Respiratory function of velopharyngeal constrictor muscles during wakefulness in normal adults

Launois, Sandrine H., Judy Tsui, and J. Woodrow Weiss.Respiratory function of velopharyngeal constrictor muscles during wakefulness in normal adults. J. Appl.Physiol. 82(2): 584-591, 1997.The levator velipalatini (LVP) and the superior pharyngeal constrictor (SPC) influencevelopharyngeal patency and soft palate position, but their behaviorduring respiration is incompletely characterized. To further clarifytheir respiratory function, we recorded electromyographic activity(EMG) in the LVP and the SPC in awake normal subjects breathing orally.EMG data were obtained in six subjects for the LVP and in nine subjectsfor the SPC. EMG activity and timing and ventilation were measuredduring isocapnic hypoxia and hyperoxic hypercapnia. Phasic EMG activitywas inconsistently present during unstimulated oral breathing. Timingof EMG phasic activity was variable for both muscles. Peak LVP activitywas mainly or exclusively expiratory in three of six subjects. Peak SPCactivity was mainly or exclusively expiratory in five of nine subjects.With chemostimulation, recruitment of phasic activity was observed inthe LVP in four of six subjects and in the SPC in five of ninesubjects. Tonic activity increased in four of six subjects for the LVPand in three of nine subjects for the SPC. However, the response wasalinear, and intersubject as well as breath-to-breath variability wassubstantial. In conclusion, LVP and SPC are characterized by the highinter- and intrasubject variability of EMG activity, timing ofactivation, and response to chemostimulation.

     

Amino acid concentrations and selected enzyme activities in rat auditory,olfactory, and visual systems

Homogenates of specific brain regions of three sensory systems (auditory, olfactory, and visual) were prepared from pigmented Long-Evans Hooded rats and assayed for amino acid concentrations and activities of glutaminase, aspartate aminotransferase (total, cytosolic, and, by difference, mitochondrial), malate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, and choline acetyltransferase. Comparing the quantitative distributions among regions revealed significant correlations between AAT and aspartate, between glutaminase and glutamate, between glutamate and glutamine, and between AAT plus glutaminase, or glutaminase alone, and the sum of aspartate, glutamate, and GABA, suggesting a metabolic pathway involving the synthesis of a glutamate pool as precursor to aspartate and GABA. Of the inhibitory transmitter amino acids, GABA concentrations routinely exceeded those of glycine, but glycine concentrations were relatively high in brainstem auditory structures.     

Junction formation in aggregated embryonal carcinoma cells

Under the action of supplemental calcium, H6 mouse embryonal carcinoma cell aggregates undergo compaction, a morphological phenomenon similar to mouse embryonic compaction. Formation of various types of cell junctions, especially gap junctions, is associated with compaction of the embryo and we sought to analyze the pattern of junction formation during aggregation and compaction of H6 cells. At 24 hr of aggregation, gap junctions were abundant in both uncompacted and compacted aggregates but quantitative analysis of freeze fracture replicas of these junctions showed a 20-fold increase in the size of the largest gap junctions in compacted aggregates. Such a difference in size could even be detected at 12 hr of aggregation. Tight junctions were not normally formed in 12 hr aggregates but initial stages of tight junction formation could be noticed in 12 hr compacted aggregates. More definitive tight junctions and desmosomes were evident only after 48 hr of aggregation. Thus we have observed that both uncompacted and compacted aggregates can form gap junctions at similar frequencies, suggesting that cell flattening, which contributes to the compacted morphology, is not a requisite for gap junctions. Likewise, generation of the compacted morphology seems to be independent of gap junction formation. This supports the idea that compaction in embryonal carcinoma cells results from calcium-induced cell flattening, probably through the mobilization of cytoskeletal elements. Calcium-dependent features of H6 cell aggregation and compaction enables the independent analysis of separate steps in compaction.     

Iron-transport characteristics of vesicles of brush-border and basolateral plasma membrane from the rat enterocyte.

Vesicles of brush-border and basolateral plasma membrane were prepared from enterocytes of the rat small intestine. The separateness of these two varieties of plasma membrane was confirmed by appropriate enzyme assays. The uptake of Fe2+ by these membrane vesicles was studied, and the results suggest differences between the two types of membrane in both the amount of Fe2+ taken up and in the rate of uptake. At low (up to 3 micrometer) concentrations of Fe2+, uptake by both membrane types showed evidence of saturation and could be blocked with the thiol inactivator N-ethylmaleimide. The studies suggest that Fe2+ is taken into an osmotically active space by a process of facilitated diffusion at low concentrations, but that at higher concentrations the process appeared to obey first-order kinetics. The data provide further evidence for the existence of functional polarity in the epithelial cell of the small intestine.     

Nucleotide sequence of Rattus norvegiens mitochondrial DNA that includes the genes for tRNAile, tRNAgln and tRNAf-met

The nucleotide sequence of a segment of mtDNA from Rattus norvegiens (rat) which contains the genes for tRNA^ile, tRNA^gl and tRNA^f-met has been determined. A detailed comparison has been made between this sequence and the corresponding sequences of mouse, human and bovine mtDNAs with regard to the primary and secondary structure of the tRNA genes, the regions connecting the tRNA genes, and the regions flanking the tRNA genes which code for the carboxyl terminus of URF-1 and the amino terminus of URF-2. No differences were found in the nucleotide sequences of the genes for tRNA^ile, tRNA^gln and tRNA^f-met in mtDNAs from three different female lines of rats (SASCO-1, SASCO-2 and Wild-UT) that differ by substitutions of 0.8% to 1.8% of their total nucleotides.     

Structures of cytokinins influence synergistic production of ethylene

Twenty-five naturally occurring cytokinins and structurally related compounds were tested for their ability to promote ethylene production synergistica     

Nucleotide sequence variants of Rattus norvegicus mitochondrial DNA

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecules of different albino, domesticated rats (Rattus norvegicus) of the SASCO colony are of two kinds (SASCO-1 and SASCO-2) in regard to their sensitivity at certain sites to a number of restriction enzymes. MtDNA molecules from Utah wild R. norvegicus (Wild-UT) have sensitivities to restriction enzymes which differ at some sites from either SASCO-1 or SASCO-2 mtDNA molecules. Four single nucleotide differences were found among the HindIII F fragments (169 nucleotides) of SASCO-1, SASCO-2, and Wild-UT mtDNAs. Arguments are presented in favor of the interpretation that each variant nucleotide is the third nucleotide of the codon containing it, and that none of the four differences would result in a difference in the respective amino acid translated.Dedicated to Professor W. Beermann on the occasion of his 60th birthday