Organ culture of rat heart: maintained high sensitivity of fetal atria before innervation to norepinephrine

Changes in sensitivity to norepinephrine (NE) of fetal and neonatal rat right atria placed in organ culture were examined. The high sensitivity to NE of the 17-day fetal atria was maintained during organ culture for 5 days. The pD2 value for NE at the 17th day of gestation was 8.66 +/- 0.09, and that after organ culture for 5 days was 8.62 +/- 0.09. The sensitivity of 1-day-old neonatal artia was significantly lower than that of fetal atria; but when they were cultured for 24 h, there was a 10-fold increase in sensitivity. The pD2 value before culture was 7.59 +/- 0.05, and that after culture was 8.54 +/- 0.04. NE added to the culture medium prevented this increase in sensitivity. Similar changes were observed in the sensitivity to isoproterenol, but not in the sensitivity to forskolin, indicating that these sensitivity changes were of a postjunctional nature and most likely due to some changes in the beta-receptor and (or) its coupling to adenylate cyclase. Therefore, the decrease in myocardial sensitivity to NE observed during the late fetal period is most likely to be caused by factor(s) related to sympathetic innervation.     

A 26-kDa outer membrane protein, OmpK, common to Vibrio species is the receptor for a broad-host-range vibriophage, KVP40

Abstract KVP40 is a broad-host-range vibriophage forming plaques on strains of at least eight Vibrio and one Photobacterium species. A spontaneous KVP40-resistant mutant, R4000, derived from Vibrio parahaemolyticus 1010 lacked a 26-kDa outer membrane protein designated OmpK. KVP40 was inactivated by outer membrane and OmpK prepared from 1010, but not by outer membrane from R4000. These results strongly suggest that OmpK is the receptor for KVP40. Immunoblotting analyses using an anti-OmpK rabbit serum revealed that OmpK or its homologs of molecular masses 25–29 kDa were distributed widely among Vibrio and Photobacterium strains including those naturally resistant to KVP40.     

Joint morphology in the insect leg: evolutionary history inferred from Notch loss-of-function phenotypes in Drosophila

Joints permit efficient locomotion, especially among animals with a rigid skeleton. Joint morphologies vary in the body of individual animals, and the shapes of homologous joints often differ across species. The diverse locomotive behaviors of animals are based, in part, on the developmental and evolutionary history of joint morphogenesis. We showed previously that strictly coordinated cell-differentiation and cell-movement events within the epidermis sculpt the interlocking ball-and-socket joints in the adult Drosophila tarsus (distal leg). Here, we show that the tarsal joints of various insect species can be classified into three types: ball-and-socket, side-by-side and uniform. The last two probably result from joint formation without the cell-differentiation step, the cell-movement step, or both. Similar morphological variations were observed in Drosophila legs when Notch function was temporarily blocked during joint formation, implying that the independent acquisition of cell differentiation and cell movement underlay the elaboration of tarsal joint morphologies during insect evolution. These results provide a framework for understanding how the seemingly complex morphology of the interlocking joint could have developed during evolution by the addition of simple developmental modules: cell differentiation and cell movement.     

Effects of television luminance and wavelength at habitual bedtime on melatonin and cortisol secretion in humans

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - The aim of this study was to examine the effect of exposure to different types of television displays at habitual bedtime on human melatonin and cortisol secretion....     

Exome sequencing identifies a novel missense variant in <Emphasis Type="Italic">RRM2B</Emphasis> associated with autosomal recessive progressive external ophthalmoplegia

Background  

Whole-exome sequencing using next-generation technologies has been previously demonstrated to be able to detect rare disease-causing variants. Progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO) is an inherited mitochondrial disease that follows either autosomal dominant or recessive forms of inheritance (adPEO or arPEO). AdPEO is a genetically heterogeneous disease and several genes, including POLG1 and C10orf2/Twinkle, have been identified as responsible genes. On the other hand, POLG1 was the only established gene causing arPEO with mitochondrial DNA deletions. We previously reported a case of PEO with unidentified genetic etiology. The patient was born of a first-cousin marriage. Therefore, the recessive form of inheritance was suspected.     

