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L Xu

Publications and source records attributed to L Xu.

At least 775 records · Page 43Linked to original sources

Antifungal activities of salivary histidine-rich polypeptides against Candida albicans and other oral yeast isolates.

Twenty-six oral yeast isolates from 26 donors were tested for their susceptibility to salivary histidine-rich polypeptide-4 (HRP-4) in blastospore viability assays. HRP-4 was observed to inhibit blastospore division in all of the yeast isolates, although inhibition was variable depending upon both species and strain tested. Nine species of Candida and 2 strains of Trichosporon pullulans were included in the study. No significant differences in susceptibility to HRP-4 could be seen, irrespective of where in the oral cavity the yeast isolate was obtained.

Antifungal Agents↗

Histatins 2 and 4 are autoproteolytic degradation products of human parotid saliva.

Freshly collected human parotid saliva contains 8 cationic proteins, as demonstrated by capillary electrophoresis. These proteins include lysozyme, histatin 6 and the 6 salivary histidine-rich polypeptides (HRPs 1-6). Neither histatin 2 nor histatin 4 are present in native undegraded parotid saliva but appear only after autoproteolytic degradation of the saliva. Histatin 2 appears to arise through slow degradation of HRP-1, and histatin 4 is mainly produced as a rapid breakdown product of HRP-3.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A serotype 10 human rotavirus.

Rotaviruses with genome rearrangements isolated from a chronically infected immunodeficient child (F. Hundley, M. McIntyre, B. Clark, G. Beards, D. Wood, I. Chrystie, and U. Desselberger, J. Virol 61:3365-3372, 1987) are the first recognized human isolates of serotype 10. This was shown by both a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and virus neutralization assays using serotype specific monoclonal antibodies. The serotype was confirmed by sequence analysis of the gene encoding VP7, which revealed a 96% amino acid homology to the bovine serotype 10 isolate B223.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of human cytomegalovirus UL84 early gene and identification of its putative protein product.

The DNA sequence and transcription pattern of human cytomegalovirus early gene UL84 were analyzed. This gene was mapped within a 2.6-kb PstI fragment located between 0.534 and 0.545 map unit of the large unique segment of the human cytomegalovirus genome, which is adjacent to the pp65 and pp71 genes. A 2.0-kb mRNA was transcribed from this region in the same leftward direction as the mRNAs of the pp65 and pp71 genes. The message was first detected at 2.5 h postinfection and reached a maximal level between 72 and 96 h postinfection. The nucleotide sequences of the 2.6-kb PstI genomic DNA fragment and the cDNA derived from this region were determined. The resulting data revealed a polyadenylation signal (AATAAA) located 14 nucleotides upstream from the poly(A) tail of the cDNA and a 1,761-bp open reading frame capable of encoding a 65-kDa polypeptide. A potential leucine zipper was found in the N-terminal half of the peptide molecule between amino acids 114 and 135. In addition, a different periodic leucine repeat with leucine at every eighth position was found between amino acids 325 and 373. The transcriptional initiation site of this early gene was determined by primer extension analysis. A putative TATA box (TATTTAA) located 24 bp upstream of the cap site and several inverted repeats were found in the region further upstream of the TATA box. To test whether the open reading frame of this cDNA encodes a virus-specific protein, the cDNA was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein used to generate antibodies in rabbits. A protein with a molecular size of 65 kDa was detected in the infected-cell extracts harvested at 6 to 72 h postinfection, but not in purified virions, using immunoblot analysis. Both nuclear and cytoplasmic fluorescences were found at late stages of virus infection. From the results obtained, we postulate that UL84 may be a stable, virus-specific, nonstructural protein capable of forming a homo- or heterodimeric molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Amphibian ryanodine receptor isoforms are related to those of mammalian skeletal or cardiac muscle.

