Ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration in squirrel monkeys

The objective of this study was to test whether ultrasound-guided oocyte retrieval is an effective mechanism for collecting oocytes in squirrel monkeys. Although ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration has been described in Old World primates, oocyte retrieval in New World primates is typically performed via laparoscopy or laparotomy. However, these procedures, especially the first, can be invasive. Ultrasound has been used for pregnancy monitoring in multiple species of primates including Saimiri spp. Transabdominal ultrasound as a diagnostic tool is non-invasive. Transabdominal ultrasound was utilized to visualize ovarian follicles during aspiration under light anesthesia. This procedure resulted in collection of a total of 29 oocytes from six animals with minimal post-procedural pain. Manipulated animals were returned to the social group the same day.     

Multiple functions for sterols in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Analyses with a yeast sterol auxotroph indicated that there are at least four different levels of function for sterol which have been designated sparking, critical domain, domain and bulk. Growth of yeast sterol auxotrophs on cholestanol is precluded unless minute amounts of ergosterol are available. We have designated this phenomenon the sparking of growth, in which cholestanol satisfies an overall membrane sterol requirement and ergosterol fulfills a high specificity sparking function. The critical domain role for sterol is observed under conditions of lanosterol supplementation where low levels of ergosterol (10-times those necessary for sparking on cholestanol) are required for growth. The sterol functions designated domain and bulk are illustrated by assessing cellular free sterol levels and plasma membrane properties of a sterol auxotroph after growth on different concentrations of exogenously supplied sterol. Plasma membranes isolated from auxotrophs grown on domain or bulk levels of sterol underwent no lipid thermotropic transitions, while plasma membranes from cells grown on critical domain levels of sterol underwent a lipid thermotropic transition, when analyzed by steady-state fluorescence anisotropy.     

Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine enhance the activity of the mammalian mitochondrial endonuclease in vitro

The purified endonuclease of bovine heart mitochondria extensively degrades a variety of DNA templates in vitro but shows a remarkably strong preference to nick within one specific evolutionarily conserved sequence block of 12 consecutive guanine residues which resides just upstream from the heavy strand origin of mitochondrial DNA replication (Low, R. L., Cummings, O. W., and King, T. C. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 16164-16170). If the enzyme serves to provide an important nicking function at this site in vivo, then mitochondrial factors likely exist which further enhance the enzyme's recognition of this locus and prevent cleavage at other less favored sites. In this study, we report that specific membrane phospholipids appear to exert such effects in vitro. In standard endonuclease assays, low levels of phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylethanolamine (0.5 mM) stimulate the purified enzyme activity 10-20-fold. However, at moderate levels (20-40 mM), these phospholipids largely inhibit widespread degradation of duplex DNA while still allowing site-specific nicking at the conserved guanine target in the mitochondrial genome. These findings suggest that an interaction of the endonuclease with major lipid components of the inner membrane could be an important determinant of the enzyme's specificity for mitochondrial DNA.     

Saccharomyces cerevisiae membrane sterol modifications in response to growth in the presence of ethanol

Membranes isolated from yeasts grown in the presence of ethanol do not display the thermally induced transition in diphenylhexatriene anisotropy that is seen in control cells when they are exposed to ethanol in vitro. The total sterol content of the cells that were exposed to ethanol during growth is reduced, with no steryl esters being detected. A greater proportion of the total sterol pool is ergosterol in cells grown in the presence of alcohol. The activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase is reduced by ethanol in vitro. Ethanol-exposed cells take up more exogenous sterol under aerobic conditions than do control cells. The presence of ethanol during growth reduces the activity of the plasma membrane enzyme, chitin synthase, as well as increasing the thermosensitivity of this enzyme.