The alimentary impact of the hemp seed

Hemp seed and hemp seed oil can supply us with many important substances. Their essential fatty acid compositions are favourable, but they may contain non-psychotropic cannabinoids. Emerging data show that these components can influence the health status of the population beneficially. Some data also showed trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol in seed oils, the main psychotropic cannabinoid that is contraindicated.Our aim was to examine cannabinoids and fatty acid composition as well as metal and non-metal element compositions in products, like hemp seed oil and chopped hemp seed capsule.The cannabinoids were separated by thin layer chromatography. Fatty acid composition was determined with gas chromatography, and elements (Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Si, Sn, Sr, V, and Zn) were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometric method. Selenium was determined with polarographic analyser.Cannabinoids were not detectable by thin layer chromatography, so hemp seed oil, as well as the capsule, have no psychotropic adverse effect. Our data showed that hemp seed contains essential fatty acids close to the recommended ratio. The B and Se concentrations of the oils and the P concentration of the capsule are also relevant

Disruption of AP1S1, Causing a Novel Neurocutaneous Syndrome, Perturbs Development of the Skin and Spinal Cord

Adaptor protein (AP) complexes regulate clathrin-coated vesicle assembly, protein cargo sorting, and vesicular trafficking between organelles in eukaryotic cells. Because disruption of the various subunits of the AP complexes is embryonic lethal in the majority of cases, characterization of their function in vivo is still lacking. Here, we describe the first mutation in the human AP1S1 gene, encoding the small subunit σ1A of the AP-1 complex. This founder splice mutation, which leads to a premature stop codon, was found in four families with a unique syndrome characterized by mental retardation, enteropathy, deafness, peripheral neuropathy, ichthyosis, and keratodermia (MEDNIK). To validate the pathogenic effect of the mutation, we knocked down Ap1s1 expression in zebrafish using selective antisens morpholino oligonucleotides (AMO). The knockdown phenotype consisted of perturbation in skin formation, reduced pigmentation, and severe motility deficits due to impaired neural network development. Both neural and skin defects were rescued by co-injection of AMO with wild-type (WT) human AP1S1 mRNA, but not by co-injecting the truncated form of AP1S1, consistent with a loss-of-function effect of this mutation. Together, these results confirm AP1S1 as the gene responsible for MEDNIK syndrome and demonstrate a critical role of AP1S1 in development of the skin and spinal cord

JPN Guidelines for the management of acute pancreatitis: treatment of gallstone-induced acute pancreatitis

Gallstones, along with alcohol, are one of the primary etiological factors of acute pancreatitis, and knowledge of the etiology as well as the diagnosis and management of gallstones, is crucial for managing acute pancreatitis. Because of this, evidence regarding the management of gallstone-induced pancreatitis in Japan was collected, and recommendation levels were established by comparing current clinical practices with optimal clinical practices. The JPN Guidelines for managing gallstone-induced acute pancreatitis recommend two procedures: (1) an urgent endoscopic procedure should be performed in patients in whom biliary duct obstruction is suspected and in patients complicated by cholangitis (Recommendation A); and (2) after the attack of gallstone pancreatitis has subsided, a laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be performed during the same hospital stay (Recommendation B)

Basolateral Sorting of Syntaxin 4 Is Dependent on Its N-terminal Domain and the AP1B Clathrin Adaptor, and Required for the Epithelial Cell Polarity

