| 1. |
- Andersson, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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Absence of the Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 proteins of the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II - effects on photosynthesis, grana stacking and fitness
- 2003
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Ingår i: The Plant Journal. - : Wiley. - 0960-7412 .- 1365-313X. ; 35:3, s. 350-361
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have constructed Arabidopsis thaliana plants that are virtually devoid of the major light-harvesting complex, LHC II. This was accomplished by introducing the Lhcb2.1 coding region in the antisense orientation into the genome by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 were absent, while Lhcb3, a protein present in LHC II associated with photosystem (PS) II, was retained. Plants had a pale green appearance and showed reduced chlorophyll content and an elevated chlorophyll a/b ratio. The content of PS II reaction centres was unchanged on a leaf area basis, but there was evidence for increases in the relative levels of other light harvesting proteins, notably CP26, associated with PS II, and Lhca4, associated with PS I. Electron microscopy showed the presence of grana. Photosynthetic rates at saturating irradiance were the same in wild-type and antisense plants, but there was a 10-15% reduction in quantum yield that reflected the decrease in light absorption by the leaf. The antisense plants were not able to perform state transitions, and their capacity for non-photochemical quenching was reduced. There was no difference in growth between wild-type and antisense plants under controlled climate conditions, but the antisense plants performed worse compared to the wild type in the field, with decreases in seed production of up to 70%.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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Antisense inhibition of the photosynthetic antenna proteins CP29 and CP26 : implications for the mechanism of protective energy dissipation
- 2001
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Ingår i: The Plant Cell. - : American Society of Plant Biologists. - 1040-4651 .- 1532-298X. ; 13:5, s. 1193-1204
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The specific roles of the chlorophyll a/b binding proteins CP29 and CP26 in light harvesting and energy dissipation within the photosynthetic apparatus have been investigated. Arabidopsis was transformed with antisense constructs against the genes encoding the CP29 or CP26 apoprotein, which gave rise to several transgenic lines with remarkably low amounts of the antisense target proteins. The decrease in the level of CP24 protein in the CP29 antisense lines indicates a physical interaction between these complexes. Analysis of chlorophyll fluorescence showed that removal of the proteins affected photosystem II function, probably as a result of changes in the organization of the light-harvesting antenna. However, whole plant measurements showed that overall photosynthetic rates were similar to those in the wild type. Both antisense lines were capable of the qE type of nonphotochemical fluorescence quenching, although there were minor changes in the capacity for quenching and in its induction kinetics. High-light-induced violaxanthin deepoxidation to zeaxanthin was not affected, although the pool size of these pigments was decreased slightly. We conclude that CP29 and CP26 are unlikely to be sites for nonphotochemical quenching.
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| 3. |
- Benson, Samuel L, et al.
(författare)
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An intact light harvesting complex I antenna system is required for complete state transitions in Arabidopsis
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature plants. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2055-026X. ; 1:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficient photosynthesis depends on maintaining balance between the rate of light-driven electron transport occurring in photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII), located in the chloroplast thylakoid membranes. Balance is achieved through a process of 'state transitions' that increases energy transfer towards PSI when PSII is overexcited (state II), and towards PSII when PSI is overexcited (state I). This is achieved through redox control of the phosphorylation state of light-harvesting antenna complex II (LHCII). PSI is served by both LHCII and four light-harvesting antenna complex I (LHCI) subunits, Lhca1, 2, 3 and 4. Here we demonstrate that despite unchanged levels of LHCII phosphorylation, absence of specific Lhca subunits reduces state transitions in Arabidopsis. The severest phenotype-observed in a mutant lacking Lhca4 (Delta Lhca4)-displayed a 69% reduction compared with the wild type. Yet, surprisingly, the amounts of the PSI-LHCI-LHCII supercomplex isolated by blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE) from digitonin-solubilized thylakoids were similar in the wild type and Delta Lhca mutants. Fluorescence excitation spectroscopy revealed that in the wild type this PSI-LHCI-LHCII supercomplex is supplemented by energy transfer from additional LHCII trimers in state II, whose binding is sensitive to digitonin, and which are absent in Delta Lhca4. The grana margins of the thylakoid membrane were found to be the primary site of interaction between this 'extra' LHCII and the PSI-LHCI-LHCII supercomplex in state II. The results suggest that the LHCI complexes mediate energetic interactions between LHCII and PSI in the intact membrane.