The ryanodine receptor (RyR)-Ca2+ release channels of frog skeletal muscle have been purified as 30S protein complexes comprised of two high molecular weight polypeptides. The upper and lower bands of the frog doublet comigrated on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacylamide gels with the mammalian skeletal and cardiac RyR polypeptides, respectively. Immunoblot analysis showed that a polyclonal antiserum to the rat skeletal RyR preferentially cross-reacted with the upper band, whereas monoclonal antibodies to the canine cardiac RyR preferentially cross-reacted with the lower band of the frog receptor doublet. Immunoprecipitation studies indicated the presence of two homooligomer 30S RyR complexes comprised of either the lower or upper polypeptide band of the frog doublet, and immunocytochemical staining revealed their colocalization in frog gastrocnemius muscle. After planar lipid bilayer reconstitution of the 30S frog RyR, single-channel currents were observed that exhibited a Na+ and Ca2+ conductance and pharmacological characteristics similar to those of the mammalian skeletal and cardiac Ca2+ release channels. These results suggest that amphibian skeletal muscle expresses two distinct RyR isoforms that share epitopes in common with the mammalian skeletal or cardiac RyR.

Animals↗

The effect of multi-glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f. (GTW) on the survival time of cardiac allografts in rats.

Heterotopic heart transplantation was carried out in rats and the influence of multi-glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f. (GTW) and a subtherapeutic dose of cyclosporine A (CsA) on the mean survival time (MST) of the cardiac allografts was investigated. The results showed that the MSTs of cardiac allografts in both the GTW and CsA-treated groups were significantly prolonged (P < 0.01 vs control). The rate of allograft rejection in the drug-treated groups was much lower than that in the control group.

Abdomen↗

Construction of an Rb gene expression plasmid.

We obtained an 844 bp Bg1II fragment from an Rb cDNA clone and inserted it into the expression vector pWR-13 to construct an Rb gene expression plasmid. When the Rb Bg1II fragment was fused in-frame into pWR-13, it was operated by a Lac Z promoter and produced a fusion protein which consisted of expressed Rb protein and a small peptide from Lac Z. The recombinants were transformed into E. coli with the CaCl2 method, screened by in situ hybridization, and restriction mapped. Total cellular protein of transformed clones was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Commassie blue staining. The sense clones showed a unique band at 28,000. On Western blot, this band specifically reacted with 125I-labelled antibody against synthetic Rb peptide. This protein comprised more than 5% of total bacterial protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Synthesis and biological activity of 5-(2,2-difluorocyclopropyl)-2'-deoxyuridine deoxyuridine diastereomers.

The synthesis of the two diastereomers (9 and 10) of 5-(2,2-difluorocyclopropyl)-2'-deoxyuridine are described. Their antiviral and cytotoxic activities were determined, in comparison with (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) and 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FDU), respectively. 5-[(1R)-2,2-Difluorocyclopropyl]-2'-deoxyuridine (10) was the most active antiviral agent against HSV-1 (IC50 = 5 micrograms/ml) relative to BVDU (IC50 = 0.082 micrograms/ml), and cytotoxic agent in the CCRF-CEM (IC50 = 230 microM) screen relative to FDU (IC50 = 4.7 x 10(-3) microM). The 5-[(1S)-2,2-difluorocyclopropyl] diastereomer was inactive in both screens. Partition coefficients (P) and affinity for the mouse erythrocyte nucleoside transporter (Ki) were not determinants of antiviral or cytotoxic activities. However, the (1R)-diastereomer (10) was more resistant to glycosidic bond cleavage by thymidine phosphorylase than the (1S)-diastereomer (9).

Animals↗

Purification and point-mutation analysis of human interleukin-2 (Ser-125).

A new type of IL-2(Ser-125) was purified by semi-preparative RP-HPLC, and its purity was analyzed with microbore HPLC, IEF, SDS-PAGE and capillary electrophoresis (CE). The N-terminal sequencing indicated the microheterogeneity of the N-terminus, i.e., N-Met(2/3) and N-Ala(1/3), which was identified with the results of CE and IEF. The amino acid sequence of the point mutated peptide confirmed the replacement of Cys-125 with Ser.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Establishment of hybridoma cell line secreting specific monoclonal antibodies against turnip mosaic virus and analysis of properties of the McAb.

