Search

Many studies have focussed on modulating the activity of γ-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T), a GABA-catabolizing enzyme, for treating neurological diseases, such as epilepsy and drug addiction. Nevertheless, human GABA-T synthesis and purification have not been established. Thus, biochemical and drug design studies on GABA-T have been performed by using porcine GABA-T mostly and even bacterial GABA-T. Here we report an optimised protocol for overexpression of 6xHis-tagged human GABA-T in human cells followed by a two-step protein purification. Then, we established an optimised human GABA-T (0.5 U/mg) activity assay. Finally, we compared the difference between human and bacterial GABA-T in sensitivity to two irreversible GABA-T inhibitors, gabaculine and vigabatrin. Human GABA-T in homodimeric form showed 70-fold higher sensitivity to vigabatrin than bacterial GABA-T in multimeric form, indicating the importance of using human GABA-T. In summary, our newly developed protocol can be an important first step in developing more effective human GABA-T modulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines college students’ global competence acquisition at a US and Korean university and assesses the effect of cross- and inter-cultural online projects implemented simultaneously at both universities. The data were collected through a pre- and post-survey of the participating students. The findings were as follows: (1) overall, the projects significantly increased students’ intercultural communication skills and knowledge of the other country, (2) among three antecedents, the global mass media had mixed effects on the global competence and the effect of the projects, (3) mass migration was identified as a significant influence on students’ global competence and the effect of the projects, and (4) language barriers, technology, and time differences were found to be the main challenges of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-cultural marriages have continuously increased in the United States. In spite of this increase, further research is needed to address the paucity of literature on cross-cultural marriage, particularly, between immigrants and their indigenous spouses. In this study, we have focused on the cross-cultural marriages between female Korean immigrants who have married Americans, aiming to identify the positive and/or negative aspects of cross-cultural marriage from the Korean women themselves. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted on a total of 14 participants. Their ages ranged from 45 to 66 years (M D 52.5 years) and the average length of time since their immigration was 25 years. Each interview lasted between 45 and 120 min and, with participants' permission, were recorded and transcribed. Based on the participants' life experiences and personal statements, we divided our findings into two sections: (a) issues and problems of cross-cultural marriages, and (b) strengths of cross-cultural marriages. With regard to the issues and problems of cross-cultural marriages experienced by participants, three major themes were identified: (a) communication barriers, (b) cultural conflicts and misunderstandings, and (c) unclear cultural identities. The strengths of cross-cultural marriages were identified as: (a) development of coping strategies, and (b) improving cultural understanding. It appears that participants developed their own coping strategies and improved their cultural understanding in order to deal with the various stressors associated with cross-cultural marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Biologic drugs have proved highly effective for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These drugs are often considered cost-effective for well-defined RA patient populations not responding adequately to conventional treatment, but are used first-line relatively rarely, partly due to high costs. Furthermore, not all clinically eligible patients can access biologics even as second-line therapy. Recently, there has been a rise in interest in ‘biosimilar’ drugs that are highly comparable to the ‘reference medicinal product’ (RMP) in terms of efficacy and safety but may generally be lower in price. This review summarizes the cost burden of RA and considers the potential role of biosimilars in reducing drug costs and increasing patient access to biologics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitochondrial genome of the pavlovophycean microalga Diacronema viridis CCMP 620 was sequenced and characterized. The circular mitogenome is a total 29,282 bp in length with 39.2% GC content and contains 47 genes, including 20 protein-coding, three rRNA, and 24 tRNA genes. The gene synteny of D. viridis and D. lutheri has been highly conserved; however, the gene content (absence of introns and ORFs) and repeat regions (3.7 kbp) of D. viridis contributed to significant difference of mitogenomes within the Diacronema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyopes lancifolius is a species of Halymeniales, the fifth species-rich order within Rhodophyta. Using next-generation sequencing techniques, we recovered the complete mitochondrial genome of P. lancifolius, i.e. total 26,142 bp in length with 31% GC contents. A total of 49 functional genes were annotated, including 24 protein-coding, 23 transfer RNA, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. The gene content and synteny have been highly congruent to those of the other halymenialean species, such as Grateloupia taiwanensis, G. filicina, and Grateloupia angusta. Interestingly, the cox1 intron and intronic Open Reading Frame (ORF) are absent in P. lancifolius, that are existed in the other three halymenialean species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Gracilariopsis chorda (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta), which is an agar-producing economic red algal species distributed in the northwest Pacific. The mitogenome is 26,534 bp in length with 27.7% GC content that consists of 52 genes including 26 protein-coding, 2 rRNA and 24 tRNA genes. We compared G. chorda mitogenome with that of recently published G. lemaneiformis. Nucleotide sequence similarity between these two mitogenomes was 99.82%, however, there was significant difference in length caused by trnR trnS and trnY genes missing in G. lemaneiformis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first complete mitochondrial genome (27,943 bp) of the halymenialean red alga, Grateloupia angusta, was sequenced. The circular mitogenome contains 47 genes, including 26 protein-coding, 19 tRNA and 2 rRNA genes. The rps3 and rpl16 genes are overlapped by 7 bp. The majority of protein-coding genes (17 of 26 genes) use typical ATG start codon, however, 9 genes use alternative start codons such as ATT, AAT, TTA and TTG. The G. angusta mitogenome shows a significant difference to that of Chondrus crispus (Gigartinales) in gene synteny and tRNA compositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]