Secretion of a platelet-derived growth factor homologue by rat alveolar macrophages exposed to particulates in vitro

Lung macrophages secrete a homologue of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) which induces the proliferation of fibroblasts in vitro. In previous studies, we showed that such a PDGF homologue is produced by rat alveolar macrophages and that rat lung fibroblasts have specific receptors for the macrophage-derived PDGF. In this study, we demonstrate the biological and physicochemical properties of the growth factor, as well as the time-related production of this factor following macrophage activation in vitro by organic and inorganic particles. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) collected by saline lavage from the lungs of rats were cultured in serum-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (SF-DMEM) for varying periods of time up to 72 h. The SF-DMEM "conditioned" by the AMs was used to treat early passage rat lung fibroblasts (RLFs), which were rendered quiescent by culturing in 2% platelet-poor plasma (PPP). Alveolar macrophage conditioned media (AMCM) in the presence of PPP caused increases in the number of fibroblasts, the percent of labeled fibroblast nuclei and tritiated [3H]thymidine incorporation. AMCM alone caused no detectable changes in fibroblast growth rate. These results indicate that AMs release a "competence-like" growth factor. The AMs were left untreated or were exposed to opsonized zymosan, carbonyl iron spheres or chrysotile asbestos fibers. Macrophages attached to a plastic substrate spontaneously produced the factor, and subsequent addition of the organic and inorganic particles to the macrophage cultures significantly increased the fibroblast-stimulating activity of the AMCM. The growth factor was stable after concentration (100-fold), lyophilization and reconstitution.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Biochemical characteristics of the outer membranes of plant mitochondria

Like the outer membranes of liver mitochondria, those of plant mitochondria are impermeable to cytochrome c when intact and can be ruptured by osmotic shock. Isolated plant outer mitochondrial membranes are also similar to the corresponding liver membranes in terms of phospholipid and sterol content. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis experiments indicate that a single class of proteins (apparent molecular weight 30 000) comprises the bulk of the plant outer membrane protein. There are also considerable amounts of polysaccharide associated with these membranes, which may contribute to their osmotic stability.     

A data management system for structural genomics

Background  

Structural genomics (SG) projects aim to determine thousands of protein structures by the development of high-throughput techniques for all steps of the experimental structure determination pipeline. Crucial to the success of such endeavours is the careful tracking and archiving of experimental and external data on protein targets.     

A major difference between the divergence patterns within the lines-1 families in mice and voles

L1 retroposons are represented in mice by subfamilies of interspersed sequences of varied abundance. Previous analyses have indicated that subfamilies are generated by duplicative transposition of a small number of members of the L1 family, the progeny of which then become a major component of the murine L1 population, and are not due to any active processes generating homology within preexisting groups of elements in a particular species. In mice, more than a third of the L1 elements belong to a clade that became active approximately 5 Mya and whose elements are > or = 95% identical. We have collected sequence information from 13 L1 elements isolated from two species of voles (Rodentia: Microtinae: Microtus and Arvicola) and have found that divergence within the vole L1 population is quite different from that in mice, in that there is no abundant subfamily of homologous elements. Individual L1 elements from voles are very divergent from one another and belong to a clade that began a period of elevated duplicative transposition approximately 13 Mya. Sequence analyses of portions of these divergent L1 elements (approximately 250 bp each) gave no evidence for concerted evolution having acted on the vole L1 elements since the split of the two vole lineages approximately 3.5 Mya; that is, the observed interspecific divergence (6.7%-24.7%) is not larger than the intraspecific divergence (7.9%-27.2%), and phylogenetic analyses showed no clustering into Arvicola and Microtus clades.      

H2AX: functional roles and potential applications

Upon DNA double-strand break (DSB) induction in mammals, the histone H2A variant, H2AX, becomes rapidly phosphorylated at serine 139. This modified form, termed γ-H2AX, is easily identified with antibodies and serves as a sensitive indicator of DNA DSB formation. This review focuses on the potential clinical applications of γ-H2AX detection in cancer and in response to other cellular stresses. In addition, the role of H2AX in homeostasis and disease will be discussed. Recent work indicates that γ-H2AX detection may become a powerful tool for monitoring genotoxic events associated with cancer development and tumor progression.     

Linking aboveground and belowground communities: the indirect influence of aphid species identity and diversity on a three trophic level soil food web

There has been a growing recent interest in how foliar herbivory may indirectly affect the belowground sub-system, but little is known about the belowground consequences of the identity, species composition or diversity of foliar herbivores. We performed an experiment, utilising model grassland communities containing three plant species, in which treatments consisted of addition of each of eight aphid species in single and in two- four- and eight-species combinations, as well as an aphid-free treatment. While aphid species treatments did not affect total plant biomass or productivity, aphid species identity had important effects on the relative abundance of the three plant species. This in turn affected the abundances of each of three groups of secondary consumers in the soil food web (bacterial- and fungal-feeding nematodes, and enchytraeids) but not primary consumers (microbes, herbivorous nematodes) or tertiary consumers (predatory nematodes). The fact that some trophic levels responded to treatments while others did not is consistent with trophic dynamic theory. Aphid species treatments also affected the community composition within each of the herbivorous, microbe-feeding and top predatory nematode groups, as well as diversity within the first two of these groups. However, aphid species diversity per se had few effects. There were specific instances in which specific aboveground and belowground response variables in two aphid species combinations differed significantly from those in both of the corresponding single aphid species treatments (apparently as a consequence of resource use complementarity between coexisting aphid species), but no instance in which increasing aphid diversity beyond two species had any effect. Our results provide evidence that the identity of aboveground consumers can have effects that propagate through multiple trophic levels in soil food webs in terms of consumer abundance, and composition and diversity within trophic levels.