Monoclonal antibodies (McAb) of hybridomas derived from the fusing of the mouse splenocytes immunized by TuMV with BALB/c mouse myeloma cells (SP2/0-Ag14). Five kinds of hybridoma cell line were produced by indirect-ELISA screening and cloning three times with limiting dilution. Four kinds of hybridoma produced antibodies respectively reactive to TuMV C1, C3, C4 and C5. One kind was reactive to all five strains of TuMV. In indirect-ELISA and sandwich-ELISA tests, TuMV specific monoclonal antibodies did not react with CaMV, CMV, TMV, PVX, and PVY. Antibody titers of ascitic fluids were about 1:256,000 to 2,048,000 in indirect-ELISA. The biological, physical, and chemical properties of the hybridoma cell lines and McAb were identified. The identification of TuMV strains, the specificity and stability of McAb, the coat proteins, and the antigenic site of TuMV were discussed and analyzed with SDS-PAGE and western-blotting.

Animals↗

[A review on the chemical constituents of Annona plants].

The paper reviews the progress in the research on Annona plants, including the structure of chemical constituents, spectroscopic characteristics and physiological activities. A new kind of anticancer constituent is also introduced.

Alkaloids↗

[An image analysis system for optic disc in glaucoma].

An image analysis system for glaucomatous optic disc was developed. The key for optic disc measurement was to trace accurately the boundaries of the optic cup and disc. The 2-dimension measurement modality adopted was the heuristic boundary tracing method, and the 3-dimension measurement was performed by observation of the photographs, arbitrary selection of points, and automatic plotting and calculation. In order to measure accurately the optic disc in glaucoma follow-up, the authors made use of the cross correlation line by line scanning method, after proper correction of the photographs, to detect any positional shift in two photographs. By clinical verification, the 95% confidence criterion of normal optic cup boundary shifting was 1.7 pixels. The optic disc diameter of the disc images was over 200 pixels, and any shift over 2 pixels (1%) would have clinical significance, which was a high degree of precision.

Glaucoma↗

[Investigation of microbicidal activity of neutrophil defensins against leptospires].

Defensins play an important role in oxygen-independent microbicidal mechanisms of neutrophils. They are effective against many bacteria, fungi and enveloped viruses. However, the effect of defensins upon leptospires has not been studied. In the present report, human defensins (i.e. HNP, a mixture of HNP1, HNP2 and HNP3 were prepared from human polymorphonuclear neutrophils by chromatography on Sephadex G-100 and then on Biogel P-10. Rabbit defensin NP1 was purified from rabbit peritoneal granulocytes by preparative acid urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. By using the most-probable-number procedure, HNP and NP1 were tested in vitro for the killing of leptospira interrogans serogroup icteroheamorrhagiae serovar lai strain 017. NP1 was highly effective. When leptospires of strain 017 were incubated with 1 microgram/ml of NP1 at 30 degrees C for 4 hours, > 99% of these organisms were killed. HNP was less potent than NP1, and at 50 micrograms/ml, it killed > 90% of leptospires. As is also the case for the killing of bacteria, NP1 was active against leptospires in nutrient-free buffer, whereas HNP required the addition of glucose. The data suggest that defensins could play a major role in the killing of leptospires by neutrophils.

Animals↗

[Textual study on traditional Chinese drugs caodoukou and baidoukou].

Through a critical study of herbalogy, it is concluded that the mature seeds of Alpinia zermubet were used as caodoukou in ancient times. The original plant of Yutao recorded in Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao may be the species of Alpinia katsumadai. Baidukou used in ancient times may be the seeds of Alpinia katsumadai found in the south of China, or Amomum compactum and Am. kravanh imported from foreign countries.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal↗

[Clinical evaluation of manual and ultrasonic subgingival scaling using image analysis]

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of hand and ultrasonic instrumentation in removing subgingival plaque and calculus.In experiment one,forty-eight teeth from patients were randomly assigned to be scaled with curettes or ultrasonic scaler.Probing depth,clinical attachment level and bleeding index were reexamined 2 months latter.The results demonstrated that no significant differences between the two mehtods.In experiment two,seventeen teeth from six patient were also randomly scaled manualty ultrasonic or uninstrumented as a control.All these teeth were extracted immediately after subgingival scaling.The proportion of tooth surfaces covered by residual plaque and calculus(relative to the total surface area of the side of the tooth)was analysed on each tooth using computerized graphic processing.The findings showed the proportional areas of residual plaque and calculus in teeth.But the hand scaled root surface were much smoother than those treated with ultrasonic scaler.

Journal Article↗