New evidences for participation of biogenic monoamines in androgen-dependent sexual differentiation of hypothalamic control of gonadotropin secretion in rats.

Corpora lutea have been found in the ovarian tissue transplanted into the anterior ocular chamber of castrated two-month-old male rats receiving on 3rd through 7th post-natal days alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine or p-chlorophenylalanine. Administration of these agents in combination with testosterone propionate to newborn female rats prevented essentially development of the anovulatory syndrome and maintained a normal picture of vaginal smears, ovarian and uterine structure as well as cyclic changes of adenohypophyseal and blood plasma lutropin contents and normal levels of estradiol and progesterone in the blood plasma except of progesterone level in animals receiving alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine. The preventive effect of the adrenoblocking agents droperidol and propranolol was weak and inconstant. Results suggest participation of catecholamines and serotonin in the androgen-dependent sexual differentiation of the brain in rats.     

PULSED‐FIELD GEL ELECTROPHORESIS ANALYSIS OF GENOME SIZE AND STRUCTURE IN PAVLOVA GYRANS AND DIACRONEMA SP. (HAPTOPHYTA)1

Information regarding genome size and structure is a prerequisite for selecting model organisms and for facilitating the most efficient study of their chromosomal DNA. The goal of this study was to identify future candidates for complete‐genome‐sequencing projects among economically or evolutionarily important species of haptophyte algae. Using pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), we identified relatively small genomes and chromosome sizes in two haptophyte species from the class Pavlovophyceae, Pavlova gyrans Butcher and Diacronema sp. The basal position of Pavlovophyceae in the Haptophyta; the key position of this group in the chromalveolates; and their economic and potential biomedical importance, ease of culturing, and small genome size make these taxa ideal models for complete‐genome sequencing.     

Proinflammatory Cytokines and Skin Wound Healing in Mice

Molecular Biology - Skin wound healing is subject to an intricate regulation, involves many cell populations and molecular mediators, and is one of the key mechanisms that ensures the barrier...     

Psychological Attributes of the Culture of the Ukrainians in the Modern Stage of the Development of Society and Trends in Changes in These Attributes in the Post-Soviet Period

The authors of the article focus on the transition of the former Soviet state of Ukraine to a market economy. One aspect of the analysis is the cultural values and attitudes of the citizens in a new situation. Market economy and entrepreneurship demand new types of motivation and individual values from people. A challenge for social psychology in the country is the further elaboration of methodological basis of research.     

Prenatal Stress and Sexual Differentiation of Monoaminergic Brain Systems

This review considers published data and results of the authors' studies of prenatal (maternal) stress-induced disturbances in the sexual differentiation of monoaminergic systems in sexually dimorphic brain regions. The significant role of glucocorticoid hormones as crucial humoral factors mediating the above effects of prenatal stress is emphasized. The involvement of enzymes, providing synthesis and metabolic transformations of biogenic monoamines in the brain, in modifications of the prenatal stress-related hormonal/transmitter imprinting of the developing brain is discussed in particular.     

Early postnatal effects of prenatal exposure to glucocorticoids on testosterone metabolism and biogenic monoamines in discrete neuroendocrine regions of the rat brain

We investigated the effects of hydrocortisone acetate and dexamethasone administered to pregnant rats during the last gestational week on sexual differentiation of testosterone metabolism and biogenic monoamine contents and turnover in the discrete brain regions in 10-day-old offspring. In the preoptic area, sex-dependent differences in aromatase activity were attenuated by prenatal glucocorticoids. Prenatal dexamethasone but not hydrocortisone acetate caused the inversion of sexual dimorphism of 5alpha-reductase activity in the preoptic area. In the brain preoptic area of the male pups prenatally exposed to hydrocortisone acetate, a decrease in noradrenaline turnover was found. Dopamine turnover in the preoptic area and 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism in the preoptic area and medial basal hypothalamus increased in females as a result of hydrocortisone acetate treatment. Our results indicate that excess glucocorticoids in prenatal life modifies the basic neurochemical and neurophysiological mechanisms of sexual brain differentiation and might contribute to behavioral and reproductive disorders in adulthood.     

Phylogenomic analysis identifies red algal genes of endosymbiotic origin in the chromalveolates

Endosymbiosis has spread photosynthesis to many branches of the eukaryotic tree; however, the history of photosynthetic organelle (plastid) gain and loss remains controversial. Fortuitously, endosymbiosis may leave a genomic footprint through the transfer of endosymbiont genes to the "host" nucleus (endosymbiotic gene transfer, EGT). EGT can be detected through comparison of host genomes to uncover the history of past plastid acquisitions. Here we focus on a lineage of chlorophyll c-containing algae and protists ("chromalveolates") that are postulated to share a common red algal secondary endosymbiont. This plastid is originally of cyanobacterial origin through primary endosymbiosis and is closely related among the Plantae (i.e., red, green, and glaucophyte algae). To test these ideas, an automated phylogenomics pipeline was used with a novel unigene data set of 5,081 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the haptophyte alga Emiliania huxleyi and genome or EST data from other chromalveolates, red algae, plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. We focused on nuclear-encoded proteins that are targeted to the plastid to express their function because this group of genes is expected to have phylogenies that are relatively easy to interpret. A total of 708 genes were identified in E. huxleyi that had a significant Blast hit to at least one other taxon in our data set. Forty-six of the alignments that were derived from the 708 genes contained at least one other chromalveolate (i.e., besides E. huxleyi), red and/or green algae (or land plants), and one or more cyanobacteria, whereas 15 alignments contained E. huxleyi, one or more other chromalveolates, and only cyanobacteria. Detailed phylogenetic analyses of these data sets turned up 19 cases of EGT that did not contain significant paralogy and had strong bootstrap support at the internal nodes, allowing us to confidently identify the source of the plastid-targeted gene in E. huxleyi. A total of 17 genes originated from the red algal lineage, whereas 2 genes were of green algal origin. Our data demonstrate the existence of multiple red algal genes that are shared among different chromalveolates, suggesting that at least a subset of this group may share a common origin.     

Migration of the plastid genome to the nucleus in a peridinin dinoflagellate

Dinoflagellate algae are important primary producers and of significant ecological and economic impact because of their ability to form "red tides". They are also models for evolutionary research because of an unparalleled ability to capture photosynthetic organelles (plastids) through endosymbiosis. The nature and extent of the plastid genome in the dominant perdinin-containing dinoflagellates remain, however, two of the most intriguing issues in plastid evolution. The plastid genome in these taxa is reduced to single-gene minicircles encoding an incomplete (until now 15) set of plastid proteins. The location of the remaining photosynthetic genes is unknown. We generated a data set of 6,480 unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense (for details, see the Experimental Procedures in the Supplemental Data) to find the missing plastid genes and to understand the impact of endosymbiosis on genome evolution. Here we identify 48 of the non-minicircle-encoded photosynthetic genes in the nuclear genome of A. tamarense, accounting for the majority of the photosystem. Fifteen genes that are always found on the plastid genome of other algae and plants have been transferred to the nucleus in A. tamarense. The plastid-targeted genes have red and green algal origins. These results highlight the unique position of dinoflagellates as the champions of plastid gene transfer to the nucleus among photosynthetic eukaryotes.