Biomedical subjects

A Cebolla

Publications and source records attributed to A Cebolla.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Effect of gravity on human spontaneous 10-Hz electroencephalographic oscillations during the arrest reaction.

Electroencephalographic oscillations at 10 Hz (alpha and mu rhythms) are the most prominent rhythms observed in awake, relaxed (eye-closed) subjects. These oscillations may be considered as a marker of cortical inactivity or an index of the active inhibition of the sensory information. Different cortical sources may participate in the 10-Hz oscillation and appear to be modulated by the sensory context and functional demands. In microgravity, the marked reduction in multimodal graviceptive inputs to cortical networks participating in the representation of space could be expected to affect the 10-Hz activity. The effect of microgravity on this basic oscillation has heretofore not been studied quantitatively. Because the alpha rhythm has a functional role in the regulation of network properties of the visual areas, we hypothesised that the absence of gravity would affect its strength. Here, we report the results of an experiment conducted over the course of 3 space flights, in which we quantified the power of the 10-Hz activity in relation to the arrest reaction (i.e., in 2 distinct physiological states: eyes open and eyes closed). We observed that the power of the spontaneous 10-Hz oscillation recorded in the eyes-closed state in the parieto-occipital (alpha rhythm) and sensorimotor areas (mu rhythm) increased in the absence of gravity. The suppression coefficient during the arrest reaction and the related spectral perturbations produced by eye-opening/closure state transition also increased in on orbit. These results are discussed in terms of current theories on the source and the importance of the alpha rhythm for cognitive function.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Straightforward production of encoded microbeads by Flow Focusing: potential applications for biomolecule detection.

Fluorescently encoded polymeric microparticles are acquiring great importance in the development of simultaneous multianalyte screening assays. We have developed a very versatile and straightforward method for the production of dye-labeled microparticles with a very reproducible size distribution and freely-chosen and discernible fluorescent properties. Our method combines Flow Focusing technology with a solvent evaporation/extraction procedure in a single step, yielding spherical, non-aggregate and non-porous particles. We have designed a multi-coloured bead array which includes the possibility of modifying the surface properties of the microparticles, which offer excellent properties for covalent attachment of biomolecules such as peptides, oligonucleotides, proteins, etc. We also show the potential of the fluorescently labeled microspheres for the detection of biomolecule (peptides and oligonucelotides) interactions using flow cytometry.

Chemical Phenomena↗

PubMed2002

Improvement of recombinant protein yield by a combination of transcriptional amplification and stabilization of gene expression.

We explored the use of a cascade circuit for heterologous gene expression that consists of a regulatory module with a salicylate-inducible system that controls the expression of a second regulator, xylS2, whose product is activated by common inducers. Activation and increasing the concentration of the second regulator synergistically induced heterologous genes downstream of the Pm promoter in the expression module. This module can be placed in multicopy vectors or in the chromosome of a host strain by means of minitransposons. Using reporter genes, we evaluated gene regulation capacity and gross production of the system with different configurations. The highest yield was obtained when the expression module was in a multicopy plasmid after a 6-h induction. However, expression modules in plasmids showed low stability after induction even with selective pressure. The chromosomal configuration had the lowest basal levels and induced levels comparable to those of plasmid configurations, resulting in accumulation of more than 10% of the total protein. Unlike the configurations in plasmids, the yield was maintained for at least 3 days even without selective pressure. In conclusion, the cascade system in the chromosome configuration is more efficient for long-term fermentation because of the great stability of the overexpressing phenotype in spite of the high levels of expression.

Cloning, Molecular↗

PubMed2001

Rational design of a bacterial transcriptional cascade for amplifying gene expression capacity.

Cascade regulatory circuits have been described that control numerous cell processes, and may provide models for the design of artificial circuits with novel properties. Here we describe the design of a transcriptional regulatory cascade to amplify the cell response to a given signal. We used the salicylate-responsive activators of Pseudomonas putida NahR of the naphthalene degradation plasmid NAH7 and XylS2, a mutant regulator of the TOL plasmid for catabolism of m-xylene and their respective cognate promoters Psal and PM: Control of the expression of xylS2 with the nahR/Psal system permitted either their selective activation with specific effectors for each protein or the simultaneous activation of both of them with salicylate. When cells face the common effector of the two regulators, both the increase in XylS2 concentration and the stimulation of its activity act synergistically on the PM: promoter, amplifying the gene expression capacity by at least one order of magnitude with respect to the individual systems. By changing the hierarchy of regulators, we showed that the specific features of the downstream regulator were crucial for the amplification effect. Directed changes in the effector profile of the regulators allowed the extension of the amplifying system to other molecular signals.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed1999

The mitotic inhibitor ccs52 is required for endoreduplication and ploidy-dependent cell enlargement in plants.

