The preconditioning response conferred by a mild uncoupling of the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) has been attributed to altered reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondrial Ca2 + uptake within the cells. Here we have explored if altered cellular energetics in response to a mild mitochondrial uncoupling stimulus may also contribute to the protection. The addition of 100 nM FCCP for 30 min to cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) induced a transient depolarization of the Δψm, that was sufficient to significantly reduce CGN vulnerability to the excitotoxic stimulus, glutamate. On investigation, the mild mitochondrial ‘uncoupling’ stimulus resulted in a significant increase in the plasma membrane levels of the glucose transporter isoform 3, with a hyperpolarisation of Δψm and increased cellular ATP levels also evident following the washout of FCCP. Furthermore, the phosphorylation state of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) (Thr 172) was increased within 5 min of the uncoupling stimulus and elevated up to 1 h after washout. Significantly, the physiological changes and protection evident after the mild uncoupling stimulus were lost in CGNs when AMPK activity was inhibited. This study identifies an additional mechanism through which protection is mediated upon mild mitochondrial uncoupling: it implicates increased AMPK signalling and an adaptive shift in energy metabolism as mediators of the preconditioning response associated with FCCP-induced mild mitochondrial uncoupling. 相似文献
Extracting biomedical information from large metabolomic datasets by multivariate data analysis is of considerable complexity. Common challenges include among others screening for differentially produced metabolites, estimation of fold changes, and sample classification. Prior to these analysis steps, it is important to minimize contributions from unwanted biases and experimental variance. This is the goal of data preprocessing. In this work, different data normalization methods were compared systematically employing two different datasets generated by means of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. To this end, two different types of normalization methods were used, one aiming to remove unwanted sample-to-sample variation while the other adjusts the variance of the different metabolites by variable scaling and variance stabilization methods. The impact of all methods tested on sample classification was evaluated on urinary NMR fingerprints obtained from healthy volunteers and patients suffering from autosomal polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Performance in terms of screening for differentially produced metabolites was investigated on a dataset following a Latin-square design, where varied amounts of 8 different metabolites were spiked into a human urine matrix while keeping the total spike-in amount constant. In addition, specific tests were conducted to systematically investigate the influence of the different preprocessing methods on the structure of the analyzed data. In conclusion, preprocessing methods originally developed for DNA microarray analysis, in particular, Quantile and Cubic-Spline Normalization, performed best in reducing bias, accurately detecting fold changes, and classifying samples.
Cell cultures ofThalictrumrugosum released their protoberberine alkaloids into the medium, when cells were transferred to fresh medium lacking phosphate. The nutritional factors required and the impact of the cells' physiological state for the alkaloid excretion were analyzed. Cell cultures, having released their alkaloids into the medium, continued to grow when the alkaloid containing medium was replaced by fresh growth medium. 相似文献
Summary In Central Europe, the F508 deletion accounts for approximately 75% of mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene causing cystic fibrosis. The remainder comprise a large number of individually infrequent mutations whose detection requires a disproportionately large effort. However, a sizeable proportion of non-F508 mutations have been found to cluster within exon 11. We have taken advantage of this clustering to detect a total of five previously described point mutations present on 26/72 (36%) non-F508 chromosomes by polymerase chain reaction/direct sequencing of exon 11. These exon 11 mutations were then subjected to single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, which was shown (i) to discriminate reliably between mutant and wildtype alleles and (ii) to generate reproducible mutation-specific band patterns. This analysis thus represents the first attempt to assess SSCP analysis retrospectively, and serves to illustrate the potential of this screening technique in diagnostic medicine. 相似文献
Summary A total of 56 Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and 11 Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) patients was analyzed by extended multiplex amplification of the DMD/BMD gene; deletions were found in 60% of these patients. The data obtained were used to test the frameshift hypothesis and to compare the distribution of familial versus isolated cases. A significant correlation was found between deletions and isolated cases. Additional experiments were performed in order to determine the deletion breakpoints more precisely. These data are a prerequisite for carrier analysis in the respective families by detection or exclusion of aberrant cDNA fragments derived from ectopic lymphocyte RNA. This diagnostic technique is illustrated by 5 examples. 相似文献
