[Oral hygiene and microcirculation of the mucous membrane of the tongue and gums dynamics in patients with burning mouth syndrome as a result of the use of a toothbrush with a gold-zinc electroplating]. / Dinamika gigieny rta i mikrotsirkulyatsii slizistoi obolochki yazyka i desny u bol'nykh s sindromom «pylayushchego rta¼ v rezul'tate primeneniya zubnoi shchetki s gal'vanoparoi zoloto-tsink.

THE AIM OF THE STUDY: Was to assess the level of oral hygiene and microcirculation of the mucous membrane of the tongue and gums in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) as a result of using a toothbrush with a gold-zinc electroplating. MATERIALS AND METHOS: The study included 50 patients of both sexes aged 45-64 years with the diagnosis of BMS divided into two groups. In the main group, the complex of hygienic measures included the use of a toothbrush with a gold-zinc electroplating and a paste with the fluorine content of 1350 ppm. In the comparison group, a regular manual toothbrush and a paste with a fluoride content of 1350 ppm were used for oral hygiene. A control group consisted of 25 healthy people with the mean age of 44±4.5 years without clinical signs of BMS in the oral cavity and concomitant acute somatic pathologies. RESULTS: Tongue mucosa microcirculation level in patients using the toothbrush with a gold-zinc electroplating was significantly higher than in the comparison group using conventional manual toothbrush. Oral hygiene level assessment showed statistically significant better brushing efficacy in patients using the toothbrush with a gold-zinc electroplating. CONCLUSION: The use of a toothbrush with a gold-zinc electroplating contributes to the normalization of microcirculation in the mucous membrane of the tongue and gums and is recommended for inclusion in the complex of therapeutic measures in patients with BMS.

Truncated Variants of Serratia proteamaculans Oligopeptidase B Having Different Activities.

Treatment of native psychrophilic oligopeptidase B from Serratia proteamaculans (PSP, 78 kDa) with chymotrypsin (soluble or immobilized on modified porous glass MPG-PA) in the presence of 50% glycerol leads to production of a truncated enzyme form (PSP-Chtr, ~66 kDa), which retains activity toward the low molecular weight substrate of PSP, BAPNA, but in contrast to PSP, is active toward the protein substrate azocasein. It has been shown by MALDI-TOF mass-spectrometry that PSP-Chtr lacks the N-terminal region of the molecule that envelops the catalytic domain of PSP and supposedly prevents hydrolysis of high molecular weight substrates. It has also been established that the lacking fragment corresponds to the N-terminal highest rank element of the informational structure of PSP. This finding confirms the usefulness of the method of informational structure analysis for protein engineering of enzymes. A similar treatment of PSP with immobilized trypsin also led to production of a stable truncated enzyme form (PSP-Tr, ~75 kDa) which lacked 22 C-terminal amino acid residues and completely lost enzymatic activity, presumably because of changes in the nearest environment of His652 of the catalytic triad.

[Changes in gingival blood circulation in patients with provisional fixed acrylic dentures].

The adhesion of oral microorganisms to the surface of teeth and dental restorative materials is often the starting point in the developments of caries and periodontal disease. Formation of biofilm on the surface provisional acrylic bridge is especially quickly and can potentially generate decay or periodontal disease on the teeth. Occlusion trauma and occlusion disorders effects on increasing of injure regional periodontal tissues. Using ultrasonic doppler diagnostics oral mucosal blood flow was measured in 79 patients with periodontitis of medium severity with different hygiene conditions before and during orthopedic treatment by provisional fixed dentures was model by different methods. According to the results of this study was stated optimization of oral mucosal blood flow after pre-prosthetic treatments and the supportive hygiene periodontal care during the treatment. Results was used for reduce of functional stress in the in periodontal tissues during the orthopedic alignment by the use of fixed dentures. Specific prosthodontic hygiene protocol and model by individual articulator must be used to treat patients with widespread chronic periodontitis by interim prostheses.

Anisotropy of magnetic properties of Fe(1+y)Te.

