Ecdysteroids in Stress Responsive and Nonresponsive Drosophila virilis Lines under Stress Conditions

After exposure to thermal stress or a control temperature, the relative abundance of ecdysone (E) and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) was measured in a wild-type line of Drosophila virilis (101) that is stress responsive and in a mutant line (147) that is not stress responsive. In line 101, the 20E content was higher and E content lower in females than in males. The abundance of E and 20E in females of line 147 was significantly higher than that in females of line 101. Females of line 101 were found to respond to 60 min of heat stress (38°C) by an increase in the abundance of both E and 20E, while in males of this line the amount of 20E increased and that of E declined. A role of the ecdysteroids in the control of reproduction of D. virilis under stress is discussed.     

水分胁迫期间及胁迫解除后桃树叶片中的碳水化合物代谢

水分胁迫期间、盆栽桃幼树叶片中淀粉和蔗糖含量降低,山梨醇、葡萄糖和果糖则升高;淀粉酶、6－磷酸醛糖还原酶（A6PR）、酸性转化酶（AI）和蔗糖合酶（SS）涤性升高,ADPG焦磷酸化酶（ADPGPPase）、中性转化酶（NI）、山梨醇脱氢酶（SDH）和磷酸蔗糖合酶（SPS）的活性降低。胁迫解除后,淀粉和葡萄糖含量恢复,山梨醇和果糖仍高于对照;A6PR、SDH和ADPGPase活性维持在原水平上;淀粉酶活性恢复;SPS活性增加而AI活性降低。     

Nox和氧化应激与糖尿病

Nox(phagocyte-like NADPH oxidase)是吞噬细胞NADPH氧化酶催化亚基 gp91phox的一系列同源物,广泛分布于体内多种非吞噬细胞.与NADPH氧化酶类似, Nox激活后可产生ROS,Nox产生的ROS是线粒体外ROS的主要来源.Nox产生的ROS,在控制新陈代谢,调节葡萄糖刺激的胰岛素分泌(glucose-stimulated insulin secretion,GSIS),促使胰岛β细胞凋亡、胰岛功能障碍和糖尿病及其并发症的发 生、发展中,发挥着重要作用.调节Nox的活性,改善机体内氧化应激水平,有望成为治疗糖尿病及其并发症的有效新途径.     

Stress and arousal

The hypocretins (also know as orexins) are two neuropeptides now commonly described as critical components for maintaining and regulating the stability of arousal. Several lines of evidence have raised the hypothesis that hypocretin-producing neurons are part of the circuitries that mediate the hypothalamic response to acute stress. New data indicate that the corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) peptidergic system directly innervates hypocretin-expressing neurons. CRF depolarizes hypocretin neurons, and this effect is blocked by a CRF-R1 antagonist. Furthermore, activation of hypocretinergic neurons by stress is impaired in CRF-R1 knockout mice. These data suggest that CRF-R1 receptor mediates the stress-induced activation of the hypocretinergic system. A significant amount of evidence also indicates that hypocretin cells connect reciprocally to the CRF system. We propose that upon stressor stimuli, CRF activates the hypocretin system, which relays these signals to brain stem nuclei involved in the modulation of arousal as well as to the extended amygdala, a structure involved in the negative motivational state that drives addiction.     

Stress and adaptation in conservation genetics

Stress, adaptation and evolution are major concerns in conservation biology. Stresses from pollution, climatic changes, disease etc. may affect population persistence. Further, stress typically occurs when species are placed in captivity. Threatened species are usually managed to conserve their ability to adapt to environmental changes, whilst species in captivity undergo adaptations that are deleterious upon reintroduction into the wild. In model studies using Drosophila melanogaster, we have found that; (a) inbreeding and loss of genetic variation reduced resistance to the stress of disease, (b) extinction rates under inbreeding are elevated by stress, (c) adaptive evolutionary potential in an increasingly stressful environment is reduced in small population, (d) rates of inbreeding are elevated under stressful conditions, (e) genetic adaptation to captivity reduces fitness when populations are reintroduced into the 'wild', and (f) the deleterious effects of adaptation on reintroduction success can be reduced by population fragmentation.     