We have studied a patient with severe, dominantly inherited Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV. The results indicate that this patient carries a deletion of 3.3 kilo-base pairs in the triple helical coding domain of one of the two alleles for the pro-alpha-chains of type III collagen (COL3A1). His cultured skin fibroblasts contain equal amounts of normal length mRNA and of mRNA shortened by approximately 600 bases, and synthesize both normal and shortened pro-alpha 1(III)-chains. In procollagen molecules containing one or more shortened chains, a triple helix is formed with a length of only about 780 amino acids. The mutant procollagen molecules have decreased thermal stability, are less efficiently secreted, and are not processed as their normal counterpart. The deletion in this family is the first mutation to be described in COL3A1. 相似文献
Summary Spinach cDNA libraries, made from polyadenylated seedling RNA, have been constructed in pBR322 and the expression vector gt11. Recombinant plasmids or phage for 14 intrinsic and peripheral thylakoid membrane proteins and one stromal protein have been identified. They encode components containing antigenic determinants against the lysine-rich 34 kd, the 23 kd and 16 kd proteins all associated with the water-splitting apparatus of the photosystem II reaction center, the ATP synthase subunits gamma, delta and CFo-II, the Rieske Fe/S protein of the cytochrome b/f complex, subunits 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the photosystem I reaction center, plastocyanin, ferredoxin oxidoreductase, chlorophyll a/b-binding apoproteins of the lightharvesting complex associated with photosystem II, and the small subunit of the stromal enzyme ribulose bisphosphate corboxylase/oxygenase. The cDNA inserts lack complementarity to plastid DNA but hybridize to restricted nuclear DNA as well as to discrete poly A+-mRNA species. The precursor products obtained after translation of hybrid selected RNA fractions in a wheat germ assay are imported and processed by isolated unbroken spinach chloroplasts. The imported components comigrate with the respective authentic proteins. 相似文献
Human skin fibroblasts and bone marrow cells were tested for their ability to synthesize the cobalamin-binding protein transcobalamin II. Cobalamin binders secreted in the media of cultured fibroblasts and of dextran-sedimented bone marrow cells in liquid culture could be identified as transcobalamin II on the basis of immunological, electrophoretical and chromatographical identity with serum transcobalamin II. The net secretion of transcobalamin II increased linearly with time of culture, up to 30 days after confluence. The reversible inhibition of transcobalamin II secretion by cycloheximide demonstrated that human fibroblasts are capable of de novo transcobalamin II synthesis. Addition of cyanocobalamin to the fibroblast culture medium induced a reduction of transcobalamin II net secretion, most likely due to preferred uptake of transcobalamin II saturated with cobalamin, as opposed to unsaturated protein. Addition of lysozymal enzyme inhibitors, ammonium chloride and chloroquine, resulted in a markedly increased secretion of transcobalamin II. In the culture medium of fibroblasts, obtained from two transcobalamin II-deficient patients, functionally deficient transcobalamin II was demonstrated on the basis of strongly reduced secretion of immunoreactive transcobalamin II, and the absence of apotranscobalamin II. Individual phenotypes in the culture media of the fibroblasts and bone marrow cells were identical to the corresponding serum transcobalamin II types. 相似文献
The peptide subunit pentapeptide H-L-Ala-D-Glu(L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala-OH)-NH2 of peptidoglycan was localized in the cell walls of several Gram-positive bacteria employing the indirect immunoferritin technique. Specific antibodies to the D-alanyl-D-alanine moiety of non-crosslinked peptide subunit pentapeptide were raised in rabbits by immunization with synthetic immunogen albumin-(CH2CO-Gly-L-Ala-L-Ala-D-Ala-D-Ala-OH)39. Specificity of these antibodies for the peptide subunit pentapeptide and not for the peptide subunit tetrapeptide was corroborated in a Farr-type radio-active hapten binding assay. Specificity of labelling with ferritin was established by immunoelectron microscopic controls, and by the excellent correlation between specific labelling of cells with ferritin and the particular peptidoglycan primary structure of bacterial strains investigated. Cells of Lactobacillus gasseri, Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus revealing non-crosslinked peptide subunit pentapeptides in their peptidoglycans could specifically be labelled. Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bacillus subtilis, on the contrary, missing such pentapeptides, failed in labelling.The implication of this method to possibly localize the points of attack of penicillin or cycloserine is discussed.Abbreviations used meso-A2pm
meso-diaminopimelic acid
- DSM
Deutsche Sammlung für Mikroorganismen, Göttingen, FRG
This paper is dedicated to Professor Gerhart Drews on the occasion of his 60th birthday 相似文献