Maternal High Fat Diet Is Associated with Decreased Plasma n–3 Fatty Acids and Fetal Hepatic Apoptosis in Nonhuman Primates

To begin to understand the contributions of maternal obesity and over-nutrition to human development and the early origins of obesity, we utilized a non-human primate model to investigate the effects of maternal high-fat feeding and obesity on breast milk, maternal and fetal plasma fatty acid composition and fetal hepatic development. While the high-fat diet (HFD) contained equivalent levels of n-3 fatty acids (FA's) and higher levels of n-6 FA's than the control diet (CTR), we found significant decreases in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 FA's in HFD maternal and fetal plasma. Furthermore, the HFD fetal plasma n-6∶n-3 ratio was elevated and was significantly correlated to the maternal plasma n-6∶n-3 ratio and maternal hyperinsulinemia. Hepatic apoptosis was also increased in the HFD fetal liver. Switching HFD females to a CTR diet during a subsequent pregnancy normalized fetal DHA, n-3 FA's and fetal hepatic apoptosis to CTR levels. Breast milk from HFD dams contained lower levels of eicosopentanoic acid (EPA) and DHA and lower levels of total protein than CTR breast milk. This study links chronic maternal consumption of a HFD with fetal hepatic apoptosis and suggests that a potentially pathological maternal fatty acid milieu is replicated in the developing fetal circulation in the nonhuman primate

Association of the Chromosome Replication Initiator DnaA with the Escherichia coli Inner Membrane In Vivo: Quantity and Mode of Binding

DnaA initiates chromosome replication in most known bacteria and its activity is controlled so that this event occurs only once every cell division cycle. ATP in the active ATP-DnaA is hydrolyzed after initiation and the resulting ADP is replaced with ATP on the verge of the next initiation. Two putative recycling mechanisms depend on the binding of DnaA either to the membrane or to specific chromosomal sites, promoting nucleotide dissociation. While there is no doubt that DnaA interacts with artificial membranes in vitro, it is still controversial as to whether it binds the cytoplasmic membrane in vivo. In this work we looked for DnaA-membrane interaction in E. coli cells by employing cell fractionation with both native and fluorescent DnaA hybrids. We show that about 10% of cellular DnaA is reproducibly membrane-associated. This small fraction might be physiologically significant and represent the free DnaA available for initiation, rather than the vast majority bound to the datA reservoir. Using the combination of mCherry with a variety of DnaA fragments, we demonstrate that the membrane binding function is delocalized on the surface of the protein’s domain III, rather than confined to a particular sequence. We propose a new binding-bending mechanism to explain the membrane-induced nucleotide release from DnaA. This mechanism would be fundamental to the initiation of replication

Pertussis epidemiology in Argentina: trends over 2004-2007

Fil: Hozbor, Daniela. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Mooi, F. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment,.Netherlands Centre for Infectious Diseases Control. Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Screening (LIS); Países Bajos.Fil: Flores, D. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Weltman, Gabriela. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología. Servicio de Bacteriología Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Bottero, D. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Fossati, Sofía. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología. Servicio de Bacteriología Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Lara, Claudia. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología. Servicio de Bacteriología Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Gaillard, M. E. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Pianciola, Luis. Subsecretaría de Salud de Neuquén. Laboratorio Central, Neuquén; Argentina.Fil: Zurita, E. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Fioriti, A. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Archuby, Daniela. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Galas, Marcelo F. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología. Servicio de Bacteriología Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Binsztein, Norma. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología. Servicio de Bacteriología Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Regueira, Mabel. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología. Servicio de Bacteriología Clínica; Argentina.Fil: Castuma, C. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Fingermann, Matías. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Fil: Graieb, A. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina.Objectives Pertussis continues causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although its epidemiology has been studied in many developed countries, the current pertussis situation in South America is scarcely known. This review summarizes the most important recent data concerning pertussis in a country of South America, Argentina. Methods CDC criteria were used for pertussis diagnosis. Proportion of pertussis cases by age, immunization status, and immunization coverage rate evaluated at the Argentinean National Pertussis Reference Centers was reported. Bordetella pertussis isolates were characterized and compared with vaccine strains. Results From 2002 to nowadays, a steady increase of pertussis cases was observed. Most of these cases correspond to patients younger than six months old that received less than three doses of vaccine. However, cases in adolescent and adults have also been detected. For this situation, which is not peculiar to Argentina, several explanations have been proposed. Among them, the inability of current vaccines to induce long-lasting immunity is the most widely accepted as a cause of pertussis resurgence. Furthermore, antigenic divergence between local clinical isolates and vaccine strains may have aggravated the effect of waning immunity. Conclusions Pertussis is an important problem for public health in Argentina. Divergence between vaccine strains and local isolates could contribute to the described pertussis epidemiology