Substrate specificity of a recombinant d-lyxose isomerase from Providencia stuartii for monosaccharides

Kwon, H.J.,Yeom, S.J.,Park, C.S.,Oh, D.K. Society for Bioscience and Bioengineering, Japan ; 2010 Journal of bioscience and bioengineering Vol.110 No.1

The specific activity and catalytic efficiency (k<SUB>cat</SUB>/K<SUB>m</SUB>) of the recombinant putative protein from Providencia stuartii was the highest for d-lyxose among the aldose substrates, indicating that it is a d-lyxose isomerase. Gel filtration analysis suggested that the native enzyme is a dimer with a molecular mass of 44 kDa. The maximal activity for d-lyxose isomerization was observed at pH 7.5 and 45 <SUP>o</SUP>C in the presence of 1 mM Mn<SUP>2+</SUP>. The enzyme exhibited high isomerization activity for aldose substrates with the C2 and C3 hydroxyl groups in the left-hand configuration, such as d-lyxose, d-mannose, l-ribose, d-talose, and l-allose (listed in decreasing order of activity). The enzyme exhibited the highest activity for d-xylulose among all pentoses and hexoses. Thus, d-lyxose was produced at 288 g/l from 500 g/l d-xylulose by d-lyxose isomerase at pH 7.5 and 45 <SUP>o</SUP>C for 2 h, with a conversion yield of 58 % and a volumetric productivity of 144 g l<SUP>-1</SUP> h<SUP>-1</SUP>. The observed k<SUB>cat</SUB>/K<SUB>m</SUB> (920 mM<SUP>-1</SUP> s<SUP>-1</SUP>) of P. stuartiid-lyxose isomerase for d-xylulose is higher than any of the k<SUB>cat</SUB>/K<SUB>m</SUB> values previously reported for sugar and sugar phosphate isomerases with monosaccharide substrates. These results suggest that the enzyme will be useful as an industrial producer of d-lyxose.

An upgrade of the magnetic diagnostic system of the DIII-D tokamak for non-axisymmetric measurements.

King, J D,Strait, E J,Boivin, R L,Taussig, D,Watkins, M G,Hanson, J M,Logan, N C,Paz-Soldan, C,Pace, D C,Shiraki, D,Lanctot, M J,La Haye, R J,Lao, L L,Battaglia, D J,Sontag, A C,Haskey, S R,Bak, J G American Institute of Physics 2014 Review of scientific instruments Vol.85 No.8

<P>The DIII-D tokamak magnetic diagnostic system [E. J. Strait, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 023502 (2006)] has been upgraded to significantly expand the measurement of the plasma response to intrinsic and applied non-axisymmetric '3D' fields. The placement and design of 101 additional sensors allow resolution of toroidal mode numbers 1 n 3, and poloidal wavelengths smaller than MARS-F, IPEC, and VMEC magnetohydrodynamic model predictions. Small 3D perturbations, relative to the equilibrium field (10(-5) < δB/B0 < 10(-4)), require sub-millimeter fabrication and installation tolerances. This high precision is achieved using electrical discharge machined components, and alignment techniques employing rotary laser levels and a coordinate measurement machine. A 16-bit data acquisition system is used in conjunction with analog signal-processing to recover non-axisymmetric perturbations. Co-located radial and poloidal field measurements allow up to 14.2 cm spatial resolution of poloidal structures (plasma poloidal circumference is ~500 cm). The function of the new system is verified by comparing the rotating tearing mode structure, measured by 14 BP fluctuation sensors, with that measured by the upgraded B(R) saddle loop sensors after the mode locks to the vessel wall. The result is a nearly identical 2/1 helical eigenstructure in both cases.</P>

Potential roles of D-serine and serine racemase in experimental temporal lobe epilepsy

Ryu, H.J.,Kim, J.-E.,Yeo, S.-I.,Kim, D.-S.,Kwon, O.-S.,Choi, S.Y.,Kang, T.-C. Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 2010 Journal of neuroscience research Vol.88 No.11

