Home About us Contact | |||
Layer Formation (layer + formation)
Selected AbstractsBves expression during avian embryogenesisDEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 3 2004Megan E. Osler Abstract Bves (blood vessel/epicardial substance) is a transmembrane protein postulated to play a role in cell adhesion. While it is clear that Bves and gene products of the same family are expressed in adult striated muscle cells, the distribution of these proteins during development has not been critically examined. An understanding of the expression pattern of Bves is essential for a determination of protein function and its role in embryogenesis. In this study, we present an expression analysis of Bves during chick gastrulation and germ layer formation. Our data show that Bves is expressed in epithelia of all three germ layers early in development. Furthermore, Bves protein is observed in epithelial tissues during organogenesis, specifically the developing epidermis, the gut endoderm, and the epicardium of the heart. These data support the hypothesis that Bves may play a role in cell adhesion and movement of epithelia during early embryogenesis. Developmental Dynamics 229:658,667, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Emerging topics in Reelin functionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2010Eckart Förster Abstract Reelin signalling in the early developing cortex regulates radial migration of cortical neurons. Later in development, Reelin promotes maturation of dendrites and dendritic spines. Finally, in the mature brain, it is involved in modulating synaptic function. In recent years, efforts to identify downstream signalling events induced by binding of Reelin to lipoprotein receptors led to the characterization of novel components of the Reelin signalling cascade. In the present review, we first address distinct functions of the Reelin receptors Apoer2 and Vldlr in cortical layer formation, followed by a discussion on the recently identified downstream effector molecule n-cofilin, involved in regulating actin cytoskeletal dynamics required for coordinated neuronal migration. Next, we discuss possible functions of the recently identified Reelin,Notch signalling crosstalk, and new aspects of the role of Reelin in the formation of the dentate radial glial scaffold. Finally, progress in characterizing the function of Reelin in modulating synaptic function in the adult brain is summarized. The present review has been inspired by a session entitled ,Functions of Reelin in the developing and adult hippocampus', held at the Spring Hippocampal Research Conference in Verona/Italy, June 2009. [source] Localization of RNAs in oocytes of Eleutherodactylus coqui, a direct developing frog, differs from Xenopus laevisEVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2003Yvonne M. Beckham SummaryEleutherodactylus coqui develops directly on land to a frog. The large 3.5-mm oocyte of E. coqui has enough yolk to allow development without a feeding tadpole. In the smaller Xenopus laevis oocyte, 1.3 mm in diameter, mRNAs involved in germ layer formation, such as VegT and Vg1, are localized to the vegetal cortex of the oocyte. We hypothesized that an animal shift has occurred in the localization of the E. coqui Orthologs of VegT and Vg1 due to the large egg size. Through a combination of degenerate reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), we cloned 1634 bp of EcVegT and 1377 bp of EcVg1. Northern blot analysis shows that the lengths of these transcripts are 2.5 kb and 1.3 kb, respectively. This result suggests that we have obtained the complete Vg1 transcript, although this transcript has an extremely short 3, untranslated region compared with X. laevis, 256 bp and 1268 bp, respectively. Zygotic expression of EcVegT closely resembles that of VegT, supporting their orthology. Radioactive RT-PCR and in situ hybridization demonstrated the presence of EcVegT and EcVg1 predominantly near the animal pole of the oocyte. RT-PCR showed that the animal blastomeres, formed from the first horizontal cleavage, inherit half of the EcVegT and EcVg1 transcripts, although they contain only about 1% of the embryo volume. Our results indicate major differences between the molecular organization of the eggs of X. laevis and E. coqui. [source] Purification of Aspergillus carbonarius polygalacturonase using polymeric membranesJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2008E. Nakkeeran Abstract BACKGROUND: Microfiltration (MF: 70,450 nm) and ultrafiltration (UF: 10,500 kDa) membranes were used to eliminate carbohydrates and other non-protein impurities from Aspergillus carbonarius culture broth containing polygalacturonase enzyme (EC 3.2.1.15) that would otherwise interfere with the purification processes and lead to enzyme loss. Further, diafiltration was attempted to improve the elimination of impurities as well as recovery of enzymes. RESULTS: MF resulted in removal of 2,25% carbohydrates with an enzyme recovery of 69,82% from the crude culture broth owing to the secondary layer formation. UF with 10 kDa membrane eliminated most of the carbohydrates (96%), phosphate salts and total acids with a recovery of 96% polygalacturonase and resulted in greater productivity. Using the above procedure, the enzyme was concentrated nearly 10-fold while the purity improved from 4.6 to 49.4 U mg,1 of dry matter. