Effect of hormonal and neurotrophic factors on the expression of fast myosin in slow muscle

Myosin ATPase and succinic dehydrogenase activity and fast myosin (indirect immunochemical test) were assayed in m. soleus of guinea-pigs after the administration of T4 (200 micrograms/kg) to animals every day for 3 weeks. This was followed by the application of 10 mM colchicine solution to sciatic nerve for 6 min. Fast muscle fibers and the line of precipitation with antiserum to fast myosin were revealed in soleus muscle of experimental animals after the application of colchicine and T4 injection.     

Development of Four Populations of Meloidogyne hapla on Two Cultivars,of Cucumber at Different Temperatures

The infectivity and development of four populations of Meloidogyne hapla were compared, at three temperatures, on tomato and two varieties of cucumber. A population from Canada produced few root-galls on cucumber and, except at 24 C, no larvae developed into adult females and produced egg masses. In contrast, a population with 45 chromosomes from America produced many galls on cucumber and small proportions of larvae became females and produced egg masses at 20 and 24 C. At 18 C this population produced no egg masses on cucumber, but a population from Britain and one from America with 17 chromosomes produced more egg masses at this temperature than at 20 or 24 C. Dissection of the galls showed that on cucumber many larvae died or their growth and development was slowed.     

Permian gastropods from the Kulogory Formation of the northern Moscow Syneclise

Permian gastropods from the Kulogory Formation (Sakmarian) were studied based on the author’s material and the collection of Yakowlew (Central Research Geological Prospecting Museum (TsNIGR Museum), St. Petersburg). Lectotypes for Arribazona tschernyschewi (Yakowlew, 1899) and Microdoma kulogorae (Yakowlew, 1899) were designated. Six species are described; four of them are new and two are assigned to the new genera (Biarmeaspira verideclinata gen. et sp. nov., Globodoma yakowlewi gen. et sp. nov., Glabrocingulum (Glabrocingulum) stankovskyi sp. nov., and Euconospira? pinegensis sp. nov.). The high degree of polymorphism in the dominant species of uniform assemblages is probably the result of their development in “undersaturated” paleocommunities of closed lagoons with gradually increasing concentration of sulfate ions.     

MUC4 involvement in ErbB2/ErbB3 phosphorylation and signaling in response to airway cell mechanical injury

The receptor tyrosine kinases ErbB2 and ErbB3 are phosphorylated in response to injury of the airway epithelium. Since we have shown that the membrane mucin MUC4 can act as a ligand/modulator for ErbB2, affecting its localization in polarized epithelial cells and its phosphorylation, we questioned whether Muc4 was involved, along with ErbB2 and ErbB3, in the damage response of airway epithelia. To test this hypothesis, we first examined the localization of MUC4 in human airway samples. Both immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence showed a co‐localization of MUC4 and ErbB2 at the airway luminal surface. Sequential immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting from airway cells demonstrated that the MUC4 and ErbB2 are present as a complex in airway epithelial cells. To assess the participation of MUC4 in the damage response, cultures of NCI‐H292 or airway cells were scratch‐wounded, then analyzed for association of phospho‐ErbB2 and ‐ErbB3 with MUC4 by sequential immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. Wounded cultures exhibited increased phosphorylation of both receptors in complex with MUC4. Scratch wounding also increased activation of the downstream pathway through Akt, as predicted from our previous studies on Muc4 effects on ErbB2 and ErbB3. The participation of MUC4 in the phosphorylation response was also indicated by siRNA repression of MUC4 expression, which resulted in diminution of the phosphorylation of ErbB2 and ErbB3. These studies provide a new model for the airway epithelial damage response, in which the MUC4–ErbB2 complex is a key element in the sensor mechanism and phosphorylation of the receptors. J. Cell. Biochem. 107: 112–122, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.