Effect of Heat Treatment on the Development of Polygalacturonase Activity in Tomato Fruit during Ripening

When mature green tomato fruits are stored at 22?C for 30 days,they ripen normally and soften, but if they are kept at 33?Cfor 15 days (heat treatment), then stored at 22?C they do notsoften. The effect of heat treatment on the development of polygalacturonase(PG, EC 3.2.1.15 [EC] ) activities in tomato fruits during storagetherefore was studied. When mature green tomato fruits werestored at 22?C, PG activity, which had not been detectable inthe fruits, appeared as the color changed and increased dramaticallythereafter. PG activity, however, did not appear during heattreatment. When heat-treated fruits were transferred to 22?C,PG activity appeared after a 6-day lag period and increasedduring the next 30 days at 22?C to about 15% of the value detectedin ripe tomato fruits. The PG in ripe tomato fruits was composed of two isoenzymesthat had different mol wts. A high molecular form (PG-1, molwt 100K) appeared during the early stage of ripening and a lowmolecular form (PG-2, mol wt 44K) a little later. PG-2 increasedvigorously during ripening and eventually accounted for mostof the enzyme activity in the ripe fruits. Only a single isoenzyme(Y-PG, mol wt 100K), however, was detected in heat-treated tomatofruits stored at 22?C for 30 days. PG-1 and Y-PG gave the samemol wt on Sephacryl S-200 gel nitration, but could be separatedby Toyopearl HW-55 F gel filtration. (Received October 31, 1983; Accepted February 20, 1984)     

Purification and Properties of an Amylase from Bacillus cereus NY-14

An extracellular amylase was obtained from a culture medium of Bacillus cereus NY-14. This enzyme was purified to show a single band on disc gel electrophoresis by ammonium sulfate fractionation and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration to 1101-fold of the activity of the original culture liquor. The purified enzyme had a molecular weight of 55,000, an isoelectric point of 6.13, an optimum pH of 6.0, and an optimum temperature of 55°C. The pH-stability range was wide; the enzyme retained more than 80% of its initial activity in the range of pH 5.5 to 12. It was stable below 35°C and required calcium ions for the stabilization. The action pattern of this enzyme on amylaceous polysaccharides was unique in that the predominant product was maltopentaose. The purified amylase could also digest starch granules of such plants as rice, barley, corn, and kuzu to produce maltopentaose as the main product.     

Effects of histamine and its derivatives on the excitability of a giant identifiable neuron of Achatina fulica Férussac. A histaminergic receptor different from H1 and H2]

A giant neurone of Achatina fulica Férussac (the TAN, tonically autoactive neurone) is excited by histamine. Pharmacological characteristics of its histaminergic reception are quite different from those of H1 and H2 receptors. The effect of histamine on the TAN is antagonized by neither mepyramine nor burimamide.     

Conformation-dependent recognition of a protein by T cells requires presentation without processing.

Presentation of a protein antigen to T cells is believed to follow its intracellular breakdown by the antigen-presenting cell, with the fragments constituting the trigger of immune recognition. It should then be expected that T-cell recognition of protein antigens in vitro will be independent of protein conformation. Three T-cell lines were made by passage in vitro with native lysozyme of T cells from two mouse strains (B10.BR and DBA/1) that had been primed with the same protein. These cell lines responded well to native lysozyme and very poorly to unfolded (S-sulphopropyl) lysozyme. The response of the T-cell lines to the antigen was major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted. A line from B10.BR was selected for further studies. This line responded to the three surface-simulation synthetic sites of lysozyme (representing the discontinuous antigenic, i.e. antibody binding, sites) and analogues that were extended to a uniform size by a nonsense sequence. T-cell clones prepared from this line were specific to native lysozyme and did not respond to the unfolded derivative. Furthermore, several of these clones showed specificity to a given surface-simulation synthetic site. The exquisite dependency of the recognition by the clones on the conformation of the protein antigen and their ability to recognize the surface-simulation synthetic sites indicate that the native (unprocessed) protein was the trigger of MHC-restricted T-cell recognition.     

Histamine stimulates human lung fibroblast migration

Histamine is a potent mediator in allergic inflammatory processes and is released by basophils and mast cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of histamine on in vitro migration of human fetal lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) to human plasma fibronectin (HFn), a chemoattractant. Using the blindwell chamber technique, histamine alone had no chemotactic activity. However, histamine augmented HFn-induced HFL-1 migration at concentrations ranging between 0 and 10^?7 M (290.6 ± 20.8%) (P < 0.05). The concentration-response was bell-shaped. The effect of histamine increased with time. The stimulatory effect of histamine on HFL-1 migration was inhibited by an H4 receptor antagonist, JNJ7777120 (10^?5 M). Histamine’s effect was also inhibited by pertussis toxin (50 ng/ml), showing that the effect was mediated by the H4 receptor. This study demonstrated that histamine has the potential to stimulate human lung fibroblast migration, and thus may contribute to regulation of wound healing and the development of fibrotic disorders of the lung.     

Nicotiana suaveolens accessions with different ploidy levels exhibit different reproductive isolation mechanisms in interspecific crosses with Nicotiana tabacum

Journal of Plant Research - Reproductive isolation, including prezygotic and postzygotic barriers, is a mechanism that separates species. Many species in the Nicotiana section Suaveolentes exhibit...     

Evolutionary developmental biology and genomics

Reciprocal questions often frame studies of the evolution of developmental mechanisms. How can species share similar developmental genetic toolkits but still generate diverse life forms? Conversely, how can similar forms develop from different toolkits? Genomics bridges the gap between evolutionary and developmental biology, and can help answer these evo-devo questions in several ways. First, it informs us about historical relationships, thus orienting the direction of evolutionary diversification. Second, genomics lists all toolkit components, thereby revealing contraction and expansion of the genome and suggesting mechanisms for evolution of both developmental functions and genome architecture. Finally, comparative genomics helps us to identify conserved non-coding elements and their relationship to genome architecture and development.     

Improvement of cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease model mice by genetic and pharmacological inhibition of the EP(4) receptor

Amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), which is generated by the β- and γ-secretase-mediated proteolysis of β-amyloid precursor protein (APP), plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We recently reported that prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2) ) stimulates the production of Aβ through both EP(2) and EP(4) receptors and that activation of the EP(4) receptor stimulates Aβ production through endocytosis and activation of γ-secretase. We here found that transgenic mice expressing mutant APP (APP23) mice showed a greater or lesser apparent cognitive deficit when they were crossed with mice lacking EP(2) or EP(4) receptors, respectively. Mice lacking the EP(4) receptor also displayed lower levels of Aβ plaque deposition and less neuronal and synaptic loss than control mice. Oral administration of a specific EP(4) receptor antagonist, AE3-208 to APP23 mice, improved their cognitive performance, as well as decreasing brain levels of Aβ and suppressing endocytosis and activation of γ-secretase. Taken together, these results suggest that inhibition of the EP(4) receptor improves the cognitive function of APP23 mice by suppressing Aβ production and reducing neuronal and synaptic loss. We therefore propose that EP(4) receptor antagonists, such as AE3-208, could be therapeutically beneficial for the prevention and treatment of AD.