Restricted feeding-induced entrainment of activity rhythm and peripheral clock rhythm

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Daily restricted feeding entrains the circadian rhythm of mouse clock gene expression in the central nervous system excluding the suprachiasmatic nucleus, as well as...     

Down-regulation of miRNA-204 by LMP-1 enhances CDC42 activity and facilitates invasion of EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

Nasopharayngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated malignancy. It is known that microRNAs are implicated in the progression of NPC. However, the role of miR-204 in NPC is poorly understood. In this study, we found that miR-204 was down-regulated in NPC cells and tissues. Low-level expression of miR-204 was significantly associated with a more aggressive and poor prognostic phenotype of NPC. We further found that EBV-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) suppressed miR-204 expression by activating Stat-3. Cdc42 was identified as a direct target of miR-204. Mir-204 inhibited EBV positive C666-1 cell invasion and metastasis partly through targeting cdc42.     

Cx37 deletion enhances vascular growth and facilitates ischemic limb recovery

The unique contributions of connexin (Cx)37 and Cx40, gap junction-forming proteins that are coexpressed in vascular endothelium, to the recovery of tissues from ischemic injury are unknown. We recently reported that Cx37-deficient (Cx37(-/-)) animals recovered ischemic hindlimb function more quickly and to a greater extent than wild-type (WT) or Cx40(-/-) animals, suggesting that Cx37 limits recovery in the WT animal. Here, we tested the hypothesis that enhanced angiogenesis, arteriogenesis, and vasculogenesis contribute to improved postischemic hindlimb recovery in Cx37(-/-) animals. Ischemia was induced unilaterally in the hindlimbs of WT or Cx37(-/-) mice (isoflurane anesthesia). Postsurgical limb appearance, use, and perfusion were documented during recovery, and the number (and size) of large and small vessels was determined. Native collateral number, predominantly established during embryonic development (vasculogenesis), was also determined in the pial circulation. Both microvascular density in the gastrocnemius of the ischemic limb (an angiogenic field) and the number and tortuosity of larger vessels in the gracilis vasculature (an arteriogenic field) were increased in Cx37(-/-) animals compared with WT animals. Cx37(-/-) mice also had an increased (vs. WT) number of collateral vessels in the pial circulation. These findings suggest that in Cx37(-/-) animals, improved recovery of the ischemic hindlimb involves enhanced vasculogenesis, resulting in increased numbers of collaterals in the hindlimb (and pial circulations) and more extensive collateral remodeling and angiogenesis. These results are consistent with Cx37 exerting a growth-suppressive effect in the vasculature that limits embryonic vasculogenesis as well as arteriogenic and angiogenic responses to ischemic injury in the adult animal.     

Daily exercise facilitates phase delays of circadian melatonin rhythm in very dim light

Shift workers and transmeridian travelers are exposed to abnormal work-rest cycles, inducing a change in the phase relationship between the sleep-wake cycle and the endogenous circadian timing system. Misalignment of circadian phase is associated with sleep disruption and deterioration of alertness and cognitive performance. Exercise has been investigated as a behavioral countermeasure to facilitate circadian adaptation. In contrast to previous studies where results might have been confounded by ambient light exposure, this investigation was conducted under strictly controlled very dim light (standing approximately 0.65 lux; angle of gaze) conditions to minimize the phase-resetting effects of light. Eighteen young, fit males completed a 15-day randomized clinical trial in which circadian phase was measured in a constant routine before and after exposure to a week of nightly bouts of exercise or a nonexercise control condition after a 9-h delay in the sleep-wake schedule. Plasma samples collected every 30-60 min were analyzed for melatonin to determine circadian phase. Subjects who completed three 45-min bouts of cycle ergometry each night showed a significantly greater shift in the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO(25%)), dim light melatonin offset, and midpoint of the melatonin profile compared with nonexercising controls (Student t-test; P < 0.05). The magnitude of phase delay induced by the exercise intervention was significantly dependent on the relative timing of the exercise after the preintervention DLMO(25%) (r = -0.73, P < 0.05) such that the closer to the DLMO(25%), the greater the phase shift. These data suggest that exercise may help to facilitate circadian adaptation to schedules requiring a delay in the sleep-wake cycle.     

