Within hours of turpentine injection to stimulate the acute phase (AP) response in rats, the N-acetylneuraminic acid content of plasma proteins increases and that of fucose decreases, each by about 60%. The two changes are inversely related (r = -0.97). The NeuAc/Gal ratio increases from the normal 0.75 to 1.0 on day 2 of the AP. Whereas 50% of the isolated oligosaccharides of normal plasma pro...

The glycosylation of the acute phase glycoprotein alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) in human sera is subject to marked changes during acute inflammation as a result of the cytokine-induced hepatic acute phase reaction. The changes described thus far comprise alterations in the type of branching of the carbohydrate structures as revealed by increased reactivity of AGP with concanavalin A. We now r...

BACKGROUND Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic disease due to delayed diagnosis, and ascites production is a characteristic of patients in advanced stages. The aim of this study was to perform the proteomic analysis of ascitic fluids of Mexican patients with ovarian carcinoma, in order to detect proteins with a differential expression pattern in the continuing search to identify bioma...

The páramos and high Andean forests of the tropical Andes are largely dominated by frailejones (Nomen nudum Cuatrec., Nomen nudum). These plants are ecologically and culturally essential for both ecosystems and local inhabitants. The frailejones have been studied for over two centuries, but the taxonomic knowledge is still sparse and incomplete. The inedited monograph by Cuatrecasas contains on...

During their quest to maximize fertilization success, males may be under sexual selection through male–male competition, female choice and/or sexual conflict over mating frequency. In many orb-weaving spiders, mating interactions are characterized by sexual cannibalism, which has been hypothesized to drive the evolution of male morphology and mating behaviour in this group. Here, we investigate...

The 16S rRNA sequences were determined for species of Spirochaeta, Treponema, Borrelia, Leptospira, Leptonema, and Serpula, using a modified Sanger method of direct RNA sequencing. Analysis of aligned 16S rRNA sequences indicated that the spirochetes form a coherent taxon composed of six major clusters or groups. The first group, termed the treponemes, was divided into two subgroups. The first ...

Serum cholinesterase (ChE) (E.C. 3.1.1.8) is a glycoprotein which has 36 potential sites of asparagine-N-linked sugar chains. The structures of oligosaccharides released from ChE on hydrazinolysis were studied by serial iectin affinity column chromatography, exoglycosidase digestion, and methylation analysis. Seventy-three % of the sugar chains occurred as biantennary oligosaccharides and the r...