High-speed fixed-target serial virus crystallography

We report a method for serial X-ray crystallography at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), which allows for full use of the current 120-Hz repetition rate of the Linear Coherent Light Source (LCLS). Using a micropatterned silicon chip in combination with the high-speed Roadrunner goniometer for sample delivery, we were able to determine the crystal structures of the picornavirus bovine enterovirus 2 (BEV2) and the cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus type 18 polyhedrin, with total data collection times of less than 14 and 10 min, respectively. Our method requires only micrograms of sample and should therefore broaden the applicability of serial femtosecond crystallography to challenging projects for which only limited sample amounts are available. By synchronizing the sample exchange to the XFEL repetition rate, our method allows for most efficient use of the limited beam time available at XFELs and should enable a substantial increase in sample throughput at these facilities

ОСНОВНЫЕ ИТОГИ РОССИЙСКО-БЕЛОРУССКОГО СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВА ПО СЕЛЕКЦИИ ОВОЩНЫХ БОБОВЫХ И ЛУКОВЫХ КУЛЬТУР

The Russian-Belarusian cooperation in breeding of legumes and onion crops has resulted in development of new cultivars of pea (Samorodok), bean (Phaeton and Mignon), onion (Palesskaya znahodka, Patrida and Vermeles), winter garlic (Dubkovsky Asilak), which were included in 2014 in the State Register of the Republic of Belarus.Результатом Российско-Белорусского сотрудничества по селекции овощных бобовых и луковых культур стало создание семи совместных урожайных сортов: гороха овощного – Самородок, фасоли – Фаэтон и Мигнон; лука репчатого – Палесская знаходка, Патрыда и Вермелес; чеснока озимого – Дубковский Асилак, внесенных в 2014 году в Государственный реестр Республики Беларусь

Genomic landscape and clonal architecture of mouse oral squamous cell carcinomas dictate tumour ecology.

To establish whether 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide-induced carcinogenesis mirrors the heterogeneity of human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), we have performed genomic analysis of mouse tongue lesions. The mutational signatures of human and mouse OSCC overlap extensively. Mutational burden is higher in moderate dysplasias and invasive SCCs than in hyperplasias and mild dysplasias, although mutations in p53, Notch1 and Fat1 occur in early lesions. Laminin-α3 mutations are associated with tumour invasiveness and Notch1 mutant tumours have an increased immune infiltrate. Computational modelling of clonal dynamics indicates that high genetic heterogeneity may be a feature of those mild dysplasias that are likely to progress to more aggressive tumours. These studies provide a foundation for exploring OSCC evolution, heterogeneity and progression

Targeted detection of in vivo endogenous DNA base damage reveals preferential base excision repair in the transcribed strand

Endogenous DNA damage is removed mainly via base excision repair (BER), however, whether there is preferential strand repair of endogenous DNA damage is still under intense debate. We developed a highly sensitive primer-anchored DNA damage detection assay (PADDA) to map and quantify in vivo endogenous DNA damage. Using PADDA, we documented significantly higher levels of endogenous damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells in stationary phase than in exponential phase. We also documented that yeast BER-defective cells have significantly higher levels of endogenous DNA damage than isogenic wild-type cells at any phase of growth. PADDA provided detailed fingerprint analysis at the single-nucleotide level, documenting for the first time that persistent endogenous nucleotide damage in CAN1 co-localizes with previously reported spontaneous CAN1 mutations. To quickly and reliably quantify endogenous strand-specific DNA damage in the constitutively expressed CAN1 gene, we used PADDA on a real-time PCR setting. We demonstrate that wild-type cells repair endogenous damage preferentially on the CAN1 transcribed strand. In contrast, yeast BER-defective cells accumulate endogenous damage preferentially on the CAN1 transcribed strand. These data provide the first direct evidence for preferential strand repair of endogenous DNA damage and documents the major role of BER in this process

POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS IN THE COMBINATION TREATMENT OF LOCALLY ADVANCED AND RECURRENT OROPHARYNGEAL CANCER

The paper gives information on postoperative complications in 81 patients with locally advanced and recurrent oropharyngeal cancer who have been operated on at Oncology Department One of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Oncology Dispensary (Branch One) in the period 2005 to 2011 (at the Oncology Dispensary of the city ofNizhny Novgorodprior to 2010)