Expression of human proteoglycan in Chinese hamster ovary cells inhibits cell proliferation

In studying the functional role of an extracellular matrix proteoglycan, decorin, we have made observations that suggest a role for this proteoglycan in the control of cell proliferation. Extracellular matrices are made up of different combinations of collagens, elastin, hyaluronic acid, proteoglycans and various glycoproteins such as fibronectin. Most of these components can interact with cells, and much of the control of cell adhesion, migration and differentiation appears to be mediated by these interactions. Earlier studies have also attributed growth-regulatory activities to intact extracellular matrices, but the individual molecules responsible for these effects have not been characterized. We report here that Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines expressing human decorin from a stably transfected complementary DNA construct form a more orderly monolayer and grow to a lower saturation density than control cells lacking decorin. The extent of the morphological changes correlates with the level of decorin expression, and the saturation density is inversely proportional to it. The reduction in the saturation densities of the cell lines with the highest expression of decorin is more than 50%. These results reveal a novel growth inhibitory mechanism which may be related to contact inhibition of cell proliferation.     

Pattern of covariation between life-history traits of European birds

A large amount of variation is found in most reproductive traits of birds. Clutch size for instance, can vary from 1 to 15 between species of similar body weight. The adaptive significance of this variation is only poorly understood. According to life-history theory, large clutch size and early onset of reproduction are expected when the chances of survival are low. There is some support for the existence of such a relationship from studies of single species. Here I present evidence that, in European birds, clutch size is increased, and onset of reproduction occurs earlier in life, when the probability of survival is low.     

MHC polymorphism pre-dating speciation

Two features distinguish the polymorphism of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loci from that of other loci: its high diversity and the large genetic distance between MHC alleles. More than 100 alleles exist in natural populations in the mouse at each of the functional class I and class II alleles, all alleles occurring at frequencies that cannot be explained by recurrent mutations. Some of the alleles differ by approximately 70 nucleotides in the coding region alone and some of the products of the allelic genes differ by more than 50 amino acids. It has generally been assumed that these differences accumulated after species inception. Here, we present evidence for an alternative explanation of the origin of MHC polymorphism: a large part of the MHC polymorphism pre-dates speciation and is passed on from species to species. We describe allelic differences that must have arisen before the separation of mice and rats from a common ancestor more than 10 million years ago.     

Chronic ethanol causes heterologous desensitization of receptors by reducing alpha s messenger RNA

One of the biochemical results of ethanol exposure is a change in the amount of the intracellular second messenger cyclic AMP (cAMP) produced in response to receptor stimulation. In general, acute ethanol exposure increases the amount of cAMP produced on stimulation of receptors coupled to the enzyme adenylyl cyclase via the GTP-binding protein Gs, whereas chronic ethanol exposure has the opposite effect (results for receptors coupled via Gi have been more variable). We previously reported that adaptation to continuous ethanol exposure reduces receptor-stimulated cAMP production by 25-35% in a neuroblastoma cell line (NG108-15), and an even greater reduction of 75% was observed in lymphocytes taken from actively-drinking alcoholics. This reduction in receptor-stimulated cAMP levels was recently confirmed in platelets from alcoholics. None of these studies, however, determined whether more than one receptor coupled to adenylyl cyclase activity was affected in the same cell. Here we report that chronic ethanol exposure causes desensitization of heterologous receptors coupled to Gs as cAMP production mediated by prostaglandin E1 as well as by adenosine is reduced by approximately 30% in NG108-15 cells. We show that, after chronic ethanol exposure, the activity of the alpha subunit of Gs is decreased by 29%, the amount of alpha s protein is decreased by 38.5%, and alpha s messenger RNA is decreased by 30%. Thus, cellular adaptation to ethanol involves a reduction in alpha s mRNA and, as a consequence, reduced cAMP production by heterologous receptors coupled to Gs. Such changes in cAMP production may account for the tolerance and physical dependence on ethanol in alcoholism.     

