Directionally selective calcium signals in dendrites of starburst amacrine cells

The detection of image motion is fundamental to vision. In many species, unique classes of retinal ganglion cells selectively respond to visual stimuli that move in specific directions. It is not known which retinal cell first performs the neural computations that give rise to directional selectivity in the ganglion cell. A prominent candidate has been an interneuron called the 'starburst amacrine cell'. Using two-photon optical recordings of intracellular calcium concentration, here we find that individual dendritic branches of starburst cells act as independent computation modules. Dendritic calcium signals, but not somatic membrane voltage, are directionally selective for stimuli that move centrifugally from the cell soma. This demonstrates that direction selectivity is computed locally in dendritic branches at a stage before ganglion cells.     

Cell-to-cell spread of calcium signals mediated by ATP receptors in mast cells.

Rat basophilic leukaemia cells, like mast cells from which they are derived, have surface Fc epsilon receptors that trigger secretion of inflammatory mediators when crosslinked. Both GTP-binding proteins and a rise in cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) are implicated in the secretory mechanism. Here we use a video-imaging technique to report that transient rises in [Ca2+]i initiated in an individual cell can spread from cell to cell in a wave-like pattern by means of a secreted intermediate, in the absence of gap-junctional communication. We find that the leukaemia cells, peritoneal mast cells and mucosal mast cells have cell-surface P2-type purinergic receptors that can trigger similar [Ca2+]i transients. We provide evidence that ATP is rapidly released, and that it can amplify [Ca2+]i signals and initial secretory responses during antigen-stimulation of rat basophilic leukaemia cells.     

钙离子信号及细胞调控信号网络动力学

钙离子(Ca²⁺)是细胞内广泛存在的一种重要的第二信使,参与并控制着几乎所有的生命活动过程.细胞信号分子网络对细胞正常和病理生理活动过程进行着精密调控,确保细胞各项生理功能有序地进行.本文综述了近些年本课题组关于细胞内钙信号及细胞信号网络动力学模型方面的研究进展,包括集团化钙离子通道释放局域钙信号、细胞全局钙波信号、内质网和线粒体钙微域调控钙信号和钙信号调控细胞凋亡信号网络动力学,以及细胞信号调控网络动力学等.这些理论工作为研究钙信号和蛋白质信号网络调控细胞复杂生命过程的动力学机制提供了方向和思路.     

A novel type of cardiac calcium channel in ventricular cells

Calcium influx is vital for several aspects of cardiac activity, so it is important to ask if heart cells possess a single or multiple types of Ca channel. Only one Ca channel type has been identified in patch-clamp studies of unitary current, despite suggestions to the contrary from whole-cell recordings in heart cells and unitary recordings from other cells. Here we describe a novel type of cardiac Ca channel with several properties that distinguish it from the hitherto-identified Ca channel in heart cells. Its conductance in isotonic Ba is small (8 pS), and is no larger in Ba than in Ca. It activates and inactivates at relatively negative potentials and remains functional long after patch excision. It is insensitive to dihydropyridines such as nimodipine and the Ca agonist Bay K 8644, and is more resistant to block by external Cd than the previously described type of cardiac Ca channel.     

糖汁pH值对清汁钙盐含量的影响机理研究

探讨了糖汁清净的加灰pH值与清汁钙盐含量关系的机理,分别导出了pH值对溶液中碳酸钙、亚硫酸钙、磷酸氢钙含量影响的理论方程和相应的糖汁实验数据回归方程,即钙盐含量与其溶液的pH值呈二次函数关系,并讨论了这些方程对生产操作的重要意义。     

A common somitic origin for embryonic muscle progenitors and satellite cells

In the embryo and in the adult, skeletal muscle growth is dependent on the proliferation and the differentiation of muscle progenitors present within muscle masses. Despite the importance of these progenitors, their embryonic origin is unclear. Here we use electroporation of green fluorescent protein in chick somites, video confocal microscopy analysis of cell movements, and quail-chick grafting experiments to show that the dorsal compartment of the somite, the dermomyotome, is the origin of a population of muscle progenitors that contribute to the growth of trunk muscles during embryonic and fetal life. Furthermore, long-term lineage analyses indicate that satellite cells, which are known progenitors of adult skeletal muscles, derive from the same dermomyotome cell population. We conclude that embryonic muscle progenitors and satellite cells share a common origin that can be traced back to the dermomyotome.     

