3+ absorption bands, there were observed five fast ultraviolet emissions assigned to the 4f15d→4f2 transitions, and two long-wave bands corresponding to the f–f transitions. Furthermore, the intrinsic emission bands of SrCl2 were observed at 10 K. The X-ray excited luminescence spectrum of the SrCl2:Pr crystal containing 0.2 mol% Pr, besides intrinsic emission band near 400 nm, has got a long-wave band at about 490 nm of the Pr3+ centers. There were not observed any emission bands of the Pr3+ centers corresponding to the 4f15d–4f2 transitions in the X-ray excited luminescence spectrum of the SrCl2:Pr crystal. The possible mechanisms of energy transfer from the SrCl2 matrix to the Pr3+ centers are discussed

Luminescent properties of BaCl2Cl_2-Eu microcrystals embedded in a CsI matrix

The spectral-luminescent properties of CsI-BaCl2(1 mol%)-Eu(0.02 mol%) crystalline system are studied. Europium ion doped BaCl2 microcrystals embedded in a CsI matrix are revealed on CsI-BaCl2(1 mol%)-Eu(0.02 mol%) freshly cleaved surface by the scanning electron microscopy. The size of microcrystals is shown to be within 0.5–5 microns. The luminescent parameters of the BaCl2-Eu2+ microcrystals are shown to be similar to ones of a single crystal analogue. The 4f → 5d absorption transitions in europium ions and the reabsorption of the intrinsic emission of the CsI host are the main excitation mechanisms of europium luminescence in the BaCl2 microcrystals