Biomedical subjects

Andreas Winter

Publications and source records attributed to Andreas Winter.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Oligo(U-terpyridines) and their ruthenium(II) complexes: synthesis and structural properties.

A highly efficient domino reaction starting from tetrahydroquinolinone and a series of bisiminium salts provides the corresponding bis(U-terpyridines). These ligands have been treated with [(tpy)RuCl3] to afford novel dinuclear complexes [(tpy)Ru(L)Ru(tpy)]4+. The protocol is also applied for the synthesis of a star-shaped tris(U-terpyridine) and the trinuclear complex [{(tpy)Ru}3(L)]6+. In view of potential applications in the fields of metallopolymers and molecular devices, the electronic spectra, as well as the electrochemical potentials of all the complexes have been obtained. According to these data, no significant intermetal interaction has been observed for the ruthenium complexes presented here.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Alleles of the bovine DGAT1 variable number of tandem repeat associated with a milk fat QTL at chromosome 14 can stimulate gene expression.

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) affecting milk fat percentage has been mapped to the centromeric end of the bovine chromosome 14 (BTA14). This genomic area includes the DGAT1 gene, which encodes acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1, the key enzyme of triglyceride biosynthesis. Genetic and biochemical studies led to the identification of the nonconservative DGAT1-K232A polymorphism as a causal mutation for the QTL. In addition to this, another polymorphism in the 5'-regulatory region of this gene, the DGAT1 variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR), also showed a strong association with milk fat percentage. This promoter VNTR polymorphism affects the number of potential Sp1 binding sites and therefore might have an impact on DGAT1 expression and also milk fat content. Hence, the DGAT1 VNTR polymorphism might be another causal mutation for the BTA14 QTL. However, evidence for Sp1 binding to this polymorphic site and for the capability of DGAT1 VNTR alleles to stimulate gene expression was lacking. In the current work Sp1-VNTR interactions were analyzed by EMSA. In addition, effects of DGAT1 VNTR alleles on gene expression were measured with reporter gene analyses. Conclusions from the results are that 1) the DGAT1 VNTR sequence is indeed a target for Sp1 binding; 2) DGAT1 VNTR alleles can stimulate gene expression in vitro and probably in vivo as well; and 3) although the stimulating effects of the different DGAT1 VNTR alleles did not show significant differences in vitro, their effects on transcription might be different in the chromatin context existing in vivo.

Alleles↗

PubMed2005

Partial quantum information.

Information--be it classical or quantum--is measured by the amount of communication needed to convey it. In the classical case, if the receiver has some prior information about the messages being conveyed, less communication is needed. Here we explore the concept of prior quantum information: given an unknown quantum state distributed over two systems, we determine how much quantum communication is needed to transfer the full state to one system. This communication measures the partial information one system needs, conditioned on its prior information. We find that it is given by the conditional entropy--a quantity that was known previously, but lacked an operational meaning. In the classical case, partial information must always be positive, but we find that in the quantum world this physical quantity can be negative. If the partial information is positive, its sender needs to communicate this number of quantum bits to the receiver; if it is negative, then sender and receiver instead gain the corresponding potential for future quantum communication. We introduce a protocol that we term 'quantum state merging' which optimally transfers partial information. We show how it enables a systematic understanding of quantum network theory, and discuss several important applications including distributed compression, noiseless coding with side information, multiple access channels and assisted entanglement distillation.

Entropy↗

PubMed2004

A family of quantum protocols.

We introduce three new quantum protocols involving noisy quantum channels and entangled states, and relate them operationally and conceptually with four well-known old protocols. Two of the new protocols (the mother and father) can generate the other five "child" protocols by direct application of teleportation and superdense coding, and can be derived in turn by making the old protocols "coherent." This gives very simple proofs for two famous old protocols (the hashing inequality and quantum channel capacity) and provides the basis for optimal trade-off curves in several quantum information processing tasks.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Selective synthesis of U-shaped terpyridines. Versatile ligands for the preparation of platinum complexes.

The development of a simple and highly selective method for the preparation of substituted U-shaped terpyridines is described. The treatment of imine 5 with ternary iminium salts 2 leads to the terpyridines 4. A possible mechanism is discussed. The terpyridine derivatives are used for the preparation of several platinum(II) complexes 14. Complex 14e is characterized by single-crystal X-ray analysis.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Assessment of the gene content of the chromosomal regions flanking bovine DGAT1.

