GABA Transporter-1 Activity Modulates Hippocampal Theta Oscillation and Theta Burst Stimulation-Induced Long-Term Potentiation

The network oscillation and synaptic plasticity are known to be regulated by GABAergic inhibition, but how they are affected by changes in the GABA transporter activity remains unclear. Here we show that in the CA1 region of mouse hippocampus, pharmacolog

Sexual Behavior Modulates Contextual Fear Memory Through Dopamine D1/D5 Receptors

Traumatic events always lead to aversive emotional memory, i.e., fear memory. In contrast, positive events in daily life such as sex experiences seem to reduce aversive memory after aversive events. Thus, we hypothesized that post-traumatic pleasurable ex

Vertical mixing within the epilimnion modulates UVR-induced photoinhibition in tropical freshwater phytoplankton from southern China

1. The importance of vertical mixing in modulating the impact of UVR on phytoplankton photosynthesis was assessed in a tropical, shallow lake in southern China from late winter to mid-spring of 2005. 2. Daily cycles of fluorescence measurements (i.e. photosynthetic quantum yield, Y) were performed on both 'static' and in situ samples. Static samples were of surface water incubated at the surface of the lake under three radiation treatments - PAB (PAR + UVR, 280-700 nm), PA (PAR + UV-A, 320-700 nm) and P (PAR, 400-700 nm). In situ samples were collected every hour at three different depths - 0, 0.5 and 1 m. 3. The general daily pattern was of a significant decrease in Y from early morning towards noon, with partial recovery in the afternoon. Samples incubated under static conditions always had lower Y than those under in situ conditions at the same time of the day. 4. Under stratified conditions, no overall impact of UVR impact could be detected in situ when compared with the static samples. Further rapid vertical mixing not only counteracted the impact of UVR but also stimulated photosynthetic efficiency. 5. Based on these measurements of fluorescence, the mixing speed of cells moving within the epilimnion was estimated to range between 0.53 and 6.5 cm min(-1). 6. These data show that mixing is very important in modulating the photosynthetic response of phytoplankton exposed to natural radiation and, hence, strongly conditions the overall impact of UVR on aquatic ecosystems.

Melatonin modulates acute testicular damage induced by carbon ions in mice

The present study was performed to obtain evidence of the radioprotective function of melatonin at different administration levels on carbon ion-induced mouse testicular damage. Outbred Kun-Ming strain mice were divided into six groups, each composed of eight animals: control group, melatonin alone group, irradiation group and three melatonin plus irradiation-treated groups. An acute study was carried out to determine alterations in DNA-single strand break, cell apoptosis, and oxidative stress parameters as well as histopathology in mouse testis 24 h after whole-body irradiation with a single dose of 4 Gy Tie results showed that pre-treatment and post-treatment with high-dose melatonin (10 mg/kg) both significantly alleviated carbon ion-induced acute testicular damage, a greater radioprotective effect being observed in the pre-treatment group. On the other hand, low-dose melatonin (1 mg/kg) had a limited radioprotective effect on irradiation-induced degeneration and DNA lesions in mouse testis. Taken together, the data suggest that prophylactic treatment with a higher dose of melatonin is probably advisable to protect against the effects of heavy-ion irradiation.

一氧化氮(NO)调节白皮松花粉管生长和细胞壁构建的研究

花粉管是种子植物受精过程中的雄性生殖单位载体，具有典型的顶端极性生长特点，因此成为近年来研究植物细胞间相互识别、胞内外信号传递的模式系统。裸子植物花粉管与被子植物花粉管相比具有萌发时间长、生长缓慢等特点。一氧化氮（NO）作为一个重要的胞内信号分子，参与调节植物生长发育和多种生理过程，但是，有关NO对花粉管生长的作用机制目前尚不清楚。本研究以裸子植物白皮松(Pinus bungeana)花粉为材料，应用不同浓度的NO释放剂SNAP和SNP, NO清除剂cPTIO和哺乳动物一氧化氮合酶抑制剂L-NNA处理，对白皮松花粉萌发和花粉管伸长进行了细胞学研究，从而为进一步揭示NO调控裸子植物花粉管生长机理提供参考。 本论文首先研究了NO释放剂、清除剂及NOS抑制剂对白皮松花粉萌发和花粉管生长的影响。结果显示，SNAP和SNP能够促进白皮松花粉萌发和花粉管伸长，并具有浓度效用，但对其花粉管的形态特征无明显影响；cPTIO和L-NNA能够抑制白皮松花粉萌发和花粉管生长，并且具有浓度效应，同时还可使花粉管顶端膨大呈球形，并丧失花粉管的极性生长。运用NO特异探针DAF-2DA标记显示，SNAP和SNP处理可促进花粉管胞内NO产生；经cPTIO和L-NNA处理后，花粉管内荧光强度比对照花粉管明显减弱。上述结果表明，NO参与裸子植物花粉管极性生长，并且适量NO可以促进花粉管的生长。 用显微注射技术将Ca2+特异探针注射入白皮松花粉管，以检测白皮松花粉管胞内Ca2+浓度梯度。结果显示，SNAP和SNP处理后，NO荧光增加的同时，花粉管顶端Ca2+浓度梯度增加。与此相反，cPTIO和L-NNA处理后，NO荧光降低的同时，花粉管顶端Ca2+浓度梯度也相应降低。应用非损伤微测技术测定花粉管胞外Ca2+内流，结果显示，SNAP和SNP促进胞外Ca2+内流，而cPTIO和L-NNA则抑制胞外Ca2+内流。据此，我们推测，在白皮松花粉管中，NO可能通过调节胞外Ca2+内流来调节胞内Ca2+浓度梯度，然而，我们不能排除在NO信号传递过程中，胞内Ca2+库可能影响胞内Ca2+浓度梯度。 通过微丝特异探针标记的白皮松花粉管显示，SNAP和SNP可使花粉管顶端细微丝束解聚，而cPTIO和L-NNA处理后，花粉管中微丝聚合，尤其在花粉管顶端形成粗的微丝束，并一直延伸到花粉管的最顶端。结合上述Ca2+结果，我们认为，经NO处理后，白皮松花粉管微丝骨架的动态变化，可能是通过Ca2+浓度来进行调控的。通过FM4-64探针标记显示，正常生长白皮松花粉管胞吞作用主要集中在顶端和亚顶端，并且形成倒“V”形的分布模式，SNAP与SNP处理后荧光分布模式与对照花粉管类似，但达到饱和所用时间相对较短；而L-NNA处理后顶端膨大丧失极性的花粉管，荧光分布在膨大花粉管靠近质膜的区域，未见倒“V”形分布模式；经L-NNA处理后，顶端没有膨大的花粉管，荧光几乎均匀分布于整个花粉管，并且L-NNA处理后达到饱和的时间较对照长。上述结果表明，适量NO能够促进白皮松花粉管胞吞。 免疫抗体标记技术分析发现，对照花粉管的酯化果胶质和AGPs都集中在顶端，酸性果胶质分布在侧壁，胼胝质均匀分布在整个花粉管壁上。L-NNA处理后的花粉管，在其顶端出现酸性果胶和酯化果胶，以及有胼胝质积累，而AGPs则分布在花粉管的基部。运用傅里叶红外光谱技术（Fourier Transform Infared Spectroscopy, FTIR）技术分析白皮松花粉管顶端细胞壁成分，结果显示，SNAP处理后花粉管顶端酯化果胶增加而酸性果胶降低；与之相反，经L-NNA处理后的花粉管，其顶端酯化果胶降低而酸性果胶增加。 综上所述，在白皮松花粉管中，NO促进胞外Ca2+内流，从而维持胞内Ca2+浓度梯度，进而影响花粉管顶端微丝骨架的组装，促进囊泡运输，使花粉管顶端酯化果胶累积，最终促进花粉管的正常生长。

