牛生长激素结构不均一性的研究

本文报导用常规方法分离纯化的牛生长激素,在还原性SDS-11％聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳中呈分子量很接近的两条主带(22KD,21.5KD)。用单克隆抗体和多克隆抗体亲和层析技术分析了不同分子量形式的牛生长激素的转化,结果表明:牛生长激素可能在pH5.5条件下转化为21.5KD分子,在pH8.3条件下则转化18KD分子。这几种形式的牛生长激素均保留与抗体的结合力,但亲和力不尽相同,如在亲和层析的洗脱性质上存在差异。已检验分离并部分纯化了18KD分子以备作进一步的研究。     

Structural basis of hierarchical multiple substates of a protein. II: Monte Carlo simulation of native thermal fluctuations and energy minimization

Conformational fluctuations in a globular protein, bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, in the time range between picoseconds and nanoseconds are studied by a Monte Carlo simulation method. Multiple energy minima are derived from sampled conformations by minimizing their energy. They are distributed in clusters in the conformational space. A hierarchical structure is observed in the simulated dynamics. In the time range between 10(-14) and 10(-10) seconds dynamics is well represented by a superposition of vibrational motions within an energy well with transitions among minima within each cluster. Transitions among clusters take place in the time range of nanoseconds or longer.     

Evidence for Functional Activity of Up-Regulated Nicotine Binding Sites in Rat Striatal Synaptosomes

A number of studies have found that the chronic administration of nicotine causes an increase in the density of nicotinic binding sites in the brain, but it is not known whether these additional binding sites are functionally active receptors. In this study, the effects of 1-week administration of the potent nicotinic agonist, (+)-anatoxin-a (96 nmol/day via osmotic minipumps), was assessed on [3H]nicotine binding and [3H]dopamine uptake and release in rat striatal synaptosomes. Chronic (+)-anatoxin-a treatment resulted in a 32% increase in the Bmax of [3H]nicotine binding in anatoxin-treated animals compared to control. There was a 43% increase in the activity of 3 microM nicotine to release [3H]dopamine from synaptosomes of anatoxin-treated animals, but the release induced by 20 mM K+ depolarization was unaffected. There was no effect of chronic (+)-anatoxin-a treatment on the uptake of [3H]dopamine. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.64) was found between the density of [3H]nicotine binding sites and the nicotine-induced stimulation of [3H]dopamine release in individual animals. These results indicate that (+)-anatoxin-a, like nicotine, produces an up-regulation of nicotine binding sites following chronic administration, and that these additional sites are functional receptors capable of mediating the release of dopamine from striatal synaptosomes.     

Pharmacological Characteristics and Distributions of σ and Phencyclidine Receptors in the Animal Kingdom

The phylogenetic distributions ofσ- and phencyclidine receptors in neural tissues of 13 species and the pharmacological characteristics of these receptors in whole sea anemone and neural tissues of the guinea pig, chicken, and frog were studied. Specific binding of [³H]haloperidol and [³H]N-[1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexyl]-3,4-piperidine, ligands that bind with high affinity to σ- and phencyclidine receptors, respectively, was detected in all organisms examined. The order of potencies of various ligands to inhibit 1 nM [³H]haloperidol binding in brains of frogs and guinea pigs or 1 nM [³H]N-[1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexyl]-3,4–piperidine in chicken or guinea pig brain homogenates was very similar. However, the characteristics and stereospecificity of binding of the two radioligands in sea anemone were different than in higher organisms. The results suggest that σ– and phencyclidine binding sites are evolutionarily old, as the characteristics of the two sites are well preserved over a range of vertebrate phyla.     

Discrete Distributions of Adenosine Receptors in Mammalian Retina

Binding sites for both the adenosine A1 receptor agonists [3H]phenylisopropyladenosine and [3H]cyclohexyladenosine and the mixed A1-A2 agonist N-[3H]ethylcarboxamidoadenosine [( 3H]NECA) were localized in rabbit and mouse retinas using autoradiographic techniques. These two classes of agonists bound to very different regions of mammalian retinas. A1 agonist binding was localized to the inner retina, particularly over the inner plexiform layer. The binding of [3H]NECA was observed primarily over the retinal pigmented epithelium and the outer and inner segments of photoreceptors. [3H]NECA labeling was not affected either by including a low concentration of unlabeled A1 agonist or by pretreating tissue with N-ethylmaleimide to inhibit ligand binding at A1 sites. While virtually all of the [3H]NECA binding was displaced by an excess of unlabeled NECA, displacement with antagonist or a large excess of cyclohexyladenosine revealed that approximately 30% of the [3H]NECA binding was at non-A1,A2 sites. The majority of the binding in the outer retina thus labeled A2 receptor sites. The unique localizations of the two classes of adenosine receptors suggest different functions in visual processing.     

