Effects of rosuvastatin on electronegative LDL as characterized by capillary isotachophoresis: the ROSARY Study

Electronegative LDL, a charge-modified LDL (cm-LDL) subfraction that is more negatively charged than normal LDL, has been shown to be inflammatory. We previously showed that pravastatin and simvastatin reduced the electronegative LDL subfraction, fast-migrating LDL (fLDL), as analyzed by capillary isotachophoresis (cITP). The present study examined the effects of rosuvastatin on the more electronegative LDL subfraction, very-fast-migrating LDL (vfLDL), and small, dense charge-modified LDL (sd-cm-LDL) subfractions. Patients with hypercholesterolemia or those who were being treated with statins (n = 81) were treated with or switched to 2.5 mg/d rosuvastatin for 3 months. Rosuvastatin treatment effectively reduced cITP cm-LDL subfractions of LDL (vfLDL and fLDL) or sdLDL (sd-vfLDL and sd-fLDL), which were closely related to each other but were different from the normal subfraction of LDL [slow-migrating LDL (sLDL)] or sdLDL (sd-sLDL) in their relation to the levels of remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C), apolipoprotein (apo) C-II, and apoE. The percent changes in cm-LDL or sd-cm-LDL caused by rosuvastatin were correlated with those in the particle concentrations of LDL or sdLDL measured as LDL-apoB or sdLDL-apoB and the levels of HDL-C, RLP-C, apoC-II, and apoE. In conclusion, rosuvastatin effectively reduced both the vfLDL subfraction and sd-cm-LDL subfractions as analyzed by cITP.     

Studies on chilling injury in plant cells II. Ultrastructural changes in cells rewarmed at 26?C after chilling treatment

Both the restoration and deterioration of ultrastructures wereobserved during therewarming of cultured cells of Cornus stoloniferain which chilling at 0?C had caused an apparent change in themorphology of the organelles. Complete restoration of the ultrastructures,moderately altered by the 12-hr chilling, took place within12 hr of wanning at 26?C. Even in cells chilled for 24 hr, severelyaltered ultrastructures were partially or completely repairedin more than fifty percent of the treated cells. Some cellschilled for 24 hr, however, displayed further deteriorationof their ultrastructures during rewarming. Restoration of therough endoplasmic reticulum and the development of polysomesin recovering cells were characteristic of the early stage ofrewarming. Rupture of the tonoplast was sometimes observed duringrewarming of cells chilled for 24 hr. A possible role for therough endoplasmic reticulum and for the integrity of the tonoplastin cell recovery during the chill-warm sequence is discussed. ¹Contribution No. 2026 from the Institute of Low TemperatureScience, Hokkaido University. ²This work was supported in part by Grant 248004 from the Ministryof Education. (Received November 6, 1978; )     

Detection of SO2 at the ppm Level with Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) Sensing

Plasmonics - Detection and monitoring of SO2 is important because it is a representative toxic gas in the atmospheric environment that is emitted from industrial and natural processes. Localized...     

New clade of silicified bolidophytes that belong to Triparma (Bolidophyceae,Stramenopiles)

The small phytoplankton genus Triparma belongs to the class Bolidophyceae and contains two distinct forms: silicified species and naked flagellated species (formerly Bolidomonas). Recent studies showed that four silicified species/strains (Triparma laevis f. inornata, T. laevis f. longispina, T. strigata, and T. aff. verrucosa) belong to a single clade that is paraphyletic, because it also contains an unclassified flagellated strain, and is sister to a flagellated species, T. eleuthera. In this study, we isolated and characterized two new strains of silicified species to test the phylogenetic unity of silicified bolidophytes. The isolates were identified as T. retinervis strains because they possessed fine areolation on the cell wall. 18S rDNA and rbcL phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that T. retinervis formed a new silicified clade that is sister to the flagellated species T. pacifica. This reveals that there are at least two distinct clades including both silicified and flagellated Triparma species.     

Land-cover changes and distribution of wetland species in small valley habitats that developed in a Late Pleistocene middle terrace region

Wetlands Ecology and Management - Small valley topology on terraced uplands is a unique groundwater-dependent ecosystem in East Asia. Traditionally, this characteristic valley topology has been...     

Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Is Negatively and Positively Regulated by Calcium,Providing a Mechanism for Decoding Calcium Responses during Symbiosis Signaling

The establishment of symbiotic associations in plants requires calcium oscillations that must be decoded to invoke downstream developmental programs. In animal systems, comparable calcium oscillations are decoded by calmodulin (CaM)–dependent protein kinases, but symbiotic signaling involves a calcium/CaM–dependent protein kinase (CCaMK) that is unique to plants. CCaMK differs from the animal CaM kinases by its dual ability to bind free calcium, via calcium binding EF-hand domains on the protein, or to bind calcium complexed with CaM, via a CaM binding domain. In this study, we dissect this dual regulation of CCaMK by calcium. We find that calcium binding to the EF-hand domains promotes autophosphorylation, which negatively regulates CCaMK by stabilizing the inactive state of the protein. By contrast, calcium-dependent CaM binding overrides the effects of autophosphorylation and activates the protein. The differential calcium binding affinities of the EF-hand domains compared with those of CaM suggest that CCaMK is maintained in the inactive state at basal calcium concentrations and is activated via CaM binding during calcium oscillations. This work provides a model for decoding calcium oscillations that uses differential calcium binding affinities to create a robust molecular switch that is responsive to calcium concentrations associated with both the basal state and with oscillations.     

Homogeneous Fluorescence Assays for RNA Diagnosis by Pyrene-Conjugated 2′- O -Methyloligoribonucleotides

We developed a bispyrene-conjugated 2 ′-O-methyloligoribonucleotide as an RNA-specific RNA-probe. The probe hybridized with the complementary RNA, greatly enhancing fluorescence and discriminating RNA from DNA. The assay was carried out in homogeneous aqueous media without removing the unbound probe from the detection solution. This homogeneous fluorescence assay also discriminated mismatch sequences in the target RNA. These pyrene probes could possess high potential to detect RNA in biological specimens simply.