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PubMed1976

The availability of folates in man: effect of orange juice supplement on intestinal conjugase.

The mechanisms of the low availability of endogenous folates in orange juice and the inhibitory effects on the availability of pteroylheptaglutamate (PteGlu7) caused by orange juice supplements were investigated in man by the use of simulated orange juice (containing the principal components: citric acid, malic acid, etc.) with several different pHs. The endogenous folates in orange juice were identified as mainly 5-methyl reduced derivatives of pteroylpolyglutamates (40-45% pentaglutamate, 10-15% tetraglutamate, 30-40% monoglutamate, and the rest were tri-and diglutamates). The availability of PteGlu7 is decreased to 54% by supplementation with 600 g concentrated orange juice (pH 3.7) and to 39% and 66% by the supplement of 24 g and 12 g citric acid (pH 3.7), respectively. Neutralization of 12 g citric acid to pH 6.4 largely reverses the inhibitory effect. On the other hand, the availability of pteroylmonoglutamate (PteGlu) is not influenced by a supplement of orange juice or citric acid. The results suggest that the low availability of PteGlu7 is due to the inhibition of intestinal conjugase caused by the low pH. These observations suggest that pH of foodstuffs may be an important factor in the absorption of polyglutamate forms of folate.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Nutrient availability and management in the rhizosphere: exploiting genotypic differences.

Crop nutrition is frequently inadequate as a result of the expansion of cropping into marginal lands, elevated crop yields placing increasing demands on soil nutrient reserves, and environmental and economic concerns about applying fertilizers. Plants exposed to nutrient deficiency activate a range of mechanisms that result in increased nutrient availability in the rhizosphere compared with the bulk soil. Plants may change their root morphology, increase the affinity of nutrient transporters in the plasma membrane and exude organic compounds (carboxylates, phenolics, carbohydrates, enzymes, etc.) and protons. Chemical changes in the rhizosphere result in altered abundance and composition of microbial communities. Nutrient-efficient genotypes are adapted to environments with low nutrient availability. Nutrient efficiency can be enhanced by targeted breeding through pyramiding efficiency mechanisms in a desirable genotype as well as by gene transfer and manipulation. Rhizosphere microorganisms influence nutrient availability; adding beneficial microorganisms may result in enhanced availability of nutrients to crops. Understanding the role of plant-microbe-soil interactions in governing nutrient availability in the rhizosphere will enhance the economic and environmental sustainability of crop production.

Breeding↗

PubMed2004

Impacts of informal caregiver availability on long-term care expenditures in OECD countries.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the effects of informal caregiver availability and public funding on formal long-term care (LTC) expenditures in developed countries. DATA SOURCE/STUDY SETTING: Secondary data were acquired for 15 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1970 to 2000. STUDY DESIGN: Secondary data analysis, applying fixed- and random-effects models to time-series cross-sectional data. Outcome variables are inpatient or home heath LTC expenditures. Key explanatory variables are measures of the availability of informal caregivers, generosity in public funding for formal LTC, and the proportion of the elderly population in the total population. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHOD: Aggregated macro data were obtained from OECD Health Data, United Nations Demographic Yearbooks, and U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Most of the 15 OECD countries experienced growth in LTC expenditures over the study period. The availability of a spouse caregiver, measured by male-to-female ratio among the elderly, is associated with a $28,840 (1995 U.S. dollars) annual reduction in formal LTC expenditure per additional elderly male. Availability of an adult child caregiver, measured by female labor force participation and full-time/part-time status shift, is associated with a reduction of $310 to $3,830 in LTC expenditures. These impacts on LTC expenditure vary across countries and across time within a country. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of an informal caregiver, particularly a spouse caregiver, is among the most important factors explaining variation in LTC expenditure growth. Long-term care policies should take into account behavioral responses: decreased public funding in LTC may lead working women to leave the labor force to provide more informal care.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Domestic violence: diurnal mismatch between need and availability of services.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a diurnal discordance exists between need and availability of services for victims of domestic violence. METHODS: A consecutive sample of women presenting to a municipal hospital ED with physical injuries suspected to be related to domestic violence were entered into a registry. Date and time of presentation and perceived need for services information were collected from all patients who answered affirmatively a screening question for domestic violence and whose conditions did not preclude administration of the data collection instrument. The Social Service Departments of all of the 53 911-receiving hospitals in New York City were contacted to ascertain availability of social services for victims of domestic violence by time of day. RESULTS: Twenty-eight of 32 (88%; 95% CI: 71%, 97%) victims of domestic violence presented to the ED during hours other than weekday 9 AM to 5 PM. Of these, 63% desired counseling, 32% lacked a safe place to go, and 82% had children. Of those who had children, 48% were concerned for the children's safety. In-hospital social services were universally available weekday daytime (9 AM to 5 PM) but were available in only 11% of hospital (95% CI: 4%, 23%) at other times. CONCLUSION: Approximately nine of ten victims of domestic violence presented to the ED during hours when only about one hospital in ten can provide the special services these patients require. A marked diurnal mismatch appears to exist between availability of domestic violence services in New York City and the need for these services as measured by a representative sample drawn from an ED population.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Muscle pyruvate availability can limit the flux, but not activation, of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex during submaximal exercise in humans.