The magnetic properties of Fe(1+y)Te single crystals (y ≃ 0.1 ÷ 0.18) were studied at temperatures 4.2 ÷ 300 K. At an ambient pressure, with decreasing temperature a drastic drop in χ(T) was confirmed at T ≃ 60 ÷ 65 K, which appears to be closely related to the antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering. It is found that the magnitudes of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility Δχ in the AFM phase are close in the studied samples, whereas the sign of the anisotropy apparently depends on the small variations of the excess iron y in Fe(1+y)Te samples. The performed DFT calculations of the electronic structure and magnetic properties for the stoichiometric FeTe compound indicate the presence of frustrated AFM ground states. There are very close energies and magnetic moments for the double stripe configurations, with the AFM axes oriented either on the basal plane or along the [0 0 1] direction. Presumably, both these configurations can be realized in Fe(1+y)Te single crystals, depending on the variations of the excess iron. This can provide different signs of magnetic anisotropy in the AFM phase, presently observed in the Fe(1+y)Te samples. For these types of AFM configuration, the calculations for the FeTe values of Δχ are consistent with our experimental data.

Detection of new epitopes of antibodies to filaggrin in filaggrin protein molecule.

Immunogenic characteristics of filaggrin protein molecule as an antigen for antibodies to filaggrin, markers of early rheumatoid arthritis, were studied. Two new peptide motives, possible epitopes for antibodies to filaggrin, were shown in the filaggrin molecule by predictive analysis using programmed algorithms. Only IMG-3 and its cyclic form IMG-4 exhibited antigenic reactivity with sera from rheumatoid arthritis patients, differing significantly from the reactivity with donor sera. The immunogenic characteristics of IMG-3 differed from the characteristics of a previously described epitope.

[Production and properties of human tumor necrosis factor peptide fragments].

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of the human immune system. Studies of the TNF functional topography are a challenging task in bioengineering. We have produced genes encoding the peptides Dl (3-30), D2 (31-85), D3 (86-114), and D4 (115-157), which correspond to isolated fragments of the informational structure of TNF. These genes were expressed in E. coli cells at a high level in a soluble form. We have shown that hybrid proteins SD2 and SD4 tend to form soluble aggregates, which can be destroyed by urea treatment. Purified peptides Dl, D3, and D4 possess a similar secondary structure with dominating beta-structural elements. The analysis of the biological activity of these peptides has shown that they do not exhibit cytotoxic properties on L929 murine fibroblasts. The simultaneous addition of Dl with full-length TNF results in the concentration dependent suppression of TNF activity.

Structural features of the interfaces in enzyme-inhibitor complexes.

Specific protein-protein interaction is essential for the function of life systems. A variety of computational methods are being extensively used now-a-days to investigate this interaction and to identify structural features of binding sites. In this paper, the informational structure analysis method was applied to the study of protein-protein interaction interfaces in enzyme-inhibitor complexes. The analysis of amino acid sequence by informational structure analysis method reveals three types of sites (ADD+, NORMAL and ADD-) which differ in the density of first rank elements in the informational structure. ADD+, NORMAL and ADD- sites also differ in their ability towards adaptive conformational reorganization which contributes to the formation of protein-protein interaction interfaces in enzyme-inhibitor complexes. The study of hydrolytic enzymes in complex with their protein inhibitors shows that at least one of the interaction interface sites is of ADD- type. ADD- sites possess an increased ability towards adaptive conformational changes thus enabling effective protein interaction.

Design of a novel interleukin-13 antagonist from analysis of informational structure.

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) is one of the cytokines involved in the development of Th2-type immune response. It plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma and other allergic diseases. Two deletion forms of IL-13 were constructed on a basis of informational structure analysis and expressed in E. coli cells. They were found to differ in ability to stimulate proliferation of TF-1 cell line. Deletion variant 146 (DV146) completely lacks such activity, whereas DV148 provides about 50% of the proliferation stimulation. The simultaneous addition of DV146 with full-length IL-13 suppresses proliferation depending on the concentration of the deletion form. Thus, the designed protein acts as an antagonist of IL-13.

The novel approach to the protein design: active truncated forms of human 1-CYS peroxiredoxin.

