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The rat corticotropin-releasing hormone gene.

In this paper we have described the isolation and characterization of the rat corticotropin releasing hormone gene. Nucleotide sequence comparisons with the human CRH gene have demonstrated several interesting regions of homology and suggest that the gene was highly conserved through evolution. Additionally we have demonstrated the tissue-specific expression of the rat CRH gene. The regional distribution of expression parallels previously documented immunocytochemical demonstrations and supports the hypothesis that CRH peptides have multiple roles in different tissues. In the peripheral tissues that express CRH mRNA it will be very interesting to document the specific cell type of synthesis by using combined immunocytochemical and in situ histochemical techniques. Additionally we have described initial studies using gene transfer techniques to examine the cAMP responsiveness of the rat CRH gene. We are presently constructing other fusion genes (CRHCAT plasmids) in order to more carefully localize the DNA sequence in the rat CRH gene which mediates this effect, and compare it to the previously reported cAMP-responsive "consensus sequence." Similarly, we also plan to utilize the CRHCAT constructs to examine regulation of the rat CRH gene by glucocorticoids and several other hormone-mediated regulatory pathways. Through these CAT fusion studies we hope to gain a better understanding of the role of certain conserved sequences in the 5' flanking DNA for transcriptional control of the rat (and human) CRH genes.

Animals↗

Plume dynamics and shielding by the ablation plume during Er:YAG laser ablation.

Free-running Er:YAG lasers are used for precise tissue ablation in various clinical applications. The ablated material is ejected into the direction perpendicular to the tissue surface. We investigated the influence of shielding by the ablation plume on the energy deposition into an irradiated sample because it influences the ablation dynamics and the amount of material ablated. The investigations were performed using an Er:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 200 micros for the ablation of gelatin with different water contents, skin, and water. Laser flash photography combined with a dark field Schlieren technique was used to visualize gaseous and particulate ablation products, and to measure the distance traveled by the ablating laser beam through the ablation plume at various times after the beginning of the laser pulse. The temporal evolution of the transmission through the ablation plume was probed using a second free running Er:YAG laser beam directed parallel to the sample's surface. The ablation dynamics was found to consist of a vaporization phase followed by material ejection. The observation of droplet ejection during water ablation provided evidence that a phase explosion is the driving mechanism for material ejection. The laser light transmission was only slightly reduced by the vapor plume, but decreased by 25%-50% when the ejected material passed the probe beam. At radiant exposures approximately 10 times above the ablation threshold, the laser energy deposited into the sample amounted to only 61% of the incident energy for gelatin samples with 90% water content and to 86% for skin samples. For free-running Er:YAG laser pulses shielding must therefore be considered in modeling the ablation dynamics and determining the dosage for clinical applications.

Animals↗

Cellular and genetic analysis of wound healing in Drosophila larvae.

To establish a genetic system to study postembryonic wound healing, we characterized epidermal wound healing in Drosophila larvae. Following puncture wounding, larvae begin to bleed but within an hour a plug forms in the wound gap. Over the next couple of hours the outer part of the plug melanizes to form a scab, and epidermal cells surrounding the plug orient toward it and then fuse to form a syncytium. Subsequently, more-peripheral cells orient toward and fuse with the central syncytium. During this time, the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway is activated in a gradient emanating out from the wound, and the epidermal cells spread along or through the wound plug to reestablish a continuous epithelium and its basal lamina and apical cuticle lining. Inactivation of the JNK pathway inhibits epidermal spreading and reepithelialization but does not affect scab formation or other wound healing responses. Conversely, mutations that block scab formation, and a scabless wounding procedure, provide evidence that the scab stabilizes the wound site but is not required to initiate other wound responses. However, in the absence of a scab, the JNK pathway is hyperinduced, reepithelialization initiates but is not always completed, and a chronic wound ensues. The results demonstrate that the cellular responses of wound healing are under separate genetic control, and that the responses are coordinated by multiple signals emanating from the wound site, including a negative feedback signal between scab formation and the JNK pathway. Cell biological and molecular parallels to vertebrate wound healing lead us to speculate that wound healing is an ancient response that has diversified during evolution.

Alleles↗

Kinematics and geometry of structures in the southern limb of the Paraíba do Sul divergent structural fan, SE Brazil: a true transtensional shear.