<P>To confirm the roles of D-serinergic gliotransmission in epilepsy, we investigated the relationship between spatiotemporally specific glial responses and the D-serine/serine racemase system in mesial temporal structures following status epilepticus (SE). In control animals, D-serine and serine racemase immunoreactivities were detected mainly in astrocytes. After SE, D-serine and serine racemase immunoreactivities were increased in astrocytes. Double-immunofluorescence study revealed that up-regulation of serine racemase immunoreactivity was relevant not to D-serine immunoreactivity but to nestin or vimentin immunoreactivity. Neither D-serine nor serine racemase was found in naïve or reactive microglia. In addition, phosphorylated N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit 1 (pNR1-Ser896) immunoreactivity in the hippocampus was increased compared with controls. Increased D-serine immunoreactivity showed direct correlation with the phosphorylation of Ser896 of NR1. Given the findings of our previous study, these findings suggest that D-serine and serine racemase in astrocytes may play roles in neuronal hyperexcitability via a cooperative activation of NMDA receptors. Furthermore, serine racemase may be involved in migration and differentiation of immature astrocytes, which is relevant to reactive astrogliosis. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.</P>

J/ψproduction at low transverse momentum inp+pandd+ Au collisions at_sNN=200GeV

Adamczyk, L.,Adkins, J. K.,Agakishiev, G.,Aggarwal, M. M.,Ahammed, Z.,Alekseev, I.,Aparin, A.,Arkhipkin, D.,Aschenauer, E. C.,Attri, A.,Averichev, G. S.,Bai, X.,Bairathi, V.,Bellwied, R.,Bhasin, A.,Bh American Physical Society 2016 Physical Review C Vol.93 No.6

<P>We report on the measurement of J/psi production in the dielectron channel at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar < 1) in p + p and d + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV from the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The transverse momentum p(T) spectra in p + p for pT < 4 GeV/c and d + Au collisions for p(T) < 3 GeV/c are presented. These measurements extend the STAR coverage for J/psi production in p + p collisions to low p(T). The < p(T)(2)> from the measured J/psi invariant cross section in p + p and d + Au collisions are evaluated and compared to similar measurements at other collision energies. The nuclear modification factor for J/psi is extracted as a function of pT and collision centrality in d + Au and compared to model calculations using the modified nuclear parton distribution function and a final-state J/psi nuclear absorption cross section.</P>

Selective hydrogenation of d-glucose to d-sorbitol over HY zeolite supported ruthenium nanoparticles catalysts

Mishra, D.K.,Dabbawala, A.A.,Park, J.J.,Jhung, S.H.,Hwang, J.S. Elsevier Science Publishers 2014 CATALYSIS TODAY - Vol.232 No.-

HY zeolite (HYZ) supported ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles catalyst (Ru/HYZ) is prepared by simple impregnation method and is characterized by using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), CO chemisorption and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry. The catalyst Ru/HYZ is evaluated in hydrogenation of d-glucose and hydrogenation experiments to produce a selective product d-sorbitol were conducted batch wise in a three-phase laboratory scale reactor. The kinetics studies of d-glucose hydrogenation using the catalyst Ru/HYZ were carried out. In the operating regime studied the rate of reaction showed first orders dependency with respect to d-glucose and hydrogen. For affording maximum d-glucose conversion, yield and selectivity to d-sorbitol, the reaction conditions were also optimized.

J/ψ production as a function of charged particle multiplicity in pp collisions at s =7 TeV

ALICE Collaboration,Abelev, B.,Adam, J.,Adamova, D.,Adare, A.M.,Aggarwal, M.M.,Aglieri Rinella, G.,Agocs, A.G.,Agostinelli, A.,Aguilar Salazar, S.,Ahammed, Z.,Ahmad Masoodi, A.,Ahmad, N.,Ahn, S.U.,Aki North-Holland Pub. Co 2012 Physics letters: B Vol.712 No.3

