The legacy and reach of anthropogenic influence is most clearly evidenced by its impact on the most 12 remote and inaccessible habitats on Earth. Here we identify extraordinary levels of persistent 13 organic pollutants in the endemic amphipod fauna from two of the deepest ocean trenches (>10,000 14 metres). Contaminant levels were considerably higher than documented for nearby regions of 15 heavy industrialisation, indicating bioaccumulation of anthropogenic contamination and inferring 16 that these pollutants are pervasive across the World's oceans and to full ocean depth. 17The oceans comprise the largest biome on the planet with the deep ocean operating as a potential 18 sink for the pollutants and litter that are discarded into the seas
Peroxiredoxin (PRx) exhibits thioredoxin-dependent peroxidase activity and constitutes a family of proteins. Four members of genes from rat tissues were isolated by PCR using degenerated primers based on the sequences which encode a pair of highly conserved Cys-containing domains, and were then cloned to full-length cDNAs. These included two genes which have previously been isolated in rats, PRx I and PRx II, and two rat homologues of PRx III and PRx IV. We showed, for the first time, the simultaneous expression of all four genes in various rat tissues by Northern blotting. Since a discrepancy exists regarding cellular distribution, we further characterized PRx IV by expressing it in COS-1 cells. This clearly demonstrates that PRx IV is a secretory form and functions within the extracellular space.z 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.
Human beta1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) was expressed by baculovirus-insect cell system, and the purified recombinant enzyme was kinetically characterized. The data obtained were used to establish the kinetic basis of the substrate specificity toward donor nucleotide sugars, and also revealed that K(m) values for the donors are much higher compared to those of other GlcNAc transferases, the kinetic properties of which have been reported. Because this exceptionally higher K(m) suggests that GnT-V is physiologically present at far from saturated conditions, it would appear that the production of beta1,6-branched oligosaccharide, which is formed by GnT-V, could be regulated in vivo by the concentration of the donor, UDP-GlcNAc, as well as the expression levels of the enzyme. When B16 melanoma cells, which express high levels of GnT-V, were incubated with GlcNAc, the beta1,6-branched oligosaccharide levels were increased, as judged by a lectin blot analysis, in conjunction with an increase in intracellular UDP-GlcNAc. These findings suggest that the level of UDP-GlcNAc can be a critical factor in the production of beta1,6-branched oligosaccharides, for example, by tumor cells, which have been thought to be closely associated with tumor progression and metastasis.
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