Кераміка «terra sigillata» з с. Зимне на Волині

Стаття присвячена публікації чотирьох керамічних посудин типу «terra sigillata», знайдених на дні р. Луги у с. Зимне Володимир-Волинського району Волинської області. Попередній аналіз цих знахідок дозволяє віднести їх до Понтійського центру виробництва такого посуду. Вірогідним шляхом потрапляння цієї колекції на Волинь була готська експансія у Північне Причорномор’я

Steroid-induced perturbations of membranes and its relevance to sperm acrosome reaction

The interaction of progesterone, 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone and estradiol with membrane vesicles prepared from phosphatidylserine (PS), from the total lipids of human and hamster spermatozoa, from the lipids of hamster spermatozoal plasma and acrosomal membrane and with the native membranes of hamster spermatozoa have been investigated by 90° light scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results indicate that progesterone decreases the fluidity of membranes, aggregates membrane vesicles, induces fusiionn of membrane vesicles and also renders them permeable to hydrophilic molecules like caryfluorescein. But, testosterone and estradiol at the same concentration had very little effect on membrane fluidity, membrane aggregation, fusion and leakage. The above membrane perturbing activities of the steroids is discussed in light of the recent findings that progesterone induces acrosome reaction in human and hamster spermatozoa

Molecular Characterization and Functional Analysis of Outer Membrane Vesicles from the Antarctic Bacterium <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> Suggest a Possible Response to Environmental Conditions

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) of Gram-negative bacteria form an important aspect of bacterial physiology as they are involved in various functions essential for their survival. The OMVs of the Antarctic bacterium <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> Lz4W were isolated, and the proteins and lipids they contain were identified. The matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) analysis revealed that phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylglycerols are the main lipid components. The proteins of these vesicles were identified by separating them by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI–MS/MS). They are composed of outer membrane and periplasmic proteins according to the subcellular localization predictions by Psortb v.3 and Cello V2.5. The functional annotation and gene ontology of these proteins provided hints for various functions attributed to OMVs and suggested a potential mechanism to respond to the extracellular environmental changes. The OMVs were found to protect the producer organism against the membrane active antibiotics colistin and melittin but not from streptomycin. The 1-<i>N</i>-phenylnapthylamine (NPN)-uptake assay revealed that the OMVs protect the bacterium from membrane active antibiotics by scavenging them and also showed that membrane and protein packing of the OMVs was similar to the parent bacterium. The sequestering depends on the composition and organization of lipids and proteins in the OMVs

Transcriptome responses of intestinal epithelial cells induced by membrane vesicles of Listeria monocytogenes

Membrane vesicles (MVs) serve as an essential virulence factor in several pathogenic bacteria. The release of MVs by Listeria monocytogenes is only recently recognized; still, the enigmatic role of MVs in pathogenesis is yet to be established. We report the transcriptome response of Caco-2 cells upon exposure to MVs and the L. monocytogenes that leads to observe the up-regulation of autophagy-related genes in the early phase of exposure to MVs. Transcription of inflammatory cytokines is to the peak at the fourth hour of exposure. An array of differentially expressed genes was associated with actin cytoskeleton rearrangement, autophagy, cell cycle arrest, and induction of oxidative stress. At a later time point, transcriptional programs are generated upon interaction with MVs to evade innate immune signals, by modulating the expression of anti-inflammatory genes. KEGG pathway analysis is palpably confirming that MVs appear principally responsible for the induction of immune signaling pathways. Besides, MVs induced the expression of cell cycle regulatory genes, likely responsible for the ability to prolong host cell survival, thus protecting the replicative niche for L. monocytogenes. Notably, we identified several non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), possibly involved in the regulation of early manipulation of the host gene expression, essential for the persistence of L. monocytogenes

Carotenoids of an Antarctic psychrotolerant bacterium, Sphingobacterium antarcticus, and a mesophilic bacterium, Sphingobacterium multivorum

The major carotenoid pigments of an Antarctic psychrotolerant bacterium, Sphingobacterium antarcticus, and a mesophilic bacterium, Sphingobacterium multivorum, were identified as zeaxanthin, &#946;-cryptoxanthin, and &#946;-carotene. Analysis was based on ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, and reversed-phase HPLC. Photoacoustic spectroscopy of intact bacterial cells revealed that the bulk of the pigments in S. antarcticus and S. multivorum was associated with the cell membrane. In vitro studies with synthetic membranes of phosphatidylcholine demonstrated that the major pigment was bound to the membranes and decreased their fluidity. The relative amounts of polar pigments were higher in cells grown at 5°C than in cells grown at 25°C. In the mesophilic strain, the synthesis of polar carotenoids was quantitatively less than that of the psychrotolerant strain

A <i>Piscibacillus</i> sp. Isolated from A Soda Lake Exhibits Anticancer Activity Against Breast Cancer MDA-MB-231 Cells

Microorganisms thrive in extreme environments and are known for synthesizing valuable metabolites. Salt-loving microorganisms can flourish in saline environments which inhibit the growth of other microbial life, and they possess the potential to produce stable and novel biomolecules for the use in biotechnological applications, including anticancer compounds. Sambhar Lake is the largest inland soda lake in India and is an appropriate habitat for halophilic bacterial and archaeal strains in terms of diversity and potential production of bioactive compounds. In the present study, a moderately halo-alkaliphilic bacterial strain C12A1 was isolated from Sambhar Lake, located in Rajasthan, India. C12A1 was gram-positive, motile, rod-shaped, formed oval endospores, produced carotenoids, and exhibited optimal growth at 37 &#176;C in 10&#8315;15% NaCl (pH 8). C12A1 was found to be able to hydrolyze skimmed milk, gelatin, and Tween 80 but unable to hydrolyze starch and carboxymethylcellulose. C12A1 showed 98.87% and 98.50% identity in 16S rRNA gene sequence to P. halophilus and P. salipiscarius, respectively. Nevertheless, C12A1 was clustered within the clade consisting of P. salipiscarius strains, but it showed a distinct lineage. Thus, C12A1 was designated as Piscibacillus sp. Cell proliferation assay results showed that C12A1 broth extract (BEP) decreased cell viability in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells, which was confirmed by the MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Induction of cell toxicity was visualized by microscopy. Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) analysis demonstrated that BEP inhibited the expression of proliferative B-cell lymphoma-extra large (Bcl-xL) and cell cycle marker Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) at transcript levels. Similarly, cell migration and colony formation along with mesenchymal marker vimentin and stem cell marker BMI transcripts were found to be inhibited when cells were treated with the BEP. The anti-breast cancer potential of C12A1 indicates that microorganisms inhabiting saline-alkaline habitats, with Piscibacillus sp. in particular, are a promising source for discovery of novel bioactive substances