Human SULT1A genes: Cloning and activity assays of the SULT1A promoters

The three human SULT1A sulfotransferase enzymes are closely related in amino acid sequence (>90%), yet differ in their substrate preference and tissue distribution. SULT1A1 has a broad tissue distribution and metabolizes a range of xenobiotics as well as endogenous substrates such as estrogens and iodothyronines. While the localization of SULT1A2 is poorly understood, it has been shown to metabolize a number of aromatic amines. SULT1A3 is the major catecholamine sulfonating form, which is consistent with it being expressed principally in the gastrointestinal tract. SULT1A proteins are encoded by three separate genes, located in close proximity to each other on chromosome 16. The presence of differential 5′-untranslated regions identified upon cloning of the SULT1A cDNAs suggested the utilization of differential transcriptional start sites and/or differential splicing. This chapter describes the methods utilized by our laboratory to clone and assay the activity of the promoters flanking these different untranslated regions found on SULT1A genes. These techniques will assist investigators in further elucidating the differential mechanisms that control regulation of the human SULT1A genes. They will also help reveal how different cellular environments and polymorphisms affect the activity of SULT1A gene promoters

A comparison of learning with haptic and visual modalities.

The impact of haptic feedback on the perception of unknown objects (10 without texture, 10 with texture, and 2 complex shapes) was examined. Using a point probe (a PHANTOM), three treatment groups of students (visual, haptic, and visual plus haptic feedback) explored a set of virtual objects. The visual treatment group observed the objects through a small circular aperture. Accuracy of perception, exploration time, and description of objects were compared for the three treatment groups. Participants included 45 visually normal undergraduate students distributed across the three treatment groups and 4 blind students composing a second hapticonly group. Results showed that, within the normally sighted students, the haptic and haptic plus visual groups were slightly slower in their explorations than the visual group. The haptic plus visual group was more accurate in identifying objects than the visual or haptic-only groups. The terms used by the haptic treatment group to describe the objects differed from the visual and visual plus haptic groups, suggesting that these modalities are processed differently. There were no differences across the three groups for long-term memory of the objects. The haptic group was significantly more accurate in identifying the complex objects than the visual or visual plus haptic groups. The blind students using haptic feedback were not significantly different from the other haptic-only treatment group of normally-sighted participants for accuracy, exploration pathways, and exploration times. The haptic-only group of participants spent more time exploring the back half of the virtual objects than the visual or visual plus haptic participants. This finding supports previous research showing that the use of the PHANTOM with haptic feedback tends to support the development of 3-dimensional understandings of objects

A major cellular substrate for protein kinases, annexin II, is a DNA-binding protein

AbstractWe have screened a human cDNA expression library in λgt11 for clones encoding Alu-binding proteins using direct binding of labeled Alu DNA to recombinant phage lysates fixed on a membrane, and isolated a clone 98% identical in sequence to the well-known substrate of protein kinases, annexin II, which was suggested earlier to play a role in transduction of mitogenic signals and DNA replication. A diagnostic property of annexins is their binding to phospholipids in the presence of calcium ions, and we have found that the interaction of proteins of human nuclear extracts with Alu subsequences is suppressed by Ca/phosphatidylserine liposomes, suggesting overlapping of Ca/phospholipid- and DNA-binding domains in annexin II

Throughfall at an abandoned skid trail in a tropical rain forest in Peninsular Malaysia

Knowledge of throughfall at abandoned skid trails in tropical forests is extremely scarce. Thus, throughfall was measured using 120 storage rain gauges set on a skid trail left abandoned 41 years after forest harvesting in the Bukit Tarek Experimental Watershed (BTEW) in Peninsular Malaysia. All trees of ≥ 1 m height in the plot were identified to the species level, and their diameter at breast height (DBH) and height were measured. Vegetation along the skid trail comprises trees with smaller DBH (0.2-31.0 cm, with a mean of 2.0 cm) and shorter height (1.0-20.0 m, with a mean of 2.8 m) than those in the regenerated secondary forests of BTEW. The diversity (i.e. 43 families, 131 species) at the skid trail was similar to that in an old tropical forest at BTEW. The ratio of throughfall to gross rainfall (Th/Rg) for 84 rain events ranged from 27.4% to 204.7% with a mean and standard deviation of 98.1% and 33.2%, respectively. We found that a considerable amount of rainwater dropped under bertam (i.e. Eugeissona tristis) and rattan (i.e. Daemonorops callicarpa, Calamus insignis) vegetation. The Th/Rg ratio weakly correlated with canopy openness. The mean Th/Rg ratio is the largest mean ratio ever reported for forests in Malaysia

Prednisone and azathioprine in patients with inflammatory cardiomyopathy: systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: Chronic non-viral myocarditis, also called inflammatory cardiomyopathy, can be treated with immune suppression on tops of optimal medical therapy (OMT) for heart failure, using a combination of prednisolone and azathioprine (IPA). However, there has been inconsistency in the effects of immunosuppression treatment. This meta-analysis is the first to evaluate all available data of the effect of this treatment on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the combined clinical endpoint of cardiovascular mortality and/or heart transplantation-free survival. Methods and results: All trials with using IPA vs. OMT in this syndrome were searched using OVID Medline and ClinicalTrials. gov, following the PRISMA guidelines. Missing data were retrieved after contacting the corresponding authors. All data was reviewed and analysed using and standard meta-analysis methods. A random effect model was used to pool the effect sizes. A total of four trials (three randomised controlled trials and one propensity-matched retrospective registry) including 369 patients were identified. IPA on top of OMT did not improve LVEF [mean difference 9.9% (95% confidence interval -1.8, 21.7)] with significant heterogeneity. When we limited our pooled estimate to the published studies only, significant LVEF improvement by IPA was observed [14% (1.4, 26.6)]. No cardiovascular mortality benefit was observed with the intervention [risk ratio 0.34 (0.08, 1.51)]. Conclusions: At the moment, there is insufficient evidence supporting functional and prognostic benefits of IPA added to OMT in virus negative inflammatory positive cardiomyopathy. Further adequate-powered well-designed prospective RCTs should be warranted to explore the potential effects of adding immunosuppressive therapy to OMT