Seasonal variations in the responses of glycolytic intermediates of human erythrocytes to acute cold exposure

Seven male students were studied to observe the effects of acute cold exposure (at 10°C for 60 min) on erythrocyte concentrations of glycolytic intermediates in summer and in winter. The subjects shivered slightly but frankly in both experiments. Significant decreases were observed in the concentrations of pyruvate and lactate during body cooling in summer, but not in winter. The lactate concentration remained significantly reduced 15 min after cold exposure. After 60 min of cold exposure in summer, a negative crossover point appeared to exist between phosphoenolpyruvate and pyruvate and erythrocyte pyruvate kinase activity showed a significant decrease. No seasonal difference was observed in the initial control values of the intermediates measured. From these results and the fact that glucose, pyruvate and lactate are evenly distributed between erythrocytes and plasma, it is likely that erythrocytes and skeletal muscles need less fuel substrate, glucose during cold exposure in winter than in summer, suggesting that an increased economy of energy for homeostasis is achieved.     

Chronic administration of an organophosphorus insecticide to rats alters cholinergic muscarinic receptors in the pancreas

Male rats were treated for 10 days with the organophosphorus insecticide, acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, O,O-diethyl S-[2-(ethylthio)ethyl]phosphorodithioate (disulfoton, 2 mg/kg/day by gavage). At the end of the treatment, binding of [³H]quinuclidinyl benzilate ([³H]QNB) to cholinergic muscarinic receptors and cholinesterase (ChE) activity were assayed in the pancreas. Functional activity of pancreatic muscarinic receptor was investigated by determining carbachol-stimulated secretion of α-amylase in vitro. ChE activity and [³H]QNB binding were significantly decreased in the pancreas from disulfoton-treated rats. The alteration of [³H]QNB binding was due to a decrease in muscarinic receptor density with no change in the affinity. Basal secretion of amylase from pancreas in vitro was not altered, but carbachol-stimulated secretion was decreased. The effect appeared to be specific since pancreozymin was able to induce the same amylase release from pancreases of control and treated rats. The results suggest that repeated exposures to sublethal doses of an organophosphorus insecticide lead to a biochemical and functional alteration of cholinergic muscarinic receptors in the pancreas.     

轴浆转运在神经再生中的作用

夹伤坐骨神经阻断标记蛋白在轴浆中的快、慢转运。3天后转运再现。第14天的转运距离与对照相似,说明再生神经的转运动能基本恢复。用快、慢转运测出的14天平均再生速度分别为1.77±0.14与1.96±0.07mm/d,比对照神经的正常生长速度快6.3—7倍,提示再生需要更多的转运物质。进一步发现再生神经中某些标记蛋白(慢转运波W1)的转运速度为10.25±0.66mm/d,约比对照快1倍,因此这些标记蛋白可能包含适应再生需要而加速转运的结构和功能物质。     

Global bifurcations in the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations for nerve wave propagation

The FitzHugh-Nagumo equations for action potential propagation along nerve axons and the corresponding ordinary differential equations for travelling waves are solved numerically. Above a critical value, a constant bias current can drive a wave-front solution. At the critical value, a global bifurcation occurs. As a result, the wave front switches into a pulse.Based on a thesis by one of the authors (H. F.).     

Photoinactivation of photosystem II by cumulative exposure to short light pulses during the induction period of photosynthesis

