Morphological gradients in the starling basilar papilla

The starling cochlea was studied with TEM at four locations along the basilar papilla to investigate gradients in morphological features over the papilla's length and width. Hair cell shape changes continuously from neural to abneural and from basal to apical. Unlike the situation in mammals, there are no distinct populations of hair cells; the previously described types (tall hair cells and short hair cells) are merely extremes in a continuum. Contacts between THC are a normal feature. Except at the base of the papilla, SHC have very large cuticular plates, suggesting a micromechanical function for these cells. In contrast to the THC, the SHC normally completely lack afferent innervation; this indicates that their function is restricted to within the basilar papilla itself. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A Candidate Subspecies Discrimination System Involving a Vomeronasal Receptor Gene with Different Alleles Fixed in M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus

Assortative mating, a potentially efficient prezygotic reproductive barrier, may prevent loss of genetic potential by avoiding the production of unfit hybrids (i.e., because of hybrid infertility or hybrid breakdown) that occur at regions of secondary contact between incipient species. In the case of the mouse hybrid zone, where two subspecies of Mus musculus (M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus) meet and exchange genes to a limited extent, assortative mating requires a means of subspecies recognition. We based the work reported here on the hypothesis that, if there is a pheromone sufficiently diverged between M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus to mediate subspecies recognition, then that process must also require a specific receptor(s), also sufficiently diverged between the subspecies, to receive the signal and elicit an assortative mating response. We studied the mouse V1R genes, which encode a large family of receptors in the vomeronasal organ (VNO), by screening Perlegen SNP data and identified one, Vmn1r67, with 24 fixed SNP differences most of which (15/24) are nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions between M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus. We observed substantial linkage disequilibrium (LD) between Vmn1r67 and Abpa27, a mouse salivary androgen-binding protein gene that encodes a proteinaceous pheromone (ABP) capable of mediating assortative mating, perhaps in conjunction with its bound small lipophilic ligand. The LD we observed is likely a case of association rather than residual physical linkage from a very recent selective sweep, because an intervening gene, Vmn1r71, shows significant intra(sub)specific polymorphism but no inter(sub)specific divergence in its nucleotide sequence. We discuss alternative explanations of these observations, for example that Abpa27 and Vmn1r67 are coevolving as signal and receptor to reinforce subspecies hybridization barriers or that the unusually divergent Vmn1r67 allele was not a product of fast positive selection, but was derived from an introgressed allele, possibly from Mus spretus.     

Impact of vaginal microbiome communities on HIV antiretroviral-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug metabolism

Despite the efficacy of antiretroviral-based pre-exposure prophylactics (PrEP) in men who have sex with men, studies in women have produced widely varying outcomes. Recent evidence demonstrates that vaginal microbial communities are associated with increased HIV acquisition risk and may impact PrEP efficacy. Here, we investigate the mechanisms underlying how vaginal bacteria alter PrEP drug levels and impact HIV infection rates ex vivo. Using cervicovaginal lavages (CVLs) from women with or without bacterial vaginosis (BV), we identified microbial metabolism of PrEP drugs in BV samples through LC-MS/MS analysis of soluble drug levels and metabolite formation in dual T-cell cultures. CVL samples were assessed for microbiome analysis using sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. We also observed non-Lactobacillus bacteria that are associated with BV may potentially impact PrEP efficacy through increased HIV infection rates in co-cultures containing Lactobacillus or BV bacteria, PrEP drugs, CEM-GFP cells, and HIV-1_LAI virus. Finally, we used these data to develop a novel predictive mathematical simulation modeling system to predict these drug interactions for future trials. These studies demonstrate how dysbiotic vaginal microbiota may impact PrEP drugs and provides evidence linking vaginal bacteria to PrEP efficacy in women.     

