Isolation and characterization of basement membrane from frog skeletal muscle

Isolation of basement membrane from frog skeletal muscle has been described. The membrane preparation contained 35 micrograms hexoses, 1.72 micrograms sialic acid, 6.8 micrograms phospholipids, 0.21 micrograms cholesterol/mg protein. Na + K-ATPase and 5'-nucleotidase could not be detected in the membrane preparation. Glycine accounted for about 20% of the total amino acids. On SDS-PAGE, the membrane resolved into 20-22 polypeptide bands.     

An intronic structure enabled by a long-distance interaction serves as a novel target for splicing correction in spinal muscular atrophy

Here, we report a long-distance interaction (LDI) as a critical regulator of alternative splicing of Survival Motor Neuron 2 (SMN2) exon 7, skipping of which is linked to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a leading genetic disease of children and infants. We show that this LDI is linked to a unique intra-intronic structure that we term internal stem through LDI-1 (ISTL1). We used site-specific mutations and Selective 2′-Hydroxyl Acylation analyzed by Primer Extension to confirm the formation and functional significance of ISTL1. We demonstrate that the inhibitory effect of ISTL1 is independent of hnRNP A1/A2B1 and PTB1 previously implicated in SMN2 exon 7 splicing. We show that an antisense oligonucleotide-mediated sequestration of the 3′ strand of ISTL1 fully corrects SMN2 exon 7 splicing and restores high levels of SMN and Gemin2, a SMN-interacting protein, in SMA patient cells. Our results also reveal that the 3′ strand of ISTL1 and upstream sequences constitute an inhibitory region that we term intronic splicing silencer N2 (ISS-N2). This is the first report to demonstrate a critical role of a structure-associated LDI in splicing regulation of an essential gene linked to a genetic disease. Our findings expand the repertoire of potential targets for an antisense oligonucleotide-mediated therapy of SMA.     

Effect of Non-removal of the Macrophytic Biomass on the Characteristics of Water and Plant Community in Lake Naini Tal,U.P., India

In the most productive macrophytes stand lying within the littoral zone of Lake Naini Tal (a Kumaun Himalayan Lake, located 1937 m above sea level) the macrophytic biomass was removed at the time of peak biomass one year, but not during the next. The effect of non-removal of the macrophytes was apparent in the physical and chemical parameters of the water, viz: thermal stratification, pH, dissolved oxygen, calcium and nitrogen content. The removal of macrophytes increased the plant diversity. Seasonal patterns of ash, calcium and nitrogen content in plant tissues were different for the two years of study.