Recombinant human FIX concentrates (rhFIX) are essential in the treatment and prevention of bleeding in the bleeding disorder haemophilia B. However, due to the complex nature of FIX production yields are low which leads to high treatment costs. Here we report the production of rhFIX with substantially higher yield by co-expressing human FIX with GGCX (γ-glutamyl carboxylase), VKOR (vitamin K epoxide reductase) and furin (paired basic amino acid cleaving enzyme) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Our results show that controlled co-expression of GGCX with FIX is critical to obtain high rhFIX titre, and, that co-expression of VKOR further increased the yield of active rhFIX. Furin co-expression improved processing of the leader peptide of rhFIX but had a minor effect on yield of active rhFIX. The optimal expression level of GGCX was surprisingly low and required unusual engineering of expression vector elements. For VKOR and furin the control of expression was less critical and could be achieved by standard vector element. Using our expression vectors an rhFIX-producing clone with an expression level of up to 30 mg/L of active rhFIX was obtained. In addition an efficient single step purification method was developed to obtain pure and active rhFIX with up to 94 % yield.
We present a systematic study of late Paleocene macrofauna from methane seep carbonates and associated driftwood in the shallow marine Basilika Formation, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The fauna is composed of 22 taxa, comprising one brachiopod, 14 bivalves, three gastropods, three crustaceans, and one bony fish. The reported fish remains are among the first vertebrate body fossils from the Paleogene of Spitsbergen. One genus is new: the munidid decapod Valamunida Klompmaker and Robins gen. nov. Four new species are described: the terebratulide brachiopod Neoliothyrina nakremi Bitner sp. nov., the protobranch bivalve Yoldiella spitsbergensis Amano sp. nov., the xylophagain bivalve Xylophagella littlei Hryniewicz sp. nov., and the munidid decapod Valamunida haeggi Klompmaker and Robins gen. et sp. nov. New combinations are provided for the mytilid bivalve Inoperna plenicostata, the thyasirid bivalve Rhacothyas spitzbergensis, the ampullinid gastropod Globularia isfjordensis, and the munidid decapod Protomunida spitzbergica. Thirteen taxa are left in open nomenclature. The fauna contains a few last occurrences of Cretaceous survivors into the Paleocene, as well as first occurrences of Cenozoic taxa. It is composed of chemosymbiotic thyasirid bivalves and background species common in the northern Atlantic and Arctic during the Paleocene. Our results provide no evidence for a Paleocene origin of vesicomyid and bathymodiolin bivalves typical for Eocene and younger seep environments; instead, the Paleo cene seeps of the Basilika Formation are more similar to their Late Cretaceous equi valents rich in thyasirids.
A recently discovered Paleocene seep locality from Fossildalen on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, is described. This is one of a very few seep communities of the latest Cretaceous-earliest Palaeogene age, and the best preserved Paleocene seep community known so far. The seep
The paper describes Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous seep carbonate boulders from the Russian Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya, collected in 1875 by A.E. Nordenskiöld during his expedition to Siberia. The carbonates are significantly depleted in heavy carbon isotopes Other seep faunas with similar taxonomic structure are suggestive of rather shallow water settings, but in case of Novaya Zemlya seep faunas such structure might result also from high northern latitude.
The early explorer and scientist Otto Nordenskjöld, leader of the Swedish South Polar Expedition of 1901–1903, was the first to collect Antarctic penguin fossils. The site is situated in the northeastern region of Seymour Island and constitutes one of the most important localities in the study of fossilised penguins. The task of describing these specimens together with fossilised whale remains was given to Professor Carl Wiman (1867–1944) at Uppsala University, Sweden. Although the paradigm for the systematic study of penguins has changed considerably over recent years, Wiman's contributions are still remarkable. His establishment of grouping by size as a basis for classification was a novel approach that allowed them to deal with an unexpectedly high morphological diversity and limited knowledge of penguin skeletal anatomy. In the past, it was useful to provide a basic framework for the group that today could be used as ‘taxon free’ categories. First, it was important to define new species, and then to establish a classification based on size and robustness. This laid the foundation for the first attempts to use morphometric parameters for the classification of isolated penguin bones. The Nordenskjöld materials constitute an invaluable collection for comparative purposes, and every year researchers from different countries visit this collection.
Early to Late Eocene bryo zoans from the La Meseta For ma tion of Sey mour Is land were col lected at two lo cal i ties within the Cucullaea I Allomember (Telm4 and Telm5) on the northwest ern side of the is land and in two lo cal i ties within the Submeseta Allomember (Telm6 and Telm7) on the northeast ern side. This fauna is rep re sented by cyc lo stomes of the suborders Tubuliporina and Cerioporina and suborders of Neocheilostomata, among which nine spe cies have been rec og nized. The fol low ing new spe cies are in tro duced: Micropora nordenskjoeldi sp. nov., Lunulites marambionis sp. nov., Otionellina antarctica sp. nov. and Otionellina eocenica sp. nov. Some other taxa rec og nized in the stud ied ma te rial, such as Reticrescis plicatus, Uharella seymourensis and Celleporaria mesetaensis, were pre vi ously de scribed from the low er most (Telm1) or up per most parts (Telm6-7), thus their strati graphi cal ranges within the La Meseta For ma tion are ex tended. The di verse growth-forms of the bryo zoans in clude a sole ball-shaped celleporiform col ony and re tic u lated and bilamellar-foliaceous colony, as well as rich en crust ing and free-liv ing forms (so-called sand fau nas), in di cat ing the ex is tence of lo cally re stricted shal low-ma rine en vi ron ments. This is par tic u larly true in the mid dle and up per parts of the La Meseta For ma tion (Telm4-7). Re tic u lated, sphe roi dal and ro bust, branched col o nies, which thrived in the en vi ron men tal con di tions of the lower part (Telm1), are rep re sented only by a sparse bryo zoan biota in the up per part of the La Meseta For ma tion. Lunulitiforms, such as Lunulites and Otionellina which are warm wa ter, free-liv ing bryo zoans, dom i nate in the siliciclastic sed i ments of Telm5, but erect folded sheets form ing a shell bed com posed of ?Goodonia oc cur in Telm6-7. These three gen era are rec og nized in Antarctica for the first time. The aus tral ge nus Otionellina has its ear li est fos sil re cord here, show ing close biogeographical links with the Late Eocene-Mio cene fau nas of Aus tra lia and New Zea land. The tax o nomic com po si tion of the stud ied fauna to gether with their growth forms is a very good tool for re con struct ing palaeoenvironmental con di tions in the mid dle and upper parts (Telm4-7) of the La Meseta For ma tion, de pos ited dur ing the Late Ypresian-Priabonian.
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