Journal of Applied Biomedicine, 2003 (vol. 1), issue 4

Ethical conflicts of interest in modern biomedicine?

Josef Berger

J Appl Biomed 1:181-182, 2003 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2003.033  

We try to select the main ethical problems which occur as the consequence of new biotechnologies in biomedicine. These technologies offer benefits for health and the social economy but there is also a risk of contraveninghuman rights principles.

Reactivation of organophosphate inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity by α,ω-bis-(4-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)alkanes in vitro

Kamil Kuča, Jiří Patočka, Jiří Cabal

J Appl Biomed 1:207-211, 2003 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2003.037  

In this article, we have followed up the relationship between the ability to reactivate acetylcholinesterase inhibited by organophosphorus compounds and the length of linking chain between two 4-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium rings of acetylcholinesterase reactivators. α,ω-bis(4-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium) alkanes have been used as the tested acetylcholinesterase reactivators. These oximes differ in the number of methylene groups on the connecting chain. A three or four membered linking chain seems to be the ideal length for the satisfactory reactivation potency with the exception of reactivators of cyclosarin-inhibited acetylcholinesterase....

Glycophenotype of squamous epithelia: from laboratory to clinical practice

Karel Smetana Jr.

J Appl Biomed 1:183-187, 2003 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2003.034  

The epidermal stem cell plays a pivotal role in the function of squamous epithelia in physiological as well as in pathological conditions such as cancer. This review summarizes data about the glycobiology of normal squamous epithelia and related tumors with respect to epithelial cell differentiation and search for a glycophenotype specific for epidermal stem cells using labeled plant and endogenous lectins. Although the glycophenotype typical for epithelial cells at the stage of low differentiation level were found, no typical cell surface saccharidic markers of stem cells were detected. The nuclear binding of galectin-1 seems to be specific for the...

Yeast telomeres: how to ignore essential double-strand DNA breaks?

Ľubomír Tomáška, Judita Sadovská, Jozef Nosek, Jack D. Griffith

J Appl Biomed 1:189-198, 2003 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2003.035  

DNA looping is one of the mechanisms involved in telomere maintenance. It probably provides a solution not only to 'the end-replication problem', but also for the protection of chromosomal ends against degradation enzymes and, as typical double-strand breaks, from DNA repair machinery. Telomeric loops (t-loops) formed by an invasion of protruding 3' overhangs into the double-stranded telomeric regions were observed in a variety of organisms ranging from ciliates to mammals. Genetic data indicate that looping also occurs at the telomeres of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, suggesting its importance for telomere function in yeast. However, several observations...

Pharmacology and toxicology of absinthe

Jiří Patočka, Bohumil Plucar

J Appl Biomed 1:199-205, 2003 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2003.036  

Absinthe is a flavoured distilled liquor, emerald green in colour, turning to cloudy, opalescent white when mixed with water. It has inspired many prominent artists, writers and poets - Vincent Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway just to name a few. Absinthe was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod, who purchased the formula from a French exile living in Switzerland. The wormwood, Artemisia absinthium, is the chief flavouring ingredient of absinthe and the presence of monoterpene thujone in this drug was the reason for the prohibition of the production and sale of absinthe in many countries. Thujone is a toxic...

Jubilee of André Nieoullon

Josef Berger

J Appl Biomed 1:212, 2003  

Identification of individual antigen-specific T cell clones in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation and their in vivo monitoring with quantitative real-time PCR

J. Michálek, R.H. Collins, D.C. Doušek, E.S. Vitetta

J Appl Biomed 1:212, 2003