Thyroliberin-induced motor asymmetry as an indicator of the individual behavioral strategy of rats in a radial labyrinth

The individual peculiarities of functional changes in motor asymmetry determined by behavioral test in T-maze have been shown in experiments with rats (nonpedigree and line LATI). The application of thyroliberin (10 mkg/kg) causes and increases the left-side lateralization which introduces alteration in the individual strategy of the successive round of 12 rays of radial maze with food during solution of spatial orientation task.     

Weakening of type I restriction in E. coli: the effect of 2-aminopurine and 5-bromouracil

2-aminopurine (2-AP) and 5-bromouracil, strong mutagens of base analog type, were found to induce efficiently the alleviation of I type restriction in Escherichia coli. 2-AP induced restriction alleviation occurs in recA, lexA and mut- mutants, but no additional relief of restriction is registered in dam-bacteria in the presence of sublethal 2-AP concentrations. 2-AP specifically alleviates I type restriction in Escherichia coli (EcoA, EcoB, EcoD, and EcoK) and does not affect restriction systems of II (EcoRI) and III (EcoP1) types. We suggest that 2-AP-induced mismatches and other replication errors may be signals inducing restriction alleviation in Escherichia coli.     

The role of phosphoric acid residues in the formation of antigenic determinants of the structural components of DNA

The inhibitory activity of thymidine, thymidine triphosphate and thymidyl oligonucleotides was studied in thymidine-antithymidine antibodies reaction. Thymidine was shown to have the greatest inhibitory effect, with thymidine triphosphate and thymidyl oligonucleotide inhibitory activity less expressed and reducing with the increase in oligonucleotide length. The effect of thymidine, thymidine triphosphate and thymidyl oligonucleotides on the interaction of antisera and SLE patients' sera with denatured DNA was studied. It was shown that thymidine triphosphate and particularly thymidyl oligonucleotides are characterized by greater inhibitory capacity, as compared to thymidine. It was found that only thymine dimers bound by phosphate groups can inhibit the interaction of UV-irradiated DNA with antiserum specific for UV-modified DNA. The data obtained suggest that the charge determined by phosphoric acid residues plays an essential role in the interaction of antibodies induced to charged structural DNA components.     

Calcium ions modulate regulation of smooth muscle contraction mediated by phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains

The effect of calcium ions on conformational changes of F-actin initiated by decoration of thin filaments with phosphorylated and dephosphorylated heavy meromyosin from smooth muscles was studied by fluorescence polarization spectroscopy. It is shown that heavy meromyosin with phosphorylated regulatory light chains (pHMM) promotes structural changes of F-actin which are typical for the "strong" binding of actin to the myosin heads. Heavy meromyosin with dephosphorylated regulatory light chains (dpHMM) causes conformational changes of F-actin which are typical for the "weak" binding of actin to the myosin heads. The presence of calcium enhances the pHMM effect and attenuates the dpHMM effect. We propose that a Ca2+-dependent mechanism exists in smooth muscles which modulates the regulation of actin--myosin interaction occurring via phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains.     

Microtubule segment stabilization by RASSF1A is required for proper microtubule dynamics and Golgi integrity

The tumor suppressor and microtubule-associated protein Ras association domain family 1A (RASSF1A) has a major effect on many cellular processes, such as cell cycle progression and apoptosis. RASSF1A expression is frequently silenced in cancer and is associated with increased metastasis. Therefore we tested the hypothesis that RASSF1A regulates microtubule organization and dynamics in interphase cells, as well as its effect on Golgi integrity and cell polarity. Our results show that RASSF1A uses a unique microtubule-binding pattern to promote site-specific microtubule rescues, and loss of RASSF1A leads to decreased microtubule stability. Furthermore, RASSF1A-associated stable microtubule segments are necessary to prevent Golgi fragmentation and dispersal in cancer cells and maintain a polarized cell front. These results indicate that RASSF1A is a key regulator in the fine tuning of microtubule dynamics in interphase cells and proper Golgi organization and cell polarity.