Vol 469, No 1 (2016)

In hibernating Yakutian ground squirrels S. undulatus, the content of total phospholipids in the nuclei of liver increased by 40% compared to that in animals in summer. In torpid state, the amount of sphingomyelin increased almost 8 times; phosphatidylserine, 7 times; and cardiolipin, 4 times. In active “winter” ground squirrels, the amount of sphingomyelin, phosphatidylserine, and cardiolipin decreased compared to the hibernating individuals but remained high compared to the “summer” ones. The torpor state did not affect the amount of lysophosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylinositol.

Adsorption of viral particles from the blood plasma of patients with viral hepatitis B and C on modified nanodiamonds (MNDs) was shown in the in vitro experiments. PCR method showed the treatment of plasma with MNDs leads to a decrease in the viral load by 2–3 orders of magnitude or more in both cases studied. These results make it possible to predict the applicability of MNDs for the development of new technologies of hemodialysis and plasmapheresis for binding and removal of viral particles from the blood of infected patients.

It is shown for the first time that the insulin receptor substrate gene chico controls the functioning of the systems of metabolism of dopamine and juvenile hormone in Drosophila melanogaster females under normal conditions and in thermal stress.

The effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of TRPV4 gene on the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (39.7% of cases) in response to the decrease in osmolarity under inspiration of distilled water aerosol was studies in 189 patients with uncontrolled bronchial asthma. rs6606743 SNP was found to significantly contribute to the development of osmotic airway hyperresponsiveness. Analysis of the dominant genetic model revealed substantial prevalence of AG + GG genotype frequency in the group of patients with asthma with osmotic hyperresponsiveness in comparison with the patients who had negative response to bronchoprovocation. In addition, carriers of GG or AG genotypes had significantly more profound decrease of lung function parameters in relation to A homozygous patients.

The effect of overexpression of Oct-1 protein isoforms on the cell response to two anticancer drugs camptothecin and dexamethasone was studied. The effect of Oct-1 isoforms on regulated gene transcription was estimated by the difference in the level of mRNA in Burkitt’s lymphoma cells (Namalwa line) untransfected and stably transfected with Oct-1 isoforms. The response to anticancer drugs of the Oct-1 target genes involved in the development of apoptosis depended, firstly, on the type of drug, secondly, on the concentration of Oct-1 in cells. and, thirdly, on the Oct-1 isoform with which these cells were transfected.

Deimination of myelin basic protein (MBP) by peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) prevents its binding to the proteasome and decelerates its degradation by the proteasome in mammalian cells. Potential anticancer drug tetrazole analogue of chloramidine 2, at concentrations greater than 1 µM inhibits the enzymatic activity of PAD in vitro. The observed acceleration of proteasome hydrolysis of MBP to antigenic peptides in the presence of PAD inhibitor may increase the efficiency of lesion of the central nervous system by cytotoxic lymphocytes in multiple sclerosis. We therefore suggest that clinical trials and the introduction of PAD inhibitors in clinical practice for the treatment of malignant neoplasms should be performed only after a careful analysis of their potential effect on the induction of autoimmune neurodegeneration processes.

Wistar rats with collagen-induced arthritis were intramuscularly injected with the recombinant plasmid pcDNA/sTNF-BD encoding the sequence of the TNF-binding protein domain of variola virus CrmB protein (VARV sTNF-BD) or the pcDNA3.1 vector. Quantitative analysis showed that the histopathological changes in the hind-limb joints of rats were most severe in the animals injected with pcDNA3.1 and much less severe in the group of rats injected with pcDNA/sTNF-BD, which indicates that gene therapy of rheumatoid arthritis is promising in the case of local administration of plasmids governing the synthesis of VARV immunomodulatory proteins.

Analysis by real-time PCR of single and double insertion mutants of A. thaliana with inactivated cytokinin receptor genes showed that the level of transcripts of some of plastid genes during skotomorphogenesis depended on the state of functionally active receptor AHK3. The cytokinin-regulated plastid encoded genes involved the housekeeping genes (rpoB and accD) and the genes for photosynthetic proteins (ndhA, psbA, atpB, and psaA). However, the absence of hormone activation of plastid encoded genes engaged in the translation of plastid proteins, rRNA (rrn16), and tRNA (trnE), indirectly indicate the disruption of the synthesis of chloroplast proteins in the dark.

Using Fura-2AM microfluorimetry, we have shown for the first time that 5-lipoxygenase specific inhibitor antiasthmatic agent zileuton significantly inhibits Ca²⁺-responses induced by glutoxim and molixan in macrophages. The results support 5-lipoxygenase involvement in the effect of glutoxim and molixan on intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration in macrophages and indicate the inadvisability of a combined use of drugs glutoxim and molixan and antiasthmatic agent zileuton.

This is the first study to present data on the genotoxicity of low γ-irradiation doses for E. coli and S. typhimurium cells obtained using the SOS chromotest and the Ames test. The most pronounced effect was recorded in the first 24 h of γ-irradiation. After 72 h in the Ames test and after 96 h in the SOS chromotest, a significant effect of γ-irradiation on bacterial cells was detected. The absence of genotoxicity at the later stages can be explained by the adaptation of bacterial cells to the conditions of exposure. The findings allow the bacterial test system to be used for studying the effects of low doses at the early stages of exposure to radiation.