Plant organs develop mostly post-embryonically from persistent or newly formed meristems. After cell division arrest, differentiation frequently involves endoreduplication and cell enlargement. Factors controlling transition from mitotic cycles to differentiation programmes have not been identified yet in plants. Here we describe ccs52, a plant homologue of APC activators involved in mitotic cyclin degradation. The ccs52 cDNA clones were isolated from Medicago sativa root nodules, which exhibit the highest degree of endopolyploidy in this plant. ccs52 represents a small multigenic family and appears to be conserved in plants. Overexpression of ccs52 in yeast triggered mitotic cyclin degradation, cell division arrest, endoreduplication and cell enlargement. In Medicago, enhanced expression of ccs52 was found in differentiating cells undergoing endoreduplication. In transgenic M.truncatula plants, overexpression of the ccs52 gene in the antisense orientation resulted in partial suppression of ccs52 expression and decreased the number of endocycles and the volume of the largest cells. Thus, the ccs52 product may switch proliferating cells to differentiation programmes which, in the case of endocycles, result in cell size increments.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1998

Metalloadsorption by Escherichia coli cells displaying yeast and mammalian metallothioneins anchored to the outer membrane protein LamB.

Yeast (CUP1) and mammalian (HMT-1A) metallothioneins (MTs) have been efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli as fusions to the outer membrane protein LamB. A 65-amino-acid sequence from the CUP1 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast [Y] MT) was genetically inserted in permissive site 153 of the LamB sequence, which faces the outer medium. A second LamB fusion at position 153 was created with 66 amino acids recruited from the form of human (H) MT that is predominant in the adipose tissue, HMT-1A. Both LamB153-YMT and LamB153-HMT hybrids were produced in vivo as full-length proteins, without any indication of instability or proteolytic degradation. Each of the two fusion proteins was functional as the port of entry of lambda phage variants, suggesting maintenance of the overall topology of the wild-type LamB. Expression of the hybrid proteins in vivo multiplied the natural ability of E. coli cells to bind Cd2+ 15- to 20-fold, in good correlation with the number of metal-binding centers contributed by the MT moiety of the fusions.

Adsorption↗

PubMed1997

Effector specificity mutants of the transcriptional activator NahR of naphthalene degrading Pseudomonas define protein sites involved in binding of aromatic inducers.

This work reports a genetic analysis of the interactions between NahR, the LysR-type regulator of the NAH operons for biodegradation of naphthalene in Pseudomonas, and its aromatic effectors. Six mutants encoding NahR variants responsive to salicylate analogs such as benzoate, which is not an inducer for the wild type regulator, were isolated with a polymerase chain reaction-based saturation mutagenesis protocol. Most mutants displaying a specific change of effector profile bore single amino acid substitutions within a short protein segment of 60 residues located at the central portion of the NahR sequence. Some of the protein variants exhibited an increased affinity for salicylate and also for otherwise suboptimal effectors, with apparent Ks' values 5-100-fold lower than those of the wild type NahR protein. In addition, all mutants were activated by inducers bearing novel substituents at positions 1 or 2 of the aromatic ring and displayed also an enhanced tolerance to changes at positions 3 and 4. Correlation between mutations in NahR and the structures of the new effectors suggested that protein sites Met116, Arg132, Asn169, and Arg248 are involved in effector recognition and binding during the earlier steps of the process leading to transcriptional activation of cognate NAH promoters.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed1996

Enhanced metalloadsorption of bacterial cells displaying poly-His peptides.

The properties of Escherichia coli cells, acquired by cell surface presentation of one or two hexahistidine (His) clusters carried by the outer membrane LamB protein, have been examined. Strains producing LamB hybrids with the His chains accumulated greater than 11-fold more Cd2+ than E. coli cells expressing the protein without the His insert. Furthermore, the hexa-His chains on the cell surface caused cells to adhere reversibly to a Ni(2+)-containing solid matrix in a metal-dependent fashion. Thus, expression of poly-His peptides enables bacteria to act as a metalloaffinity adsorbent. These results open up the possibility for biosorption of heavy ions using engineered microorganisms.

Adsorption↗

PubMed1996

Nondisruptive detection of activity of catabolic promoters of Pseudomonas putida with an antigenic surface reporter system.

