PubMed 24 Hulston CJ, Jeukendrup AE: Substrate metabolism and ex

PubMed 24. Hulston CJ, Jeukendrup AE: Substrate metabolism and exercise performance with caffeine and carbohydrate intake. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2008, 40:2096–2104.PubMedCrossRef 25. Roberts SP, Stokes KA, Trewartha G, Doyle J, Hogben P, Thompson D: Effects of carbohydrate and caffeine ingestion on performance during a rugby union simulation protocol. J Sports Sci 2010, 28:833–842.PubMedCrossRef 26. Gant N, Ali A, Foskett A: The influence of caffeine and carbohydrate coingestion on simulated soccer SBE-��-CD manufacturer performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2010, 20:191–197.PubMed 27. Beaven CM, Maulder P, Pooley A, Kilduff L, Cook C:

Effects of caffeine and carbohydrate mouth rinses on repeated sprint performance. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2013, 38:633–637.PubMedCrossRef 28. Cooper R, Naclerio F, Allgrove J, Larumbe-Zabala E: Effects of a carbohydrate and caffeine gel on intermittent sprint performance in recreationally trained males. Eur J Sport Sci 2013. published ahead of print. 29. Slivka D, Hailes W, Cuddy J, Ruby B: Caffeine and carbohydrate supplementation during exercise when in negative energy LY411575 mouse balance: effects on performance, metabolism,

and salivary cortisol. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2008, 33:1079–1085.PubMedCrossRef 30. Hunter AM, St Clair Gibson A, Collins M, Lambert M, Noakes TD: Caffeine ingestion does not alter performance during a 100-km cycling time-trial performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2002, 12:438–452.PubMed 31. Astorino TA, Matera AJ, Basinger J, Evans M, Schurman T, Marquez R: Effects of red bull energy drink on repeated sprint performance in women athletes. Amino Acids 2012, 42:1803–1808.PubMedCrossRef 32. Thomas NE, Leyshon A, Hughes MG, Jasper MA, Davies B, Graham MR, Bulloch JM, Baker JS: Concentrations

of salivary testosterone, cortisol, and immunoglobulin A after supra-maximal exercise in female adolescents. J Sports Sci 2010, 28:1361–1368.PubMedCrossRef 33. Lovallo WR, Whitsett TL, Oxalosuccinic acid Al’Absi M, Sung BH, Vincent AS, Wilson MF: Caffeine stimulation of cortisol secretion across the waking hours in relation to caffeine intake levels. Psychosom Med 2005, 67:734–739.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef 34. Beaven CM, Hopkins WG, Hansen KT, Wood MR, Cronin JB, Lowe TE: Dose effect of caffeine on testosterone and cortisol responses to resistance exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2008, 18:131–141.PubMed 35. Walker GJ, Finlay O, Griffiths H, Sylvester J, Williams M, Bishop NC: Immunoendocrine response to cycling following ingestion of caffeine and carbohydrate. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007, 39:1554–1560.PubMedCrossRef 36. Lane AR, Duke JW, Hackney AC: Influence of dietary carbohydrate intake on the free testosterone: cortisol ratio responses to short-term intensive exercise training. Eur J Appl Physiol 2010, 108:1125–1131.PubMedCrossRef 37. Nehlsen-Cannarella SL, Fagoaga OR, Nieman DC, Henson DA, Butterworth DE, Schmitt RL, Bailey EM, Warren BJ, Utter A, Davis JM: Carbohydrate and the cytokine response to 2.5 h of running.

