The Nature of the Intramembrane Particle

Author(s):  
A.J. Verkleij

Freeze-fracturing splits membranes into two helves, thus allowing an examination of the membrane interior. The 5-10 rm particles visible on both monolayers are widely assumed to be proteinaceous in nature. Most membranes do not reveal impressions complementary to particles on the opposite fracture face, if the membranes are fractured under conditions without etching. Even if it is considered that shadowing, contamination or fracturing itself might obscure complementary pits', there is no satisfactory explanation why under similar physical circimstances matching halves of other membranes can be visualized. A prominent example of uncomplementarity is found in the erythrocyte manbrane. It is wall established that band 3 protein and possibly glycophorin represents these nonccmplanentary particles. On the other hand a number of membrane types show pits opposite the particles. Scme well known examples are the ";gap junction',"; tight junction, the luminal membrane of the bladder epithelial cells and the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

Author(s):  
P.H.J.Th. Ververgaert ◽  
A.J. Verkleij

Freeze-fracturing splits membranes into 2 halves, thus allowing an examination of the membranes interior. The 5-10 nm particles visible on both monolayers are widely assumed to be proteinaceous in nature.Most membranes do not reveal impressions complementary to particles on the opposite face. Even when it is considered that shadowing, contamination or fracturing itself might obscure complementary pits, there is no satisfactory explanation why under similar physical circumstances matching halves of other membranes can be visualized. A prominent example of uncomplementarity is found in the erythrocyte membrane. It is well established that band III protein and possibly glycophorln represent these uncomplementary structures.On the other hand a number of experiments has made us aware that particles of the Eeoheriohia ooli outer membrane are basically constructed of lipid micels (i.e., lipo- polysaccharlde). These particles have complementary Impressions on the opposite face (Fig. 1).


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

The first step in the infection of a bacterium by a virus consists of a collision between cell and bacteriophage. The presence of virus-specific receptors on the cell surface will trigger a number of events leading eventually to release of the phage nucleic acid. The execution of the various "steps" in the infection process varies from one virus-type to the other, depending on the anatomy of the virus. Small viruses like ØX 174 and MS2 adsorb directly with their capsid to the bacterial receptors, while other phages possess attachment organelles of varying complexity. In bacteriophages T3 (Fig. 1) and T7 the small conical processes of their heads point toward the adsorption site; a welldefined baseplate is attached to the head of P22; heads without baseplates are not infective.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Montalva-Medel ◽  
Thomas Ledger ◽  
Gonzalo A. Ruz ◽  
Eric Goles

In Veliz-Cuba and Stigler 2011, Boolean models were proposed for the lac operon in Escherichia coli capable of reproducing the operon being OFF, ON and bistable for three (low, medium and high) and two (low and high) parameters, representing the concentration ranges of lactose and glucose, respectively. Of these 6 possible combinations of parameters, 5 produce results that match with the biological experiments of Ozbudak et al., 2004. In the remaining one, the models predict the operon being OFF while biological experiments show a bistable behavior. In this paper, we first explore the robustness of two such models in the sense of how much its attractors change against any deterministic update schedule. We prove mathematically that, in cases where there is no bistability, all the dynamics in both models lack limit cycles while, when bistability appears, one model presents 30% of its dynamics with limit cycles while the other only 23%. Secondly, we propose two alternative improvements consisting of biologically supported modifications; one in which both models match with Ozbudak et al., 2004 in all 6 combinations of parameters and, the other one, where we increase the number of parameters to 9, matching in all these cases with the biological experiments of Ozbudak et al., 2004.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Motohiro Okada ◽  
Tomoka Oka ◽  
Misaki Nakamoto ◽  
Kouji Fukuyama ◽  
Takashi Shiroyama

Mood disorders remain a major public health concern worldwide. Monoaminergic hypotheses of pathophysiology of bipolar and major depressive disorders have led to the development of monoamine transporter-inhibiting antidepressants for the treatment of major depression and have contributed to the expanded indications of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of bipolar disorders. In spite of psychopharmacological progress, current pharmacotherapy according to the monoaminergic hypothesis alone is insufficient to improve or prevent mood disorders. Recent approval of esketamine for treatment of treatment-resistant depression has attracted attention in psychopharmacology as a glutamatergic hypothesis of the pathophysiology of mood disorders. On the other hand, in the last decade, accumulated findings regarding the pathomechanisms of mood disorders emphasised that functional abnormalities of tripartite synaptic transmission play important roles in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. At first glance, the enhancement of astroglial connexin seems to contribute to antidepressant and mood-stabilising effects, but in reality, antidepressive and mood-stabilising actions are mediated by more complicated interactions associated with the astroglial gap junction and hemichannel. Indeed, several depressive mood-inducing stress stimulations suppress connexin43 expression and astroglial gap junction function, but enhance astroglial hemichannel activity. On the other hand, monoamine transporter-inhibiting antidepressants suppress astroglial hemichannel activity and enhance astroglial gap junction function, whereas several non-antidepressant mood stabilisers activate astroglial hemichannel activity. Based on preclinical findings, in this review, we summarise the effects of antidepressants, mood-stabilising antipsychotics, and anticonvulsants on astroglial connexin, and then, to establish a novel strategy for treatment of mood disorders, we reveal the current progress in psychopharmacology, changing the question from “what has been revealed?” to “what should be clarified?”.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Sampaio Cutrim ◽  
Raphael Ferreira de Barros ◽  
Robson Maia Franco ◽  
Marco Antonio Sloboda Cortez

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of E. coli O157:H7 during lactose hydrolysis and fermentation of traditional and low lactose yogurt. It also aimed to verify E. coli O157:H7 survival after 12 h of storage at 4 ºC ±1 ºC. Two different types of yogurts were prepared, two with whole milk and two with pre-hydrolyzed whole milk; in both groups one yogurt was inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 and the other one was not inoculated. The survival of E. coli and pH of yogurt were determined during fermentation and after 12-h refrigeration. The results showed that E. coli O157:H7 was able to grow during the fermentation period (from 4.34 log CFU.mL-1 to 6.13 log CFU.mL-1 in traditional yogurt and 4.34 log CFU.mL-1 to 6.16 log CFU.mL-1 in low lactose yogurt). The samples with E. coli O157:H7 showed gas formation and syneresis. Thus, E. coli O157:H7 was able to survive and grow during fermentation of traditional and low lactose yogurts affecting the manufacture technology. Moreover, milk contamination by E. coli before LAB addition reduces the growth of L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus especially when associated with reduction of lactose content.