As a first step towards verifying the candidate status of DGAT1 as the causal gene for milk fat percentage in cattle, we constructed a bovine BAC contig spanning 576 kb of the chromosomal region containing DGAT1. High content of NotI sites (21 within the contig) indicated that the region is gene-rich. Twenty-three genes neighboring DGAT1 were mapped, including two bovine cDNA sequences that have no orthologous sequences within the NCBI sequence databases. On average, 2015 bp for each of the 23 neighboring genes were sequenced and entered into EMBL. Likewise, 10 new STS markers were established by BAC-end sequencing. Within the genes and STS markers, 55 polymorphisms were discovered. These will form the basis of future linkage disequilibrium studies to test whether any genes neighboring DGAT1 are associated with variation in milk fat percentage, thereby testing the candidate status of DGAT1.

Acyltransferases↗

PubMed2004

DGAT1 polymorphism in Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle breeds.

As a result of multiple QTL-mapping projects in recent years, a quantitative trait locus for milk fat percentage and milk yield has been described on BTA14. Recent reports name the acyl-CoA : diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT1) gene on BTA14 as a potential candidate gene, with a nonconservative substitution of lysine by alanine (K232A) producing a major effect on milk composition and yield. DGAT1K appears to be the ancestral allele and the K232A substitution probably occurred after the divergence of the Bos indicus and Bos taurus lineages. These findings prompted us to genotype 1748 DNA samples of 38 different Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle breeds from 13 countries on five continents (Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America), to examine the occurrence of the DGAT1 polymorphism and characterize the K232A substitution in cattle breeds of different origins and selected for different purposes (e.g., beef, dairy and dual purpose). Calculating pairwise FST values for pooled subpopulations showed least divergence for Bos indicus breeds with high milk fat percentage. Fixation of DGAT1A was found in some Bos taurus breeds and fixation of DGAT1K in one Bos indicus breed. Breeds of no known organized breeding background from the Near East domestication centre of Bos taurus and taurine African N'Dama cattle were found to possess intermediate frequencies of DGAT1K. While beef breeds tended to harbour higher DGAT1A levels, dairy cattle showed everything from very low levels of DGAT1K to unexpectedly high frequencies of this allele.

Acyltransferases↗

PubMed2004

Evidence for multiple alleles at the DGAT1 locus better explains a quantitative trait locus with major effect on milk fat content in cattle.

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) for milk fat percentage has been mapped consistently to the centromeric region of bovine chromosome 14 (BTA14). Two independent studies have identified the nonconservative mutation K232A in the acylCoA-diacylglycerol-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene as likely to be causal for the observed variation. Here we provide evidence for additional genetic variability at the same QTL that is associated with milk fat percentage variation within the German Holstein population. Namely, we show that alleles of the DGAT1 promoter derived from the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism are associated with milk fat content in animals homozygous for the allele 232A at DGAT1. Our results present another example for more than two trait-associated alleles being involved in a major gene effect on a quantitative trait. The segregation of multiple alleles affecting milk production traits at the QTL on BTA14 has to be considered whenever marker-assisted selection programs are implemented in dairy cattle. Due to the presence of a potential transcription factor binding site in the 18mer element of the VNTR, the variation in the number of tandem repeats of the 18mer element might be causal for the variability in the transcription level of the DGAT1 gene.

Acyltransferases↗

PubMed2002

Association of a lysine-232/alanine polymorphism in a bovine gene encoding acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT1) with variation at a quantitative trait locus for milk fat content.

DGAT1 encodes diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (EC ), a microsomal enzyme that catalyzes the final step of triglyceride synthesis. It became a functional candidate gene for lactation traits after studies indicated that mice lacking both copies of DGAT1 are completely devoid of milk secretion, most likely because of deficient triglyceride synthesis in the mammary gland. Our mapping studies placed DGAT1 close to the region of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on bovine chromosome 14 for variation in fat content of milk. Sequencing of DGAT1 from pooled DNA revealed significant frequency shifts at several variable positions between groups of animals with high and low breeding values for milk fat content in different breeds (Holstein-Friesian, Fleckvieh, and Braunvieh). Among the variants was a nonconservative substitution of lysine by alanine (K232A), with the lysine-encoding allele being associated with higher milk fat content. Haplotype analysis indicated the lysine variant to be ancestral. Two animals that were typed heterozygous (Qq) at the QTL based on marker-assisted QTL-genotyping were heterozygous for the K232A substitution, whereas 14 animals that are most likely qq at the QTL were homozygous for the alanine-encoding allele. An independent association study in Fleckvieh animals confirmed the positive effect of the lysine variant on milk fat content. We consider the nonconservative K232A substitution to be directly responsible for the QTL variation, although our genetic studies cannot provide formal proof.

Acyltransferases↗