Inhibition of peroxynitrite-mediated reactions by vanillin

Several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzeimer's and Parkinson's as well as septic shock and inflammation involve formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that include peroxynitrite (PON). PON can also react with endogenous antioxidants. Therefore, dietary supplementation with antioxidants may help in these diseases. An exogenous antioxidant, vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde), used widely as a food flavoring agent, was evaluated for its ability to scavenge PON and inhibit PON-mediated reactions. Nitration of tyrosine by PON was assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This reaction was inhibited by vanillin. The oxidation of dihydrorhodamine 123 to fluorescent rhodamine 123 was also inhibited by vanillin. The kinetics of reaction between PON and vanillin was studied by stopped-flow technique. The products of this reaction were analyzed by HPLC, and hydroxyvanillin was identified as one of the five products with absorption at 350 nm. These data demonstrate that vanillin effectively scavenges PON in cell-free systems.     

木豆杂种优势利用研究进展

自1974年发现木豆雄性不育株以来,国际上不断对木豆核雄性不育(GMS)和核质互作雄性不育(CGMS)基因及其种质资源进行研究和挖掘,最终实现了木豆杂种优势的成功利用。本文系统总结了过去30多年来,国际上木豆杂种优势机理、表现及授粉方式等基础研究,GMS、CGMS不育系及其配套制种体系研究,杂种优势强度研究,以及木豆杂交种生产技术研究进展。提出了木豆杂种优势利用的具体研究方向和展望。     

Identification of Polymorphisms in the Osteopontin Gene and Their Associations with Certain Semen Production Traits of Water Buffaloes in the Brazilian Amazon

The osteopontin gene may influence the fertility of water buffaloes because it is a protein present in sperm. The aim of this work was to identify polymorphisms in this gene and associate them with fertility parameters of animals kept under extensive grazing. A total of 306 male buffaloes older than 18 months, from two farms, one in the state of Amapá and the other in the state of Pará, Brazil were used in the study. Seven SNPs were identified in the regions studied. The polymorphisms were in gene positions 1478, 1513 and 1611 in the region 5′upstrem and positions 6690, 6737, 6925 and 6952 in the region amplified in intron 5. The SNPs were associated with the traits, namely scrotal circumference, scrotal volume, sperm motility, sperm concentration and sperm pathology. There were significant SNPs (p < 0.05) for all the traits. The SNP 6690 was significant for scrotal circumference, sperm concentration, sperm motility and sperm pathology and the SNP 6737 for scrotal volume. The genotype AA of SNP 6690 presented the highest averages for scrotal circumference, sperm concentration and motility and the lowest total number of sperm pathologies. For the scrotal volume trait, the animals with the largest volume were correlated with the presence of the genotype GG of SNP 6737. These results indicate a significance of the osteopontin gene as it seems to exert a substantial influence on the semen production traits of male buffaloes.     

Hepatotoxic Seafood Poisoning (HSP) Due to Microcystins: A Threat from the Ocean?

Cyanobacterial blooms are a major and growing problem for freshwater ecosystems worldwide that increasingly concerns public health, with an average of 60% of blooms known to be toxic. The most studied cyanobacterial toxins belong to a family of cyclic heptapeptide hepatotoxins, called microcystins. The microcystins are stable hydrophilic cyclic heptapeptides with a potential to cause cell damage following cellular uptake via organic anion-transporting proteins (OATP). Their intracellular biologic effects presumably involve inhibition of catalytic subunits of protein phosphatases (PP1 and PP2A) and glutathione depletion. The microcystins produced by cyanobacteria pose a serious problem to human health, if they contaminate drinking water or food. These toxins are collectively responsible for human fatalities, as well as continued and widespread poisoning of wild and domestic animals. Although intoxications of aquatic organisms by microcystins have been widely documented for freshwater ecosystems, such poisonings in marine environments have only occasionally been reported. Moreover, these poisonings have been attributed to freshwater cyanobacterial species invading seas of lower salinity (e.g., the Baltic) or to the discharge of freshwater microcystins into the ocean. However, recent data suggest that microcystins are also being produced in the oceans by a number of cosmopolitan marine species, so that Hepatotoxic Seafood Poisoning (HSP) is increasingly recognized as a major health risk that follows consumption of contaminated seafood.     

Identification of lactoferrin and glutamate receptor‐interacting protein 1 in bovine cervical mucus: A putative marker for oestrous detection

Accurate detection of oestrus is important for artificial insemination. The aim of this study was to identify oestrous‐specific bovine cervical mucus proteins that could be used to determine the optimal time for artificial insemination. Non‐oestrous and controlled internal drug release (CIDR)‐induced oestrous‐stage mucus proteins were purified and subjected to surface‐enhanced laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and MALDI‐TOF/TOF. Among differentially expressed proteins, lactoferrin (LF) and glutamate receptor‐interacting protein 1 (GRIP1) showed a twofold increase during the CIDR‐induced oestrous stage compared to the levels in non‐oestrous stage in bovine cervical mucus. The RT‐PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry results showed that LF and GRIP1 expression was significantly increased during the oestrous stage in the uterus. This study demonstrated that bovine LF and GRIP1 exist during the oestrous stage, but not during the non‐oestrous stage, suggesting that cervical mucus LF and GRIP1 are useful oestrous detection markers in cattle.