Reverse Sense Research Articles

Inhibition of IL-1β-dependent prostaglandin E2 release by antisense microsomal prostaglandin E synthase 1 oligonucleotides in A549 cells

The metabolism of arachidonic acid through the cyclooxygenase pathway is a highly regulated cellular process that results in the formation of PGH2. This unstable intermediate can be enzymatically metabolized to PGE2 by the actions of a microsomal 17 kDa PGE synthase (mPGES1). Treatment of A549 cells with IL-1β for 24 h resulted in a twofold increase in mPGES1 mRNA, protein expression, and PGES specific activity. To understand the relationship between expression of mPGES1 and PGE2 formation, IL-1β treated cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) and their effects compared to cells treated with reverse sense oligonucleotides (RSO) designed against the ATG translation initiation codon of mPGES1. Incubation with ASO resulted in a 44% reduction in mRNA expression level as compared to RSO-treated cells. Microsomal preparations isolated from ASO- and RSO-treated cells were analyzed for their ability to convert PGH2 to PGE2 in the presence 2.5 mM reduced glutathione. An approximate 50% reduction (ASO: 1.8 nmol/min/mg, RSO: 3.7 nmol/min/mg) in PGES activity, protein expression by immunodetection, and extracellular PGE2 release was detected in these samples. As a control in these studies, the protein levels of COX2 and secreted IL-8 were quantified; no change in these levels was observed. These results demonstrate the direct association between mPGES1 expression, its enzymatic activity, and total PGE2 production following an inflammatory stimulus.

Characterization of three novel snoRNAs from Schizosaccharomyces pombe implies the structural and functional diversity of box H/ACA snoRNA family

Site-specific pseudouridylations of rRNAs and snRNAs are directed by small guide RNAs that usually possess conserved H and ACA motifs and the consensus secondary structure consisting of hairpin-hinge-hairpin-tail. In this study, through screening cDNA library, three novel box H/ACA snoRNAs, termed SP12, SP16 and SP20, have been identified from fisson yeast Schizosacchromyces pombe. Each of the small RNAs possesses an ACA-like motif and exhibits secondary structures containing two or three large hairpinlike domains. Although the box H is noncanonical, SP20 can be potentially folded into a typical box H/ACA snoRNA-like structure and is predicted to guide two pseudouridylations, U1208 and U1053, on 18S rRNA. In contrast, SP12 and SP16 display different structures from SP20 and have no antisense elements to rRNAs or snRNAs. Obviously, they are new members of orphan guide snoRNAs whose functions remain elusive. The genes encoded for SP12 and SP16 are both located in long intergenic regions between protein-coding genes. A post-transcriptional processing for SP16 precursor was demonstrated. Interestingly, SP20 gene is nested inside a very hypothetical ORF, but transcribed in a reverse sense. Northern and RT-PCR analyses could not detect the transcript from the hypothetical ORF, and therefore exclude the expression of the spurious gene. This is the first example that a genetic locus predicted for protein-coding gene actually encodes a small non-messenger RNA in S. pombe.

Optical Properties of Excitons Confined in a Single CdTe Quantum Dot

Spectroscopy of CdTe single quantum dots reveals intrinsic properties of quantum dots, such as the acoustic phonon broadening mechanism and the fine structure of the exciton. Strong asymmetry of a dot induces both electron–hole exchange splitting of the bright exciton and an anisotropy of its linearly polarized components. Owing to the existence of a unique biexciton state, the biexciton transition reproduces the exciton fine structure in a reverse sense. At increasing excitation density, emission lines of a few exciton complexes corresponding to s- and p-shell transitions are observed.

