Inhibition of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter by pure and impure ruthenium red

Commercial ruthenium red is often purified by a single recrystallization as described by Luft, J.H. (1971) Anat Rec 171, 347–368, which yields small amounts of material having an apparent molar extinction coefficient of 67,400 at 533 nm. A simple modification to the procedure dramatically improves the yield, allowing crystallization to be repeated. Three times recrystallized ruthenium red has an apparent extinction coefficient of 85,900, the highest value reported to date. Both crude and highly purified ruthenium red can be shown to inhibit reverse activity of the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter (uncoupled mitochondria), provided that care is taken to minimize and account for Ca²⁺ release through the permeability transition pore. Crude ruthenium red is 7–10 fold more potent than the highly purified material in this regard, on an actual ruthenium red concentration basis. The same relative potency is seen against forward uniport (coupled mitochondria), however, the I₅₀ values are 10 fold lower for both the crude and purified preparations. These data demonstrate unambiguously that the energy state of mitochondria affects the sensitivity of the Ca²⁺ uniporter to ruthenium red preparations, and that both the forward and reverse reactions are subject to complete inhibition. The data suggest, however, that the active inhibitor may not be ruthenium redper se, but one or more of the other ruthenium complexes which are present in ruthenium red preparations.Abbreviations CCP carbonyl cyanide p-chlorophenylhydrazone - CSA cyclosporin A - Hepes 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine ethanesulfonic acid     

A comparative study of the glomerular peripolar cell and the renin-secreting cell in twelve mammalian species

The peripolar cell is a glomerular epithelial cell situated within Bowman's capsule at its vascular pole. It is believed to be a secretory cell which forms part of the juxtaglomerular apparatus. Scanning electron microscopy was used to perform a comparative study of the morphology and number of peripolar cells in twelve mammalian species. The number of renin-secreting cells in kidney sections stained by renin antibodies and immunocytochemistry was counted. There was a marked inter-species variation in the number, size and appearance of peripolar cells. They were largest and most abundant in sheep and goat and fewest in dog, cow and human. There was no correlation between the numbers of peripolar cells and renin-secreting cells. This does not support the view that the peripolar cell is part of the juxtaglomerular apparatus.     

Loss of intracellular glycerol from Dunaliella by electroporation at constant osmotic pressure: subsequent restoration of glycerol content and associated volume changes

The effect of electroporation on Dunaliella tertiolecta at constant osmotic pressure (or water activity) was investigated. The following metabolic and physiological parameters were determined: extracellular and intracellular glycerol content, soluble protein content, photosynthetic oxygen evolution, mitochondrial oxygen uptake, cell volume and cell density. Electroporation conditions are described that released about 10% of intracellular glycerol to the external medium with minimal apparent effects on metabolism. Glycerol release originated from most cells rather than by total rupture of a small proportion of cells. Cell volume, measured on motile cells by video microscopy, reduced by 23% immediately after electroporation. Cell density did not increase. The uptake of mannitol, the major solute in the electroporation medium, was less than 20% of glycerol release. Following electroporation, the intracellular glycerol content and the cell volume both returned to pre-electroporation values after about 30min. Because the cells were maintained at constant external osmotic pressure throughout the procedure, it is concluded that the regulatory mechanism responsible for setting the intracellular glycerol content does not sense external osmotic pressure per se. These findings are consistent with a mechanism that senses a parameter linked directly to cell volume to set the intracellular glycerol content.     

Transpiration measurements on apple trees with an improved stem heat balance method

Since the late eighties a handy and user-friendly sap flow meter (Dynagage®) is on the market which can quantify 0205 the sap flow through intact plant stems, based on the stem heat balance method. The documentation about its accuracy and reliability, however, is still too limited to use it as a standard method in field experiments with apple trees. We therefore tested this commercial system on potted apple trees (Malus domestica L.; cv. Red Elstar and Jonagold; on rootstock M9 vf) with stem diameters of 1.8 to 4 cm. The measured sap flow was compared with mass loss measured by an automated balance, supposing the total mass loss of the trees was equal to the water loss by transpiration. The results revealed three major problems:

Microelectrode-recorded development of the symplasmic autonomy of the sieve element/companion cell complex in the stem phloem of Lupinus luteus L.

From the cambial stage onwards, the symplasmic autonomy of sieve element/companion cell complexes (SE/CC-complexes) was followed in stems of Lupinus luteus L. by microinjection techniques. The membrane potential and the symplasmic autonomy of the mature SE/CC-complex was measured in successive internodes. A microelectrode was inserted into SE/CC-complexes or phloem parenchyma cells (PPs) and, after stabilization of the membrane potential, the membrane-impermeant fluorescent dye Lucifer Yellow CH (LYCH) was injected intracellullary. The plasmodesmata of the cambial SE/ CC precursor were gradually shut off at all interfaces beginning at the walls to be transformed into sieve plates. In the course of maturation, symplasmic discontinuity was maintained at the longitudinal walls of the complex. In the transverse walls of the SE, wide sieve pores were formed giving rise to longitudinal multicellular symplasmic domains of SE/CC-complexes. Symplasmic isolation of the files of mature SE/CC-complexes was demonstrated in several ways: (i) the membrane potential of the SE/CC-complexes (between -100 mV and -130 mV) was consistently more negative than that of the PPs (between-50 and -100 mV), (ii) No exchange of LYCH was observed between SE/CC-complexes and the PPs. Lucifer Yellow CH injected into the SEs exclusively moved to the associated CCs and to other SE/CC-complexes whereas LYCH injected into the PPs was only displaced to other PPs. (iii) The electrical coupling ratio between adjacent PPs was ten times higher than that between SE/CC-complex and PP. A gradient in the membrane potential of the SE/CC-complexes along the stem was not conclusively demonstrated.Abbreviations LYCH Lucifer Yellow CH - membrane potential - PMF proton-motive force - PP phloem parenchyma cell - SE/CC-complex sieve element/companion cell complex - SR-G sulphorhodamine G     

