bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Revision of diplectanid monogeneans (Monopisthocotylea, Diplectanidae) in sillaginid fishes, with a description of a new species of Monoplectanum
Authors: HAYWARD CRAIG J.
Published: July 2005

Five species of diplectanids are described or redescribed on the basis of sclerotised parts, from a survey of 26 species of Sillaginidae in the Indo‐west Pacific. Diplectanum sillagonum Tripathi is widespread, and is recorded on Sillago sihama from tropical Australia north to Hong Kong and west to India, as well as on S. vincenti (in India) and S. attenuata (Persian Gulf). Diplectanum blairense Gupta & Khanna infects S. sihama and S. indica and is sympatric with D. sillagonum over some of its range (Hong Kong to India and south to Bali). Diplectanum flagritubus Nagibina is synonymised with D. blairense. Diplectanum puriense Tripathi is redescribed from S. chondropus in western Thailand, but was not found on specimens of its type host, Sillaginopsis panijus from the Bay of Bengal. Monoplectanum youngi sp. n. is described from Sillago analis, S. ciliata, S. sihama, S. parvisquamis, S. lutea and S. attenuata and is more widespread than D. sillagonum, extending into subtropical waters in Australia. Monoplectanum australe Young infects S. maculata and S. burrus, and appears to be endemic to Australia. The diagnosis of Monoplectanum, until now monotypic, is emended, the genus is unlikely to contain more new species on sillaginid fishes, and its two species probably share a common ancestor with D. blairense. Parasitological evidence favours a close relationship between Sillaginidae and Sciaenidae.
A new cavernicolous, semiaquatic species of Serradium (Diplopoda, Polydesmidae) and its terrestrial, sympatric congener. With notes on the genus Serradium
Authors: ENGHOFF HENRIK , CAODURO GIANFRANCO , ADIS JOACHIM , MESSNER BENJAMIN
Published: July 2005

Serradium semiaquaticum sp. n. is described from several North Italian caves. The new species is very similar to, and probably the closest relative of S. hirsutipes Verhoeff, 1941, which lives in the same caves as S. semiaquaticum but has a wider distribution. Serradium hirsutipes is redescribed and newly recorded from several caves. Serradium semiaquaticum is remarkable by its semiaquatic habits and correspondingly modified spiracles and mouthparts, whereas S. hirsutipes is normal in these respects. The genus Serradium is reviewed, and a key to the known species is given. Serradium as currently defined may not be a monophyletic group. Serradium semiaquaticum and S. hirsutipes show strong gonopodal similarity (synapomorphy?) with species of Polydesmus, subgenus Acanthotarsius.
Giardia intestinalis Glucosamine 6‐Phosphate Isomerase: the Key Enzyme to Encystment Appears to be Controlled by Ubiquitin Attachment
Authors: LOPEZ ALEX B. , HOSSAIN MOHAMMED T. , VAN KEULEN HARRY
Published: July 2005

ABSTRACT. The cyst wall of the parasitic protozoan, Giardia intestinalis, is composed of a polymer of N‐acetylgalactosamine, the precursor of which is synthesized by an inducible enzyme pathway. The first enzyme in this pathway, glucosamine 6‐phosphate isomerase, is transcriptionally regulated. During encystment and in mature cysts this isomerase appears to be modified by ubiquitin attachment. Thus, it might be targeted for destruction by an ubiquitin‐mediated pathway, suggesting that glucosamine 6‐phosphate isomerase expression is tightly regulated.
The Distal Short Consensus Repeats 1 and 2 of the Membrane Cofactor Protein CD46 and Their Distance from the Cell Membrane Determine Productive Entry of Species B Adenovirus Serotype 35
Authors: Fleischli Christoph , Verhaagh Sandra , Havenga Menzo , Sirena Dominique , Schaffner Walter , Cattaneo Roberto , Greber Urs F. , Hemmi Silvio
Published: July 2005

The human regulator of complement activation membrane cofactor protein (CD46) has recently been identified as an attachment receptor for most species B adenoviruses (Ads), including Ad type 3 (Ad3), Ad11, and Ad35, as well as species D Ad37. To characterize the interaction between Ad35 and CD46, hybrid receptors composed of different CD46 short consensus repeat (SCR) domains fused to immunoglobulin-like domains of CD4 and a set of 36 CD46 mutants containing semiconservative changes of single amino acids within SCR domains I and II were tested in binding and in Ad35-mediated luciferase transduction assays. In addition, anti-CD46 antibodies and soluble polypeptides constituting various CD46 domains were used in binding inhibition studies. Our data indicate that (i) CD46 SCR I or SCR II alone confers low but significant Ad35 binding; (ii) the presence of SCR I and II is required for optimal binding and transgene expression; (iii) transduction efficiencies equivalent to that of full-length CD46 are obtained if SCR I and II are at an appropriate distance from the cell membrane; (iv) ablation of the N-glycan attached to SCR I has no influence on receptor function, whereas ablation of the SCR II N-glycan results in about a two- to threefold reduction of binding and transgene expression; (v) most putative Ad35 binding residues are located on the same solvent-exposed face of the SCR I or SCR II domain, which are twisted by about 90°; and (vi) the putative Ad35 binding sites partly overlap with the measles virus binding surface.
Phosphorylation of Bluetongue Virus Nonstructural Protein 2 Is Essential for Formation of Viral Inclusion Bodies
Authors: Modrof Jens , Lymperopoulos Kostas , Roy Polly
Published: July 2005

