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Females of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus differ in the structures of their egg jelly sulfated fucans 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The egg jelly coats of sea urchins contain sulfated fucans which bind to a
sperm surface receptor glycoprotein to initiate the signal transduction
events resulting in the sperm acrosome reaction. The acrosome reaction is
an ion channel regulated exocytosis which is an obligatory event for sperm
binding to, and fusion with, the egg. Approximately 90% of individual
females of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus spawned eggs having
only one of two possible sulfated fucan electrophoretic isotypes, a slow
migrating (sulfated fucan I), or a fast migrating (sulfated fucan II)
isotype. The remaining 10% of females spawned eggs having both sulfated
fucan isotypes. The two sulfated fucan isotypes were purified from egg
jelly coats and their structures determined by NMR spectroscopy and
methylation analysis. Both sulfated fucans are linear polysaccharides
composed of 1-->3-linked alpha-L-fucopyranosyl units. Sulfated fucan I
is entirely sulfated at the O -2 position but with a heterogeneous
sulfation pattern at O -4 position. Sulfated fucan II is composed of a
regular repeating sequence of 3 residues, as follows: [3-alpha-L-Fuc p -
2,4(OSO3)-1-->3-alpha-L-Fuc p -4(OSO3)-1-->3-alpha-L-Fuc p -4(OSO3)-
1]n. Both purified sulfated fucans have approximately equal potency in
inducing the sperm acrosome reaction. The significance of two structurally
different sulfated fucans in the egg jelly coat of this species could
relate to the finding that the sperm receptor protein which binds sulfated
fucan contains two carbohydrate recognition modules of the C-type lectin
variety which differ by 50% in their primary structure.
相似文献
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Sequence variations in small-subunit ribosomal RNAs of Hartmannella vermiformis and their phylogenetic implications 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Evidence of associations between free-living amoebas and human disease has
been increasing in recent years. Knowledge about phylogenetic relationships
that may be important for the understanding of pathogenicity in the genera
involved is very limited at present. Consequently, we have begun to study
these relationships and report here on the phylogeny of Hartmannella
vermiformis, a free-living amoeba that can harbor the etiologic agent of
Legionnaires' disease. Our analysis is based on studies of small-subunit
ribosomal RNA genes (srDNA). Nucleotide sequences were determined for
nuclear srDNA from three strains of H. vermiformis isolated from the United
Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. These sequences then were compared
with a sequence previously obtained for a North American isolate by J. H.
Gunderson and M. L. Sogin. The four genes are 1,840 bp long, with an
average GC content of 49.6%. Sequence differences among the strains range
are 0.38%-0.76%. Variation occurs at 19 positions and includes 2
single-base indels plus 14 monotypic and 3 ditypic single-base
substitutions. Variation is limited to eight helix/loop structures
according to a current model for srRNA secondary structure. Parsimony,
distance, and bootstrap analyses used to examine phylogenetic relationships
between the srDNA sequences of H. vermiformis and other eukaryotes
indicated that Hartmannella sequences were most closely related to those of
Acanthamoeba and the alga Cryptomonas. All ditypic sites were consistent
with a separation between European and North American strains of
Hartmannella, but results of other tests of this relationship were
statistically inconclusive.
相似文献
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Systems Biology involves the study of the interactions of biological systems and ultimately their functions. Down''s syndrome (DS)
is one of the most common genetic disorders which are caused by complete, or occasionally partial, triplication of chromosome 21,
characterized by cognitive and language dysfunction coupled with sensory and neuromotor deficits. Neural Tube Disorders
(NTDs) are a group of congenital malformations of the central nervous system and neighboring structures related to defective
neural tube closure during the first trimester of pregnancy usually occurring between days 18-29 of gestation. Several studies in the
past have provided considerable evidence that abnormal folate and methyl metabolism are associated with onset of DS & NTDs.
There is a possible common etiological pathway for both NTDs and Down''s syndrome. But, various research studies over the years
have indicated very little evidence for familial link between the two disorders. Our research aimed at the gene expression profiling
of microarray datasets pertaining to the two disorders to identify genes whose expression levels are significantly altered in these
conditions. The genes which were 1.5 fold unregulated and having a p-value <0.05 were filtered out and gene interaction network
were constructed for both NTDs and DS. The top ranked dense clique for both the disorders were recognized and over
representation analysis was carried out for each of the constituent genes. The comprehensive manual analysis of these genes yields
a hypothetical understanding of the lack of familial link between DS and NTDs. There were no genes involved with folic acid
present in the dense cliques. Only – CBL, EGFR genes were commonly present, which makes the allelic variants of these genes –
good candidates for future studies regarding the familial link between DS and NTDs.
