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Selected AbstractsDose- and time-dependent responses for micronucleus induction by X-rays and fast neutrons in gill cells of medaka (Oryzias latipes)ENVIRONMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MUTAGENESIS, Issue 2 2004Akinori Takai Abstract Medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) were exposed to various doses of X-rays or fast neutrons, and the frequency of micronucleated cells (MNCs) was measured in gills sampled at 12- or 24-hr intervals from 12 to 96 hr after exposure. The resulting time course of MNC frequency was biphasic, with a clear peak 24 hr after exposure, irrespective of the kind of radiation applied and the dose used. The half-life of MNCs induced in the gill tissues by the two exposures fluctuated around 28 hr, with no significant dose-dependent trend for either X-ray- or neutron-exposed fish. As assayed 24 hr after exposure, the MNC frequency increased linearly over the control level with increasing doses of both X-rays and fast neutrons. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of fast neutrons to X-rays for MNC induction was estimated to be 4.3 ± 0.6. This value is close to the RBE value of 5.1 ± 0.3 reported for fast neutron induction of somatic crossing-over mutations in Drosophila melanogaster that arise from recombination repair of DNA double-strand breaks. These results and other data support our conclusion that the medaka gill cell micronucleus assay is a reliable short-term test for detecting potential inducers of DNA double-strand breaks. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 44:108,112, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Vitamin contents of eggs that produce larvae showing a high survival rate in the Japanese eel Anguilla japonicaAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 11 2009Hirofumi Furuita Abstract This paper describes the relationship between the egg vitamin concentrations and the egg quality in the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica. No notable relation was found between any vitamin and the fertilization rate. Hatching and survival rates of larvae, however, significantly increased with an elevated level of egg vitamin C (VC). In contrast to VC, the relation between vitamins E (VE) and A (VA) concentrations and survival rate showed a clear peak, with a reduced survival rate at both higher and lower vitamin concentrations. The ratio of VE to lipid or highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) in eggs positively correlated with hatching and survival rates of larvae. High-quality (HQ) eggs were determined as eggs that produced larvae having a survival rate higher than 80% at 8 days post hatch, and low-quality (LQ) eggs were determined as eggs that did not hatch. The level of VC of HQ was significantly higher than LQ. The results of this study suggest that HQ eggs, which produce larvae having a high survival rate, must have high levels of VC and VE/HUFA ratio and contain optimum levels of VA and VE in Japanese eel. [source] The crystallographic structure of the aldose reductase,IDD552 complex shows direct proton donation from tyrosine 48ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 8 2004Federico Ruiz The X-ray crystal structure of human aldose reductase (ALR2) in complex with the inhibitor IDD552 was determined using crystals obtained from two crystallization conditions with different pH values (pH 5 and 8). In both structures the charged carboxylic head of the inhibitor binds to the active site, making hydrogen-bond interactions with His110 and Tyr48 and electrostatic interactions with NADP+. There is an important difference between the two structures: the observation of a double conformation of the carboxylic acid moiety of the inhibitor at pH 8, with one water molecule interacting with the main configuration. This is the first time that a water molecule has been observed deep inside the ALR2 active site. Furthermore, in the configuration with the lower occupancy factor the difference electron-density map shows a clear peak (2.5,) for the H atom in the hydrogen bond between the inhibitor's carboxylic acid and the Tyr48 side-chain O atom. The position of this peak implies that this H atom is shared between both O atoms, indicating possible direct proton transfer from this residue to the inhibitor. This fact agrees with the model of the catalytic mechanism, in which the proton is donated by the Tyr48 hydroxyl to the substrate. These observations are useful both in drug design and in understanding the ALR2 mechanism. [source] Use of Cr K, radiation to enhance the signal from anomalous scatterers including sulfurJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3-2 2000Witek Kwiatkowski The anomalous signals from scatterers such as sulfur (S) and arsenic (As) were compared in diffraction data sets collected from an X-ray source with three different targets, Au, Cu and Cr, on a multi-target rotating anode. HIV-1 integrase crystals served as the test case for this study. The crystalline specimen of HIV-1 integrase contains in each protein molecule two As atoms, each covalently bound to a cysteine S atom, and two additional S atoms derived from methionine. It was found that the Cr K, radiation gave the clearest peaks in anomalous difference Fourier maps, although the signal-to-noise ratios of the anomalous signal for the Cu K, and Cr K, data were similar but better than that for Au L,. This result was in spite of the fourfold higher flux from the Cu anode versus the Cr anode. For all three X-ray wavelengths, anomalous difference Fourier maps calculated with bias-removed phases derived from the known atomic model revealed clear peaks at the two As sites. However, only in the map calculated using the Cr K, data were both peaks of the expected ellipsoidal shape, enveloping the As atom and the adjacent S atom. None of the S sites was apparent in difference maps calculated using the Au L, data. The ability to enhance the S-derived anomalous signal using Cr K, radiation has particularly useful applications in the structure determination of proteins, for example in resolving ambiguities in the chain tracing of a protein with numerous disulfide bonds and in assigning amino acid identities. Additionally, anomalous difference Patterson maps calculated from the Cr K, data were sufficiently clear to identify the As-related peaks. These results form the groundwork for in-house phase determination with the multi-wavelength anomalous diffraction method. [source] |