In this review, we address the regulatory and toxic role of ·NO along several pathways, from the gut to the brain. Initially, we address the role on ·NO in the regulation of mitochondrial respiration with emphasis on the possible contribution to Parkinson’s disease via mechanisms that involve its interaction with a major dopamine metabolite, DOPAC. In parallel with initial discoveries of the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration by ·NO, it became clear the potential for toxic ·NO-mediated mechanisms involving the production of more reactive species and the post-translational modification of mitochondrial proteins. Accordingly, we have proposed a novel mechanism potentially leading to dopaminergic cell death, providing evidence that NO synergistically interact with DOPAC in promoting cell death via mechanisms that involve GSH depletion. The modulatory role of NO will be then briefly discussed as a master regulator on brain energy metabolism. The energy metabolism in the brain is central to the understanding of brain function and disease. The core role of ·NO in the regulation of brain metabolism and vascular responses is further substantiated by discussing its role as a mediator of neurovascular coupling, the increase in local microvessels blood flow in response to spatially restricted increase of neuronal activity. The many facets of NO as intracellular and intercellular messenger, conveying information associated with its spatial and temporal concentration dynamics, involve not only the discussion of its reactions and potential targets on a defined biological environment but also the regulation of its synthesis by the family of nitric oxide synthases. More recently, a novel pathway, out of control of NOS, has been the subject of a great deal of controversy, the nitrate:nitrite:NO pathway, adding new perspectives to ·NO biology. Thus, finally, this novel pathway will be addressed in connection with nitrate consumption in the diet and the beneficial effects of protein nitration by reactive nitrogen species.
L1 retroposons are represented in mice by subfamilies of interspersed
sequences of varied abundance. Previous analyses have indicated that
subfamilies are generated by duplicative transposition of a small number of
members of the L1 family, the progeny of which then become a major
component of the murine L1 population, and are not due to any active
processes generating homology within preexisting groups of elements in a
particular species. In mice, more than a third of the L1 elements belong to
a clade that became active approximately 5 Mya and whose elements are >
or = 95% identical. We have collected sequence information from 13 L1
elements isolated from two species of voles (Rodentia: Microtinae: Microtus
and Arvicola) and have found that divergence within the vole L1 population
is quite different from that in mice, in that there is no abundant
subfamily of homologous elements. Individual L1 elements from voles are
very divergent from one another and belong to a clade that began a period
of elevated duplicative transposition approximately 13 Mya. Sequence
analyses of portions of these divergent L1 elements (approximately 250 bp
each) gave no evidence for concerted evolution having acted on the vole L1
elements since the split of the two vole lineages approximately 3.5 Mya;
that is, the observed interspecific divergence (6.7%-24.7%) is not larger
than the intraspecific divergence (7.9%-27.2%), and phylogenetic analyses
showed no clustering into Arvicola and Microtus clades.
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The phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of 39 drosophilid
species were studied by using the coding region of the Adh gene. Four
genera--Scaptodrosophila, Zaprionus, Drosophila, and Scaptomyza (from
Hawaii)--and three Drosophila subgenera--Drosophila, Engiscaptomyza, and
Sophophora--were included. After conducting statistical analyses of the
nucleotide sequences of the Adh, Adhr (Adh-related gene), and nuclear rRNA
genes and a 905-bp segment of mitochondrial DNA, we used Scaptodrosophila
as the outgroup. The phylogenetic tree obtained showed that the first major
division of drosophilid species occurs between subgenus Sophophora (genus
Drosophila) and the group including subgenera Drosophila and Engiscaptomyza
plus the genera Zaprionus and Scaptomyza. Subgenus Sophophora is then
divided into D. willistoni and the clade of D. obscura and D. melanogaster
species groups. In the other major drosophilid group, Zaprionus first
separates from the other species, and then D. immigrans leaves the
remaining group of species. This remaining group then splits into the D.
repleta group and the Hawaiian drosophilid cluster (Hawaiian Drosophila,
Engiscaptomyza, and Scaptomyza). Engiscaptomyza and Scaptomyza are tightly
clustered. Each of the D. repleta, D. obscura, and D. melanogaster groups
is monophyletic. The splitting of subgenera Drosophila and Sophophora
apparently occurred about 40 Mya, whereas the D. repleta group and the
Hawaiian drosophilid cluster separated about 32 Mya. By contrast, the
splitting of Engiscaptomyza and Scaptomyza occurred only about 11 Mya,
suggesting that Scaptomyza experienced a rapid morphological evolution. The
D. obscura and D. melanogaster groups apparently diverged about 25 Mya.
Many of the D. repleta group species studied here have two functional Adh
genes (Adh-1 and Adh-2), and these duplicated genes can be explained by two
duplication events.
