It’s a knockout: CCN3 suppresses neointimal thickening

The role of CCN proteins in vivo is only just becoming understood. A prototypical member of the CCN family, CCN3 suppresses proliferation. In a study in press, Shimoyama and colleagues show that mice lacking CCN3 have a hyperproliferative response to vascular injury. These data, along with other recent observations, suggest that CCN3 may represent a novel therapy for hyperproliferative diseases.     

A retrovirus carrying the polyomavirus middle T gene induces acute thrombocythemic myeloproliferative disease in mice.

Mice inoculated with an artificially constructed retrovirus carrying the middle T gene of polyomavirus develop acute myeloproliferative disease with severe thrombotic and hemorrhagic disorder and impaired platelet function. The megakaryocytic lineage appears to be a target for polyoma-murine leukemia virus infection and middle T gene expression. This newly described disease represents a unique model system for studying disorders of the megakaryocytic lineage.     

The impact of ticks on pheasant territoriality

Pheasants are competent reservoir hosts for the Lyme disease spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., and carry large, but highly over-dispersed, infestations of the vector ticks, Ixodes ricinus . The effects of experimental reduction of tick infestation levels on the survival and territorial behaviour of male pheasants were studied. Over three years in two woodlands in southern England, birds were marked individually and half were fitted with a slow-release acaricide, which substantially reduced their tick burdens from March to August. Acaricide treatment affected reproductive success but had no discernible impact on the survival rates of male pheasants. The degree of wattle inflation by males, an indicator of territorial status and a correlate of harem acquisition, was significantly greater among treated males. In each year, a significantly higher proportion of treated (overall 44%) than control (22%) males acquired harems. Males that acquired females ranged over small areas on field edges. By contrast, those with no females ranged more widely in woods and the adjoining fields, increasing their exposure to questing ticks. The relative contribution of such roving males to tick-borne pathogen transmission may thus increase.     

A variable minisatellite sequence in the chloroplast genome of Sorbus L. (Rosaceae: Maloideae).

The chloroplast genome is now known to be more variable than was once thought. Reports of RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) and sequence variation, as well as variation in chloroplast microsatellites, are common. Here, data are presented on the variability of a minisatellite sequence in the chloroplast genome of Sorbus species. RFLP analysis of a PCR product comprising the region between the trnM and rbcL genes of nine Sorbus species identified seven size variants. Sequencing revealed the observed size polymorphism to be due to differences in the number of copies of an imperfect 9-bp motif. A more intensive survey of the variability of the minisatellite was undertaken in populations of Sorbus aucuparia. The potential uses of such regions in chloroplast DNA are discussed and a possible mechanism for the evolution of the minisatellite is presented.     

Analysis of the distribution and structure of integrated Banana streak virus DNA in a range of Musa cultivars

Banana streak virus strain OL (BSV-OL) commonly infects new Musa hybrids, and this infection is thought to arise de novo from integrated virus sequences present in the nuclear genome of the plant. Integrated DNA (Musa6+8 sequence) containing the whole genome of the virus has previously been cloned from cv. Obino l’Ewai (Musa AAB group), a parent of many of the hybrids. Using a Southern blot hybridization assay, we have examined the distribution and structure of integrated BSV-OL sequences in a range of Musa cultivars. For cv. Obino l’Ewai, almost every restriction fragment hybridizing to BSV-OL was predicted from the Musa6+8 sequence, suggesting that this is the predominant type of BSV-OL integrant in the genome. Furthermore, since only two junction fragments of Musa/BSV sequence were detected, and the Musa6+8 sequence is believed to be integrated as multiple copies in a tandem array, then the internal Musa spacer sequences must be highly conserved. Similarly sized restriction fragments were detected in four BB group cultivars, but not in six AA or AAA group cultivars, suggesting that the BSV-OL sequences are linked to the B-genome of Musa. We also provide evidence that cv. Williams (Musa AAA group) contains a distinct badnavirus integrant that is closely related to the ‘dead’ virus integrant previously characterized from Calcutta 4 (Musa acuminata ssp. burmannicoides). Our results suggest that the virus integrant from cv. Williams is linked to the A-genome, and the complexity of the hybridization patterns suggest multiple sites of integration and/or variation in sequence and structure of the integrants.     

A constitutive description of contracting papillary muscle and its implications to the dynamics of the intact heart

A simple mathematical model capable of simulating the major biomechanical attributes of contracting cardiac muscle is presented. This model is based on the phenomenological observations on heart muscle. The form of the equation can be readily extended to describe the pressure-volume-time-velocity of the intact heart as well, thus allowing a direct bridge between the dynamics of papillary muscle and the dynamics of intact heart. Parameters that are sensitive to inotropic state of the muscle can be obtained directly from the isometric tension-time record of the muscle or the isovolumic pressure-time record of the ventricle. These parameters have the potential to serve as quantitative measures of cardiac health.