Increased Prothrombin, Apolipoprotein A-IV, and Haptoglobin in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by an unstable CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion. The need for biomarkers of onset and progression in HD is imperative, since currently reliable outcome measures are lacking. We used two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry to analyze the proteome profiles in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 6 pairs of HD patients and controls. Prothrombin, apolipoprotein A-IV (Apo A-IV) and haptoglobin were elevated in CSF of the HD patients in comparison with the controls. We used western blot as a semi-quantified measurement for prothrombin and Apo A-IV, as well as enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measurement of haptoglobin, in 9 HD patients and 9 controls. The albumin quotient (Qalb), a marker of blood-brain barrier (BBB) function, was not different between the HD patients and the controls. The ratios of CSF prothrombin/albumin (prothrombin/Alb) and Apo A-IV/albumin (Apo A-IV/Alb), and haptoglobin level were significantly elevated in HD. The ratio of CSF prothrombin/Alb significantly correlated with the disease severity assessed by Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS). The results implicate that increased CSF prothrombin, Apo A-IV, and haptoglobin may be involved in pathogenesis of HD and may serve as potential biomarkers for HD

Production of mannosylglycerate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by metabolic engineering and bioprocess optimization

Mannosylglycerate (MG) is one of the most widespread compatible solutes among marine microorganisms adapted to hot environments. This ionic solute holds excellent ability to protect proteins against thermal denaturation, hence a large number of biotechnological and clinical applications have been put forward. However, the current prohibitive production costs impose severe constraints towards large-scale applications. All known microbial producers synthesize MG from GDP-mannose and 3-phosphoglycerate via a two-step pathway in which mannosyl-3-phosphoglycerate is the intermediate metabolite. In an early work, this pathway was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the goal to confirm gene function (Empadinhas et al. in J Bacteriol 186:4075--4084, 2004), but the level of MG accumulation was low. Therefore, in view of the potential biotechnological value of this compound, we decided to invest further effort to convert S. cerevisiae into an efficient cell factory for MG production.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684), BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and also by project LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007660 (Microbiologia Molecular, Estrutural e Celular) funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). Cristiana Faria was supported by a Ph.D. Grant from FCT (Ref. SFRH/ BD/79552/2011).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Wpływ biostymulatora oraz nawozów dolistnych na rośliny mateczne i sadzonki Prunus mahaleb L.

The effect of Kelpak® biostimulator, Wuxal® Ascofol and Pentakeep®-V leaf fertilizers were tested on Prunus mahaleb L. ‘Bogdány’ stockplants. Shoot production and characteristics, rooting and quality of their cuttings were evaluated. Biostimulator and fertilizers were sprayed four times on leaves before cuttings were taken. The number and fresh masses of the shoots, cutting weights, leaf chlorophyll indexes (SPAD) and indole3-acetic-acid (IAA) levels in shoot tip were measured on stockplants. Rooting rates, IAA--levels in the rooting zone of cuttings, fresh and dry masses of rooted cuttings, both weights of the root and shoot were measured. Based on these results Kelpak® pretreatment could be considered as the most effective in improving the productivity of Prunus mahaleb L. stockplants, leaf chlorophyll indexes and IAA-level in shoot tip of stockplant and in cutting base. The stockplant pretreatment by Kelpak® increased both the single shoot mass and consequently the fresh mass of prepared cuttings. While these pretreatments alone did not affect the rooting rate, the pretreatment of shoots by Kelpak® and Pentakeep®-V increased the dry mass production of cuttings during rooting. Kelpak® pretreatment affected the root dry mass positively, while Pentakeep®-V increased the shoot dry mass of rooted cuttings.Przetestowano wpływ biostymulatora Kelpak® oraz nawozów dolistnych Wuxal® Ascofol and Pentakeep®-V na rośliny mateczne Prunus mahaleb L. ‘Bogdány’. Oceniono tworzenie i cechy pędów, zakorzenienie oraz jakość sadzonek. Przed pobraniem sadzonek czterokrotnie opryskano liście bio-stymulatorem i nawozami. Na roślinach matecznych określono liczbę oraz świeżą masę pędów, masę sadzonek, wskaźniki chlorofilu w liściach (SPAD) oraz poziom kwasu indolilooctowego (IAA) na wierzchołku pędu. Zmierzono wskaźnik zakorzenienia, poziom IAA w strefie korzeniowej sadzonek, świeżą i suchą masę zakorzenionych sadzonek, a także obie masy korzeni oraz pędów. Na podstawie wyników badań wnioskuje się, że wstępny zabieg Kelpakiem® można uważać za najskuteczniejszy w polepszaniu wydajności roślin matecznych Prunus mahaleb L., wskaźników chlorofilowych oraz poziomu IAA w wierzchołkach pędów roślin matecznych oraz w podstawie sadzonek. Wstępny zabieg Kelpakiem® zwiększał masę pojedynczych pędów, a w konsekwencji – świeżą masę przygotowanych sadzonek. O ile wstępne zabiegi same w sobie nie wpływały na wskaźnik zakorzenienia, to wstępny zabieg Kelpakiem® i Pentakeepiem®-V na pędach zwiększył tworzenie suchej masy sadzonek podczas zakorzeniania. Wstępny zabieg Kelpakiem® miał pozytywny wpływ na suchą masę korzenia natomiast Pentakeep®-V zwiększał suchą masę pędów zakorzenionych sadzonek