Syndepositional deformation of the Permian Capitan reef carbonate platform, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, USA

Permian shelf strata equivalent to the Capitan reef are cut by at least 13 closely spaced syndepositional dip-slip faults in Slaughter Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, USA. The control of five of these faults on platform development, architecture, stratigraphy and diagenesis is revealed by an integrated stratigraphic, sedimentological and structural framework within a 500-m-wide and 200-m-high outcrop window. Here, faulting and fault-related deformation acted as a primary control on changes in thickness, facies and stratal geometry, and resulted in the local steepening, shallowing and even the reversal of dip in shelf strata. The role of primary depositional relief in controlling changes in thickness and stratal geometry was of secondary importance. The relationship between geopetal fabrics (average dip=12° towards 141°) and bedding shows that during deposition of the Yates Formation fault growth was concurrent with down-to-the-basin tilting (and rotation?) of at least 6–8°. This tilting appears to have been the main control on the down-dip expansion of shelf strata towards the basin. A further 4–6° of basinward tilt occurred after fault growth, during deposition of the Tansill Formation and later. The syndepositional faults reported here have a maximum displacement of 24 m. Most tip-out below asymmetric growth folds and have high displacement-distance gradients typical of growth faults and faults cutting unlithified strata. The average rate of fault displacement (0.021 m/ka) and the maximum rates of fault propagation (0.088–0.123 m/ka) were normally less than the platform accumulation rates (0.053–0.336 m/ka). Thus, the faults were normally blind and rarely broke the platform top so that slumps and fault-scarp degradation breccias are rare. The fault zones were substantially modified by diagenesis during platform development. They are up to 9 m wide, taper both up and downward, have irregular margins and complex fills mainly of sedimentary origin. Their margins and fill were subject to extensive modification by karstic(?)/mixing zone dissolution, gravitational collapse and dolomitising fluids. Consequently, tectonic fabrics and kinematic indicators are rare. Preserved tectonic fabrics consistently indicate a normal and reverse dip-slip sense of movement. Previously, these faults were mistaken for ‘neptunian’ dykes and fissures, so that the Seven Rivers and Yates 1–2 HFS shelf stratigraphy has been miscorrelated across them. It is apparent that the stratal relationships exposed in the Guadalupe Mountains do not simply preserve the original depositional morphology of the Capitan-equivalent shelf. The subsidence history, stratigraphy and development of the platform succession is more complex than previously thought. The study has important implications for many aspects of the Capitan system, including: (i) shelf-reef correlations, (ii) the controls on platform architecture and development, (iii) Capitan reef palaeobathymetry, (iv) diagenesis, and (v) the amplitude of sea-level changes affecting the platform's stratigraphic development.

Mechanistic investigations in diastereoselective Diels–Alder additions of chiral 9-anthrylethanol derivatives

The preparation and subsequent Diels–Alder addition reactions of chiral 9-functionalised anthracene derivatives have been investigated. 9-(1-Methoxyethyl)anthracene undergoes highly diastereoselective (>95 ∶ 5) thermal and photoinduced Diels–Alder additions with maleic anhydride and N-methylmaleimide. The corresponding reactions of 1-anthracen-9-ylethanol occur with the reverse sense of selectivity for additions with maleic anhydride with a corresponding increase in the reaction rate. The origins of this selectivity have been proposed to lie in hydrogen-bonding effects. The stereochemical outcome of the Diels–Alder additions has been determined from single X-ray crystallography of adducts 5 and 7. Solvent effects on the diastereoselectivity of these reactions have also been observed.

The Chief Lake complex revisited, and the problem of correlation across the Grenville Front south of Sudbury, Ontario

