A re-evaluation of the mesangial cells of the renal glomerulus

Summary The topographical localization of the mesangial cells in renal glomeruli of rats, and their relationships with the structures at the hilus of the glomerulus were studied in this investigation. It was observed that the mesangial cells occupy a parietal position in the wall of the glomerular capillaries, and that they are anatomically continuous with the smooth muscle cells of the tunica media of the glomerular arterioles.This study was supported by a United States Public Health Service Grant AM 08628 (Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases).     

Substance P affects the GABAergic system in the hypothalamo-pituitary axis

In the present work we examined the effect of the neutralization of endogenous substance P by the administration of an anti-substance P serum (ASPS) on GABA concentration in the anterior pituitary in hyperprolactinemic conditions induced by 5-hydroxytryptophan or by grafting anterior pituitaries. ASPS reduced the increase in the anterior pituitary GABA concentration induced by hyperprolactinemia. In vitro experiments showed that substance P inhibited K⁺-evoked GABA efflux from hypothalamic fragments and decreased GABA concentration in the anterior pituitary but ASPS increased it. Our results demonstrate that substance P modifies hypothalamic GABA release and anterior pituitary GABA concentration and suggest that an interaction exists between substance P and GABA.     

Candida albicans stress mannoproteins expression in superficial and systemic candidiasis

The presence of heat shock mannoproteins (HSMPs) reactive with sIgA was demonstrated in several C. albicans strains. The subculture of the C. albicans isolated from mucosal surfaces on Sabouraud's dextrose agar at 25 °C switched off the HSMP expression. A re-expression of the HSMPs was obtained in the same medium by shifting the temperature of incubation to 37 °C. However, expression of HSMPs in two strains isolated from deep infections was maintained during several subcultures on Sabouraud's dextrose agar at 25 °C. A glycoprotein of 200 kDa seemed to be the main HSMP reacting with vaginal sIgA. The data presented in this study suggest that factors other than temperature can influence the expression of C. albicans HSMPs and therefore these antigens should be referred as stress mannoproteins.Abbreviations HSMPs heat shock mannoproteins - MAb monoclonal antibody - sIgA secretory IgA     

Unambiguous through-bond sugar-to-base correlations for purines in 13C, 15N-labeled nucleic acids: The HsCsNb,HsCs(N)bCb,and HbNbCb experiments

Summary A set of three 3D (¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N) triple-resonance correlation experiments has been designed to provide H1-H8 intraresidue sugar-to-base correlations in purines in an unambiguous and efficient manner. Together, the H_sC_sN_b, H_sC_s(N)_bC_b, and H_bN_bC_b experiments correlate the H1 sugar proton to the H8 proton of the attached base by means of the {H1, C1, N9, C8, H8} heteronuclear scalar coupling network. The assignment strategy presented here allows for unambiguous H1-H8 intraresidue correlations, provided that no two purines have both the same H1 and C1 chemical shifts and the same C8 and N9 chemical shifts. These experiments have yielded H1-H8 intraresidue sugar-to-base correlations for all five guanosines in the [¹³C, ¹⁵N] isotopically labeled RNA duplex r(GGCGCUUGCGUC)₂.     

Myosin light chain kinase expression during smooth muscle development

The expression of smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) was investigated during chicken gizzard development. The molecular weight and the antigenic properties of MLCK did not change during development. The use of anion exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enabled us to distinguish between MLCKs from post-hatched and adult chickens. A partial amino acid sequence determination of 4-day-old gizzard MLCK failed to disclose differences in the primary sequences of the two proteins. The results suggest that MLCK has the same primary sequence in all sequences of the two proteins. The results suggest that MLCK has the same primary sequence in all stages of gizzard development, although charge variants due to post-translational modifications may exist.     

Cellular localization and cytochemical probing of resistance reactions to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a ‘locus a’ myc− mutant of Pisum sativum L.