The Casparian strip in pea epicotyls: Effects of light on its development

The Casparian strip, which is specific to roots, was studied in the epicotyls of dark-grown seedlings of pea (Pisum sativum L.) where it was found to have the same morphology and properties as the strip in roots. In dark-grown seedlings, the distance between the upper-most position of the Casparian strip and the bending point of the hook (about 37 mm) did not change during growth of the seedlings. In the uppermost 0.5-mm region of the region in which the Casparian strip could be detected by fluorescence microscopy, the plasma membrane was not firmly attached to the cell wall. The development of the Casparian strip continued for about 42 h after dark-grown seedlings were transferred to the light, indicating that (i) the cells that have been determined to form the Casparian strip in darkness form the strip in the light, and that (ii) it takes about 42 h for the cells to complete formation of the strip. Cells in the hook of dark-grown seedlings did not form a Casparian strip when such seedlings were transferred to the light. The Casparian strip was formed in rapidly elongating internodes of light-grown seedlings when the seedlings were transferred to darkness. Light did not control the formation of the Casparian strip in roots.Abbreviation PBS phosphate-buffered saline     

Suppression of lymphocyte spontaneous proliferative response by proteolipid protein peptide in patients with HAM/TSP

To understand the immune mechanism suggested in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP), we investigated T cell response to proteolipid protein (PLP). Because of high autologous proliferative response (APR) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in culture, the lymphocyte proliferation assay was not useful in this disease. Unexpectedly, however, APR was profoundly (70–98%) suppressed in 6 of 9 cases when PLP peptide 105-124 was added in the culture. PLP peptide 85-104 or 145-159 also suppressed APR in a few cases. Time course study showed that the peptide-mediated suppression became apparent after day 4 in culture. The results can be interpreted as that suppressor cells recognizing the PLP peptides were present in the PBMC of HAM/TSP patients and suppressed the APR as the consequence of antigen specific response. This may indicate that a T cell response to certain PLP determinants is involved in the pathomechanism of HAM/TSP at least in part. Molecular mimicry between PLP and HTLV-I mayaccount for the T cell sensitization to PLP in HAM/TSP.Special issue dedicated to Dr. Marjorie B. Lees.     

Inhibition of G1 phase cyclin dependent kinases by transforming growth factor β1

Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) inhibits epithelial cell proliferation late in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. We examined the effect of TGFβ1 on known late G1 cell cycle regulators in an attempt to determine the molecular mechanism of growth inhibition by this physiological inhibitor. The results demonstrate the TGFβ1 inhibits the late G1 and S phase specific histone H1 kinase activity of p33^cdk2. This inhibitiion is not dur to TGFβ1's effect on p33^cdk2 synthesis, but rather due to its negative effect on the late G1 phosphorylation of p33^cdk2. It is also shown that TGFβ1 inhibits both late G1 cyclin A and cyclin E associated histon H1 kinase activities. The inhibitor has no effects on the synthesis of cyclin E but to inhibit the synthesis of cyclin A protein in a cell cycle dependent manner. If TGFβ1 is added to cells which have progressed futher than 8 hours into G1, then it is without inhibitory effect on cyclin A synthesis. These effect on TGFβ1 on late G1 cell cycle regulators correlate well with its inhibitory effects on cellular growth and suggest that these G1 cyclin dependent kinases might serve as targets for TGFβ1-mediated growth arrest.     

Maximization of recombinant protein yield in the insect cell/baculovirus system by one-time addition of nutrients to high-density batch cultures

Suspension cultures of Sf-9 cells at different stages of growth were infected with a recombinant baculovirus expressing -galactosidase, using a range of multiplicities of infection (MOI) of 0.05 to 50. Following infection, the cells were resuspended either in the medium in which they had been grown or in fresh medium. Specific -galactosidase yields were not markedly affected by either MOI or medium change in cultures infected in early exponential phase (3×10⁶ cells mL^–1). In cultures infected at later growth stages, -galactosidase yields could only be maintained by medium replacement. The possibility that this requirement for medium replacement is due either to the accumulation of an inhibitory byproduct or nutrient limitation was examined. Alanine, a major byproduct of cultured insect cell metabolism, did not significantly reduce recombinant protein yield when added to infected cultures in concentrations of up to 40 mM. Following a factorial design, various nutrient concentrates were added alone or in combination to cultures infected in late exponential phase. Additions that included both yeastolate ultrafiltrate and an amino acid mixture restored specific -galactosidase yields to levels observed at earlier growth stages or in late stages with medium replacement; the addition of these concentrates, by permitting production at higher cell density, led to increases in the volumetric yield of recombinant protein. Together or separately, the concentrates when added to uninfected late exponential phase cultures, lead to a doubling of the maximum total cell protein level normally supported by unamended medium.