Taste systems of the petrosal ganglion of the rat glossopharyngeal nerve

Single unit recordings were taken from sensory ganglion cellsin the petrosal ganglion (PG) of the glossopharyngeal nerveof the rat. These taste units were examined with respect tospontaneous and evoked discharge patterns and responsivenessto a wide variety of chemical compounds, most of natural occurrence.Spontaneous activity patterns, with few exceptions, tended tobe extremely irregular with both bursting (clusters of 2–3spikes) and grouping (large groups of spikes as in evoked discharges).Most interspike interval histograms of spontaneous activitywere multimodal, similar to rat geniculate ganglion (GG) units.Evoked discharges usually displayed grouping of spikes, andlong latencies of onset and persistence of discharge after rinsewere sometimes seen. Little response was shown to nucleotidesor salts. Units responsive to amino acids tended to show largedischarge to only one or two amino acids; and the most responsiveamino acid usually varied from cell to cell. Units responsiveto alkaloids only responded to a few alkaloids with atropineand quinine being the most stimulatory. Units responsive toacids only discharged to a few of the acids tested and oftenacids of low pH elicited no discharge. Saccharin activated unitsresponsive to both sugar and alkaloids. A few units highly responsiveto both sugar and alkaloids were seen. The units were placedinto four clusters on the basis of chemicals activating themand certain neurophysiological characteristics: PG salt units,PG acid units and, tentatively, amino acid (sugar) units andX (alkaloid and alkaloid plus) units. The PG salt units didnot show the exclusive sensitivity to sodium and lithium compoundsas did the GG salt units. The PG acid units could also be differentiatedfrom the GG acid units. The petrosal amino acid and X units,on the other hand, could not be differentiated from similarunits in the rat GG.     

Neurophysiology of geniculate ganglion (facial nerve) taste systems: species comparisons

On the basis of various measures taken from geniculate gangliontaste neurons in four species, it was concluded that withineach species the neurons could be subdivided into distinct functionalgroups. In this report, the neural groups of different specieswere directly compared. Units from all four species were studiedwith a common test series of solutions in addition to otherstimuli. Since these stimuli were presented at the same concentrationsto all species, direct quantitative comparisons across specieswere possible for a wide range of chemical compounds. In addition,the neural groups were compared with respect to spontaneousand evoked activity measures, latency to electrical stimulation,and receptive field characteristics. These neurophysiologicaldata suggest a basic model of four distinct subgroups: acidunits, salt units, amino acid units, and X units.     

Genetic Identification of all Four Mangrove Mud Crab Species (genus Scylla) Using Multiple Molecular Markers

Biochemical Genetics - Misleading identification and subsequent publications on biological, molecular, and aquaculture data of mangrove mud crab (genus Scylla de Hann 1833) is a major concern in...     

MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND PROCESS OPTIMIZATION FOR SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF POLYPHENOLS FROM RED GRAPES USING BOX–BEHNKEN DESIGN

The objective of the present study is to find out the optimum extraction conditions for extraction of polyphenols from red grapes using Box–Behnken design. Red grapes polyphenols were extracted using acid–ethanol solvent at various extraction temperature (40–60°C), extraction time (20–100 min) and different solid–liquid ratio (1:5–1:15 g:ml). The effect (main and interactive) of extraction conditions on total anthocyanin, phenolic and flavonoid content were studied using Box–Behnken design (three factors at three levels). The results showed that the contribution of the quadratic model was significant for all the responses. Second-order mathematical regression models were developed and were found to fit well with observed data. Derringer's desirability function methodology was performed to find out the optimal conditions based on both individual and combinations of all responses (extraction temperature: 57°C, time: 61 min, and solid–liquid ratio: 1:8.7 g:ml) were established. At this optimal condition, the anthocyanin yield, total phenolic and flavonoid content were 73.92 mg/100 g, 221.4 mg GAE/100 g, and 79.08 mg CE/100 g, respectively. A desirability value of 0.902 was achieved at this point.     