South of Sudbury, the boundary between the Southern and Grenville provinces, the Grenville Front, is placed along the faulted southeastern edge the ca. 1.46 Ga Chief Lake complex (CLC). A southeast-dipping, thrust-sense mylonite zone lies in the immediate hanging wall of the Grenville Front boundary fault (GFBF), separating the CLC in the Southern Province from metasedimentary, granitoid, anorthositic and amphibolitic gneiss in the Grenville Province to the southeast. The GFBF also coincides with an abrupt break in the continuity of southeast-trending diabase dykes of the 1.24 Ga Sudbury swarm. The northern CLC is a composite intrusion whose units include, and are separated by, large rafts of the early Paleoproterozoic Huronian Supergroup in which relict stratigraphy outlines engulfed folds. Mafic rocks along the northwest contact of the CLC, previously interpreted as metasomatized Nipissing gabbro (2.22 Ga), are in fact a phase of the Chief Lake intrusive suite, commingled with granite. The northwest contact coincides in part with a steep, southeast-side-down, pre-intrusion fault that was later reactivated with reverse sense of displacement. The Chief Lake granitoid rocks become increasingly foliated southeast toward the Grenville Front, but two features suggest that at least some of the deformation of the Chief Lake intrusive suite was syn-emplacement: (1) the granitoid component of commingled rocks may be strongly foliated in places where the mafic component is undeformed, and (2) included Huronian metasedimentary rocks in general lack the constrictional fabric of their enveloping plutonic rocks. Sudbury dykes cut across the fabric of the CLC, but the facts that they are themselves buckled, locally metamorphosed to greenschist facies, and are offset by faults marked by ultramylonite and cataclasite attest to tectonism of Grenvillian age in the footwall for a limited distance northwest of the GFBF. Granitoid rocks dated at 1.74 and 1.47 Ga southwest of the study area, and Archean tonalitic rocks and 2.47 Ga anorthositic gabbro to the northeast, occur on both sides of the Grenville Front. In the study area, units of paragneiss in the hanging wall of the GFBF cannot be assigned to specific Huronian formations in the Southern Province footwall. However, although not proven, it is reasonable to correlate other hanging wall rocks, namely mylonitic gabbroic anorthosite, amphibolite, and granitic gneiss, to the 2.47 Ga East Bull Lake intrusive suite, Nipissing gabbro, and Chief Lake granite, respectively, in the Southern Province. Whereas Sudbury dykes do not intrude the mylonitic rocks immediately above the GFBF, they do reappear to the southeast as dyke segments and pods within mylonite-bounded panels where they cut earlier isoclinal folds and exhibit a progressive increase in metamorphic grade across a gradient shallower than that in the enclosing gneissic rocks. They document that much of the tectonic history recorded by their host rocks is pre-Grenvillian. Even so, there is no evidence that the Grenville Front was ever the locus of a suture.

Review of the dinoflagellate cyst <i>Subtilisphaera</i>? <i>inaffecta</i> (Drugg, 1978) Bujak & Davies, 1983 and <i>S.</i>? <i>paeminosa</i> (Drugg, 1978) Bujak & Davies, 1983

Abstract. Research carried out on the Upper Jurassic dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the Sub-Tethyan marine realm, show that populations of the dinoflagellate cysts Subtilisphaera? inaffecta and S.? paeminosa are predominant in shallow water marginal marine or brackish environments. The distribution of groups of dinoflagellate cysts, micrhystridid acritarchs and variations of terrestrial inputs represented by phytoclasts are presumed parameters of the salinity balance during such Late Jurassic depositional environments. In this context, the shagreenate to faintly granulate S.? inaffecta appears to be an opportunistic taxon with an ability to prosper in brackish environments. In contrast, the coarsely granulate to pustulate paeminosa form is seemingly less eurytopic and flourishes with success in shallow, marginal marine, environments. SEM studies reveals that the two morphotypes possess transapical archaeopyle sutures on what is usually considered the antapex. Following these observations the cysts are interpreted in a reverse sense. Consequently, the attribution to the genus Subtilisphaera becomes inappropriate. The two morphotypes, interpreted as variants of a single species, are attributed to the genus Corculodinium Batten & Lister, 1988 for which a new emendation is proposed. The specific epithet inaffecta is considered legal over paeminosa.

