A Murine Model of Stent Implantation in the Carotid Artery for the Study of Restenosis

Despite the considerable progress made in the stent development in the last decades, cardiovascular diseases remain the main cause of death in western countries. Beside the benefits offered by the development of different drug-eluting stents, the coronary revascularization bears also the life-threatening risks of in-stent thrombosis and restenosis. Research on new therapeutic strategies is impaired by the lack of appropriate methods to study stent implantation and restenosis processes. Here, we describe a rapid and accessible procedure of stent implantation in mouse carotid artery, which offers the possibility to study in a convenient way the molecular mechanisms of vessel remodeling and the effects of different drug coatings.     

Inhibition of prolyl hydroxylase activity by bradykinin analogs containing a prolyl-like residue

A number of substituted bradykinin analogs were prepared in which the proline in position 3 was replaced by analogs of proline. All of the bradykinin analogs, with the exception of l-azetidine-2-carboxyl³-bradykinin showed significant ability to inhibit prolyl hydroxylase activity. Addition of an l-glutamyl residue to the amino terminus of 3,4-dehydro-l-prolyl³-bradykinin and trans-4-hydroxy-l-prolyl³-bradykinin resulted in competitive inhibitors of increased effectiveness with K_i, values approximately 10^?4m. One of the peptides, l-3,4-dehydro-l-prolyl³-bradykinin, appeared to serve as a substrate for prolyl hydroxylase.     

Beitrag zur standortcharakteristik verschiedener GRÜNland-pflanzengesellschaften

Zusammenfassung Die Standortcharakteristik verschiedener Grünlandpflanzengesellschaften hat nicht nur für die Grünlandbewirtschaftung groβe Bedeutung, sondern auch für die Kennzeichnung einzelner Pflanzengesellschaften und für die Ermittlung qualitativer oder auch quantitativer Zeigereigenschaften. Am Untersuchungsmaterial von mehr als 400 untersuchten Grünlandpflanzenbest?nden wird gezeigt, daβ einzelne Analysenwerte, also “Momentaufnahmen” ebenso wie die aus einer gr?βeren Zahl von Einzelwerten gebildeten Mittelwerte nur groben Orientierungscharakter besitzen. Daran ?ndert sich auch durch die Prüfung eines umfangreicheren Analysenmaterials mittels Regressionsanalyse nicht viel. Zeitreihenanalysen, wie sie auf 5 Standorten in zwei Vegetations-perioden durchgeführt wurden, geben einen Einblick in die Dynamik der Meβgr?βen. Durch die Anwendung moderner Rechenverfahren konnten sowohl einfache, wie multiple Zusammenh?nge verschiedener Standortsfaktoren geprüft werden. Dabei ist zu erkennen, daβ die Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Pflanzengesellschaften durchweg kleiner sind als die Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Jahren. Trotz der teilweise nur sehr geringen Bestimmtheitsmaβe erm?glichen die Untersuchungen einen Einblick in das Geschehen am natürlichen Standort und bilden die Basis für weitergehende experimentelle Untersuchungen. Auf die für die Grünlandwirtschaft bedeutenden Zusammenh?nge zwischen verschiedenen Standortsfaktoren und der Ertragsbildung der Pflanzenbest?nde wird hingewiesen. Prof. Dr. N. Knauer - Abt. Grünlandwirtschaft und Futterbau im Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung der Christian-Albrechts-Univer-sit?t Kiel 23 KIEL, Olshausenstr. 40–60.     

Prothymosin alpha expression is associated to cell division in rat testis

Summary Using immunohistochemical methods, we have investigated the cellular distribution of prothymosin alpha (ProT) in adult rat testis. A policlonal antibody raised against thymosin alpha 1 conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin was used. ProT immunoreactivity was observed in the cytoplasm and nucleus of spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in initial phases of the first meiotic division, preleptotene, leptotene and zygotene. However, in pachytene phase they already showed a weak or negative staining. On the other hand, secondary spermatocytes, spermatids, spermatozoa and Sertoli cells were not stained. Based on this fact we suggest that ProT is present in the proliferative cycle in the final steps of G₁ phase, throughout the S and G₂ phases and in initial steps of the prophase.     