In bluetongue virus (BTV)-infected cells, large cytoplasmic aggregates are formed, termed viral inclusion bodies (VIBs), which are believed to be the sites of viral replication and morphogenesis. The BTV nonstructural protein NS2 is the major component of VIBs. NS2 undergoes intracellular phosphorylation and possesses a strong single-stranded RNA binding activity. By changing phosphorylated amino acids to alanines and aspartates, we have mapped the phosphorylated sites of NS2 to two serine residues at positions 249 and 259. Since both of these serines are within the context of protein kinase CK2 recognition signals, we have further examined if CK2 is involved in NS2 phosphorylation by both intracellular colocalization and an in vitro phosphorylation assay. In addition, we have utilized the NS2 mutants to determine the role of phosphorylation on NS2 activities. The data obtained demonstrate that NS2 phosphorylation is not necessary either for its RNA binding properties or for its ability to interact with the viral polymerase VP1. However, phosphorylated NS2 exhibited VIB formation while unmodified NS2 failed to assemble as VIBs although smaller oligomeric forms of NS2 were readily formed. Our data reveal that NS2 phosphorylation controls VIBs formation consistent with a model in which NS2 provides the matrix for viral assembly.
High-Potency Human Immunodeficiency Virus Vaccination Leads to Delayed and Reduced CD8
+
T-Cell Expansion but Improved Virus Control
Authors: Davenport Miles P. , Zhang Lei , Bagchi Ansuman , Fridman Arthur , Fu Tong-Ming , Schleif William , Shiver John W. , Ribeiro Ruy M. , Perelson Alan S.
Published: July 2005

CD8
+
T lymphocytes are thought to play an important role in the control of acute and chronic human immunodeficiency virus infections. However, there is a significant delay between infection and the first observed increase in virus-specific CD8
+
T-cell numbers. Prior to this time, viral kinetics are not significantly different between controls and vaccinees. Surprisingly, higher initial virus-specific CD8
+
T-cell numbers lead to a longer delay prior to initial CD8
+
T-cell expansion, and slower CD8
+
T-cell increases. Nevertheless, higher initial CD8
+
T-cell numbers were associated with reduced peak and chronic viral loads and reduced CD4
+
T-cell depletion.
The Immediate-Early Protein IE0 of the
Autographa californica
Nucleopolyhedrovirus Is Not Essential for Viral Replication
Authors: Liqun Lu , Rivkin Hadassah , Chejanovsky Nor
Published: July 2005

The role of the
Autographa californica
multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) immediate-early protein IE0 in the baculoviral infection is not clear. In this study, we constructed the recombinant virus vAcΔie0 null for
ie0
expression by targeted mutagenesis replacing
exon0
with the
cat
gene. We found that vAcΔie0 replicated efficiently in
Spodoptera littoralis
SL2 cells, which are poorly permissive for AcMNPV. In contrast, in
Spodoptera frugiperda
SF9 cells, which are fully permissive for AcMNPV, vAcΔie0 DNA replication and budded virus production were delayed. These results and recently published data (X. Dai et al., J. Virol.
78:
9633-9644, 2004) indicate that
ie0
is not essential for AcMNPV replication but enhances it in permissive SF9 cells.
Identification of Two New HLA-A*1101-Restricted Tax Epitopes Recognized by Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in an Adult T-Cell Leukemia Patient after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Authors: Harashima Nanae , Tanosaki Ryuji , Shimizu Yukiko , Kurihara Kiyoshi , Masuda Takao , Okamura Jun , Kannagi Mari
Published: July 2005

We previously reported that Tax-specific CD8+cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), directed to single epitopes restricted by HLA-A2 or A24, expanded in vitro and in vivo in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from some adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) patients after but not before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Here, we demonstrated similar Tax-specific CTL expansion in PBMC from another post-HSCT ATL patient without HLA-A2 or A24, whose CTLs equally recognized two newly identified epitopes, Tax88-96 and Tax272-280, restricted by HLA-A11, suggesting that these immunodominant Tax epitopes are present in the ATL patient in vivo.
Identification of Secret Agent as the
O-
GlcNAc Transferase That Participates in Plum Pox Virus Infection
Authors: Chen D. , Juárez S. , Hartweck L. , Alamillo J. M. , Simón-Mateo C. , Pérez J. J. , Fernández-Fernández M. R. , Olszewski N. E. , García J. A.
Published: July 2005

Serine and threonine of many nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins are posttranslationally modified with O-linked
N
-acetylglucosamine (
O
-GlcNAc). This modification is made by O-linked
N
-acetylglucosamine transferases (OGTs). Genetic and biochemical data have demonstrated the existence of two OGTs of
Arabidopsis thaliana
, SECRET AGENT (SEC) and SPINDLY (SPY), with at least partly overlapping functions, but there is little information on their target proteins. The N terminus of the capsid protein (CP) of
Plum pox virus
(PPV) isolated from
Nicotiana clevelandii
is
O
-GlcNAc modified. We show here that
O-
GlcNAc modification of PPV CP also takes place in other plant hosts,
N. benthamiana
and
Arabidopsis
. PPV was able to infect the
Arabidopsis
OGT mutants
sec-1
,
sec-2
, and
spy-3
, but at early times of the infection, both rate of virus spread and accumulation were reduced in
sec-1
and
sec-2
relative to
spy-3
and wild-type plants. By matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, we determined that a 39-residue tryptic peptide from the N terminus of CP of PPV purified from the
spy-3
mutant, but not
sec-1
or
sec-2
, was
O
-GlcNAc modified, suggesting that SEC but not SPY modifies the capsid. While our results indicate that
O-
GlcNAc modification of PPV CP by SEC is not essential for infection, they show that the modification has a role(s) in the process.
Morphological and Molecular Characterization of a Cypovirus (
Reoviridae
) from the Mosquito
Uranotaenia sapphirina
(Diptera: Culicidae)
Authors: Shapiro Alexandra , Green Terry , Rao Shujing , White Susan , Carner Gerry , Mertens Peter P. C. , Becnel James J.
Published: July 2005