Shear zones geometry in the Paraíba do Sul belt, southeastern Brazil, delineates a NE-trending fan-like structure. Shear zones dip towards SE in the northern limb, and towards NW in the southern one. This geometry has been interpreted either due to transpression or to late folding of flat-lying thrust surfaces. Stretching lineation plunges to ENE-ESE in the northern limb and towards NNE-NE in the southern one. Structural data in the southern limb of the divergent fan suggest a two stage kinematic evolution in high-temperature conditions: an earlier stage with top-to-SSW/SW sinistral thrusting and orogenic-parallel tangential motion, and a later stage with top-down to NNE/NE transtensional deformation. We propose a heterogeneous deformation model to explain the observed shear reversal, and suggest that the imposed transpressional displacement gradient may change during progressive deformation due to transient rheological inhomogeneities in bulk pure shear strain. In the earlier stage, the partially molten material could easily accommodate the imposed strain rates, giving rise firstly to the SW-directed shearing. As the thermal disturbance tended to vanish and the convergence increased, the NNE-directed transtensional shearing developed. We propose that the transtensional deformation characterized in this paper could be related to extrusion processes during regional transpressional strain.

Journal Article↗

Saccharomyces cerevisiae elongation factor 2. Genetic cloning, characterization of expression, and G-domain modeling.

The elongation factor 2 (EF-2) genes of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been cloned and characterized with the ultimate goal of gaining a better understanding of the mechanism and control of protein synthesis. Two genes (EFT1 and EFT2) were isolated by screening a bacteriophage lambda yeast genomic DNA library with an oligonucleotide probe complementary to the domain of EF-2 that contains diphthamide, the unique posttranslationally modified histidine that is specifically ADP-ribosylated by diphtheria toxin. Although EFT1 and EFT2 are located on separate chromosomes, the DNA sequences of the two genes differ at only four positions out of 2526 base pairs, and the predicted protein sequences are identical. Genetic deletion of each gene revealed that at least one functional copy of either EFT gene is required for cell viability. Messenger RNA levels of yeast EF-2 parallel cellular growth and peak in mid-log phase cultures. The EF-2 protein sequence is strikingly conserved through evolution. Yeast EF-2 is 66% identical to, and shares over 85% homology with, human EF-2. In addition, yeast and mammalian EF-2 share identical sequences at two critical functional sites: (i) the domain containing the histidine residue that is modified to diphthamide and (ii) the threonine residue that is specifically phosphorylated in vivo in mammalian cells by calmodulin-dependent protein kinase III, also known as EF-2 kinase. Furthermore, yeast EF-2 also contains the Glu-X-X-Arg-X-Ile-Thr-Ile "effector" sequence motif that is conserved among all known elongation factors, and its GTP-binding domain exhibits strong homology to the G-domain of Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) and other G-protein family members. Based upon these observations, we have modeled the G-domain of the deduced EF-2 protein sequence to the solved crystallographic structure for EF-Tu.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

[Hyperparathyroidism in deficiency rickets. Changes after vitamin therapy].

The study concerned 16 cases of deficiency rickets observed over 3 years. The level of serum parathyroid (IPTH) hormone was always increased in the late stages of rickets, but was normal in 3 cases of early rickets with hypocalcaemia and monophosphataemia. There was no statistical correlation between the level of IPTH and monophosphataemia. There was no statistical correlation between the level of IPTH and calcaemia. After vitamin D-therapy, the levels if IPTH returned to normal in 5 to 21 days in most cases. No obvious difference was noted in this evolution between children treated by vitamin D2 and 25 OH D. The excretion of urinary cyclic adenosine monophosphate decreases in parallel with blood IPTH.

Cyclic AMP↗

Ocular changes in invasive osteogenic sarcoma of the skull.

Serial narrow-band green-light fundus photographs documented the evolution of descending optic atrophy in a case of rapid bilateral blindness produced by a highly invasive osteogenic sarcoma of the base of the skull. Disappearance of the nerve fiber layer (NFL) was observed to take place between the sixth and 12th week after onset of blindness; thus, it is similar to the evolution of descending atrophy found to occur in clinical cases of blindness caused by traumatic involvement of the optic nerve. Parallel to the disappearance of the NFL there was an increase in optic nerve head excavation and a change in the appearance of the vessels on the disk surfaces.

Adult↗

A model combining cell physiology and population genetics to explain Escherichia coli laboratory evolution.

BACKGROUND: Laboratory experiments under controlled conditions during thousands of generations are useful tools to assess the processes underlying bacterial evolution. As a result of these experiments, the way in which the traits change in time is obtained. Under these conditions, the bacteria E. coli shows a parallel increase in cell volume and fitness. RESULTS: To explain this pattern it is required to consider organismic and population contributions. For this purpose we incorporate relevant information concerning bacterial structure, composition and transformations in a minimal modular model. In the short time scale, the model reproduces the physiological responses of the traits to changes in nutrient concentration. The decay of unused catabolic functions, found experimentally, is introduced in the model using simple population genetics. The resulting curves representing the evolution of volume and fitness in time are in good agreement with those obtained experimentally. CONCLUSIONS: This study draws attention on physiology when studying evolution. Moreover, minimal modular models appear to be an adequate strategy to unite these barely related disciplines of biology.

Cell Cycle↗

GATA2 deficiency: enhancer deregulation, immune surveillance failure, and clonal evolution.

