Mass spectrometric characterization of two novel inflammatory peptides from the venom of the social wasp Polybia paulista

The social wasp P. paulista is relatively common in southeast Brazil causing many medically important stinging incidents. The seriousness of these incidents is dependent on the amount of venom inoculated by the wasps into the victims, and the characteristic envenomation symptoms are strongly dependent on the types of peptides present in the venom. In order to identify some of these naturally occurring peptides available in very low amounts, an analytical protocol was developed that uses a combination of reversed-phase and normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of wasp venom for peptide purification, with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight post-source decay mass spectrometry (MALDI-Tof-PSD-MS) and low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) in a quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (QTof-MS/MS) instrument for peptide sequencing at the sub-picomole level. The distinction between Leu and Ile was achieved both by observing d-type fragment ions obtained under CID conditions and by comparison of retention times of the natural peptides and their synthetic counterparts (with different combinations of I and/or L at N- and C-terminal positions). To distinguish the isobaric residues K and Q, acetylation of peptides was followed by Q-Tof-MS analysis. The primary sequences obtained were INWLKLGKMVIDAL-NH2 (MW 1611.98Da) and IDWLKLGKMVMDVL-NH2 (MW 1658.98Da). Micro-scale bioassay protocols characterized both peptides as presenting potent hemolytic action, mast cell degranulation, and chemotaxis of poly-morphonucleated leukocyte (PMNL) cells. The primary sequences and the bioassay results suggest that these toxins constitute members of a new sub-class of mastoparan toxins, directly involved in the occurrence of inflammatory processes after wasp stinging. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Wettability of Aqueous Rhamnolipids Solutions Produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa LBI

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

kDNA gene signatures of Trypanosoma cruzi in blood and oesophageal mucosa from chronic chagasic patients

Trypanosoma cruzi presents a high degree of intraspecific variability, with possible implications for the pathogenesis of Chagas disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate T cruzi kDNA minicircle gene signatures using the low-stringency single-specific-primer PCR technique in both peripheral blood and oesophageal. mucosa from chronic chagasic patients, with or without megaesophagus, atone or in combination with cardiopathy and megacolon. It was not possible to identify a uniform pattern of shared bands between blood and oesophageal mucosa samples from individuals with the same clinical. form or mixed forms, suggesting multiple T. cruzi infections with differential tissue tropism. Thus, the results indicate that there is an intense intraspecific variability in the hypervariable regions of T cruzi kDNA, which has so far made it impossible to correlate the genetic profile of this structure with the clinical manifestations of Chagas disease. (C) 2008 Royal. Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. AIL rights reserved.

On the dynamical properties of an elliptical-oval billiard with static boundary

Some dynamical properties for a classical particle confined inside a closed region with an elliptical-oval-like shape are studied. The dynamics of the model is made by using a two-dimensional nonlinear mapping. The phase space of the system is of mixed kind and we have found the condition that breaks the invariant spanning curves in the phase space. We have discussed also some statistical properties of the phase space and obtained the behaviour of the positive Lyapunov exponent. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MECHANISM OF ACTION OF COBALT IONS ON RAT OSSEOUS PLATE ALKALINE-PHOSPHATASE

Polidocanol-solubilized osseous plate alkaline phosphatase was modulated by cobalt ions in a similar way as by magnesium ions. For concentrations up to 1 mu M, the Chelex-treated enzyme was stimulated by cobalt ions, showing K-d = 6.0 mu M, V = 977.5 U/mg, and site-site interactions (n = 2.5). Cobalt-enzyme was highly unstable at 37 degrees C, following a biphasic inactivation process with inactivation constants of about 0.0625 and 0.0015 min(-1). Cobalt ions stimulated the enzyme synergistically in the presence of magnesium ions (K-d = 5.0 mu M; V = 883.0 U/mg) or in the presence of zinc ions (K-d = 75.0 mu M; V = 1102 U/mg). A steady-state kinetic model for the modulation of enzyme activity by cobalt ions is proposed.

Botutatu: nova cultivar de amendoim (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Botutatu is a new released peanut cultivar, selected from the Brazilian cultivar Tatu by progeny testing. It belongs to Valencia type and has similar characteristics of cultivar Tatu, differing from the late by being 23.7% superior in pod yield.