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| 4. |
- Bidartondo, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Preserving accuracy in GenBank
- 2008
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Ingår i: Science. ; 319:5870
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 5. |
- Charalambidis, Georgios, et al.
(författare)
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A switchable self-assembling and disassembling chiral system based on a porphyrin-substituted phenylalanine-phenylalanine motif
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2041-1723. ; 7:12657
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Artificial light-harvesting systems have until now not been able to self-assemble into structures with a large photon capture cross-section that upon a stimulus reversibly can switch into an inactive state. Here we describe a simple and robust FLFL-dipeptide construct to which a meso-tetraphenylporphyrin has been appended and which self-assembles to fibrils, platelets or nanospheres depending on the solvent composition. The fibrils, functioning as quenched antennas, give intense excitonic couplets in the electronic circular dichroism spectra which are mirror imaged if the unnatural FDFD-analogue is used. By slightly increasing the solvent polarity, these light-harvesting fibres disassemble to spherical structures with silent electronic circular dichroism spectra but which fluoresce. Upon further dilution with the nonpolar solvent, the intense Cotton effects are recovered, thus proving a reversible switching. A single crystal X-ray structure shows a head-to-head arrangement of porphyrins that explains both their excitonic coupling and quenched fluorescence.
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| 6. |
- Damkjær, Jakob T, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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The photosystem II light-harvesting protein Lhcb3 affects the macrostructure of photosystem II and the rate of state transitions in Arabidopsis
- 2009
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Ingår i: The Plant Cell. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1040-4651 .- 1532-298X. ; 21, s. 3245-3256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The main trimeric light-harvesting complex of higher plants (LHCII) consists of three different Lhcb proteins (Lhcb1-3). We show that Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA knockout plants lacking Lhcb3 (koLhcb3) compensate for the lack of Lhcb3 by producing increased amounts of Lhcb1 and Lhcb2. As in wild-type plants, LHCII-photosystem II (PSII) supercomplexes were present in Lhcb3 knockout plants (koLhcb3), and preservation of the LHCII trimers (M trimers) indicates that the Lhcb3 in M trimers has been replaced by Lhcb1 and/or Lhcb2. However, the rotational position of the M LHCII trimer was altered, suggesting that the Lhcb3 subunit affects the macrostructural arrangement of the LHCII antenna. The absence of Lhcb3 did not result in any significant alteration in PSII efficiency or qE type of nonphotochemical quenching, but the rate of transition from State 1 to State 2 was increased in koLhcb3, although the final extent of state transition was unchanged. The level of phosphorylation of LHCII was increased in the koLhcb3 plants compared with wild-type plants in both State 1 and State 2. The relative increase in phosphorylation upon transition from State 1 to State 2 was also significantly higher in koLhcb3. It is suggested that the main function of Lhcb3 is to modulate the rate of state transitions.
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| 7. |
- Durham, Justin, et al.
