INDUCTION OF CELLULAR PROCESSES CONTAINING COLLAGENASE AND RETINOID BY INTEGRIN-BINDING TO INTERSTITIAL COLLAGEN IN HEPATIC STELLATE CELL CULTURE

Cultered hepatic stellate cells were induced to elongate long, multipolar cellular processes by interstitial collagen gel used as a substratum, as compared to flattened or round cell shapes on polystyrene surface or on Matrigel containing the basement membrane components, respectively. The process induction was inhibited by several reagents as follows: (1) anti-integrin α2 antibody; (2) an oligopeptide, DGEA, an integrin-binding sequence in type I collagen molecule; (3) wortmannin, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation was enhanced throughout cells including cellular processes by culturing on type I collagen gel. Dual fluorescence staining showed that the core of the processes contained microtubules, whereas the periphery of the processes comprised fibrillar actin. Thus, the process extension was found to depend on integrin-binding to type I collagen fibres, followed by signal transduction and cytoskeleton assembly. The cellular processes included interstitial collagenase and vitamin A-containing lipid droplets. The lipid droplets and vitamin A-autofluorescence were increased by retinyl acetate addition to the culture medium, suggesting an important role of processes in hepatic stellate cell function.     

The Effects of Ethanol on the Germination of Seeds of Japonica and Indica Rice (Oryza sativa L.) under Anaerobic and Aerobic Conditions

An examination was made of the effects of ethanol at 0.2–6.0%(v/v) on the germination, under aerobic conditions, of intactand dehusked seeds of indica rice (cv. Assam IV), which hadbeen harvested 14, 21 and 28 d after anthesis, and of the japonicarice (cv. Sasanishiki), which had been harvested 30 and 60 dafter anthesis. The inhibition of germination caused by dehuskingjaponica rice was overcome by 0.5–5% ethanol, with maximumgermination (frequently 100%) achieved at 3–5% (30 d afteranthesis) or 1–4.5% (60 d after anthesis) ethanol. Furtherincreases in the ethanol concentration reduced germination.The germination of dehusked indica rice was slightly inhibitedat 0.5 and 1% ethanol, whilst the promotion of germination by2% ethanol increased as the seeds matured. At all harvests germinationwas greatest at 3% ethanol, and at 5–6% ethanol germinationfell to 0%. Inhibition, no effect, or minimal stimulation ofthe germination of intact seeds of both japonica and indicarice by ethanol was observed at the concentrations examined.The absence of oxygen stimulated germination of dehusked japonicarice, but this germination was inhibited by ethanol. In contrastethanol had little or no effect on the failure of dehusked indicaseeds to germinate in anaerobic conditions. Thus ethanol treatmentmay help break the strong dormancy of dehusked seeds of indicaand japonica rice. The possible role of ethanol in stimulatinggermination in rice is discussed. Rice; Oryza sativa L.; seed germination; dehusking treatment; ethanol; indica; japonica; oxygen; dormancy; germination inhibition; seed formation     

低剂量率下高线性能量转移碳离子束辐照人类唾液腺细胞的存活效应

利用日本千叶重离子医用加速器 HIMAC 提供的碳离子束,对人类唾液腺细胞 (HSG) 在剂量率为 0.5 Gy/h 的低剂量率条件下进行了辐照,运用标准的克隆形成法得到了 3 种不同剂量平均线性能量转移 (LET) 碳离子束辐照 HSG 细胞的剂量存活效应 . 与先前 HSG 细胞在治癌剂量率 (1~5 Gy/min) 下对相近剂量平均 LET 碳离子束辐照的剂量存活效应数据相比, HSG 细胞对高 LET 碳离子束辐射表现出明显的剂量率效应 . 为在相同条件下得到碳离子束对 HSG 细胞的相对生物学效应 (RBE) ,利用 60Co-γ射线在剂量率为 0.5 Gy/h 的条件下辐照了 HSG 细胞,得到该细胞系对低 LET 射线响应的剂量存活效应 . 与先前在治癌剂量率下得到的 RBE 值相比,低剂量率条件下得到的 RBE 值总体减小 . 由实验发现的剂量率效应及低剂量率条件下 RBE 值的减小,表明由高 LET 碳离子束造成的辐射损伤在低剂量率条件下也存在着显著的修复效应 . 据此,对辐射造成细胞致死的原因进行了探讨 .     

ATTEMPTS TO CULTURE ISOLATED URODELAN BLASTOMERES THAT CONTINUE TO DIVIDE WITHOUT AGGREGATING*

The blastomeres isolated from urodelan blastulae continued to divide without aggregating of daughter cells when inoculated with Ca²⁺-free neutral Holtfreter solution into glass culture dishes coated with agar. When standard Holtfreter solution with pH 8.2 was used as a culture medium, Ca²⁺ content from 1/40 to 1/20 of the original strength was essential for the purpose of the present observations; other divalent cations such as Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺ or Mn²⁺ replaced Ca²⁺. Under these experimental conditions, cell pedigrees were obtained during the incubation period. The greatest number of cell divisions so far observed in vitro was 8 for Hynobius lichenatus, and 9 for Cynops pyrrhogaster. Some related observations on the behavior of isolated blastomeres are also presented.     

The origins of graptolites and other pterobranchs: a journey from ‘Polyzoa’

The graptolites, known only from fossils, have been convincingly allied to the pterobranch hemichordates, a group of tiny, mostly colonial marine invertebrates bearing feeding arms. The phylogenetic position of pterobranchs has been subject to debate and revision for over a century. Their colonial lifestyle and feeding arms were originally seen as evidence placing them among the bryozoans, until later and more careful anatomical studies revealed more characters in common with acorn worms. Pterobranchs and acorn worms are now grouped as the phylum Hemichordata. For many decades, it was thought that pterobranchs were closer to the ancestral form of hemichordates, particularly because ‘lophophorate’ invertebrates also possess feeding arms, notably the phoronids and bryozoans, as do crinoid echinoderms. This traditional view has been challenged by recent molecular evidence. First, there is strong molecular evidence to indicate that lophophorates are very distant from hemichordates and echinoderms, in a different major branch of the animal phylogenetic tree. Therefore, similarities between the feeding structures must be due to convergent evolution. Second, there is strong evidence that hemichordates and echinoderms form a clade (Ambulacraria) within the deuterostomes, rather than hemichordates being closer to chordates. Third, there is weaker evidence that pterobranchs may be derived from acorn worms, and hence that the vermiform body plan may be ancestral within hemichordates. This suggestion warrants further testing. Here we review the evidence for these conclusions, highlight strengths and weaknesses in the data and analyses, and consider the implications for the origins of pterobranchs and graptolites.