The immunodominant antimitochondrial antibody response in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is directed against the E2 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2). Based on our earlier observations regarding peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) T cell epitopes, we reasoned that a comparative analysis of the precursor frequencies of PDC-E2 163-176-specific T cells is...

Pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), an enzyme central to homoethanol fermentation, catalyses the non-oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetaldehyde with release of carbon dioxide. PDC enzymes from diverse organisms have different kinetic properties, thermal stability and codon usage that are likely to offer unique advantages for the development of desirable Gram-positive biocatalysts for use i...

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are the major producers of type I interferons (IFNs) in humans and rapidly produce IFN-α in response to virus exposure. Although HIV infection is associated with pDC activation, it is unclear why the innate immune response is unable to effectively control viral replication. We systematically compared the effect of HIV, Influenza, Sendai, and HSV-2 at similar t...

A simultaneous extraction of Cr3+ and Cr6+ species in aqueous solution was developed. The extraction behaviors of ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) for both Cr6+ and Cr3+ are carefully discussed in this report. X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies indicate that Cr6+ reacts with the ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate ligand to form two products, Cr(PDC)2(OPDC) and Cr(PDC)3, wher...

7 k n owledge about nature and matter, t h ey can also be used to make pre d i c t i o n s .Wi t h the aid of computer simu l a t i o n s , we can m a ke weather fore c a s t s , calculate the stru ctural integrity of bri d g e s , the aero d y n a m ical characteristics of airp l a n e s ,e t c.To d ay, we celebrate the fact that mathematics has i nvaded chemistry, that by means of theoretical...

In this paper we present a simple adaptive block-matching algorithm for video compression. Our method is an adaptive approach to pixel difference classification (PDC) matching criterion. A constant threshold is used in original PDC algorithm in which optimum threshold varies from sequence to sequence. In contrast to the original PDC algorithm, adaptive PDC (APDC) employs a time variant threshol...

Lactobacillus plantarum NC8 contains a pdc gene coding for p-coumaric acid decarboxylase activity (PDC). A food grade mutant, designated LPD1, in which the chromosomal pdc gene was replaced with the deleted pdc gene copy, was obtained by a two-step homologous recombination process using an unstable replicative vector. The LPD1 mutant strain remained able to weakly metabolize p-coumaric and feru...

An effector of tissue stress of hepatocytes, prodigiozan-dependent comuton (PDC), provokes deenergiezation of liver mitochondria, preloaded by Ca2+ ions. In this case a decrease of membrane potential (MP) and Ca2+ efflux by cyclosporine A sensitive mechanism of megapore is observed. If megapore is blocked by cyclosporin A, protonofor FCCP provoked decrease of MP and Ca2+ efflux by cyclosporin A...

The ontogenic relationship between the common dendritic cell (DC) progenitor (CDP), the committed conventional DC precursor (pre-cDC), and cDC subpopulations in lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues has been largely unraveled. In contrast, the sequential steps of plasmacytoid DC (pDC) development are less defined, and it is unknown at which developmental stage and location final commitment to the pD...

A unique characteristic of the autoimmune liver disease primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is the presence of high-titer and extremely specific autoantibodies to the E2 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2). Autoantibodies to PDC-E2 antigen have only been detected in patients with disease or in those who subsequently develop PBC. One exception has been a subgroup of patients wit...