Purification and Characterization of a Novel Chlorpyrifos Hydrolase from Cladosporium cladosporioides Hu-01

Chlorpyrifos is of great environmental concern due to its widespread use in the past several decades and its potential toxic effects on human health. Thus, the degradation study of chlorpyrifos has become increasing important in recent years. A fungus capable of using chlorpyrifos as the sole carbon source was isolated from organophosphate-contaminated soil and characterized as Cladosporium cladosporioides Hu-01 (collection number: CCTCC M 20711). A novel chlorpyrifos hydrolase from cell extract was purified 35.6-fold to apparent homogeneity with 38.5% overall recovery by ammoniumsulfate precipitation, gel filtration chromatography and anion-exchange chromatography. It is a monomeric structure with a molecular mass of 38.3 kDa. The pI value was estimated to be 5.2. The optimal pH and temperature of the purified enzyme were 6.5 and 40°C, respectively. No cofactors were required for the chlorpyrifos-hydrolysis activity. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by Hg2+, Fe3+, DTT, β-mercaptoethanol and SDS, whereas slight inhibitory effects (5–10% inhibition) were observed in the presence of Mn2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Mg2+, and EDTA. The purified enzyme hydrolyzed various organophosphorus insecticides with P-O and P-S bond. Chlorpyrifos was the preferred substrate. The Km and Vmax values of the enzyme for chlorpyrifos were 6.7974 μM and 2.6473 μmol·min−1, respectively. Both NH2-terminal sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) identified an amino acid sequence MEPDGELSALTQGANS, which shared no similarity with any reported organophosphate-hydrolyzing enzymes. These results suggested that the purified enzyme was a novel hydrolase and might conceivably be developed to fulfill the practical requirements to enable its use in situ for detoxification of chlorpyrifos. Finally, this is the first described chlorpyrifos hydrolase from fungus

Asthma susceptible genes in Chinese population: A meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Published data regarding the associations between genetic variants and asthma risk in Chinese population were inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate asthma susceptible genes in Chinese population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The authors conducted 18 meta-analyzes for 18 polymorphisms in 13 genes from eighty-two publications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven polymorphisms were found being associated with risk of asthma, namely: <it>A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease 33 </it>(<it>ADAM33</it>) T1-C/T (odds ratio [OR] = 6.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.69-13.73), <it>Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme </it>(<it>ACE</it>) D/I (OR = 3.85, 95%CI: 2.49-5.94), <it>High-affinity IgE receptor β chain </it>(<it>FcεRIβ</it>) -6843G/A (OR = 1.49, 95%CI: 1.01-2.22), <it>Interleukin 13</it>(<it>IL-13</it>) -1923C/T (OR = 2.99, 95%CI: 2.12-4.24), <it>IL-13 </it>-2044A/G (OR = 1.49, 95%CI: 1.07-2.08), <it>Regulated upon Activation, Normal T cell Expressed and Secreted </it>(<it>RANTES</it>) -28C/G (OR = 1.64, 95%CI: 1.09-2.46), <it>Tumor Necrosis Factor-α </it>(<it>TNF-α</it>) -308G/A(OR = 1.42, 95%CI: 1.09, 1.85). After subgroup analysis by age, the <it>ACE </it>D/I, <it>β2-Adrenergic Receptor </it>(<it>β2-AR</it>) -79G/C, <it>TNF-α </it>-308G/A, <it>Interleukin 4 receptor</it>(<it>IL-4R</it>) -1902G/A and <it>IL-13 </it>-1923C/T polymorphisms were found significantly associated with asthma risk in Chinese children. In addition, the <it>ACE </it>D/I, <it>FcεRIβ </it>-6843G/A, <it>TNF-α </it>-308G/A, <it>IL-13 </it>-1923C/T and <it>IL-13 </it>-2044A/G polymorphisms were associated with asthma risk in Chinese adults.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>ADAM33, FcεRIβ, RANTES, TNF-α, ACE, β2-AR, IL-4R </it>and <it>IL-13 </it>genes could be proposed as asthma susceptible genes in Chinese population. Given the limited number of studies, more data are required to validate these associations.</p

Prevalence and trend of hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors in Chinese mainland: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Blood transfusion is one of the most common transmission pathways of hepatitis C virus (HCV). This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and reliable tabulation of available data on the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors for HCV infection among blood donors in Chinese mainland, so as to help make prevention strategies and guide further research.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review was constructed based on the computerized literature database. Infection rates and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using the approximate normal distribution model. Odds ratios and 95% CI were calculated by fixed or random effects models. Data manipulation and statistical analyses were performed using STATA 10.0 and ArcGIS 9.3 was used for map construction.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred and sixty-five studies met our inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of HCV infection among blood donors in Chinese mainland was 8.68% (95% CI: 8.01%-9.39%), and the epidemic was severer in North and Central China, especially in Henan and Hebei. While a significant lower rate was found in Yunnan. Notably, before 1998 the pooled prevalence of HCV infection was 12.87% (95%CI: 11.25%-14.56%) among blood donors, but decreased to 1.71% (95%CI: 1.43%-1.99%) after 1998. No significant difference was found in HCV infection rates between male and female blood donors, or among different blood type donors. The prevalence of HCV infection was found to increase with age. During 1994-1995, the prevalence rate reached the highest with a percentage of 15.78% (95%CI: 12.21%-19.75%), and showed a decreasing trend in the following years. A significant difference was found among groups with different blood donation types, Plasma donors had a relatively higher prevalence than whole blood donors of HCV infection (33.95% <it>vs </it>7.9%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of HCV infection has rapidly decreased since 1998 and kept a low level in recent years, but some provinces showed relatively higher prevalence than the general population. It is urgent to make efficient measures to prevent HCV secondary transmission and control chronic progress, and the key to reduce the HCV incidence among blood donors is to encourage true voluntary blood donors, strictly implement blood donation law, and avoid cross-infection.</p

