Isolation and characterization of highly purified mosquito oostatic hormone

Oostatic hormone, the hormone that inhibits vitellogenesis in mosquitoes, was purified 7,000-fold with a recovery of 70% from the ovaries of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The purification procedure included heat treatment and chromatography on ion exchange and gel filtration columns. The hormone is a small peptidelike molecule of molecular weight 2,200 at pH 4.5, which aggregates into larger molecular species of trimer and octamer at pH 7.0 as determined by gel filtration. The hormone is positively charged at pH 7.8 and has a low Rf at pH 9.4 on disc gel electrophoresis. Injection of purified oostatic hormone (9 ng) into female mosquitoes inhibited yolk deposition and vitellogenin synthesis. Activity of the oostatic hormone in the mosquito ovary increased rapidly following blood feeding and reached a maximum after 48 h. Oostatic hormone of A. aegypti injected into autogenous Aedes taeniorhynchus inhibited egg development. Repeated injections of dilute oostatic hormone at 24 h intervals partially arrested egg development, resulting in 60% reduction in the number of eggs laid. This hormone does not block release of egg development neurosecretory hormone (EDNH) from the mosquito brain but rather appears to act on the ovary.     

Ontogeny and homology of the skeletal elements that form the sucking disc of remoras (Teleostei,Echeneoidei, Echeneidae)

The sucking disc of the sharksuckers of the family Echeneidae is one of the most remarkable and most highly modified skeletal structures among vertebrates. We studied the development of the sucking disc based on a series of larval, juvenile, and adult echeneids ranging from 9.3 mm to 175 mm standard length. We revisited the question of the homology of the different skeletal parts that form the disc using an ontogenetic approach. We compared the initial stages of development of the disc with early developmental stages of the spinous dorsal fin in a representative of the morphologically basal percomorph Morone. We demonstrate that the “interneural rays” of echeneids are homologous with the proximal‐middle radials of Morone and other teleosts and that the “intercalary bones” of sharksuckers are homologous with the distal radials of Morone and other teleosts. The “intercalary bones” or distal radials develop a pair of large wing‐like lateral extensions in echeneids, not present in this form in any other teleost. Finally the “pectinated lamellae” are homologous with the fin spines of Morone and other acanthomorphs. The main part of each pectinated lamella is formed by bilateral extensions of the base of the fin spine just above its proximal tip, each of which develops a row of spinous projections, or spinules, along its posterior margin. The number of rows and the number of spinules increase with size, and they become autogenous from the body of the lamellae. We also provide a historical review of previous studies on the homology of the echeneid sucking disc and demonstrate that the most recent hypotheses, published in 2002, 2005 and 2006, are erroneous. J. Morphol. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Interactions of chiral molecules with an (r)-n-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl) phenylglycine HPLC stationary phase

Forty different chiral molecules were studied by liquid chromatography with a Pirkle-type, (R)-N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl) phenylglycine (DNBPG), chiral stationary phase column. The dramatic effect of a small molecular change on chiral recognition was demonstrated using DL-amino acid derivatives. The inductive effect on chiral recognition was also studied using trifluoro-, trichloro-, dichloro-, monochloroacetyl, and acetyl derivatives of four different chiral amines. The study of the enantiomer separation of 11 different crown ethers of 2,2′-binaphthyldiyl showed that the rigidity of the chiral center can be an additional parameter in chiral recognition for the DNBPG phase but not for a β-cyclodextrin bonded chiral phase. It is apparent from this study that steric effects, inductive effects, and molecular rigidity play important roles in chiral recognition with DNBPG chiral stationary phases.     

大鼠下丘脑室旁核神经元对电刺激蓝斑和中缝背核的反应

用玻璃微电极细胞外记录大鼠室旁核(PVH)神经元的单位放电,观察它对电刺激蓝斑(LC)和中缝背核(DR)的反应。 在435个被试验单位中,5个单位对LC电刺激呈现逆行反应,75个单位呈现顺行反应。在这75个顺行反应单位中,27个对单刺激发生反应,48个对串刺激发生反应。对电刺激DR发生反应的有74个单位,其中15个对单刺激发生反应,59个对串刺激发生反应而对单刺激不反应。值得注意的是有23个PVH神经元既对LG刺激又对DR刺激发生顺行反应。实验结果提示,PVH与LC、DR之间存在神经联系。     

Synthesis of the biologically active β-subunit of human nerve growth factor in Escherichia coli

The gene(NGFB) encoding the β subunit of mature human nerve growth factor (hNGFB) was subcloned into the pJLA503 expression vector under the control of bacteriophage promoters p_R and p_L, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein represented approximately 3% of the total cellular protein. Biologically active hNGFB was solubilized (0.2% total NGFB) and purified by cation-exchange chromatography and it yielded two bands on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis under nonreducing conditions, corresponding to the monomeric (14 kDa) and homodimeric (26.5 kDa) forms of the molecule. Both hNGFB forms were immunopositive on Western blots with rabbit anti-NGFB antibodies; however, following additional purification, only the species corresponding to the hNGFB homodimer was biologically active on cultured chicken dorsal root ganglion neurons. These results demonstrate the feasibility of synthesizing the biologically active form of hNGFB in E. coli.     

