Isotope effects on fragmentation patterns of the monosaccharides were examined by deuterium replacement of the -OH groups to distinguish the isomers with a single mass spectrometer. The most abundant ions were the [M+H(2)O](+center dot) and [M(D5)+D+D(2)O](+) for using H(2)O and D(2)O as solvent and eluent, respectively. Major

fragment ions were the [M-OH](+) and [M-OH-H(2)O](+) in H(2)O, while those in D(2)O were the [M(D5)+D-D(2)O](+) and [M(D5)+D-2D(2)O](+). The differences in the product ions generated in H(2)O and D(2)O were due to enhancement of the strength of hydrogen bonding by the deuterium replacement. Variations of the ion intensity ratios of the [M-OH](+)/[M-OH-H(2)O](+) GSK923295 supplier and [M(D5)-OD](+)/ [M(D5)-OD-D(2)O](+) with the fragmentor voltage showed different selleck chemicals trends depending on the kind of monosaccharides. By comparing the ion intensity ratios of the [M+H(2)O](+center dot)/M(+center

dot), [M(D5)+D+D(2)O](+)/[M(D5)+D](+), [M-OH](+)/[M-OH-H(2)O](+), and [M(D5)+D-D(2)O](+)/[M(D5)+D-2D(2)O](+), it was possible to distinguish the isomers of monosaccharides. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated detection of viral nucleic acids and production of type I interferons (IFNs) by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are key elements of antiviral defense. By contrast, inappropriate recognition of self-nucleic acids with induction of IFN responses in pDCs can lead to autoimmunity. In this review we describe how pDC responses to self-DNA are normally avoided and focus on our recent finding that in psoriasis, a common autoimmune disease of the skin, these barriers can be breached by the cationic antimicrobial peptide LL37. LL37 binds extracellular self-DNA fragments into aggregated particles that enter pDCs and trigger robust IFN responses by activating endosomal TLR9 as if they were viruses. We also describe the mechanisms that normally control production and activity of LL37 in human skin and propose that the persistent overexpression of LL37 in psoriasis leads to uncontrolled IFN responses that drive autoimmune skin

inflammation.”
“Interactions with cognate antigens recruit activated check details B cells into germinal centers where they undergo somatic hypermutation (SHM) in V(D)J exons for the generation of high-affinity antibodies. The contribution of IgH transcriptional enhancers in SHM is unclear. The E-mu enhancer upstream of C-mu has a marginal role, whereas the influence of the IgH 3′ regulatory region (3′RR) enhancers (hs3a, hs1,2, hs3b, and hs4) is controversial. To clarify the latter issue, we analyzed mice lacking the whole 30-kb extent of the IgH 3′RR. We show that SHM in V-H rearranged regions is almost totally abrogated in 3′RR-deficient mice, whereas the simultaneous Ig heavy chain transcription rate is only partially reduced. In contrast, SHM in.