It’s a knockout: CCN3 suppresses neointimal thickening

The role of CCN proteins in vivo is only just becoming understood. A prototypical member of the CCN family, CCN3 suppresses proliferation. In a study in press, Shimoyama and colleagues show that mice lacking CCN3 have a hyperproliferative response to vascular injury. These data, along with other recent observations, suggest that CCN3 may represent a novel therapy for hyperproliferative diseases.     

LIFE HISTORY AND SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF PSEUDOCHORDA GRACILIS SP. NOV. (LAMINARIALES,PHAEOPHYCEAE)1

Pseudochorda gracilis sp. Nov. (Pseudochordacease, Laminariales) is described from the Japan Sea coast of Hokkaido/ the species is subtidal, epilithic and annual, appearing in spring and maturing in winter. Erect thalli grow solitary or in tufts on a small discoid holdfast. They are simple, cord-shaped and hollow, with inner hyphal filaments, cylindrical medullary cells and paraphyses consisting of 3–6 cells. Hair tufts are observed only in young thalli. Unilocular sporangia are sessile and narrowly ovate. In culture, P. gracilis shows a heteromorphic life history with oogamy, characteristic of the order Laminariales. Gametophytes are dioecious and dimorphic. Gametophytes mature under lower temperature conditions (usually below 10°C), and sporophytes mature under low temperature and short-day conditions (5°C, SD). The seasonal growth pattern of the species results from the photoperiod-temperature conditions controlling saprophyte maturation.     

Une nouvelle sous-famille,les Poulpinae, et quatre nouvelles espèces de Saitoum radiolaires mésozoiques téthysiens

Studies of skeleton elements of several jurassic species of Saitoum allow to compare them with Poulpus from Trias. The sub-family Poulpinae is introduced, caracterised by three cephalic arcs and the collar position of the cephalic structure. Among the jurassic forms, 4 species are newly described: S. corniculum, S. elegans, S. levium and S. trichylum.     

Le prétendu rhinocéros de Nouvelle Calédonie est un marsupial (Zygomaturus diahotensis nov. sp.): Solution d'une énigmeet conséquences paléogéographiques

The first mammalian remain ever found in NewCaledonia is an upper tooth found by golddiggers in the Plio-Pleistocene terrace from the Diahot river. This tooth, given to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) in 1876, was determined as a rhinoceros tooth and then completely forgotten. Its detailed study shows that it belongs to Zygomaturus, a large marsupial diprotodontid genus whose story is rather complicated. The Diahot tooth represents a new species of Zygomaturus, Z. diahotensis nov. sp., close to Z. trilobus from the Australian Pleistocene. That kinship suggests a Plio-Pleistocene land connection between Australia and New Caledonia, whereas till now New Caledonia was supposed to be separated from Australia since the end of the Cretaceous, because of the total absence of indigenous mammals, fossil or recent, in New Caledonia. The latest geological studies in the East Pacific do not contradict our hypothesis.     

Determination of a Potential Role of the CCN Family of Growth Regulators in Connexin43 Transfected C6 Glioma Cells

Tumour cells often exhibit erratic cell growth, as well as decreased gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). C6 glioma cells are characterized by low levels of gap junction mRNA and protein, and decreased amounts of GJIC when compared with astrocytes. Previous work has shown that C6 glioma cells transfected with connexin43 (C6-Cx43) exhibit decreased proliferation in vivo and in vitro, as well as genes that are differentially expressed between these cells. In this study, RNA levels of two CCN (connective tissue growth factor [CTGF], Cyr61/Cef-10, nephroblastoma overexpressed [NOV]) gene family members are shown to be upregulated in C6-Cx43 cells: Cyr61 and Nov. Cyr61 has previously been shown to increase adhesion, migration and growth in many cell types, whereas NOV has growth suppressive capacities. Cyr61 RNA expression is shown here to respond to serum in quiescent cells in an immediate early gene fashion, independent of Cx43 expression. In contrast, Nov RNA levels remain constant, reflective of transfected Cx43 expression. Furthermore, confocal microscopy indicates that NOV colocalizes with Cx43 plaques at the cell membrane. These findings provide insight into the possible role of Nov and Cyr61 in tumour cells.     