All stimuli were administered to cells by using a light-tight syr

All stimuli were administered to cells by using a light-tight syringe through the luminometer port. The experiments were terminated by lysing the cells with 15% ethanol in a Ca2+-rich solution

(0.5 M CaCl2 in H2O) to discharge the remaining aequorin pool. For experiments performed in the presence of different external Ca2+ concentrations, cells were extensively washed and resuspended in buffer A (25 mM Hepes, 125 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, pH 7.5), as PF-6463922 in vivo described by [16]. When needed, cells were pretreated for 10 min with 5 mM EGTA. Bacterial cell viability assay Bacterial cell viability was monitored by the LIVE/DEAD® BacLight™ Bacterial Viability kit (Molecular Probes), according Fludarabine to manufacturer’s instructions. This fluorescence-based assay use a mixture of SYTO 9 and propidium iodide stains to distinguish live and dead bacteria. Bacteria with intact cell membranes stain fluorescent green, whereas bacteria with damaged

membranes stain fluorescent red. Samples were observed with a Leica 5000B fluorescence microscope. Images were acquired with a Leica 300F digital camera using the Leica Application Suite (LAS) software. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR experiments M. loti cells grown to mid-exponential phase and treated as for Ca2+ measurement experiments (see above) were incubated for 1 h with plant root exudates, tetronic acid or cell culture medium only (as control). To stabilize RNA, bacteria were treated with the RNA protect Bacteria Reagent (Qiagen). Bacterial cell wall was then lysed with 1 μg/ml lysozyme (Sigma) in TE buffer. Total RNA was first extracted using RNeasy Mini kit (Qiagen) and, after DNAse I treatment (Promega),

quantified. RNA (5 μg) was primed with Random Decamers (Ambion), reverse transcribed with PowerScript Reverse Transcriptase (Clontech) and diluted 1:5. 5 μl of diluted first-strand cDNA were used as Liothyronine Sodium a template in a 50 μl PCR reaction solution. Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR was performed with 5 μl diluted first-strand cDNA. The oligonucleotide primers were designed against nodA, nodB, nodC and glutamine synthetase II (GSII) sequences from M. loti [43] and the aequorin gene (aeq) from Aequorea victoria [44], using Primer 3 software. To amplify 16S rRNA gene, Y1 and Y2 primers were used [45]. The thermal cycler was programmed with the following parameters: 20 s at 94°C, 30 s at 68°C and Advantage 2 Polymerase mix (Clontech) was used as Taq polymerase. PCR reactions were allowed to proceed for different number of cycles to determine the exponential phase of amplification. Densitometric analysis of ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels (0.5 μg/ml) was performed using QuantityOne software (Bio-Rad). RT-PCR experiments were conducted in triplicate on three independent experiments.

5 (indicated as +++ in Table 2), this being the threshold for str

5 (indicated as +++ in Table 2), this being the threshold for strongly biofilm producers. Adherence of oral Enterococci Q-VD-Oph research buy to Hep-2 and A549 cells Here, we analyzed the ability of Enterococcus strains isolated from oral cavity to adhere to the human epidermoid cancer (Hep-2) and the human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial (A549) cell lines. All the tested strains are able to adhere to at least one of the

two tested cell lines. Our result showed that 11 E. faecalis and 2 E. faecium strains adhered strongly to Hep-2 as well as to A549 cells (Table 2). Two strains were moderately adherent to both cells lines. In addition three strains were strongly adherent to Hep-2 cells while moderately adherent to A549 cells (Table 2). Discussion In the last decade, several studies have focused on the relationship between learn more periodontal diseases and oral bacteria. The current investigation examined the prevalence of Enterococci in the oral cavity of Tunisian children using specific primers. In this study, 21 Enterococci (33.9%) among 113 Gram positive cocci were isolated and identified

from the oral cavity of 62 children. Nineteen Enterococci were isolated from carious lesion (55.8%) and two from caries free (7%). Similar results have been reported by Gold et al., [5] suggesting that Enterococci were detected in 60% of oral samples collected from carious school children. Data presented in table 1 showed a significantly higher frequency of E. faecalis (n = 17) than E. faecium (n = 4). This result was contradictory with a recent study reported why a low prevalence