Germline mutations in GATA2 cause a syndromic inborn error of immunity characterized by cytopenia, infections, immune dysregulation, and a marked predisposition to myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. Initially defined by the DCML phenotype-dendritic cell, monocyte, B- and NK-cell deficiency-GATA2 deficiency is now recognized as a disorder of global immune-hematopoietic homeostasis. Recent multi-omics and experimental models reveal enhancer-driven inflammatory rewiring, IRF8-dependent lineage imbalance, and premature hematopoietic aging. In parallel, adaptive immune defects, including impaired B- and T-cell development and function, contribute to defective immune surveillance. These alterations not only explain susceptibility to infection but also shape clonal evolution and malignant transformation. Clinically, improved risk stratification and transplant outcomes underscore the importance of early recognition and monitoring of immune dysfunction. GATA2 deficiency thus represents a paradigm linking immune dysregulation, inflammatory stress, and cancer predisposition.

Humans↗

Origin and evolution of circadian clock genes in prokaryotes.

Regulation of physiological functions with approximate daily periodicity, or circadian rhythms, is a characteristic feature of eukaryotes. Until recently, cyanobacteria were the only prokaryotes reported to possess circadian rhythmicity. It is controlled by a cluster of three genes: kaiA, kaiB, and kaiC. Using sequence data of approximately 70 complete prokaryotic genomes from the various public depositories, we show here that the kai genes and their homologs have quite a different evolutionary history and occur in Archaea and Proteobacteria as well. Among the three genes, kaiC is evolutionarily the oldest, and kaiA is the youngest and likely evolved only in cyanobacteria. Our data suggest that the prokaryotic circadian pacemakers have evolved in parallel with the geological history of the earth, and that natural selection, multiple lateral transfers, and gene duplications and losses have been the major factors shaping their evolution.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Genomic evolution drives the evolution of the translation system.

Our thesis is that the characteristics of the translational machinery and its organization are selected in part by evolutionary pressure on genomic traits have nothing to do with translation per se. These genomic traits include size, composition, and architecture. To illustrate this point, we draw parallels between the structure of different genomes that have adapted to intracellular niches independently of each other. Our starting point is the general observation that the evolutionary history of organellar and parasitic bacteria have favored bantam genomes. Furthermore, we suggest that the constraints of the reductive mode of genomic evolution account for the divergence of the genetic code in mitochondria and the genetic organization of the translational system observed in parasitic bacteria. In particular, we associate codon reassignments in animal mitochondria with greatly simplified tRNA populations. Likewise, we relate the organization of translational genes in the obligate intracellular parasite Rickettsia prowazekii to the processes supporting the reductive mode of genomic evolution. Such findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that genomes of organelles and of parasitic bacteria have arisen from the much larger genomes of ancestral bacteria that have been reduced by intrachromosomal recombination and deletion events. A consequence of the reductive mode of genomic evolution is that the resulting translation systems may deviate markedly from conventional systems.

Animals↗

Comparative anatomy of cranial nerve motor nuclei: with a comment on evolution of the craniofacial region.

Changes of cranial nerve nuclei are investigated at three crucial points of phylogenesis in frogs, lizards and rats. Profound changes can be observed in the trigeminal and facial motor nuclei parallel to transformation of the primary mandibular joint into the secondary mandibular joint. New muscles appear for mastication and facial expression and they are innervated by new types of neurons. The muscular tongue appears first in tetrapods coinciding with terrestrial life. It can be shown that an entirely new type of neuron develops at the medullospinal junction for the innervation of the intrinsic tongue muscles. These muscles and their neurons are not homologous to somatic muscles and spinal cord neurons. The external eye muscles and their innervation are present from the early craniates through apes in virtually the same pattern of organization. They evolved coincidently with the head and are not homologous to any other structures. It is concluded that if we accept the 'neogenesis' view in head evolution, all contradictions imposed, by the 'segment theory', upon the interpretation and classification of cranial nerve nuclei can be circumvented.

Animals↗

Conflict begets complexity: the evolution of centromeres.

Centromeres mediate the faithful segregation of eukaryotic chromosomes. Yet they display a remarkable range in size and complexity across eukaryotes, from approximately 125 bp in budding yeast to megabases of repetitive satellites in human chromosomes. Mapping the fine-scale structure of complex centromeres has proven to be daunting, but recent studies have provided a first glimpse into this unexplored bastion of our genomes and the evolutionary pressures that shape it. Evolutionary studies of proteins that bind centromeric DNA suggest genetic conflict as the underlying basis of centromere complexity, drawing interesting parallels with the myriad selfish elements that employ centromeric activity for their own survival.

Biological Evolution↗

"Word" preference in the genomic text and genome evolution: different modes of n-tuplet usage in coding and noncoding sequences.