Quaternary faulting in the southern Mississippi embayment and implications for tectonics and seismicity in an intraplate setting

The recently recognized Saline River fault zone in the southwestern Mississippi embayment (strike = 135°) is characterized by moderate historic seismicity. We document paleoseismicity (possibly strong) on the Saline River fault zone that is outside the known region of neotectonism in the northern embayment. Six surface faults were excavated within the Saline River fault zone, and all faults displace marine Eocene units and fluvial Pliocene–Pleistocene units; five show post-Wisconsin loess movement (thermoluminescence [TL] age = 23.6 ± 3 ka), and three deform middle to late Holocene eolian silt (TL age = 5.1 ± 0.6 ka and 3.6 ± 0.5 ka) as fault-tip flexures. Along the principal excavated fault, fault-plane braiding and plunging drag folding suggest a strong component of left slip, and subsidiary faults show both normal and reverse displacement (<1m) of Pliocene−Pleistocene, Wisconsin, and Holocene units. We interpret these faults as components of a left-slip flower structure. A shallow seismic reflection profile acquired across the principal fault and a subsidiary fault shows Eocene stratigraphy separated in a reverse sense below 120 m depth and separated in a normal sense above 120 m, supporting a strike-slip interpretation. In addition, the only focal plane mechanism available in the area indicates left slip with a small reverse component. We conclude that the Saline River fault zone is a Paleozoic–Mesozoic basement fault zone reactivated as a left-slip system in a Quaternary east-west compressive stress field. Field evidence suggests that earthquakes with several meters of strike slip may be characteristic, and the width of a liquefaction field on the Saline River fault zone suggests an event of magnitude 5.5–6. Considering a similarity of strike and sense of Holocene movements of the Meers fault of southern Oklahoma and of the Saline River fault zone, there may be additional active fault zones that pose seismic hazards concealed by sediments in southern North America.

Inhibition Effects in the Hydrolysis Reactions of Esters and Peptides Catalyzed by Carboxypeptidase A: An Example of Cooperative Binding Effects with a Monomeric Enzyme

N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-phenylalanine is an excellent peptide substrate for carboxy-peptidase A; at 30°C and pH 7.5, Km is 2.6 × 10−5 M while kcat is 177 s−1 (kcat/Km = 6.8 × 106 M−1 s−1). Indole-3-acetic acid is a noncompetitive or mixed inhibitor towards the peptide and toward hippuryl-L-phenylalanine; plots of E/V vs [Inhibitor] are linear. N-Benzoyl-L-phenylalanine is a competitive inhibitor of peptide hydrolysis, and plots of E/V vs [Inhibitor] are again linear. One molecule of inhibitor binds per active site, and these inhibitors bind in different sites. At constant peptide substrate concentration and a series of constant concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid, plots of E/V vs the concentration of N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine are linear and intersect behind the E/V axis and above the [Inhibitor] axis. This shows that both inhibitors can bind simultaneously and that binding of one facilitates the binding of the other (β = 0.18). Employing the ester substrate hippuryl-DL,β-phenyllactate, the same type of behavior is observed in the reverse sense; N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine is a linear noncompetitive inhibitor and indole-3-acetic acid is a linear competitive inhibitor. Again the two inhibitor plot is linear and intersects above the [Inhibitor] axis (β = 0.12). Previous X-ray crystallographic studies have indicated that indole-3-acetic acid binds in the hydrophobic pocket of the S′1 site, while N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine binds in the S1−S2 site. The product complex for hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-phenylalanine (phenylalanine + N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine) occupies both of these sites. However, the present work shows that the peptide substrate does not bind to the enzyme at pH 7.5 so as to be competitive with indole-3-acetic acid. The binding sites may be formed via conformational changes induced or stabilized by substrate and product binding.