外源蔗糖显著缓解盐和热胁迫对菠菜PSⅡ颗粒的伤害

以菠菜(Spinacia oleracea)叶片的PSII颗粒为材料, 利用高温(30°C和40°C)和高盐(400 mmol.L-1 和800 mmol.L-1 NaCl)处理, 研究外源蔗糖在盐、热胁迫下对PSII的保护作用。实验结果表明: 盐、热胁迫均对PSII造成伤害, 使PSII的最大光化学效率(Fv/Fm)显著下降, 盐、热胁迫同时存在时对PSII伤害更为严重。在PSII的保存液中加入不同浓度的蔗糖(100-800 mmol.L-1)后, 能显著缓解盐和热及盐热胁迫共同作用对菠菜PSII颗粒的伤害, 并且在一定浓度范围内, 随蔗糖浓度的提高, 保护作用越明显。说明一定浓度的外源蔗糖可以显著缓解盐、热胁迫对PSII的伤害。     

No Myocardial Vulnerability to Mental Stress in Takotsubo Stress Cardiomyopathy

Objectives

Due to the frequent use of coronary angiography the awareness of Takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy (TSC) has increased although the exact pathophysiology of TSC is still largely unknown. Our objective was to investigate the effects of mental stress on myocardial function, heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary cortisol (SC) in TSC patients.

Design

This study is a case-control study and a sub-study of the Stockholm Myocardial Infarction with Normal Coronaries (SMINC) study.

Setting

Mental stress test was performed more than 6 months after the acute event in TSC patients and age- and sex-matched controls. Standard echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) - derived time-phases of cardiac cycle were recorded to calculate myocardial performance index (MPI) to assess ventricular function before and during mental stress. Holter-ECG recording was made to estimate HRV before, during and after mental stress. SC was measured at baseline, before and 20 minutes after mental stress.

Subjects

Twenty-two TSC patients and 22 sex-and age-matched controls were recruited from the SMINC-study and investigated with a mental stress test. All TSC patients had a previous normal cardiovascular magnetic resonance investigation.

Results

There were no significant differences at rest or during mental stress for left and right ventricular MPI or other standard diastolic variables between TSC patients and controls. HRV did not differ between TSC patients and controls. There was a trend towards less increase in SC after mental stress in TSC patients compared to controls.

Conclusion

Mental stress did not induce a significant difference in myocardial function or HRV response between TSC and controls. Moreover, no significant difference could be seen in SC response at baseline, during or after mental stress. This study indicates that myocardial vulnerability to mental stress does not persist in TSC patients.     

Stress and hormone interrelationship in branch growth

Calculated stress patterns in lateral branches place the locations of maximum flexural stresses at the same places as the maximum concentrations of growth hormones. The gradients of stress and hormone concentration also have similarity.

In branch epinasty and negative geotropism of branches, the directions of the stress vectors correlate with the imbalance of auxin in the upper and lower portions of the branches.

     

Stress and Protein Turnover in Lemna minor

Transfer of fronds of Lemna minor L. to adverse growth conditions or stress situations causes a lowering of the growth rate and a loss of soluble protein per frond, the extent of the loss being dependent on the nature of the stress. The loss or protein is due to two factors: (a) a decrease in the rate constant of protein synthesis (ks); (b) an increase in the rate constant of protein degradation (kd). In plants adapted to the stresses, protein synthesis increases and the initially rapid rate of proteolysis is reduced. Addition of abscisic acid both lowers ks and increases kd, whereas benzyladenine seems to alleviate the effects of stress on protein content by decreasing kd rather than by altering ks. Based on the measurement of enzyme activities, stress-induced protein degradation appears to be a general phenomenon, affecting many soluble proteins. The adaptive significance of stress-induced proteolysis is discussed.