Analysis of activity of neuron pairs in the cat caudate nucleus

Activity of neuron pairs in the caudate nucleus, derived simultaneously by a single microelectrode, was investigated in experiments on lightly anesthetized, immobilized cats. Strong temporal correlation was shown to be characteristic of the spontaneous activity of a neuron pair if grouped discharges were present in that activity. If, however, spontaneous activity was characterized by impulses randomly distributed in time, temporal correlation was observed in only 50% of cases, it was weaker, and it reflected excitatory and inhibitory interactions equally. In many cases negative correlation was observed in discharges of neurons within the time interval of 0–4 msec. Electrical stimulation of the various afferent inputs of the caudate nucleus not only did not cause correlation to appear in the discharges of the neurons but, on the contrary, it abolished correlation which existed for that same pair of neurons discharging spontaneously. Comparison of the results with data in the literature indicates that, by the character of interaction of its neurons, the caudate nucleus is one of the group of associative nuclei of the brain.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 486–493, September–October, 1978.     

STAM-AMSH interaction facilitates the deubiquitination activity in the C-terminal AMSH

Signal transducing adaptor molecule (STAM) complexed with hepatocyte growth factor regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (Hrs) works on sorting of cargo proteins in multivesicular body (MVB) pathway. Associated molecule with SH3 domain of STAM (AMSH), a zinc-containing ubiquitin isopeptidase, is thought to play a role in regulation of ubiquitin-mediated degradation by binding to STAM. We have found that AMSH requires the conformation of Px(V/I)(D/N)RxxKP sequence to bind SH3 domain of STAM with approximately 7 microM affinity, and that the isolated C-terminal domain of AMSH contains the isopeptidase activity. Deubiquitination by AMSH was assisted when ubiquitins were bound to STAM which can bind to AMSH simultaneously. With the specificity toward K63-linked ubiquitins, this facilitated ubiquitin processing activity of AMSH may imply a distinct regulatory mechanism for sorting and degradation through STAM binding.     

腺苷易化大鼠颈动脉窦压力感受器的活动

在36只麻醉大鼠,以隔离灌流颈动脉窦区记录窦神经传入放电的方法观察了腺苷（adenosine,Ado）对颈动脉窦压力感受器传入放电的影响。所得结果如下：（1）以75μmol／LAdo隔离灌流大鼠左侧颈动脉窦区时,窦内压-窦神经传入放电积分（ISP－ISNA）关系曲线向左上方移位,曲线最大斜率（PS）由（18．75±0．12）％／kPa增至（22．21±0．11）％／kPa（P＜0．001）,最大积分值（PIV）由（209．83±2．57）％增至（239．17±1．75）％;阈压（TP）和饱和压（SP）则分别从（8．57±0．24）和（22．99±0．34）下降至（7．15±0．23）kPa（P＜0．001）和（21．21±0,43）kPa（P＜0．01）。再分别以125和175μmol／LAdo灌流,机能曲线进一步向左上方移位,PS、TP和SP的变化均呈明显的剂量依赖性。（2）用腺苷选择性A1受体拮抗剂8－cyclopentyl－1,3－dipropylxanthine（0．134mmol／L）预处理后,Ado的上述效应即被阻断。（3）先给予KATP通道阻断剂格列苯脲（10μmol／L）亦可取消腔苷对窦神经传入放电的影响。结果表明,在体隔离灌流大鼠颈动脉窦区条件下,Ado对颈动脉窦压力感受器活动有易化作用,此作用似与腺苷A1受体介导的KATP通道开放有关。     

