Activity

Research has implicated alpha-synuclein (aSyn) in pathological protein aggregation observed in almost all patients with Parkinson’s disease and more than 50% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. An easy and inexpensive method of purifying aSyn and developing an in vitro model system of Lewy body formation would enhance basic biomedical research. We report aSyn purification technique that leverages the amyloidogenic property of aSyn suitable for purifying monomeric aSyn without chromatography and denaturing agents. We expressed full-length and untagged aSyn in Rosetta(DE3) pLysS and purified ~60 μg of aSyn from 500 mL culture within 24 h. After IPTG-induced expression of aSyn in E. coli, we disrupted the cells with a sonicator. We centrifuged the cell lysate in a 15 mL tube, which leads to aSyn-induced aggregation of native E. coli proteins. After removing aggregates, centrifugation in a 30 kDa cut-off filter followed by a 10 kDa cut-off filter led to purified water-soluble aSyn. The identity of aSyn was confirmed by Western blot using anti-aSyn antibody and Edman sequencing. Its mass was determined to be 14.6 kDa using a MALDI TOF-MS mass spectrometer. The majority of aSyn led to water-suspended (as opposed to precipitated) aggregation of E. coli proteins with visible fibrous structures. The broad-spectrum binding and amyloidogenic property of aSyn is thus not only useful for inexpensive aSyn production for diverse applications, but it also expands studying its possible roles in human physiology. The aggregate of E. coli proteins induced by aSyn during the purification process may serve as a Lewy body model.The use of soil as support for built-up areas represents only one of its several functions. Farmlands at the fringe of conurbations have more chance of being converted into built-up areas due to the favourable topography and the accessibility to existing infrastructure, being in the vicinity of urban areas. We analysed the global land-take during the period 2000-2014. The data are based on a global dataset describing the spatial evolution of human settlements using the Global Human Settlement Layer, which was derived from Landsat images collected in 1975, 1990, 2000 and 2014. Although the global land-take represents roughly 0.1% of the global terrestrial Earth, it affects 1% of the naturally fertile soils, according to the proposed Soil Productivity Indexes (SPI), based upon the potential soil productivity, calculated on the basis of the Harmonized World Soil Database. We have found that, few large conurbations develop on potentially high productive soil, while scarcely productive soils sustain the expansion of several megalopolises. On a global scale and through the centuries, considered comparatively as individual overall age of settlements, a trend between the intrinsic quality of the soils and its use for settlement purposes as major competitor, was not observed.Progranulin is an autocrine growth factor that promotes proliferation, migration, invasion, and chemoresistance of various cancer cells. These mechanisms mainly depend on the protein kinase B (Akt)/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Recent studies have shown that patients with hematopoietic cancer have elevated serum progranulin levels. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the role of progranulin in hematopoietic cancer cells and how it modulates their proliferation. Both knockdown of progranulin and progranulin neutralizing antibody treatment inhibited proliferation in several human hematopoietic cancer cell lines. Moreover, progranulin depletion not only decreases the phosphorylation level of the Akt/mTOR pathway but also, surprisingly, increases the expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and phosphorylation of mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 2 (SMAD2) in Kasumi-1 cell. Furthermore, LY2109761, an inhibitor of TGF-β receptor type I/II kinase, and TGF-β neutralizing antibody blocked the inhibition of proliferation induced by progranulin depletion. These data provide new insights that progranulin alters cell proliferation via the TGF-β axis and progranulin could be a new therapeutic target for hematopoietic cancers.The present study examines the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on compliance with IFRS and financial reporting quality in some selected Gulf countries. AZ32 concentration The study aims to investigate this issue using a sample of 98 firms listed in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates over the period from 2015 up to 2018. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis are conducted to estimate the results. The results reveal that audit committee attributes have a higher impact on compliance with IFRS and financial reporting quality than other corporate governance mechanisms. Further, the results show that there is no evidence to support that the collective effect of corporate governance mechanisms has changed to be more influential from Saudi GAAP to IFRS. The present study has several contributions and implications. It has a unique contribution as it attempts to compare the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on financial reporting quality and compliance with IFRS among a recent IFRS adopter; Saudi Arabia and early IFRS adopters; Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The study opens valuable insights to regulators, stock markets, practitioners, and academicians in this issue.Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are two union territories (UT’s) famous for their beauty and cool climate. Both the UT’s are familiar with their horticulture production at the national and international level. Jammu & Kashmir offers enough scope for cultivation of all types of horticulture crops covering various sub-tropical fruits like mango, guava, citrus, litchi, temperate fruits like apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, almonds, cherry, and apricot. Horticulture has emerged as a fast-growing sector in Jammu & Kashmir and to some extent in Ladakh, offers a wide range of opportunities to farmers for crop diversification. Horticulture has proved its credibility in improving income through increased productivity, creating employment, and strengthening exports. Jammu & Kashmir comprises 20 districts and Ladakh two districts, and both having comparative advantages in some specific types of fruit cultivation due to variations in soil fertility, soil matter, topography, and variable to harsh weather. In this survey, we analyze the district wise contribution and improvement of horticulture production of fresh fruits and an increase in their growing area.