1976 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-434
Author(s):  
F. Mazet ◽  
J. Cartaud

The freeze-fracturing technique was used to characterize the junctional devices involved in the electrical coupling of frog atrial fibres. These fibres are connected by a type of junction which can be interpreted as a morphological variant of the “gap junction” or “nexus”. The most characteristic features are rows of 9-nm junctional particles forming single or anastomosed circular profiles on the inner membrane face, and corresponding pits on the outer membrane face. Very seldom aggregates consisting of few geometrically disposed 9-nm particles are found. The significance of the junctional structures in the atrial fibres is discussed, with respect to present knowledge about junctional features of gap junctions in various tissues, including embryonic ones.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (20) ◽  
pp. 6005-6015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna K. Gopaul ◽  
Patricia C. Brooks ◽  
Jean-François Prost ◽  
Elaine O. Davis

ABSTRACT The recA gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is unusual in that it is expressed from two promoters, one of which, P1, is DNA damage inducible independently of LexA and RecA, while the other, P2, is regulated by LexA in the classical way (E. O. Davis, B. Springer, K. K. Gopaul, K. G. Papavinasasundaram, P. Sander, and E. C. Böttger, Mol. Microbiol. 46:791-800, 2002). In this study we characterized these two promoters in more detail. Firstly, we localized the promoter elements for each of the promoters, and in so doing we identified a mutation in each promoter which eliminates promoter activity. Interestingly, a motif with similarity to Escherichia coli σ70 −35 elements but located much closer to the −10 element is important for optimal expression of P1, whereas the sequence at the −35 location is not. Secondly, we found that the sequences flanking the promoters can have a profound effect on the expression level directed by each of the promoters. Finally, we examined the contribution of each of the promoters to recA expression and compared their kinetics of induction following DNA damage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Shimizu ◽  
Akio Matsumoto ◽  
Masatoshi Noda

ABSTRACT Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) has at least three enzymes, NorV, Hmp, and Hcp, that act independently to lower the toxicity of nitric oxide (NO), a potent antimicrobial molecule. This study aimed to reveal the cooperative roles of these defensive enzymes in EHEC against nitrosative stress. Under anaerobic conditions, combined deletion of all three enzymes significantly increased the NO sensitivity of EHEC determined by the growth at late stationary phase; however, the expression of norV restored the NO resistance of EHEC. On the other hand, the growth of Δhmp mutant EHEC was inhibited after early stationary phase, indicating that NorV and Hmp play a cooperative role in anaerobic growth. Under microaerobic conditions, the growth of Δhmp mutant EHEC was inhibited by NO, indicating that Hmp is the enzyme that protects cells from NO stress under microaerobic conditions. When EHEC cells were exposed to a lower concentration of NO, the NO level in bacterial cells of Δhcp mutant EHEC was higher than those of the other EHEC mutants, suggesting that Hcp is effective at regulating NO levels only at a low concentration. These findings of a low level of NO in bacterial cells with hcp indicate that the NO consumption activity of Hcp was suppressed by Hmp at a low range of NO concentrations. Taken together, these results show that the cooperative effects of NO-metabolizing enzymes are regulated by the range of NO concentrations to which the EHEC cells are exposed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 883-892
Author(s):  
M.I. Urosevic ◽  
D. Stojanovic ◽  
B. Lako ◽  
I. Jajic ◽  
Z. Milicic ◽  
...  

The research was conducted on 19 stud farms in Serbia, on 80 mares used for breeding, with and without reproductive disorders. During the two years period (from 2009 to 2010) double guarded uterine swabs from 80 mares, aged between 3 and 22 years were collected. Mares belonged to the different breeds: Thoroughbred, Standardbred, Lipizzaner and mixed breeds. It was determined, that bacterial infection of genital organs was found in 24 mares in the examined population, and the bacterial species Streptococcus zooepidemicus was diagnosed in the 11 samples from cervical swabs. In the 5 samples, Escherichia coli was isolated, while Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pasteurella multocida were present in the 2 samples each, while the other causes and simultaneous isolation of two bacterial species are much less present. These species are: Bacillus spp. plus Escherichia coli; Streptococcus zooepidemicus plus Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli plus Streptococcus zooepidemicus. In one swab we determinated Arcanobacter pyogenes. In this examination, according to available data after natural mating, we found conception level of 43,10%, which is similar with previous reports in our country.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Nichols

People can catch diarrhoeal diseases from contamination of both natural and man-made environments with human or animal faeces. Young children are more likely to be susceptible to the agents and to be exposed. While some diarrhoeal diseases acquired in childhood can be relatively mild and give some protection as an adult, others are more severe. The two papers presented in this issue of Eurosurveillance describe, on the face of it, unremarkable small outbreaks; one, from Chikwe Ihekweazu et al, linked to exposure to a stream contaminated with Escherichia coli from animal faeces [1]; the other, from Melanie Jones et al, to exposure to a water feature contaminated with Cryptosporidium parvum from either animal or human faeces [2].


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