While lowering muscle glycogen availability to an extent that would reduce muscle pyruvate formation during intense exercise, we investigated the importance of muscle pyruvate availability to pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) activation during intense exercise in human skeletal muscle. The present study demonstrated that regardless of whether pre-exercise muscle glycogen content was at a habitual resting concentration (412 +/- 30 mmol (kg dry muscle)(-1)) or depleted (60 +/- 3 mmol (kg dry muscle)(-1)), the increase in PDC activation from its resting value (5.46 +/- 0.96 and 3.67 +/- 0.34 nmol acetyl-CoA min(-1) (mg protein)(-1), respectively) during 10 min of exercise at 75% of the maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO2max) (delta12.82 +/- 1.72 and delta13.24 +/- 1.42 nmol acetyl-CoA min(-1) (mg protein)(-1), respectively) was the same, despite pyruvate accumulation during exercise being 3-fold lower in the glycogen depleted state (delta0.34 +/- 0.04 and delta0.11 +/- 0.06 mmol (kg dry muscle)(-1), P < 0.001). However, as a result of the reduction in pyruvate availability, calculated flux through the PDC reaction was at least 2-fold lower in the glycogen depleted state compared with normal (21.81 +/- 2.62 and 9.41 +/- 0.63 nmol acetyl-CoA min(-1) (mg protein)(-1), respectively; P < 0.001). It is therefore pertinent to conclude that whilst muscle pyruvate availability appears to be important to the rate of flux through the PDC reaction during in vivo contraction, it is not of primary importance to the control of PDC activation under these conditions, which is probably principally regulated by muscle calcium availability. The proposed central role of pyruvate in muscle PDC activation during in vivo contraction may therefore have been over stated.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Nitrogen availability to Pseudomonas fluorescens DF57 is limited during decomposition of barley straw in bulk soil and in the barley rhizosphere.

The availability of nitrogen to Pseudomonas fluorescens DF57 during straw degradation in bulk soil and in barley rhizosphere was studied by introducing a bioluminescent reporter strain (DF57-N3), responding to nitrogen limitation, to model systems of varying complexity. DF57-N3 was apparently not nitrogen limited in the natural and sterilized bulk soil used for these experiments. The soil was subsequently amended with barley straw, representing a plant residue with a high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (between 60 and 100). In these systems the DF57-N3 population gradually developed a nitrogen limitation response during the first week of straw decomposition, but exclusively in the presence of the indigenous microbial population. This probably reflects the restricted ability of DF57 to degrade plant polymers by hydrolytic enzymes. The impact of the indigenous population on nitrogen availability to DF57-N3 was mimicked by the cellulolytic organism Trichoderma harzianum Rifai strain T3 when coinoculated with DF57-N3 in sterilized, straw-amended soil. Limitation occurred concomitantly with fungal cellulase production, pointing to the significance of hydrolytic activity for the mobilization of straw carbon sources, thereby increasing the nitrogen demand. Enhanced survival of DF57-N3 in natural soil after straw amendment further indicated that DF57 was cross-fed with carbon/energy sources. The natural barley rhizosphere was experienced by DF57-N3 as an environment with restricted nitrogen availability regardless of straw amendment. In the rhizosphere of plants grown in sterilized soil, nitrogen limitation was less severe, pointing to competition with indigenous microorganisms as an important determinant of the nitrogen status for DF57-N3 in this environment. Hence, these studies have demonstrated that nitrogen availability and gene expression in Pseudomonas is intimately linked to the structure and function of the microbial community. Further, it was demonstrated that the activities of cellulolytic microorganisms may affect the availability of energy and specific nutrients to a group of organisms deficient in hydrolytic enzyme activities.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed1999

Utilization of heterologous siderophores enhances levels of iron available to Pseudomonas putida in the rhizosphere.