Growth differentiation factor‐15 (GDF‐15) suppresses in vitro angiogenesis through a novel interaction with connective tissue growth factor (CCN2)

Growth differentiation factor‐15 (GDF‐15) and the CCN family member, connective tissue growth factor (CCN2), are associated with cardiac disease, inflammation, and cancer. The precise role and signaling mechanism for these factors in normal and diseased tissues remains elusive. Here we demonstrate an interaction between GDF‐15 and CCN2 using yeast two‐hybrid assays and have mapped the domain of interaction to the von Willebrand factor type C domain of CCN2. Biochemical pull down assays using secreted GDF‐15 and His‐tagged CCN2 produced in PC‐3 prostate cancer cells confirmed a direct interaction between these proteins. To investigate the functional consequences of this interaction, in vitro angiogenesis assays were performed. We demonstrate that GDF‐15 blocks CCN2‐mediated tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells. To examine the molecular mechanism whereby GDF‐15 inhibits CCN2‐mediated angiogenesis, activation of α_Vβ₃ integrins and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) was examined. CCN2‐mediated FAK activation was inhibited by GDF‐15 and was accompanied by a decrease in α_Vβ₃ integrin clustering in HUVEC cells. These results demonstrate, for the first time, a novel signaling pathway for GDF‐15 through interaction with the matricellular signaling molecule CCN2. Furthermore, antagonism of CCN2 mediated angiogenesis by GDF‐15 may provide insight into the functional role of GDF‐15 in disease states. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 1424–1433, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Eurocharax Tourainei nov. gen., nov. sp. (poisson teleosteen, Ostariophysi): Nouveau Characidae fossile des «Calcaires a Bythinies du Var

The study of fossil Fishes preserved in the «calcaires à Bythinies of Montmeyan, la Mourotte and Saint-Julien-le-Montagné basins (Var. France), makes possible the demonstration of their referal to the family Characidae: These Fishes, here mentioned as Eurocharax tourainei nov. gen., nov. sp., clearly differ from the Lower Eocene Characid fishes of Languedoc and Paris Basin by their set of teeth. The brackish condition of the “calcaires à Bythinies is taken into account for explaining the probable biogeographical history of these Fishes.     

广东省澳汉蚱属一新种(直翅目：蚱总科，枝背蚱科)

广东省澳汉蚱属一新种（直翅目：蚱总科,枝背蚱科）梁铬球（中山大学昆虫学研究所广州５１０２７５）澳汉炸属（Ａ。。ｔｒｏｈａ。ｃｏｃｋｉａＧｔｉｎｔｈｅｒ,１９３８）昆虫分布于中国、日本和越南,已报告４种。本文报道采自广东省一新种。模式标本保存于中山大学...     

SCHMITZIA EVANESCENS SP. NOV. (RHODOPHYTA,GIGARTINALES) A NEW SPECIES OF CALOSIPHONIACEAE FROM THE NORTHEASTERN NEW ZEALAND COAST1

A new red alga, Schmitzia evanescens sp. nov. (Gigartinales), is described from the northeastern coast of North I., New Zealand. Gametophytes are diminutive, delicate, mucilaginous spring annuals which grow subtidally on cobble substrata. The uniaxial construction and carposporophyte development place this new taxon in the Calosiphoniaceae, a family of only two genera, Calosiphonia H. M. Crouan et P. L. Crouan and Schmitzia P. C. Silva. This is the first report of this family in New Zealand. The new species has vegetative features of both these genera, but is assigned to Schmitzia on the basis of its unusual carposporophyte development in which the gonimoblast initial arises directly from the connecting filament at some distance from the undifferentiated intercalary auxiliary cell. Because recent investigators of other red algal genera with a similar carposporophyte development have questioned the validity of site of gonimoblast initiation as a generic criterion it is suggested that the separation of Schmitzia and Calosiphonia should be re-evaluated. These and several other genera in the Gymnophlaeaceae, Pseudoanemoniaceae, Dumontiaceae and Gloiosiphoniaceae, can be considered, on morphological and reproductive grounds, to be relatively simple and therefore perhaps primitive members of the Rhodophyta.