High level of divergence of male-reproductive-tract proteins, between Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species, D. simulans

We compared male-reproductive-tract polypeptides of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Approximately 64% of male-reproductive-tract polypeptides were identical between two randomly chosen isofemale lines from these two species, compared with 83% identity for third-instar imaginal wing-disc polypeptides. Qualitatively similar differences were found between reproductive tracts and imaginal discs when D. sechellia was compared with D. melanogaster and with D. simulans. When genic polymorphism was taken into account, approximately 10% of male- reproductive-tract polypeptides were apparently fixed for different alleles between D. melanogaster and D. simulans; this proportion is the same as that found for soluble enzymes by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Strikingly, approximately 20% of male-reproductive- tract polypeptides of either D. melanogaster or D. simulans had no detectable homologue in the other species. We propose that proteins of the Drosophila male reproductive tract may have diverged more extensively between species than have other types of proteins and that much of this divergence may involve large changes in levels of polypeptide expression.      

Microelectrode studies of the active Na transport pathway of frog skin

When the outer surface of short-circuited frog skin was penetrated with microelectrodes, stable negative potentials that averaged near -100 mV were recorded consistently, confirming the results of Nagel (W. Nagel. 1975. Abstracts of the 5th International Biophysics Congress, Copenhagen. P-147.). The appearance of these stable potentials, V(O), concurrent with the observations that (a) a high resistance outer barrier R(O) accounting for approximately 75 percent or more of the transcellular resistance of control skins had been penetrated and that (b) 10(-5) M amiloride and reduced [Na] outside caused the values of V(O) to increase towards means value near -130 mV while the values of percent R(O) increased to more than 90 percent. It was of relationships were the same as the values of E(1) observed in studies of the current-voltage relationships were the same as the values of E’(1) defined as the values of voltage at the inner barrier when the V(O) of the outer barrier was reduced to zero by voltage clamping of the skins. Accordingly, these data are interpreted to mean that the values of E(1), approximately 130 mV, represent the E(Na) of the sodium pump at the inner barrier. 2,4-DNP was observed to decrease the values of transepithelial voltage less than E(1) the V(O) was negative. These data can be interpreted with a simple electrical equivalent circuit of the active sodium transport pathway of the frog skin that includes the idea that the outer membrane behaves as an electrical rectifier for ion transport.     

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE USE OF VINCRISTINE (VCR) AS A TUMOUR CELL SYNCHRONIZING AGENT IN CANCER THERAPY

Vincristine (VCR) has been used clinically in so-called ‘tumour cell synchronization therapy schedules'. These schedules are based on the assumption that cells, arrested in metaphase by low doses of VCR, subsequently re-enter the proliferative cycle synchronously. However, the evidence that tumour cell synchrony can be achieved under clinical conditions or that ‘cell synchronization therapy schedules’ yield a better therapeutic response than other efficient combination schemes, is scanty. Further, even in experimental systems, the efficacy of VCR as a cell synchronizing agent is disputed. Indeed, in some systems, cells arrested in metaphase by low doses of VCR, do not re-enter a normal proliferative cycle at all following arrest. In addition, the complex nature of the VCR—tumour interaction and the heterogeneous nature of the tumour cell populations against which it is used augurs badly for the successful application of cell synchronization therapy schedules.     

p53 functional assays: detecting p53 mutations in both the germline and in sporadic tumours

The tumour suppressor gene p53 is the gene most often reported to be mutated in clinical cancers with something like half of all tumours harbouring mutations. Further, many studies have suggested that p53 mutations have prognostic importance and sometimes are a significant factor in determining the response of tumours to therapy. The value of knowing the p53 status of individual tumours will increase if currently researched strategies aimed at developing p53-based treatment protocols come to fruition. There are quite a number of techniques used to detect p53 defects in both tumours and in the germline of cancer-prone families, although some of these methods are indirect and each has certain drawbacks. In this brief review we will discuss the value of two assays of p53 function as a means of detecting and partly characterizing p53 mutations. The two assays are the apoptotic assay, which measures the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to radiation-induced DNA damage and the FASAY, a yeast based assay which assesses the ability of a given p53 protein to transactivate p53 target genes. Both of these assays are rapid, yielding results within 5 days. Further, they not only offer the possibility of detecting p53 mutations but also of characterizing a given mutation in terms of two of p53's most important functions, namely the induction of apoptosis and the transactivation of target genes.     

Direct intracardiac injection of umbilical cord-derived stromal cells and umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial cells for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy

The development of new therapeutic strategies is necessary to reduce the worldwide social and economic impact of cardiovascular disease, which produces high rates of morbidity and mortality. A therapeutic option that has emerged in the last decade is cell therapy. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of transplanting human umbilical cord-derived stromal cells (UCSCs), human umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial cells (UCBECs) or a combination of these two cell types for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy (IC) in a Wistar rat model. IC was induced by left coronary artery ligation, and baseline echocardiography was performed seven days later. Animals with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≤40% were selected for the study. On the ninth day after IC was induced, the animals were randomized into the following experimental groups: UCSCs, UCBECs, UCSCs plus UCBECs, or vehicle (control). Thirty days after treatment, an echocardiographic analysis was performed, followed by euthanasia. The animals in all of the cell therapy groups, regardless of the cell type transplanted, had less collagen deposition in their heart tissue and demonstrated a significant improvement in myocardial function after IC. Furthermore, there was a trend of increasing numbers of blood vessels in the infarcted area. The median value of LVEF increased by 7.19% to 11.77%, whereas the control group decreased by 0.24%. These results suggest that UCSCs and UCBECs are promising cells for cellular cardiomyoplasty and can be an effective therapy for improving cardiac function following IC.     