Pseudomonas spp. have the capacity to utilize siderophores produced by diverse species of bacteria and fungi, and the present study was initiated to determine if siderophores produced by rhizosphere microorganisms enhance the levels of iron available to a strain of Pseudomonas putida in this natural habitat. We used a previously described transcriptional fusion (pvd-inaZ) between an iron-regulated promoter (pvd) and the ice nucleation reporter gene (inaZ) to detect alterations in iron availability to P. putida. Ice nucleation activity (INA) expressed from the pvd-inaZ fusion by P. putida N1R or N1R Pvd(-), a derivative deficient in the production of a pyoverdine siderophore, was inversely related to the concentration of ferric citrate in a culture medium. In culture, INA expressed by N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) was reduced in the presence of the ferric complex of pseudobactin-358, a pyoverdine siderophore produced by P. putida WCS358 that can be utilized as a source of iron by N1R Pvd(-). In the rhizosphere of cucumbers grown in sterilized soil, N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) expressed INA, indicating that iron availability was sufficiently low in that habitat to allow transcription of the iron-regulated pvd promoter. Coinoculation with WCS358 or N1R significantly decreased INA expressed by N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) in the rhizosphere, whereas coinoculation with a pyoverdine-deficient mutant of WCS358 did not reduce INA expressed by N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ). These results indicate that iron availability to N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) in the rhizosphere was enhanced by the presence of another strain of P. putida that produces a pyoverdine that N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) was able to utilize as a source of iron. In culture, strain N1R Pvd(-) also utilized ferric complexes of the siderophores enterobactin and aerobactin as sources of iron. In the rhizosphere of cucumbers grown in sterilized soil, INA expressed by N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) was reduced in the presence of strains of Enterobacter cloacae that produced enterobactin, aerobactin, or both siderophores, but INA expressed by N1R Pvd(-) (pvd-inaZ) was not altered in the presence of a mutant of E. cloacae deficient in both enterobactin and aerobactin production. Therefore, the iron status of P. putida was altered by siderophores produced by an unrelated bacterium coinhabiting the rhizosphere. Finally, we demonstrated that INA expressed by N1R containing pvd-inaZ in the rhizosphere differed between plants grown in sterilized versus nonsterilized field soil. The results of this study demonstrate that (i) P. putida expresses genes for pyoverdine production and uptake in the rhizosphere, but the level of gene expression is influenced by other bacteria that coexist with P. putida in this habitat, and (ii) diverse groups of microorganisms can alter the availability of chemical resources in microbial habitats on root surfaces.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

PubMed2002

Quantitative assessment of oxygen availability: perceived aerobiosis and its effect on flux distribution in the respiratory chain of Escherichia coli.

Despite a large number of studies on the role of oxygen in cellular processes, there is no consensus as to how oxygen availability to the cell should be defined, let alone how it should be quantified. Here, a quantitative definition for oxygen availability (perceived aerobiosis) is presented; the definition is based on a calibration with reference to the minimal oxygen supply rate needed for fully oxidative catabolism (i.e., complete conversion of the energy source to CO(2) and water for glucose-limited conditions). This quantitative method is used to show how steady-state electron fluxes through the alternative cytochrome oxidases of Escherichia coli are distributed as a function of the extent of aerobiosis of glucose-limited chemostat cultures. At low oxygen availability the electron flux is mainly via the high-affinity cytochrome bd oxidase, and, at higher oxygen availability, a similar phenomenon occurs but now via the low-affinity cytochrome bo oxidase. The main finding is that the catabolic activities of E. coli (and specifically its respiratory activity) are affected by the actual oxygen availability per unit of biomass rather than by the residual dissolved oxygen concentration of the culture.