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study focused on the elimination of carbohydrates and other non-protein impurities showed that UF could be used efficiently as a primary purification step during downstream processing of microbial culture broths containing enzymes. The present approach will ensure complete elimination of non-protein impurities thereby reducing the losses and difficulties in the subsequent purification steps. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Predictive membrane transport model for nanofiltration processes in water treatmentAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 6 2001Shih-Chieh Tu A membrane transport model was developed for prediction and simulation of membrane filtration (nanofiltration) dynamics with reference to permeate flux. It incorporates important phenomenological aspects of membrane transport, such as concentration polarization and gel layer formation, and illustrates the concentration of solutes as foulants in the mass-transfer boundary layer on the membrane surface. Membrane filtration tests using tannic acid as a model organic compound were designed for investigating permeate fluxes, as well as solute concentration profiles for permeates and concentrates. Membrane performance experiments were conducted under various operation conditions by varying several parameters including solute concentrations, transmembrane pressures, and reject flow rates. The tests showed that the NF-45 membrane composed of polypiperazine amide was more susceptible to organic fouling by tannic acid than the NF-70 membrane made of cross-linked aromatic polyamide. These observations were supported by surface-potential measurements that demonstrated higher negative surface charges and greater hydrophilicity for the NF-70 membrane in the presence of tannic acid. The predictive capability of the membrane transport model was evaluated using the results from membrane filtration tests. Model sensitivity studies were conducted to obtain information on effects of various input parameters pertaining to operating conditions and fluid-dynamic regimes. [source] Effect of solvent quality on kinetics of tethered layer formationJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 21 2004Heqing Huang Abstract We conducted a study of the effect of solvent quality on the kinetics of formation of a layer of polymer chains tethered to a solid substrate. In these experiments, tethering was accomplished by means of chemical bond formation between reactive sites on the surface and the end-functional groups of the polymer chains in solution. All experimental variables were held constant except for the ,-parameter between the polymer and solvent. Variation in the ,-parameter was achieved by use of a series of nonpolar, organic solvents. The distinct three-regime kinetics, typical of tethering reactions run in a good solvent and in the absence of segmental adsorption, was observed over the range of values for the ,-parameter. As expected, an increase in the ,-parameter (a decrease in solvent quality) did result in increased tethering density, but, contrary to expectation, no increase in tethering rate was observed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5530,5537, 2004 [source] Optimization of a Nanoporous Silicon Layer for Solar Cell ApplicationJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 12 2008Guk-Hwan An A pyramidal structure and an n/p junction-formed wafer were used for the porous silicon (PS) layer formation. The pyramidal structure was adopted to maximize the light confinement with the PS layer. Also, in order to apply the PS layer to the solar cell directly, the n/p junction was adopted. To optimize the PS layer on this new type of surface, three kinds of solutions, ethanol, N,N -dimethylformamide, and formamide (FA), were used with hydrofluoric acid as a base of electrolyte. Various current densities were applied for PS layer formation with various anodizing durations. The reflectance and the microstructure were used as criteria for the selection of the most suitable PS layer. Consequently, an effective reflectance of 2.4% was obtained with 50 mA/cm2 and 10 s under the FA-based electrolyte condition. The result was expected to be used as an antireflection coating for solar cell applications. [source] Silica Reinforced Organic,Inorganic Hybrid Polyurethane Nanocomposites From Sustainable ResourceMACROMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS, Issue 4 2010Deewan Akram Abstract Polyol/nanosilica organic,inorganic hybrids (Si/Lpol) were prepared through facile sol,gel chemistry. Tetraethoxyorthosilane (TEOS) and linseed polyol (Lpol) obtained by hydroxylation of linseed oil were used as inorganic and organic precursors, respectively. Si/Lpol was further treated with toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) to obtain silica embedded polyurethane (Si/LPU). The structure of the organic,inorganic hybrid was confirmed by FTIR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR spectral analysis. The polyol/nanosilica network shows strong interaction with the remnant polyol backbone through hydrogen bonding, which also has bearing on Tg of polymers. Morphological studies of Si/LPU show the formation of uniform, spherical silica nanoparticles of 2,30,nm size embedded in the polymer matrix. Si/LPU was further reinforced with 2 and 5,wt.-% fumed silica (FS-Si/LPUs); their morphology revealed a carpet layer formation on top of Si/LPU. Thermogravimetric analysis showed improved thermal stability of Si/LPU and FS-Si/LPUs. The polymers exhibit mild to moderate antibacterial behavior against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, and will pave way in plethora of biological and chemical applications as coating materials. [source] |