rate of E. faecalis (3.5% to 13.5%) in intraoral sites [26]. Antimicrobial agents are frequently used in dentistry [27], which may however lead to drug resistance among the other oral bacteria [28]. In this study, the isolated strains were examined for their antimicrobial susceptibility to a broad range of antibiotics. Our results revealed the presence of resistant Enterococci (E. faecalis and E. faecium) to a wide range of antibiotics such as penicillin, Ticarcillin, Cefsulodin, Ceftazidime, Amikacin, Tobramycin, streptomycin, erythromycin, Lincomycin, Bacitracin, Nalidixic acid, Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin and Nitroxolin (Table 1). This is a serious problem, as it reduces the number of possible antimicrobial therapies for dental infections associated to Enterococci. Furthermore all the isolated strains were susceptible to Cefalotin and Vancomycin. Resistant Enterococci to currently available antibiotics pose real therapeutic difficulties [29] and can lead to the endodontic treatment failures result [30]. Moreover, transfer of resistance determinants from Enterococci to other more virulent Gram-positive bacteria, like staphylococci, has been observed in vitro [31]. Our previous data supported the presence of resistance oral streptococci [32] and the association of Staphylococcus aureus with dental caries [33] which carried various antibiotics and disinfectants resistance genes [34]. E.

The BTO thin films grown with layer-by-layer annealing method sho

The BTO thin films grown with layer-by-layer annealing method show a preferential <100> orientation. The films annealed at both 650°C and 700°C show strong diffraction peaks along the <100> and <200> directions, with no sign of Evofosfamide mw the secondary-phase silicate formation. It is evident from Figure 2b that the BTO films that are annealed after deposition of 120 nm of BTO (prepared by two to three spin coating and pyrolysis steps) show a stronger diffraction peak along the <110> direction (compared to the <100> direction). A comparison of the lattice parameters of the BTO film deposited on different buffer layers with bulk BTO crystal

is mentioned in Table 1. Table 1 Comparison of the BTO thin films deposited on different buffer layers with the bulk material Phase Source Method a = b (Å) c (Å) c/a ratio Tetragonal (p4mm) Our work Sol–gel 3.994 4.038 1.011 Tetragonal On MgO buffer layer [18] MOCVD 3.990 4.04 1.012 Tetragonal BTO ceramic [19] Chemical processing 3.998 4.022 1.0058 Tetragonal BTO single crystal [20] Chemical processing 3.992 4.036 1.011 Microstructure and roughness measurements The SEM images of BTO thin films grown on silicon <100> substrates with Staurosporine ic50 different thicknesses of the lanthanum oxynitrate buffer layer are presented in Figure 3. The films annealed

at 600°C (not shown) with buffer layers of different thickness are amorphous, and no distinct crystal grains are visible from the SEM measurements. Figure 3 SEM top view and cross-section images of BTO thin films. SEM top view of BTO films annealed at 700°C, with buffer layers of (a) 6 nm and (b) 7.2 nm. Cross-section images of the BTO film deposited at 700°C (c) deposited with a buffer layer of 6 nm as shown in (a) and (d) prepared with layer-by-layer annealing for each 30-nm layer, with a

buffer layer of 8.9 nm. Figure 3a,b shows the top surface view of BTO films annealed at 700°C, with buffer layers of thickness 6 and 7.2 nm, respectively. The presence of the well-defined polygonal crystal grains is visible, and it shows the complete transformation of the amorphous films into a perovskite phase. The presence of the intercrystal Selleck Metformin voids in the BTO films (approximately 150 nm) deposited with buffer layers less than 6 nm is visible in Figure 3a,c. This increases the chance of electrical short circuit between the bottom ITO and the top evaporated Cr contact as we also experienced in the electrical measurements. However, the present work shows that the density of the intercrystal voids can be decreased to a great extent by increasing the thickness of the buffer layer to 7.2 nm. The films deposited with BTO seeding layers have further improved quality and appear to have a dense structure without the presence of pin holes (Figure 3d).