Aerobiosis↗

PubMed1994

Delivery of beclomethasone dipropionate from a spacer device: what dose is available for inhalation?

BACKGROUND: It is common for inhaled steroids to be delivered through a large volume spacer device. Comparatively little is known about how this practice affects the dose of drug received by patients compared with drug delivered directly from a metered dose inhaler. METHODS: The amount of beclomethasone dipropionate, contained in particles of various size, available for inhalation from a 750 ml polycarbonate spacer (Volumatic) was determined by impinger measurement and high performance liquid chromatography. Three strengths of metered dose inhalers were studied (50 micrograms, 100 micrograms, and 250 micrograms/actuation). The effect of multiple actuations of beclomethasone dipropionate into a Volumatic spacer, and increasing residence times of drug within the spacer before inhalation, on the amount of drug available to the patient for inhalation was determined. RESULTS: The amount of beclomethasone dipropionate in particles < 5 microns when delivered by a spacer device or directly from a metered dose inhaler was similar. The total amount of beclomethasone dipropionate available for inhalation per actuation decreased by 20 micrograms with the 50 micrograms inhaler, 48 micrograms with the 100 micrograms inhaler, and 161 micrograms with the 250 micrograms inhaler, when given via the spacer compared with delivery directly from a metered dose inhaler. There was a progressive decrease in drug available for inhalation per actuation as the number of actuations into the spacer increased, for all strengths of beclomethasone dipropionate tested. A progressive decrease in drug recovered per actuation was also seen with increasing residence times of drug within the spacer before inhalation. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the spacer device significantly reduced the amount of nonrespirable beclomethasone dipropionate available for inhalation. The amount of beclomethasone dipropionate within respirable particles decreased considerably following multiple actuations into the spacer and with increasing residence times within the spacer before inhalation. When given via a spacer device beclomethasone dipropionate should be inhaled immediately after actuation and multiple actuations into the device should be avoided.

Beclomethasone↗

PubMed2000

Low energy availability, not exercise stress, suppresses the diurnal rhythm of leptin in healthy young women.

Because the effect of exercise on leptin was not established, we controlled energy intake (I) and exercise energy expenditure (E) to distinguish the independent effects of energy availability (A = I - E) and exercise stress (everything associated with exercise except its energy cost) on the diurnal leptin rhythm in healthy young women. In random order, we set A = 45 and 10 kcal. kg lean body mass(-1) (LBM) x day(-1) for 4 days during the early follicular phase of separate menstrual cycles in sedentary (S, n = 7) and exercising (X, n = 9: E = 30 kcal x kg LBM(-1) x day(-1)) women. Low energy availability suppressed the 24-h mean (P < 10(-6)) and amplitude (P < 10(-5)), whereas exercise stress did not (both P > 0.2). Suppressions of the 24-h mean (-72 +/- 3 vs. -53 +/- 3%, P < 0.001) and amplitude (-85 +/- 3 vs. -58 +/- 6%, P < 0.001) were more extreme in S vs. X than previously reported effects on luteinizing hormone pulsatility and carbohydrate availability. Thus the diurnal rhythm of leptin depends on energy, or carbohydrate, availability, not intake, and exercise has no suppressive effect on the diurnal rhythm of leptin beyond the impact of its energy cost on energy availability.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Energy deficit without reducing dietary carbohydrate alters resting carbohydrate oxidation and fatty acid availability.

