Effect of aldosterone and hydrocortisone on sodium in red cells

Zusammenfassung Natrium- und Kalium-Plasmakonzentrationen und Hamatokritwerte wurden in menschlichem Blut nach Beifügung von kleinen Mengen Aldosteron nach 2-, 4-, 6-oder 24stündiger Kühlung oder nach ?-, 1-, 2- oder 3stündiger Erw?rmung gemessen. Aldosteron vermindert die Plasma-Natriumzuwachsrate bei Erw?rmung und anscheinend auch die Plasma-Natriumverminderungsrate bei Kühlung. Hydrokortison ergab das gleiche Resultat bei Erw?rmung, w?hrend seine Wirkung bei Kühlung noch nicht abschliessend untersucht wurde.      

Module networks: identifying regulatory modules and their condition-specific regulators from gene expression data

Much of a cell's activity is organized as a network of interacting modules: sets of genes coregulated to respond to different conditions. We present a probabilistic method for identifying regulatory modules from gene expression data. Our procedure identifies modules of coregulated genes, their regulators and the conditions under which regulation occurs, generating testable hypotheses in the form 'regulator X regulates module Y under conditions W'. We applied the method to a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression data set, showing its ability to identify functionally coherent modules and their correct regulators. We present microarray experiments supporting three novel predictions, suggesting regulatory roles for previously uncharacterized proteins.     

Beethoven, a mouse model for dominant, progressive hearing loss DFNA36

Despite recent progress in identifying genes underlying deafness, there are still relatively few mouse models of specific forms of human deafness. Here we describe the phenotype of the Beethoven (Bth) mouse mutant and a missense mutation in Tmc1 (transmembrane cochlear-expressed gene 1). Progressive hearing loss (DFNA36) and profound congenital deafness (DFNB7/B11) are caused by dominant and recessive mutations of the human ortholog, TMC1 (ref. 1), for which Bth and deafness (dn) are mouse models, respectively.     

Dominant and recessive deafness caused by mutations of a novel gene, TMC1, required for cochlear hair-cell function

Positional cloning of hereditary deafness genes is a direct approach to identify molecules and mechanisms underlying auditory function. Here we report a locus for dominant deafness, DFNA36, which maps to human chromosome 9q13-21 in a region overlapping the DFNB7/B11 locus for recessive deafness. We identified eight mutations in a new gene, transmembrane cochlear-expressed gene 1 (TMC1), in a DFNA36 family and eleven DFNB7/B11 families. We detected a 1.6-kb genomic deletion encompassing exon 14 of Tmc1 in the recessive deafness (dn) mouse mutant, which lacks auditory responses and has hair-cell degeneration. TMC1 and TMC2 on chromosome 20p13 are members of a gene family predicted to encode transmembrane proteins. Tmc1 mRNA is expressed in hair cells of the postnatal mouse cochlea and vestibular end organs and is required for normal function of cochlear hair cells.     

Identification of diploid endosperm in an early angiosperm lineage

In flowering plants, the developmental and genetic basis for the establishment of an embryo-nourishing tissue differs from all other lineages of seed plants. Among extant nonflowering seed plants (conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, Gnetales), a maternally derived haploid tissue (female gametophyte) is responsible for the acquisition of nutrients from the maternal diploid plant, and the ultimate provisioning of the embryo. In flowering plants, a second fertilization event, contemporaneous with the fusion of sperm and egg to yield a zygote, initiates a genetically biparental and typically triploid embryo-nourishing tissue called endosperm. For over a century, triploid biparental endosperm has been viewed as the ancestral condition in extant flowering plants. Here we report diploid biparental endosperm in Nuphar polysepalum, a basal angiosperm. We show that diploid endosperms are common among early angiosperm lineages and may represent the ancestral condition among flowering plants. If diploid endosperm is plesiomorphic, the triploid endosperms of the vast majority of flowering plants must have evolved from a diploid condition through the developmental modification of the unique fertilization process that initiates endosperm.