Atp-activated ionic permeability in smooth muscle cells isolated from the guinea pig urinary bladder

Smooth muscle cells from the guinea pig urinary bladder were investigated by voltage clamping at the plasma membrane and using an intracellular perfusion technique. Applying adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at a concentration greater than 3 × 10^–8 M and at a membrane potential of –100 to –30 mV produced a rise in fast inward transmembrane current. A similar effect was exerted by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and -, -, and ,-methylene ATP. Application of guanosine triphosphate, inosine triphosphate, adenosine monophosphate (AMP), and adenosine failed to activate this current. It was found that AMP blocks ATP receptors competitively. No pharmacological differences were found between the latter ATP receptors and those of rat sensory neurons. The ATP receptors were rapidly desensitized and recovered their sensitivity to agonists extremely slowly. Speed of desensitization was reduced by a decrease in ATP concentration.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 95–100, January–February, 1987.     

Cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate level in donor plasma]

The method of competitive protein binding was applied to the study of content of cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) in donor plasma one day before and immediately after the donation of 200 ml of blood. The work was performed by Gilman's radiochemical method. Two types of reaction of donors to donorship were revealed: without any changes and with the changes of the cAMP level. In accordance with these reactions the donors were divided into two subgroups--the stable and the reactive ones. In repeated donors the cAMP level was higher than in the primary ones, and the reactive ones. In repeated donors the cAMP level was higher than in the primary ones, and at the time of blood recovery it increased even more particularly among persons of "reactive" type. In primary donors of reactive type the cAMP content before the blood donation was either below or over the mean value and either increased or decreased to the mean level after the blood loss.     

Influence of Exon Duplication on Intron and Exon Phase Distribution

Nonrandomness in the intron and exon phase distributions in a sample of 305 human genes has been found and analyzed. It was shown that exon duplications had a significant effect on the exon phase nonrandomness. All of the nonrandomness is probably due to both the processes of exon duplication and shuffling. A quantitative estimation of exon duplications in the human genome and their influence on the intron and exon phase distributions has been analyzed. According to our estimation, the proportion of duplicated exons in the human genome constitutes at least 6% of the total. Generalizing the particular case of exon duplication to the more common event of exon shuffling, we modeled and analyzed the influence of exon shuffling on intron phase distribution. Received: 28 March 1997 / Accepted: 9 July 1997     

The Effects of Severe Hypobaric Hypoxia and Inhibition of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) on Biomarkers of Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Injury in Rats

Biophysics - Abstract—The goal of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms that underlie heart and skeletal muscle damage in male Wistar rats weighing 200–250 g in...     

Estimation of the Toxicity of a Metal/Carbon Nanocomposite of Copper by Biotesting

Biology Bulletin - Abstract—The toxic effect of a metal/carbon copper nanocomposite (Me/C Cu NC) on higher plant seeds and the Ecolum-8 bacterial sensor was evaluated. A significant...