This is the first study that demonstrates RABEX-5 mRNA to be an i

This is the first study that demonstrates RABEX-5 mRNA to be an independent prognosticator in prostate cancer with high RABEX-5 mRNA expression indicating

poor outcome. The finding that patients with high RABEX-5 mRNA expressing tumors have worse biochemical recurrence free and overall survival than patients with low RABEX-5 mRNA expressing tumors indicates that RABEX-5 mRNA has the potential to be used as a useful prognostic biomarker in prostate cancer. Consequently, RABEX-5 mRNA expression, if validated in future studies, could be used for selection of prostate cancer patients for adjuvant treatment following radical prostatectomy. Overall, our data show that high RABEX-5 mRNA expression profile correlates with poor prognosis in prostate cancer. Conclusions In conclusions, RABEX-5 was found to be overexpressed at the mRNA level in prostate cancer samples examined compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues from the same patient. Our current work demonstrates that Selleckchem ABT 263 RABEX-5 mRNA expression levels are associated with lymph node metastasis, clinical stage, preoperative

prostate-specific antigen, biochemical recurrence, and Gleason score. RABEX-5 may play an important role in prostate cancer development. Our study has laid a foundation for future investigations to further explore the potential of RABEX-5 mRNA as a diagnostic marker for monitoring biochemical recurrence and as an effective therapeutic target for preventing and treating prostate cancer. Consent Written informed consent was obtained from the AZD2014 patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images. Acknowledgements This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO: 81172451), and Science Foundation of Tianjin medical university. (NO: 2009GSI18). References 1. Siegel R, Naishadham D, Jemal A: Cancer statistics, 2012. CA Cancer

J Clin 2012,62(1):10–29.PubMedCrossRef Benzatropine 2. Ribeiro R, Monteiro C, Cunha V, Oliveira MJ, Freitas M, Fraga A, Príncipe P, Lobato C, Lobo F, Morais A, Silva V, Sanches-Magalhães J, Oliveira J, Pina F, Mota-Pinto A, Lopes C, Medeiros R: Human periprostatic adipose tissue promotes prostate cancer aggressiveness in vitro. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2012, 31:32.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef 3. Petrongari MG, Landoni V, Saracino B, Gomellini S, Arcangeli S, Iaccarino G, Pinnarò P, Arcangeli G, Strigari L: Dose escalation using ultra-high dose IMRT in intermediate risk prostate cancer without androgen deprivation therapy: preliminary results of toxicity and biochemical control. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2013,32(1):103.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef 4. Fukuda M: Regulation of secretory vesicle traffic by Rab small GTPases. Cell Mol Life Sci 2008, 65:2801–2813.PubMedCrossRef 5. Stenmark H: Rab GTPases as coordinators of vesicle traffic. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2009, 10:513–525.PubMedCrossRef 6. Barr F, Lambright DG: Rab GEFs and GAPs. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2010, 22:461–470.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef 7.

Using HPLC and LC-MS, we demonstrated that strain 1-7 degraded PN

Using HPLC and LC-MS, we demonstrated that strain 1-7 degraded PNP through two different pathways, the HQ pathway and the BT pathway. A gene cluster pdcABCDEFG involved in PNP degradation was identified in Pseudomonas sp.1-7. Genes pdcABDEFG were involved in the HQ pathway, and genes pdcCG were involved in the BT pathway. The BT pathway also needs a two-component

PNP monooxygenase (Figure 1) to catalyze PNP to 4-NC and BT [5]; however, we did not find the relevant PNP monooxygenase in the gene cluster. We speculate that the monooxygenase PdcA in the HQ pathway may have two functions, catalyzing PNP to both BQ check details and 4-NC. This is supported by recent reports indicating that the HQ pathway monooxygenase has the ability to catalyze 4-NC to BT, normally thought to be the work of the BT pathway monooxygenase [11]. This suggests that the HQ pathway

monooxygenase could be substituted for the BT pathway monooxygenase in the process of PNP degradation. In future studies, we will identify whether there are BT pathway-specific PNP monooxygenase genes, or whether the HQ pathway monooxygenase is a bi-functional enzyme in strain 1-7. We also identified three enzymes (PdcDE, PdcF and PdcG) in the HQ pathway. PdcDE was a two-component dioxygenase and catalyzed HQ to 4-HS. PdcG was a VX-661 clinical trial 4-HS dehydrogenase that catalyzed 4-HS to MA. PdcF was a MA reductase which transformed MA to β-ketoadipate. All three enzymes performed optimally at temperatures of 40-50°C, and at nearly neutral pH (pH 6.0-8.0). Regarding stability, only PdcG has a better thermal stability at 60°C (65% retention of activity after 20 min exposure) than the other two enzymes (10% to 35% retention). All of the enzymes had better alkali stability at

