There are two, at least, methyl transfer reactions promoted by liver slices in vitro (2). The fundamental distinction between them is that one is dependent on oxygen and the other is not. Transmethylation reactions found to be independent of oxygen are methionine formation by the methylation of homocysteine, homocystine, or homocysteine thiolactone by either choline or betaine. They are not inh...

Bacterial adhesion is a crucial step in colonization of the skin. In this study, we investigated the differential adherence to human and pig corneocytes of six Staphylococcus aureus strains belonging to three human-associated [ST8 (CC8), ST22 (CC22) and ST36(CC30)] and two pig-associated [ST398 (CC398) and ST433(CC30)] clonal lineages, and their colonization potential in the pig host was assess...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) emerged in 1961 and became dramatically more prevalent as agents of bacteraemia in the UK in the mid-1990s in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. By the end of the 1990s, .40% of all S. aureus bacteraemias were due to MRSA, though this proportion (and the total number) of MRSA bacteraemias has since declined and stood at 20% in 2008. The rise ...

Adenosine is well known to be released during cerebral metabolic stress and is believed to be neuroprotective. ATP release under similar circumstances has been much less studied. We have now used biosensors to measure and compare in real time the release of ATP and adenosine during in vitro ischaemia in hippocampal slices. ATP release only occurred following the anoxic depolarisation, whereas a...

The 41-residue synthetic ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF; corticoliberin) has been shown to stimulate release of corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone; ACTH) and beta-endorphin from AtT-20/D16-16 mouse pituitary tumor cells. Phospholipid methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine with S-adenosylmethionine as methyl donor has been suggested as a possible membra...

It is well established that human serum paraoxonase (PON1) catalyzes the hydrolysis of organophosphate insecticides and nerve agents, as well as that of a number of aromatic carboxylic acid esters. Our laboratory has recently found a new class of PON1 substrates that includes at least 30 lactones and cyclic carbonate esters. The lactone substrates vary in their ring size from 4 to 7 atoms. Subs...

The characteristics of superprecipitation of uterine myosin B from 17 beta-estradiol-3-benzoate-treated rats and the effects of L-methionine and/or 3-deazaadenosine (3-DAA) plus homocysteine thiolactone (HCTL) on the reaction were investigated. The slope and plateau phases of the superprecipitation were dependent on ATP, calcium and magnesium. The calmodulin antagonists, trifluoperazine and N-(...

AIMS Proteasome-linked oxidative stress is believed to cause endothelial dysfunction, an early event in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Statin, as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, prevents endothelial dysfunction in CVD. However, the molecular mechanism of statin-mediated normalization of endothelial function is not completely elucidated. METHODS AND RESULTS Lovastatin time/dose-dependently increa...

Rhodamine B thiolactone is developed as a simple chemosensor towards Hg(2+) in neutral aqueous solution with high selectivity.

OBJECTIVES Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from pet animals were characterized and compared with human isolates from clonal complexes most prevalent in Central Europe. METHODS S. aureus isolates were investigated for their in vitro susceptibility to antimicrobial agents by broth microdilution. Resistance genes and the Panton-Valentine leucocidin gene lukF-lukS were...