Correlation of total cholesterol and protein in urine in patients with the nephrotic syndrome

The excretion of protein and cholesterol in 24 h urine was measured in 42 patients with the nephrotic syndrome. The finding of a positive correlation (r=0.76,p<0.01) between urinary cholesterol and urinary protein would be compatible with an enhanced glomerular filtration of plasma lipoproteins as the cause of lipiduria in the nephrotic syndrome

Urinary cholesterol: its association with a macromolecular protein- lipid complex

The cholesterol-containing complexes in the urine of normal subjects and patients with diseases accompanied by hyperexcretion of urinary cholesterol were characterized. In normal subjects, the major portion of the recovered urinary cholesterol was eluted in the void volume fractions after gel chromatography on Bio-Gel A-5m; this suggested an association with a macromolecular complex above 5 X 10(6) daltons. A comparable elution pattern was seen in most of the urines of the patients with benign or malignant diseases of the kidneys or the urogenital tract. However, in single patients with hyperexcretion of urinary cholesterol, considerable amounts of cholesterol were detected in the included volume of the column. This was caused by additional excretion of high density lipoproteins or both high and low density lipoproteins in the urine which could be identified in these fractions by agarose electrophoresis and immunodiffusion. These results indicate that the macromolecular complex represents the majority of the recovered urinary cholesterol in normal subjects and in disease states with known hyperexcretion. Macroscopically, the isolated cholesterol- containing complex in the void volume fractions was turbid, and electron microscopy showed lipoprotein-like particles with diameters ranging from 300 to 700 A. The chemical analysis revealed median values of protein (46.0%), triglycerides (16.3%), cholesterol (8.2%), and phospholipids (29.5%) in normal subjects and comparable results in the patients with benign or malignant diseases of the kidney and the urogenital tract. Ethanolamine glycerophospholipids, phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylserine were the main phospholipid components. After ultracentrifugation in a CsCl gradient, the cholesterol-containing complex was found between densities 1.1 and 1.3 g/ml. By SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis, up to 17 protein subunits in the molecular weight range of 14,000 to 87,500 were separated. Immunodiffusion studies showed in about 40% precipitin lines against anti-human albumin, but no reactions against anti-human apoHDL and anti-human apoLDL. However, immunodiffusion of the macromolecular complex against anti-liver-specific and anti-kidney- specific lipoproteins revealed single precipitin lines. In conclusion, the isolated cholesterol-containing urinary complex showed many characteristics of membrane-associated protein-lipid particles of the human kidney and even the liver. These proteolipids are the major source of urinary cholesterol in normal and disease states

The hydrogen peroxide-sensitive proteome of the chloroplast in vitro and in vivo

Muthuramalingam M, Matros A, Scheibe R, Mock H-P, Dietz K-J. The hydrogen peroxide-sensitive proteome of the chloroplast in vitro and in vivo. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2013;4:54-1-54-14.Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) evolves during cellular metabolism and accumulates under various stresses causing serious redox imbalances. Many proteomics studies aiming to identify proteins sensitive to H2O2 used concentrations that were above the physiological range. Here the chloroplast proteins were subjected to partial oxidation by exogenous addition of H2O2 equivalent to 10% of available protein thiols which allowed for the identification of the primary targets of oxidation. The chosen redox proteomic approach employed differential labeling of non-oxidized and oxidized thiols using sequential alkylation with N-ethylmaleimide and biotin maleimide. The in vitro identified proteins are involved in carbohydrate metabolism, photosynthesis, redox homeostasis, and nitrogen assimilation. By using methyl viologen that induces oxidative stress in vivo, mostly the same primary targets of oxidation were identified and several oxidation sites were annotated. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RubisCO) was a primary oxidation target. Due to its high abundance, RubisCO is suggested to act as a chloroplast redox buffer to maintain a suitable redox state, even in the presence of increased reactive oxygen species release. 2-cysteine peroxiredoxins (2-Cys Prx) undergo redox-dependent modifications and play important roles in antioxidant defense and signaling. The identification of 2-Cys Prx was expected based on its high affinity to H2O2 and is considered as a proof of concept for the approach. Targets of Trx, such as phosphoribulokinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, transketolase, and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase have at least one regulatory disulfide bridge which supports the conclusion that the identified proteins undergo reversible thiol oxidation. In conclusion, the presented approach enabled the identification of early targets of H2O2 oxidation within the cellular proteome under physiological experimental conditions

Inclusions of characterized subgroups

A subgroup H of R is characterized if H=tau_R:={x in R: u_n x --> 0 mod Z} for some sequence u in R. Given two sequences u and v in R, we find conditions under which tau_u(R) is contained or not in tau_v(R). As a by-product of our main theorems, we find a known result by Elias on inclusions of characterized subgroups of T, motivated by problems in harmonic analysis

ifo Branchen-Dialog 2010

Am 25. Oktober 2010 veranstaltete das ifo Institut in Kooperation mit der Industrie- und Handelskammer für München und Oberbayern mit Unterstützung des Bayerischen Staatsministeriums für Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Verkehr und Technologie den zehnten "ifo Branchen-Dialog". Ziel dieser Arbeitstagung war wiederum die Analyse der Gesamtwirtschaft und der konjunkturellen Entwicklung in der Industrie, in der Bauwirtschaft, im Groß- und Einzelhandel sowie in ausgewählten Dienstleistungsbranchen. Anders als im Vorjahr stand der Branchen-Dialog im Zeichen einer weltweiten wirtschaftlichen Erholung und eines deutlichen Konjunkturaufschwungs in Deutschland. Der Hauptgeschäftsführer der IHK für München und Oberbayern, Peter Driessen, eröffnete den ifo Branchen-Dialog mit den Ergebnissen der aktuellen Konjunkturumfrage der bayerischen Industrie- und Handelskammern. Die Wirtschaft sei quer durch alle Branchen klar auf Erholungskurs. Der Export boome, und selbst die Inlandsnachfrage habe laut Umfrage der bayerischen IHKs ähnlich stark angezogen. Die Kapazitätsauslastung habe deutlich zugenommen, die Investitionslaune sei so gut wie seit Jahren nicht mehr, und die Unternehmen würden wieder Arbeitsplätze schaffen. Mit den wirtschaftspolitischen Herausforderungen, die gegenwärtige wirtschaftliche Erholung zu verstetigen, befasste sich Martin Zeil, der Bayerische Staatsminister für Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Verkehr und Technologie. Nach Zeil sollte an einer konsequenten Stärkung der Industrie festgehalten werden. Eine starke industrielle Basis sei auch die Voraussetzung für unternehmensnahe und hochproduktive Dienstleistungen. Deutschland sei besser aufgestellt als etwa die USA oder Großbritannien mit ihren vergleichsweise riesigen Dienstleistungssektoren. Im Anschluss an seine Ausführungen wurden in vier Branchenforen die konjunkturellen Tendenzen in den Wirtschaftsbereichen Industrie, Handel, Bauwirtschaft und Dienstleistungen im Detail analysiert und diskutiert. Die Foren wurden j