Noradrenaline contracts arteries by activating voltage-dependent calcium channels

Noradrenaline (NA) regulates arterial smooth muscle tone and hence blood vessel diameter and blood flow. NA apparently increases tone by causing a calcium influx through the cell membrane. Two calcium influx pathways have been proposed: voltage-activated calcium channels and NA-activated calcium-permeable channels that are voltage-insensitive. Although voltage-activated calcium channels have been identified in arterial smooth muscle, voltage-insensitive calcium channels activated by NA have not. We show here that NA contractions of rabbit mesenteric arteries increase with depolarization. The increase parallels the elevation of open-state probability (P0) of single, voltage-dependent calcium channels. The action of noradrenaline can be explained by NA-activating voltage-dependent calcium channels, rather than by opening a second type of channel. We show directly that NA increases the open-state probability of single calcium channels. Thus, in the presence of NA, calcium entry through voltage-dependent calcium channels can regulate smooth muscle tone at physiological membrane potentials. These results may have relevance to pathophysiological conditions such as hypertension.     

高梁叶中的多核纤维和分隔纤维

高粱(Sorghum vulgares Pers.)叶中的纤维在发育过程中出现多个细胞核现象,细胞核的数目1～7个,一般为1～3个。这种多核纤维的细胞核形状也不同,有圆球形、纺锤形和伸长的线形。纤维中出现的多核现象是由于纤维在早期发育过程中连续进行核分裂形成的,或者是发育的分隔纤维在形成横隔前出现短暂的多核时期。除这种多核纤维外,高粱叶中还青许多具有生活原生质体的分隔纤维。     

改善苎麻及其混纺纱弹性研究

本文主要为了改善苎麻纱和麻棉纱的弹性,对苎麻纱、麻棉纱和棉纱进行了碱处理。并根据前人所做的工作,即有张力状态下碱处理和松弛状态下碱处理,其纱线性能存在较大差异,因而本文着重考虑在不同张力状态下进行碱处理,研究结果表明,采用低张力进行碱处理。其苎麻纱和麻棉纱的最大变形能力即断裂伸长显著增加,初始弹性模量显著下降,纱线变形恢复能力显著提高。     

CAD在工厂供电系统中的应用研究

本文以工厂供电系统为研究对象,提出CAD用于工厂供电系统设计时,遵守的一些原则。如:采用模快结构;采用菜单式提问;尽量利用计算机的绘图功能等。并以某工厂供电系统为实例进行了分析,实际应用效果良好。     

In vitro development ofXenopus skin glands producing 5-hydroxytryptamine and caerulein

The granular glands of amphibian skin synthesize and store a large amount of bioactive amines and peptides which are structurally similar to mammalian brain-gut peptides. To investigate the development of peptide- and amine-producing cells in the granular glands, pieces of dorsal skin taken at various stages fromXenopus laevis tadpoles were cultured, and the contents of caerulein and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were measured. When pieces of skin from tadpoles at stages 57 to 60 (Nieuwkoop and Faber stages) were cultured in a medium containing 10% fetal calf serum (FCS medium) or one containing FCS treated with charcoal (chFCS medium), the caerulein and 5-HT levels were increased for the six days of the incubation period. The caerulein content was lower in the chFCS medium than in the FCS medium. Addition of thyroxine to the chFCS medium had no significant effect on the caerulein content. These results show that the caerulein-and 5-HT-producing cells of the granular glands can develop in a culture system with FCS- or chFCS-containing media, and suggest that FCS contains substances which are absorbed by charcoal and stimulate development of the amine- and peptideproducing cells of the glands. In a preliminary search for correlation between caerulein and 5-HT synthesis, addition of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a precursor to 5-HT, to the FCS medium increased 5-HT content and, conversely, caused significant decrease in caerulein content, suggesting that accumulation of caerulein in the granular glands is influenced by the amount of 5-HT synthesis. These studies indicate that this culture system is a useful model for investigating the development of peptide- and amine-producing cells.     

A mixture likelihood approach for generalized linear models

A mixture model approach is developed that simultaneously estimates the posterior membership probabilities of observations to a number of unobservable groups or latent classes, and the parameters of a generalized linear model which relates the observations, distributed according to some member of the exponential family, to a set of specified covariates within each Class. We demonstrate how this approach handles many of the existing latent class regression procedures as special cases, as well as a host of other parametric specifications in the exponential family heretofore not mentioned in the latent class literature. As such we generalize the McCullagh and Nelder approach to a latent class framework. The parameters are estimated using maximum likelihood, and an EM algorithm for estimation is provided. A Monte Carlo study of the performance of the algorithm for several distributions is provided, and the model is illustrated in two empirical applications.