Changes in the Activity of the Maturation-Promoting Factor Are Correlated with Those of a Major Cyclic AMP and Calcium-Independent Protein Kinase During the First Mitotic Cell Cycles in the Early Starfish Embryo

Many studies suggest that MPF activation depends on protein phosphorylation or that MPF is itself a protein kinase. In the present report, cyclic variations of MPF activity have been correlated in vivo with changes in the extent of protein phosphorylation or in vitro with changes of a major protein kinase during the first cell cycles of fertilized starfish eggs. This cycling protein kinase neither requires cAMP nor Ca²⁺. Neither colchicine nor aphidicoline, which inhibits cleavage and chromosome replication respectively, was found to suppress the synchronous and cyclic variations of both MPF and protein kinase activities. Protein synthesis was found to be required for both MPF and protein kinase activities to reappear after their simultaneous drop at the time of mitotic or meiotic cleavages. Production of either MPF or protein kinase activities is not the immediate result of protein synthesis since there is a delay at each cell cycle between the time when protein synthesis is required and the time when both MPF and protein kinase activities are produced. This suggests that both MPF and protein kinase activities might involve some post-translational modification of a precursor protein synthesized during the preceeding cell cycle.     

Multiple functions for NGF receptor in developing, aging and injured rat teeth are suggested by epithelial, mesenchymal and neural immunoreactivity

We have used immunocytochemistry to analyse expression of nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) in developing, aging and injured molar teeth of rats. The patterns of NGFR immunoreactivity (IR) in developing epithelia and mesenchyme matched the location of NGFR mRNA assayed by in situ hybridization with a complementary S35-labeled RNA probe. The following categories of NGFR expression were found. (1) There was NGFR-IR in the dental lamina epithelium and in adjacent mesenchyme during early stages of third molar formation. (2) NGFR-IR nerve fibers were posterior and close to the bud epithelium. (3) During crown morphogenesis NGFR expression was prominent in internal enamel epithelium and preodontoblasts; it faded as preameloblasts elongated and as odontoblasts began to make predentin matrix; and it was weak or absent from outer enamel epithelium, the cervical loop, and differentiated ameloblasts and odontoblasts. (4) When NGFR-IR nerve fibers entered the molars late in the bell stage, they innervated the most mature peripheral pulp and dentin in an asymmetric pattern which correlated more with asymmetric enamel synthesis than with mesenchymal NGFR-IR distribution. (5) The mesenchymal pulp cells continued to have intense NGFR expression in adult teeth, especially near coronal tubular dentin. (6) The pulpal NGFR-IR decreased in very old rats or subjacent to reparative dentin (naturally occurring or experimentally induced). (7) During root formation, the preodontoblasts had NGFR-IR but most root mesenchymal cells and Hertwig's epithelial root sheath did not. This work suggests that there are important epithelial and mesenchymal targets of NGF regulation during molar morphogenesis that differ for crown and root development and that do not correlate with neural development. The continuing expression of NGFR-IR by pulpal mesenchymal cells in adult rats was most intense near coronal odontoblasts making tubular dentin; and it was lost during aging, or subjacent to sites of dentin injury that caused a phenotypic change in the odontoblast layer.     

Neurotrophin expression in rat hippocampal slices: a stimulus paradigm inducing LTP in CA1 evokes increases in BDNF and NT-3 mRNAs.

We report that stimulation inducing long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampus evokes significant increases in both BDNF and NT-3 mRNAs in CA1 neurons. No changes in BDNF or NT-3 mRNA levels were seen in the nonstimulated regions of the pyramidal cell layer or the dentate. No change was seen in the levels of NGF mRNA at the time point examined. These results suggest that relatively normal levels of activity may regulate region-specific neurotrophin levels in the hippocampus. Given that known effects of NGF (and presumably of BDNF and NT-3) include elevation of neurotransmitter levels, elevation of sodium channels, and promotion of axonal terminal sprouting, activity-associated changes in neurotrophin levels may play a role in regulating neural connections in the adult as well as the developing nervous system.     

中国平脉树螽属五新种记述：直翅目：螽斯科：树螽亚科

本文报道中国平脉树螽属5个新种。每个新种皆有详细的形态描述和形态特征图。所有模式标本存于北京农业大学昆虫标本室。     

Synergistic effects of cyclic AMP and nerve growth factor on neurite outgrowth and microtubule stability of PC12 cells

The outgrowth of neurites from rat PC12 cells stimulated by combined treatment of nerve growth factor (NGF) with cAMP is significantly more rapid and extensive than the outgrowth induced by either factor alone. We have compared the responses of PC12 cells under three different growth conditions, NGF alone, cAMP alone, and combined treatment, with respect to surface morphology, rapidity of neurite outgrowth, and stability of neurite microtubules, to understand the synergistic action of NGF and cAMP on PC12. Surface events at early times in these growth conditions varied, suggesting divergent pathways of action of NGF and cAMP. This suggestion is strongly supported by the finding that cells exposed to saturating levels of dibutyryl cAMP without substantial neurite outgrowth initiated neurites within 5 min of NGF. This response has been adopted as a convenient assay for NGF. Neurites that regenerated in the three growth conditions showed marked differences in stability to treatments that depolymerize microtubules. The results indicate that microtubules in cells treated with both NGF and cAMP are significantly more stable than in either growth factor alone. We suggest that a shift of the assembly equilibrium favoring tubulin assembly is a necessary prerequisite for the initiation of neurites by PC12.     

Changes in Abscisic Acid Content in Axis and Cotyledons of Developing Phaseolus vulgaris Embryos and their Physiological Consequences

Prevost, I. and Le Page–Degivry, M. Th. 1985. Changesin absicisic acid content in axis and cotyledons of developingPhaseolus vulgaris embryos and their physiological consequences.—J.exp. Bot. 36: 1900–1905.Changes in abscisic acid (ABA)content with time were measured in embryonic axes and in cotyledonsof Phaseolus vulgaris embryos using a radio–immunoassay.During embryogenesis, a similar pattern was observed in bothtissues: ABA increased to a maximum 29 d after an thesis, followedby a decrease as the seed matured. The level of ABA in the cotyledonswas always much higher than that in the axes. In in vitro cultures,the duration of the lag phase before germination of isolatedembryonic axes increased with ABA content. The presence of cotyledonsalways lengthened the lag phase; longer lag phases were associatedwith greater concentrations of ABA in the cotyledons. Moreoverthe presence of cotyledons stimulated the growth of seedlings. Key words: ABA distribution, embryo maturation, axis and embryo germinability     

Palindromic sequences are associated with sites of DNA breakage during gene conversion.

Gene conversion is a recombinatorial mechanism which transfers genetic information from a donor into a recipient gene. A case of gene conversion between immunoglobulin VH region genes was analysed and palindromic sequences were found to be located near to the left recombinatorial breakpoint, which also is flanked by a direct repeat sequence. We performed a computer search for palindromes and direct repeats in the published sequences of eucaryotic genes which had been involved in gene conversion. In these sequences, the palindrome with the best or second best quality is located near to a breakpoint of recombination. A correlation of recombination breakpoints with direct repeats was not observed. This suggests that gene conversion is promoted by palindromic sequences.