Evidence for regulation of protein synthesis at the elongation step by CDK1/cyclin B phosphorylation

Eukaryotic elongation factor 1 (eEF-1) contains the guanine nucleotide exchange factor eEF-1B that loads the G protein eEF-1A with GTP after each cycle of elongation during protein synthesis. Two features of eEF-1B have not yet been elucidated: (i) the presence of the unique valyl-tRNA synthetase; (ii) the significance of target sites for the cell cycle protein kinase CDK1/cyclin B. The roles of these two features were addressed by elongation measurements in vitro using cell-free extracts. A poly(GUA) template RNA was generated to support both poly(valine) and poly(serine) synthesis and poly(phenylalanine) synthesis was driven by a poly(uridylic acid) template. Elongation rates were in the order phenylalanine > valine > serine. Addition of CDK1/cyclin B decreased the elongation rate for valine whereas the rate for serine and phenylalanine elongation was increased. This effect was correlated with phosphorylation of the eEF-1δ and eEF-1γ subunits of eEF-1B. Our results demonstrate specific regulation of elongation by CDK1/cyclin B phosphorylation.

Identification of pentosidine as a native structure for advanced glycation end products in beta-2-microglobulin-containing amyloid fibrils in patients with dialysis-related amyloidosis.

beta-2-Microglobulin (beta-2m) is a major constituent of amyloid fibrils in patients with dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA). Recently, we found that the pigmented and fluorescent adducts formed nonenzymatically between sugar and protein, known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs), were present in beta-2m-containing amyloid fibrils, suggesting the possible involvement of AGE-modified beta-2m in bone and joint destruction in DRA. As an extension of our search for the native structure of AGEs in beta-2m of patients with DRA, the present study focused on pentosidine, a fluorescent cross-linked glycoxidation product. Determination by both HPLC assay and competitive ELISA demonstrated a significant amount of pentosidine in amyloid-fibril beta-2m from long-term hemodialysis patients with DRA, and the acidic isoform of beta-2m in the serum and urine of hemodialysis patients. A further immunohistochemical study revealed the positive immunostaining for pentosidine and immunoreactive AGEs and beta-2m in macrophage-infiltrated amyloid deposits of long-term hemodialysis patients with DRA. These findings implicate a potential link of glycoxidation products in long-lived beta-2m-containing amyloid fibrils to the pathogenesis of DRA.

Longevity and the genetic determination of collagen glycoxidation kinetics in mammalian senescence.

A fundamental question in the basic biology of aging is whether there is a universal aging process. If indeed such a process exists, one would expect that it develops at a higher rate in short- versus long-lived species. We have quantitated pentosidine, a marker of glycoxidative stress in skin collagen from eight mammalian species as a function of age. A curvilinear increase was modeled for all species, and the rate of increase correlated inversely with maximum life-span. Dietary restriction, a potent intervention associated with increased life-span, markedly inhibited glycoxidation rate in the rodent. On the assumption that collagen turnover rate is primarily influenced by the crosslinking due to glycoxidation, these results suggest that there is a progressive age-related deterioration of the process that controls the collagen glycoxidation rate. Thus, the ability to withstand damage due to glycoxidation and the Maillard reaction may be under genetic control.

Evaluación y participación en el ámbito de la cooperación al desarrollo: la teoría y la práctica del enfoque participativo en los proyectos de la AECID

Los análisis sobre estrategias y herramientas de la Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (CID) vienen centrando su atención en la cuestión relativa a la participación real de los actores implicados, como variable necesaria para la pertinencia e idoneidad del impacto de las intervenciones (Thérien, 2002; de Haan, 2009a y 2009b; OCDE, 2011). En la actualidad existe un consenso generalizado sobre la importancia de la participación de los “stakeholders” en los proceso de desarrollo, como se puede evidenciar en la definición de Desarrollo Humano Sostenible o en los postulados de la Declaración de París, aunque no siempre ha sido así y en la práctica se encuentren más límites. La participación ha sido central en las reflexiones que se han dado desde los diversos paradigmas y enfoques poniendo en cuestión las relaciones de poder o las relaciones funcionales habitualmente presentes en la “cadena de la ayuda”1. Esta tendencia también se ha plasmado en la emergencia de enfoques participativos en la práctica evaluativa que, por su naturaleza política, implican un trabajo de reflexión conjunta que debe involucrar a los diferentes actores implicados para que el proceso tenga legitimidad y sea de utilidad social (Monnier, 1995). La cooperación española otorga gran importancia al proceso de evaluación y reconoce la necesidad de integrar la participación como un pilar fundamental dentro de la misma: “La implicación de los políticos, gestores y técnicos en el proceso de evaluación, y la participación de las contrapartes y beneficiarios son condiciones indispensables para poder evaluar una intervención” (MAEC‐SECI, 2007ª:26)...

Cartels: the Probability of Getting Caught in the European Union. Bruges European Economic Research (BEER) Papers 12/March 2008

In 1991, Bryant and Eckard estimated the annual probability that a cartel would be detected by the US Federal authorities, conditional on being detected, to be at most between 13 % and 17 %. 15 years later, we estimated the same probability over a European sample and we found an annual probability that falls between 12.9 % and 13.3 %. We also develop a detection model to clarify this probability. Our estimate is based on detection durations, calculated from data reported for all the cartels convicted by the European Commission from 1969 to the present date, and a statistical birth and death process model describing the onset and detection of cartels.

Erato-humana /

"Note biografiche sull' autore": p. [ix]-xiii.

Gli strumenti musicali all'esposizione italiana del 1861 : descrizione sommaria e motivi dei giudizii pronunziati dalla terza sezione della classe IX del consiglio dei giurati /

Mode of access: Internet.

Orlando Furioso di M. Lodovico Ariosto:

5. éd. Cor. di note storiche e filologiche e indice.

Opere minori in verso e in prosa/

t. 1. Cinque canti fatti pubblicare da Virginio Ariosto. Frammenti in ottave. Satire. Elegie e capitoli. Egloga. Rime varie. Poesie latine. Poesie attribuite a Lodovico Ariosto.--t. 2. Commedie in prosa. Commedie in versi. L'erbolato. Lettere.

Le confessioni di un ottuagenario /

"Ippolito Nievo (1861)" signed: Erminia Fuà-Fusinato: v. 1, p. [ix]-xviii.

Raccolta di proverbi toscani /

Mode of access: Internet.

Opere di G.-B. Niccolini /

"Edizione ordinata e revista dall'autore."

Epistolario di Giuseppe Giusti;

Mode of access: Internet.