G-quadruplex topologies of telomeric repeat sequences from vertebrates were investigated in the presence of molecular crowding (MC) mimetics, namely polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG), Ficoll 70 as well as Xenopus laevis egg extract by CD and NMR spectroscopy and native PAGE. Here, we show that the conformational behavior of the telomeric repeats in X. laevis egg extract or in Ficoll is notably diff...

FT-IR spectroscopic, small-angle X-ray scattering and calorimetric measurements have been applied to explore the effect of the macromolecular crowder agent Ficoll on the temperature- and pressure-dependent stability diagram and folding reaction of the protein Staphylococcal Nuclease (SNase). Additionally, we compare the experimental data with approximate theoretical predictions. We found that t...

The primary in vitro antibody response to the type 2 antigen, trinitrophenyl (TNP)-Ficoll, is controlled by two complementing loci in the H-2 region of the mouse major histocompatibility complex (MHC). High responder alleles at both loci are necessary for a high responder phenotype. Previous studies mapped one locus of control to the I-A subregion. In this report we demonstrate by recombinant a...

Signals from thymus-processed T cells are important in determining the quantities of various immunoglobul in (Ig) classes of ant ibody (Ab) 1 synthesized in response to antigen (1-6). We have recently reported that T cells can preferentially enhance the production of certain IgG isotypes, namely IgG2a, in the B cell response to the type 2 T-independent (TI-2) antigen, 2 trinitrophenyl (TNP)-Fic...

Extracellular fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and adult hemoglobin (HbA) are proinflammatory and generate ROS. Increased plasma levels of extracellular HbF have recently been reported to occur in early preeclampsia. α1-Microglobulin (A1M) is a physiological heme-binding protein and radical scavenger that has been shown to counteract vascular permeability increases induced by HbA in the perfused placenta...

Purified, soluble collagen was prepared from rat skin, and the tyrosine residues were labelled with I by the chloramine T method. The collagen was added to platelet-rich plasma from rats or rabbits, and then layered on 23 % w/v Ficoll. After centrifugation at 3900 g for 20 min, the platelets were recovered from beneath the Ficoll, and the radioactivity associated with them was measured. This re...

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of selected isolation methods on the viability and metabolism of bovine leukocytes. The cells were isolated using a Ficoll 1077, Histopaque 1083 gradient and osmotic shock method, and Ficoll or Histopaque with osmotic shock. Evaluation were made of the total number of cells, viability after isolation and in 24h culture on RPMI 1640 medium and metabo...

We report the effect of neutral macromolecular crowders poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (8 kDa) and Ficoll (70 kDa) on liquid-liquid phase separation in a polyuridylic acid (polyU)/spermine complex coacervate system. The addition of PEG decreased both the amount of spermine required for phase separation and the coacervation temperature (TC). We interpret these effects on phase behavior as arising d...

Capsular polysaccharides of encapsulated bacteria are weakly immunogenic T cell-independent type 2 (TI-2) Ags. Recent findings suggest that BAFF system molecules have a critical role in the development of Ab responses against TI-2 Ags. In this study, we investigated the effect of bacterial polysaccharides on B cell responses to BAFF and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL). We determined tha...