Cellular responses to mild heat stress

Since its discovery in 1962 by Ritossa, the heat shock response has been extensively studied by a number of investigators to understand the molecular mechanism underlying the cellular response to heat stress. The most well characterized heat shock response is induction of the heat shock proteins that function as molecular chaperones and exert cell cycle regulatory and anti-apoptotic activities. While most investigators have focused their studies on the toxic effects of heat stress in organisms such as severe heat stress-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, the cellular response to fever-ranged mild heat stress has been rather underestimated. However, the cellular response to mild heat stress is likely to be more important in a physiological sense than that to severe heat stress because the body temperature of homeothermic animals increases by only 1–2°C during febrile diseases. Here we provide information that mild heat stress does have some beneficial role in organisms via positively regulating cell proliferation and differentiation, and immune response in mammalian cells.Received 14 May 2004; received after revision 2 August 2004; accepted 16 August 2004     

Marrow mesenchymal stem cells transduced with TPO/FL genes as support for ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells

A new marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) line that could support expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) was developed. Primary hMSCs were infected with retrovirus containing Flt-3 ligand and thrombopoietin genes. CD34+ cells from cord blood were expanded with primary hMSCs or transduced hMSCs. The expansion of total nucleated cells, CD34+ cells and mixed colonies containing erythroid and myeloid cells and megakaryocytes for 2 weeks coculture with transduced hMSCs was remarkably increased. The outputs of long-term culture-initiating cells for 2 and 4 weeks coculture with transduced hMSCs were also largely increased. The expansion rates of HSPCs with transduced hMSCs were unchanged for 6 weeks. In contrast, the expansion rates of HSPCs with primary hMSCs declined drastically through 6 weeks. SCID-repopulating cell expansion with transduced hMSCs for 4 weeks was significantly higher than that of uncultured CD34+ cells and HSPCs expanded with primary hMSCs. Received 21 June 2005; received after revision 30 July 2005; accepted 24 August 2005     

Epicatechin can cause the seedling growth inhibitor,nagilactone E,to induce growth stimulation

Summary A possible new role for the flavonoid (–)-epicatechin (II) is described. It has no growth effects on its own, but when it is added to lettuce and rice seeds together with the known seedling growth inhibitor nagilactone E (I), the growth inhibitor activity ofI can cease and growth stimulation can be observed.     

Effect of prostaglandin F2α on the secretion of pancreatic juice induced by secretin and by dopamine

Zusammenfassung Die Wirksamkeit von Prostaglandin F₂ (PGF₂) auf die exokrine Pankreassekretion wurde an einem mit Blut perfundiereten Pankreas-Präparat des Hundes untersucht. PGF₂ (100 g) hemmte die durch Sekretin stimuliete, aber nicht die durch Dopamin stimulierte Sekretion.     

Postsynaptic long-term potentiation follows coupling of dendritic glutamate application and synaptic activation

Dendritic depolarization, which seems to be involved in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), was elicited by localized glutamate application. When paired to low frequency synaptic activation in the same area, the subsequent changes had features in common with LTP, expressed as an increased probability of firing and shorter spike latency. The EPSP was not significantly increased.     

3-Amino-3-deoxy-D-glucose: an antibiotic produced by a deep-sea bacterium

Gram-positive bacteria isolated from deep-sea sediments of the Pacific basin showed considerable antibacterial activity. A Bacillus strain, isolated from a sediment sample collected at a depth of 4310 m, was shown to produce 3-amino-3-deoxy-D-glucose, a known antibiotic.     

鲫幼鱼易钓性与标准代谢及形态特征的关联

【目的】考察鲤科(Cyprinidae)鱼类的标准代谢率(Standard metabolic rate)及形态参数与易钓性是否存在关联。【方法】以广布种鲤科鱼类鲫(Carassius auratus)幼鱼为实验对象,在(25±0.5)℃条件下测定体质量相近、体格健康的40尾幼鱼的标准代谢率,随后在实验室环境中连续进行5d垂钓,每日垂钓20尾幼鱼即停止当日垂钓活动。【结果】1)第1d被钓出幼鱼的标准代谢率高于未被钓出幼鱼,具有统计学意义(p<0.05);随后连续4d中被钓出幼鱼与未被钓出幼鱼的标准代谢率之间的差异均不具有统计学意义。另外,每日被钓出幼鱼与未被钓出幼鱼的体质量之间的差异也无统计学意义,但被钓出幼鱼的体长在第3d和第5d大于未被钓出幼鱼,且具有统计学意义(p<0.05),并且被钓出幼鱼的肥满度在第3d高于未钓出组,具有统计学意义(p<0.05)。2)在5d的连续垂钓中,被钓上5次的幼鱼有3尾,被钓上1~4次的幼鱼分别为7,7,6,10尾,仅7尾幼鱼从未被钓出,单因素方差分析显示不同被钓出频次的幼鱼的标准代谢率之间差异不具有统计学意义。3)对5d中均被钓出的幼鱼的钓出顺序进行分析,发现它们每日被钓排序在整体上保持一致,而幼鱼的平均被钓次序号与它们的标准代谢率和形态参数均无统计学意义上的相关性。【结论】鲫幼鱼的首次被钓经历并不影响自身再次被钓;在体质量相近条件下,鲫的易钓性与外部形态(如体质量、体长或肥满度等)以及维持代谢有关。
     

Chemistry of ion coordination and hydration revealed by a K+ channel-Fab complex at 2.0 A resolution.

Ion transport proteins must remove an ion's hydration shell to coordinate the ion selectively on the basis of its size and charge. To discover how the K+ channel solves this fundamental aspect of ion conduction, we solved the structure of the KcsA K+ channel in complex with a monoclonal Fab antibody fragment at 2.0 A resolution. Here we show how the K+ channel displaces water molecules around an ion at its extracellular entryway, and how it holds a K+ ion in a square antiprism of water molecules in a cavity near its intracellular entryway. Carbonyl oxygen atoms within the selectivity filter form a very similar square antiprism around each K+ binding site, as if to mimic the waters of hydration. The selectivity filter changes its ion coordination structure in low K+ solutions. This structural change is crucial to the operation of the selectivity filter in the cellular context, where the K+ ion concentration near the selectivity filter varies in response to channel gating.     

钼-硫氰酸盐-甲基紫高灵敏离子缔合体系的研究和应用

本文研究了在聚乙烯醇存在下,钼(Ⅵ)—SCN—甲基紫高灵敏离子缔合体系,在0·10—0·14M硫酸介质中,该体系λ_(max)=530nm,表观摩尔吸光系数_(530)=9·20×10~5l·mol~(-1)·cm~(-1),0～μgM_0/25ml符合比尔定律,选择性较好,并用于钢铁中钼的测定。对显色反应机理作了初步探讨。     

Zr(0001)-(2×2)-O表面结构的分析

LEED强度的多重散射分析,进一步确定Zr与氧作用在低覆盖量下(<1ML),形成(2×2)-O结构,是氧吸附后进入Zr表面原子层下,占据八面体空位,形成有两层氧的under layer结构,Zr表面原子层有Fcc重构。分析得到的Zt-O键距为0.232nm,而Zr-Zr间距增大为0.268nm,比原来的距离增大约4.3％,这是由于氧插入的结果。