Vol 8, No 1 (2016)

Vaccination has been successfully used to prevent influenza for a long time. Influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA), which induces a humoral immune response in humans and protection against the flu, is the main antigenic component of modern influenza vaccines. However, new seasonal and pandemic influenza virus variants with altered structures of HA occasionally occur. This allows the pathogen to avoid neutralization with antibodies produced in response to previous vaccination. Development of a vaccine with the new variants of HA acting as antigens takes a long time. Therefore, during an epidemic, it is important to have passive immunization agents to prevent and treat influenza, which can be monoclonal or single-domain antibodies with universal specificity (broad-spectrum agents). We considered antibodies to conserved epitopes of influenza virus antigens as universal ones. In this paper, we tried to characterize the main B-cell epitopes of hemagglutinin and analyze our own and literature data on broadly neutralizing antibodies. We conducted a computer analysis of the best known conformational epitopes of influenza virus HAs using materials of different databases. The analysis showed that the core of the HA molecule, whose antibodies demonstrate pronounced heterosubtypic activity, can be used as a target for the search for and development of broad-spectrum antibodies to the influenza virus.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is known to use the transcriptional machinery of the host cell for viral gene transcription, and the only viral protein that partakes in this process is Tat, the viral trans-activator of transcription. During acute infection, the binding of Tat to the hairpin at the beginning of the transcribed viral RNA recruits the PTEFb complex, which in turn hyperphosphorylates RNA-polymerase II and stimulates transcription elongation. Along with acute infection, HIV-1 can also lead to latent infection that is characterized by a low level of viral transcription. During the maintenance and reversal of latency, there are no detectable amounts of Tat protein in the cell and the mechanism of transcription activation in the absence of Tat protein remains unclear. The latency maintenance is also a problematic question. It seems evident that cellular proteins with a yet unknown nature or role regulate both transcriptional repression in the latent phase and its activation during transition into the lytic phase. The present review discusses the role of cellular proteins Ku and HMGA1 in the initiation of transcription elongation of the HIV-1 provirus. The review presents data regarding Ku-mediated HIV-1 transcription and its dependence on the promoter structure and the shape of viral DNA. We also describe the differential influence of the HMGA1 protein on the induced and basal transcription of HIV-1. Finally, we offer possible mechanisms for Ku and HMGA1 proteins in the proviral transcription regulation.

Cholesterol is an important constituent of cell membranes and plays a crucial role in the compartmentalization of the plasma membrane and signaling. Brain cholesterol accounts for a large proportion of the body’s total cholesterol, existing in two pools: the plasma membranes of neurons and glial cells and the myelin membranes . Cholesterol has been recently shown to be important for synaptic transmission, and a link between cholesterol metabolism defects and neurodegenerative disorders is now recognized. Many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by impaired cholesterol turnover in the brain. However, at which stage the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway is perturbed and how this contributes to pathogenesis remains unknown. Cognitive deficits and neurodegeneration may be associated with impaired synaptic transduction. Defects in cholesterol biosynthesis can trigger dysfunction of synaptic transmission. In this review, an overview of cholesterol turnover under physiological and pathological conditions is presented (Huntington’s, Niemann-Pick type C diseases, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome). We will discuss possible mechanisms by which cholesterol content in the plasma membrane influences synaptic processes. Changes in cholesterol metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and autistic disorders are beyond the scope of this review and will be summarized in our next paper.

As has been shown previously, phosphite of acycloguanosine (Hp-ACG) exhibits equal efficacy against ACV-sensitive and ACV-resistant HSV-1 strains in cell culture. Intraperitoneal administration of Hp-ACG to model mice with herpetic encephalitis caused by HSV-1 infection was shown to be effective in protecting against death. In the present work, we continue the study of the antiviral efficiency of Hp-ACG against HSV administered non-invasively; namely in vivo, orally and in the form of ointment formulations. It has been first shown that oral administration of Hp-ACG twice daily for five days prevents systemic infection in mice caused by HSV-1. Mortality in the control group of animals was 57%. Administration of Hp-ACG at doses of 600, 800 and 1,000 mg/kg per day significantly increased the survival and median day of death of the animals compared to the placebo-treated control group. A comparative evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy parameters of polyethylene glycol-based ACV ointment and Hp-ACG ointment was carried out after a 5-day course in the model of an experimental cutaneous infection of HSV-1 in guinea pigs. It was found that Hp-ACG has a significant therapeutic effect resulting in a statistically significant reduction in the lesion’s surface area and the amount of vesicular structures. The exhibited therapeutic effect of 10% Hp-ACG in ointment form compares well with that of 5% ACG ointment.