The object of the present study is the verification of a new approach to the design of the active truncated forms of enzymes. The method is based on a new way of investigating the protein sequences--the ANalysis of Informational Structure (ANIS). The analysis of informational structure allows to determine the hierarchically organized structures (IDIC-trees) formed by the sites with the Increased Degree of Informational Coordination between residues. The proposed approach involves the consequent removal of the fragments corresponding to the individual IDIC-trees from the wild-type enzyme sequences. The described procedure was applied to the design of the active truncated form of human 1-CYS peroxiredoxin (PrxVI). Two variants of the PrxVI truncated sequences were proposed according to ANIS method. These truncated forms of the enzyme were expressed in E. coli and purified. The respective antioxidant activities were measured. It was shown that one of the truncated recombinant proteins retains more than 90% of the wild-type PrxVI enzymatic activity. According to the results of our study we can assume that ANIS method can be an effective tool for the design of the active truncated forms of the enzymes or the chimeric proteins which combine the enzymatic activities of their wild-type prototypes.

A numerical measure of amino acid residues similarity based on the analysis of their surroundings in natural protein sequences.

A measure of similarity between amino acid residues based on the analysis of the surroundings of each residue in primary structures of native proteins is proposed. The statistical data used for this purpose were obtained from the analysis of 168,808 protein sequences, which comprise the Protein Identification Research database (release 63). Using various threshold values of the proposed measure, amino acid residues were classified into several groups. The classification elaborated differs essentially from groupings previously used. The numerical measure of amino acid residues similarity can be used in site-directed mutagenesis studies for the prediction of probability of local spatial rearrangements in proteins.

Modeling of in vivo proteolytic degradation of hemoglobin.

Based on the amino acid sequences of endogenous peptides and X-ray spatial structure, mechanism of the in vivo proteolly degradation of bovine hemoglobin was analysed. The degradation was shown to be a multi-stage process. Its first stage is determined by the spatial organization of the native protein substrate, and the next stages-by the distribution of the electrostatic field potential of the protein fragments formed at the earlier stage.

Cyclo(-GLY-DSIP), A cyclic analog of the delta-sleep-inducing peptide: computer simulation of spatial structure involving NMR data.

The spatial structure of cyclo(-Gly-DSIP-), a physiologically active analog of the delta sleep-inducing peptide, was determined by computer modelling using 1H NMR data. An interesting feature of the spatial structure in DMSO was detected. One side of almost planar resulting conformation is formed by the side chains of the Asp5, Ser7 and Glu9 residues, the side chain of the Trp1 residue forming the other part of the outer surface. This feature may be associated with the functional properties of the peptide.

The features of the spatial structure of the gramicidine A-cesium complex.

Earlier obtained two-dimensional 1H-NMR spectroscopy data were used to analyze the spatial structure and conformational mobility of the double right increases decreases pi pi 7.2 LD helix of the complex formed by gramicidine A and Cs+ ions in an organic solvent (a chloroform-methanol mixture). Analysis of the experimental data permitted the determination of a set of conformations for each of the high-mobility residue side chains in the solution. The energy refinement of the most probable conformation of the double right increases decreases pi pi 7.2 LD helix was made and conformational rearrangements of the tryptophan residue side chain were studied in detail.

[Ultrastructural changes in the skeletal muscles during local endurance training (a morphometric study)]. / Izmeneniia ul'trastruktury skeletnykh myshts pri lokal'noi trenirovke vynoslivosti (morfometricheskoe issledovanie).

Biopsies of m. triceps surae were studied in physically active students-volunteers. Flexion of the foot sole 40 minutes in duration with 30% maximum voluntary strength was performed during 8 weeks 3-4 times a week. The frequency of the moves made 60 times per minute. In the course of morphometrical study greater attention was paid on mitochondrial parameters. Mitochondrial volume density did not change, while their number as well as the volume density of lipid inclusions tend to increase. Mitochondrial number, area and volume density of inclusions in the central zone of m. triceps surae were compared (before training: number per 100 microns2--2+3; area--0,13 +/- 0,010 microns2, volume density--2.7 +/- 0.3%, after training: number--48 +/- 4, area--0,110 +/- 0,01 microns2, volume density--2,7 +/- 0,3%) with the data available in literature on another muscles of elite sportsmen. It was concluded that high mitochondrial volume density in muscles of endurance trained sportsmen may result either from mitochondrial hypertrophy or increase of their number or from either of these factors, which is likely to be the concrete reflection of specificity of the sport efficiency.