Biocatalytic Kinetic Resolution of Racemic Hydroperoxides through the Enantioselective Reduction with Free and Immobilized Microorganisms

A Bacillus subtilis strain, isolated from topsoil by a selective screening procedure, is effective for the biocatalytic kinetic resolution of racemic hydroperoxides. A variety of secondary aralkyl hydroperoxides have been resolved by this microorganism in moderate to high enantioselectivities [up to 88% ee for the (R)-hydroperoxide]. This topsoil bacterium B. subtilis also reduced the racemic tertiary 1-methyl-(1-phenyl)propyl hydroperoxide enantioselectively to afford the (R)-hydroperoxide in 39% ee. In contrast to the bacteria, the fungus Aspergillus niger displayed the reverse sense of enantioselectivity in the kinetic resolution of the racemic hydroperoxides, that is, the (R) enantiomer was preferably reduced and the (S)-hydroperoxide was obtained in enantiomerically enriched form. Such an inverse enantioselectivity has not been observed before for the peroxidases of bacterial versus fungal and plant sources. Furthermore, it was shown that immobilized B. subtilis cells may be reused for several cataly...

Evidence for Differential Unroofing in the Adirondack Mountains, New York State, Determined by Apatite Fission‐Track Thermochronology

Apatite fission-track ages of 168-83 Ma for 39 samples of Proterozoic crystalline rocks, three samples of Cambrian Potsdam sandstone, and one Cretaceous lamprophyre dike from the Adirondack Mountains in New York State indicate that unroofing in this region occurred from Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous. Samples from the High Peaks section of the Adirondack massif yielded the oldest apatite fission-track ages (168-135 Ma), indicating that it was exhumed first. Unroofing along the northern, northwestern, and southwestern margins of the Adirondacks began slightly later, as shown by younger apatite fission-track ages (146-114 Ma) determined for these rocks. This delay in exhumation may have resulted from burial of the peripheral regions by sediment shed from the High Peaks. Apatite fission-track ages for samples from the southeastern Adirondacks are distinctly younger (112-83 Ma) than those determined for the rest of the Adirondack region. These younger apatite fission-track ages are from a section of the Adirondacks dissected by shear zones and post-Ordovician north-northeast-trending normal faults. Differential unroofing may have been accommodated by reactivation of the faults in a reverse sense of motion with maximum compressive stress, sigma1, oriented west-northwest. A change in the orientation of the post-Early Cretaceous paleostress field is supported by a change in the trend of Cretaceous lamprophyre dikes from east-west to west-northwest.

Formation and evolution of the Solander Basin, southwestern South Island, New Zealand, controlled by a major fault in continental crust and upper mantle

Seismic reflection and refraction data from the Solander Basin, southern New Zealand, show that its structural evolution has been controlled by a major fault, named here the Tauru Fault, that cuts the entire crust and splays into a diffuse zone in the upper mantle. The tectonic setting of the Solander Basin has evolved from Eocene‐Oligocene extension and transtension to Miocene‐Quaternary transpression and subduction. The Tauru Fault is 100 km east of the active Puysegur subduction zone thrust and is part of the overriding plate. On the basis of lower crustal reflectivity, the base of the crust beneath the adjacent Stewart Island shelf is at ∼30 km depth (∼9 s two‐way time (TWT)), and rises to ∼20 km (∼8 s TWT) beneath the Solander Basin. This is consistent with gravity data. Prominent dipping reflections show that the Tauru Fault can be traced to ∼30 km depth (∼12 s TWT), where it merges with a zone of subhorizontal reflectors in the upper mantle. The Tauru Fault dips ∼30° northeast and appears to offset the Moho in a reverse sense. Stratigraphic relationships show that the Tauru Fault was active as a normal fault during Eocene extension, when Solander Basin crust was thinned and ocean crust was generated farther south in the Solander Trough. It has been reactivated as a reverse fault during at least two phases of Miocene‐Quaternary compression and is still active. The strike of the Tauru Fault, which is parallel to Paleozoic‐Mesozoic structures and was poorly oriented for the known Eocene extension direction, strongly suggests that it formed prior to Eocene time. The Tauru Fault significantly influenced the geometry of Eocene basin formation, producing a strongly asymmetric basin dominated by east dipping normal faults, with a single eastern boundary fault. Our data demonstrate that Miocene‐Quaternary simple shear associated with the Tauru Fault cuts the whole crust and continues into the upper mantle. We conclude that variations in strength of the lithosphere, particularly associated with inherited structures in the crust and upper mantle, may control many aspects of basin development, passive margin formation, and the kinematics of continental deformation zones.