Most nuclear systemic autoantigens are extremely disordered proteins: implications for the etiology of systemic autoimmunity

Patients with systemic autoimmune diseases usually produce high levels of antibodies to self-antigens (autoantigens). The repertoire of common autoantigens is remarkably limited, yet no readily understandable shared thread links these apparently diverse proteins. Using computer prediction algorithms, we have found that most nuclear systemic autoantigens are predicted to contain long regions of extreme structural disorder. Such disordered regions would generally make poor B cell epitopes and are predicted to be under-represented as potential T cell epitopes. Consideration of the potential role of protein disorder may give novel insights into the possible role of molecular mimicry in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. The recognition of extreme autoantigen protein disorder has led us to an explicit model of epitope spreading that explains many of the paradoxical aspects of autoimmunity – in particular, the difficulty in identifying autoantigen-specific helper T cells that might collaborate with the B cells activated in systemic autoimmunity. The model also explains the experimentally observed breakdown of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class specificity in peptides associated with the MHC II proteins of activated autoimmune B cells, and sheds light on the selection of particular T cell epitopes in autoimmunity. Finally, the model helps to rationalize the relative rarity of clinically significant autoimmunity despite the prevalence of low specificity/low avidity autoantibodies in normal individuals.     

A new role for the anti-apoptotic gene A20 in angiogenesis

A20 is a negative regulator of NF-kappaB activation and thus a potential therapeutic tool for the treatment of diseases where apoptosis and/or inflammatory responses are part of the pathogenic process. Thus, A20 has been shown to improve the long-term outcome of organ transplantation, particularly, the transplantation of islets of Langerhans which may aid the cure of type I diabetes. We now report a new role for A20 in regulating neovascularisation. We used RNA interference to inhibit A20 expression in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and investigated the effect on tubule formation in two in vitro angiogenesis assays, Matrigel and a co-culture assay. Tubule area and tubule length were both reduced following inhibition of A20 expression in HUVECs. These inhibitory effects were particularly evident in the co-culture assay, which incorporates the critical steps of the angiogenic process and ultimately results in the formation of an intricate network of anastomosing tubules that resemble the formed capillary bed: a partial down-regulation of A20 protein (50-60%) resulted in a 28% reduction in tubule area (P < 0.05) and a 26% reduction in tubule length (P < 0.05). A20 may offer a new target in the treatment of human conditions, including cancer, which are characterised by neovascularisation.     

EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF WOODY SPECIES OF THE NOKREK BIOSPHERE RESERVE OF MEGHALAYA,NORTHEAST INDIA

Aims Our study was conducted in the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve (NBR) in the Garo hills districts of Meghalaya, Northeast India. Our aim was to assess the effects of human activities on plant diversity,population structure and regeneration.Methods We selected a representative 1.2 hm2 stand in both the core and buffer zones of NBR. Structure and composition were determined by randomly sampling square quadrats, population structure was assessed by determining age structure, and regeneration was assessed by measuring densities of seedling, sapling and adult trees.Important findings More woody species were recorded from the core zone than the buffer zone (87 vs. 81 species), and there were a large number of tropical, temperate, and Sino-Himalayan, Burma-Malaysian and Malayan elements, primitive families and primitive genera. The trees were distributed in three distinct strata,canopy, subcanopy and sapling. Subcanopy and sapling layers had the highest species richness (81％ -88％ ). Lauraceae and Euphorbiaceae were the dominant families in terms of the number of species, and a large number of families were represented by single species. Most woody species (57 ％ - 79 ％ ) were contagiously distributed and had low frequency ( ＜ 20％ ). Although stand density was high in the buffer zone, its basal area was low compared to the stand in the core zone. Low similarity and high β-diversity indicate marked differences in species composition of the stands. Shannon diversity index was high in both the stands, while Simpson dominance index was low. The diameter-class distribution for dominant species revealed that the most had a large number of young individuals in their populations. Preponderance of tree seedlings, followed by a steep decline in population density of saplings and adult trees, indicated that the seedling to sapling stage was the most critical in the life cycle of the tree populations. Most species (42 ％ - 48 ％ ) had no regeneration,25 ％ - 35 ％ had good/fair regeneration, and the rest had poor regeneration or reoccurred as immigrants.     

In vivo uptake of a haem analogue Zn protoporphyrin IX by the human malaria parasite P. falciparum‐infected red blood cells

The cellular traffic of haem during the development of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, through the stages R (ring), T (trophozoite) and S (schizonts), was investigated within RBC (red blood cells). When Plasmodium cultures were incubated with a fluorescent haem analogue, ZnPPIX (Zn protoporphyrin IX) the probe was seen at the cytoplasm (R stage), and the vesicle‐like structure distribution pattern was more evident at T and S stages. The temporal sequence of ZnPPIX uptake byP. falciparum‐infected erythrocytes shows that at R and S stages, a time‐increase acquisition of the porphyrin reaches the maximum fluorescence distribution after 60 min; in contrast, at the T stage, the maximum occurs after 120 min of ZnPPIX uptake. The difference in time‐increase acquisition of the porphyrin is in agreement with a maximum activity of haem uptake at the T stage. To gain insights into haem metabolism, recombinant PfHO (P. falciparum haem oxygenase) was expressed, and the conversion of haem into BV (biliverdin) was detected. These findings point out that, in addition to haemozoin formation, the malaria parasite P. falciparum has evolved two distinct mechanisms for dealing with haem toxicity, namely, the uptake of haem into a cellular compartment where haemozoin is formed and HO activity. However, the low Plasmodium HO activity detected reveals that the enzyme appears to be a very inefficient way to scavenge the haem compared with the Plasmodium ability to uptake the haem analogue ZnPPIX and delivering it to the food vacuole.