Aquatic Oligochaeta in some tributaries of the Río de La Plata,Buenos Aires,Argentina

The Oligochaeta of some streams flowing into the Rio de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, were investigated. Twenty nine taxa (twenty four naidids, five tubificids) were identified. Most species are cosmopolitan, but Dero evelinae, Pristina leidyi, Slavina isochaeta and Bothrioneurum sp. are neotropical. Bratislavia unidentata, Haemonais waldvogeli and Nais pardalis are reported for the first time in Argentina. Variants occurr in the shape of the distal end of the penial sheaths of Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri. The dominant Naidid genera are Dero and Pristina. In the polluted El Gato stream only L. hoffmeisteri and L. claparedeianus were found.     

Feeding and energy budget estimations inDaphnia obtusa

The reproductive and growth strategies ofDaphnia obtusa are discussed in terms of energy budget. The results obtained through feeding and life table experiments allow us to understand the role of biotic factors, such as competition and predation, in the evolution of life history traits.     

An estimation of drag in front crawl swimming

Propulsive arm forces of twelve elite male swimmers during a front crawl swimming-like activity were measured. The swimmers pushed off against grips which are attached to a 23 m tube at 0.8 m under the water surface. The tube was fixed to a force transducer. Since at constant speed, mean propulsive force equals mean drag force this method also provides the mean active drag on a moving swimmer. The mean propulsive force at a speed of v = 1.48 m s-1 appeared to be 53.2 +/- 5.8 N which is two to three times smaller than what is reported by other authors for active drag but which is in agreement with values reported for passive drag on a (towed) swimmer who is not moving. Discrepancies with indirect active drag measurements are discussed.     

Perturbation of cultured human vascular endothelial cells by phorbol ester or thrombin alters the cellular von Willebrand factor distribution

We have studied the influence of perturbation of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells on the distribution of the von Willebrand factor. As shown previously, short-term (less than 1 hr) treatment of endothelial cells with the phorbol ester 4 beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or thrombin resulted in the release of cellular stored von Willebrand factor. Long-term treatment with PMA or thrombin evoked a distinct change in the endothelial cell distribution of von Willebrand factor, evident 24 to 48 hrs after exposure. Whereas the contents of the von Willebrand factor storage sites in the cells were gradually restored within 48 hrs, enhanced amounts of von Willebrand factor were secreted into the medium. However, PMA did not increase the endothelial cell contents of mRNA encoding for von Willebrand factor. The number as well as the size of von Willebrand factor storage granules in the endothelial cells increased after exposure to the phorbol ester, as determined by immunofluorescence microscopy. A second treatment with PMA or thrombin, 48 hrs after cells had been stimulated with these agents, resulted again in the instantaneous release of von Willebrand factor. PMA and thrombin caused a decrease in the von Willebrand factor contents of the extracellular matrix. Pulse-chase experiments revealed that PMA blocked the deposition of von Willebrand factor in the subendothelium, whereas PMA did not affect the degradation of matrix von Willebrand factor. Thus, perturbation of endothelial cells changes the cellular distribution of von Willebrand factor.     

Epidermal growth factor receptor expression during morphological differentiation of pheochromocytoma cells, induced by nerve growth factor or dibutyryl cyclic AMP

Rat pheochromocytoma cells (clone PC12) possess functional surface receptors for both nerve growth factor (NGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF). PC12 cells respond to NGF as well as to dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) by arrest of cell proliferation and initiation of morphological differentiation, while EGF acts as a mitogen. Exposure of PC12 cells to NGF for several days resulted in a complete loss of rapid EGF responses, such as membrane ruffling and activation of active K+ transport. EGF binding studies revealed that this loss of EGF responses was due to an almost complete reduction of the number of EGF binding sites. In contrast, exposure of PC12 cells to dbcAMP for 2 days did not affect the rapid EGF responses, despite the morphological differentiation. Moreover, EGF binding studies demonstrated a twofold increase in the number of high-affinity binding sites and a small increase in the number of low-affinity sites. In addition, exposure of the cells to dbcAMP caused a twofold increase of EGF-receptor phosphotyrosine kinase activity. These results indicate that neither EGF-binding or the presence of EGF receptors nor the rapid EGF responses are sufficient for persistent proliferation, on one hand, or sufficient to avoid morphological differentiation, on the other.     

Regulation of gluconeogenic enzymes during the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae growing in a chemostat

Oscillation of the activities of gluconeogenic enzymes (malate dehydrogenase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase) was observed during the cell cycle of chemostat cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Since ethanol is released by the cells at the beginning of the division cycle, its effect on enzyme expression was determined. Pulsing ethanol to a synchronously dividing yeast culture led to a prolongation of the metabolically active phase as indicated by the course of oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production rates (concomitant ethanol and glucose assimilation). Enzyme activities also remained elevated as long as ethanol was available to the cells. After a substrate shift from glucose to ethanol during cell division, ethanol was used without a lag phase and enzyme induction increased from the level reached at the point of the substrate change. The data confirmed that the small amount of ethanol produced when the cells begin active reproduction acts as an inducer of gluconeogenic enzymes.     

B cell growth-promoting activity of recombinant human interleukin 4

Human interleukin 4 (IL-4), also known as B cell stimulatory factor 1, is a T cell-derived glycoprotein consisting of 129 amino acids for which a cDNA has been recently isolated. IL-4 displays little or no B cell growth factor (BCGF) activity in the standard anti-IgM costimulatory assay using suboptimal concentrations of soluble anti-IgM antibody whereas the low m.w. BCGF is very active. When insolubilized anti-IgM was used as the costimulating agent, both IL-4 and the low m.w. BCGF were found to promote B cell proliferation. Human IL-4 is able to induce the proliferation of B lymphocytes preactivated for either 1 day with insolubilized anti-IgM antibody or for 3 days with Staphylococcus aureus strain Cowan I. However, IL-4 is poorly mitogenic for B cells preactivated for 1 day with the Staphylococcus strain whereas the low m.w. BCGF strongly enhances the proliferation of these B cells. These two findings demonstrate that the preactivation signal necessary to induce human B cells to proliferate in response to IL-4 is critical. The increased tritiated thymidine ([3H]dThd) uptake in preactivated B cell cultures with IL-4 reflects cel proliferation because cell cycle analysis demonstrates that IL-4 induces activated B cells to enter the S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle and the addition of IL-4 to preactivated B cell cultures permits the recovery of three- to fourfold more B cells after 4 days of culture. IL-4 and the low m.w. BCGF act in concert to induce the proliferation of anti-IgM-preactivated B cells as demonstrated by [3H]dThd uptake and cell cycle analysis. In striking contrast to the demonstrated antagonistic effect of interferon-gamma on the IL-4-induced expression of the low affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon RL/CD23), on B cells, it was found that interferon-gamma enhanced the IL-4-induced proliferation of anti-IgM-preactivated B cells. Finally, it was found that IL-4 had to be present continuously during the culture period to exert an optimal growth-promoting effect on B cell blasts. As a conclusion, IL-4 is able to induce the proliferation of an appropriately activated subpopulation of human B cells.