(författare)
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Constructing the brief diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (bDC/TMD) for field testing
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1365-2842. ; 51:5, s. 785-794
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Despite advances in temporomandibular disorders' (TMDs) diagnosis, the diagnostic process continues to be problematic in non-specialist settings.Objective: To complete a Delphi process to shorten the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) to a brief DC/TMD (bDC/TMD) for expedient clinical diagnosis and initial management.Methods: An international Delphi panel was created with 23 clinicians representing major specialities, general dentistry and related fields. The process comprised a full day workshop, seven virtual meetings, six rounds of electronic discussion and finally an open consultation at a virtual international symposium.Results: Within the physical axis (Axis 1), the self-report Symptom Questionnaire of the DC/TMD did not require shortening from 14 items for the bDC/TMD. The compulsory use of the TMD pain screener was removed reducing the total number of Axis 1 items by 18%. The DC/TMD Axis 1 10-section examination protocol (25 movements, up to 12 sets of bilateral palpations) was reduced to four sections in the bDC/TMD protocol involving three movements and three sets of palpations. Axis I then resulted in two groups of diagnoses: painful TMD (inclusive of secondary headache), and common joint-related TMD with functional implications. The psychosocial axis (Axis 2) was shortened to an ultra-brief 11 item assessment.Conclusion: The bDC/TMD represents a substantially reduced and likely expedited method to establish (grouping) diagnoses in TMDs. This may provide greater utility for settings requiring less granular diagnoses for the implementation of initial treatment, for example non-specialist general dental practice.
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| 8. |
- Holman, Rury R., et al.
(författare)
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Effect of Nateglinide on the Incidence of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Events
- 2010
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Ingår i: New England Journal of Medicine. - 0028-4793 .- 1533-4406. ; 362:16, s. 1463-1476
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND The ability of short-acting insulin secretagogues to reduce the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular events in people with impaired glucose tolerance is unknown. METHODS In a double-blind, randomized clinical trial, we assigned 9306 participants with impaired glucose tolerance and either cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors to receive nateglinide (up to 60 mg three times daily) or placebo, in a 2-by-2 factorial design with valsartan or placebo, in addition to participation in a lifestyle modification program. We followed the participants for a median of 5.0 years for incident diabetes (and a median of 6.5 years for vital status). We evaluated the effect of nateglinide on the occurrence of three coprimary outcomes: the development of diabetes; a core cardiovascular outcome that was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure; and an extended cardiovascular outcome that was a composite of the individual components of the core composite cardiovascular outcome, hospitalization for unstable angina, or arterial revascularization. RESULTS After adjustment for multiple testing, nateglinide, as compared with placebo, did not significantly reduce the cumulative incidence of diabetes (36% and 34%, respectively; hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.15; P = 0.05), the core composite cardiovascular outcome (7.9% and 8.3%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.94, 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.09; P = 0.43), or the extended composite cardiovascular outcome (14.2% and 15.2%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.93, 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.03; P = 0.16). Nateglinide did, however, increase the risk of hypoglycemia. CONCLUSIONS Among persons with impaired glucose tolerance and established cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors, assignment to nateglinide for 5 years did not reduce the incidence of diabetes or the coprimary composite cardiovascular outcomes. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00097786.)
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| 9. |
- Kovács, Laszlo, et al.
(författare)
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Lack of the light-harvesting complex CP24 affects the structure and function of the grana membranes of higher plant chloroplasts.
- 2006
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Ingår i: The Plant Cell. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1040-4651 .- 1532-298X. ; 18:11, s. 3106-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The photosystem II (PSII) light-harvesting antenna in higher plants contains a number of highly conserved gene products whose function is unknown. Arabidopsis thaliana plants depleted of one of these, the CP24 light-harvesting complex, have been analyzed. CP24-deficient plants showed a decrease in light-limited photosynthetic rate and growth, but the pigment and protein content of the thylakoid membranes were otherwise almost unchanged. However, there was a major change in the macroorganization of PSII within these membranes; electron microscopy and image analysis revealed the complete absence of the C2S2M2 light-harvesting complex II (LHCII)/PSII supercomplex predominant in wild-type plants. Instead, only C2S2 supercomplexes, which are deficient in the LHCIIb M-trimers, were found. Spectroscopic analysis confirmed the disruption of the wild-type macroorganization of PSII. It was found that the functions of the PSII antenna were disturbed: connectivity between PSII centers was reduced, and maximum photochemical yield was lowered; rapidly reversible nonphotochemical quenching was inhibited; and the state transitions were altered kinetically. CP24 is therefore an important factor in determining the structure and function of the PSII light-harvesting antenna, providing the linker for association of the M-trimer into the PSII complex, allowing a specific macroorganization that is necessary both for maximum quantum efficiency and for photoprotective dissipation of excess excitation energy.