The vital package living on the streets in global cities: São Paulo, Los Angeles and Tokyo

The main objective of this article is to acknowledge and examine the material culture of the homeless in the urban context of downtown areas in Sao Paulo, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Firstly, I introduce some aspects of the complex process of vital package production, which concerns the social function of design and the role of products in our late industrial society. In exploring this process of homeless material culture, I then describe the reverse sense of some of the products and materials re‐functionalized by the homeless. Then, in a brief analysis of design, wasteful culture, products, life cycle and obsolescence, I claim that homelessness and design are linked to the public spaces of metropolitan areas and global cities, as a consequence of the social‐spatial exclusionary processes due to spatio‐economic conflicts that constitute contemporary urban restructuring.

Line Asymmetry of Solarp‐Modes: Reversal of Asymmetry in Intensity Power Spectra

The sense of line asymmetry of solar p-modes in the intensity power spectra is observed to be opposite of that seen in the velocity power spectra. Theoretical calculations provide a good understanding and fit to the observed velocity power spectra, whereas the reverse sense of asymmetry in the intensity power spectrum has been poorly understood. We show that when turbulent eddies arrive at the top of the convection zone they give rise to an observable intensity fluctuation that is correlated with the oscillation they generate, thereby affecting the shape of the line in the p-mode power spectra and reversing the sense of asymmetry (this point was recognized by Nigam et al. and Roxburgh & Vorontsov). The addition of the correlated noise displaces the frequencies of peaks in the power spectrum. Depending on the amplitude of the noise source, the shift in the position of the peak can be substantially larger than the frequency shift in the velocity power spectra. In neither case are the peak frequencies precisely equal to the eigenfrequencies of p-modes. We suggest two observations that can provide a test of the model discussed here.

The Influence of Shoot Growth on the Pattern of Axillary Development on the Long Shoots of Young Apple Trees (Malus domestica Borkh.)

The influence of shoot growth on the pattern of axillary development was investigated in apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Braeburn) long shoots, either monopodial (all the metamers are produced by the same meristem) or sympodial (composed by a proximal inflorescence, the bourse, and a relay-axis, the bourse-shoot). All of the studied shoots were characterized by the formation of two growth flushes during the same year. The study first involved measuring primary growth components of individual metamers (leaf size and length of the internode below) in the year of shoot growth. Then, for each metamer, the type of related axillary structure was noted, either during the same year (anticipated axillary shoots) or during the next one after budbreak. In the latter case, five types of axillary structures were distinguished: vegetative axis, inflorescences from which fruit was set, inflorescences from which fruit was not set, aborted bud, and blind node. The first analysis compared the two growth flushes. It showed that the distribution of types of axillary structure in the first flush of growth differed considerably between monopodial and sympodial shoots in that monopodial shoots tended to have more inflorescence buds and anticipated laterals than sympodial shoots, which had more blind nodes. The distribution of types of axillary structure was rather similar in the second growth flushes of both monopodial and sympodial shoots. The second analysis substantiated the significant role of the parent metamer in determining the absence, if under a minimal size, or the presence of vegetative or generative branching. The third analysis showed a high dependence between the types of axillary structure of adjacent metamers along a given growth flush. This spatial analysis revealed the following order between types of axillary structure: blind node, vegetative bud, inflorescence bud that did not set fruit later in the season, and finally, inflorescence bud that set fruit. When proceeding from the proximal to the distal part of a growth flush, axillary structures were ranked as described above and then in the reverse sense. Since these axillary structures are known to correspond to various numbers of preformed appendages, these results suggested that the location of a metamer on a shoot strongly conditioned the axillary organogenetic activity. The shoot growth characteristics, notably the presence of successive growth flushes in the same annual increment, not only conditioned the location of vegetative side branches but also influenced the distribution of blind nodes and inflorescences.

