Emergence of life——how and where? -An update based on recent ideas

Panspermic origins notwithstanding, life, assuming that it started on Earth, may have taken root as soon as it became geologically permissible. There are multiple possibilities for early biogenesis from complex inorganic/organic geochemistry at diverse geological niches. Recent theoretical calculations have revived the possibility of Earth having a rather reduced early atmosphere, and had refueled arguments for a surface origin of life. Laboratory modeling of possible prebiotic RNA polymerization has seen interesting experimental advances, although a plausible replicator-like molecule has not yet been produced. The hydrothermal origin school of thought has also seen an interesting postulation for life's early emergence and evolution—within contiguous, porous hydrothermal iron-sulfide (FeS) compartments, leading to a non-free living last universal common ancestor (LUCA). A confined LUCA evolving later into free-living archaebacteria and eubacteria could potentially reconcile some problems of molecular divergence between these two kingdoms. There are, however, many unresolved problems, and experimental evidence for such a scheme is lacking. Here, recent updates and refinements to the mainstay hypotheses for the emergence of life on Earth are reviewed and discussed.     

An intron with a constitutive transport element is retained in a Tap messenger RNA

Alternative splicing is a key factor contributing to genetic diversity and evolution. Intron retention, one form of alternative splicing, is common in plants but rare in higher eukaryotes, because messenger RNAs with retained introns are subject to cellular restriction at the level of cytoplasmic export and expression. Often, retention of internal introns restricts the export of these mRNAs and makes them the targets for degradation by the cellular nonsense-mediated decay machinery if they contain premature stop codons. In fact, many of the database entries for complementary DNAs with retained introns represent them as artefacts that would not affect the proteome. Retroviruses are important model systems in studies of regulation of RNAs with retained introns, because their genomic and mRNAs contain one or more unspliced introns. For example, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus overcomes cellular restrictions by using a cis-acting RNA element known as the constitutive transport element (CTE). The CTE interacts directly with the Tap protein (also known as nuclear RNA export factor 1, encoded by NXF1), which is thought to be a principal export receptor for cellular mRNA, leading to the hypothesis that cellular mRNAs with retained introns use cellular CTE equivalents to overcome restrictions to their expression. Here we show that the Tap gene contains a functional CTE in its alternatively spliced intron 10. Tap mRNA containing this intron is exported to the cytoplasm and is present in polyribosomes. A small Tap protein is encoded by this mRNA and can be detected in human and monkey cells. Our results indicate that Tap regulates expression of its own intron-containing RNA through a CTE-mediated mechanism. Thus, CTEs are likely to be important elements that facilitate efficient expression of mammalian mRNAs with retained introns.     

Involvement of members of the Rab family and related small GTPases in autophagosome formation and maturation

Macroautophagy, the process by which cytosolic components and organelles are engulfed and degraded by a double-membrane structure, could be viewed as a specialized, multistep membrane transport process. As such, it intersects with the exocytic and endocytic membrane trafficking pathways. A number of Rab GTPases which regulate secretory and endocytic membrane traffic have been shown to play either critical or accessory roles in autophagy. The biogenesis of the pre-autophagosomal isolation membrane (or phagophore) is dependent on the functionality of Rab1. A non-canonical, Atg5/Atg7-independent mode of autophagosome generation from the trans-Golgi or endosome requires Rab9. Other Rabs, such as Rab5, Rab24, Rab33, and Rab7 have all been shown to be required, or involved at various stages of autophagosomal genesis and maturation. Another small GTPase, RalB, was very recently demonstrated to induce isolation membrane formation and maturation via its engagement of the exocyst complex, a known Rab effector. We summarize here what is now known about the involvement of Rabs in autophagy, and discuss plausible mechanisms with future perspectives.     

The histamine content of guinea pig mast cells

Zusammenfassung Von der Voraussetzung ausgehend, dass alles Histamin in den Mastzellen lokalisiert ist, wurde berechnet, dass jede Mastzelle in Aorta, Trachea, Uterus und Jejunum des Meerschweinchens 25–34 µµg Histamin-Base enthält. Die anaphylaktische Freisetzung des Histamins war proportional der Verminderung des Mastzellengehaltes und wurde zu 12–17 µµg/Mastzelle berechnet. Jejunum gab keine anaphylaktische Reaktion.     

圈的推广Mycielski图的圆色数

Mycielski图是1955年由Mycielski提出来的．任给一个图G和一个非负整数m,G的推广Mycielski图μm(G)是G的Mycielski图的一个自然的推广．推广Mycielski图的性质以及它们的点色数、圆色数和分数色数等已有许多研究．本文研究圈的推广Mycielski图的圆色数．定义Cn为n个顶点的圈．对任意非负整数m和大于2的整数n,本文确定了图μm(Cn)的圆色数,同时还得到了图μm(Cn)-v的圆色数的一些结果．     

Subendothelial retention of atherogenic lipoproteins in early atherosclerosis

Complications of atherosclerosis are the most common cause of death in Western societies. Among the many risk factors identified by epidemiological studies, only elevated levels of lipoproteins containing apolipoprotein (apo) B can drive the development of atherosclerosis in humans and experimental animals even in the absence of other risk factors. However, the mechanisms that lead to atherosclerosis are still poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that the subendothelial retention of atherogenic apoB-containing lipoproteins is the initiating event in atherogenesis. The extracellular matrix of the subendothelium, particularly proteoglycans, is thought to play a major role in the retention of atherogenic lipoproteins. The interaction between atherogenic lipoproteins and proteoglycans involves an ionic interaction between basic amino acids in apoB100 and negatively charged sulphate groups on the proteoglycans. Here we present direct experimental evidence that the atherogenicity of apoB-containing low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is linked to their affinity for artery wall proteoglycans. Mice expressing proteoglycan-binding-defective LDL developed significantly less atherosclerosis than mice expressing wild-type control LDL. We conclude that subendothelial retention of apoB100-containing lipoprotein is an early step in atherogenesis.     

Retention of atherogenic lipoproteins in atherogenesis

Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease whose pathogenesis is still unclear. Mounting evidence, however, supports the concept that subendothelial retention of apoB100-containing lipoproteins is the initiating event in atherogenesis. Subsequently, a series of biological responses to this retained material leads to specific molecular and cellular processes that promote lesion formation.Received 3 July 2003; received after revision 13 August 2003; accepted 15 August 2003     

Zinc deficiency and lung converting enzyme activity in rats.

Angiotensin converting enzyme activity was found to be significantly decreased in the isolated perfused lung from zinc-deficient rats when compared with that of controls. Addition of zinc ion to the superfusion medium did not cause a recovery in this decreased activity of the enzyme. It is postulated that zinc deficiency probably produces a structural change in the lung angiotensin converting enzyme.     

Zinc deficiency and lung converting enzyme activity in rats

Summary Angiotensin converting enzyme activity was found to be significantly decreased in the isolated perfused lung from zinc-deficient rats when compared with that of controls. Addition of zinc ion to the superfusion medium did not cause a recovery in this decreased activity of the enzyme. It is postulated that zinc deficiency probably produces a structural change in the lung angiotensin converting enzyme.This work is supported by a grant from Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Council (TAG-350).