Functional flower traits and their diversity drive pollinator visitation

Recent studies have shown that the diversity of flowering plants can enhance pollinator richness and visitation frequency and thereby increase the resilience of pollination. It is assumed that flower traits explain these effects, but it is still unclear which flower traits are responsible, and knowing that, if pollinator richness and visitation frequency are more driven by mass‐ratio effects (mean trait values) or by trait diversity. Here, we analyse a three‐year data set of pollinator observations collected in a European grassland plant diversity experiment (The Jena experiment). The data entail comprehensive flower trait measurements, including reward traits (nectar and pollen amount), morphological traits (height, symmetry, area, colour spectra) and chemical traits (nectar‐amino acid and nectar‐sugar concentration). We test if pollinator species richness and visitation frequency of flower communities depend on overall functional diversity combining all flower traits within a community, single trait diversities (within trait variation) and community‐weighted means of the single traits, using Bayesian inference. Overall functional diversity did not affect pollinator species richness, but reduced visitation frequency. When looking at individual flower traits separately, we found that single trait diversity of flower reflectance and flower morphology were important predictors of pollinator visitation frequency. Moreover, independent of total flower abundance, community‐weighted means of flower height, area, reflectance, nectar‐sugar concentration and nectar‐amino acid concentration strongly affected both pollinator species richness and visitation frequency. Our results, challenge the idea that functional diversity always positively affects ecosystem functions. Nonetheless, we demonstrate that both single trait diversity and mass‐ratio effects of flower traits play an important role for diverse and frequent flower visits, which underlines the functionality of flower traits for pollination services.     

Landscape distribution of food and nesting sites affect larval diet and nest size,but not abundance of Osmia bicornis

Habitat fragmentation is a major threat for beneficial organisms and the ecosystem services they provide. Multiple‐habitat users such as wild bees depend on both nesting and foraging habitat. Thus, they may be affected by the fragmentation of at least two habitat types. We investigated the effects of landscape‐scale amount of and patch isolation from both nesting habitat (woody plants) and foraging habitat (specific pollen sources) on the abundance and diet of Osmia bicornis L. Trap‐nests of O. bicornis were studied in 30 agricultural landscapes of the Swiss Plateau. Nesting and foraging habitats were mapped in a radius of 500 m around the sites. Pollen composition of larval diet changed as isolation to the main pollen source, Ranunculus, increased, suggesting that O. bicornis adapted its foraging strategy in function of the nest proximity to main pollen sources. Abundance of O. bicornis was neither related to isolation or amount of nesting habitat nor to isolation or abundance of food plants. Surprisingly, nests of O. bicornis contained fewer larvae in sites at forest edge compared to isolated sites, possibly due to higher parasitism risk. This study indicates that O. bicornis can nest in a variety of situations by compensating scarcity of its main larval food by exploiting alternative food sources.     

One-step kinetics-based immunoassay for the highly sensitive detection of C-reactive protein in less than 30 min

This article reveals a rapid sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the highly sensitive detection of human C-reactive protein (CRP) in less than 30 min. It employs a one-step kinetics-based highly simplified and cost-effective sandwich ELISA procedure with minimal process steps. The procedure involves the formation of a sandwich immune complex on capture anti-human CRP antibody-bound Dynabeads in 15 min, followed by two magnet-assisted washings and one enzymatic reaction. The developed sandwich ELISA detects CRP in the dynamic range of 0.3 to 81 ng ml⁻¹ with a limit of detection of 0.4 ng ml⁻¹ and an analytical sensitivity of 0.7 ng ml⁻¹. It detects CRP spiked in diluted human whole blood and serum with high analytical precision, as confirmed by conventional sandwich ELISA. Moreover, the results of the developed ELISA for the determination of CRP in the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid plasma samples of patients are in good agreement with those obtained by the conventional ELISA. The developed immunoassay has immense potential for the development of rapid and cost-effective in vitro diagnostic kits.     

Assessment of bacterial diversity in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through tag-encoded pyrosequencing

Background  

Ticks are regarded as the most relevant vectors of disease-causing pathogens in domestic and wild animals. The cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, hinders livestock production in tropical and subtropical parts of the world where it is endemic. Tick microbiomes remain largely unexplored. The objective of this study was to explore the R. microplus microbiome by applying the bacterial 16S tag-encoded FLX-titanium amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP) technique to characterize its bacterial diversity. Pyrosequencing was performed on adult males and females, eggs, and gut and ovary tissues from adult females derived from samples of R. microplus collected during outbreaks in southern Texas.