Human Microtubule-Associated-Protein Tau Regulates the Number of Protofilaments in Microtubules: A Synchrotron X-Ray Scattering Study

Choi, M.C.,Raviv, U.,Miller, H.P.,Gaylord, M.R.,Kiris, E.,Ventimiglia, D.,Needleman, D.J.,Kim, M.W.,Wilson, L.,Feinstein, S.C.,Safinya, C.R. Biophysical Society ; Published for the Biophysica 2009 Biophysical journal Vol.97 No.2

Microtubules (MTs), a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton, are 25 nm protein nanotubes with walls comprised of assembled protofilaments built from αβ heterodimeric tubulin. In neural cells, different isoforms of the microtubule-associated-protein (MAP) tau regulate tubulin assembly and MT stability. Using synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), we have examined the effects of all six naturally occurring central nervous system tau isoforms on the assembly structure of taxol-stabilized MTs. Most notably, we found that tau regulates the distribution of protofilament numbers in MTs as reflected in the observed increase in the average radius <R<SUP>MT</SUP>> of MTs with increasing Φ, the tau/tubulin-dimer molar ratio. Within experimental scatter, the change in <R<SUP>MT</SUP>> seems to be isoform independent. Significantly, <R<SUP>MT</SUP>> was observed to rapidly increase for 0 < Φ < 0.2 and saturate for Φ between 0.2-0.5. Thus, a local shape distortion of the tubulin dimer on tau binding, at coverages much less than a monolayer, is spread collectively over many dimers on the scale of protofilaments. This implies that tau regulates the shape of protofilaments and thus the spontaneous curvature C<SUB>o</SUB><SUP>MT</SUP> of MTs leading to changes in the curvature C<SUP>MT</SUP> (=1/R<SUP>MT</SUP>). An important biological implication of these findings is a possible allosteric role for tau where the tau-induced shape changes of the MT surface may effect the MT binding activity of other MAPs present in neurons. Furthermore, the results, which provide insight into the regulation of the elastic properties of MTs by tau, may also impact biomaterials applications requiring radial size-controlled nanotubes.

Decay Schemes of Three-Quasiparticle Isomers in ^(119,121)Sb and ^(121,123)I

C.-B. Moon,G. D. Dracoulis,R. A. Bark,A. P. Byrne,P. A. Davidson,T. Kibedi,G. J. Lane,A. N. Wilson 한국물리학회 2011 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.59 No.23

The gamma-ray decay of isomers in near spherical ^(119,121)Sb and transitional ^(121,123)I have been studied using γ-ray spectroscopy with ^7Li pulsed beams delivered from 14 UD Pelletron accelerator at the Australian National University. Isomers of J^π = 25/2^+, 19/2^- and 21/2^- with half-lives of a few nanoseconds to hundreds microseconds have been observed at 2.4 < E_x < 2.9 MeV. Decay schemes of the isomers in these nuclei are presented and their properties are interpreted in terms of three quasiparticle configurations based on the two-neutron (h_(11/2))_2 10^+ and (d_(3/2)h_(11/2)) 7^- states in even-A Sn isotones coupled to an extra proton.

Drilling to Gabbro in Intact Ocean Crust

Wilson, Douglas S.,Teagle, Damon A. H.,Alt, Jeffrey C.,Banerjee, Neil R.,Umino, Susumu,Miyashita, Sumio,Acton, Gary D.,Anma, Ryo,Barr, Samantha R.,Belghoul, Akram,Carlut, Julie,Christie, David M.,Cogg American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2006 Science Vol.312 No.5776

<P>Sampling an intact sequence of oceanic crust through lavas, dikes, and gabbros is necessary to advance the understanding of the formation and evolution of crust formed at mid-ocean ridges, but it has been an elusive goal of scientific ocean drilling for decades. Recent drilling in the eastern Pacific Ocean in Hole 1256D reached gabbro within seismic layer 2, 1157 meters into crust formed at a superfast spreading rate. The gabbros are the crystallized melt lenses that formed beneath a mid-ocean ridge. The depth at which gabbro was reached confirms predictions extrapolated from seismic experiments at modern mid-ocean ridges: Melt lenses occur at shallower depths at faster spreading rates. The gabbros intrude metamorphosed sheeted dikes and have compositions similar to the overlying lavas, precluding formation of the cumulate lower oceanic crust from melt lenses so far penetrated by Hole 1256D.</P>

Immunogenicity and Efficacy of Schmallenberg Virus Envelope Glycoprotein Subunit Vaccines