A simple procedure to detect the switching on and off of catabolic promoters of Pseudomonas putida, at the level of single cells based on the immunodetection of a reporter epitope expressed on the surface of bacterial cells, has been developed. To do this, the antigenic sequence Asp-Leu-Pro-Pro-Asn-Ser-Asp-Val-Val-Asp, from a coronavirus, was inserted genetically in the permissive site around amino acid position 153 of the LamB protein (maltose and lambda phage receptor) of Escherichia coli. When the hybrid lamB gene is transcribed, the epitope becomes presented on the surface of the bacterial cells in a configuration available to specific antibodies. To validate this notion in nonenteric bacteria, the expression and correct processing of LamB were confirmed by coupling the lamB gene to the salicylate-responsive Psa1 promoter of the NAH7 (naphthalene degradation) plasmid in Pseudomonas putida. Subsequently, a hybrid lamB gene carrying the sequence of the coronavirus antigen was placed downstream of the m-toluate-responsive Pm promoter of the TOL (toluene degradation) plasmid. Exposure of the epitope on the Pseudomonas cell surface was monitored through fluorescence of whole cells treated with a monoclonal antibody against the heterologous antigen. Fluorescence emission was dependent on the presence of m-toluate in the medium, thus permitting detection of the Pm promoter switching on by simple optical inspection of individual cells, even in situations when these are a very minor component of a complex bacterial community.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1995

Expression vectors for the use of eukaryotic luciferases as bacterial markers with different colors of luminescence.

An easy way to identify microorganisms is to provide them with gene markers that confer a unique phenotype. Several genetic constructions were developed to use eukaryotic luciferase genes for bacterial tagging. The firefly and click bettle luciferase genes, luc and lucOR, respectively, were cloned under constitutive control and regulated control from different transcriptional units driven by P1, lambda PR, and Ptrc promoters. Comparison of the expression of each gene in Escherichia coli cells from identical promoters showed that bioluminescence produced by luc could be detected luminometrically in a more sensitive manner. In contrast, luminescence from intact lucOR-expressing cells was much more stable and resistant to high temperatures than that from luc-expressing cells. To analyze the behavior of these constructions in other gram-negative bacteria, gene fusions with luc genes were cloned on broad-host-range vectors. Measurements of light emission from Rhizobium meliloti, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and Pseudomonas putida cells indicated that both luciferases were poorly expressed from P1 in most bacterial hosts. In contrast, the lambda promoter PR yielded constitutively high levels of luciferase expression in all bacterial species tested. PR activity was not regulated by temperature when the thermosensitive repressor cI857 was present in the bacterial species tested, except for E. coli. In contrast, the regulated lacIq-Ptrc::lucOR fusion expression system behaved in a manner similar to that observed in E. coli cells. After IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside) induction, this system produced the highest levels of lucOR expression in all bacterial species tested.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Controlled expression of click beetle luciferase using a bacterial operator-repressor system.

The bioluminescent phenotype conferred by luciferase genes in a particular bacterium has demonstrated to be one of the most versatile and useful methods to detect microorganisms. Genetic constructions derived from miniTn5 vectors have been constructed for the introduction and stable maintenance of the click beetle luciferase gene, lucOR, in various Gram-negative bacteria. To attenuate the expression in the environment where the marked strain has to survive (and to allow sensitive detection when desired) a DNA fragment containing the repressor gene lacIq and a Ptrc::lucOR fusion was cloned onto a suicide plasmid. This construction is able to express high luciferase levels only when induced by IPTG. Matings between Escherichia coli containing the suicide transposon vector and different recipient bacteria gave transposition frequencies from 10(-7) to 10(-5). Strains with miniTn5-lucOR insertions showed luciferase activity induced by IPTG addition. The stringency of the regulation and the intensity of light emission depended on the tagged strain. This system allows stable maintenance of the marker and tight control of luciferase expression in the environment.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Use of firefly luciferase gene for plasmid copy number determination.

A simple and rapid method for determining plasmid copy number is described. The eukaryotic luc gene is used as a marker to tag plasmid derivatives of several well-known vectors, and by measuring light activity plasmid copy number is determined. A comparative analysis using a standard hybridization procedure to estimate plasmid copy number by densitometry is also described.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Analysis of the expression from Rhizobium meliloti fix-promoters in other Rhizobium backgrounds.