Partitioning studies of α-lactalbumin in environmental friendly poly (ethylene glycol)—citrate salt aqueous two phase systems

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) formed by polymer and salt have been utilized to enrich the desired biomolecule into one of the phase with higher yield and purity. The eco-friendly, biodegradable poly ethylene glycol (PEG) and different citrate salts were chosen as ATPS phase components to investigate the partitioning behavior of α-lactalbumin (α-La). System factors and process parameters such as type and concentration of salt, molecular weight and concentration of PEG, pH, temperature and the effect of additives were studied and the results are discussed in detail. PEG 1000–tri-potassium citrate system yields high partition coefficient of 20 with a better yield of 98 % in the top phase. The addition of NaCl as an additive and acidic pH lowers the yield of α-La in the top phase. Influence of phase volume ratio (V _r) on partitioning was studied and found that the partition coefficient remains almost constant along the tie line. High yield was achieved at a V _r of 3.5 at the tie line length of 50.63 (%, w/w).     

Seed priming with co-flocs of Azospirillum and Pseudomonas for effective management of rice blast

A modified approach was adopted to develop co-flocs consisting of Azospirillum brasilense MTCC-125 and Pseudomonas fluorescens MTCC-4828. The results of our study revealed that both Azospirillum and Pseudomonas strains exhibited a higher survivability when embedded in the flocs. The survivability of the strains in co-floc was found to be higher when compared to the log phase vegetative cells in different inoculant carriers, spermosphere rhizoplane and rhizosphere. The co-floc treatment has also significantly increased the germination percentage and vigour index of rice. In the present study flocculation was found to play a major role in enhancing adhesion of both the strains to rice roots. The co-flocs were studied for their efficiency to induce resistance in rice crop against rice blast. The relative role of Azospirillum and Pseudomonas co-flocs in the induction of resistance against the phytopathogen was evaluated. It was found that when the activities of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and phenol were high and when the relative amounts of the sugars were low, the disease infestation was less and vice versa. The association of these compounds strongly implies their role as casual agents of induced resistance against Pyricularia oryzae.     

Manumycin A inhibits triple-negative breast cancer growth through LC3-mediated cytoplasmic vacuolation death

Therapy resistance can be attributed to acquisition of anti-apoptotic mechanisms by the cancer cells. Therefore, developing approaches that trigger non-apoptotic cell death in cancer cells to compensate for apoptosis resistance will help to treat cancer effectively. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are among the most aggressive and therapy resistant to breast tumors. Here we report that manumycin A (Man A), an inhibitor of farnesyl protein transferase, reduces cancer cell viability through induction of non-apoptotic, non-autophagic cytoplasmic vacuolation death in TNBC cells. Man A persistently induced cytoplasmic vacuolation and cell death through the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) and p62 proteins along with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers, Bip and CHOP, and accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins. As inhibitors of apoptosis and autophagy failed to block cytoplasmic vacuolation and its associated protein expression or cell death, it appears that these processes are not involved in the death induced by Man A. Ability of thiol antioxidant, NAC in blocking Man A-induced vacuolation, death and its related protein expression suggests that sulfhydryl homeostasis may be the target of Man A. Surprisingly, normal human mammary epithelial cells failed to undergo cytoplasmic vacuolation and cell death, and grew normally in presence of Man A. In conjunction with its in vitro effects, Man A also reduced tumor burden in vivo in xenograft models that showed extensive cytoplasmic vacuoles and condensed nuclei with remarkable increase in the vacuolation-associated protein expression together with increase of p21, p27, PTEN and decrease of pAkt. Interestingly, Man A-mediated upregulation of p21, p27 and PTEN and downregulation of pAkt and tumor growth suppression were also mimicked by LC3 knockdown in MDA-MB-231 cells. Overall, these results suggest novel therapeutic actions by Man A through the induction of non-apoptotic and non-autophagic cytoplasmic vacuolation death by probably affecting ER stress, LC3 and p62 pathways in TNBC but not in normal mammary epithelial cells.