The ALICE Collaboration reports the measurement of the relative J/ψ yield as a function of charged particle pseudorapidity density dN<SUB>ch</SUB>/dη in pp collisions at s=7 TeV at the LHC. J/ψ particles are detected for p<SUB>t</SUB>>0, in the rapidity interval |y|<0.9 via decay into e<SUP>+</SUP>e<SUP>-</SUP>, and in the interval 2.5<y<4.0 via decay into μ<SUP>+</SUP>μ<SUP>-</SUP> pairs. An approximately linear increase of the J/ψ yields normalized to their event average (dN<SUB>J/ψ</SUB>/dy)/<dN<SUB>J/ψ</SUB>/dy> with (dN<SUB>ch</SUB>/dη)/<dN<SUB>ch</SUB>/dη> is observed in both rapidity ranges, where dN<SUB>ch</SUB>/dη is measured within |η|<1 and p<SUB>t</SUB>>0. In the highest multiplicity interval with <dN<SUB>ch</SUB>/dη(bin)≥24.1, corresponding to four times the minimum bias multiplicity density, an enhancement relative to the minimum bias J/ψ yield by a factor of about 5 at 2.5<y<4 (8 at |y|<0.9) is observed.

J-PLUS: Identification of low-metallicity stars with artificial neural networks using SPHINX

Whitten, D. D.,Placco, V. M.,Beers, T. C.,Chies-Santos, A. L.,Bonatto, C.,Varela, J.,Cristó,bal-Hornillos, D.,Ederoclite, A.,Masseron, T.,Lee, Y. S.,Akras, S.,Borges Fernandes, M.,Caballero, J. Springer-Verlag 2019 Astronomy and astrophysics Vol.622 No.-

<P><I>Context.</I> We present a new methodology for the estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters from narrow- and intermediate-band photometry of the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS), and propose a method for target pre-selection of low-metallicity stars for follow-up spectroscopic studies. Photometric metallicity estimates for stars in the globular cluster M15 are determined using this method.</P><P><I>Aims.</I> By development of a neural-network-based photometry pipeline, we aim to produce estimates of effective temperature, <I>T</I>eff, and metallicity, [Fe/H], for a large subset of stars in the J-PLUS footprint.</P><P><I>Methods.</I> The Stellar Photometric Index Network Explorer, SPHINX, was developed to produce estimates of <I>T</I>eff and [Fe/H], after training on a combination of J-PLUS photometric inputs and synthetic magnitudes computed for medium-resolution (<I>R</I> ~ 2000) spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This methodology was applied to J-PLUS photometry of the globular cluster M15.</P><P><I>Results.</I> Effective temperature estimates made with J-PLUS Early Data Release photometry exhibit low scatter, σ(<I>T</I>eff) = 91 K, over the temperature range 4500 < <I>T</I>eff (K) < 8500. For stars from the J-PLUS First Data Release with 4500 < <I>T</I>eff (K) < 6200, 85 ± 3% of stars known to have [Fe/H] < −2.0 are recovered by SPHINX. A mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = − 2.32 ± 0.01, with a residual spread of 0.3 dex, is determined for M15 using J-PLUS photometry of 664 likely cluster members.</P><P><I>Conclusions.</I> We confirm the performance of SPHINX within the ranges specified, and verify its utility as a stand-alone tool for photometric estimation of effective temperature and metallicity, and for pre-selection of metal-poor spectroscopic targets.</P>

D -Meson Azimuthal Anisotropy in Midcentral Pb-Pb Collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV

Acharya, S.,Adamová,, D.,Adolfsson, J.,Aggarwal, M. M.,Aglieri Rinella, G.,Agnello, M.,Agrawal, N.,Ahammed, Z.,Ahmad, N.,Ahn, S. U.,Aiola, S.,Akindinov, A.,Alam, S. N.,Alba, J. L. B.,Albuquerque American Physical Society 2018 Physical Review Letters Vol.120 No.10

<P>The azimuthal anisotropy coefficient v(2) of prompt D-0, D+, D*+, and D-s(+) mesons was measured in midcentral (30%-50% centrality class) Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair root s(NN)=5.02 TeV, with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at midrapidity, |y| < 0.8, in the transverse momentum interval 1 < p(T) < 24 GeV/c. The measured D-meson v(2) has similar values as that of charged pions. The D-s(+) v(2), measured for the first time, is found to be compatible with that of nonstrange D mesons. The measurements are compared with theoretical calculations of charm-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding medium and have the potential to constrain medium parameters.</P>

d-pinitol regulates Th1/Th2 balance via suppressing Th2 immune response in ovalbumin-induced asthma

