The regions of antigenic variation in influenza hemagglutinin (HA) are located on surface-accessible regions in the three-dimensional structure of the HA1 monomer. The aim of this study was to establish whether a novel variant virus, IMUT4, in which we had mutated specific amino acid residues (HA1 63, 144, 158, and 193) in these regions, previously shown to be immunodominant for CBA/Ca mice, wo...

This paper presents the procedures used for determining and defining the tonnage and grade of the coalfields of Kangal basin from the developed GIS-aided block model. In this work, firstly, all the lithological logs of drill holes and chemical analysis data of core in the basin were analyzed with the help of geostatistics, and then the digital raster maps of each one of the attributes such as t...

Previous studies using metallothionein (MT)-overexpressing transgenic mice have demonstrated that MT protects the liver from oxidative injury induced by alcohol. The mechanism of action of MT is unknown. Because MT primarily binds to zinc under physiological conditions and releases zinc under oxidative stress and zinc is an antioxidant element, it is likely that zinc mediates the protective act...

To elucidate a protective role of metallothionein (MT) in the manifestation of inorganic mercury toxicity, we studied the susceptibility of MT-null mice to the renal toxicity of mercuric chloride. Because the MT-null (J) mice are a genetic background of 129/Sv strain, the 129/Sv mice were used as wild-type controls. Nine-week-old male MT-null (J) and 129/Sv mice were given subcutaneous injectio...

Exposure to low levels of cadmium reduces fertility. In male mice spermatogenesis is highly sensitive to cadmium, whereas in females the peri-implantation period of pregnancy is sensitive. To examine the potential roles of the cadmium-binding protein, metallothionein (MT), in the reproductive toxicology of cadmium, we examined a transgenic mouse strain that overexpresses metallothionein-I (MT-I...

Neurodegenerative disorders referred to as tauopathies, which includes Alzheimer's disease (AD), are characterized by insoluble deposits of the tau protein within neuron cell bodies and dendritic processes in the brain. Tau is normally associated with microtubules (MTs) in axons, where it provides MT stabilization and may modulate axonal transport. However, tau becomes hyperphosphorylated and d...

Background: Avian influenza A has been a major threat to worldwide public health. The evolutionary patterns of the pathogenic viruses between humans and birds are essential to effective monitoring of disease propagation. In this study, we focused on finding an appropriate evolutionary measure for avian influenza A to reflect its adaptation to human hosts and outbreaks in human population. We es...