Inhibition of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 with antisense deoxynucleotides prolongs renal isograft survival in the rat

Delayed graft function from ischemia-reperfusion injury has a negative impact on long-term renal graft survival. We tested the utility of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) against intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the pretransplant treatment of renal isografts in improving long-term graft survival. Three groups of 16 inbred Lewis rats each underwent unilateral nephrectomy and were then transplanted with a kidney from a Lewis donor rat, which had received antisense ODN, reverse sense ODN, or saline vehicle six hours prior to nephrectomy. The kidneys were subjected to one hour of warm ischemia and 30 minutes of cold ischemia, which when untreated results in delayed graft function. The remaining native kidney was removed 10 days later. Serum creatinine and urinary protein excretion were measured in surviving rats at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, and 20 after native nephrectomy. A Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that by week 6 one half of the animals receiving reverse sense ODN and saline vehicle treatment had died, while all but 2 rats in the antisense ODN-treatment group survived to 20 weeks. Serum creatinine concentrations and urine protein excretion of surviving reverse sense and saline vehicle-treated rats were significantly higher than antisense treated rats at every time point. Histology at week 20 revealed marked interstitial fibrosis, focal glomerular sclerosis, vascular intimal and medial thickening and tubular atrophy in reverse sense and saline vehicle-treated kidneys, while antisense ODN-treated kidneys showed only modest changes. Immunohistochemistry showed macrophage and lymphocyte infiltration, as well as substantial up-regulation of MHC class II, in reverse sense and saline vehicle-treated kidneys compared to antisense ODN-treated kidneys. These results suggest that by ameliorating acute nonimmunological renal isograft injury, the long-term chronic nonimmunologic processes are improved as well. Furthermore, the data suggest that an antisense ODN strategy directed against ICAM-1 may have utility in human kidney transplantation.

Intra- and Intersexual Functions in the Call, of a Non-Passerine Bird

Abstract The thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri is a long-lived, monogamous and nocturnal seabird breeding in burrows in dense colonies in the southern hemisphere. Like all other Procellariiformes, this species shows delayed sexual maturity, and pair formation takes several years of active courtship. Its mating behaviour nearly exclusively relies on vocal cues. Its call is strongly sexually dimorphic. In this paper, we examine intra- and intersexual functions of call, and test whether these functions vary according to (1) the status of the recipient birds (breeding versus non breeding), and (2) the stage of pair formation. We used specifically designed playback experiments as three successive stages of the pair formation are recognized (stage 1: male and female in flight, stage 2: male on ground and female in flight and stage 3: male and female on ground). The first set of playback experiments was performed outside breeding colonies (stage 1). We found that wandering non-breeders (i.e. young birds which have still to find a partner) were strongly attracted and caught in mist nets when playback calls of both sexes were used. Conversely, breeders significantly avoided playback. Playback of male calls caught slightly more non-breeding females than did female calls, the reverse also being true. However, capture rates (i.e. number of birds caught per time unit) did not differ according to the sex of the call played-back. Thus, at the earliest stage of pair formation, wandering non-breeders of both sexes are attracted by their species-specific call, regardless of the sex of the call. The second set of experiments was performed on the breeding colonies and was aimed at testing the response of birds in flight (stage 2). Playback of male calls resulted in a significant increase of the vocal activity of flying females as well as a decrease of flying males calling activity. Playback of female calls had no detectable effects. Thus, at this stage of the pair formation process, birds do take into account the sexual information that is encoded within the call, and react according to their sex. The third set of tests was addressed to birds within their burrows (stage 3). We found that breeding birds responded far more to the calls of their own sex, remaining silent to those of the opposite sex: birds took into account the sexual information, but in a reverse sense compared to stage 2. Conversely, non-breeders occupying burrows responded more often to birds of the opposite sex. Our results therefore showed that the same signal can be used in intra- and intersexual communication, depending on the status of the signaller (its sex) and of the recipient (its sex and breeding status).