The effect of mold temperature on castability of CPTi and Ti-6Al-4V castings into phosphate bonded investment materials

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the castability of CP titanium and Ti-6Al-4V alloy castings into Rematitan Plus investment at three different mold temperatures.Methods. A nylon mesh pattern (20 mm with 64 squares and wire of 0.7 mm in diameter) was used for the castability testing. Initially, an image of the wax pattern was obtained by means of a digital camera and the total extension of filaments (mm) was then measured, using the Leica Qwin image analysis system. The mesh sprued was placed in the Rematitan Plus investment material and the castings were made in a Discovery Plasma machine at three different mold temperatures: 430 degrees C (control group), 480 degrees C or 530'C. Ten castings were made for each temperature. The images of the castings were analyzed (Leica Qwin) and the castability index determined by the number of the completely cast segments as a percentage of the wax pattern. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparison test (a = 0.05) using materials and temperatures as discriminating variables.Results. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy (60.86%) presented a better castability index than CP Ti (48.44%) (p < 0.000001). For CP Ti, the temperature of 530 degrees C (23.96%) presented better castability than at other temperatures, 480 degrees C (14.66%) and 430 degrees C (12.54%), with no difference between them (p < 0.001). For Ti-6Al-4V alloy, there was a statistically significant difference among the three temperatures: 530 degrees C (28.36%) > 480 degrees C (19.66%) > 430 degrees C (15.97%) (p < 0.002).Significance. Within the limitations of this study, the increase in the mold temperature of the Rematitan Plus investment resulted in a better castability index for both materials, and Ti-6Al-4V presented a better castability index than CP Ti. (c) 2005 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of polymorphisms in the 5 '-untranslated region of the TAFI gene: relationship with plasma TAFI levels and risk of venous thrombosis

Background and Objectives. Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) plays an important role in hemostasis, functioning as a potent fibrinolysis inhibitor. TAFI gene variations may contribute to plasma TAFI levels and thrombotic risk.Design and Methods. We sequenced a 2083-bp region of the 5 ' -regulatory region of the TAFI gene in 127 healthy subjects searching for variations, and correlated identified polymorphisms with plasma TAFI levels. TAFI polymorphisms were examined as risk factors for venous thrombosis by determining their prevalence in 388 patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and in 388 controls.Results. Seven novel polymorphisms were identified: -152 A/G, -438 A/G, -530 C/T, -1053 T/C, -1102 T/G, -1690 G/A, and -1925 T/C. -152 A/G, -530 C/T and -1925 T/C were found to be in strong linkage disequilibrium, as were the -438 A/G, -1053 T/C, -1102 T/G and -1690 G/A, Plasma TAFI levels were higher in -43866/-1053CC/-1102GG/-1690AA homozygotes than In -438AG/-1053TC/-1102TG/-1690GA heterozygotes, and -438AA/-1053TT/-1102TT/-1690GG homozygotes had the lowest TAFI levels (p=0.0003). TAFI concentrations in -152AA/-530CC/-1925TT homozygotes were somewhat higher but not significantly different from levels observed for -152AG/-530CT/-1925TC heterozygotes, Taken in combination, -438AG/-1053TC/-1102TG/-1690GA and -438AA/-1053TT/-1102TT/-1690GG yielded an OR for DVT of 0.8 (95%CI: 0.6-1). in subjects aged < 35 years the OR was 0.7 (95%CI: 0.5-1.1), the OR for -152AG/-530CT/-1925TC was 1 (95%CI: 0.5-2.2) in the whole group of patients and controls, whereas in subjects aged <35 years the OR was 0.1 (95%CI: 0.02-0.9).Interpretation and Conclusions. Polymorphisms in the TAFI promoter determine plasma antigen levels and may influence the risk of venous thrombophilia. <(c)>2001, Ferrata Storti Foundation.

Towards covariant quantization of the supermembrane

By replacing ten-dimensional pure spinors with eleven-dimensional pure spinors, the formalism recently developed for covariantly quantizing the d = 10 superparticle and superstring is extended to the d = 11 superparticle and supermembrane. In this formalism, kappa symmetry is replaced by a BRST-like invariance using the nilpotent operator Q = ∮ λ αdα where dα is the worldvolume variable corresponding to the d = 11 spacetime supersymmetric derivative and λα is an SO(10, 1) pure spinor variable satisfying λΓcλ = 0 for c = 1 to 11. Super-Poincaré covariant unintegrated and integrated supermembrane vertex operators are explicitly constructed which are in the cohomology of Q. After double-dimensional reduction of the eleventh dimension, these vertex operators are related to type-IIA superstring vertex operators where Q = QL + QR is the sum of the left and right-moving type-IIA BRST operators and the eleventh component of the pure spinor constraint, λΓ 11λ = 0, replaces the bL 0 - b R 0 constraint of the closed superstring. A conjecture is made for the computation of M-theory scattering amplitudes using these supermembrane vertex operators. © SISSA/ISAS 2002.