Photoinactivation of Photosystem (PS) II in vivo was investigated by cumulative exposure of pea, rice and spinach leaves to light pulses of variable duration from 2 to 100 s, separated by dark intervals of 30 min. During each light pulse, photosynthetic induction occurred to an extent depending on the time of illumination, but steady-state photosynthesis had not been achieved. During photosynthetic induction, it is clearly demonstrated that reciprocity of irradiance and duration of illumination did not hold: hence the same cumulative photon exposure (mol m^–2) does not necessarily give the same extent of photoinactivation of PS II. This contrasts with the situation of steady-state photosynthesis where the photoinactivation of PS II exhibited reciprocity of irradiance and duration of illumination (Park et al. (1995) Planta 196: 401–411). We suggest that, for reciprocity to hold between irradiance and duration of illumination, there must be a balance between photochemical (qP) and non-photochemical (NPQ) quenching at all irradiances. The index of susceptibility to light stress, which represents an intrinsic ability of PS II to balance photochemical and non-photochemical quenching, is defined by the quotient (1-qP)/NPQ. Although constant in steady-state photosynthesis under a wide range of irradiance (Park et al. (1995). Plant Cell Physiol 36: 1163–1169), this index of susceptibility for spinach leaves declined extremely rapidly during photosynthetic induction at a given irradiance, and, at a given cumulative photon exposure, was dependent on irradiance. During photosynthetic induction, only limited photoprotective strategies are developed: while the transthylakoid pH gradient conferred some degree of photoprotection, neither D1 protein turnover nor the xanthophyll cycle was operative. Thus, PS II is more easily photoinactivated during photosynthetic induction, a phenomenon that may have relevance for understorey leaves experiencing infrequent, short sunflecks.Abbreviations D1 protein psbA gene product - DTT dithiothreitol - F_v, F_m, F_o variable, maximum, and initial (corresponding to open traps) chlorophyll fluorescence yield, respectively - NPQ non-photochemical quenching - PS Photosystem - Q_A primary quinone acceptor of PS II - qP photochemical quenching coefficient     

Induction and ionic basis of slow wave potentials in seedlings of Pisum sativum L.

Slow wave potentials (SWPs) are transient depolarizations which propagate substantial distances from their point of origin. They were induced in the epidermal cells of pea epicotyls by injurious methods such as root excision and heat treatment, as well as by externally applied defined steps in xylem pressure (Px) in the absence of wounding. The common principle of induction was a rapid increase in Px. Such a stimulus appeared under natural conditions after (i) bending of the epicotyl, (ii) wounding of the epidermis, (iii) rewatering of dehydrated roots, and (iv) embolism. The induced depolarization was not associated with a change in cell input resistance. This result and the ineffectiveness of ion channel blockers point to H(+)-pumps rather than ion channels as the ionic basis of the SWP. Stimuli such as excision, heat treatment and pressure steps, which generate SWPs, caused a transient increase in the fluorescence intensity of epicotyls loaded with the pH-indicator DM-NERF, a 2',7'-dimethyl derivative of rhodol, but not of those loaded with the pH indicator 2',7'bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). Matching kinetics of depolarization and pH response identify a transient inactivation of proton pumps in the plasma membrane as the causal mechanism of the SWP. Feeding pump inhibitors to the cut surface of excised epicotyls failed to chemically simulate a SWP; cyanide, azide and 2,4-dinitrophenol caused sustained, local depolarizations which did not propagate. Of all tested substances, only sodium cholate caused a transient and propagating depolarization whose arrival in the growing region of the epicotyl coincided with a transient growth rate reduction.     

Magnetic-field flux density and spectral characteristics of motor-driven personal appliances

Flux density and spectral measurements were carried out on magnetic fields generated by several types of motor-driven personal appliances used near the body. Among the units tested were several for which the average flux densities, as determined at the surfaces of the appliance, exceeded 0.4 mT. Time-rates-of-change (dB/dt) for several units exceeded 1000 T/s, and several units exhibited high-frequency components in the low-MHz range. Use of such appliances, although normally of short duration, can represent exposure to magnetic fields of relatively high flux density, which may also have high-frequency components. Compared to other household and commercial sources of magnetic fields, those generated by certain motor-driven personal appliances may represent a significant contribution to time-weighted average exposure and may represent an important source of local induced currents in the body. Furthermore, high-frequency transients that represent only a minor contribution to time-weighted average exposure may generate significant instantaneous induced currents. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