Abaineh D. Endalew,Bonto Faburay,Jessie D. Trujillo,Natasha N. Gaudreault,A. Sally Davis,Vinay Shivanna,Sun-Young Sunwoo,Wenjun Ma,Barbara S. Drolet,D. Scott McVey,Igor Morozov,William C. Wilson,Juerg 대한수의학회 2019 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.20 No.6

The Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is an orthobunyavirus that causes abortions, stillbirths, and congenital defects in pregnant sheep and cattle. Inactivated or live attenuated vaccines have been developed in endemic countries, but there is still interest in the development of SBV vaccines that would allow a differentiationng of infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA). Therefore, an attempt was made to develop novel DIVA-compatible SBV vaccines using SBV glycoproteins expressed in baculovirus. All vaccines and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) controls were prepared with adjuvant and administered subcutaneously to cattle at six6 months (Ed note: Numerals 1 to 9 are written in words.)of age. The first trial included two2 groups of animals vaccinated with either carboxyl-terminus glycoprotein (Gc) or PBS and boosted after two2 weeks. In the second trial, three3 groups of cattle were administered either Gc, Gc and Gnamino-terminus glycoprotein, or PBS with a booster vaccination after three3 weeks. The animals were challenged with the SBV nine9 days after the booster vaccination in the first study, and three3 weeks after the booster vaccination in the second study. Using SBV Gc-specific ELISAenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, antibodies were first detected in serum samples 14 days after the first vaccination in both trials, and peaked on days seven7 and nine9 after the booster in the first and second trials, respectively. Low titers of neutralizing antibodies were detected in serum from only 3/6 and 2/4 animals in the first and second trial, respectively, at 14 days after the first vaccination. The titers increased 2 to 3-fold after the booster vaccination. On the other hand, SBV-specific RNA was detected in the serum and selective tissues in all animals after the challenge. The SBV candidate vaccines neither prevented viremia nor conferred protection against the SBV infection.

Single-Cell Genomics Reveals Organismal Interactions in Uncultivated Marine Protists

Yoon, H. S.,Price, D. C.,Stepanauskas, R.,Rajah, V. D.,Sieracki, M. E.,Wilson, W. H.,Yang, E. C.,Duffy, S.,Bhattacharya, D. American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2011 Science Vol.332 No.6030

<P>Whole-genome shotgun sequence data from three individual cells isolated from seawater, followed by analysis of ribosomal DNA, indicated that the cells represented three divergent clades of picobiliphytes. In contrast with the recent description of this phylum, we found no evidence of plastid DNA nor of nuclear-encoded plastid-targeted proteins, which suggests that these picobiliphytes are heterotrophs. Genome data from one cell were dominated by sequences from a widespread single-stranded DNA virus. This virus was absent from the other two cells, both of which contained non-eukaryote DNA derived from marine Bacteroidetes and large DNA viruses. By using shotgun sequencing of uncultured marine picobiliphytes, we revealed the distinct interactions of individual cells.</P>

Gender and telomere length: Systematic review and meta-analysis

the Halcyon study team,Gardner, M.,Bann, D.,Wiley, L.,Cooper, R.,Hardy, R.,Nitsch, D.,Martin-Ruiz, C.,Shiels, P.,Sayer, A.A.,Barbieri, M.,Bekaert, S.,Bischoff, C.,Brooks-Wilson, A.,Chen, W.,Cooper, C. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2014 Experimental Gerontology Vol.51 No.-

Background: It is widely believed that females have longer telomeres than males, although results from studies have been contradictory. Methods: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that in humans, females have longer telomeres than males and that this association becomes stronger with increasing age. Searches were conducted in EMBASE and MEDLINE (by November 2009) and additional datasets were obtained from study investigators. Eligible observational studies measured telomeres for both females and males of any age, had a minimum sample size of 100 and included participants not part of a diseased group. We calculated summary estimates using random-effects meta-analyses. Heterogeneity between studies was investigated using sub-group analysis and meta-regression. Results: Meta-analyses from 36 cohorts (36,230 participants) showed that on average females had longer telomeres than males (standardised difference in telomere length between females and males 0.090, 95% CI 0.015, 0.166; age-adjusted). There was little evidence that these associations varied by age group (p=1.00) or cell type (p=0.29). However, the size of this difference did vary by measurement methods, with only Southern blot but neither real-time PCR nor Flow-FISH showing a significant difference. This difference was not associated with random measurement error. Conclusions: Telomere length is longer in females than males, although this difference was not universally found in studies that did not use Southern blot methods. Further research on explanations for the methodological differences is required.