Sex differences in the control of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Interaction of estrogen, testosterone and insulin in the regulation of enzyme levels in vivo and in cultured hepatocytes

Control of the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase was investigated in intact rats and in hepatocyte cultures. 1) Adult females had 2-fold greater activities of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate- and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenases than adult males, but similar activities of malate dehydrogenase. Castrated males showed decreased activities of all three enzymes in comparison to age- and weight-matched intact controls. In starved animals the activities of all three enzymes decreased significantly. After refeeding with nonpurified diet the activities returned to the prestarved levels in females, but increased to clearly higher values in intact and castrated males. 2) Estrogen levels were in the same range in immature and adult male and female rats. Testosterone levels were highest in adult males, clearly lower in adult females (1/8) and immature males (1/8), still lower in immature females (1/15) and lowest in castrated males (1/40). A simple correlation of the sex differences in these hormone levels to sex differences in glucose-6-phosphate- and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activities was not apparent. 3) In serum-free, dexamethasone-supplemented 48-h cultures of hepatocytes from both male and female rats the basal activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were the same; they were increased 2-3 fold by insulin alone, 1.5 fold by estrogen alone and 4-5 fold by insulin plus estrogen. Apparently sex differences did not persist in 48-h cell cultures. 4) In 48-h cultures of male hepatocytes, then used as the experimental model, insulin alone increased the activity not only of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase but also of 6-phosphogluconate and malate dehydrogenases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Dietary induction of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and malic enzyme in lean and obese female Zucker rats

Responses of the hepatic lipogenic enzymes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), and malic enzyme (ME) to starvation refeeding and diet shifting were determined in lean and obese female Zucker rats. Rats were either fed nonpurified diet, starved 48 hr, and then refed nonpurified diet or one of the refined carbohydrate diets containing either glucose, fructose, cornstarch, or sucrose for 72 hr, or shifted from nonpurified diet directly to one of the refined carbohydrate diets for 72 hr. Initial activities were greater in obese than lean rats for all three enzymes studied. Similar to other strains of female rats, lean Zucker rats failed to demonstrate a starve-refeed response when refed nonpurified diet. Obese female littermates showed a statistically significant increase in enzymes when refed a nonpurified diet. Both lean and obese female Zucker rats demonstrated increases in enzyme activities above controls when starved and refed any of the refined carbohydrate diets. The greatest responses were observed when female rats were starved and refed sucrose; activities increased 2.6- to 3.5-fold in lean and 3.0- to 4.3-fold in obese Zuckers. In lean females 50-70% of the starve-refeed response observed with G6PDH and ME can be accounted for by simply shifting from a nonpurified diet to the respective refined carbohydrate diet, whereas in obese females only 33-55% of the increase could be attributed to diet shifting. Plasma testosterone/estrogen ratios were consistently 1.5 times higher in obese than in lean female rats. This phenotypic difference may potentiate the heightened starve-refeed overshoot response observed in obese rats.     

Water Binding in Legume Seeds

The physical status of water in seeds has a pivotal role in determining the physiological reactions that can take place in the dry state. Using water sorption isotherms from cotyledon and axis tissue of five leguminous seeds, the strength of water binding and the numbers of binding sites have been estimated using van't Hoff analyses and the D'Arcy/Watt equation. These parameters of water sorption are calculated for each of the three regions of water binding and for a range of temperatures. Water sorption characteristics are reflective of the chemical composition of the biological materials as well as the temperature at which hydration takes place. Changes in the sorption characteristics with temperature and hydration level may suggest hydration-induced structural changes in cellular components.     

Time dependent stimulating effect of glucagon on the capacity of urea-N synthesis in rats

The effect of glucagon on the capacity of urea-N synthesis was examined in 24 rats as a function of time. First, the conditions for saturation of urea synthesis under glucagon influence were studied by the kinetics of urea-N synthesis rate in relation to arterial blood alpha-amino-N concentration between 5 and 17 mmol/l in 21 nephrectomized rats given zinc-glucagon (20 micrograms s.c. per day) for 14 days. Alanine was infused so that steady state concentrations of total alpha-amino-N was attained in each rat. The urea-N synthesis rate was calculated as accumulation in total body water corrected for intestinal hydrolysis. The relationship suggested a barrier limited substrate inhibition kinetics, as earlier found in control rats, and data were examined accordingly by non-linear regression analysis. The estimated kinetic constants were: Vmax = 71 mumol/(min X 100 g body wt), Km = 5.4 mmol/l, Ki = 2.4 mmol/l, and the barrier = 4.4 mmol/l. Vmax was increased three times compared with controls. The capacity of urea-N synthesis, i.e. the zenith of the relation, was attained in the concentration interval 7.5 to 12.0 mmol/l, as in controls. The capacity of urea-N synthesis was determined during i.v. infusion of zinc-glucagon (0.15 microgram per min) and after 2, 8, and 14 days of daily s.c. injections of 20 micrograms zinc-glucagon. Rats given zinc-protamine solution were controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)