Using translational fusions to lacZ, we have measured expression from the promoters of Rhizobium meliloti regulatory genes, nifA and fixK, and structural genes, nifH and fixA, in other fast-growing rhizobia whose nitrogen fixation regulation is less known. Neither nifA nor fixK promoters were activated under both free-living microaerobic and symbiotic conditions, except in R. tropici, where clear symbiotic activation of either nifA or fixK expression could be observed. Both nifH and fixA promoters showed strong heterologous activation during symbiosis and weak activation under free-living nitrogen starvation conditions. Only when the nifH promoter was in R. tropici and R. leguminosarum bv. phaseoli, was clear induction observed in the microaerobic free-living state. Deletion analysis of these promoters suggested that a NifA binding site (UAS) was needed for full heterologous activation of nifHp, either in microaerobiosis or symbiosis. In contrast, the UAS region seemed to be unnecessary for fixA activation. However, a region containing a potential integration host factor (IHF) binding site was observed to be needed for complete heterologous symbiotic induction from fixAp. The moderate induction observed in nitrogen-free medium only required the sigma 54 holoenzyme recognition sequence; this may be indicative of the existence of non-specific activation by NtrC-like proteins. Our results suggest possible common and different features in the control mechanisms of the nitrogen fixation gene expression among Rhizobium species.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Genetic regulation of nitrogen fixation in Rhizobium meliloti.

The soil bacterium Rhizobium meliloti fixes dinitrogen when associated with root nodules formed on its plant host, Medicago sativa (alfalfa). The expression of most of the known genes required for nitrogen fixation (nif and fix genes), including the structural genes for nitrogenase, is induced in response to a decrease in oxygen concentration. Induction of nif and fix gene expression by low oxygen is physiologically relevant because a low-oxygen environment is maintained in root nodules to prevent inactivation of the highly oxygen-sensitive nitrogenase enzyme. The genes responsible for sensing and transducing the low oxygen signal, fixL and fixJ, encode proteins (FixL and FixJ, respectively) that are homologous to a large family of bacterial proteins involved in signal transduction, the two component regulatory system proteins. The two components consist of a sensor protein, to which FixL is homologous, and a response regulator protein, to which FixJ is homologous. The sensor protein respond to an activating signal by autophosphorylating and then transferring the phosphate to its cognate response regulator protein. The phosphorylated response regulator, which is often a transcriptional activator, is then able to activate its target. A cascade model of nif and fix gene regulation in R. meliloti has been proposed, whereby FixL acts as an oxygen sensor as the initial event in the cascade and transmits this information to FixJ. FixJ, which possesses a putative helix-turn-helix DNA-binding motif, then activates transcription of the nifA and fixK genes. The nifA and fixK gene products, are transcriptional activators of at least 14 other nif and fix genes.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed1993

Stable Tagging of Rhizobium meliloti with the Firefly Luciferase Gene for Environmental Monitoring.

A system for stable tagging of gram-negative bacteria with the firefly luciferase gene, luc, is described. A previously constructed fusion constitutively expressing luc from the lambdap(R) promoter was used. Stable integration into the bacterial genome was achieved by use of mini-Tn5 delivery vectors. The procedure developed was applied for tagging of representative gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Rhizobium meliloti, Pseudomonas putida, and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The system permitted the detection of tagged R. meliloti in the presence of more than 10 CFU per plate without the use of any selective markers (such as antibiotic resistance genes). No significant differences in growth rates or soil survival were found between the marked strain and the wild-type strain. Studies of bioluminescent R. meliloti also revealed a good correlation between cell biomass and bioluminescence. The firefly luciferase tagging system is an easy, safe, and sensitive method for the detection and enumeration of bacteria in the environment.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Expression and quantification of firefly luciferase under control of Rhizobium meliloti symbiotic promoters.

We have tested the use of firefly luciferase for monitoring regulated symbiotic nitrogen fixation gene expression. Broad-host-range plasmids carrying translational fusions of Rhizobium meliloti nifH, fixA and nifA promoters were constructed. Despite low levels of promoter activity the absence of Escherichia coli endogenous luminescence and the high sensitivity of the bioluminescent assay for firefly luciferase allowed rapid screening for functional luciferase expression. Plasmids containing symbiotic promoter-luc fusions were established in R. meliloti. Luciferase activity was detected and measured in both vegetative and symbiotic cells giving comparable results with those obtained by beta-galactosidase assays. In addition, the luciferase assay was quicker, more sensitive and could be carried out with unrestricted cells. Furthermore, bioluminescence was high enough in alfalfa nodules containing nifH-luc fusion to be observed by a dark-adapted eye and photographed.

Animals↗