Daily Feed Intake, Energy Intake, Growth Rate and Measures of Dietary Energy Efficiency of Pigs from Four Sire Lines Fed Diets with High or Low Metabolizable and Net Energy Concentrations

Schinckel, A.P.,Einstein, M.E.,Jungst, S.,Matthews, J.O.,Booher, C.,Dreadin, T.,Fralick, C.,Wilson, E.,Boyd, R.D. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2012 Animal Bioscience Vol.25 No.3

A trial was conducted to: i) evaluate the BW growth, energy intakes and energetic efficiency of pigs fed high and low density diets from 27 to 141 kg BW, ii) evaluate sire line and sex differences when fed both diets, and iii) to compare ME to NE as predictor of pig performance. The experiment had a replicated factorial arrangement of treatments including four sire lines, two sexes (2,192 barrows and 2,280 gilts), two dietary energy densities and a light or heavy target BW, 118 and 131.5 kg in replicates 1 to 6 and 127 and 140.6 kg in replicates 7 to 10. Pigs were allocated to a series of low energy (LE, 3.27 Mcal ME/kg) corn-soybean meal based diets with 16% wheat midds or high energy diets (HE, 3.53 to 3.55 Mcal ME/kg) with 4.5 to 4.95% choice white grease. All diets contained 6% DDGS. The HE and LE diets of each of the four phases were formulated to have equal lysine:Mcal ME ratios. Pigs were weighed and pen feed intake (11 or 12 pigs/pen) recorded at 28-d intervals. The barrow and gilt daily feed (DFI), ME (MEI) and NE (NEI) intake data were fitted to a Bridges function of BW. The BW data of each sex were fitted to a generalized Michaelis-Menten function of days of age. ME and NE required for maintenance (Mcal/d) were predicted using functions of BW (0.255 and 0.179 BW^0.60 respectively). Pigs fed LE diets had decreased ADG (915 vs. 945 g/d, p<0.001) than pigs fed HE diets. Overall, DFI was greater (p<0.001) for pigs fed the LE diets (2.62 vs. 2.45 kg/d). However, no diet differences were observed for MEI (8.76 vs. 8.78 Mcal/d, p = 0.49) or NEI (6.39 vs. 6.44 Mcal/d, p = 0.13), thereby indicating that the pigs compensated for the decreased energy content of the diet. Overall ADG:DFI (0.362 vs. 0.377) and ADG:Mcal MEI (0.109 vs. 0.113) was less (p<0.001) for pigs fed LE compared to HE diets. Pigs fed HE diets had 3.6% greater ADG:Mcal MEI above maintenance and only 1.3% greater ADG:Mcal NEI (0.152 versus 0.150), therefore NEI is a more accurate predictor of growth and G:F than MEI.Pigs fed HE diets had 3.4% greater ADG:Mcal MEI and 0.11% greater ADG:NEI above maintenance than pigs fed LE diets, again demonstrating that NEI is a better predictor of pig performance than MEI. Pigs fed LE diets had similar daily NEI and MEI but grew slower and less efficiently on both ME and NE basis than pigs fed HE diets. The data suggest that the midds NE value (2.132 Mcal/kg) was too high for this source or that maintenance was increased for pigs fed LE diets.

The Impact of Feeding Diets of High or Low Energy Concentration on Carcass Measurements and the Weight of Primal and Subprimal Lean Cuts

Schinckel, A.P.,Einstein, M.E.,Jungst, S.,Matthews, J.O.,Fields, B.,Booher, C.,Dreadin, T.,Fralick, C.,Tabor, S.,Sosnicki, A.,Wilson, E.,Boyd, R.D. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2012 Animal Bioscience Vol.25 No.4