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| 10. |
- McMurray, John J, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of valsartan on the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular events
- 2010
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Ingår i: New England Journal of Medicine. - 0028-4793 .- 1533-4406. ; 362:16, s. 1477-1490
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: It is not known whether drugs that block the renin-angiotensin system reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular events in patients with impaired glucose tolerance. METHODS: In this double-blind, randomized clinical trial with a 2-by-2 factorial design, we assigned 9306 patients with impaired glucose tolerance and established cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors to receive valsartan (up to 160 mg daily) or placebo (and nateglinide or placebo) in addition to lifestyle modification. We then followed the patients for a median of 5.0 years for the development of diabetes (6.5 years for vital status). We studied the effects of valsartan on the occurrence of three coprimary outcomes: the development of diabetes; an extended composite outcome of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, arterial revascularization, or hospitalization for unstable angina; and a core composite outcome that excluded unstable angina and revascularization. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of diabetes was 33.1% in the valsartan group, as compared with 36.8% in the placebo group (hazard ratio in the valsartan group, 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 0.92; P<0.001). Valsartan, as compared with placebo, did not significantly reduce the incidence of either the extended cardiovascular outcome (14.5% vs. 14.8%; hazard ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.07; P=0.43) or the core cardiovascular outcome (8.1% vs. 8.1%; hazard ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.14; P=0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with impaired glucose tolerance and cardiovascular disease or risk factors, the use of valsartan for 5 years, along with lifestyle modification, led to a relative reduction of 14% in the incidence of diabetes but did not reduce the rate of cardiovascular events. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00097786.)
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Ruban, Alexander V, et al.
(författare)
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Plasticity in the composition of the light harvesting antenna of higher plants preserves structural integrity and biological function.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258. ; 281:21, s. 14981-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arabidopsis plants in which the major trimeric light harvesting complex (LHCIIb) is eliminated by antisense expression still exhibit the typical macrostructure of photosystem II in the granal membranes. Here the detailed analysis of the composition and the functional state of the light harvesting antennae of both photosystem I and II of these plants is presented. Two new populations of trimers were found, both functional in energy transfer to the PSII reaction center, a homotrimer of CP26 and a heterotrimer of CP26 and Lhcb3. These trimers possess characteristic features thought to be specific for the native LHCIIb trimers they are replacing: the long wavelength form of lutein and at least one extra chlorophyll b, but they were less stable. A new population of loosely bound LHCI was also found, contributing to an increased antenna size for photosystem I, which may in part compensate for the loss of the phosphorylated LHCIIb that can associate with this photosystem. Thus, the loss of LHCIIb has triggered concerted compensatory responses in the composition of antennae of both photosystems. These responses clearly show the importance of LHCIIb in the structure and assembly of the photosynthetic membrane and illustrate the extreme plasticity at the level of the composition of the light harvesting system.
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| 13. |
- Smith, Daniel G. A., et al.
(författare)
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Quantum Chemistry Common Driver and Databases (QCDB) and Quantum Chemistry Engine (QCEngine) : Automation and interoperability among computational chemistry programs
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 155:20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Community efforts in the computational molecular sciences (CMS) are evolving toward modular, open, and interoperable interfaces that work with existing community codes to provide more functionality and composability than could be achieved with a single program. The Quantum Chemistry Common Driver and Databases (QCDB) project provides such capability through an application programming interface (API) that facilitates interoperability across multiple quantum chemistry software packages. In tandem with the Molecular Sciences Software Institute and their Quantum Chemistry Archive ecosystem, the unique functionalities of several CMS programs are integrated, including CFOUR, GAMESS, NWChem, OpenMM, Psi4, Qcore, TeraChem, and Turbomole, to provide common computational functions, i.e., energy, gradient, and Hessian computations as well as molecular properties such as atomic charges and vibrational frequency analysis. Both standard users and power users benefit from adopting these APIs as they lower the language barrier of input styles and enable a standard layout of variables and data. These designs allow end-to-end interoperable programming of complex computations and provide best practices options by default.
