The contents of the pygidial gland of the primitive antNothomyrmecia macrops (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)

Summary The principal constituent of the pygidial gland ofNothomyrmecia macrops is 3,7-dimethyloct-6-en-2-one, a substance not previously identified in insects. Also identified were 2,6-dimethylhept-5-enal, 2-nonanone, indole, -dodecalactone, and the hydrocarbons pentadecane, heptadecane, heptadecene and heptadecadiene, all in low nanogram quantities.     

Lack of effect of dihydroergotamine on endothelial and smooth muscle cell proliferation and endothelial cell prostanoid production

Summary The most important effect of dihydroergotamine is venoconstriction, but certain metabolic effects and changes in vessel prostanoid activity have also been suggested. In this study endothelial cell production of 6-keto PGF₁ and TxB₂ was quantitated in vitro. No evidence of altered prostanoid production was noted after incubation with dihydroergotamine (exposure ranging from 5×10^–3 to 5×10^–7 g/l). Similarly, no effect of dihydroergotamine on the growth rates of endothelial cells or smooth muscle cells in vitro was documented.     

Goniothalamicin and annonacin: Bioactive acetogenins fromGoniothalamus giganteus (Annonaceae)

Summary Using brine shrimp lethality for activity-directed fractionation, goniothalamicin (I), a new tetrahydroxy-mono-tetrahydrofuran fatty acid -lactone (acetogenin), has been isolated from ethanolic extracts of the stem bark ofGoniothalamus giganteus Hook. f., Thomas (Annonaceae). This novel compound was found to be cytotoxic and insecticidal and inhibited the formation of crown gall tumors on potato discs. Annonacin (II), the only other reported mono-tetrahydrofuran acetogenin, was also isolated; the previously reported 9ASK (astrocytoma reversal) activity ofII was confirmed, andII is now also found to be weakly active against 3PS murine leukemia.     

Submarine hot springs and the origin of life

The discovery of hydrothermal vents at oceanic ridge crests and the appreciation of their importance in the element balance of the oceans is one of the main recent advances in marine geochemistry. It is likely that vents were present in the oceans of the primitive Earth because the process of hydrothermal circulation probably began early in the Earth's history. Here we examine the popular hypothesis that life arose in these vents. This proposal, however, is based on a number of misunderstandings concerning the organic chemistry involved. An example is the suggestion that organic compounds were destroyed on the surface of the early Earth by the impact of asteroids and comets, but at the same time assuming that organic syntheses can occur in hydrothermal vents. The high temperatures in the vents would not allow synthesis of organic compounds, but would decompose them, unless the exposure time at vent temperatures was short. Even if the essential organic molecules were available in the hot hydrothermal waters, the subsequent steps of polymerization and the conversion of these polymers into the first organisms would not occur as the vent waters were quenched to the colder temperatures of the primitive oceans.     

Determination of diel periodicity of sex pheromone release in three species of Lepidoptera by ‘closed-loop-stripping’

Summary By means of closed-loop-stripping and subsequent GC analyses the diel periodicity of release of (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate, (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate, and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, the main constituents of the respective sex pheromone blends ofMamestra brassicae, Cryptophlebia leucotreta andSpodoptera sunia females, was determined.Pheromones, 64. For the 63rd contribution we have taken from: Szöcs, G., Toth, M., Bestmann, H. J., Vostrowsky, O., Heath, R. R., and Tumlinson, J. H., Z. Naturforsch.42c (1987) 165; Pheromones, 62: Bestmann et al.¹³.     

Effect of protein kinase C activation and depletion on insulin stimulation of glycogen synthesis in cultured hepatoma cells

Summary Insulin stimulation of glycogen synthesis was nearly abolished in hepatoma cells shortly treated with 4 ß-phorbol 12 \-myristate, 13 -acetate (protein kinase C activation) but remained unmodified in cells chronically treated with the phorbol ester (protein kinase C depletion). Thus, although exogenous activation of protein kinase C results in an inhibition of insulin action, protein kinase C depletion has no influence on this process. The results suggest that, in hepatoma cells, no endogenous activation of protein kinase C may occur in response to the signal triggered by insulin.     

The dead-end elimination theorem and its use in protein side-chain positioning

The prediction of a protein's tertiary structure is still a considerable problem because the huge amount of possible conformational space1 makes it computationally difficult. With regard to side-chain modelling, a solution has been attempted by the grouping of side-chain conformations into representative sets of rotamers2??. Nonetheless, an exhaustive combinatorial search is still limited to carefully indentified packing units?? containing a limited number of residues. For larger systems other strategies had to be developed, such as the Monte Carlo Procedure?? and the genetic algorithm and clustering approach?. Here we present a theorem, referred to as the 'dead-end elimination' theorem, which imposes a suitable condition to identify rotamers that cannot be members of the global minimum energy conformation. Application of this theorem effectively controls the computational explosion of the rotamer combinatorial problem, thereby allowing the determination of the global minimum energy conformation of a large collection of side chains.     

Changes in erythrocyte membrane lipid composition affect the transient decrease in membrane order which accompanies insulin receptor down-regulation

We have recently demonstrated, using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, that insulin receptor internalization in response to insulin incubation (down-regulation) in human erythrocytes is accompanied by a transient decrease in membrane order, as measured by the 2T order parameter. Since membrane lipids play such an important role in receptor internalization, we investigated the possible effects that an alteration of the normally-occurring lipid profile might have on down-regulation and the concomitant transient decrease in membrane order. Consequently, human erythrocytes enriched with cholesterol and erythrocytes from cirrhotic patients were examined, because both of these groups of cells have a higher cholesterol/phospholipid molar ratio (CH/PL) than controls. The 5-nitroxystearate spin label, which inserts into the lipid bilayer of cell membranes, was used to monitor changes in 2T for a 3-h period at 37°C. We report here that both cholesterol-enriched and cirrhotic erythrocytes do not down-regulate, as demonstrated by binding assays, and that they do not show the typical transient decrease in membrane order observed in controls. The results seem to indicate that a more ordered membrane inhibits internalization of the insulin receptor in erythrocytes, and that an increase in membrane disorder is necessary for insulin receptor down-regulation.     

Proopiomelanocortin expression in the skin during induced hair growth in mice

We demonstrate for the first time a hair cycle-dependent gene and protein expression of proopiomelanocortin in mouse skin in vivo. Northern blot detected POMC mRNA with an apparent size of 0.9 kb in anagen but not telogen skin. Western blot emphasized a specific protein of 30–33 kDa recognized by anti -endorphin in late but not early anagen or telogen skin. By immunocytochemistry, -endorphin antigen was localized in the sebaceous gland in a hair cycle dependent manner.