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In an oligotrophic moorland pool in The Netherlands, S cycling near the sediment/water boundary was investigated by measuring (1) SO42– reduction rates in the sediment, (2) depletion of SO42– in the overlying water column and (3) release of35S from the sediment into the water column. Two locations differing in sediment type (highly organic and sandy) were compared, with respect to reduction rates and depletion of SO42– in the overlying water.Sulfate reduction rates in sediments of an oligotrophic moorland pool were estimated by diagenetic modelling and whole core35SO42– injection. Rates of SO42– consumption in the overlying water were estimated by changes in SO42– concentration over time in in situ enclosures. Reduction rates ranged from 0.27–11.2 mmol m–2 d–1. Rates of SO42– uptake from the enclosed water column varied from –0.5, –0.3 mmol m–2 d–1 (November) to 0.43–1.81 mmol m–2 d–1 (July, August and April). Maximum rates of oxidation to SO42– in July 1990 estimated by combination of SO42– reduction rates and rates of in situ SO42– uptake in the enclosed water column were 10.3 and 10.5 mmol m–2 d–1 at an organic rich and at a sandy site respectively.Experiments with35S2– and35SO42– tracer suggested (1) a rapid formation of organically bound S from dissimilatory reduced SO42– and (2) the presence of mainly non SO42–-S derived from reduced S transported from the sediment into the overlying water. A35S2– tracer experiment showed that about 7% of35S2– injected at 1 cm depth in a sediment core was recovered in the overlying water column.Sulfate reduction rates in sediments with higher volumetric mass fraction of organic matter did not significantly differ from those in sediments with a lower mass fraction of organic matter.Corresponding author 相似文献
1. Predation‐exclusion experiments have highlighted that top‐down control is pervasive in terrestrial communities, but most of these experiments are simplistic in that they only excluded a single group of predators and the effect of removal was evaluated on a few species from the community. The main goal of our study was to experimentally establish the relative effects of ants and birds on the same arthropod assemblage of canopy trees. 2. We conducted 1‐year long manipulative experiments in an organic citrus grove intended to quantify the independent effects of bird and ant predators on the abundance of arthropods. Birds were excluded with plastic nets whereas ants were excluded with sticky barriers on the trunks. The sticky barrier also excluded other ground dwelling insects, like the European earwig Forficula auricularia L. 3. Both the exclusion of ants and birds affected the arthropod community of the citrus canopies, but the exclusion of ants was far more important than the exclusion of birds. Indeed, almost all groups of arthropods had higher abundance in ant‐excluded than in control trees, whereas only dermapterans were more abundant in bird‐excluded than in control trees. A more detailed analysis conducted on spiders also showed that the effect of ant exclusion was limited to a few families rather than being widespread over the entire diverse spectrum of spiders. 4. Our results suggest that the relative importance of vertebrate and invertebrate predators in regulating arthropod populations largely depends on the nature of the predator–prey system. 相似文献
Nitric oxide (NO(*)) is a diffusible regulatory molecule involved in a wide range of physiological and pathological events. At the tissue level, a local and temporary increase in NO(*) concentration is translated into a cellular signal. From our current knowledge of biological synthesis and decay, the kinetics and mechanisms that determine NO(*) concentration dynamics in tissues are poorly understood. Generally, NO(*) mediates its effects by stimulating (e.g., guanylate cyclase) or inhibiting (e.g., cytochrome oxidase) transition metal-containing proteins and by post-translational modification of proteins (e.g., formation of nitrosothiol adducts). The borderline between the physiological and pathological activities of NO(*) is a matter of controversy, but tissue redox environment, supramolecular organization and compartmentalisation of NO(*) targets are important features in determining NO(*) actions. In brain, NO(*) synthesis in the dependency of glutamate NMDA receptor is a paradigmatic example; the NMDA-subtype glutamate receptor triggers intracellular signalling pathways that govern neuronal plasticity, development, senescence and disease, suggesting a role for NO(*) in these processes. Measurements of NO(*) in the different subregions of hippocampus, in a glutamate NMDA receptor-dependent fashion, by means of electrochemical selective microsensors illustrate the concentration dynamics of NO(*) in the sub-regions of this brain area. The analysis of NO(*) concentration-time profiles in the hippocampus requires consideration of at least two interrelated issues, also addressed in this review. NO(*) diffusion in a biological medium and regulation of NO(*) activity. 相似文献
Structural genomics (SG) projects aim to determine thousands of protein structures by the development of high-throughput techniques
for all steps of the experimental structure determination pipeline. Crucial to the success of such endeavours is the careful
tracking and archiving of experimental and external data on protein targets. 相似文献