6-Arylpurines carrying a variety of substituents in the 9-position were prepared by Stille coupling between appropriately substituted 6-chloropurines and aryl(tributyl)tin, and the compounds were screened for antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration value, 0.78 microg/mL, was found for 9-benzyl-2-chloro-6-(2-furyl)purine. This compound exhibited relatively low cytotoxicity, and it was active against several singly drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis.

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Shiga toxin (Stx) is composed of an A-moiety that inhibits protein synthesis after translocation into the cytosol, and a B-moiety that binds to Gb3 at the cell surface and mediates endocytosis of the toxin. After endocytosis, Stx is transported retrogradely to the endoplasmic reticulum, and then the A-fragment enters the cytosol. In this study, we have investigated whether toxin-induced signaling is involved in its entry. Stx was found to activate Syk and induce rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins, one protein being clathrin heavy chain. Toxin-induced clathrin phosphorylation required Syk activity, and in cells overexpressing Syk, a complex containing clathrin and Syk could be demonstrated. Depletion of Syk by small interfering RNA, expression of a dominant negative Syk mutant (Syk KD), or treatment with the Syk inhibitor piceatannol inhibited not only Stx-induced clathrin phosphorylation but also endocytosis of the toxin. Also, Golgi transport of Stx was inhibited under all these conditions. In conclusion, our data suggest that Stx regulates its entry into target cells. INTRODUCTIONThe bacterial toxin Shiga toxin (Stx) inhibits protein synthesis in cells after first binding to Gb3 at the cell surface. Then, the toxin is endocytosed, and thereafter it is transported retrogradely to the Golgi apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) before being translocated to the cytosol where it inactivates the ribosomes enzymatically (for reviews, see . The toxin is composed of two moieties: the enzymatically active A-chain that is noncovalently attached to a stable pentamer of B-chains that binds to Gb3 and mediates the endocytic uptake of the toxin. In some cells, Stx is endocytosed mainly by clathrin-dependent endocytosis , although other mechanisms exist (Nichols et al., 2001;Lauvrak et al., 2004;Saint-Pol et al., 2004). Importantly, the toxin can induce its own transport to clathrin-coated pits (Sandvig et al., 1989). When Stx is added to HeLa cells at 0°C, the toxin becomes evenly distributed at the cell surface. However, after a short incubation at 37°C, the toxin moves to clathrin-coated pits and is internalized. In toxin-sensitive cells a larger fraction of the toxin seems to be internalized from clathrin-coated pits at the cell surface, and clathrin is required for endosome-to-Golgi transport of the toxin as well (Lauvrak et al., 2004;Saint-Pol et al., 2004). Because it has been shown by different groups that the fatty acid of Gb3 is important for efficient Golgi transport (Sandvig et al., 1994;Lingwood, 1999), the composition of Gb3 also may play a role for the endocytic pathway used. A raft localization of StxB was recently found to be required for efficient retrograde transport (Falguieres et al., 2001).In some hematopoetic cells, Stx has been shown to trigger a rapid signaling cascade that might lead to apoptosis (for review, see Cherla et al., 2003). In a number of other cell types induction of signaling leading to apoptosis seems to be mediated by the ribocytotoxic stress induced by the A-fr...

Presence of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in food and feed products is regulated in many countries. The European Union (EU) has implemented a threshold for labeling of products containing more than 0.9% of authorized GMOs per ingredient. As the number of GMOs has increased over time, standard-curve based simplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses are no longer sufficiently cost-effective, despite widespread use of initial PCR based screenings. Newly developed GMO detection methods, also multiplex methods, are mostly focused on screening and detection but not quantification. On the basis of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) technology, multiplex assays for quantification of all 12 EU authorized GM maize lines (per April first 2015) were developed. Because of high sequence similarity of some of the 12 GM targets, two separate multiplex assays were needed. In both assays (4-plex and 10-plex), the transgenes were labeled with one fluorescence reporter and the endogene with another (GMO concentration = transgene/endogene ratio). It was shown that both multiplex assays produce specific results and that performance parameters such as limit of quantification, repeatability, and trueness comply with international recommendations for GMO quantification methods. Moreover, for samples containing GMOs, the throughput and cost-effectiveness is significantly improved compared to qPCR. Thus, it was concluded that the multiplex ddPCR assays could be applied for routine quantification of 12 EU authorized GM maize lines. In case of new authorizations, the events can easily be added to the existing multiplex assays. The presented principle of quantitative multiplexing can be applied to any other domain.