1 This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

     

Influence of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the pulse rate of human heart

This investigation studied the effects of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the pulse rate of the human heart. The ECG (electrocardiograms) of 41 male volunteers were recorded with a Holter recorder. Twenty-six subjects were measured in and outside real fields, and 15 subjects were measured in and outside “sham” fields. The blood pressure and EEG (electroencephalogram) were also measured, but this article presents only the results of ECG recordings. The measurements took 3 h. The subjects were first sitting for 1 h outside the fields, then 1 h in the real or “sham” fields, and then, again, 1 h outside the fields. The electric field strength varied from 3.5 to 4.3 kV/m and the magnetic flux density from 1.4 to 6.6 μT. An analysis of the ECG recordings showed that the subjects' pulse rates were the same in and outside the fields. No response occurred when the subjects were exposed to real or “sham” fields. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Metabolic compartmentation and substrate channelling in muscle cells

The published experimental data and existing concepts of cellular regulation of respiration are analyzed. Conventional, simplified considerations of regulatory mechanism by cytoplasmic ADP according to Michaelis-Menten kinetics or by derived parameters such as phosphate potential etc. do not explain relationships between oxygen consumption, workload and metabolic state of the cell. On the other hand, there are abundant data in literature showing microheterogeneity of cytoplasmic space in muscle cells, in particular with respect to ATP (and ADP) due to the structural organization of cell interior, existence of multienzyme complexes and structured water phase. Also very recent experimental data show that the intracellular diffusion of ADP is retarded in cardiomyocytes because of very low permeability of the mitochondrial outer membrane for adenine nucleotidesin vivo. Most probably, permeability of the outer mitochondrial membrane porin channels is controlled in the cellsin vivo by some intracellular factors which may be connected to cytoskeleton and lost during mitochondrial isolation. All these numerous data show convincingly that cellular metabolism cannot be understood if cell interior is considered as homogenous solution, and it is necessary to use the theories of organized metabolic systems and substrate-product channelling in multienzyme systems to understand metabolic regulation of respiration. One of these systems is the creatine kinase system, which channels high energy phosphates from mitochondria to sites of energy utilization. It is proposed that in muscle cells feed-back signal between contraction and mitochondrial respiration may be conducted by metabolic wave (propagation of oscillations of local concentration of ADP and creatine) through cytoplasmic equilibrium creatine and adenylate kinases and is amplified by coupled creatine kinase reaction in mitochondria. Mitochondrial creatine kinase has experimentally been shown to be a powerful amplifier of regulatory action of weak ADP fluxes due to its coupling to adenine nucleotide translocase. This phenomenon is also carefully analyzed.It is easier to explain biochemistry in terms of transport than it is to explain transport in terms of biochemistry. P. Mitchell The Ninth Sir Hans Krebs Lecture, Dresden, July 2, 1978.     

Monitoring global change with phenology: The case of the spring green wave

The centuries-old practice of recording plant and animal events that take place at specific times each year (phenology) should play an important role in monitoring mid-latitude global changes. At least three problems related to the detection of biosphere changes could be investigated using this information. Firstly, the technique can be generalized from the local to global scale. Secondly, an integrated approach could be developed to represent biome diversity effectively. Lastly, physical mechanisms responsible for the events can be deduced in order to incorporate the phenological information into global-scale models, and detect changes in related environmental factors. With these goals in mind, regional phenological data collection networks were initiated in eastern North America during the early 1960s, using cloned lilacs and several species of honeysuckle. This paper reviews research projects which address the problems outlined above, using first leaf data (associated with spring green-up or green wave in mid-latitudes) gathered from these networks. The results of such studies in North America have demonstrated the potential of phenology as an efficient monitor of global change throughout mid-latitude regions. Future research efforts will concentrate on the development of a coordinated strategy to link phenological information from satellites, indicator plants (such as the lilac), and representative species from each biome.