Pharmacological and biochemical characteristics of partially purified GABAB receptor

Pharmacological and biochemical characteristics of the partially purified -aminobutyric acid (GABA)_B receptor using baclofen affinity column chromatography have been examined. The Scatchard analysis of [³H]GABA binding to the purified GABA_B receptor showed a linear relationship and the K_D and B_max values were 60 nM and 118 pmol/mg of protein, respectively. Although GTP and Mg²⁺ did not affect on the GABA_B receptor binding, Ca²⁺ significantly increased [³H]GABA binding to the purified GABA_B receptor in a dose-dependent manner and showed its maximum effect at 2 mM. The enhancement of the binding by Ca²⁺ was found to be due to the increase of Bmax by the Scatchard analysis. The treatments with pronase and trypsin significantly decreased the binding of [³H]GABA, but phospholipase A₂ had no significant effect on the binding. In addition, treatment with glycosidases such as glycopeptidase A and -galactosidase significantly decreased the binding of [³H]GABA to the purified GABA_B receptor. These results suggest that purification of the solubilized GABA_B receptor by the affinity column chromatography may result in the functional uncoupling of GABA_B receptor with GTP-binding protein. Furthermore, the present results suggest that cerebral GABA_B receptor may be a glycoprotein and membrane phospholipids susceptible to phospholipase A₂ treatment may not be involved in the exhibition of the binding activity.Special issue dedicated to Dr. Eugene Roberts.     

躯体传入冲动抑制中枢性心肌缺血的脊髓机制

本工作在58只尿酯-氯醛糖麻醉,三碘季铵酚制动,人工呼吸,切断迷走神经的兔上进行。结果显示:电刺激正中神经(MN)和腓深神经(DPN)均能抑制或部分抑制下丘脑背内侧核(DMH)诱发的缺血性心电 ST 段偏移,以刺激 MN 的抑制作用更为明显。蛛网膜下腔注射(ith)吗啡(40μg)也能抑制这种缺血性心电变化。ith 纳洛酮(20μg)则可阻断刺激 MN 对中枢性心肌缺血的抑制作用。完整兔在刺激左侧 MN 或 DPN 后,用放射免疫技术测得胸 2—5(T_2-5)节段两侧中间外侧柱(IML)中亮氨酸脑啡肽(LENK)含量明显增加。在颈1(C_1)水平横断脊髓,以同样参数刺激左侧 MN,同侧胸髓 IML 中 LENK 含量明显增加,而对侧胸髓 IML 中 LENK 含量无明显改变;刺激一侧 DPN,T_(2-5)的两侧 IML 中 LENK 含量均无明显变化。上述结果表明,刺激 MN 与 DPN 均能抑制 DMH 诱发的中枢性心肌缺血,但以MN 作用较明显。我们推测这种抑制作用可能与通过脊上机制双侧性增加 IML 中 LENK 含量有关,MN 的抑制作用可能尚包括直接激活胸髓内的脑啡肽系统,增加同侧 IML 中 LENK含量,加强了对交感输出活动的抑制作用。     

刺激中缝背核压抑大鼠小脑浦肯野细胞对苔状和爬行纤维传入的反应

本文在麻醉并制动的大鼠上观察了中缝背核(DR)条件刺激对由苔状和爬行纤维传入引起的小脑浦肯野细胞(PC)诱发反应的影响。主要结果有:(1)刺激大脑皮层感觉运动区可以引起苔状和爬行纤维向对侧小脑皮层第Ⅵ和Ⅶ小叶的传入,因而在该小叶上记录到 PC 的诱发简单锋电位(SS)和复杂锋电位(CS)反应,潜伏期分别是8—25和12—30ms。(2)以不影响PC 自发 SS 和 CS 活动的阈下强度刺激 DR,可显著地压抑 PC 对于刺激感觉运动皮层引起的苔状和爬行纤维兴奋所产生的诱发 SS 和 CS 反应,这种压抑作用可持续数百毫秒。(3)DR条件刺激对 PC 的诱发 SS 和 CS 反应的压抑作用可以被静脉注射5-HT 受体阻断剂羟甲丙基甲基麦角酰胺所减弱或阻断。上述结果表明 DR 的5-HT 能纤维传入可以降低苔状和爬行纤维对 PC 的突触作用效力,抑或降低 PC 对突触传入的反应敏感性,提示中缝-小脑5-HT,能纤维传入系统参与了小脑某些重要的神经活动过程。