pH 10.0 (58% to Erastin 75% retention of activity after 30 min exposure) than acid stability at pH 3.0 (18% to 20% retention). The HQ dioxygenase gene has been identified in other bacteria [12, 21], but little is known about the properties of its corresponding enzyme. Our research on the enzyme (PdcDE) will hopefully contribute to our understanding. Of the two, the MA reductase PdcF was the more active enzyme, with a specific activity of 446.97 Umg-1 as opposed to 13.33 Umg-1. It is also the first time that a 4-HS dehydrogenase (PdcG) has been extensively characterized. Conclusions Pseudomonas sp.1-7, with the capability of degrading MP and PNP, was isolated from MP-polluted activated sludge. The bacterium utilized two pathways for PNP degradation, the HQ pathway and the BT pathway. Three enzymes (PdcDE, PdcF and PdcG) in the HQ pathway were expressed, purified, and characterized. Our research will pave the way for a better understanding of the PNP degradation pathway in gram-negative bacteria. Acknowledgements The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.31170036).

The integrity of the resulting mce2R mutant strain was then confi

The integrity of the resulting mce2R mutant strain was then confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Figure 1A shows that no amplification product was detected in the mutant strain, with primers

that hybridise within the deleted region of mce2R, and that a product of approximately 300 bp, corresponding to the central region of mce2R, was amplified in the wild-type strain. Using primers that hybridise 980 bp from the 5′ end of mce2R and inside the hygromycin resistance genes, an amplicon of expected size (1,150 bp) was detected only in the MtΔmce2R mutant strain. In order to evaluate the effect of the deletion in mce2R on the expression of mce2 operon, changes in mRNA levels were monitored by quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR) in the wild type and in the MtΔmce2R mutant strains. Results showed a significant SC79 nmr https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pf-06463922.html increase in the level of transcription of yrbE2A and mce2A (Table 1) in the MtΔmce2R mutant strain compared to the wild type during in vitro culture (p < 0.05), thus confirming that Mce2R acts as a transcriptional repressor of the mce2 operon. Importantly, the reintroduction of mce2R significantly decreased the transcription of the mce2 genes in the mutant strain (see below). Since our earlier

work had shown that mce2R and the mce2 operon are co-transcribed [10], the decreased transcription of the mce2 genes in the complemented strain further indicates that the upregulation of the mce2 gene in the knockout mutant was not the result of a polar effect of the disruption of mce2R but rather the consequence of a loss of repression by the regulator. Figure 1 Deletion of mce2R from M. tuberculosis. A. PCR reactions to confirm the allelic replacement in MtΔmce2R. Primers were designed to amplify either an internal mce2R region (Primers WT) or the mutant allele (Primers Forskolin ic50 KO). Molecular weight markers (M) are shown on the left. C- is negative

PCR control. The expected molecular weights of the bands are indicated. B. Schematic representation of the wild type H37Rv and the mutant MtΔmce2R. The position of each pair of primers is indicated with arrows. Table 1 Comparison of the gene expression ratios of mce2 genes, obtained by RT-qPCR Gene name Fold change MtΔmce2R/H37Rv   Fold change MtΔmce2R Comp/H37Rv     EEP LEP EEP LEP MtH37Rv-0587 (yrbE2A) 4.95 ND −2.71* −5.43 MtH37Rv-0586 (mce2R)Ψ 10.14 3.47 29.5 3.99 MtH37Rv-0589 (mce2A) 6 ND ND ND MtH37Rv-0590 (mce2B) ND ND ND −4.6 *Values were not statistically different between strains. ΨPrimers encompass 137 bp of the 5’ end of Rv0586, which are conserved in the mutant. Abbreviations: ND not determined, EEP early exponential phase, LEP late exponential phase. The values indicate the average ratios of MtΔmce2R/M. tuberculosis H37Rv or MtΔmce2R Comp/M. tuberculosis H37Rv for four independent biological replicates. The growth profiles of the wild type, mutant and complemented strains under in vitro standard culture conditions showed similar doubling times.

