Ca2+ channels in chick neural retina cells characterized by 1,4-dihydropyridine antagonists and activators

The voltage-sensitive calcium channel in cultured chick neural retina cells was characterized by the actions of the enantiomers of Bay K 8644 and 202-791 and other 1,4-dihydropyridines. These cells showed time- and voltage-dependent Ca2+ uptake that was stimulated by K+ depolarization and blocked by the inorganic calcium channel blockers Cd2+ and Co2+. A small fraction only (15% maximum) of the uptake was inactivated by predepolarization of the cells with 80 mM K+. Ca2+ uptake was sensitive to the 1,4-dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonists and activators. (S)-Bay K 8644 and (S)-202-791 stimulated the Ca2+ uptake, and (R)-Bay K 8644 and (R)-202-791 as well as nitrendipine and PN 200-110 inhibited Ca2+ uptake stimulated by K+ depolarization or channel activators. The K+ depolarization-stimulated uptake was inhibited by 90%, but the activator-stimulated uptake was completely blocked by the 1,4-dihydropyridine antagonists. The potencies of these agents as inhibitors of Ca2+ uptake were significantly lower than the binding affinities in membrane preparations from the same cells or their binding and pharmacologic affinities in vascular smooth muscle. K+ depolarization or (S)-Bay K 8644 induced 45Ca2+ uptake was not observed in a glial cell culture. [3H]Nitrendipine and [3H]PN 200-110 bound to membrane preparations of the cells consistent with the presence of a single type of high affinity binding site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Albumin — vitamin D-binding protein haplotypes in Asian-Pacific populations

Summary We have determined the various haplotypic combinations between alleles as well as restriction fragment length polymorphisms of two linked genetic markers, albumin and vitamin D-binding protein or group-specific component, in a number of Asian-Pacific populations. Using the partial maximum likelihood method, we constructed a phylogenetic network from the haplotype frequencies to assess relationships among the populations sampled. No systematic linkage disequilibrium was detected between most of the combinations, suggesting a lack of operation of any selection pressure at the two loci. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed the known interrelationships among various populations in the Asian-Pacific region. The Australian aborigines clustered closely with the non-Austronesian-speaking highlanders from Papua New Guinea, as expected. Similarly, the Austronesian-speaking Polynesians, Micronesians, and the Southeast Asians branched off together as a separate group. The position of the Austronesian-speaking Tolais from New Britain with respect to other populations from the Southwest Pacific was anomalous. The Tolais revealed a strong affinity with the Australian aborigines, which is inexplicable. The populations from China formed a tight cluster with other populations from the Asian-Pacific region. Genetic interrelationships of these populations with the white Australians were remote, which is in accordance with the known affinities of various human racial groups.     

红豆草组织培养物的超低温保存及其超微结构的观察

红豆草(Onobrychis viciaefolia Scop.)组织培养物在5%DMSO+10%甘油+8%蔗糖的冰冻保护剂及以1℃/分钟的速度降温到-35—-40℃,停留2小时后,投入液氮,40℃水浴快速化冻等条件下,存活率达60—70%,并保持了高的分化能力。电子显微镜的观察结果表明,快速冰冻和1℃/分钟慢速冰冻至-35℃—40℃不停留,对细胞结构造成严重的致死性破坏;-35℃停留30分钟对细胞结构的损伤是可逆性的;停留2小时的其超微结构基本上与对照材料无明显差别。     

金线鲃属鱼类一新种(鲤形目:鲤科)

作者于1986年6月在贵州盘县一溶洞的水体中采到金线鲃属鱼类一新种,命名为角金线鲃,新种Sinocyclocheilus angularis sp. nov.。本新种形状怪异,头背缘末端具一朝前的角状突,其内有顶骨突;眼正常;侧线鳞明显;鳔后室发达等特征而易与金线鲃属其他种相区别。     

国产磨芋属的染色体核型报道(1)

本文报道了磨芋属(Amorphophallus Blume)六个种的染色体数目和核型,其中5个种属于首次报道。其核型公式如下: 1.滇磨芋 K(2n)=2x=26=26m.2.磨芋 K(2n)=2x=26=26m.3.攸落磨芋K(2n)=2x=26=22m(2SAT)+4sm.(2SAT).4.西盟磨芋 K(2n)=2x=26=20m+4sm+2st.5.勐海磨芋 K(2n)=2x=26=22m+4sm.6.白磨芋 K(2n)=2x=26=20m(2SAT)+6sm。     

Search for the optimal sequence of the ribosome binding site by random oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis.

