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Central nervous system damage is an essential clinical feature that occurs in the early or late stages of syphilis infection. The abnormal enhancement of microglial phagocytosis can cause damage to the nervous system. However, the contribution of abnormally enhanced microglial phagocytosis to the pathogenesis of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (T. pallidum) infection remains unknown.In this study, we sought to determine the role of recombinant T. pallidum Tp47 in promoting microglia phagocytosis and its associated mechanisms.Microglial HMC3 cells were used to investigate the effect of the Tp47 on phagocytosis and the roles of autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum stress in Tp47-induced phagocytosis.HMC3 cells exhibited obvious phagocytosis when stimulated with Tp47. The levels of P62 degradation, Beclin1 expression and the LC3II/LC3I ratio were significantly elevated, and the fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes was promoted in Tp47-stimulated HMC3 cells. Treatment with the autophagy inhibitors 3-MA and Baf A1 inhibited Tp47-induced phagocytosis. Meanwhile, the endoplasmic reticulum stress markers PERK, IRE1α, GRP78, ATF4 and XBP1s were upregulated in Tp47-stimulated HMC3 cells. In addition, we found that TUDCA could inhibit Tp47-induced expression of IRE1α but not PERK or ATF4. 4-PBA inhibited TP47-induced PERK and ATF4 protein expression but did not inhibit IRE1α expression. Attenuation of endoplasmic reticulum stress by administration of TUDCA and 4-PBA abrogated Tp47-mediated autophagy.These results suggested that Tp47 activated autophagy through two key pathways associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress, PERK/ATF4 and IRE1/XBP1, to promote phagocytosis in HMC3 cells. These findings provided a basis for the understanding of the pathophysiology of neurological disorders that occur during the course of syphilis.

Background: Aneurysms located at non-branching sites, protruding from the dorsal wall of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA) with rapid configurational changes, were retrospectively reviewed in effort to identify and characterize these high-risk aneurysms. Methods: A total of 447 patients with 491 intracranial aneurysms were treated from March 2005 to August 2008, and of these, eight patients had ICA dorsal wall aneurysms. Four of them suffered subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), and all had aneurysms undergoing rapid configuration changes during the treatment course. Digital subtraction cerebral angiography (DSA) performed soon after the SAH events. Data analyzed were patient age, sex, Hunt and Kosnik grade, time interval from first DSA to second DSA, aneurysm treatment, and modified Rankin scale score after treatment for 3 months. Success or failure of therapeutic management was examined among the patients. Results: Digital subtraction cerebral angiography showed only lesions with small bulges in the dorsal walls of the ICAs. However, the patients underwent DSA again for re-bleeding or for post-treatment follow-up, confirming the SAH source. ICA dorsal wall aneurysms with rapid growth and configurational changes were found on subsequent DSA studies. Conclusions: Among the four patients, ICA dorsal wall aneurysms underwent rapid growth with configurational change from a blister type to a saccular type despite different management. ICA trapping including the lesion segment can be considered as the first treatment option if the balloon occlusion test (BOT) is successful. If a BOT is not tolerated by the patient, extracranial–intracranial bypass revascularization surgery with endovascular ICA occlusion is another treatment option.

We report here a novel HLA-B allele, B*2740, discovered in Taiwanese volunteer marrow donors. The new sequence has nucleotide variation at position 527 (T-->A) as compared to B*2708. The nucleotide change caused an amino acid substitution from valine (V) to glutamic acid (E) at codon 152. Since B*2740 carries sequence confers to HLA-Bw6 public epitope we believe that this novel B*27 allele might have been generated from a gene conversion involving a Bw4-specific allele (probably B*2704) and a Bw6-specific allele.

Sodium percarbonate has been found to be a mild and effective reagent for the oxidative cleavage of α-haloketones to carboxylic acids. Furthermore, the reactions are dramatically accelerated in the presence of ultrasound with significant enhancement in yields.

Carbonyl compounds containing electron-withdrawing substituents are efficiently oxidized by aqueous sodium hypochlorite in the absence of added organic solvents using microwaves.

Carbonyl compounds containing electron-withdrawing substituents are efficiently oxidized by aqueous sodium hypochlorite in the absence of added organic solvents using ultrasound agitation.

A new potyvirus, Zantedeschia mild mosaic virus (ZaMMV), was recently identified in calla lily ( Zantedeschia spp.) in Taiwan. The sequenced 3 ′ -terminal region indicated a unique amino acid sequence of ZaMMV, the N terminus of the capsid protein (CP), containing 39 glutamine residues before the DAG motif. In order to obtain antiserum for subsequent studies, a recombinant ZaMMV CP without polyglutamine was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and used as the antigen. The specificity of ZaMMV antiserum was confirmed by immunoblot and ELISA analyses. Three detection methods, ELISA, dot-blot hybridization and immunocapture reverse transcription PCR (IC-RT-PCR), were developed and were able to detect ZaMMV successfully. During 2003‐2004 field surveys, the results demonstrated that ZaMMV, as well as Zantedeschia mosaic virus (ZaMV), are prevalent in calla-growing areas. In contrast, infection by Dasheen mosaic virus (DsMV), the most important virus of aroid plants, decreased dramatically because DsMV-free calla lily seedlings were grown in the field. Accordingly, the detection methods developed in this study will be useful in studying ZaMMV and also in producing ZaMMV-free calla lilies.

Durch Ozonolyse der Hydroxymethylenketone (I) und (III) und anschliesende basische Hydrolyse erhalt man die Dicarbonsauren (II) und (IV).

Reaktionsprodukte sind: (II) und (III) aus (I); (IVb), (V) und (VI) aus (IVa) (unter den gleichen Bedingungen) bzw. 3-Methoxycarbonyl-phenanthren aus Phenanthren (Ausb. 23%).