A novel cypovirus has been isolated from the mosquito
Uranotaenia sapphirina
(UsCPV) and shown to cause a chronic infection confined to the cytoplasm of epithelial cells of the gastric ceca and posterior stomach. The production of large numbers of virions and inclusion bodies and their arrangement into paracrystalline arrays gives the gut of infected insects a distinctive blue iridescence. The virions, which were examined by electron microscopy, are icosahedral (55 to 65 nm in diameter) with a central core that is surrounded by a single capsid layer. They are usually packaged individually within cubic inclusion bodies (polyhedra, ∼100 nm across), although two to eight virus particles were sometimes occluded together. The virus was experimentally transmitted per os to several mosquito species. The transmission rate was enhanced by the presence of magnesium ions but was inhibited by calcium ions. Most of the infected larvae survived to adulthood, and the adults retained the infection. Electrophoretic analysis of the UsCPV genome segments (using 1% agarose gels) generated a migration pattern (electropherotype) that is different from those of the 16
Cypovirus
species already recognized. UsCPV genome segment 10 (Seg-10) showed no significant nucleotide sequence similarity to the corresponding segment of the other cypoviruses that have previously been analyzed, and it has different “conserved” termini. A BLAST search of the UsCPV deduced amino acid sequence also showed little similarity to
Antheraea mylitta
CPV-4 (67 of 290 [23%]) or
Choristoneura fumiferana
CPV-16 (33 of 111 [29%]). We conclude that UsCPV should be recognized as a member of a new
Cypovirus
species (Cypovirus 17, strain UsCPV-17).
Humoral Immune Response Recognizes a Complex Set of Epitopes on Human Papillomavirus Type 6 L1 Capsomers
Authors: Orozco Johnnie J. , Carter Joseph J. , Koutsky Laura A. , Galloway Denise A.
Published: July 2005

Although epitope mapping has identified residues on the human papillomavirus (HPV) major capsid protein (L1) that are important for binding mouse monoclonal antibodies, epitopes recognized by human antibodies are not known. To map epitopes on HPV type 6 (HPV6) L1, surface-exposed loops were mutated to the corresponding sequence of HPV11 L1. HPV6 L1 capsomers had one to six regions mutated, including the BC, DE, EF, FG, and HI loops and the 139 C-terminal residues. After verifying proper conformation, hybrid capsomers were used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with 36 HPV6-seropositive sera from women enrolled in a study of incident HPV infection. Twelve sera were HPV6 specific, while the remainder reacted with both HPV6 and HPV11 L1. By preadsorption studies, 6/11 of these sera were shown to be cross-reactive. Among the HPV6-specific sera there was no immunodominant epitope recognized by all sera. Six of the 12 sera recognized epitopes that contained residues from combinations of the BC, DE, and FG loops, one serum recognized an epitope that consisted partially of the C-terminal arm, and three sera recognized complex epitopes to which reactivity was eliminated by switching all five loops. Reactivity in two sera was not eliminated even with all six regions swapped. The patterns of epitope recognition did not change over time in women whose sera were examined 9 years after their first-seropositive visit.
Determination of Interactions between Tegument Proteins of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1
Authors: Vittone Valerio , Diefenbach Eve , Triffett Damian , Douglas Mark W. , Cunningham Anthony L. , Diefenbach Russell J.
Published: July 2005

The aim of this study was to elucidate protein-protein interactions between tegument proteins of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). To do so, we have cloned and expressed in the LexA yeast (
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
) two-hybrid system, 13 of the 21 currently known tegument proteins of HSV-1. These included the tegument proteins essential for replication in cell lines, UL17, UL36, UL37, UL48, and UL49, and the nonessential tegument proteins US11, UL11, UL14, UL16, UL21, UL41, UL46, and UL47. A total of 104 combinations were screened in the yeast two-hybrid assay, with 9 interactions identified. These included: UL11-UL16, UL36-UL37, UL36-UL48, UL46-UL48, UL47-UL48, and UL48-UL49. The remaining interactions consisted of self-associations that were observed for US11, UL37, and UL49. The interactions UL36-UL37, UL36-UL48, UL37-UL37, UL46-UL48, and UL47-UL48 have not been previously reported for HSV-1. The interaction of UL46-UL48 was verified using an in vitro pull-down assay. The interactions of UL36-UL37 and UL37-UL37 were verified with a coimmunoprecipitation assay. Knowledge of HSV-1 tegument protein-protein interactions will provide insights into the pathways of tegument assembly, and the identified interactions are potential targets for new antiviral drugs.
Regulation of Apobec3F and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Vif by Vif-Cul5-ElonB/C E3 Ubiquitin Ligase
Authors: Liu Bindong , Sarkis Phuong Thi Nguyen , Luo Kun , Yu Yunkai , Yu Xiao-Fang
Published: July 2005

