Metallothionein (MT) -I and MT-II Expression Are Induced and Cause Zinc Sequestration in the Liver after Brain Injury

Experiments with transgenic over-expressing, and null mutant mice have determined that metallothionein-I and -II (MT-I/II) are protective after brain injury. MT-I/II is primarily a zinc-binding protein and it is not known how it provides neuroprotection to the injured brain or where MT-I/II acts to have its effects. MT-I/II is often expressed in the liver under stressful conditions but to date, measurement of MT-I/II expression after brain injury has focused primarily on the injured brain itself. In the present study we measured MT-I/II expression in the liver of mice after cryolesion brain injury by quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the UC1MT antibody. Displacement curves constructed using MT-I/II knockout (MT-I/II−/−) mouse tissues were used to validate the ELISA. Hepatic MT-I and MT-II mRNA levels were significantly increased within 24 hours of brain injury but hepatic MT-I/II protein levels were not significantly increased until 3 days post injury (DPI) and were maximal at the end of the experimental period, 7 DPI. Hepatic zinc content was measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy and was found to decrease at 1 and 3 DPI but returned to normal by 7DPI. Zinc in the livers of MT-I/II−/− mice did not show a return to normal at 7 DPI which suggests that after brain injury, MT-I/II is responsible for sequestering elevated levels of zinc to the liver. Conclusion: MT-I/II is up-regulated in the liver after brain injury and modulates the amount of zinc that is sequestered to the liver

Blocking Synthesis of the Variant Surface Glycoprotein Coat in Trypanosoma brucei Leads to an Increase in Macrophage Phagocytosis Due to Reduced Clearance of Surface Coat Antibodies

The extracellular bloodstream form parasite Trypanosoma brucei is supremely adapted to escape the host innate and adaptive immune system. Evasion is mediated through an antigenically variable Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) coat, which is recycled at extraordinarily high rates. Blocking VSG synthesis triggers a precytokinesis arrest where stalled cells persist for days in vitro with superficially intact VSG coats, but are rapidly cleared within hours in mice. We therefore investigated the role of VSG synthesis in trypanosome phagocytosis by activated mouse macrophages. T. brucei normally effectively evades macrophages, and induction of VSG RNAi resulted in little change in phagocytosis of the arrested cells. Halting VSG synthesis resulted in stalled cells which swam directionally rather than tumbling, with a significant increase in swim velocity. This is possibly a consequence of increased rigidity of the cells due to a restricted surface coat in the absence of VSG synthesis. However if VSG RNAi was induced in the presence of anti-VSG221 antibodies, phagocytosis increased significantly. Blocking VSG synthesis resulted in reduced clearance of anti-VSG antibodies from the trypanosome surface, possibly as a consequence of the changed motility. This was particularly marked in cells in the G2/ M cell cycle stage, where the half-life of anti-VSG antibody increased from 39.3 ± 4.2 seconds to 99.2 ± 15.9 seconds after induction of VSG RNAi. The rates of internalisation of bulk surface VSG, or endocytic markers like transferrin, tomato lectin or dextran were not significantly affected by the VSG synthesis block. Efficient elimination of anti-VSG-antibody complexes from the trypanosome cell surface is therefore essential for trypanosome evasion of macrophages. These experiments highlight the essentiality of high rates of VSG recycling for the rapid removal of host opsonins from the parasite surface, and identify this process as a key parasite virulence factor during a chronic infection

Heterogeneity of Microglial Activation in the Innate Immune Response in the Brain

The immune response in the brain has been widely investigated and while many studies have focused on the proinflammatory cytotoxic response, the brain’s innate immune system demonstrates significant heterogeneity. Microglia, like other tissue macrophages, participate in repair and resolution processes after infection or injury to restore normal tissue homeostasis. This review examines the mechanisms that lead to reduction of self-toxicity and to repair and restructuring of the damaged extracellular matrix in the brain. Part of the resolution process involves switching macrophage functional activation to include reduction of proinflammatory mediators, increased production and release of anti-inflammatory cytokines, and production of cytoactive factors involved in repair and reconstruction of the damaged brain. Two partially overlapping and complimentary functional macrophage states have been identified and are called alternative activation and acquired deactivation. The immunosuppressive and repair processes of each of these states and how alternative activation and acquired deactivation participate in chronic neuroinflammation in the brain are discussed

A method for pressure calculations in ball valves containing bubbles

A method of analyzing bubbly flow in a ball valve in a hydraulic circuit is presented. The dynamics of a single bubble can be well described by a quasi-static approximation of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. Hence the presence of bubbles in low volume fractions can be modeled through an effective compressibility of the flow, which is easy to implement in commercial CFD packages. In the sample valve, a volume fraction of 4% air bubbles results in a mass flux reduction of up to 10%, as the bubbles expand due to the pressure drop in the valve and partly block it

Two dephosphorylation pathways of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in homogenates of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum.

Dictyostelium discoideum homogenates contain phosphatase activity which rapidly dephosphorylates Ins(1,4,5)P3 (D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate) to Ins (myo-inositol). When assayed in Mg2+, Ins(1,4,5)P3 is dephosphorylated by the soluble Dictyostelium cell fraction to 20% Ins(1,4)P2 (D-myo-inositol 1,4-bisphosphate) and 80% Ins(4,5)P2 (D-myo-inositol 4,5-bisphosphate). In the particulate fraction Ins(1,4,5)P3 5-phosphatase is relatively more active than the Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase. CaCl2 can replace MgCl2 only for the Ins(1,4,5)P3 5-phosphatase activity. Ins(1,4)P2 and Ins(4,5)P2 are both further dephosphorylated to Ins4P (D-myo-inositol 4-monophosphate), and ultimately to Ins. Li+ ions inhibit Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase, Ins(1,4)P2 1-phosphatase, Ins4P phosphatase and L-Ins1P (L-myo-inositol 1-monophosphate) phosphatase activities; Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase is 10-fold more sensitive to Li+ (half-maximal inhibition at about 0.25 mM) than are the other phosphatases (half-maximal inhibition at about 2.5 mM). Ins(1,4,5)P3 5-phosphatase activity is potently inhibited by 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (half-maximal inhibition at 3 microM). Furthermore, 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate also inhibits dephosphorylation of Ins(4,5)P2. These characteristics point to a number of similarities between Dictyostelium phospho-inositol phosphatases and those from higher organisms. The presence of an hitherto undescribed Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase, however, causes the formation of a different inositol bisphosphatase isomer [Ins(4,5)P2] from that found in higher organisms [Ins(1,4)P2]. The high sensitivity of some of these phosphatases for Li+ suggests that they may be the targets for Li+ during the alteration of cell pattern by Li+ in Dictyostelium

Consanguinity Sans Reproche

In a family with two cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and consanguineous parents, DNA analysis showed that the CF in the children was not caused by homozygosity by descent, since two different mutations were involved. A formula is given for calculating the probability that parental consanguinity, if it exists, is causally related to the existence of an autosomal recessive disease in affected children

A family with severe X-linked arthrogryposis

Five males are reported with severe X-linked arthrogryposis. Main findings are marked respiratory insufficiency and feeding problems, multiple contractures, deformities of chest and vertebral column, and typical facies. Most of these findings can be explained by a pronounced prenatal and postnatal muscle weakness. The sole living child has severe psychomotor retardation. Several female carriers show mild features (clubfeet, contractures, hyperkyphosis, and slight muscle weakness). One manifesting carrier is affected more severely (multiple contractures, mental retardation, and various dysmorphic features). Additional investigations including muscle biopsy revealed none of the usual signs of denervation, and pointed to the presence of a degenerative muscle disorde