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Other Physiological Functions (other + physiological_function)
Selected AbstractsVitamin D and multiple sclerosisJOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2008Anita Raghuwanshi Abstract Vitamin D is a principal regulator of calcium homeostasis. However, recent evidence has indicated that vitamin D can have numerous other physiological functions including inhibition of proliferation of a number of malignant cells including breast and prostate cancer cells and protection against certain immune mediated disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS). The geographic incidence of MS indicates an increase in MS with a decrease in sunlight exposure. Since vitamin D is produced in the skin by solar or UV irradiation and high serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been reported to correlate with a reduced risk of MS, a protective role of vitamin D is suggested. Mechanisms whereby the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) may act to mediate this protective effect are reviewed. Due to its immunosuppressive actions, it has been suggested that 1,25(OH)2D3 may prevent the induction of MS. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 338,343, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] NITZSCHIA OVALIS (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) MONO LAKE STRAIN ACCUMULATES 1,4/2,5 CYCLOHEXANETETROL IN RESPONSE TO INCREASED SALINITY,JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Fernando Garza-Sánchez The growth of microalgae in hypersaline conditions requires that cells accumulate osmoprotectants. In many instances, these are polyols. We isolated the diatom Nitzschia ovalis H. J. Arn. from the saline and alkaline water body Mono Lake (CA, USA). This isolate can grow in salinities ranging from 5 to 120 parts per thousand (ppt) of salt but normally at 90 ppt salinity. In this report, we identified the major polyol osmoprotectant as 1,4/2,5 cyclohexanetetrol by electron ionization-mass spectrometry (EI,MS), 1H, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and infrared (IR) and showed an increase in cellular concentration in response to rising salinity. This increase in the cyclitol concentration was evaluated by gas chromatography of the derived tetraacetylated cyclohexanetetrol obtaining an average of 0.7 fmol · cell,1 at 5 ppt and rising to 22.5 fmol · cell,1 at 120 ppt. The 1,4/2,5 cyclohexanetetrol was also detected in the red alga Porphyridium purpureum. Analysis of the free amino acid content in N. ovalis cultures exposed to changes in salinity showed that proline and lysine also accumulate with increased salinity, but the cellular concentration of these amino acids is about 10-fold lower than the concentration of 1,4/2,5 cyclohexanetetrol. The comparison of amino acid concentration per cell with cyclitol suggests that this polyol is important in compensating the cellular osmotic pressure due to increased salinity, but other physiological functions could also be considered. [source] Current trends in the structure,activity relationship studies of the endogenous agouti-related protein (AGRP) melanocortin receptor antagonistMEDICINAL RESEARCH REVIEWS, Issue 5 2005Andrzej M. Wilczynski Abstract Agouti-related protein (AGRP) is an endogenous antagonist of the melanocortin-3 and -4 (MC3R and MC4) G-protein coupled receptors. The 87,132 amino acid C-terminal domain of hAGRP possesses five disulfide bridges and a well-defined three-dimensional structure that displays full biological activity as compared to the full-length protein. Based on the NMR structure of the C-terminal AGRP(87,132), a novel mini-protein, referred to as "Mini-AGRP" was designed that exhibited receptor binding affinity and antagonism similar to that of the parent hAGRP(87,132) protein. It was demonstrated that this new-engineered protein autonomously folds to the inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) motif. As this AGRP is a novel mammalian protein involved in energy homeostasis and possibly other physiological functions remaining to be identified, structure-function studies are starting to emerge toward the understanding of how this unique protein putatively interacts with the melanocortin receptors with the objective of designing potential therapeutic agents for in vivo physiological studies. This article summarizes the progress to date of AGRP-based structure,activity relationships and putative ligand,receptor interactions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The FRO2 ferric reductase is required for glycine betaine's effect on chilling tolerance in Arabidopsis rootsPHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 2 2008John Einset FRO2 (At1g01580) codes for an NADPH-dependent ferric reductase in plasma membranes of root epidermal cells with a demonstrated role in iron uptake by plants. Ferric reductase activity has been shown to be the rate-limiting step for iron uptake in strategy I plants like Arabidopsis and in rice, but it has been unclear whether FRO genes have other physiological functions. We hypothesized that FRO2 was involved in chilling stress tolerance because its expression was upregulated by treatment of plants with glycine betaine (GB), a chemical that prevents reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling in chilling stress. This idea was confirmed by showing that the FRO2 null mutant frd1-1 failed to respond to GB in chilling assays either in relation to root growth recovery or inhibition of ROS accumulation. Measurements of ferric reductase activity in wild-type plants treated with GB before chilling showed no significant GB effect compared with controls. In addition, 35S- FRO2 transgenics with elevated mRNA levels did not have improved chilling tolerance. However, ferric reductase activity in wild-type plants or 35S- FRO2 transgenics pretreated with GB was several-fold higher after chilling compared with non-pretreated controls. These experiments identify a new physiological function for FRO2, i.e. blocking ROS accumulation during chilling. They also suggest that GB has a major effect on FRO2 activity posttranscriptionally in the cold. [source] Release of ATP in the central nervous system during systemic inflammation: real-time measurement in the hypothalamus of conscious rabbitsTHE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Alexander V. Gourine Receptors for extracellular ATP (both ionotropic and metabotropic) are widely expressed in the CNS both in neurones and glia. ATP can modulate neuronal activity in many parts of the brain and contributes to the central nervous control of several physiological functions. Here we show that during the systemic inflammatory response the extracellular concentrations of ATP increase in the anterior hypothalamus and this has a profound effect on the development of the thermoregulatory febrile response. In conscious rabbits we measured ATP release in real time with novel amperometric biosensors and monitored a marked increase in the concentration of ATP (4.0 ± 0.7 ,m) in the anterior hypothalamus in response to intravenous injection of bacterial endotoxin , lipopolysaccharide (LPS). No ATP release was observed in the posterior hypothalamus. The release of ATP coincided with the development of the initial phase of the febrile response, starting 18 ± 2 min and reaching its peak 45 ± 2 min after LPS injection. Application of the ATP receptor antagonists pyridoxal-5,-phosphate-6-azophenyl-2,,4,-disulphonic acid, Brilliant Blue G or periodate oxidized ATP dialdehyde to the site of ATP release in the anterior hypothalamus markedly augmented and prolonged the febrile response. These data indicate that during the development of the systemic inflammation, ATP is released in the anterior hypothalamus to limit the magnitude and duration of fever. This release may also have a profound effect on the hypothalamic control of other physiological functions in which ATP and related purines have been implicated to play modulatory roles, such as food intake, hormone secretion, cardiovascular activity and sleep. [source] | ||||||||||