The human cytidine deaminase Apobec3F (h-A3F), a protein related to the previously recognized antiviral factor Apobec3G (h-A3G), has antiviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) that is suppressed by the viral protein Vif. The mechanism of HIV-1 Vif-mediated suppression of h-A3F is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that while h-A3F, like h-A3G, was able to suppress primate lentiviruses other than HIV-1 (simian immunodeficiency virus from African green monkeys [SIVagm] and Rhesus macaques [SIVmac]), the interaction between Vif proteins and h-A3F appeared to differ from that with h-A3G. H-A3F showed no change in its species specificity against HIV-1 or SIVagm Vif when a negatively charged amino acid was replaced with a lysine at position 128, a residue critical for h-A3G recognition by HIV-1 Vif. However, HIV-1 Vif, but not SIVagm Vif, was able to bind h-A3F and induce its polyubiquitination and degradation through the Cul5-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase. Interference with Cul5-E3 ligase function by depletion of Cul5, through RNA interference or overexpression of Cul5 mutants, blocked the ability of HIV-1 Vif to suppress h-A3F. A BC-box mutant of HIV-1 Vif that failed to recruit Cul5-E3 ligase but was still able to interact with h-A3F failed to suppress h-A3F. Interestingly, interference with Cul5-E3 ligase function or overexpression of h-A3F or h-A3G also increased the stability of HIV-1 Vif, suggesting that like the substrate molecules h-A3F and h-A3G, the substrate receptor protein Vif is itself also regulated by Cul5-E3 ligase. Our results indicate that Cul5-E3 ligase appears to be a common pathway hijacked by HIV-1 Vif to defeat both h-A3F and h-A3G. Developing inhibitors to disrupt the interaction between Vif and Cul5-E3 ligase could be therapeutically useful, allowing multiple host antiviral factors to suppress HIV-1.
mRNA Decay during Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Infections: Protein-Protein Interactions Involving the HSV Virion Host Shutoff Protein and Translation Factors eIF4H and eIF4A
Authors: Feng Pinghui , Everly David N. , Read G. Sullivan
Published: July 2005

During lytic infections, the virion host shutoff (Vhs) protein of herpes simplex virus accelerates the degradation of both host and viral mRNAs. In so doing, it helps redirect the cell from host to viral protein synthesis and facilitates the sequential expression of different viral genes. Vhs interacts with the cellular translation initiation factor eIF4H, and several point mutations that abolish its mRNA degradative activity also abrogate its ability to bind eIF4H. In addition, a complex containing bacterially expressed Vhs and a glutathioneS-transferase (GST)-eIF4H fusion protein has RNase activity. eIF4H shares a region of sequence homology with eIF4B, and it appears to be functionally similar in that both stimulate the RNA helicase activity of eIF4A, a component of the mRNA cap-binding complex eIF4F. We show that eIF4H interacts physically with eIF4A in the yeast two-hybrid system and in GST pull-down assays and that the two proteins can be coimmunoprecipitated from mammalian cells. Vhs also interacts with eIF4A in GST pull-down and coimmunoprecipitation assays. Site-directed mutagenesis of Vhs and eIF4H revealed residues of each that are important for their mutual interaction, but not for their interaction with eIF4A. Thus, Vhs, eIF4H, and eIF4A comprise a group of proteins, each of which is able to interact directly with the other two. Whether they interact simultaneously as a tripartite complex or sequentially is unclear. The data suggest a mechanism for linking the degradation of an mRNA to its translation and for targeting Vhs to mRNAs and to regions of translation initiation.
The Polerovirus Minor Capsid Protein Determines Vector Specificity and Intestinal Tropism in the Aphid
Authors: Brault Véronique , Périgon Sophie , Reinbold Catherine , Erdinger Monique , Scheidecker Danièle , Herrbach Etienne , Richards Ken , Ziegler-Graff Véronique
Published: July 2005

Aphid transmission of poleroviruses is highly specific, but the viral determinants governing this specificity are unknown. We used a gene exchange strategy between two poleroviruses with different vectors,Beet western yellows virus(BWYV) andCucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus(CABYV), to analyze the role of the major and minor capsid proteins in vector specificity. Virus recombinants obtained by exchanging the sequence of the readthrough domain (RTD) between the two viruses replicated in plant protoplasts and in whole plants. The hybrid readthrough protein of chimeric viruses was incorporated into virions. Aphid transmission experiments using infected plants or purified virions revealed that vector specificity is driven by the nature of the RTD. BWYV and CABYV have specific intestinal sites in the vectors for endocytosis: the midgut for BWYV and both midgut and hindgut for CABYV. Localization of hybrid virions in aphids by transmission electron microscopy revealed that gut tropism is also determined by the viral origin of the RTD.
Regulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 Expression by Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen 3C and the Suppressor of Metastasis Nm23-H1
Authors: Kuppers Daniel A. , Lan Ke , Knight Jason S. , Robertson Erle S.
Published: July 2005