Pigs from four sire lines were allocated to a series of low energy (LE, 3.15 to 3.21 Mcal ME/kg) corn-soybean meal-based diets with 16% wheat midds or high energy diets (HE, 3.41 to 3.45 Mcal ME/kg) with 4.5 to 4.95% choice white grease. All diets contained 6% DDGS. The HE and LE diets of each of the four phases were formulated to have equal lysine:Mcal ME ratios. Barrows (N = 2,178) and gilts (N = 2,274) were fed either high energy (HE) or low energy (LE) diets from 27 kg BW to target BWs of 118, 127, 131.5 and 140.6 kg. Carcass primal and subprimal cut weights were collected. The cut weights and carcass measurements were fitted to allometric functions (Y = A $CW^B$) of carcass weight. The significance of diet, sex or sire line with A and B was evaluated by linearizing the equations by log to log transformation. The effect of diet on A and B did not interact with sex or sire line. Thus, the final model was cut weight = (1+$b_D$(Diet)) A($CW^B$) where Diet = -0.5 for the LE and 0.5 for HE diets and A and B are sire line-sex specific parameters. Diet had no affect on loin, Boston butt, picnic, baby back rib, or sparerib weights (p>0.10, $b_D$ = -0.003, -0.0029, 0.0002, 0.0047, -0.0025, respectively). Diet affected ham weight (bD = -0.0046, p = 0.01), belly weight (bD = 0.0188, p = 0.001) three-muscle ham weight ($b_D$ = -0.014, p = 0.001), boneless loin weight (bD = -0.010, p = 0.001), tenderloin weight ($b_D$ = -0.023, p = 0.001), sirloin weight ($b_D$ = -0.009, p = 0.034), and fat-free lean mass ($b_D$ = -0.0145, p = 0.001). Overall, feeding the LE diets had little impact on primal cut weight except to decrease belly weight. Feeding LE diets increased the weight of lean trimmed cuts by 1 to 2 percent at the same carcass weight.

Detailed Analysis of Patients with Metastasis to the Prostatic Anterior Fat Pad Lymph Nodes: A Multi-Institutional Study

Kim, I.Y.,Modi, P.K.,Sadimin, E.,Ha, Y.S.,Kim, J.H.,Skarecky, D.,Cha, D.Y.,Wambi, C.O.,Ou, Y.C.,Yuh, B.,Park, S.,Llukani, E.,Albala, D.M.,Wilson, T.,Ahlering, T.,Badani, K.,Ahn, H.,Lee, D.I.,May, M.,K Williams and Wilkins Co 2013 The Journal of urology Vol.190 No.2

Purpose: Lymph nodes in the prostatic anterior fat pad rarely harbor metastatic disease. Therefore, the characteristics of patients with prostatic anterior fat pad lymph node metastasis are not well described in the literature. We identified the perioperative characteristics and assessed the clinical outcomes of patients with prostatic anterior fat pad lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: At 8 tertiary care centers a total of 4,261 patients underwent complete removal and pathological analysis of the prostatic anterior fat pad. We describe preoperative and pathological characteristics, and clinical management and outcomes in patients with metastatic disease to the prostatic anterior fat pad. Results: Metastatic disease to the prostatic anterior fat pad lymph nodes was detected in 40 patients (0.94%), of whom 37 (92.5%) had intermediate or high risk features preoperatively. Most patients with prostatic anterior fat pad metastases underwent concomitant pelvic lymph node dissection, and adjuvant therapy with radiation, androgen ablation and/or chemotherapy. A total of 27 patients (67.5%) with prostatic anterior fat pad metastatic disease were up-staged as a result of prostatic anterior fat pad pathological analysis, of whom 14 (51.8%) remained free of biochemical recurrence with observation and/or definitive adjuvant/salvage therapy. Conclusions: Most patients with prostatic anterior fat pad metastatic disease had intermediate to high risk features preoperatively. In some patients with such lymph node metastasis removing these lymph nodes resulted in prolonged biochemical recurrence-free survival. Therefore, we recommend that the prostatic anterior fat pad be removed in all patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. However, pathological analysis of the prostatic anterior fat pad may be limited to patients with intermediate to high risk oncological features preoperatively.

Collective Bands Built on the Proton h11/2 and the Neutron h11/2 Orbitals in Odd-odd I

C.-B. Moon,G. D. Dracoulis,R. A. Bark,A. P. Byrne,P. A. Davidson,A. N. Wilson,A. M. Baxter,T. Kib edi,G. J. Lane 한국물리학회 2003 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.43 No.I

The excited states of the doubly-odd 124I, 122I, and 120I nuclei have been studied by using in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy with the 122Sn(7Li,5n), the 120Sn(7Li,5n), and the 118Sn(6Li,4n) reactions at Elab = 54, 58, and 48 MeV, respectively. Beams, which were pulsed on 1 ns separated by 1.7 s, were provided by the 14UD Pelletron accelerator at the Australian National University. In the present work, many collective bands with positive-parity as well as negative-parity have been newly identied and their excitation energies have been denitely established. The positive-parity collective bands built on the 10+ state in these doubly odd I could be interpreted as being associated with the h11=2h11=2 conguration.