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| 14. |
- Smythe, Wynand, et al.
(författare)
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A Semimechanistic Pharmacokinetic-Enzyme Turnover Model for Rifampin Autoinduction in Adult Tuberculosis Patients
- 2012
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Ingår i: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. - 0066-4804 .- 1098-6596. ; 56:4, s. 2091-2098
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The currently recommended doses of rifampin are believed to be at the lower end of the dose-response curve. Rifampin induces its own metabolism, although the effect of dose on the extent of autoinduction is not known. This study aimed to investigate rifampin autoinduction using a semimechanistic pharmacokinetic-enzyme turnover model. Four different structural basic models were explored to assess whether different scaling methods affected the final covariate selection procedure. Covariates were selected by using a linearized approach. The final model included the allometric scaling of oral clearance and apparent volume of distribution. Although HIV infection was associated with a 30% increase in the apparent volume of distribution, simulations demonstrated that the effect of HIV on rifampin exposure was slight. Model-based simulations showed close-to-maximum induction achieved after 450-mg daily dosing, since negligible increases in oral clearance were observed following the 600-mg/day regimen. Thus, dosing above 600 mg/day is unlikely to result in higher magnitudes of autoinduction. In a typical 55-kg male without HIV infection, the oral clearance, which was 7.76 liters.h(-1) at the first dose, increased 1.82- and 1.85-fold at steady state after daily dosing with 450 and 600 mg, respectively. Corresponding reductions of 41 and 42%, respectively, in the area under the concentration-versus-time curve from 0 to 24 h were estimated. The turnover of the inducible process was estimated to have a half-life of approximately 8 days in a typical patient. Assuming 5 half-lives to steady state, this corresponds to a duration of approximately 40 days to reach the induced state for rifampin autoinduction.
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| 15. |
- Smythe, Wynand, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of Initial and Steady-State Gatifloxacin Pharmacokinetics and Dose in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients by Using Monte Carlo Simulations
- 2013
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Ingår i: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. - 0066-4804 .- 1098-6596. ; 57:9, s. 4164-4171
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A 4-month regimen of gatifloxacin with rifampin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide is being evaluated for the treatment of tuberculosis in a phase 3 randomized controlled trial (OFLOTUB). A prior single-dose study found that gatifloxacin exposure increased by 14% in the combination. The aims of the study are to evaluate the initial and steady-state pharmacokinetics of gatifloxacin when daily doses are given to patients with newly diagnosed drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis as part of a combination regimen and to evaluate the gatifloxacin dose with respect to the probability of attaining a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic target. We describe the population pharmacokinetics of gatifloxacin from the first dose to a median of 28 days in 169 adults enrolled in the OFLOTUB trial in Benin, Guinea, Senegal, and South Africa. The probability of achieving a ratio of >= 125 for the area under the concentration time curve to infinity (AUC(0-infinity)) for the free fraction of gatifloxacin over the MIC (fAUC/MIC) was investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. The median AUC(0-infinity) of 41.2 mu g.h/ml decreased on average by 14.3% (90% confidence interval [CI], -90.5% to +61.5%) following multiple 400-mg daily doses. At steady state, 90% of patients achieved an fAUC/MIC of >= 125 only when the MIC was <0.125 mu g/ml. We conclude that systemic exposure to gatifloxacin declines with repeated daily 400-mg doses when used together with rifampin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide, thus compensating for any initial increase in gatifloxacin levels due to a drug interaction. (The OFLOTUB study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT00216385.)
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| 16. |
- Toth, Tunde N., et al.