Effects of an intrahypothalamic injection of antisense oligonucleotides for preproenkephalin mRNA in female rats: evidence for opioid involvement in lordosis reflex

Previous studies in female rats have shown that estrogen increases preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA levels in the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMHVL), an area implicated in the modulation of sexual behavior. In order to assess the physiological role of hypothalamic opioid expression in lordosis reflex 16-mer oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) directed towards the PPE mRNA were acutely microinjected above the VMH of estradiol-primed ovariectomized rats. Estradiol-induced lordosis behavior was observed in response to a stud male 2 days thereafter. Antisense (without or with 4 mismatches) ODN injections near the VMHVL resulted in a significant reduction in lordosis quotient compared to control (reverse sense) ODN treatment or to antisense ODN injections targeted anterior or posterior to the VMHVL. In contrast, locomotor activity of these animals in the open-field test was not affected by ODN treatments. Enkephalin immunoreactive levels were determined by radioimmunoassay in the preoptic area, a major terminal field of the VMHVL. Estradiol-induced enkephalin levels were greatly reduced in antisense-treated groups. Using the in situ hybridization technique, PPE mRNA levels in the VMHVL were also determined. A 1.5–2-fold increase in PPE mRNA levels was observed in estradiol-treated rats compared to ovariectomized rats as previously described. This increase in PPE mRNA levels was not affected by ODN treatment, suggesting that the reduction of enkephalin expression was mainly due to physical blockade of PPE mRNA translation and not to its degradation. Taken together, these data further support the behavioral role of PPE expressing VMHVL neurons. They also highlight the in vivo potency of acute administration of antisense phosphorothioate ODNs in blocking neuronal target gene expression.

Larger increases in sensitivity to paracatalytic inactivation than in catalytic competence during experimental evolution of the second beta-galactosidase of Escherichia coli.

Second-order rate constants (M-1.s-1) at 25 degrees C and pH 7.5 for inactivation of first-generation (ebga and ebgb), second-generation (ebgab and ebgabcd) and third-generation (ebgabcde) experimental evolvants of the title enzyme by 2',4'-dinitrophenyl 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-beta-D-galactopyranoside are 0.042, 0.30, 10, 24 and 57 respectively. Only partial inactivation is observed, except for ebgabcde. At a single high inactivator concentration, inactivation of the wild-type ebgo is also seen. The changes in sensitivity to the paracatalytic inactivator (over a range of 10(3.3)) are larger than changes in kcat/Km for lactose (over a range of 10(2.7)) or nitrophenyl galactosides (over a range of only 10(1.3)), or changes in degalactosylation rate (over a range of 10(1.7)). These data raise the possibility that evolution in the reverse sense, towards insensitivity to a paracatalytic inactivator with a proportionally lower effect on transformation of substrate, may become a mechanism for the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics that act by paracatalytic enzyme inactivation.

Rectifying organic junctions of molecular assemblies based on perylene ion salts

Using a solid-state diffusion technique, conducting perylene radical ion salt films have been prepared with alkali ions (Na+ and K+) and antimony hexachloride (SbCl6−) as counter ions. The successful preparation of separate radical anion salt films and cation salt films, respectively, is proved by in situ absorption spectroscopy, conductivity measurements, and electron spin resonance. In contrast to comparatively weakly doped inorganic semiconductors, the ion salts have a high concentration of charge carriers of roughly one charge per molecular unit entailing correlation of the carriers. The sandwich structures consisting of both the cation salt layer and the anion salt layer, form an electrical junction comparable to the PIN-junctions (p-doped, intrinsic, n-doped) known from inorganic diodes. The rectifying ratio amounts up to 105:1 at ±0.5 V and the breakdown voltage in the reverse sense is −20 V at 300 K.