Reduced carbohydrate (CHO) availability after exercise has a potent influence on the regulation of substrate metabolism, but little is known about the impact of fat availability and/or energy deficit on fuel metabolism when dietary CHO availability is not reduced. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of a postexercise energy deficit, independent of CHO availability, on plasma substrate concentrations and substrate oxidation. Seven moderately trained men (peak oxygen uptake: 56 +/- 2 ml.kg(-1).min(-1)) performed exhaustive cycling exercise on two separate occasions. The two trials differed only by the meals ingested after exercise: 1) a high-fat diet designed to maintain energy balance or 2) a low-fat diet designed to elicit energy deficit. The CHO and protein contents of the diets were identical. The next morning, we measured plasma substrate and insulin concentrations and CHO oxidation, and we obtained muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis for measurement of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK)-2 and PDK-4 mRNA expression by using RT-PCR. Despite identical blood glucose (5.0 +/- 0.1 and 4.9 +/- 0.1 mM) and insulin (7.9 +/- 1.1 and 8.4 +/- 0.9 microU/ml) concentrations, plasma fatty acid and glycerol concentrations were elevated three- to fourfold during energy deficit compared with energy balance and CHO oxidation was 40% lower (P < 0.01) the morning after energy deficit compared with energy balance (328 +/- 69 and 565 +/- 89 micromol/min). The lower CHO oxidation was accompanied by a 7.3 +/- 2.5-fold increase in PDK-4 mRNA expression after energy deficit (P < 0.05), whereas PDK-2 mRNA was similar between the trials. In conclusion, energy deficit increases fatty acid availability, increases PDK-4 mRNA expression, and suppresses CHO oxidation even when dietary CHO content is not reduced.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Role of tissue lactate and substrate availability in 1,3-butanediol-enhanced hypoxic survival in the mouse.

Previously we found that 1,3-butanediol-treated mice live longer during hypoxia. We hypothesized that 1,3-butanediol could reduce the brain's accumulation of potentially cytotoxic lactate and/or elevate brain substrate availability (ketones or glucose) and thus maintain the brain's energy producing capability even during reduced oxygen availability. To test these hypotheses, whole brain metabolites from normoxic and hypoxic mice, pretreated with 1,3-butanediol or insulin, were compared to saline controls. During hypoxia both pretreated groups had lower brain lactate than controls. If lactate accumulation was the sole factor responsible for hypoxic tolerance, insulin should have increased brain lactate since insulin has been shown previously to reduce hypoxic tolerance. In normoxic mice the ratio of lactate to pyruvate and the level of malate and fumarate were not changed by 1,3-butanediol as is found with other agents known to protect the hypoxic animal. When substrate availability was directly elevated by beta-hydroxybutyrate and glucose administration hypoxic survival time increased thus implicating substrate availability as an important factor in hypoxic tolerance. We conclude that reduced brain lactate and augmented substrate availability both contribute to 1,3-butanediol-enhanced hypoxic tolerance in this animal model.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

In vivo determination of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor availability in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Postmortem studies have implicated the central muscarinic acetylcholine system in schizophrenia. However, central muscarinic receptor availability has not previously been studied in vivo. Using [I-123]iodoquinuclidinyl benzilate ([(123)I]IQNB) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), the authors sought to compare the muscarinic receptor availability in vivo in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia and normal subjects. METHOD: Twelve medication-free patients with schizophrenia underwent an [(123)I]IQNB SPECT scan during approximate-equilibrium conditions. A group of 10 age- and gender-matched normal comparison subjects were given the same kind of scan under similar conditions. Regions of interest were analyzed in the cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, and pons. Binding data were analyzed as nCi/ml tissue per mCi injected dose. RESULTS: Muscarinic receptor availability was significantly less in patients with schizophrenia than in normal subjects in all regions of interest except the pons. Reductions ranged from -33% in the caudate to -20% in the occipital cortex. Positive symptoms of schizophrenia correlated negatively with muscarinic receptor availability in the striatum and the frontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate a reduction in muscarinic acetylcholine receptor availability in vivo in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia, confirming results from postmortem studies and adding further evidence that the muscarinic system is involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Effect of domestic processing and cooking methods on total, hcl extractable iron and in vitro availability of iron in spinach and amaranth leaves.

Spinach (Spinacia oleracia) and amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves were stored in polyethylene bags and without packing for 24 and 48 hours in a refrigerator at 5 degrees C and 30 degrees C in polyethylene bags. The fresh leaves were also dried (oven and sun), blanched (5, 10 and 15 min) and cooked in an open pan and a pressure cooker. The processed leaves were analysed for total iron, its availability and antinutrient content. The iron content of these leaves varied from 26.54 to 34.14 mg/100 g, dry weight and its HCl-extractability and in vitro availability were 62.11-67.18% and 3.03-3.97% of total respectively. Drying and storage had no significant effect on total iron content, HCl-extractability and availability (in vitro), while blanching and cooking resulted in significant improvement of iron availability, and a significant reduction in oxalic acid content, while only blanching significantly reduced phytic acid and polyphenol contents. Thus cooking and blanching are good ways to improve HCl-extractability and in vitro availability of iron.