Pisum sativum L. myc^– mutants which fail to form arbuscular mycorrhiza have recently been identified amongst nod^– mutants (Duc et al., 1989, Plant Sci. 60, 215–222). The reason for this resistance to symbiotic fungi has been investigated in the case of a locus a mutant (P2) inoculated with Glomus mosseae (Nicol. and Gerd.) Gerd, and Trappe. The fungal symbiont formed viable appressoria in contact with the root surface but its development was stopped at the root epidermis. Abundant material was deposited on the inner face of root cell walls adjacent to the appressoria in the P2 mutant, but not in the wild-genotype parent cultivar (Frisson) forming a symbiotic mycorrhizal infection. Fluorescence, histochemical, cytochemical and immunocytological approaches were used to characterize the paramural deposits in epidermal and hypodermal cells of the mutant. Strong fluorescence under blue light indicated the accumulation of phenolic compounds although polymers like lignin or suberin were not localized. Proteins and glycoproteins were homogeneously distributed within the paramural deposits. In the latter, the periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate (PATAg) reaction for 1,4-polysaccharide detection showed a heterogeneous composition with electron-dense points surrounded by non-reactive material, but cytological tests for cellulose and pectin gave weak responses as compared to epidermal and hypodermal walls of the wild genotype. -1,3-Glucans indicative of callose were detected by in-situ immunolocalization in the paramural deposits below appressoria on mutant roots, but not in walls of the wild genotype. Thus, appressorium formation by G. mosseae on roots of the locus a P. sativum mutant elicits wall modifications usually associated with activation of defence responses to pathogens. It is proposed that this locus must be involved in a key event in symbiotic infection processes in P. sativum, and the possible role of complex regulatory interactions between symbiosis and defence genes in endomycorrhiza development is discussed.Abbreviations DAPI 4,6-diamino-2-phenylindole - FDA fluo-rescein diacetate - PATAg periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate The authors are grateful to C. Arnould for technical assistance, K. Niehaus for the purified Sirofluor, K. Roberts for the AFRC JIM5 antibody and J. Lherminier (INRA, Dijon, France), for useful discussion. This collaborative research programme was financially supported by MRT, INRA, EPR-Bourgogne (grant to A.G., Contrat de Plan project 3060A), EEC COST ACTION 8.10 (Endomycorrhizas) and the National Research Council of Italy, Special Project RAISA, Sub-project N.2, Paper N. 801     

Sex differences in heritability of BMI: a comparative study of results from twin studies in eight countries.

Body mass index (BMI), a simple anthropometric measure, is the most frequently used measure of adiposity and has been instrumental in documenting the worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity witnessed during the last decades. Although this increase in overweight and obesity is thought to be mainly due to environmental changes, i.e., sedentary lifestyles and high caloric diets, consistent evidence from twin studies demonstrates high heritability and the importance of genetic differences for normal variation in BMI. We analysed self-reported data on BMI from approximately 37,000 complete twin pairs (including opposite sex pairs) aged 20-29 and 30-39 from eight different twin registries participating in the GenomEUtwin project. Quantitative genetic analyses were conducted and sex differences were explored. Variation in BMI was greater for women than for men, and in both sexes was primarily explained by additive genetic variance in all countries. Sex differences in the variance components were consistently significant. Results from analyses of opposite sex pairs also showed evidence of sex-specific genetic effects suggesting there may be some differences between men and women in the genetic factors that influence variation in BMI. These results encourage the continued search for genes of importance to the body composition and the development of obesity. Furthermore, they suggest that strategies to identify predisposing genes may benefit from taking into account potential sex specific effects.     

Heritability of adult body height: a comparative study of twin cohorts in eight countries.

A major component of variation in body height is due to genetic differences, but environmental factors have a substantial contributory effect. In this study we aimed to analyse whether the genetic architecture of body height varies between affluent western societies. We analysed twin data from eight countries comprising 30,111 complete twin pairs by using the univariate genetic model of the Mx statistical package. Body height and zygosity were self-reported in seven populations and measured directly in one population. We found that there was substantial variation in mean body height between countries; body height was least in Italy (177 cm in men and 163 cm in women) and greatest in the Netherlands (184 cm and 171 cm, respectively). In men there was no corresponding variation in heritability of body height, heritability estimates ranging from 0.87 to 0.93 in populations under an additive genes/unique environment (AE) model. Among women the heritability estimates were generally lower than among men with greater variation between countries, ranging from 0.68 to 0.84 when an additive genes/shared environment/unique environment (ACE) model was used. In four populations where an AE model fit equally well or better, heritability ranged from 0.89 to 0.93. This difference between the sexes was mainly due to the effect of the shared environmental component of variance, which appears to be more important among women than among men in our study populations. Our results indicate that, in general, there are only minor differences in the genetic architecture of height between affluent Caucasian populations, especially among men.