Temperament and ovarian reproductive hormones in women: evidence from a study during the entire menstrual cycle

Personality and temperament were hypothesized to function as important factors affecting life history strategies. Recent research has demonstrated the association between temperamental traits and reproduction in humans, however, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. This study presents evidence for an association between temperamental traits and woman's fecundity, as indicated by levels of ovarian steroid hormones during the menstrual cycle. On a large sample of urban, reproductive age women (n = 108) we demonstrated that activity, endurance and emotional reactivity are associated with levels of estrogen and with a pattern of change of progesterone levels. Women high in activity, high in endurance and low in emotional reactivity had up to twice as high estradiol levels and more favorable progesterone profiles as women low in activity, low in endurance and high in emotional reactivity. The temperamental traits we measured highly overlap with extraversion, neuroticism and negative emotionality that were reported to correlate with reproductive success. Our findings thus suggest a possible explanation for these relationships, linking personality and women's reproductive success through a hormonal pathway.     

The essential endoplasmic reticulum chaperone Rot1 is required for protein N- and O-glycosylation in yeast

Rot1 is an essential yeast protein originally shown to be implicated in such diverse processes such as β-1,6-glucan synthesis, actin cytoskeleton dynamics or lysis of autophagic bodies. More recently also a role as a molecular chaperone has been discovered. Here, we report that Rot1 interacts in a synthetic manner with Ost3, one of the nine subunits of the oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) complex, the key enzyme of N-glycosylation. The deletion of OST3 in the rot1-1 mutant causes a temperature sensitive phenotype as well as sensitivity toward compounds interfering with cell wall biogenesis such as Calcofluor White, caffeine, Congo Red and hygromycin B, whereas the deletion of OST6, a functional homolog of OST3, has no effect. OST activity in vitro determined in membranes from rot1-1ost3Δ cells was found to be decreased to 45% compared with wild-type membranes, and model glycoproteins of N-glycosylation, like carboxypeptidase Y, Gas1 or dipeptidyl aminopeptidase B, displayed an underglycosylation pattern. By affinity chromatography, a physical interaction between Rot1 and Ost3 was demonstrated. Moreover, Rot1 was found to be involved also in the O-mannosylation process, as the glycosylation of distinct glycoproteins of this type were affected as well. Altogether, the data extend the role of Rot1 as a chaperone required to ensure proper glycosylation.     

Nitric oxide signalling in plants: interplays with Ca2+ and protein kinases

Much attention has been paid to nitric oxide (NO) research since its discovery as a physiological mediator of plant defence responses. In recent years, newer roles have been attributed to NO, ranging from root development to stomatal closure. The molecular mechanisms underlying NO action in plants are just begun to emerge. The currently available data illustrate that NO can directly influence the activity of target proteins through nitrosylation and has the capacity to act as a Ca2+-mobilizing intracellular messenger. The interplay between NO and Ca2+ has important functional implications, expanding and enriching the possibilities for modulating transduction processes. Furthermore, protein kinases regulated through NO-dependent mechanisms are being discovered, offering fresh perspective on processes such as stress tolerance.     

Asymmetric nuclear reprogramming in somatic cell nuclear transfer?

Despite the progress achieved over the last decade after the birth of the first cloned mammal, the efficiency of reproductive cloning remains invariably low. However, research aiming at the use of nuclear transfer for the production of patient-tailored stem cells for cell/tissue therapy is progressing rapidly. Yet, reproductive cloning has many potential implications for animal breeding, transgenic research and the conservation of endangered species. In this article we suggest that the changes in the epi-/genotype observed in cloned embryos arise from unbalanced nuclear reprogramming between parental chromosomes. It is probable that the oocyte reprogramming machinery, devised for resident chromosomes, cannot target the paternal alleles of somatic cells. We, therefore, suggest that a reasonable approach to balance this asymmetry in nuclear reprogramming might involve the transient expression in donor cells of chromatin remodelling proteins, which are physiologically expressed during spermatogenesis, in order to induce a male-specific chromatin organisation in the somatic cells before nuclear transfer.     

Genes and structure of selected cytokines involved in pathogenesis of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common skin disease involving 1-4% of human population worldwide, of strong genetic background. The following cytokines are directly involved in psoriasis: TNF, IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-15, IL-18, IL-19, IL-20, IL-23 whereas IL-4, IL-10, IL-12 as well as IL-11, IL-17 and IFN-gamma are rather indirectly engaged. This work is a review of some genetic factors and structure of selected cytokines and receptors and their genes location.     

The reduction of (ImH)[<Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis>-Ru<Superscript>III</Superscript>Cl<Subscript>4</Subscript>(dmso)(Im)] under physiological conditions: preferential reaction of the reduced complex with human serum albumin

A systematic study of the reduction of (ImH)[trans-RuCl(4)(dmso)(Im)] (NAMI-A; dmso is dimethyl sulfoxide, Im is imidazole), a promising antimetastasing agent, by L: -ascorbic acid under physiological conditions is reported. Under blood plasma conditions (pH 7.4, 0.1-0.15 M NaCl , 37 degrees C) the rapid reduction of trans-[Ru(III)Cl(4)(dmso)(Im)](-) results in the formation of trans-[Ru(II)Cl(4)(dmso)(Im)](2-) within seconds, and is followed by successive dissociation of the chloride ligands, whereas neither dmso nor imidazole ligands are released during the reaction. Under our experimental conditions, the formation of the ascorbate dianion is the rate-determining step, and once it has formed it reacts rapidly with NAMI-A. Moreover, the NAMI-A complex is very unstable at physiological pH (7.4); therefore, the hydrolysis of NAMI-A cannot be excluded as a competing reaction. During hydrolysis, aquated derivatives via stepwise dissociation of chloride and dmso ligands are formed, and most of these species have a higher redox potential and are expected to be even more easily reduced by ascorbic acid. Thus, it is very likely that the reduced form of NAMI-A or the reduction products of its hydrolytic derivatives react with albumin. The reaction of reduced NAMI-A with human serum albumin leads to the formation of stable adducts, with a binding efficiency very similar to that of the parent complex, viz., 3.2 +/- 0.3 and 4.0 +/- 0.4 mol of Ru(II) and Ru(III) per mole of albumin, respectively, however with a significantly higher reactivity.