Role of the caudate nucleus in the development of evoked synchronized activity

Synchronized activity (spindles, augmentation response) evoked by stimulation of thalamic nonspecific, association, and specific nuclei was investigated in chronic experiments on 11 cats before and after successive destruction of the caudate nuclei. After destruction of the caudate nuclei the duration of spindle activity in the frontal cortex and subcortical formations (thalamic nuclei, globus pallidus, putamen) was reduced to only three or four oscillations. In the subcortical nuclei its amplitude fell significantly (by 50±10%); in the cortex the decrease in amplitude was smaller and in some cases was not significant. Different changes were observed in the amplitude of the augmentation response, depending on where it was recorded. In the subcortical formations it was considerably and persistently reduced (by 50±10%); in the cortex these changes were unstable in character. Unilateral destruction of the caudate nucleus inhibited synchronized activity evoked by stimulation of the thalamic nuclei on the side of the operation only. Destruction of the basal ganglia (caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, and putamen) did not prevent the appearance of synchronized activity; just as after isolated destruction of the caudate nucleus, after this operation synchronized activity was simply reduced in duration and amplitude. It is suggested that the caudate nucleus exerts an ipsilateral facilitatory influence on the nonspecific system of the thalamus during the development of evoked synchronized activity.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 239–248, May–June, 1977.     

Rise rate and timing variability of surface electromyographic activity during rhythmic drumming movements in the world’s fastest drummer

The winner of an international contest to find the world’s fastest drummer (WFD) can perform repetitive wrist tapping movements with one hand using a handheld drumstick at 10 Hz, much faster than the maximum tapping frequency of 5-7 Hz in the general population. The muscle activity facilitating this improved performance, however, has only recently been explored. The present study investigated the rise rate and timing variability of surface electromyographic (EMG) activity of wrist flexor/extensor muscles in the WFD, and compared them with those in two control groups: non-drummers (NDs) and ordinary drummers (ODs). The WFD showed more rapid EMG amplitude rise, earlier decline of EMG activity, and more stable muscle activation time than the NDs and ODs. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the EMG rise rate and the duration of drum training in the group of drummers (i.e., ODs and WFD). These results indicate that the 10-Hz performance of the WFD was achieved by a ‘sharper’ and ‘less noisy’ burst pattern of wrist muscles, and that drum training would have the effect to increase the speed of development of muscle tension.     

Cholesterol diet enhances daily rhythm of Pai-1 mRNA in the mouse liver

Myocardial infarction frequently occurs in the morning, a phenomenon in part resulting from the downregulation of fibrinolytic activity. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is a key factor behind fibrinolytic activity, and its gene expression is controlled under the circadian clock gene in the mouse heart and liver. Hypercholesterolemia has been associated with impaired fibrinolysis due to enhanced PAI-1 activity, which has also been implicated in atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to decipher whether the Pai-1 gene is still expressed daily with hypercholesterolemia. Hypercholesterolemia (1% cholesterol diet) did not significantly affect the daily expression of clock genes (Per2 and Bmal1) and clock-controlled genes (Dbp and E4bp4) in the liver (P > 0.05); however, daily expression of the Pai-1 gene and Pai-1 promoter regulating factor genes such as Nr4a1 was significantly upregulated (P < 0.01). Daily restricted feeding for 4 h during the day reset the gene expression of Per2, Pai-1, Nr4a1, and Tnf-alpha. Lesion of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the location of the main clock system, led to loss of Per2 and Pai-1 daily expression profiles. In the present experiments, we demonstrated that hypercholesterolemia enhanced daily expression of the Pai-1, Tnf-alpha, and Nr4a1 genes in the mouse liver without affecting clock and clock-controlled genes. Therefore, the risk or high frequency of acute atherothrombotic events in the morning still seems to be a factor that may be augmented under conditions of hypercholesterolemia.     

Full-length RecE enhances linear-linear homologous recombination and facilitates direct cloning for bioprospecting

Functional analysis of genome sequences requires methods for cloning DNA of interest. However, existing methods, such as library cloning and screening, are too demanding or inefficient for high-throughput application to the wealth of genomic data being delivered by massively parallel sequencing. Here we describe direct DNA cloning based on the discovery that the full-length Rac prophage protein RecE and its partner RecT mediate highly efficient linear-linear homologous recombination mechanistically distinct from conventional recombineering mediated by Redαβ from lambda phage or truncated versions of RecET. We directly cloned all ten megasynthetase gene clusters (each 10–52 kb in length) from Photorhabdus luminescens into expression vectors and expressed two of them in a heterologous host to identify the metabolites luminmycin A and luminmide A/B. We also directly cloned cDNAs and exactly defined segments from bacterial artificial chromosomes. Direct cloning with full-length RecE expands the DNA engineering toolbox and will facilitate bioprospecting for natural products.