Prostatic ductal system in rats: regional variation in morphological and functional activities

The rat prostate is a complex ductal system with branches and subbranches extending from one end to another. Owing to the relative distance of various regions of the duct from the urethra, the entire length of the ductal system can be arbitrarily divided into three segments, i.e., the proximal, intermediate, and distal segments. The present study was carried out to assess the regional variation in cellular activities in this ductal system. Ventral prostates from adult Sprague-Dawley rats were dissected so that an individual ductal system was mechanically isolated and longitudinally sectioned to reveal various segments. Epithelial cells lining distal segments were tall-columnar type and were actively engaging in mitotic activity. Cells in intermediate segments were also tall-columnar type. However, they were mitotically quiescent, but able to produce secretory proteins. Evidence of programmed cell death was not observed in either of these two segments. Cells in proximal segments, on the other hand, were low-columnar or cuboidal in shape and were stained heavily for cathepsin D, a marker associated with late manifestation of cell death. Following castration in adult rats, there was a reversal in the site of programmed death in cells lining the ductal system. By Day 4 post-castration, distal segments contained many epithelial cells with intense cytoplasmic staining for cathepsin D while proximal segments showed a reduction in number of positively stained cells. By Day 7 post-castration, cells in proximal segments, though atrophied, were devoid of staining for cathepsin D.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Statistical modelling of the AIDS epidemic for forecasting health care needs

The objective of this paper is to develop statistical methods for estimating current and future numbers of individuals in different stages of the natural history of the human immunodeficiency (AIDS) virus infection and to evaluate the impact of therapeutic advances on these numbers. The approach is to extend the method of back-calculation to allow for a multistage model of natural history and to permit the hazard functions of progression from one stage to the next to depend on calendar time. Quasi-likelihood estimates of key quantities for evaluating health care needs can be obtained through iteratively reweighted least squares under weakly parametric models for the infection rate. An approach is proposed for incorporating into the analysis independent estimates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence obtained from epidemiologic surveys. The methods are applied to the AIDS epidemic in the United States. Short-term projections are given of both AIDS incidence and the numbers of HIV-infected AIDS-free individuals with CD4 cell depletion. The impact of therapeutic advances on these numbers is evaluated using a change-point hazard model. A number of important sources of uncertainty must be considered when interpreting the results, including uncertainties in the specified hazard functions of disease progression, in the parametric model for the infection rate, in the AIDS incidence data, in the efficacy of treatment, and in the proportions of HIV-infected individuals receiving treatment.     

Improved stability of methanolic Wright's stain solution with dual additives

Degradation of methanolic Wright's stain solutions was greatly diminished with the addition of diethylamine hydrochloride and dimethylamine hydrochloride as costabilizers. Precipitation problems were eliminated by the dual additives. The stabilized stain solutions demonstrated good staining performance on blood smears. Methods for predicting the shelf life using calculated analytical parameters are described. Using these methods, the shelf life of a control stain solution was predicted to be 0.7 years; predicted shelf life was more than tripled with the addition of diethylamine hydrochloride and was increased approximately 27 times with the addition of both diethylamine hydrochloride and dimethylamine hydrochloride.     

Metabolic engineering of Clostridium tyrobutyricum for enhanced butyric acid production with high butyrate/acetate ratio

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Butyric acid fermentation by Clostridium couples with the synthesis of acetic acid. But the presence of acetic acid reduces butyric acid yield and increases...     