Mol Phylogenet

Mol Phylogenet buy RGFP966 Evol 56(3):1089–1095PubMedCrossRef Piercey-Normore MD, Depriest PT (2001) Algal switching among lichen symbioses.

Am J Bot 88(8):1490–1498 Peksa O, Skaloud P (2011) Do photobionts influence the ecology of lichens? A case study of environmental preferences in symbiotic green alga Asterochloris (Trebouxiophyceae). Mol Ecol 20(18):3936–3948PubMedCrossRef Rodriguez F, Oliver JL, Marin A, Medina JR (1990) The general stochastic-model of nucleotide substitution. J Theor Biol 142(4):485–501PubMedCrossRef Ronquist F, Huelsenbeck JP (2003) MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics 19(12):1572–1574PubMedCrossRef Rosentreter R, Belnap J (2001) Biological soil crusts of North America. In: Belnap

J, Lange OL (eds) Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 31–50CrossRef Ruprecht U, Brunauer G, Printzen C (2012) Genetic diversity of photobionts in Antarctic lecideoid lichens from an ecological viewpoint. Lichenologist 44(5):661–678CrossRef Schaper T, Ott S (2003) Photobiont ARN-509 cost selectivity and interspecific interactions in lichen communities. I. Culture experiments with the mycobiont Fulgensia bracteata. Plant Biol 5(4):441–450CrossRef Swofford DL (2003) PAUP*. Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (* and other methods). Sinauer Associates, Sunderland Tamura K, Nei M (1993) Estimation of the number of nucleotide substitutions in the control region of mitochondrial-DNA DNA Synthesis inhibitor in humans and chimpanzees. Mol Biol Evol 10(3):512–526PubMed Thompson JD, Higgins DG, Gibson TJ (1994) CLUSTAL-W—improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Res 22(22):4673–4680PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef Türk R, Gärtner G (2001) Biological soil crusts of the subalpine, alpine and nival areas in the Alps. In: Belnap J, Lange O (eds) Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 67–73CrossRef Werth S, Sork VL (2010) Identity and genetic structure of the photobiont of

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“Introduction In polar conditions, where temperature stress, water availability and snow cover are unpredictable, the strategy of soil seed bank formation may be of an adaptative value. Due to prolonged viability of seeds stored in the soil and their ability to germinate over time, the risk associated with their germination under unfavorable conditions may be reduced (Venable and Brown 1988).

Periodontitis has been associated with, amongst others, cardiovas

Periodontitis has been associated with, amongst others, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis [4–7]. Periodontitis leads to loss of sound teeth as supporting bone and connective tissue are slowly degraded as a result of an exaggerated host immune response triggered against a polymicrobial biofilm [8]. In the oral cavity around 7000 species can be detected, in subgingival and supragingival biofilm/plaque over Selleckchem Z-DEVD-FMK 400 bacterial species are present [9–11]. Many disease-related bacterial species in the subgingival plaque have been shown to be Gram-negative anaerobes. Among them, Porphyromonas gingivalis a black-pigmented bacterium from the phylum Bacteroidetes is a major causative

agent in periodontal disease [12]. Interaction with other bacteria residing in the periodontal pocket is important to sustain the infectious biofilm. One selleck chemicals of the structures involved in the inter-species adherence is the capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of P. gingivalis [13]. CPS has been described as a virulence factor of various pathogenic bacteria, mainly

as being involved in evasion of the host immune system [14–16]. In P. gingivalis encapsulated strains have been shown to be more resistant to serum killing and phagocytosis. The explanation for this increased resistance compared to the non-encapsulated strains may be the increased hydrophilicity and the lower induction of the alternative complement pathway [17]. Encapsulated P. gingivalis strains have also been shown to be more virulent than non-encapsulated strains in the mouse infection model [18]. To date, six capsular serotypes (K1-K6) have been described [19, 20] and a seventh serotype (K7) has been suggested by R. E. Schifferle (personal communication).