Epstein-Barr virus latent protein EBNA3C has been shown to bind Nm23-H1, a known suppresser of cell migration and metastasis and a regulator of the guanine exchange factor Tiam-1. This interaction results in cellular translocation of Nm23-H1 to the nucleus and suppression of the antimigratory effect in vitro. Furthermore, these proteins can synergistically increase transcription of a basal promoter when targeted to DNA by fusion to a Gal4 DNA binding domain. In this report, we show that EBNA3C and Nm23-H1 can cooperate to upregulate expression of MMP-9, known to be expressed in aggressive forms of lymphomas. This upregulation resulted in increased levels of MMP-9 mRNA, as well as a detectable increase in MMP-9 gelatinolytic activity. Specific mutations in the MMP-9 promoter showed that the Ap1 and NFκB binding sites are important for upregulation by the proteins. Additionally, it was shown for the first time that EBNA3C and Nm23-H1 can bind subunits of these transcription factors. This suggests that the ability of EBNA3C to reverse the antimigratory effects of Nm23-H1 is likely to be in part through the synergistic upregulation of MMP-9, mediated through interactions with the AP1 and NFκB transcription factors.
Persistence of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Is Determined by a Cellular Cofactor of a Viral Autoprotease
Authors: Lackner T. , Müller A. , König M. , Thiel H.-J. , Tautz N.
Published: July 2005

Polyprotein processing control is a crucial step in the life cycle of positive-strand RNA viruses. Recently, a vital autoprotease generating an essential viral replication factor was identified in such a virus, namely, the pestivirus bovine viral diarrhea virus. Surprisingly, the activity of this protease, which resides in nonstructural protein 2 (NS2), diminishes early after infection, resulting in the limitation of viral RNA replication. Here, we describe that a cellular chaperone termed Jiv (J-domain protein interacting with viral protein) acts as a cofactor of the NS2 protease. Consumption of the intracellular Jiv pool is responsible for temporal regulation of protease activity: overexpression of Jiv interfered with regulation and correlated with increased accumulation of viral RNA; downregulation of the cellular Jiv level accelerated the decline of protease activity and reduced intracellular viral RNA levels and virion production. Accordingly, the amount of a cellular protein controls pestiviral replication by limiting the generation of active viral protease molecules and replication complexes. Importantly, this unique mechanism of replication control is essential for maintenance of the noncytopathogenic phenotype of the virus and thereby for its ability to establish persistent infections. These results add an entirely novel aspect to the understanding of the molecular basis of viral persistence.
Age-Related Differences in Amplification of Covalently Closed Circular DNA at Early Times after Duck Hepatitis B Virus Infection of Ducks
Authors: Zhang Yong-Yuan , Theele Daniel P. , Summers Jesse
Published: July 2005

Inoculation of 3-day-old (3D) or 3-week-old (3W) ducklings with duck hepatitis B virus results in chronic or transient infection, respectively. We previously showed that rapid production of neutralizing antibody following inoculation of 3W ducklings prevents virus from spreading in the liver and leads to a transient infection (Y.-Y. Zhang and J. Summers, J. Virol.
78:
1195-1201, 2004). In this study we further investigated early events of viral infection in both 3D and 3W ducks. We present evidence that a lower level of virus replication in the hepatocytes of 3W birds is an additional factor that probably favors transient infection. We suggest that lower virus replication is due to a less rapid covalently closed circular DNA amplification, leading to lower viremias and a slower spread of infection in the liver, and that the slower spread of infection in 3W ducks makes the infection more sensitive to interruption by the host immune responses.
Packaging Capacity of Adeno-Associated Virus Serotypes: Impact of Larger Genomes on Infectivity and Postentry Steps
Authors: Grieger Joshua C. , Samulski Richard J.
Published: July 2005

The limited packaging capacity of adeno-associated virus (AAV) precludes the design of vectors for the treatment of diseases associated with larger genes. Autonomous parvoviruses, such as minute virus of mice and B19, while identical in size (25 nm), are known to package larger genomes of 5.1 and 5.6 kb, respectively, compared to AAV genomes of 4.7 kb. One primary difference is the fact that wild-type (wt) AAV utilizes three capsid subunits instead of two to form the virion shell. In this study, we have characterized the packaging capacity of AAV serotypes 1 through 5 with and without the Vp2 subunit. Using reporter transgene cassettes that range in size from 4.4 to 6.0 kb, we determined that serotypes 1 through 5 with and without Vp2 could successfully package, replicate in, and transduce cells. Dot blot analysis established that packaging efficiency was similar for all vector cassettes and that the integrity of encapsidated genomes was intact regardless of size. Although physical characterization determined that virion structures were indistinguishable from wt, transduction experiments determined that all serotype vectors carrying larger genomes (5.3 kb and higher) transduced cells less efficiently (within a log) than AAV encapsidating wt size genomes. This result was not unique to reporter genes and was observed for CFTR vector cassettes ranging in size from 5.1 to 5.9 kb. No apparent advantage in packaging efficiency was observed when Vp2 was present or absent from the virion. Further analysis determined that a postentry step was responsible for the block in infection and specific treatment of cells upon infection with proteasome inhibitors increased transduction of AAV encapsidating larger DNA templates to wt levels, suggesting a preferential degradation of virions encapsidating larger-than-wt genomes. This study illustrates that AAV is capable of packaging and protecting recombinant genomes as large as 6.0 kb but the larger genome-containing virions are preferentially degraded by the proteasome and that this block can be overcome by the addition of proteasome inhibitors.
QUANTUM HAMILTON–JACOBI ANALYSIS OF PT SYMMETRIC HAMILTONIANS
Authors: SREE RANJANI S. , KAPOOR A. K. , PANIGRAHI P. K.
Published: July 2005

We apply the quantum Hamilton–Jacobi formalism, naturally defined in the complex domain, to complex Hamiltonians, characterized by discrete parity and time reversal (PT) symmetries and obtain their eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Examples of both quasi-exactly and exactly solvable potentials are analyzed and the subtle differences, in the singularity structures of their quantum momentum functions, are pointed out. The role of the PT symmetry in the complex domain is also illustrated.
DUAL BRANE PAIRS, CHAINS AND THE BEKENSTEIN–HAWKING ENTROPY
Authors: KRAUSE AXEL
Published: July 2005