[The adaptation of human skeletal muscle fibers during aerobic training]. / Adaptatsiia skeletnykh myshechnykh volokon cheloveka v usloviiakh trenirovok aérobnoi napravlennosti.

Effect of training on dimensions of muscle fibres of fast twitch and slow-twitch types were studied in three groups of subjects: local training of m. triceps surae (volunteers) in laboratory conditions, training of amateur joggers and of elite racers--skiers. Significant negative correlations between initial level and training-induced changes of muscle fibre cross sectional areas were demonstrated. The correlations found indicate that muscle fibre dimensions of people using similar endurance training programme tend to some certain level which is likely to be the optimal for this type of training. Dimensions of muscle fibre may significantly change as the result of traiining, probably, only in the case, when their initial values differ from the optimal one.

[The effect of spaced hypobaric hypoxia on the maximal hydraulic conductivity of the vascular bed, the supply of capillaries to and the size of the muscles fibers in rats]. / Vliianie interval'noi gipobaricheskoi gipoksii na maksimal'nuiu gidravlicheskuiu provodimost' krovenosnogo rusla, kapilliarizatsiiu i razmery myshechnykh volokon u krys.

6-7-month-old male Wistar rast were divided into three groups. On group of rats remained intact and lived under normal conditions (Group 1; n = 12). Groups 2 (n = 12) and 3 (n = 14) were exposed in hypobaric chamber (18-20 h a day and 2 h a day, respectively) for 2 weeks. The partial O2 pressure was maintained equivalent to 5000 m altitude. The hypoxia produced decreases of structural vascular resistance in hindquarters in Group 2 by 20-25% and in Group 3 by 17-20% (p < 0.05) under all perfusion pressure values. No significant changes in capillary density, capillary per fibre ratio in m. extensor hallucis proprius were found in rats exposed to hypobaric hypoxia for both durations. The cross-sectional area type I fibres (but not II fibres) (CSA) in Group 2 was significantly (p < 0.05) decreased (611 +/- 44 microns 2 vs 779 +/- 49 microns 2 in controls), continuous hypoxia produces significant reduction in type I fibre diffusion distances.

[The morphological adaptation of the fibers of the human m. triceps surae during local endurance training]. / Morfologicheskaia adaptatsiia volokon trekhglavoi myshtsy goleni cheloveka pri lokal'noi trenirovke vynoslivosti.

Under investigation were effects of local endurance training of triceps of the calf in physically active volunteers who performed plantar bending in the talocrural articulation 3-4 times a week for 8 weeks with 30% of the maximum arbitrary effort for 40 minutes with 60 movements a minute. The exercise was fulfilled by one foot only. The local training resulted in a 19% greater density of capillaries in the triceps of the calf and in 30% greater amount of capillaries per a fiber. No significant changes were found during training in the ratio of the I and II types of fibers and in their area of cross section, although a tendency for hypertrophy of the Ist type fibers was noticed. Changes in the cross section area of the Ist type fibers and capillary density during training had a considerable negative interrelation. These findings show that the character of the muscle response to training is determined by a correlation of the parameters characterizing its initial state and the parameters of the morphological optimum, corresponding to the given level of functional activity.

[Effect of training on the structural-metabolic indicators in athletes' skeletal muscles]. / Vliianie trenirovki na strukturno-metabolicheskie pokazateli skeletnykhmyshts sportsmenov.

Muscle biopsy samples were taken from m.vastus lateralis of ski-runners during the training season and 4 months after training (consisting presumably of aerobic exercises). Metabolic enzyme activities, fiber cross-sectional areas, capillary supply indices and parameters of oxygen uptake by intact mitochondria in skinned fibers were measured. Training did not induce any appreciable changes in the NADH-tetrazolium reductase activity, maximal oxygen uptake by mitochondria, mean fiber size or capillary density. At the same time, there were significant increases in the cytochrome c oxidase activity, respiratory control index and creatine-stimulated respiratory rate. The activities of alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and myoglobin peroxidase as well as the basal respiratory rate of mitochondria decreased as a result of training. The data obtained testify to the possibility of qualitative adaptations in the respiratory chain of mitochondria.