A lethal mutation in mice eliminates the slow calcium current in skeletal muscle cells

Contraction of a vertebrate skeletal muscle fibre is triggered by electrical depolarization of sarcolemmal infoldings termed transverse-tubules (t-tubules), which in turn causes the release of calcium from an internal store, the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). The mechanism that links t-tubular depolarization to SR calcium release remains poorly understood. In principle, this link might be provided by the prominent slow calcium current that has been described in skeletal muscle cells of adult frogs and rats. However, blocking this current does not abolish the depolarization-induced contractile responses of frog muscle, and the function of this slow calcium current is unknown. Here we describe measurements of calcium currents in developing skeletal muscle cells of normal rats and mice, and of mice with muscular dysgenesis, a mutation that causes excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling to fail. We find that a slow calcium current is present in skeletal muscle cells of normal animals but absent from skeletal muscle cells of mutant animals. The effect of the mutation is specific to the slow calcium current of skeletal muscle; a fast calcium current is present in developing skeletal muscle cells of both normal and mutant animals, and slow calcium currents are present in cardiac and sensory neurones of mutant animals. We believe this to be the first report of a mutation affecting calcium currents in a multicellular organism. The effects of the mutation raise important questions about the relationship between the slow calcium current and skeletal muscle E-C coupling.     

Notch signals control the fate of immature progenitor cells in the intestine

The Notch signalling pathway plays a crucial role in specifying cellular fates in metazoan development by regulating communication between adjacent cells. Correlative studies suggested an involvement of Notch in intestinal development. Here, by modulating Notch activity in the mouse intestine, we directly implicate Notch signals in intestinal cell lineage specification. We also show that Notch activation is capable of amplifying the intestinal progenitor pool while inhibiting cell differentiation. We conclude that Notch activity is required for the maintenance of proliferating crypt cells in the intestinal epithelium.     

Sodium and calcium action potential in pituitary cells

Several endocrine cells or their neoplastic derivatives generate action potentials similar to those seen in neurones, and in the adrenal chromaffin cell such regenerative potentials depend primarily on a sodium mechanism. Kidokoro has described action potentials in the GH3 rat pituitary cell line which seem to depend on a calcium mechanism. We have re-investigated the action potential in GH3 cells and found that it results from combined Na and Ca mechanisms in physiological conditions. In addition, we have recorded similar electrical excitability from two human pituitary tumours grown in vitro.     

Intraorganellar calcium and pH control proinsulin cleavage in the pancreatic beta cell via two distinct site-specific endopeptidases

Insulin is produced from an inactive precursor, proinsulin, through initial endoproteolytic cleavage at sites marked by pairs of basic amino-acid residues. We report here that lysates of insulin secretory granules contain two distinct Ca-dependent acidic endoproteases; one (type I) cleaving exclusively on the C-terminal side of Arg 31.Arg 32 (B-chain/C-peptide junction), the other (type II) preferentially on the C-terminal side of Lys 64.Arg 65 of proinsulin (C-peptide/A-chain junction). The Ca and pH requirements of these proteinases suggested that the type-II proteinase would be active in the Golgi apparatus and the secretory granule, whereas type-I activity would be compatible only with the intragranular environment. Kinetic analyses of (pro)insulin conversion intermediates in [35S]methionine-pulsed rat islets support this supposition. Our results suggest a simple mechanism whereby different dibasic sites can be cleaved in different cellular compartments. In conjunction with the regulation of the ionic composition of such compartments and the operation of post-Golgi segregation, our results also suggest how proteolytic conversion of diverse proproteins destined for different cellular sites can occur differentially and in a regulated manner.     

Voltage-dependent calcium and potassium channels in retinal glial cells

Glial cells, which outnumber neurones in the central nervous system, have traditionally been considered to be electrically inexcitable and to play only a passive role in the electrical activity of the brain. Recent reports have demonstrated, however, that certain glial cells, when maintained in primary culture, possess voltage-dependent ion channels. It remains to be demonstrated whether these channels are also present in glial cells in vivo. I show here that Müller cells, the principal glial cells of the vertebrate retina, can generate 'Ca2+ spikes' in freshly excised slices of retinal tissue. In addition, voltage-clamp studies of enzymatically dissociated Müller cells demonstrate the presence of four types of voltage-dependent ion channels: a Ca2+ channel, a Ca2+-activated K+ channel, a fast-inactivating (type A) K+ channel and an inward-rectifying K+ channel. Currents generated by these voltage-dependent channels may enhance the ability of Müller cells to regulate extracellular K+ levels in the retina and may be involved in the generation of the electroretinogram.     

