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Ha-AP10 is a basic antifungal peptide from sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus antifungal peptide of 10 kDa) belonging to the family of plant lipid transfer proteins. We report here its expression in E. coli [Glutathione S-transferase (GST) system] and its phosphorylation by endogenous membrane-bound calcium-dependent protein kinases.

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The antihypertensive and vasodilator effects of ethanolic extracts prepared from Calea glomerata Klatt, Croton schiedeanus Schlecht, Curatella americana L., Lippia alba (Mill)n N.E.Br. and Lupinus amandus, which are medicinal plants used in Colombian folk medicine for the treatment of hypertension, were assayed both in SHR and Wistar rats and in rat isolated aortic rings. At a dose of 20 mg/kg, intravenous bolus administration of the ethanolic extracts, from C. schiedeanus, C. americana and L. amandus showed significant antihypertensive activity in SHR, C. schiedeanus being the most active. C. schiedeanus elicited dose-dependent decreases in mean arterial pressure and heart rate (5-100 mg/kg, i.v.) in SHR but 200 mg/kg administered orally did not show any significant effects, even after 3 h of observation. In intact rat aortic rings, ethanolic extracts from C. schiedeanus and Calea glomerata relaxed the contractions induced by KCl (80 mM) and phenylephrine (10(-6) M) in a concentration-dependent manner (10(-6)-3x10(-4) g/ml), with IC(50) of 6.5x10(-5) (7.3-5.8) g/ml and 7.1x10(-5) (7.9-6.4) g/ml, respectively. Bioguided phytochemical fractionation of the ethanolic extract from C. schiedeanus was started. More than one active principle seems to be present, flavonoids and terpenoids compounds were detected.

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Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are found in various subcellular localizations, which suggests that this family of serine/threonine kinases may be involved in multiple signal transduction pathways. CDPKs are believed to be involved in the response of plants to low temperatures, but the precise role in the signal transduction pathway is largely unknown. Previous reports described changes in CDPKs' mRNA levels in response to cold treatment, but whether these changes are accompanied by increases in protein level and/or kinase activities is unknown. In the present study, we identify in rice (Oryza sativa L. cv Don Juan) plants a 56-kD membrane-bound CDPK that is activated in response to cold treatment. Immunoblot analysis of the enzyme preparations from control and cold-treated plants showed that the kinase level was similar in both preparations. However, both kinase and autophosphorylating activities of the enzyme prepared from cold-treated plants were significantly higher than that obtained from control plants. The activation of the CDPK is detected after 12 to 18 h of cold treatment, which indicates that the kinase does not participate in the initial response to low temperature but in the adaptative process to adverse conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a CDPK that is posttranscriptionally activated in response to low temperature.

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Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs), the most abundant serine/threonine kinases in plants, are found in various subcellular localizations, which suggests that this family of kinases may be involved in multiple signal transduction pathways. A complete analysis to try to understand the molecular basis of the presence of CDPKs in various localizations in the cell has not been accomplished yet. It has been suggested that myristoylation may be responsible for membrane association of CDPKs. In this study, we used a rice CDPK, OSCPK2, which has a consensus sequence for myristoylation at the N-terminus, to address this question. We expressed wild-type OSCPK2 and various mutants in different heterologous systems to investigate the factors that affect its membrane association. The results show that OSCPK2 is myristoylated and palmitoylated and targeted to the membrane fraction. Both modifications are required, myristoylation being essential for membrane localization and palmitoylation for its full association. The fact that palmitoylation is a reversible modification may provide a mechanism for regulation of the subcellular localization. OSCPK2 is the first CDPK shown to be targeted to membranes by an src homology domain 4 (SH4) located at the N-terminus of the molecule.

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Acute basophilic leukaemia is usually characterized by a very rapid clinical course, hyperhistaminemia, resistance to antineoplastic therapy and early death due to complications related to disease. This entity is a rare condition, accounting for less than two percent of all haematopoietic malignancies. Most of the case reports are basophilic blast crisis in patients with a previous lympho or myeloproliferative disorder. A 62-year-old woman who was diagnosed as Philadelphia positive chronic myelogenous leukaemia after four years of evolution developed a basophilic blast crisis, whose characteristics are reported. Accompanying this transformation there was also a cytogenetic change. Despite chemotherapy the patient died of disease progression.

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The authors propose a method to perform a combined analysis of matched and unmatched case-control studies that is based on an adaptation of logistic regression and can be performed using standard software. This methodology can be used to do pooled analyses of studies with different designs. Likelihood ratio tests can be performed to assess association, heterogeneity, or trend. The standard errors of the coefficients allow the derivation of a Wald test and the calculation of confidence intervals. Another application is to compare relative risk estimators for the same risk factors studied in different phases of a disease in an effort to explore factors that may be more important in one phase than in another. Interaction terms of risk factors with variables that code the different pooled studies can be used for this purpose. The advantage of using this method is that a formal statistical comparison can be performed in which the regression coefficients of the interaction terms estimate the relative differences in risk (odds ratio ratios) between the studies. This estimation can be adjusted for other confounder factors. Two examples of application using data from case-control studies on cervical cancer and colorectal cancer are presented to illustrate the use of this epidemiologic method.

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