Elongation Factor ELL (Eleven-Nineteen Lysine-rich Leukemia) Acts as a Transcription Factor for Direct Thrombospondin-1 Regulation

The eleven-nineteen lysine-rich leukemia (ELL) gene undergoes translocation and fuses in-frame to the multiple lineage leukemia gene in a substantial proportion of patients suffering from acute forms of leukemia. Studies show that ELL indirectly modulates transcription by serving as a regulator for transcriptional elongation as well as for p53, U19/Eaf2, and steroid receptor activities. Our in vitro and in vivo data demonstrate that ELL could also serve as a transcriptional factor to directly induce transcription of the thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) gene. Experiments using ELL deletion mutants established that full-length ELL is required for the TSP-1 up-regulation and that the trans-activation domain likely resides in the carboxyl terminus. Moreover, the DNA binding domain may localize to the first 45 amino acids of ELL. Not surprisingly, multiple lineage leukemia-ELL, which lacks these amino acids, did not induce expression from the TSP-1 promoter. In addition, the ELL core-response element appears to localize in the -1426 to -1418 region of the TSP-1 promoter. Finally, studies using zebrafish confirmed that ELL regulates TSP-1 mRNA expression in vivo, and ELL could inhibit zebrafish vasculogenesis, at least in part, through up-regulating TSP-1. Given the importance of TSP-1 as an anti-angiogenic protein, our findings may have important ramifications for better understanding cancer.

Sidegating effect on Schottky contact in ion-implanted GaAs

The sidegating effect on the Schottky barrier in ion-implanted GaAs was investigated with capacitance-voltage profiling at various negative substrate voltages. It was demonstrated that the negative substrate voltage modulates the Schottky depletion region width as well as the space charge region at the substrate-active channel interface. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Interaction of La3+ and cholesterol with dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol bilayers by FT-Raman spectroscopy

The interaction of La3+ and cholesterol with the negatively charged phospholipid dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol bilayers was studied by Fourier transform-Raman spectroscopy. La3+ was shown to increase interchain order and intermolecular ordering of the lipid lattice, cholesterol exhibited less of an effect, the La3+-DPPG-cholesterol complex was more ordered than cholesterol=DPPG nd less ordered than La3+-DPPG complexes, cholesterol modulates the order/disorder parameters of DPPG bilayers.

Regulation of the Edwardsiella tarda Hemolysin Gene and luxS by EthR

Edwardsiella tarda is a pathogen with a broad host range that includes human and animals. The E. tarda hemolysin (Eth) system, which comprises EthA and EthB, is a noted virulence element that is widely distributed in pathogenic isolates of E. tarda. Previous study has shown that the expression of ethB is regulated by iron, which suggests the possibility that the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) is involved in the regulation of ethB. The work presented in this report supports the previous findings and demonstrates that ethB expression was decreased under conditions when the E. tarda Fur (Fur(Et)) was overproduced, and enhanced when Fur(Et) was inactivated. We also identified a second ethB regulator, EthR, which is a transcription regulator of the GntR family. EthR represses ethB expression by direct interaction with the ethB promoter region. In addition to ethB, EthR also modulates, but positively, luxS expression and AI-2 production by binding to the luxS promoter region. The expression of ethR itself is subject to negative autoregulation; interference with this regulation by overexpressing ethR during the process of infection caused (i) drastic changes in ethB and luxS expressions, (ii) vitiation in the tissue dissemination and survival ability of the bacterium, and (iii) significant attenuation of the overall bacterial virulence. These results not only provide new insights into the regulation mechanisms of the Eth hemolysin and LuxS/AI-2 quorum sensing systems but also highlight the importance of these systems in bacterial virulence.