Proteomic Analysis Reveals that Topoisomerase 2A is Associated with Defective Sperm Head Morphology

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Highlights

• •Human spermatozoa possess cells of poor morphology that lack nuclear integrity.
• •These cells can be isolated by density separation.
• •Mass spectrometry reveals their nuclei contain excess protein.
• •TOP2A is a promising marker of this poor nuclear development.

     

GRF-induced feeding: Evidence for protein selectivity and opiate involvement

Growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) is a hypothalamic peptide named for its ability to induce release of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary. GRF also acts as a neurotransmitter in the suprachiasmatic nucleus/medial preoptic area (SCN/MPOA) to stimulate food intake. The purpose of this series of experiments was to explore the nature of GRF-induced feeding, with a particular emphasis on macronutrient selectivity, and to examine the role of opiate activity in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Chow intake stimulated by GRF microinjection (1 pmol/0.5 μl) into the SCN/MPOA was blocked by injection of methyl-naltrexone (3 μg/0.5 μl) into the PVN. In animals habituated to macronutrient diets (Teklad, WI), GRF preferentially stimulated intake of protein at 2 and 4 h postinjection, whereas it had no effect on carbohydrate intake. Further, this effect was blocked by injection of naloxone (40 nmol/0.5 μl) into the PVN. Microinjection of morphine (0, 1, 10, and 17 μg/0.5 μl) into the PVN also specifically stimulated protein intake at 2 and 4 h postinjection. These results suggest that feeding derived from GRF actions in the SCN/MPOA is macronutrient selective, and is dependent on PVN opiate activity for expression.     

Sensory Neurons Contacting the Cerebrospinal Fluid Require the Reissner Fiber to Detect Spinal Curvature In Vivo

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Ultrastruttura della cellula apicale di Halopteris scoparia (L.) Sauvageau (Phaeophyceae,Sphacelariales)

Abstract

Ultrastructure of the apical cell of Halopteris scoparia (L.) Sauvageau (Phaeophyceae, Sphacelariales). - The ultrastructure of resting apical cells of Halopteris scoparia (L.) Sauvageau from material collected in December is described. The cytoplasm is higly vacuolated with lipids, poliphenolic substances and polisaccharides occurring inside the vacuoles (the classic « physodes »).

Two cell organelles are prominently active at this stage: conspicuosly hypertrophic dictyosomes and the budding endoplasmic reticulum. Both light and electron microscope observations show that the cell wall has an outer stratification and inner discontinuous thickenings, the constituent material of which is uniformerly dispersed.

The above observations point out that the apical cell of Halopteris scoparia at this stage of its life cycle is engaged in an elaboration of vacuolar and parietal substances which will be therefore readly available at the outset of the growing season.     

Uptake and Release of Glycine in the Guinea Pig Cochlear Nucleus

This study attempts to determine if the cochlear nucleus (CN) contains glycinergic synaptic endings. The uptake and release of exogenous radiolabeled glycine were measured in vitro in the three major subdivisions of the guinea pig CN: anteroventral, posteroventral, and dorsal. A kinetic analysis of [3H]glycine uptake revealed the presence in each CN subdivision of a high- and a low-affinity uptake mechanism. The high-affinity mechanism had a Km of 25.2-30.5 microM and a Vmax of 3.8-4.8 nmol/10 mg of cell water/5 min, whereas the low-affinity mechanism had a Km of 633-718 microM and a Vmax of 26.6-37.1 nmol/10 mg of cell water/5 min. At steady state, the high-affinity mechanism accumulated 10 microM [3H]glycine from the medium, achieving tissue concentrations that were 13-24 times that in the medium. The high-affinity uptake was dependent on the temperature and on the concentrations of NaCl and glucose in the incubation medium. It exhibited a high degree of substrate specificity, as determined by the effects of structural analogues of glycine on the uptake of [3H]glycine. Each CN subdivision also contained two mechanisms mediating [14C]glycine release. One was activated by depolarizing electrical stimuli, produced a rapid transient release of [14C]glycine, and was dependent on the presence of extracellular Ca2+. The other was continuous, producing a slow spontaneous efflux of [14C]glycine. Released glycine could be removed primarily by uptake, because during release measurements, the amount of [14C]glycine detected in the medium decreased when glycine uptake activity was optimized. The electrically evoked, Ca2+-dependent release and the high-affinity uptake of glycine may mediate the synaptic release and inactivation of glycine, respectively. These findings, therefore, support the presence of glycinergic synaptic endings in each CN subdivision.     

Morphological correlates of serotonin-neuropeptide Y interactions in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus: Combined radioautographic and immunocytochemical data

Summary The morphological substrate of putative serotonin (5-HT)/neuropeptide Y (NPY) interactions in thé suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) was investigated by combined radioautography and immunocytochemistry after intraventricular administration of (³H)5-HT in the rat. In the ventral portion of the SCN, the distribution of (³H)5-HT uptake sites overlapped closely the NPY-immunoreactive terminals. Previous investigations have shown that the dense 5-HT and NPY innervations of the SCN originate in different structures, i.e., the midbrain raphe nuclei and the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, respectively. Accordingly, in the present study, destruction of 5-HT afferents by 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine was not found to induce any modification in NPY staining and, in ultrastructural immuno-radioautographic preparations, two distinct pools of axonal varicosities could be identified. Both 5-HT and NPY terminals established morphologically defined synaptic junctions, sometimes on the same neuronal target. Some cases of direct axo-axonic appositions between the two types of terminals were also encountered. These data constitute additional criteria for characterizing the cytological basis of the multiple transmitter interactions presumably involved in the function of the SCN as a central regulator of circadian biological rhythms.