Extensive work on n-tuplet occurrence in genomic sequences has revealed the correlation of their usage with sequence origin. Parallel to that, there exist different restrictions in the nucleotide composition of coding and noncoding sequences that may result in distinct modes of usage of n-tuplets. The relatively simple approaches described herein focus on such differences. They are based on simple summation measures of n-tuplet frequencies, computed after filtering the background nucleotide composition. Among the main targets of this work is to draw some conclusions on the qualitative differences in the composition of genomic sequences depending on their functionality. Moreover, an evolutionary model is formulated, including simple forms of ubiquitous events of genome dynamics: genomic fusions, genome shuffling due to transpositions, replication slippage, and point mutations. This model is shown to be able to reproduce all the statistical features of genomic sequences discussed herein.

Base Sequence↗

Replicability and recurrence in the experimental evolution of a group I ribozyme.

In order to explore the variety of possible responses available to a ribozyme population evolving a novel phenotype, five Tetrahymena thermophila group I intron ribozyme pools were evolved in parallel for cleavage of a DNA oligonucleotide. These ribozyme populations were propagated under identical conditions and characterized when they reached apparent phenotypic plateaus; the populations that reached the highest plateau showed a near 100-fold improvement in DNA cleavage activity. A detailed characterization of the evolved response in these populations reveals at least two distinct phenotypic trajectories emerging as a result of the imposed selection. Not only do these distinct solutions exhibit differential DNA cleavage activity, but they also exhibit a very different correlation with a related, but unselected, phenotype: RNA cleavage activity. In turn, each of these trajectories is underwritten by differing genotypic profiles. This study underscores the complex network of possible trajectories through sequence space available to an evolving population and uncovers the diversity of solutions that result when the process of experimental evolution is repeated multiple times in a simple, engineered system.

Base Sequence↗

Molecular phylogenies in angiosperm evolution.

We have cloned and sequenced cDNAs for the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of glycolysis, gapC, from a bryophyte, a gymnosperm, and three angiosperms. Phylogenetic analyses are presented for these data in the context of other gapC sequences and in parallel with published nucleotide sequences for the chloroplast encoded gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rbcL). Relative-rate tests were performed for these genes in order to assess variation in substitution rate for coding regions, along individual plant lineages studied. The results of both gene analyses suggest that the deepest dichotomy within the angiosperms separates not magnoliids from remaining angiosperms, but monocotyledons from dicotyledons, in sharp contrast to prediction from the Euanthial theory for angiosperm evolution. Furthermore, these chloroplast and nuclear sequence data taken together suggest that the separation of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous lineages took place in late Carboniferous times [approximately 300 Myr before the present (Mybp)]. This date would exceed but be compatible with the late-Triassic (approximately 220 Mybp) occurrence of fossil reproductive structures of the primitive angiosperm Sanmiguelia lewisii.

Base Sequence↗

[Psychotic symptoms and Alzheimer's disease].

BACKGROUND: Psychotic symptoms appear during the course of Alzheimer's disease, but their frequency and intensity vary according to different studies and their nature remains unsettled. OBJECTIVES: To study the frequency and intensity of psychotic symptoms in two transversal series of patients with Alzheimer's disease and analyze its relationship with the duration of the disease and severity of cognitive impairment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study has been carried out in patients suffering from probable Alzheimer's disease (NINDS-ADRDA criteria). The stage of the disease was determined according to FAST, and the intensity of cognitive impairment in Mini Mental State Examination was classified as mild, moderate or severe. Frequency and intensity of psychotic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations and misidentifications) were determined by means of semistructured interviews (BEHAVE-AD 78 patients and CUSPAD 69 patients). The results obtained in these three groups of patients were compared through ANOVA variance analysis and mean contrast. Variance and covariance analysis were done to determine the relationship between psychotic symptoms and other variables (degree of cognitive impairment, length of evolution and stage of the disease). For this purpose, the patients with Alzheimer's disease but without psychotic symptoms were considered as control and compared to patients with psychotic symptoms. RESULTS: Nearly half the patients had psychotic symptoms. Delusions appeared earlier and were more frequent than hallucinations and misinterpretations. The more severe was the cognitive impairment, the more frequent and intense were psychotic symptoms, but the difference was significant only in cases with severe cognitive impairment. Hallucinations appeared mainly in patients with advanced dementia and were related firstly with the intensity of functional and cognitive impairment and secondly with the duration of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: Mild psychotic symptoms, especially delusions, appear early during the course of Alzheimer's disease. The frequency and intensity of these symptoms increase in parallel with the functional and cognitive impairments caused by the disease. Hallucinations, which appear mainly when the dementia is severe, can be considered as an evolutive marker of the process. Psychotic symptoms differ from those occurring in other disorders, either neurologic or psychiatric in nature.

Aged↗