Depletion of intracellular calcium stores activates a calcium current in mast cells.

In many cell types, receptor-mediated Ca2+ release from internal stores is followed by Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane. The sustained entry of Ca2+ is thought to result partly from the depletion of intracellular Ca2+ pools. Most investigations have characterized Ca2+ influx indirectly by measuring Ca(2+)-activated currents or using Fura-2 quenching by Mn2+, which in some cells enters the cells by the same influx pathway. But only a few studies have investigated this Ca2+ entry pathway more directly. We have combined patch-clamp and Fura-2 measurements to monitor membrane currents in mast cells under conditions where intracellular Ca2+ stores were emptied by either inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, ionomycin, or excess of the Ca2+ chelator EGTA. The depletion of Ca2+ pools by these independent mechanisms commonly induced activation of a sustained calcium inward current that was highly selective for Ca2+ ions over Ba2+, Sr2+ and Mn2+. This Ca2+ current, which we term ICRAC (calcium release-activated calcium), is not voltage-activated and shows a characteristic inward rectification. It may be the mechanism by which electrically nonexcitable cells maintain raised intracellular Ca2+ concentrations and replenish their empty Ca2+ stores after receptor stimulation.     

低信噪比直扩信号扩频码的盲估计方法

为了解决低信噪比直扩信号扩频码的盲估计问题,提出了一种直扩信号的协方差矩阵累加平均和离散卡洛(Karhunen-Loève,K-L)变换的方法。该方法是在已知直扩信号的扩频码周期、码速率等参数的前提下,将接收到的直扩信号以一随机确定值为起点进行周期分段以形成连续多个观察向量,求协方差矩阵并累加平均,实施离散K-L变换以得到信号所含主成分,由主成分特征向量估计观察信号的扩频码。而后对观察信号进行解扩处理,从而实现直序扩频信号的盲解扩处理。理论分析和数值结果表明了该方法非常鲁棒不易受噪声影响,在通常情况下可以工作于低于-20dB信噪比的环境下。     

分泌型Survivin真核表达载体的构建及其在HeLa细胞中的表达

目的:构建含6个组氨酸标签(His6)的小鼠存活素(Survivin)融合蛋白的真核表达载体,及其在真核细胞中的表达。方法:根据小鼠Survivin序列设计引物,经过RT-PCR克隆Survivin的cDNA并进一步构建分泌型Sur-vivin的真核表达载体,经测序鉴定后在大肠杆菌中扩增在HeLa细胞中表达;以金属离子螯合层析富集,再用免疫印迹法鉴定。结果:克隆到Survivin编码区全长序列,经DNA测序后证明与已报道序列相同。构建氨基端融合小鼠IL-2信号肽,羧基端带有His6标签的Survivin融合蛋白的真核表达载体,在HeLa细胞中转染成功并且表达;细胞上清经HisTrap HP柱层析富集后,进行免疫印迹分析,表明该融合蛋白以分泌型方式在HeLa细胞中表达。结论:成功克隆Survivin的cDNA,并构建其分泌型真核表达载体。     

A hybrid recognition sequence in a recombinant restriction enzyme and the evolution of DNA sequence specificity

Early attempts to generate new restriction specificities by recombination between allelic restriction-modification systems have been unsuccessful. Bullas et al. succeeded in isolating a new specificity, SQ, in Salmonella that they interpreted as being the result of a recombination event between the parental strains, Salmonella typhimurium and S. postdam, which encode the SB and SP restriction systems, respectively. This interpretation has recently been confirmed by DNA heteroduplex studies with the SB, SP and SQ structural genes. We have determined the DNA sequences recognized by the SB and SP enzymes and found that, like all type I restriction sequences, they are split into two specific domains by a spacer of nonspecific sequence that, for both SB and SP, is 6 base pairs (bp) long. We have now determined the sequence recognized by the recombinant SQ enzyme and find that it is a hybrid between the SB and SP sequences, containing one specific domain from each parental strain. This result implies that each of the two specific domains is recognized by a physically distinct part of the enzyme.