Lipoapoptosis: its mechanism and its diseases

The balance between cell division and cell death determines the cell population of an organ. When cell death exceeds cell replacement in an organ, a functional deficit is created. A metabolic cause of programmed cell death, lipoapoptosis, has recently been identified to occur in obesity and aging. If nonadipose tissues are exposed to an excess of long-chain fatty acids, unless leptin action increases their oxidation sufficiently, unoxidized fatty acids enter nonoxidative pathways. While initially they are sequestered as harmless neutral fat, ultimately some will enter more toxic pathways. One of these, the de novo ceramide pathway, has been implicated in the lipoapoptosis of beta-cells and myocardiocytes of congenitally obese rats in which leptin action is defective. Here we review the mechanisms of lipoapoptosis and the diseases that result from this cause of a diminishing cell population of these organs. We suggest that some of the components of the metabolic syndrome of obese humans and the sarcopenia of aging may be result of failure of leptin liporegulation to prevent lipid overload of lean body mass and lipoapoptosis in certain organ systems.     

Fusicoccin and its receptors

Purified preparations of FC receptors from maize, obtained under non-denaturing conditions, showed in SDS-PAGE two doublets of proteins with an apparent molecular mass of 30 and 90 kDa. In this paper the isolation of the 30 kDa protein, its identification as a 14-3-3-like protein, as well as its immunological detection in partially-purified FC-receptor preparations from bean and spinach are described. The 14-3-3 proteins have biochemical properties consistent with potential signalling roles, and their presence in highly purified FC-receptor preparations suggests that they may be involved in FC- signal transduction. Photoaffinity labelling experiments demonstrating that the protein at 90 kDa binds FC are also presented. The evidence presented taken as a whole, suggests the occurrence in maize of a protein complex for FC perception and signal transduction.     

FADD and its phosphorylation

The adaptor protein FADD is essential for apoptosis induced by 'death receptors', mediating aggregation and autocatalytic activation of caspase-8. Surprisingly, FADD is also involved in regulating T and B cell development. Accumulating evidences now suggest that FADD and its phosphorylation have additional roles in controlling pathways of cellular activation and proliferation, while the kinase modifying FADD phosphorylation is still unidentified. The cellular localization of FADD may also contribute to define FADD's role in apoptosis or proliferation. FADD may be a pivotal molecule which coupling the opposite cell processes of proliferation and apoptosis. FADD, probably modulated by phosphorylation, may function as a 'cell renewal set point' co-regulating proliferation and apoptosis in parallel.     

精子获能及其发展

获能是哺乳动物精子受精前必须经历的一个成熟过程,它所需时间因种而导,并具有非均一怀和可逆性,获能涉及精子质膜去获能因子（ＤＦ）的去除和膜组分的重新分布,包括膜脂成分的改变,蛋白迁移,受体暴露,钙通道激活,胞内ｃＡＭＰ产生和蛋白酪氨酸磷酸化等,获能的终点是发生顶体反应（ＡＲ）并呈现超激活运动（ＨＡＭ）受精取决于上述变化,并可用金霉素染色法,ＡＲ,ＨＡＭ和穿卵率定量检测获能。