A proposal towards a microscopic understanding of the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy for D = 4 space–times is made. Euclidean D-branes wrapping the event horizon's boundary play an important role. After assuming a discretization of the Euclidean D-brane worldvolume, motivated by the worldvolume uncertainty relation, we count chainlike excitations on the worldvolume of specific dual Euclidean brane pairs. It is shown that one can thus reproduce the D = 4 Bekenstein–Hawking entropy and its logarithmic correction.
A BRIEF NOTE ON MEV DARK MATTER
Authors: SIDHARTH B. G.
Published: July 2005

Recently, Boehm and co-workers have analyzed the newly detected 511 keV gamma rays from the galactic bulge based on data obtained from INTEGRAL. They conclude that these gamma rays are a consequence of low mass (~ MeV ) particle dark matter annihilations. Their conclusions are consistent with the halo profile favored by the observations, the annihilation cross-sections required for the radiation and also other astro particle physics constraints.1,2 It may be pointed out that exactly such a production of gamma rays from MeV particles was predicted by the author3 some years ago. This was based on a consideration of extremal black holes. We would like to point out that there is a spectrum of possible candidates.
Ca2+signaling in human fetoplacental vasculature: effect of CGRP on umbilical vein smooth muscle cytosolic Ca2+concentration
Authors: Dong Yuan-Lin , Vegiraju Sujatha , Yallampalli Chandrasekhar
Published: July 2005

CGRP is a potent vasodilator with increased levels in fetoplacental circulation during late pregnancy. We have recently demonstrated that acute CGRP exposure to fetoplacental vessels in vitro induced vascular relaxation, but the signaling pathway of CGRP in fetoplacental vasculature remains unclear. We hypothesized that CGRP relaxes fetoplacental vasculature via regulating smooth muscle cytosolic Ca2+concentrations. In the present study, by using human umbilical vein smooth muscle (HUVS) cells (HUVS-112D), we examined CGRP receptors, cAMP generation, and changes in cellular Ca2+concentrations on CGRP treatment. These cells express mRNA for CGRP receptor components, calcitonin receptor-like receptor, and receptor activity-modifying protein-1. Direct saturation binding for125I-labeled CGRP to HUVS cells and Scatchard analysis indicate specificity of the receptors for CGRP [dissociation constant ( KD) = 67 nM, maximum binding capcity (Bmax) = 2.7 pmol/million cells]. Exposure of HUVS cells to CGRP leads to a dose-dependent increase in intracellular cAMP accumulation, and this increase is prevented by CGRP antagonist CGRP8–37. Using fura-2-loaded HUVS cells, we monitored the effects of CGRP on intracellular Ca2+concentration ([Ca2+]i). In the presence of extracellular Ca2+, bradykinin (10−6M), a fetoplacental vasoconstrictor, increases HUVS cells [Ca2+]iconcentration. CGRP (10−8M) abolishes bradykinin-induced [Ca2+]ielevation. When the cells were pretreated with glibenclamide, an ATP-sensitive potassium channel blocker, the CGRP actions on bradykinin-induced Ca2+influx were profoundly inhibited. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+, CGRP (10−8M) attenuated the increase of [Ca2+]iinduced by a sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+pump ATPase inhibitor thapsigargin (10−5M). Furthermore, Rp-cAMPS, a cAMP-dependent protein kinase A inhibitor, blocks CGRP actions on thapsigargin-induced Ca2+release from sarcoplasmic reticulum. Our results suggested that CGRP relaxes human fetoplacental vessels by not only inhibiting the influx of extracellular Ca2+but also attenuating the release of intracellular Ca2+from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and these actions might be attributed to CGRP-induced intracellular cAMP accumulation.
Vascular interleukin-10 protects against LPS-induced vasomotor dysfunction
Authors: Gunnett Carol A. , Lund Donald D. , Faraci Frank M. , Heistad Donald D.
Published: July 2005

We tested the hypotheses that 1) systemic IL-10, after adenoviral gene transfer, protects arteries from impaired relaxation produced by LPS; 2) local expression of IL-10 within the arterial wall protects against vasomotor dysfunction after LPS; and 3) IL-10 protects against vascular dysfunction mediated by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) after LPS. In IL-10-deficient (IL-10−/−) and wild-type (WT, IL-10+/+) mice, LPS in vivo impaired relaxation of arteries to acetylcholine and gene transfer of IL-10 improved responses to acetylcholine. Superoxide levels were elevated in arteries after LPS, and increased levels of superoxide were prevented by gene transfer of IL-10. In arteries incubated with a low concentration of LPS in vitro to eliminate systemic effects of LPS and IL-10 from nonvascular sources, responses to acetylcholine were impaired in IL-10-deficient mice and impairment was largely prevented by gene transfer in vitro of IL-10. In arteries from WT mice in vitro, the low concentration of LPS did not impair responses to acetylcholine. Thus IL-10 within the vessel wall protects against LPS-induced dysfunction. In IL-10-deficient mice, aminoguanidine, which inhibits iNOS, protected against vasomotor dysfunction after LPS. In arteries from iNOS-deficient mice, LPS did not impair responses to acetylcholine. These findings suggest that both systemic and local effects of IL-10 provide important protection of arteries against an inflammatory stimulus and that IL-10 decreases iNOS-mediated impairment of vasorelaxation after LPS.
Glomerular handling of native albumin in the presence of circulating modified albumins by the normal rat kidney
Authors: Londono I. , Bendayan M.
Published: July 2005