Synthetic DNA duplexes corresponding to the ribosome binding site (RBS) were synthesized through the phosphite method on solid support. The synthetic RBS DNA with partial random sequences was inserted into an appropriate site between the lpp-lac promoter and the beta-galactosidase structural gene in plasmid pMKT2. The level of beta-galactosidase expression was correlated with the color intensity of the recombinant colonies on X-gal plates. The bluest colonies were isolated and characterized with respect to beta-galactosidase enzyme activity and RBS sequence. There was good correlation between color intensity and the level of the enzyme activity, and this provided a reliable phenotypic screening method in the search for the optimal regulatory sequences. Novel RBS sequences obtained here show not only the unique nucleotide distribution, but also strong complemetarity to the 3' end region of 16S rRNA, from which could be deduced a generalized RBS sequence, the position of the SD region, and the 16S rRNA position mediated during translation initiation.     

Genetic organization and nucleotide sequence of the stability locus of IncFII plasmid NR1

The stability (stb) locus of IncFII plasmid NR1 was mapped to a 1700 base-pair NaeI-TaqI restriction fragment. A series of unstable plasmids that contained insertion, deletion, and point mutations that inactivated the stability function was isolated. The unstable point mutants examined were all stabilized (complemented) in trans by a copy of the wild-type stb locus, suggesting that the mutations had inactivated diffusible gene products. The nucleotide sequence of the stb locus contained two tandem open reading frames, designated stbA and stbB, that encoded essential trans-acting protein products with predicted sizes of 36,000 Mr and 13,000 Mr, respectively. A third open reading frame, stbC, that could encode a peptide of 8000 Mr was contained within stbB in the complementary DNA strand. Plasmid-encoded proteins of 36,000 Mr and 13,000 Mr were identified in minicell experiments as the products of stbA and stbB, respectively. Unstable deletion mutants that retained the promoter proximal region of the stb locus upstream from stbA but had deleted both stbA and stbB were stabilized in trans by plasmids that could supply StbA and StbB. In contrast, deletion mutants that had lost the stbAB promoter region were not complemented in trans, indicating that this region contained an essential cis-acting site (or sites). Unlike some other loci that mediate stable plasmid inheritance, cloned copies of the wild-type stb locus of NR1 did not exert strong incompatibility (i.e. trans destabilization) against other stb+ derivatives of plasmid NR1 present in the same cell.     

Applied anatomy of the anterolateral femoral flap

A study of the source of the blood supply to the anterolateral femoral flap was carried out on 42 lower limbs of adult cadavers (among them 35 cadavers with injection of red latex and 1 with india ink into the arteries and 6 vascular cast specimens), and the surface locations of the vascular pedicle were detected on 50 healthy adults. It was found that the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral vessel was an ideal axial vessel. There are constant perforating branches of the myocutaneous artery or cutaneous branches from the intermuscular space to the anterolateral femoral skin. The area extends about 12 x 30 cm. Within the flap, the anterior branch of the anterolateral cutaneous nerve of the high is located. This flap has been widely used for free transplantation in China since 1983 with satisfactory results.     

图论在中国慈姑属数量分类研究中的应用

慈姑属(Sagittaria L.)是水生单子叶植物泽泻科(Alismataceae)的一个重要属。近年来,陈家宽等对中国慈姑属进行了系统研究。作者应用聚类分析和主成分分析进行了中国慈姑属的数量分类,取得了良好的效果。由于慈姑属分类性状数目较大,因而在压缩后的三维空间中描述分类群间的距离,