Abbreviations
NTD - Neural Tube Disorders, DS - Down''s Syndrome, MTHFR - Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, MTRR– 5 - methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase reductase. 相似文献16.
TM?Matthews RK?Duncan M?Zidanic TH?Michael PA?FuchsEmail author 《Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology》2005,191(6):491-503
In the inner ear of birds, as in mammals, reptiles and amphibians, acetylcholine released from efferent neurons inhibits hair cells via activation of an apamin-sensitive, calcium-dependent potassium current. The particular potassium channel involved in avian hair cell inhibition is unknown. In this study, we cloned a small-conductance, calcium-sensitive potassium channel (gSK2) from a chicken cochlear library. Using RT-PCR, we demonstrated the presence of gSK2 mRNA in cochlear hair cells. Electrophysiological studies on transfected HEK293 cells showed that gSK2 channels have a conductance of approximately 16 pS and a half-maximal calcium activation concentration of 0.74±0.17 M. The expressed channels were blocked by apamin (IC50=73.3±5.0 pM) and d-tubocurarine (IC50=7.6±1.0 M), but were insensitive to charybdotoxin. These characteristics are consistent with those reported for acetylcholine-induced potassium currents of isolated chicken hair cells, suggesting that gSK2 is involved in efferent inhibition of chicken inner ear. These findings imply that the molecular mechanisms of inhibition are conserved in hair cells of all vertebrates. 相似文献
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Abandoning ineffective medical practices and mitigating the risks of untested practices are important for improving patient health and containing healthcare costs. Historically, this process has relied on the evidence base, societal values, cultural tensions, and political sway, but not necessarily in that order. We propose a conceptual framework to guide and prioritize this process, shifting emphasis toward the principles of evidence-based medicine, acknowledging that evidence may still be misinterpreted or distorted by recalcitrant proponents of entrenched practices and other biases. 相似文献
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Elisabeth APM Romme David A McAllister John T Murchison Edwin JR Van Beek George S Petrides Cameron OS Price Erica PA Rutten Frank WJM Smeenk Emiel FM Wouters William MacNee 《Respiratory research》2013,14(1):129
Background
Cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and emphysema are associated with COPD. Associations between these factors and whether they predict all-cause mortality in COPD patients are not well understood. Therefore, we examined associations between markers of cardiovascular disease (coronary artery calcification [CAC], thoracic aortic calcification [TAC] and arterial stiffness), bone density (bone attenuation of the thoracic vertebrae), emphysema (PI-950 and 15th percentile) and all-cause mortality in a COPD cohort.Methods
We assessed CAC, TAC, bone attenuation of the thoracic vertebrae, PI-950 and 15th percentile on low-dose chest computed tomography in COPD subjects. We measured arterial stiffness as carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (PWV), and identified deaths from the national register.Results
We studied 119 COPD subjects; aged 67.8 ±7.3, 66% were males and mean FEV1% predicted was 46.0 ±17.5. Subjects were classified into three pre-specificed groups: CAC = 0 (n = 14), 0 < CAC ≤ 400 (n = 41) and CAC > 400 (n = 64). Subjects with higher CAC were more likely to be older (p < 0.001) and male (p = 0.03), and more likely to have higher systolic blood pressure (p = 0.001) and a history of hypertension (p = 0.002) or ischemic heart disease (p = 0.003). Higher CAC was associated with higher PWV (OR 1.62, p = 0.04) and lower bone attenuation (OR 0.32, p = 0.02), but not with 15th percentile, after adjustment for age, sex and pack-years of smoking. In a Cox proportional hazards model, CAC, TAC and 15th percentile predicted all-cause mortality (HR 2.01, 2.09 and 0.66, respectively).Conclusions
Increased CAC was associated with increased arterial stiffness and lower bone density in a COPD cohort. In addition, CAC, TAC and extent of emphysema predicted all-cause mortality.Trial registration
Lothian NHS Board, Lothian Research Ethics Committee, LREC/2003/8/28. 相似文献20.