Persistent hyperglycemia, as occurring in diabetes, induces changes in circulating as well as in structural proteins. These changes involve substitution of lysine residues by glucose adducts resulting in early Amadori products that evolve into toxic and active substances, the advanced glycation end adducts. In previous studies, we demonstrated that early glycated (Amadori) albumin infused into the circulation of normal animals induces transitory alterations of glomerular filtration. Attempting to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these changes, various molecular modifications were introduced in vitro to serum albumin. Glycation, acetylation, carboxymethylation, methylation, and succinylation, involving either a few or a significant number of amino acid residues, produced heavier and more anionic albumin molecules compared with the native one. Native and each of the modified albumin molecules were injected intravenously into normal rats, followed, 30 min later, by hapten-tagged native BSA. Changes in glomerular filtration were evaluated by morphometrical analysis of gold immunolabelings. Compared with native albumin, all the modified forms of albumin induced a deeper penetration of the tracer through the glomerular basement membrane revealing alterations in glomerular permselectivity. This was more evident for severely modified albumin molecules which displayed high labelings in the urinary space and endocytic compartments of proximal tubule epithelial cells. These results indicate that modifications of serum albumin, even minimal, as those occurring in early diabetes, could immediately affect the permselectivity properties of the glomerular wall leading, with time, to severe glomerulopathies.
Sparsening and Temporal Sharpening of Olfactory Representations in the Honeybee Mushroom Bodies
Authors: Szyszka Paul , Ditzen Mathias , Galkin Alexander , Galizia C. Giovanni , Menzel Randolf
Published: July 2005

We explored the transformations accompanying the transmission of odor information from the first-order processing area, the antennal lobe, to the mushroom body, a higher-order integration center in the insect brain. Using Ca2+ imaging, we recorded activity in the dendrites of the projection neurons that connect the antennal lobe with the mushroom body. Next, we recorded the presynaptic terminals of these projection neurons. Finally, we characterized their postsynaptic partners, the intrinsic neurons of the mushroom body, the clawed Kenyon cells. We found fundamental differences in odor coding between the antennal lobe and the mushroom body. Odors evoked combinatorial activity patterns at all three processing stages, but the spatial patterns became progressively sparser along this path. Projection neuron dendrites and boutons showed similar response profiles, but the boutons were more narrowly tuned to odors. The transmission from projection neuron boutons to Kenyon cells was accompanied by a further sparsening of the population code. Activated Kenyon cells were highly odor specific. Furthermore, the onset of Kenyon cell responses to projection neurons occurred within the first 200 ms and complex temporal patterns were transformed into brief phasic responses. Thus two types of transformations occurred within the MB: sparsening of a combinatorial code, mediated by pre- and postsynaptic processing within the mushroom body microcircuits, and temporal sharpening of postsynaptic Kenyon cell responses, probably involving a broader loop of inhibitory recurrent neurons.
Critical Stratagems in Adorno and Habermas: Theories of Ideology and the Ideology of Theory
Authors: Cook Deborah
Published: July 2005

In one of his many metaphorical turns of phrase – a leitmotif in The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity — Jürgen Habermas speaks of the path not taken by modern philosophers, a path that might have led them towards his own intersubjective notion of communicative reason. Habermas is especially critical of his predecessors, Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, because, he believes, they repudiated the rational potential in the culture of modernity. Whenever Adorno and Horkheimer heard the word ‘culture’, they apparently reached for their revolvers. By the 1940s, their confidence in modern culture had allegedly succumbed to bitter disillusionment. Indeed, on Habermas's view, the confidence of these early critical theorists had been shaken so badly by the emergence of Nazism and Stalinism that their scepticism finally embraced reason itself, ‘whose standards ideology critique had found already given in bourgeois ideals’. Consequently, Adorno and Horkheimer were forced to call into question their own immanent critique of modernity: ideology critique itself came ‘under suspicion of not producing (any more) truths’. These philosophers supposedly had little choice but to render their now suspect critique ‘independent even in relation to its own foundations’.
Mobilisation and Class Struggle: A Reply to Gall
Authors: Kelly John
Published: July 2005

When I began writing Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves during the mid-1990s, die leadership of die British trade-union movement had already begun its romance with the class-collaborationist ideology of ‘social partnership’, successor to the ‘new realism’ of the 1980s. The Labour Party leadership was already moving to the right and was well on the road to consummating its marriage with neoliberalism, epitomised most starkly by Tony Blair's positive endorsement of two decades of Conservative anti-trade-union law. What remained of the world Communist movement was still reeling from the earth-shattering events of 1989. These developments exerted a growing influence amongst the intellectual community which studies ‘industrial relations’ (employment relations might now be a more appropriate term). Both in Britain and the US, the intellectual agenda shifted towards labour flexibility and competitiveness, variously represented in the literature as the study of labour-management ‘co-operation’, ‘social partnership’ or ‘human resource management1. Rethinking Industrial Relations was a re-assertion of the continuing relevance of Marxist theory at a time when it had become distinctly unfashionable, and it is fitting that the extended review in a recent issue of this journal should have been written by another Marxist active in the field of industrial relations.
Humanitarian Intervention as a Necessity and the Threat or Use of Jus Cogens
Authors:   Spiermann
Published: July 2005

