Glucoraphasatin: Chemistry, occurrence, and biological properties

Glucoraphasatin is an atypical glucosinolate mainly found in Raphanus sativus roots and sprouts. This review focuses on the chemistry, the occurrence, and the biological properties of glucoraphasatin.     

A phylogenetic analysis of species in the Bufo crucifer group (Anura: Bufonidae), based on indolealkylamines and proteins from skin secretions

This research tested the utility of two classes of skin secretion compounds to the phylogeny of the Bufo crucifer group. Skin secretions from specimens of nine populations of B. crucifer group were obtained and submitted to qualitative analysis. We observed a clear difference in the composition of the skin secretion molecules obtained from the species of Bufo studied. Fifty-nine molecules, 16 indolealkylamines and 43 proteins, were used as characters, and 39 of these were parsimonious informative. The tree topology of the skin secretion combined data showed areas of congruence and conflict when compared to an mtDNA phylogeny of the B. crucifer group. We used the Templeton test to evaluate the heterogeneity between the skin secretion and mtDNA data. Although not recommended, we performed a combined analysis with the two partitions. The skin secretion characters from the species of Bufo studied have phylogenetic signal. These data are indicative, at least as a preliminary study, of the phylogenetic relationships among the B. crucifer group taxa.     

Liver Accumulation of Plasmodium chabaudi-Infected Red Blood Cells and Modulation of Regulatory T Cell and Dendritic Cell Responses

It is postulated that accumulation of malaria-infected Red Blood Cells (iRBCs) in the liver could be a parasitic escape mechanism against full destruction by the host immune system. Therefore, we evaluated the in vivo mechanism of this accumulation and its potential immunological consequences. A massive liver accumulation of P. c. chabaudi AS-iRBCs (Pc-iRBCs) was observed by intravital microscopy along with an over expression of ICAM-1 on day 7 of the infection, as measured by qRT-PCR. Phenotypic changes were also observed in regulatory T cells (Tregs) and dendritic cells (DCs) that were isolated from infected livers, which indicate a functional role for Tregs in the regulation of the liver inflammatory immune response. In fact, the suppressive function of liver-Tregs was in vitro tested, which demonstrated the capacity of these cells to suppress naive T cell activation to the same extent as that observed for spleen-Tregs. On the other hand, it is already known that CD4+ T cells isolated from spleens of protozoan parasite-infected mice are refractory to proliferate in vivo. In our experiments, we observed a similar lack of in vitro proliferative capacity in liver CD4+ T cells that were isolated on day 7 of infection. It is also known that nitric oxide and IL-10 are partially involved in acute phase immunosuppression; we found high expression levels of IL-10 and iNOS mRNA in day 7-infected livers, which indicates a possible role for these molecules in the observed immune suppression. Taken together, these results indicate that malaria parasite accumulation within the liver could be an escape mechanism to avoid sterile immunity sponsored by a tolerogenic environment.     

Winged leaf-cutting ants on nuptial flights used as transport by Attacobius spiders for dispersal

Abstract.  1. Sexuals of a leaf-cutting ant, Atta bisphaerica Forel, left their nest for nuptial flights in October to December.
2. When leaving a nest, 53 of the 479 winged sexuals (or alates) observed (11.1%) carried up to three inquiline spiders of Attacobius luederwaldti .
3. Spiders exclusively selected winged sexuals, not workers, and preferred females, indicating their expectation of the stronger flight ability of females. Neither these sexuals nor workers that appeared out of the nest on flight days attempted to remove or attack spiders on the body of alates.
4. New qucens landing from their nuptial flight did not carry spiders, indicating that the spiders had left the ants in the sky to be dispersed by wind.
5. No spiders were found in more than 100 incipient nests, which were estimated to be 2–3 months old. This suggests that the spiders jumped off the alate during mid-flight and dispersed on the wind to inhabit larger nests.     

