Luteal 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 20alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities in the rat corpus luteum of pseudopregnancy: Effect of the deciduoma reaction

Background  

In the rat, the maintenance of gestation is dependent on progesterone production from the corpora lutea (CL), which are under the control of pituitary, decidual and placental hormones. The luteal metabolism of progesterone during gestation has been amply studied. However, the regulation of progesterone synthesis and degradation during pseudopregnancy (PSP), in which the CL are mainly under the control of pituitary prolactin (PRL), is not well known. The objectives of this investigation were: i) to study the luteal metabolism of progesterone during PSP by measuring the activities of the enzymes 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3betaHSD), involved in progesterone biosynthesis, and that of 20alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20alphaHSD), involved in progesterone catabolism; and ii) to determine the role of decidualization on progesterone metabolism in PSP.     

Diverse roles of eph receptors and ephrins in the regulation of cell migration and tissue assembly

Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and ephrins have key roles in regulation of the migration and adhesion of cells required to form and stabilize patterns of cell organization during development. Activation of Eph receptors or ephrins can lead either to cell repulsion or to cell adhesion and invasion, and recent work has found that cells can switch between these distinct responses. This review will discuss biochemical mechanisms and developmental roles of the diverse cell responses controlled by Eph receptors and ephrins.     

Dietary sodium chloride restriction enhances aortic wall lipid storage and raises plasma lipid concentration in LDL receptor knockout mice

This study aimed at measuring the influence of a low salt diet on the development of experimental atherosclerosis in moderately hyperlipidemic mice. Experiments were carried out on LDL receptor (LDLR) knockout (KO) mice, or apolipoprotein E (apoE) KO mice on a low sodium chloride diet (LSD) as compared with a normal salt diet (NSD). On LSD, the rise of the plasma concentrations of TG and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) was, respectively, 19% and 34% in LDLR KO mice, and 21% and 35% in apoE KO mice, and that of plasma cholesterol was limited to the LDLR KO group alone (15%). Probably due to the apoE KO severe hypercholesterolemia, the arterial inner-wall fat storage was not influenced by the diet salt content and was far more abundant in the apoE KO than in the LDLR KO mice. However, in the less severe hypercholesterolemia of the LDLR KO mice, lipid deposits on the LSD were greater than on the NSD. Arterial fat storage correlated with NEFA concentrations in the LDLR KO mice alone (n = 14, P = 0.0065). Thus, dietary sodium chloride restriction enhances aortic wall lipid storage in moderately hyperlipidemic mice.     

A comparative functional analysis of plasma membrane Ca2+ pump isoforms in intact cells

The four basic isoforms of the plasma membrane Ca2+ pump and the two C-terminally truncated spliced variants PMCA4CII(4a) and 3CII(3a) were transiently overexpressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells together with aequorin targeted to the cytosol, the endoplasmic reticulum, and the mitochondria. As PMCA3CII(3a) had not yet been cloned and studied, it was cloned for this study, partially purified, and characterized. At variance with the corresponding truncated variant of PMCA4, which had been studied previously, PMCA3CII(3a) had very high calmodulin affinity. All four basic pump variants influenced the homeostasis of Ca2+ in the native intracellular environment. The level of [Ca2+] in the endoplasmic reticulum and the height of the [Ca2+] transients generated in the cytosol and in the mitochondria by the emptying of the endoplasmic reticulum store by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate were all reduced by the overexpression of the pumps. The effects were much greater with the neuron-specific PMCA2 and PMCA3 than with the ubiquitously expressed isoforms 1 and 4. Unexpectedly, the truncated PMCA3 and PMCA4 were as effective as the full-length variants in influencing the homeostasis of Ca2+ in the cytosol and the organelles. In particular, PMCA4CII(4a) was as effective as PMCA4CI(4b), even if its affinity for calmodulin is much lower. The results indicate that the availability of calmodulin may not be critical for the modulation of PMCA pumps in vivo.     

Genes,germs, and schizophrenia: an evolutionary perspective

Literature on schizophrenia and other mental illnesses has emphasized the compatibility of evidence with genetic causation without adequately considering alternative hypotheses of disease causation. Although some studies from the mid-20th century reported associations between certain pathogens and schizophrenia, only recently has the possibility of infectious causation of schizophrenia again become an active focus of research. Infectious causation of schizophrenia is still, however, generally regarded as less well demonstrated than genetic causation. This article evaluates the evidence that has been used to support genetic and infectious causation. Our consideration of infectious causation focuses on the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii but also assesses other pathogens that may contribute to the development of some of the illnesses currently categorized as schizophrenia. Although evidence generally accepted as demonstrating genetic causation can be readily explained by hypotheses of infectious causation, some of the evidence implicating infectious causation cannot be similarly explained by genetic causation. This asymmetry indicates that a scientific approach to the causation of schizophrenia needs to put a greater emphasis on tests that distinguish hypotheses of genetic causation from those of infectious causation.     

