In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, many exoproduct virulence determinants are regulated via a hierarchical quorum-sensing cascade involving the transcriptional regulators LasR and RhlR and their cognate activators, N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (3O-C12-HSL) and N-butanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL). In this paper, we demonstrate that the cytotoxic lectins PA-IL and PA-IIL are regulated vi...

To probe the effect of the protein environment on the retinal chromophore of rhodopsin, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations using combined quantum mechanics / molecular mechanics (QM/MM). The starting geometry of the protein is based on the 2.6Å X-ray structure of bovine rhodopsin by Okada et al. The wild type chromophore of rhodopsin shows a highly twisted conformation around the ...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa BN10 isolated from hydrocarbon-polluted soil was found to produce rhamnolipids when cultivated on 2% glycerol, glucose, n-hexadecane, and n-alkanes. The rhamnolipids were partially purified on silica gel columns and their chemical structures elucidated by combination of one- and two-dimensional 1H and 13C NMR techniques and ESI-MS analysis. Eight structural rhamnolipid ho...

We present a combined theoretical (molecular dynamics, MD) and experimental (differential scanning calorimetry, DSC) study of the effect of 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl (NBD) acyl chain-labeled fluorescent phospholipid analogs (C6-NBD-PC and C12-NBD-PC) on 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) bilayers. DSC measurements reveal that <1 mol% of NBD-PC causes elimination of the p...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has two well-characterized quorum-sensing systems, Las and Rhl. These systems are composed of LuxR-type proteins, LasR and RhlR, and two acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) synthases, LasI and RhlI. LasI catalyzes the synthesis of N-(3-oxododecanoyl)homoserine lactone (3O-C12-HSL), whereas RhlI catalyzes the synthesis of N-butyryl-homoserine lactone. There is little known about...

The localization of viral receptors to the basolateral surface of airway epithelia is an obstacle to the effectiveness of luminal viral-mediated gene transfer to the lung. The tight junction (TJ) serves as a rate-limiting barrier to the penetration of viral vectors. We have previously identified the sodium salt of the medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) capric acid (C10) as an agent that can enhance...

The conformational properties of foldamers generated from Rγ hybrid peptide sequences have been probed in the model sequence Boc-Aib-Gpn-Aib-Gpn-NHMe. The choice of R-aminoisobutyryl (Aib) and gabapentin (Gpn) residues greatly restricts sterically accessible conformational space. This model sequence was anticipated to be a short segment of the Rγ C12 helix, stabilized by three successive 4f1 hy...

The t10,c12 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) inhibits rat mammary carcinogenesis, metastasis from a transplantable mouse mammary tumor and angiogenesis; however, it stimulates mammary tumorigenesis in transgenic mice overexpressing ErbB2 in the mammary epithelium (ErbB2 transgenic mice). In the current study, we report that a 4-week supplementation of the diet with 0.5% trans-10, cis-12...

BACKGROUND The 12 tumor markers' (TMs) biochip diagnostic (C12) system has been proven useful in some previous studies but its value for colorectal cancer (CRC) only was not systematically investigated. AIMS To evaluate the value of C12 system for CRC. SETTINGS AND DESIGN The associations between TMs and clinicopathological characteristics were evaluated. The most relevant TMs, the most use...