Different Glycosylation in Acetylcholinesterases from Mammalian Brain and Erythrocytes

Acetylcholinesterases (EC 3.1.1.7, AChE) have varying amounts of carbohydrates attached to the core protein. Sequence analysis of the known primary structures gives evidence for several asparagine-linked carbohydrates. From the differences in molecular mass determined on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel before and after deglycosylation with N-glycosidase F (EC 3.2.2.18), it is seen that dimeric AChE from red cell membranes is more heavily glycosylated than the tetrameric brain enzyme. Furthermore, dimeric and tetrameric forms of bovine AChE are more heavily glycosylated than the corresponding human enzymes. Monoclonal antibodies 2E6, 1H11, and 2G8 raised against detergent-soluble AChE from electric organs of Torpedo nacline timilei as well as Elec-39 raised against AChE from Electrophorus electricus cross-reacted with AChE from bovine and human brain but not with AChE from erythrocytes. Treatment of the enzyme with N-glycosidase F abolished binding of monoclonal antibodies, suggesting that the epitope, or part of it, consists of N-linked carbohydrates. Analysis of N-acetylglucosamine sugars revealed the presence of N-acetylglucosamine in all forms of cholinesterases investigated, giving evidence for N-linked glycosylation. On the other hand, N-acetylgalactosamine was not found in AChE from human and bovine brain or in butyrylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8) from human serum, indicating that these forms of cholinesterase did not contain O-linked carbohydrates. Despite the notion that within one species, the different forms of AChE arise from one gene by different splicing, our present results show that dimeric erythrocyte and tetrameric brain AChE must undergo different postsynthetic modifications leading to differences in their glycosylation patterns.     

Effects of warming and nutrient fluctuation on invader Chromolaena odorata and natives in artificial communities

Plant Ecology - There is increasing evidence that climate change and nutrient fluctuations can affect the invasion of alien plants. However, most studies have been performed in pairwise experiments...     

Hyperosmolarity enhanced susceptibility to renal tubular fibrosis by modulating catabolism of type I transforming growth factor‐β receptors

Hyperosmolarity plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of diabetic tubular fibrosis. However, the mechanism of the involvement of hyperosmolarity remains unclear. In this study, mannitol was used to evaluate the effects of hyperosmolarity on a renal distal tubule cell line (MDCK). We investigated transforming growth factor‐β receptors and their downstream fibrogenic signal proteins. We show that hyperosmolarity significantly enhances the susceptibility to exogenous transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1, as mannitol (27.5 mM) significantly enhanced the TGF‐β1‐induced increase in fibronectin levels compared with control experiments (5.5 mM). Specifically, hyperosmolarity induced tyrosine phosphorylation on TGF‐β RII at 336 residues in a time (0–24 h) and dose (5.5–38.5 mM) dependent manner. In addition, hyperosmolarity increased the level of TGF‐β RI in a dose‐ and time‐course dependent manner. These observations may be closely related to decreased catabolism of TGF‐β RI. Hyperosmolarity significantly downregulated the expression of an inhibitory Smad (Smad7), decreased the level of Smurf 1, and reduced ubiquitination of TGF‐β RI. In addition, through the use of cycloheximide and the proteasome inhibitor MG132, we showed that hyperosmolarity significantly increased the half‐life and inhibited the protein level of TGF‐β RI by polyubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Taken together, our data suggest that hyperosmolarity enhances cellular susceptibility to renal tubular fibrosis by activating the Smad7 pathway and increasing the stability of type I TGF‐β receptors by retarding proteasomal degradation of TGF‐β RI. This study clarifies the mechanism underlying hyperosmotic‐induced renal fibrosis in renal distal tubule cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 109: 663–671, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Cardiac telocytes exist in the adult Xenopus tropicalis heart

Recent research has revealed that cardiac telocytes (CTs) play an important role in cardiac physiopathology and the regeneration of injured myocardium. Recently, we reported that the adult Xenopus tropicalis heart can regenerate perfectly in a nearly scar‐free manner after injury via apical resection. However, whether telocytes exist in the X tropicalis heart and are affected in the regeneration of injured X tropicalis myocardium is still unknown. The present ultrastructural and immunofluorescent double staining results clearly showed that CTs exist in the X tropicalis myocardium. CTs in the X tropicalis myocardium were mainly twined around the surface of cardiomyocyte trabeculae and linked via nanocontacts between the ends of the telopodes, forming a three‐dimensional network. CTs might play a role in the regeneration of injured myocardium.