To identify genes that participate in the abortion process, normal pregnant uteri were compared to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced abortion uteri. At day 6 of pregnancy, mice were treated with LPS at various time points to induce an abortion. Total RNAs were applied to a cDNA microarray to analyze genes with altered expression. At the early stage (2 hours) of LPS-induced abortion, upregulated ...

BACKGROUND Heterotopic ossification on the enthesis, which develops after subsequent inflammation, is one of the most distinctive features in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Prostaglandin E2 (PGE-2) serves as a key mediator of inflammation and bone remodeling in AS. Celastrol, a well-known Chinese medicinal herb isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii, is widely used in treating inflammatory diseases...

This review article provides a good overview of bacterial exopolysaccharides and their commercial significance. This review gives a comprehensive description of the structure, function and diverse applications of bacterial polysaccharides. Dextrans are among the oldest known bacterial polysac-charide products and are widely used in foods, cosmetics and biotechnology. This patent describes a bac...

The disposition of biologically active [35S]heparin fragments was studied in both normal and uremic rats after an i.v. dose of 1 mg/kg. In normal animals, the amount of radioactivity in the blood rapidly decreased with a half-life of less than 2 min whereas the anticoagulant activity showed a half-life of 30 min. By 5 hr, only 0.4% of the initial radioactivity was present in the blood whereas n...

Background Morus nigra Linn is not only treated as health food but also medicine in Chinese history. Objective Here, we have extracted and separated the heteroglycan to monosaccharides of the dry fruits. Method After heteroglycan being hydrolysised, then were we derivatived the monosaccharides with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP), and then subsequently HPCE and HPLC were used to separa...

Scrapings of intestinal mucosae from sarcoma (subcutaneous Yoshida-sarcoma) bearing rats were incubated, in vitro, with U-14C-glucose, comparing with those from normal rats. The resulting 14C-labelled products were fractionated into three carbohydrate fractions: polysaccharide-containing fraction (PS); carbohydrate fraction eluted with 50% aqueous ethanol from the charcoal-absorbed substances (...

The addition of a carbohydrate moeity to the side chain of a residue in a protein chain in uences the physicochemical properties of the protein Gly cosylation is known to alter proteolytic resistance protein solubility stability local structure lifetime in circulation and immunogenicity Of the various forms of protein glycosylation found in eukaryotic systems the most important types are N link...

It is shown that the projectiles ejected by discobolocysts in the single-celled Chry-sophyceaen alga Ochromonas tuberculatlls travel at speeds of up to 0.26 km/s, as fast as a bullet from a low power rifle. They may thus inflict damage to a would-be predator. Their Reynolds number is high..around 100, far from the low Reynolds numbers presumed typical of cellular evertts. Hydration of the mucop...

Zinc transporter (ZnT1) mRNA is differentially expressed in vivo, in weaned pig tissues, and in vitro, in response to additions of zinc sulphate or antibiotics. Summary Preliminary experiments were carried out to evaluate in vivo expression of zinc transporter (ZnT) 1 mRNA in a panel of tissues obtained from weaned pigs and to evaluate in vitro changes in ZnT1 mRNA in a porcine jejunal epithe-l...

A novel xanthan depolymerase (endo-beta-1,4-glucanase) was isolated from a salt-tolerant bacteria culture (HD1) grown on xanthan. The depolymerase was purified 55-fold through chromatography on ion-exchange and molecular sieve columns, including high-performance liquid chromatography. The purified enzyme fraction was homogeneous as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular wei...