Cultural Evolution of Puget Sound White-Crowned Sparrow Song Dialects

The songs of male Puget Sound white‐crowned sparrows currently form about 12 dialects along the Pacific Northwest coast. In his survey of 1970, Baptista (Condor 1977; 79: 356–370) defined six of the dialects based on the song's terminal trill because most males at each locality shared the simple syllables (SSs) in this trill. The complex syllables (CSs) in the song's introduction varied among males at a locality, and were often shared among localities. From 1997 to 2004 we revisited nine of the sites Baptista studied to determine whether the SSs and CSs had changed over the 30‐yr interval. Using Baptista's catalogs of SS and CS types as bases for comparison, we found that the relative proportions of CS types changed significantly more over time than did the proportions of SS types. These results suggest that SSs and CSs evolve independently. Observations were also made on the developmental mechanisms that either produce diversity or maintain uniformity in song phrases. In a survey of 670 field‐recorded songs, unique improvizations occurred significantly more often in CSs than in SSs. In a laboratory experiment using hand‐reared males and multiple song tutors, males were significantly more accurate in imitating SSs than CSs. In choosing their final song to keep from their overproduced repertoire, yearling males tended to retain the song type that matched the SSs in the song played back to them. We conclude by discussing how differences in the functions served by these two song phrases may have led to their different rates of cultural evolution.     

Synthesis of novel potent hepatitis C virus NS3 protease inhibitors: discovery of 4-hydroxy-cyclopent-2-ene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid as a N-acyl-L-hydroxyproline bioisostere

Potent tetrapeptidic inhibitors of the HCV NS3 protease have been developed incorporating 4-hydroxy-cyclopent-2-ene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid as a new N-acyl-l-hydroxyproline mimic. The hydroxycyclopentene template was synthesized in eight steps from commercially available (syn)-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride. Three different amino acids were explored in the P1-position and in the P2-position the hydroxyl group of the cyclopentene template was substituted with 7-methoxy-2-phenyl-quinolin-4-ol. The P3/P4-positions were then optimized from a set of six amino acid derivatives. All inhibitors were evaluated in an in vitro assay using the full-length NS3 protease. Several potent inhibitors were identified, the most promising exhibiting a K(i) value of 1.1nM.     

Enzymatic conversion of dynorphin A in the rat brain is affected by administration of nandrolone decanoate

The misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) seems to produce profound effects on the central nervous system, leading to aggressive behavior and increased sensitivity to other drugs of abuse. The present study addresses the effect on the enzymatic transformation, here called dynorphin converting enzyme-like activity. The formation of the mu/delta opioid peptide receptor-preferring Leu-enkephalin-Arg(6) from the kappa opioid peptide receptor-preferring dynorphin A was measured in rats treated with nandrolone decanoate. Significant variations in enzymatic transformation were observed in several brain regions. An altered receptor activation profile in these regions may be one contributory factor behind AAS-induced personality changes.     

Selective oxidation of mitochondrial glutathione in cultured rat adrenal cells and its relation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced cytotoxicity

Primary cultures of rat adrenal cells, as well as rat adrenals in vivo, are sensitive to the potent carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and its liver metabolite 7-hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene, whereas unmethylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzo[a]pyrene or benzo[a]anthracene are ineffective. The adrenocorticolytic potencies of the hydrocarbons are affected by adrenocorticotrophic hormone and various steroids, cytochrome P450 inhibitors, and antioxidants. In the present investigation digitonin was used to fractionate cultured rat adrenal cells. It was found that the mitochondria and cytosol of the cells contained 3-5 nmol/10(6) cells (approximately 15%) and 20-30 nmol/10(6) cells (approximately 85%) of the total soluble cellular glutathione equivalents, respectively. After exposing the cells to 7-hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene in the culture medium, a time- and concentration-dependent selective oxidation of mitochondrial glutathione was observed, whereas the effect on the cytosolic glutathione was negligible. Under the same conditions, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene were unable to alter the redox levels of the subcellular pools of glutathione. Omission of adrenocorticotrophic hormone lowered the oxidation of mitochondrial glutathione induced by 7-hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene about twofold. The results suggest that rat adrenal cells contain two separate pools of glutathione, one cytosolic and one mitochondrial, of which the latter is selectively influenced by 7-hydroxymethyl-12-methylbenz[a]anthracene. Moreover, it is concluded that rat adrenal cells offer a unique model system for general studies of the effects of a selective oxidation of mitochondrial glutathione on various cell functions. These effects may constitute early changes in cytotoxicity, preceding, e.g., membrane damage and loss of cytosolic components.     

SCS1, a multicopy suppressor of hsp60-ts mutant alleles, does not encode a mitochondrially targeted protein.

We identified and isolated a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene which, when overexpressed, suppressed the temperature-sensitive phenotype of cells expressing a mutant allele of the gene encoding the mitochondrial chaperonin, Hsp60. This gene, SCS1 (suppressor of chaperonin sixty-1), encodes a 757-amino-acid protein of as yet unknown function which, nonetheless, has human, rice, and Caenorhabditis elegans homologs with high degrees (ca. 60%) of amino acid sequence identity. SCS1 is not an essential gene, but SCS1-null strains do not grow above 37 degrees C and show some growth-related defects at 30 degrees C as well. This gene is expressed at both 30 and 38 degrees C, producing little or no differences in mRNA levels at these two temperatures. Overexpression of SCS1 could not complement an HSP60-null allele, indicating that suppression was not due to the bypassing of Hsp60 activity. Of 10 other hsp60-ts alleles tested, five could also be suppressed by SCS1 overexpression. There were no common mutant phenotypes of the strains expressing these alleles that give any clue as to why they were suppressible while others were not. An epitope (influenza virus hemagglutinin)-tagged form of SCS1 in single copy complemented an SCS1-null allele. The Scs1-hemagglutinin protein was found to be at comparable levels and in similar multiply modified forms in cells growing at both 30 and 38 degrees C. Surprisingly, when localized either by cell fractionation procedures or by immunocytochemistry, these proteins were found not in mitochondria but in the cytosol. The overexpression of SCS1 had significant effects on the cellular levels of mRNAs encoding the proteins Cpn10 and Mgel, two other mitochondrial protein cochaperones, but not on mRNAs encoding a number of other mitochondrial or cytosolic proteins analyzed. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Anthropometric data in middle-aged women. The population study of women in G?teborg 1968-1969.

Body weight, body height, skinfolds, circumferences and weight indices in a population sample of 1462 women in ages between 38 and 60 years are presented. Significant age differences were noted. High correlations (r) were found between body weight and triceps and subscapular skinfolds (0.62 and 0.72 respectively) and between body weight and arm, waist and buttock circumferences (0.75-0.88). Age differences were mostly noted between 46 and 50 years of age. After that age there was a comparatively greater increase of the waist circumference than of the buttock circumference, while triceps skinfold seemed to decrease after the age of 50 indicating an altered adipose tissue distribution from the extremities to the trunk with increasing age. When taking data from a previous study of body weight in the same population of women into consideration it seems that the age differences in body weight found in cross-sectional study like the present one may to a large extent depend on differences between different cohorts studied.