Amaranthus↗

PubMed1991

Nutrition service availability: an interaction potential model.

Availability, defined as a measure of the supply of services relative to the needs in the community, is critical to older people, particularly the socially isolated and frail elderly who are less mobile than most of the population. This research proposes an interaction potential model to examine variation in availability of services by considering the capacity and location of service providers and demand for these services. The model does not constrain older people to meet their demand within their towns' borders. Several measures of availability are calculated for nutrition services in an area agency on aging region of Connecticut, using different beta values to represent varying levels of mobility for the total older population; considerable variation exists, depending on mobility assumptions. Availability measures can be used as independent variables in analyses of variation in actual use of services; a strong correlation exists between use and availability in Connecticut.

Aged↗

PubMed2000

The role of availability as a moderator of family fruit and vegetable consumption.

The public health objective to improve the diet of Americans includes increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V). The availability of F&V in the home has been suggested but not confirmed as one environmental factor that influences the types and quantities of F&V eaten by family members. Using a model of parental and child influences on a child's intake of F&V, the authors investigated F&V availability as a moderating variable for the relationships between the model constructs and how the relationships might change with varying levels of F&V availability. Path analysis and multigroup structural equation modeling were the analytic tools. Results indicated that homes with more F&V available had a richer and generally stronger set of motivating factors for parent and child F&V consumption than homes with low F&V availability. Findings have implications for parental involvement in interventions to enhance the diet of fourth-grade children.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Availability, accessibility, and preferences for fruit, 100% fruit juice, and vegetables influence children's dietary behavior.

The relationships among home fruit (F), 100% fruitjuice (J), and vegetable (V) availability and accessibility separately, as reported by 225 fourth- through sixth-grade children and their parents (n = 88), separately, and FJV preferences to child-reported FJV consumption were assessed. For girls, child-reported FJV availability and accessibility accounted for 35% of the variability in FJV consumption. Child-reported availability and parent-reported accessibility were significantly correlated with child FJV consumption in a combined model. For children with high FJV preferences, FJV availability was the only significant predictor, whereas both availability and accessibility were significantly related to consumption for children with low FJV preferences. Interventions targeting child dietary behaviors may need to tailor to the home environment, separately by gender. Extra efforts are necessary by parents to enhance accessibility among children who do not like FJV.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed2006

AbMiner: a bioinformatic resource on available monoclonal antibodies and corresponding gene identifiers for genomic, proteomic, and immunologic studies.

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal antibodies are used extensively throughout the biomedical sciences for detection of antigens, either in vitro or in vivo. We, for example, have used them for quantitation of proteins on "reverse-phase" protein lysate arrays. For those studies, we quality-controlled > 600 available monoclonal antibodies and also needed to develop precise information on the genes that encode their antigens. Translation among the various protein and gene identifier types proved non-trivial because of one-to-many and many-to-one relationships. To organize the antibody, protein, and gene information, we initially developed a relational database in Filemaker for our own use. When it became apparent that the information would be useful to many other researchers faced with the need to choose or characterize antibodies, we developed it further as AbMiner, a fully relational web-based database under MySQL, programmed in Java. DESCRIPTION: AbMiner is a user-friendly, web-based relational database of information on > 600 commercially available antibodies that we validated by Western blot for protein microarray studies. It includes many types of information on the antibody, the immunogen, the vendor, the antigen, and the antigen's gene. Multiple gene and protein identifier types provide links to corresponding entries in a variety of other public databases, including resources for phosphorylation-specific antibodies. AbMiner also includes our quality-control data against a pool of 60 diverse cancer cell types (the NCI-60) and also protein expression levels for the NCI-60 cells measured using our high-density "reverse-phase" protein lysate microarrays for a selection of the listed antibodies. Some other available database resources give information on antibody specificity for one or a couple of cell types. In contrast, the data in AbMiner indicate specificity with respect to the antigens in a pool of 60 diverse cell types from nine different tissues of origin. CONCLUSION: AbMiner is a relational database that provides extensive information from our own laboratory and other sources on more than 600 available antibodies and the genes that encode the antibodies' antigens. The data will be made freely available at http://discover.nci.nih.gov/abminer.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