氨甲酰胆碱和Impromidine对CFU—S细胞周期的影响

正常情况下处于S期的CFU-S比例低于10％。氨甲酰胆碱(Cach 10~(-13)—10~(-9)mol/L)和Impromidine(Impro 10~(-9)—10~(-4)mol/L)在体外与小鼠骨髓细胞短时培育后,增加了CFU-S对细胞毒剂羟基脲的敏感性。反应最大时,9d和13dCFU-S的减少率分别是32.8和60.6％(Cach)以及38.4和49.5％(Impro)。这种效应可分别被胆碱能N受体阻断剂筒箭毒(10~(-6)mol/L)和组胺H_2受体阻断剂甲氰咪呱(10~(-6)mol/L)所阻断,表明9d和13d CFU-S表面胆碱能N受体和组胺H_2受体的密度或活性存在差别,再次证实了CFU-S是一个不均一的细胞群。     

Enhancement of habitat heterogeneity and species richness on rocky shores inundated by sand

Summary Many rocky shores are subject to periodic inundation by sand, which is often thought to reduce species richness by eliminating organisms intolerant of sand scour or sand smothering. However, regular disturbance (e.g. inundation) should promote richness by preventing the development of low diversity climax communities. A study of faunal richness on 10 regularly inundated shores showed that inundation does promote richness, but by increasing habitat heterogeneity. Some species are excluded from parts of the shore by sand, but because of the patchiness of sand deposits they are rarely excluded from the entire shore. Other species are found only on rocks associated with sand, while typically sandy shore animals occur in the sand deposits themselves. Total richness (281 species) was greater than for local noninundated shores and sandy beaches combined.     

The first born,their dispersal,and vole cycles

Summary On the basis of some empirical data and the existing theory of vole cycles, a new hypothesis is proposed. It explains cyclicity as an effect of obligatory dispersal of the first seasonal cohort of young (Y1) from their natal (optimal) habitats into vacant (suboptimal) habitats. This behaviour could evolve, because it increases contribution of genetic lineages with dispersing Y1, to subsequent generation. It is assumed that the dispersal of Y1 is common among vole species, it does not change during consecutive phases of the cycle, and it does not vary between cyclic and non-cyclic populations. It results in multiannual cycles only under a certain set of spatial and climatic conditions, which are discussed in a paper. Otherwise it results in annual dynamics.     

Temperature-dependent changes in Photosystem II heterogeneity of attached leaves under high light

Attached leaves of pumpkin ( Cucurbita pepo L. cv. Jattiläismeloni) were exposed to high light intensity at room temperature (ca 23°C) and at 1°C. Fluorescence parameters and electron transport activities measured from isolated thylakoids indicated faster photoinhibition of PSII at low temperature. Separation of the α and β components of the complementary area above the fluorescence induction curve of dichlorophenyl-dimethylurea-poisoned thylakoids revealed that at low temperature only the α-centers declined during exposure to high light intensity while the content of functional β-centers remained constant. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy showed no decrease in the density of particles on the appressed exoplasmic fracture face, indicating that the photoinhibited α-centers remained in the appressed membranes at 1°C. Because of the function of the repair and protective mechanisms of PSII, strong light induced less photoinhibition at room temperature, but more complicated changes occurred in the α/β-heterogeneity of PSII. During the first 30 min at high light intensity the decrease in α-centers was almost as large as at 1°C, but in contrast to the situation at low temperature the decrease in α-centers was compensated for by a significant increase in PSIIβ-centers. Changes in the density and size of freeze-fracture particles suggest that this increase in β-centers was due to migration of phosphorylated light-harvesting complex from appressed to non-appressed thylakoid membranes while the PSII core remained in the appressed membranes. This situation, however, was only transient and was followed by a rapid decrease in the functionalβ-centers.