Higher-order multipole amplitude measurement in ψ ′→γχ c2

Using 106×106 ψ ′ events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII storage ring, the higher-order multipole amplitudes in the radiative transition ψ ′→γχ c2→γπ +π -/γK +K - are measured. A fit to the χ c2 production and decay angular distributions yields M2=0.046±0. 010±0.013 and E3=0.015±0.008±0.018, where the first errors are statistical and the second systematic. Here M2 denotes the normalized magnetic quadrupole amplitude and E3 the normalized electric octupole amplitude. This measurement shows evidence for the existence of the M2 signal with 4.4σ statistical significance and is consistent with the charm quark having no anomalous magnetic moment. © 2011 American Physical Society.published_or_final_versio

Determination of the number of J/ψ events with J/ψ → inclusive decays

postprin

Two-photon widths of the χ c0,2 states and helicity analysis for χ c2→γγ

Based on a data sample of 106×106 ψ ′ events collected with the BESIII detector, the decays ψ ′→γχ c0,2, χ c0,2→γγ are studied to determine the two-photon widths of the χ c0,2 states. The two-photon decay branching fractions are determined to be B(χ c0→γγ)=(2. 24±0.19±0.12±0.08)×10 -4 and B(χ c2→γγ)=(3.21±0.18±0. 17±0.13)×10 -4. From these, the two-photon widths are determined to be Γ γγ(χ c0)=(2. 33±0.20±0.13±0.17)keV, Γ γγ(χ c2)=(0.63±0.04±0. 04±0.04)keV, and R=Γ γγ(χ c2)/ Γ γγ(χ c0)=0.271±0. 029±0.013±0.027, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and those from the PDG B(ψ ′→γχ c0,2) and Γ(χ c0,2) errors, respectively. The ratio of the two-photon widths for helicity λ=0 and helicity λ=2 components in the decay χ c2→γγ is measured for the first time to be f 0/2=Γγγλ= 0(χ c2)/Γγγλ=2(χ c2)=0. 00±0.02±0.02. © 2012 American Physical Society.published_or_final_versio

Search for a light exotic particle in J/psi radiative decays

Using a data sample containing 1.06x10^8 psi' events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII electron-positron collider, we search for a light exotic particle X in the process psi' -> pi^+ pi^- J/psi, J/psi -> gamma X, X -> mu^+ mu^-. This light particle X could be a Higgs-like boson A^0, a spin-1 U boson, or a pseudoscalar sgoldstino particle. In this analysis, we find no evidence for any mu^+mu^- mass peak between the mass threshold and 3.0 GeV/c^2. We set 90%-confidence-level upper limits on the product-branching fractions for J/psi -> gamma A^0, A^0 -> mu^+ mu^- which range from 4x10^{-7} to 2.1x10^{-5}, depending on the mass of A^0, for M(A^0)<3.0 GeV/c^2. Only one event is seen in the mass region below 255 MeV/c^2 and this has a mu^+mu^- mass of 213.3 MeV/c^2 and the product branching fraction upper limit 5x10^{-7}.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Toxicity evaluation of biodegradable chitosan nanoparticles using a zebrafish embryo model

Yu-Lan Hu1, Wang Qi1, Feng Han2, Jian-Zhong Shao3, Jian-Qing Gao11Institute of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Biochemical Pharmaceutics, 3College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory for Cell and Gene Engineering of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People&amp;#39;s Republic of ChinaBackground: Although there are a number of reports regarding the toxicity evaluation of inorganic nanoparticles, knowledge on biodegradable nanomaterials, which have always been considered safe, is still limited. For example, the toxicity of chitosan nanoparticles, one of the most widely used drug/gene delivery vehicles, is largely unknown. In the present study, the zebrafish model was used for a safety evaluation of this nanocarrier.Methods: Chitosan nanoparticles with two particle sizes were prepared by ionic cross-linking of chitosan with sodium tripolyphosphate. Chitosan nanoparticles of different concentrations were incubated with zebrafish embryos, and ZnO nanoparticles were used as the positive control.Results: Embryo exposure to chitosan nanoparticles and ZnO nanoparticles resulted in a decreased hatching rate and increased mortality, which was concentration-dependent. Chitosan nanoparticles at a size of 200 nm caused malformations, including a bent spine, pericardial edema, and an opaque yolk in zebrafish embryos. Furthermore, embryos exposed to chitosan nanoparticles showed an increased rate of cell death, high expression of reactive oxygen species, as well as overexpression of heat shock protein 70, indicating that chitosan nanoparticles can cause physiological stress in zebrafish. The results also suggest that the toxicity of biodegradable nanocarriers such as chitosan nanoparticles must be addressed, especially considering the in vivo distribution of these nanoscaled particles.Conclusion: Our results add new insights into the potential toxicity of nanoparticles produced by biodegradable materials, and may help us to understand better the nanotoxicity of drug delivery carriers.Keywords: chitosan, nanoparticles, zebrafish embryo, nanotoxicolog