Lee, J.S.,Lee, C.M.,Jeong, Y.I.,Jung, I.D.,Kim, B.H.,Seong, E.Y.,Kim, J.I.,Choi, I.W.,Chung, H.Y.,Park, Y.M. North-Holland Pub ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2007 FEBS letters Vol.581 No.1

d-pinitol has been demonstrated to exert insulin-like and anti-inflammatory activities. However, its anti-allergic effect in the Th1/Th2 immune response is poorly understood. Recently, it was shown that T-bet and GATA-3 are master Th1 and Th2 regulatory transcription factors. In this study, we have attempted to determine whether d-pinitol regulates Th1/Th2 cytokine production, T-bet and GATA-3 gene expression in OVA-induced asthma model mice. We also examined to ascertain whether d-pinitol could influence eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) activity. After being sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA) showed typical asthmatic reactions. These reactions included an increase in the number of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, an increase in inflammatory cell infiltration into the lung tissue around blood vessels and airways, airway luminal narrowing, and the development of airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR). The administration of d-pinitol before the last airway OVA challenge resulted in a significant inhibition of all asthmatic reactions. Accordingly, this study may provide evidence that d-pinitol plays a critical role in the amelioration of the pathogenetic process of asthma in mice. These findings provide new insight into the immunopharmacological role of d-pinitol in terms of its effects in a murine model of asthma, and also broaden current perspectives in our understanding of the immunopharmacological functions of d-pinitol.

IL-32γ inhibits cancer cell growth through inactivation of NF-κB and STAT3 signals

Oh, J H,Cho, M-C,Kim, J-H,Lee, S Y,Kim, H J,Park, E S,Ban, J O,Kang, J-W,Lee, D-H,Shim, J-H,Han, S B,Moon, D C,Park, Y H,Yu, D-Y,Kim, J-M,Kim, S H,Yoon, D-Y,Hong, J T Nature Publishing Group 2011 Oncogene Vol.30 No.30

<P>Several studies have shown physiological functions of interleukin (IL)-32, a novel cytokine. However, the role of IL-32 in cancer development has not been reported. In this study, we showed that IL-32γ inhibited tumor growth in IL-32γ-overexpressing transgenic mice inoculated with melanoma as well as colon tumor growth in xenograft nude mice inoculated with IL-32γ-transfected colon cancer cells (SW620). The inhibitory effect of IL-32γ on tumor growth was associated with the inhibition of constitutive activated nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) and of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). The expression of antiapoptotic, cell proliferation and tumor-promoting genes (<I>bcl-2</I>, <I>X-chromosome inhibitor of apoptosis protein</I> (<I>IAP</I>), <I>cellular IAP</I> and <I>cellular FADD-like IL-1β-converting enzyme-inhibitory protein</I>, <I>cyclin D</I>), cyclin-dependent kinase 4, cycolooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase was decreased, whereas the expression of apoptotic target genes (<I>caspase-3</I> and <I>-9</I>, <I>bax</I>) increased. In tumor, spleen and blood, the number of cytotoxic CD8<SUP>+</SUP> T cells and CD57<SUP>+</SUP> natural killer cells and the levels of IL-10 increased, but that of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-1β and IL-6 decreased. We also found that forced overexpression of IL-32γ inhibited colon cancer cell (SW620 and HCT116) growth accompanied with the inhibition of activated NF-κB and STAT3 <I>in vitro</I>. In addition, when IL-32γ was knocked down by small interfering RNA (siRNA) or neutralized with an anti-IL-32γ antibody, IL-32γ-induced colon cancer cell growth inhibition, the IL-32γ-induced decrease of TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-6 production, and the increase of IL-10 production were abolished. However, siRNA of NF-κB and STAT3 augmented IL-32γ-induced colon cancer cell growth inhibition. These findings indicate significant pathophysiological roles of IL-32γ in cancer development.</P>