Microheterogeneity of lentil seedling (Lens culinaris) amine oxidase

Purified lentil seedling amino oxidase (LSAO) is homogeneous in the analytical ultracentrifuge, but shows heterogeneity in gel-filtration HPLC and in PAGE. Two components were obtained from HPLC and PAGE, but at least 6-7 subforms were seen by electrofocusing techniques. The chromatographic and electrophoretic forms are not interconvertible, indicating the presence of covalent differences. The electrophoretic pattern, but not the chromatographic pattern, is modified by treating the enzyme with a pool of glycohydrolases. The copper-free enzyme shows the same type of heterogeneity as the native enzyme, this ruling out the possibility that some subforms were due to the presence of apoenzyme.     

Mouse DNA methylase. Intracellular location and degradation

DNA methylase extracted with low salt from mouse Krebs II ascites cell nuclei has been degraded stepwise by trypsin treatment. Degradation, accompanied by a limited reduction in size of the native enzyme, leads to the progressive introduction of several nicks so that, eventually, fragments of 14, 18, 24 and 28 kD are released on denaturation. This illustrates the domain structure of the enzyme. In contrast to ascites cell nuclear extracts, preparations from liver nuclei are already nicked and the major from of the enzyme contains a 100 kD fragment though the native molecular weight is unchanged. Newborn mouse liver contains more undegraded enzyme that is mostly firmly-bound within the nucleus. Trypsin treatment increases the de novo activity of the enzyme and prevents its aggregation in the absence of salt, even in the presence of high concentrations of native DNA.     

Captopril inhibits ouabain-sensitive Na+/K+-ATPase

Captopril has been reported to inhibit ouabain-sensitive Na+/K+-ATPase activity in erythrocyte membrane fragments. We investigated the effect of captopril on two physiological measures of Na+/K+ pump activity: 22Na+ efflux from human erythrocytes and K+-induced relaxation of rat tail artery segments. Captopril inhibited 22Na+ efflux from erythrocytes in a concentration-dependent fashion, with 50% inhibition of total 22Na+ efflux at a concentration of 4.8 X 10(-3) M. The inhibition produced by captopril (5 X 10(-3) M) and ouabain (10(-4) M) was not greater than that produced by ouabain alone (65.3 vs. 66.9%, respectively), and captopril inhibited 50% of ouabain-sensitive 22Na+ efflux at a concentration of 2.0 X 10(-3) M. Inhibition by captopril of ouabain-sensitive 22Na efflux was not explained by changes in intracellular sodium concentration, inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme or a sulfhydryl effect. Utilizing rat tail arteries pre-contracted with norepinephrine (NE) or serotonin (5HT) in K+-free solutions, we demonstrated dose-related inhibition of K+-induced relaxation by captopril (10(-6) to 10(-4) M). Concentrations above 10(-4) M did not significantly inhibit K+-induced relaxation but did decrease contractile responses to NE, although not to 5HT. Inhibition of K+-induced relaxation by captopril was not affected by saralasin, teprotide or indomethacin. We conclude that captopril can inhibit membrane Na+/K+-ATPase in intact red blood cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. The mechanism of pump suppression is uncertain, but inhibition of ATPase should be considered when high concentrations of captopril are employed in physiological studies.     

Sertoli and Leydig cell numbers and gonadotropin receptors in rat testis from birth to puberty

Summary In testes of rats from 2 to 60 days of age, we examined the number of Sertoli cells (SC) and Leydig cells (LC) as well as the binding of radioiodinated gonadotropins to frozen sections and homogenates. The number of SC per testis increased only during the first 2 postnatal weeks, whereas that of LC was stable up to days 7–10 and increased thereafter. The uptake of ¹²⁵I-labelled human follicle-stimulating hormone (¹²⁵I-FSH) to frozen sections was confined to sex cords or seminiferous tubules, while that of ¹²⁵I-labelled human choriogonadotropin (¹²⁵I-hCG) matched the distribution of LC in the interstitium. High affinity receptors for FSH and hCG were found in homogenates at all stages studied. The number of FSH receptors per testis increased steadily, whereas that of hCG receptors was low until days 7–10 and rose afterwards. Thus, SC in rat testis appear to proliferate in the presence of fetal LC during the first 2 postnatal weeks and to differentiate concomitantly with the emergence of the adult LC generation after day 10. The complement of FSH receptors in SC remains constant as they proliferate and increases after day 21 as they differentiate. The hCG receptor number is relatively fixed in each LC generation, being higher in adult compared to fetal LC.