A systematic search for DNA fragments containing potential CTCF transcription factor binding sites in the chicken alpha-globin domain and its replica rolex flanking regions was performed by means of the two-dimension electrophoretic mobility shift assay. For the alpha-globin domain fragments selected, the occupancy by the CTCF in erythroid and lymphoid chicken cells was tested by chromatin immunoprecipitation. asian rolex replica Only one of 13 DNA fragments capable of CTCF binding in vitro was efficiently bound to this protein in vivo in erythroid cells, and somewhat less efficiently - in lymphoid cells. So, binding of CTCF to the DNA fragment in vitro in most cases does not mean that this fragment will be occupied by CTCF in the cell nucleus. Yet, CTCF binding in vivo, as a rule, is accompanied by the binding of the protein to this DNA region in vitro. replica rolex watches ebay During the erythroid differentiation, no significant changes in CTCF binding to the DNA fragments studied were detected.

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases play an important role in DNA repair and initiation of AP site elimination. One of the most topical problems in the field of DNA repair is to understand the mechanism of the enzymatic process involving the human enzyme APE1 that provides recognition of AP sites and efficient cleavage of the 5’-phosphodiester bond. In this study, a thermodynamic analysis of the interaction between APE1 and a DNA substrate containing a stable AP site analog lacking the C1’ hydroxyl group (F site) was performed. Based on stopped-flow kinetic data at different temperatures, the steps of DNA binding, catalysis, and DNA product release were characterized. The changes in the standard Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy of sequential specific steps of the repair process were determined. The thermodynamic analysis of the data suggests that the initial step of the DNA substrate binding includes formation of non-specific contacts between the enzyme binding surface and DNA, as well as insertion of the amino acid residues Arg177 and Met270 into the duplex, which results in the removal of “crystalline” water molecules from DNA grooves. The second binding step involves the F site flipping-out process and formation of specific contacts between the enzyme active site and the everted 5’-phosphate-2’-deoxyribose residue. It was shown that non-specific interactions between the binding surfaces of the enzyme and DNA provide the main contribution into the thermodynamic parameters of the DNA product release step.

Putative open reading frames of MD-endonucleases have been identified in Enterobacteria genomes as a result of the search for amino acid sequences homologous to MD-endonuclease BisI. A highly conserved DNA primary structure of these open reading frames in different genera of Enterobacteria (Escherichia, Klebsiella and Cronobacter) has allowed researchers to create primers for PCR screening, which was carried out on Enterobacteria DNA collected from natural sources. The DNA fragment, about 440 bp in length, was amplified by use of the genomic DNA of a wild E.coli LM N17 strain as a template and was inserted into the pMTL22 vector. Endonuclease activity was detected in an E.coli ER 2267 strain transformed with the obtained construction. A new enzyme named ElmI was purified by chromatographic techniques from the recombinant strain biomass. It was discovered that similarly to BisI this enzyme specifically cleaves the methylated DNA sequence 5’-GCNGC- 3’ before the central nucleotide “N” if this sequence contains two 5-methylcytosines. However, unlike BisI, ElmI more efficiently cleaves this sequence if more than two cytosine residues are methylated.

On August 9-11, 2014, Cold Spring Harbor (USA) hosted a special symposium dedicated to the discovery of messenger or informational RNA and the main events in the subsequent studies of its synthesis, regulation of synthesis, maturation, and transport. The existence of mRNA in bacteria was first suggested in 1961 by Jacob and Monod, based on genetic studies [1]. The same year, Brenner et al. confirmed the hypothesis [2]. Our laboratory played a key role in the discovery of messenger RNA in eukaryotes, as well as in the discovery of the nuclear ribonucleoproteins that contain it and in the elucidation of their structural organization. Therefore, I was invited to represent Russia at the Symposium and deliver a speech on these topics. However, my visa had only been issued after the end of the Symposium, and, therefore, the presentation was delivered by my former colleague G.N. Yenikolopov, who works at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The transcript of the lecture is presented below.