(författare)
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Fingerprinting the macro-organisation of pigment-protein complexes in plant thylakoid membranes in vivo by circular-dichroism spectroscopy
- 2016
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Ingår i: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Bioenergetics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0005-2728 .- 1879-2650. ; 1857:9, s. 1479-1489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Macro-organisation of the protein complexes in plant thylakoid membranes plays important roles in the regulation and fine-tuning of photosynthetic activity. These delicate structures might, however, undergo substantial changes during isolating the thylakoid membranes or during sample preparations, e.g., for electron microscopy. Circular-dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a non-invasive technique which can thus be used on intact samples. Via excitonic and psi-type CD bands, respectively, it carries information on short-range excitonic pigment-pigment interactions and the macro-organisation (chiral macrodomains) of pigment-protein complexes (psi, polymer or salt-induced). In order to obtain more specific information on the origin of the major psi-type CD bands, at around (+)506, (-)674 and (+)690 nm, we fingerprinted detached leaves and isolated thylakoid membranes of wild-type and mutant plants and also tested the effects of different environmental conditions in vivo. We show that (i) the chiral macrodomains disassemble upon mild detergent treatments, but not after crosslinking the protein complexes; (ii) in different wild-type leaves of dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous angiosperms the CD features are quite robust, displaying very similar excitonic and psi-type bands, suggesting similar protein composition and (macro-) organisation of photosystem II (PSII) supercomplexes in the grana; (iii) the main positive psi-type bands depend on light-harvesting protein II contents of the membranes; (iv) the (+)506 nm band appears only in the presence of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes and does not depend on the xanthophyll composition of the membranes. Hence, CD spectroscopy can be used to detect different macro-domains in the thylakoid membranes with different outer antenna compositions in vivo.
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| 17. |
- Yang, Dan-Hui, 1963-
(författare)
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On the molecular mechanism of LHCII proteolysis during photoacclimation of photosystem II
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Higher plants and green algae have a remarkable ability to respond to fluctuations in the light intensity. Plants adapted to low or high light regimes possess larger or smaller light-harvesting antennae respectively. Although this long-term photoacclimation of the PSII antennae is an important factor for the photoprotection of photosynthetic apparatus and it has been extensively described at the physiological level, the underlying molecular mechanisms have remained largely unknown.In this thesis, I present new experimental data and a model for the mechanism of LHCII proteolysis during photoacclimation of PSII based on both in vivo and in vitro studies performed in Spinacia oleracea plants. I demonstrate that an endogenous ATP-dependent proteolytic activity is responsible for the acclimative degradation of LHCII in response to increased irradiance thereby reducing the antenna size of PSII. The proteolytic process is tightly regulated at both the enzymatic and substrate levels. Investigations on the substrate regulation were performed using both biochemical and molecular biological approaches, where isolated native and a series of reconstituted recombinant LHCII were employed as substrates. These studies demonstrate a complex multi-step regulation on the substrate level involving protein phosphorylation induced changes in the oligomeric state of LHCII and its subsequent migration from the appressed to the nonappressed thylakoid regions, dephosphorylation of LHCII and its recognition by the membrane associated proteolytic system. It is shown that these steps are controlled directly or indirectly via the N-terminal domain of LHCII.Furthermore, the proteolytic system involved has been characterized in vitro and found not to correspond to any previously characterized thylakoid proteases. Purification of the novel proteolytic system from acclimating spinach leaves reveal that it is represented by a 44 kDa protease, probably a chloroplast homologue of the Lon protease in E. coli., which may consist of an ATPase/SSD domain and a protease domain. The fragmentation pattern during LHCII degradation in vitro gives support on requirement of multiple proteolytic cleavages for the complete digestion of LHCII. Finally, the mechanism of redox controlled turnover of LHCII during photoacclimation was studied using Lemna perpusilla wild type and a cytochrome b6f-deficient mutant as a model system. The results strongly suggest that plastoquinone, as an important redox regulator in signal transduction, affects both synthesis and degradation of LHCII during photoacclimation of PSII.
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