Generation of epithelial cell polarity requires mechanisms to sort plasma membrane proteins to the apical and basolateral domains. Sorting involves incorporation into specific vesicular carriers and subsequent fusion to the correct target membranes mediated by specific SNARE proteins. In polarized epithelial cells, the SNARE protein syntaxin 4 localizes exclusively to the basolateral plasma membrane and plays an important role in basolateral trafficking pathways. However, the mechanism of basolateral targeting of syntaxin 4 itself has remained poorly understood. Here we show that newly synthesized syntaxin 4 is directly targeted to the basolateral plasma membrane in polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Basolateral targeting depends on a signal that is centered around residues 24–29 in the N-terminal domain of syntaxin 4. Furthermore, basolateral targeting of syntaxin 4 is dependent on the epithelial cell-specific clathrin adaptor AP1B. Disruption of the basolateral targeting signal of syntaxin 4 leads to non-polarized delivery to both the apical and basolateral surface, as well as partial intercellular retention in the trans-Golgi network. Importantly, disruption of the basolateral targeting signal of syntaxin 4 leads to the inability of MDCK cells to establish a polarized morphology which suggests that restriction of syntaxin 4 to the basolateral domain is required for epithelial cell polarity

Molecular Determinants and Dynamics of Hepatitis C Virus Secretion

The current model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) production involves the assembly of virions on or near the surface of lipid droplets, envelopment at the ER in association with components of VLDL synthesis, and egress via the secretory pathway. However, the cellular requirements for and a mechanistic understanding of HCV secretion are incomplete at best. We combined an RNA interference (RNAi) analysis of host factors for infectious HCV secretion with the development of live cell imaging of HCV core trafficking to gain a detailed understanding of HCV egress. RNAi studies identified multiple components of the secretory pathway, including ER to Golgi trafficking, lipid and protein kinases that regulate budding from the trans-Golgi network (TGN), VAMP1 vesicles and adaptor proteins, and the recycling endosome. Our results support a model wherein HCV is infectious upon envelopment at the ER and exits the cell via the secretory pathway. We next constructed infectious HCV with a tetracysteine (TC) tag insertion in core (TC-core) to monitor the dynamics of HCV core trafficking in association with its cellular cofactors. In order to isolate core protein movements associated with infectious HCV secretion, only trafficking events that required the essential HCV assembly factor NS2 were quantified. TC-core traffics to the cell periphery along microtubules and this movement can be inhibited by nocodazole. Sub-populations of TC-core localize to the Golgi and co-traffic with components of the recycling endosome. Silencing of the recycling endosome component Rab11a results in the accumulation of HCV core at the Golgi. The majority of dynamic core traffics in association with apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and VAMP1 vesicles. This study identifies many new host cofactors of HCV egress, while presenting dynamic studies of HCV core trafficking in infected cells

Structural Disorder Provides Increased Adaptability for Vesicle Trafficking Pathways

Vesicle trafficking systems play essential roles in the communication between the organelles of eukaryotic cells and also between cells and their environment. Endocytosis and the late secretory route are mediated by clathrin-coated vesicles, while the COat Protein I and II (COPI and COPII) routes stand for the bidirectional traffic between the ER and the Golgi apparatus. Despite similar fundamental organizations, the molecular machinery, functions, and evolutionary characteristics of the three systems are very different. In this work, we compiled the basic functional protein groups of the three main routes for human and yeast and analyzed them from the structural disorder perspective. We found similar overall disorder content in yeast and human proteins, confirming the well-conserved nature of these systems. Most functional groups contain highly disordered proteins, supporting the general importance of structural disorder in these routes, although some of them seem to heavily rely on disorder, while others do not. Interestingly, the clathrin system is significantly more disordered (,23%) than the other two, COPI (,9%) and COPII (,8%). We show that this structural phenomenon enhances the inherent plasticity and increased evolutionary adaptability of the clathrin system, which distinguishes it from the other two routes. Since multi-functionality (moonlighting) is indicative of both plasticity and adaptability, we studied its prevalence in vesicle trafficking proteins and correlated it with structural disorder. Clathrin adaptors have the highest capability for moonlighting while also comprising the most highly disordered members. The ability to acquire tissue specific functions was also used to approach adaptability: clathrin route genes have the most tissue specific exons encoding for protein segments enriched in structural disorder and interaction sites. Overall, our results confirm the general importance of structural disorder in vesicle trafficking and suggest major roles for this structural property in shaping the differences of evolutionary adaptability in the three routes