Urokinase receptor is necessary for adequate host defense against pneumococcal pneumonia

Cell recruitment is a multistep process regulated by cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. Previous work has indicated that the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) may also play a role in this mechanism, presumably by an interaction with the beta(2) integrin CD11b/CD18. Indeed, an essential role of uPAR in neutrophil recruitment during pulmonary infection has been demonstrated for beta(2) integrin-dependent respiratory pathogens. We investigated the role of uPAR and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) during pneumonia caused by a beta(2) integrin-independent respiratory pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae. uPAR-deficient (uPAR(-/-)), uPA-deficient (uPA(-/-)), and wild-type (Wt) mice were intranasally inoculated with 10(5) CFU S. pneumoniae. uPAR(-/-) mice showed reduced granulocyte accumulation in alveoli and lungs when compared with Wt mice, which was associated with more S. pneumoniae CFU in lungs, enhanced dissemination of the infection, and a reduced survival. In contrast, uPA(-/-) mice showed enhanced host defense, with more neutrophil influx and less pneumococci in the lungs compared with Wt mice. These data suggest that uPAR is necessary for adequate recruitment of neutrophils into the alveoli and lungs during pneumonia caused by S. pneumoniae, a pathogen eliciting a beta(2) integrin-independent inflammatory response. This function is even more pronounced when uPAR is unoccupied by uPA.     

Cell cycle arrest by human cytomegalovirus 86-kDa IE2 protein resembles premature senescence

Primary human embryo lung fibroblasts and adult diploid fibroblasts infected by the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) display beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) activity at neutral pH (senescence-associated beta-Gal [SA-beta-Gal] activity) and overexpression of the plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) gene, two widely recognized markers of the process designated premature cell senescence. This activity is higher when cells are serum starved for 48 h before infection, a process that speeds and facilitates HCMV infection but that is insufficient by itself to induce senescence. Fibroblasts infected by HCMV do not incorporate bromodeoxyuridine, a prerequisite for the formal definition of senescence. At the molecular level, cells infected by HCMV, beside the accumulation of large amounts of the cell cycle regulators p53 and pRb, the latter in its hyperphosphorylated form, display a strong induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (cdki) p16(INK4a), a direct effector of the senescence phenotype in fibroblasts, and a decrease of the cdki p21(CIP1/WAF). Finally, a replicative senescence state in the early phases of infection significantly increased the number of cells permissive to virus infection and enhanced HCMV replication. HCMV infection assays carried out in the presence of phosphonoformic acid, which inhibits the virus DNA polymerase and the expression of downstream genes, indicated that immediate-early and/or early (alpha) genes are sufficient for the induction of SA-beta-Gal activity. When baculovirus vectors expressing HCMV IE1-72 or IE2-86 proteins were inoculated into fibroblasts, the increase of p16(INK4a) (observed predominantly with IE2-86) was similar to that observed with the whole virus, as was the induction of SA-beta-Gal activity, suggesting that the viral IE2 gene leads infected cells into senescence. Altogether our results demonstrate for the first time that HCMV, after arresting the cell cycle and inhibiting apoptosis, triggers the cellular senescence program, probably through the p16(INK4a) and p53 pathways.     

Ferrous ion transport across chloroplast inner envelope membranes

The initial rate of Fe(2+) movement across the inner envelope membrane of pea (Pisum sativum) chloroplasts was directly measured by stopped-flow spectrofluorometry using membrane vesicles loaded with the Fe(2+)-sensitive fluorophore, Phen Green SK. The rate of Fe(2+) transport was rapid, coming to equilibrium within 3s. The maximal rate and concentration dependence of Fe(2+) transport in predominantly right-side-out vesicles were nearly equivalent to those measured in largely inside-out vesicles. Fe(2+) transport was stimulated by an inwardly directed electrochemical proton gradient across right-side-out vesicles, an effect that was diminished by the addition of valinomycin in the presence of K(+). Fe(2+) transport was inhibited by Zn(2+), in a competitive manner, as well as by Cu(2+) and Mn(2+). These results indicate that inward-directed Fe(2+) transport across the chloroplast inner envelope occurs by a potential-stimulated uniport mechanism.     

Expression of high in normal-1 (HIN-1) and uteroglobin related protein-1 (UGRP-1) in adult and developing tissues

We analyzed the expression of high in normal-1 (HIN-1), a putative breast tumor suppressor gene, and uteroglobin related protein-1 (UGRP-1), a homologue of HIN-1, in adult and developing mouse tissues. Highest HIN-1 and UGRP-1 expression is detected in the lung, while lower level HIN-1 expression is also detected in the stomach, heart, small intestine, uterine and mammary glands. The expression of both genes was detected only at E17.5-18.5 and the HIN-1 messenger RNA was localized to the epithelia of the trachea, bronchi, and uterine glands. The expression of HIN-1 is up-regulated during retinoic acid induced differentiation of bronchial epithelial cells. We also identified two putative Drosophila HIN-1 homologues. The expression of HIN-1 is restricted to terminally differentiated airway epithelial cells in vivo and in vitro implicating HIN-1 in the acquisition or maintenance of terminally differentiated epithelial phenotype.