Cholesterol homeostasis: not until the SCAP lady INSIGs

Three new studies have wide implications for cholesterol homeostasis, identifying a novel mechanism by which a sterol-sensing domain functions in the regulated activation of sterol regulatory element binding proteins.     

AIDS is not over

<正>Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS)was first reported in 1981[1].Five healthy young men suddenly presented with opportunistic pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii(currently termed P.jirovecii).The original report from Los Angeles was followed by many reports of patients with similar symptoms in large cities in North     

Diel rhythmicity of prey-search activity and its predominance over starvation in the lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata bruckii

ABSTRACT. The locomotor activity of the lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata bruckii Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), was recorded during food deprivation in LD 16:8 h and continuous light. Activity was relatively low immediately after the lady beetle was fed to satiation but increased from 4 to 24 h later. It thereafter gradually decreased to a low level when the food was withheld for several days. Over a period of 10 days of starvation the beetles showed a high level of activity throughout the photophase and a low level during the scotophase in LD 16:8 h. In continuous light this rhythmic pattern persisted, with a free-running period of c. 22 h, significantly shorter than 24 h. The results suggest that the endogenous circadian timing predominates over 'hunger' as a determinant of search activity. The lady beetle accepted and consumed aphid prey presented at night, but the number of prey consumed was significantly lower than in the light. This suggests that, during the dark, activity related to prey-searching is suppressed, though lady beetles are able to accept and consume prey even at night.