In a mouse subcutaneous P-type ATPase infection model several strains of each of the serotypes have been shown to be highly virulent [18]. The variation of virulence within serotypes shows that besides CPS there have to be more virulence factors of importance in P. gingivalis. Many of its virulence factors have been studied in the last decades including fimbriae, hemagglutinins, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), outer membrane proteins (OMPs) and an extremely wide variety of proteinases. High quality reviews have been published on the wide variety of P. gingivalis virulence factors [21–23]. Using comparative whole-genome hybridization analysis of the encapsulated W83 strain and the non-encapsulated ATCC33277 a CPS biosynthesis locus had been found, after which a knock-out study has proven that the CPS locus was functional [24, 25]. K1 CPS from W83 has been shown to induce a stronger chemokine response than CPS from the other serotypes in murine macrophages [26]. Recent work in our group, however, has shown that an isogenic W83 mutant lacking CPS triggers a higher pro-inflammatory immune response in human gingival fibroblasts than strain W83 carrying K1 CPS [27]. The exact roles of CPS in P.

Beside the ice irradiation alone, we also investigate the possibl

Beside the ice irradiation alone, we also investigate the possible catalytic effect of a silicate surface during irradiation and estimate the influence on the molecule abundance and variety (Brucato et al., 2006; Hill et al., 2003). We present our first results on the photolysis of ices on realistic (e.g. interstellar) silicate surfaces

and discuss the validity of our experimental CDK inhibitor approach for the production and study of organic residues in astrophysical environments. Belloche, A., Menten, K. M., Comito, C., Müller, H. S. P., Schilke, P., Ott, J., Thorwirth, S., Hieret, C., (2008) Detection of amino acetonitrile in Sgr B2(N), Astron. Astrophys., 482:179–196. Bernstein, M. P., Dworkin, J. P., Sandford, S. A., Cooper, G. W., Allamandola, L. J., (2002) Racemic amino acids from the ultraviolet photolysis of interstellar ice analogues, Nature, 416:401–403. Brucato, Tucidinostat in vitro J. R., Strazzulla, G., Baratta, G. A., Rotundi, A., Colangeli, L., (2006) Cryogenic synthesis of molecules of astrobiological interest: catalytic role of cosmic dust analoques, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere, 36:451–457. Elsila, J. E., Dworkin, J. P., Bernstein, M. P., Martin,

M. P., Sandford, S. A., (2007) Mechanisms of amino acid formation in interstellar ice analogs, Astrophys. J., 660:911–918. Hill, H. G. M., Nuth, J. A., (2003) The Catalytic Potential of Cosmic Dust: Implications for Prebiotic Chemistry in the Solar Nebula and Other Protoplanetary Systems, Astrobiology, 3:291–304. Muñoz-Caro, G. M., Meierhenrich, U. J., Schutte, W. A., Barbier, B., Arcones Segovia, A., Rosenbauer, H., Thiemann, W. H.-P., Brack, A., Greenberg, J. M., (2002) Amino acids from ultraviolet irradiation

of interstellar ice analogues, Nature, 416:403–406. Nuevo, M., Auger, G., Blanot, D., D’Hendecourt, L., (2008) A detailed analysis of the amino acids produced after the vacuum UV irradiation of ice analogs, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere, 38:37–56. E-mail: dangergregoire@yahoo.​fr The Role of Ionizing Radiation on Simple Prebiotic Mixtures, a Comparison with UV Irradiation Daniele Dondi1, Daniele Merli1, Luca Pretali2, Tangeritin Antonio Faucitano1, Armando Buttafava1 1Department of General Chemistry, University of Pavia, via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy; 2Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Pavia, via Taramelli 10, 27100 Pavia, Italy Prebiotic chemical evolution encompass the sequence of events on the primitive Earth that led to the formation of complex organic compounds from simple organic and inorganic molecules (Oparin–Haldane hypothesis). According to this hypothesis, the synthesis of organic compounds on the prebiotic Earth, their transformation in more complex molecules and the generation of replicating systems were important steps which led to the appearance of life.