As the twentieth century was drawing to a close, intervention for humanitarian purposes involving the use of force became a political reality and so a popular subject of study in international law. This article is yet another contribution. It draws on, and uses by way of illustration, two recent contributions featured in this journal. On the basis of a critical analysis of the draft articles on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts as adopted by the International Law Commission in 2001, it is asked whether humanitarian intervention may be justified in international law as an act of necessity despite the prohibition of the use of force. The century-old doctrine of necessity has always provoked unease among international lawyers. A contemporary way to cloak this unease has been the idea expressed in the International Law Commission's draft articles that necessity cannot preclude the wrongfulness of an act not in conformity with an obligation arising under a peremptory rule. And so the doctrine of necessity brings one to consider the use or threat of jus cogens outside the law of treaties. This is particularly apposite to the prohibition of the use of force because it is the least controversial example of a rule of jus cogens. It is concluded that under extraordinary circumstances necessity may justify a humanitarian intervention or other uses of force.
In Memoriam Georg Brunner
Authors:   Feldbrugge
Published: July 2005

No Abstract
In Memoriam Albert Kenneth Roland Kiralfy
Authors:   Henderson
Published: July 2005

No Abstract
Legal Education, Profession and Society Transition: Reform of Lithuanian Legal Education
Authors: Blomquist Helle
Published: July 2005

The article explores a specialized perspective of democratization and nation-building in one of the states restored from the former Soviet Union. The focus is on the reform of Lithuanian legal education. It regards the interaction between the two main national law faculties, on the one hand, and society and the profession on the other. There has been a rise in law work and the number of lawyers. Both legal education and the structure of the profession have undergone changes, facilitated by ways of regulation and the allocation of resources. The profession has become an active and necessary vehicle for institutional reform and European integration. The article covers the following areas: (1) the reconstruction of the legal professions and legal education; (2) the role of legal education in a changed society; and (3) a discussion of how law faculties educate lawyers to solve legal problems in a new state. The examination is based mainly on qualitative interviews, the respondents being elite members of the legal profession, students, and citizens engaged in public debate. This is supplemented with an overview of the regulatory framework, university study programs, and a few statistical data. A few comparisons are made to other similar reforms in post-socialist Europe. The conclusion is that the new nation-state has invested considerable regulation and resources into a project of creating a new generation of lawyers, hinged on western constitutional values, taking the Lithuanian heritage back to an earlier tradition of the normative values of law. Professional forums have been created, as well as professional debate over legal education and other professional issues. However, the project does not seem to have reached its goal. Members of the legal profession voices concern about the ability of the traditionally most prestigious law faculty to bring about the required changes of its performance. On the one hand, in pointing out the weaknesses, the profession renders a practical example of having established an open professional community debating professional issues, among them legal education. They take standpoints independent of the political level. On the other hand, the examination also indicates a lacking ability to deal with some general malfunctions. The most important one is that the community habors considerable mistrust which curbs responsiveness to suggestions from other professionals, not to mention willingness to listen to criticism. This makes it extremely diffi cult to deal in practical terms with a number of issues, such as how to safeguard a level of professionalization of law work, creating standards that can be benchmarked with other international systems, getting on with the disposal of repressive law remains, and securing independent law professors with relevant and adequate academic standing in their field.
Selected Issues on the Incorporation Process in Romania and Thoughts on its Improvement in Light of the Delaware Model: A Note
Authors: Tripon Catalin
Published: July 2005

Our purpose in writing this article is two-fold. First , we will provide a brief description of the incorporation process in Romania, the evolution thereof, and the policies that support the process. This description will also include a brief comparison of Delaware law and practice. We have selected Delaware since, among other (perceived) benefi ts offered to investors, the Delaware spirit refl ects the liberal corporate policies that many observers believe attract entrepreneurs to that state. On one hand, the process of establishing a business entity has been wiped clean of formalism, thereby accelerating the procedure to the point that incorporation can generally be realized in less than one day. On the other hand, the corporate governance legal framework (both statutory and case law) allows investors to shape their business activity in almost any manner they desire. Second , it offers a set of recommendations for further improving shareholders' "freedom of contract"—the institution that opposes traditional continental doctrines justifying state interventionism in economic ventures.
A thrombomodulin mutation that impairs activated protein C generation results in uncontrolled lung inflammation during murine tuberculosis
Authors: Weijer Sebastiaan , Wieland Catharina W. , Florquin Sandrine , van der Poll Tom
Published: July 2005

Thrombomodulin (TM) plays an essential role in the generation of activated protein C (APC), a mediator with both anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties, and is preferentially expressed in lungs. To investigate the role of TM in the coagulant and inflammatory response in the lung during tuberculosis, mice with a mutation in the TM gene (Thbd), which results in a minimal capacity for APC generation (TMpro/pro mice), were intranasally infected with live virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Whereas pulmonary tuberculosis was not associated with activation of coagulation in either wild-type or TMpro/pro mice, 5 weeks after infection TMpro/pro mice displayed an uncontrolled inflammatory response in their lungs, as reflected by higher lung weights, a diminished ability to form well-shaped granulomas, elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines, and concurrently reduced concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines. During a 36-week follow-up after infection with a lower dose of M tuberculosis, 35% of TMpro/pro mice died from week 28 onward versus none of the wild-type mice, and the surviving TMpro/pro mice displayed increased lung inflammation accompanied by higher mycobacterial loads in liver and spleen. These data suggest that a TM mutation that impairs APC generation results in uncontrolled lung inflammation during tuberculosis.