Synthesis of Glucopyranosyl Schiff Base Zinc(II) Complexes Capable of Interacting with Mononucleotides, and Their DNA-Cleavage Activities

New glucopyranosyl Schiff base zinc complexes, [Zn(GlcSal)(2) ] (1; GlcSalH=N-(2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranos-2-yl-salicylaldimine) and [Zn(AcOGlcSal)(2) ] (2; AcOGlcSalH=N-(2-deoxy-β-D-1,3,4,6-tetraacetylglucopyranos-2-yl-salicylaldimine) were synthesized, and characterized by spectral and analytical methods. The interaction between the Zn complexes and mononucleotides was investigated by (1) H-NMR, (31) P-NMR and UV/VIS spectroscopies. Mononucleotides, cytidine 5'-monophosphate (CMP) and uridyl 5'-monophosphate (UMP), interacted with these complexes to form a 1?:?1 complex with 1 and a 1?:?2 complex with 2, depending on the presence of the OH group of glucopyranosyl substituents. The DNA-cleavage activities of 1 and 2 were studied using plasmid DNA (pBR322) in a medium of 5?mM Tris?HCl/50?mM NaCl buffer in the presence of H(2) O(2) . The DNA-cleavage activity decreased in the order of 2>1>Zn(OAc)(2) , indicating the significant promoting effect of the glucopyranosyl Schiff base ligand and the participation of the glucopyranosyl OH groups in the cleavage mechanism. The mechanism of the DNA cleavage by 1 and 2 was investigated by evaluation of the effect of a HO(.) radical scavenger and a singlet-oxygen ((1) O(2) ) quencher under aerobic conditions. The former exhibited little effect, excluding the HO(.) radical as an active species and supporting the hydrolysis mechanism for the main process of the DNA cleavage. The latter quencher somewhat hindered the cleavage, indicating the partial participation of a (1) O(2) as a competitive active species in the present system.     

Optical oxygen-sensing properties of porphyrin derivatives anchored on ordered porous aluminium oxide plates.

An optical oxygen-sensing activity of anchored porphyrin derivatives on ordered porous aluminium oxide plates was studied in relevance to development of new oxygen-sensing systems. Porphyrin derivatives, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-carboxylundecane-1-oxy)porphyrin, 5-[4-(11-carboxylundecane-1-oxy)-10,15,20-triphenyl]porphyrin, 5-(4-carboxylphenyl)-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin, and their platinum complexes, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-carboxylundecane-1-oxy)porphyrinatoplatinum(II), 5-[4-(11-carboxylundecane-1-oxy)-10,15,20-triphenyl]porphyrinatoplatinum(II), 5-(4-carboxylphenyl)-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrinatoplatinum(II), were synthesized and anchored by an equilibrium adsorption method on aluminium oxide plates, which were prepared by an anodic oxidation. The excitation spectra of the porphyrin-anchored layers showed a broadened and blue-shifted Soret band compared with the corresponding porphyrins in DMSO. The luminescence intensity decreased with increasing oxygen concentrations. The oxygen-sensing ability estimated from I(0)/I(100) (I(0) and I(100) denote the luminescence intensity in 0 and 100% oxygen) was 9.08, 6.78, 8.71, 81.9, 35.5, and 39.1, which are greater than those of corresponding porphyrin derivatives in DMSO under the measured conditions, and indicates the remarkable enhancement effect of platinum(II). Non-linear Stern-Volmer plots were well fitted by the two component system to give the oxygen-sensitive constant (K(SV1)/%(-1)), the oxygen-insensitive constant (K(SV2)/%(-1)), and the former contribution (f(1)): 0.232, 3.32 x 10(-2), and 0.642; 0.141, 2.05 x 10(-2), and 0.687; 0.143, 1.05 x 10(-2), and 0.882; 17.3, 7.04 x 10(-3), and 0.980; 10.2, 1.43 x 10(-2), and 0.935; 16.3, 8.35 x 10(-3), and 0.954. The response time for the change of the atmospheric gas from argon to oxygen was 9.4 s, 12.5 s, 9.6 s, 5.0 s, 8.9 s, and 4.6 s, indicating the shortening effect of platinum. The reverse effect of platinum was observed in the change from oxygen to argon: 15.5 s, 17.0 s, 20.8 s, 667.4 s, 590.1 s, and 580.4 s, indicating the specific interaction of oxygen to the platinum(II) center.